If a game has DRM on one platform, but not another, that’s because the publisher required it. That can be for any number of reasons that don’t have anything to do with the platform.
I guess what I’m asking is, what’s the benefit to having the installer instead of the game files?
You have to be online to download the installer. The end result is being able to play normally, offline, from portable storage if you choose. Besides a few gigabytes, it seems like a distinction without a difference.
Gog literally won’t allow you to sell a game if it has DRM, that’s their whole deal as a Platform.
Also having the installers means that if you can install the game files, set whatever environment variables the game needs, create the necessary folders, install the redistributable runtimes the game needs to run,and link the dlls properly. If you only have the game files you have to manage all of that yourself
While thats a list of plenty of unfortunate things, it’s not exactly what people mean by drm, and in some cases kind of absurd for them to conflate.
DRM is generally refering to restrictions on your ability to install, share, and use a game.
Games having extra content thats connected to an online server or the creation of an account is unfortunate but not drm, theres also out dated ones in that list like the twitch drops in cyberpunk just being in the game now.
Online games having anti cheats and dependencies, or wanting you to have an account is also unfortunate especially if invasive but not a restriction on your ability to install or share a game.
In that list im only seeing DEFCON and Multiwinia having a key verification server which is supposed to be disabled in the offline installers. other games mention having verifications removed some seemingly unsuccessfully at the time of that post.
Alot of these things are issues with games preservation in general, something that GOG actually does alot to help with, theres plenty of old games that come with fixes, patches, and dlls that make them run on modern hardware that other online stores that still sell the games don’t provide.
The thing about it not being drm is you can backup the installers, you can just give them to a friend, it doesnt phone home and check if this computer has some license, it doesn’t try and match hardware, or limit you to a certain number of installs.
If a game has DRM on one platform, but not another, that’s because the publisher required it. That can be for any number of reasons that don’t have anything to do with the platform.
I guess what I’m asking is, what’s the benefit to having the installer instead of the game files?
You have to be online to download the installer. The end result is being able to play normally, offline, from portable storage if you choose. Besides a few gigabytes, it seems like a distinction without a difference.
Gog literally won’t allow you to sell a game if it has DRM, that’s their whole deal as a Platform.
Also having the installers means that if you can install the game files, set whatever environment variables the game needs, create the necessary folders, install the redistributable runtimes the game needs to run,and link the dlls properly. If you only have the game files you have to manage all of that yourself
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/drm_on_gog_list_of_singleplayer_games_with_drm/page1
While thats a list of plenty of unfortunate things, it’s not exactly what people mean by drm, and in some cases kind of absurd for them to conflate.
DRM is generally refering to restrictions on your ability to install, share, and use a game.
Games having extra content thats connected to an online server or the creation of an account is unfortunate but not drm, theres also out dated ones in that list like the twitch drops in cyberpunk just being in the game now.
Online games having anti cheats and dependencies, or wanting you to have an account is also unfortunate especially if invasive but not a restriction on your ability to install or share a game.
In that list im only seeing DEFCON and Multiwinia having a key verification server which is supposed to be disabled in the offline installers. other games mention having verifications removed some seemingly unsuccessfully at the time of that post.
Alot of these things are issues with games preservation in general, something that GOG actually does alot to help with, theres plenty of old games that come with fixes, patches, and dlls that make them run on modern hardware that other online stores that still sell the games don’t provide.
The thing about it not being drm is you can backup the installers, you can just give them to a friend, it doesnt phone home and check if this computer has some license, it doesn’t try and match hardware, or limit you to a certain number of installs.