Actions and reactions...

At first all was DRM-free, one world, one price and customer centered. And GOG saw what it hat created and saw that it was good.
And I loved GOG and bought indiscriminately everything I took a fancy to. Day 1 releases too.

But GOG wasn't content. So things started to change.
They introduced DLC - So I concluded that this means incomplete releases and I stopped buying Day 1. Instead I waited for game of the year editions and the like.

Then they introduced regional pricing - I live in a high-price region and since I feel kind of cheated, I now ONLY buy at deep discounts. So GOG is losing money.

They introduced Galaxy ... I wasn't bothered because it was optional and was going to stay that way. Right? Right?

Wrong! They started bundling Galaxy with some of their installers to force it on everybody. So I backed up the afflicted games and I stopped buying new games that come bundled.

Soon they will bundle it with all games and I will stop buying here completely. Since from an installer with the installation of Galaxy checked ON by default, it is a small step to an installer without that checkbox. Without the option not to install the client. And that will be DRM.

I will keep coming here for the forum, since there are some nice people. But GOG will have lost me as a customer. And I hope that many, many more customers refuse to buy games that act as a sneaky installer for a client software. Perhaps then GOG will reverse that last, very customer unfriendly, decision.

I've said about all I can on this matter, I'm just going to wait until I see how they did it before I make any more judgements. I don't like it at all, but wasted too much of my time on it already.

Too true. I would just add the the type of games brought by these advancements have also been quite bad, not just the dodgy indie, pixalated craft em ups or what not, but the whole ethos of it. Just look at todays release, a game thats mostly multiplayer, has at release 5 extra dlc, of which two are soundtrack and artbook (separately), and old game most wont even have heard of for a stupid amount (£8.09 here, bearing in mind you can get it on amazon for £3).
Been like it for well over a year now, releases pretty poor, practices even worse. Brought Saints Row 4 the other day, that and Delta Force set has really been the only things this year and with the other bits going on I have also stopped buying here.

Nothing seems right since TheEnigmaticT left:(

Is it safe to say it's over for 100% Digital Rights Management (DRM) free?

PC gamers keep on purchasing the AAA exclusive PC versions of video games sold on Steam.

Most PC gamers want that auto-update crap of Steam.

We PC gamers who love to manyally download and install each separate patch for each video game are a disappearing off of the Earth.

In the end gog.co doesn't care about us, they care about the fastest way to earn money, gog.com is a business after all.

It's over 100% Digital Rights Management (DRM) will not exist in the next ten years.

Steam has won and destroyed the video games industry at least the PC video games market for us.

And has microtransactions galore.

I'll still be purchasing video games from gog.com, until GOG Galaxy is 100% mandatory to be used on every single video games sold on gog.com and when gog.com also starts adding microtransactions outside of GWENT: The Witcher card video game. As well as when gog.com starts allowing Free to Play (F2P) video games to be on gog.com.

Oh dear, I haven't gotten any games recently so I wasn't even aware that they have begun bundling the client with some installers. That is horrible. I suppose there is a thread somewhere with a list of which games that is done to? I won't buy any of them.

Take a detour to the OP of this thread then, as it has the list. But only on Google Docs for some reason.
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/offline_installers_with_an_option_to_install_gog_galaxy/page1

Note that this hasn't happened yet, but will start tomorrow.

For me, the community's reaction to the latest Galaxy news has been a bit too extreme..
That said, I'd prefer if it the client were opt-in and outside the standalone installers too.

Got that right...

Remain calm.

I disagree. With a move like that, which is a "business" tactic used by "freeware" pushers to install unwanted toolbars, the reaction can't be extreme enough. Because it shows what GOG thinks of it's customers. If you're not in the controllable Galaxy crowd, you're not a valued customer any more. This latest move, bloating the installers and having the "option" to install Galaxy always on, is a big "f*ck you!" from GOG to all non-Galaxy users. That's why I make the transition from non-Galaxy-user to non-GOG-user.

And the reasons GOG cites for this last move are ludicrous as well:
Users are too stupid to click on ONE link to install Galaxy, if they want it? ... Sure!
Users, who don't have internet connection might want to install Galaxy? ... Eh, what? Why? Who would install an ONLINE client if he can't go online?

It was speculated that this is an attempt to hit pirates. But if that's true it just shows a lack of realism on GOGs part. As if pirates, because they were tricked into installing Galaxy, suddenly would become loyal customers. Or is it that Galaxy phones home to rat our the unwary pirate? ... In any case, pirates won't have to deal with this, since they will just remove the bundled Galaxy installer. It's only paying customers who are afflicted, as in the case of DRM.

No, this is all about control. GOG has control over Galaxy, and Galaxy users are transparent. Publishers like that. But it's the opposite of the philosophy that GOG started out with and that brought me here: mutual trust.

Yay! Looks like GOG listnened after all and tried to find a compromise:

https://www.gog.com/forum/general/offline_installers_with_an_option_to_install_gog_galaxy/post929

So GOG still will try to trick new, unaware customers into installing Galaxy but at least we old nay-sayers will continue to have the option of downloading clean installers without the 150 MB of Galaxy extra (per game). The 'Galaxy installation on by default' still is a seedy move by GOG, but at least they returned to giving us actually a choice. Apparently the outrage achieved it's goal. Great.

I don't know, it doesn't seem the same case to me.
GOG didn't try to install sneaky third party software, but just their own (still) optional DRM-free client.

Are they trying to "push" it? Of course, they developed it (very slowly) for years, so they'd prefer if many people used it.
Do I approve their latest decision?
As I said, I'd like Galaxy out of the standalones.
Is this a valid reason to abandon\boycott Gog? This seems nonsense to me O_o

Maybe the thing that annoyed goggers the most was the method:
- Gog didn't ask the community an opinion on the matter
- they posted the information in an less-visible normal thread

Oh, it's good that they decided to reply.
Btw, I had this idea here:
why not simply adding Galaxy to downloads in a clear way?

E.g:
- galaxy_setup.exe
- game_img01.bin
- game_img02.bin
- game_setup.exe

With this solution, who wants Galaxy won't miss it and who doesn't want it will skip it.

P.S:
I frankly don't like that:
- people caused chaos over nothing to force Gog to listen to them.
- Gog only reacted to such chaos.