this post was submitted on 17 Jan 2024
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DRM is not the same as a subscription.
And a lot of games on steam don't have the DRM, you can just buy and keep the game files. I do wish they'd make it clear on the store page or give me the option to filter out DRM games though.
"A lot"
How many? Because I think the actual % might surprise you quite a bit.
Can you play the games by purchasing them and then not having to ever download them using Steam?
The only DRM free games are physical copies, otherwise you rely on a specific service to be able to play, even if it's only once (like with GOG), it's a form of DRM.
Yes, a lot.
Yes.
No. Evidently you don't know what Digital Rights Management is.
If you can run it with no launcher, no software verifying purchase, you can back it up, copy it, distribute it, etc, then it's not DRM.
Wait, what? You think buying a DRM-free game from a storefront is a form of DRM?
Ok then, let's use that logic. Buying a physical game from a shop is therefore also DRM, because you have to buy the game from them.
Proportionally it doesn't look too great
https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/List_of_DRM-free_games_on_Steam
`>Can you play the games by purchasing them and then not having to ever download them using Steam?
Yes.`
Tell me how do you buy a game on Steam and play it without downloading it from their servers? 🤔
Wait, *what?* You think buying a DRM-free game from a storefront is a form of DRM?It is, you depend on a digital storefront to have a proof of ownership and to download the game in the first place.
Buying a physical game from a shop is therefore also DRMWhat's digital about physical copies?
Downloading a DRM-free game from a web store is not DRM no matter how much you repeat that it is.
It isn't. The files can be copied and distributed any way you like. Same goes for GOG. A DRM-free game is a DRM-free game. It can be copied.
It's still digital. It contains digital data... come on, you can't seriously be unaware of this. Is a digital camera not digital because it stores the data on a physical SD card?
Physical media has DRM too. CDs, DVDs, BluRays, game cartridges all have DRM.
Your argument that buying something means it's DRM is nonsense. Buying something from a physical shop and buying something online isn't different. They both require you to hand over money to get the game files. They're either both DRM or neither are.
Which is the only way you can own and play a game without an internet connection?
That's the only true DRM free and true ownership experience.
You're moving the goalposts again?
Downloading a game isn't DRM.
Yes it is as you depend on the goodwill of a digital platform. If Steam bans you how do you prove that you own the "DRM free" games you've bought from them and haven't simply pirated them?
Why would you need to prove anything? The whole point of DRM free is that you don't need to prove anything, you just run it.
By saying that you want a mechanism for proving ownership, you're essentially saying you want DRM.
If steam bans me, I run the executables that I've downloaded. Same as I would if I pirated it.
Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft can block you from playing your physical media, and yet you claim that isn't DRM, because the data exists on a disc/cartridge, rather than stored on an SSD.
You are showing a fundamental cluelessness of what DRM actually is.
Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft can block you from playing your physical mediaOnly if there's an online component to the game. If I go buy a brand new Switch and a physical copy of Mario Kart, there's nothing Nintendo can do to stop me from playing the game.
Not true. Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo can and do brick peoples systems, e.g. when they're reported stolen or someone modifies their system. You rely on their goodwill every time you use the system or launch a game.
And Switch game cartridges literally contain DRM lmao
Nice job ignoring the rest of my comment.
Tell me, how do you brick a system remotely if it's not connected to the internet? Entertain me, please!
Here in the real world, people connect their devices to the internet. This isn't 2002. People connect their consoles to the internet, and OEMs can control them.
Additionally, a lot of new games won't run on these consoles unless you have an updated system.
I see you again are not only moving goalposts, but you are also ignoring most of my comment.
You going to answer anything? Untangle yourself from all the leaps you've made?
That list doesn't have literally every DRM free game, almost every VR game I have doesn't have DRM and they are not on the list.