Hey all,
For those that either know or have used Gamers Gate I would like ask a few questions.
1. Is the Gamers Gate downloader needed to run whenever you want to play your games?
2. Is the Gamers Gate downloaded DRM; in a sense as Steam always has to run and you cannot use your games without Steam on your system?
3. How is Gamers Gate good or bad?
4. Does Gamers Gate keep up with patches for their games?
5. Do Gamers Gate games have additional DRM attached to the games themselves?
6. Anything else I would need to know but do not know I need to ask?
Thanks

1. Is the Gamers Gate downloader needed to run whenever you want to play your games?
Only needed when you download and install (so if you keep the backup files, you just run the downloader again to start reinstalling from the local backups)
2. Is the Gamers Gate downloaded DRM; in a sense as Steam always has to run and you cannot use your games without Steam on your system?
No. But some games have their own DRM just as if they were retail versions. However, if the DRM involves limited activations, you can ignore the limit as GamersGate will simply issue you a new key if you run out of activations. As they say, once you buy it, its yours.
3. How is Gamers Gate good or bad?
I have no real issues with it. Their support is fast and fairly good. And I've only ever needed to contact them once. The download speed is a little slow compared to that of Steam/Impulse though.
4. Does Gamers Gate keep up with patches for their games?
It's a bit hit and miss here. While GamersGate do not patch the games, they will sometimes provide links to *ALL* available patches for a game so you can choose which to download and apply. The only time they didn't do this when I wished they had was for Fuel of War -- as that was a real pain to patch. But that's the only time I've had trouble with patching (and think that's partly due to my OS).
5. Do Gamers Gate games have additional DRM attached to the games themselves?
Yes, depending on the game. It's basically the same as retail. They don't mention it on the store page, but if you contact their support, they are fairly happy to tell you.
6. Anything else I would need to know but do not know I need to ask?
They have regional restrictions, but the restrictions differ to that of Steam, for example. Such as, while I can't buy SEGA games on Steam, I can on GamersGate. Recently, they've had far better deals than Steam has too. I personally find them to be a fairly good service and have used them far more since they dumped their client.
Sometimes, you may have a problems if you are trying to purchase with a credit card as the system they use, PayNova, isn't very good. But using PayPal has never failed me.
Also, while not directly linked on GamersGate, you can find their forum here:
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=332

I sent an email to gamergate's support about this but i haven't got a response yet. Ggamersgate.com has a digital copy section, i think it's for registering the serial of retail games however i don't see anywhere on the site which games are supported. does any know?

The GamersGate Downloader is no longer used. Now you just get it off their site.

Only some Paradox games as far as I know. I tried many of my retail games but it didn't work. And you can see at game's box that you can register this game on Gamersgate. I don't know this games but maybe Dark Horizon or Europe Universalis.

Gamersgate is run by Paradox, so it's just the Paradox catalog you can register with them.

Even then they don't allow you to make a digital copy of certain games. Penumbra: Black Plague is published by Paradox, and when I tried to enter my CD key, it wouldn't work.

GamersGate is an ok service. My only gripe is the non-secure login and registration. They have to get with the times and SSL that process.

Whoa, not cool. No HTTPS is a fail in today's security-conscious world. Even Steam cares about your account credentials that much more.

You say it as if steam is the worst service ever.

I use Steam and I like it (though I do like buying retail sometimes), but there are some things I have gripes with.

Sorry to bring back such an old thread, but I've just stumbled across gamer's gate, and would like to check before I give them any money whether I'll be able to download and play games if after I've paid for them (unlike Steam....). Their site says "anyone, anywhere", but in my experience, "anywhere" often seems to exclude Cambodia. Then I found this post, which says there ARE regional restrictions, so want to check before I make the purchase.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Edit: I do still plan on using GOG for almost everything, as the way they sell products is clearly preferable, just the issue came up because I saw that they have Fantasy Wars for $1.99 today at gamers gate, and it's on my wishlist here.

I don't know if it shows you games not available in your region, if it does it should say something in the description. I see games labeled as the UK version sometimes but I don't think I've seen other countries versions knocking about.

Cheers. I emailed them to ask a few hours ago, and still no response (compared to GOG who have not only responded, but also solved all issues I've had within an hour).

That, combined with the fact that some of their games go for over $150, has convinced me to just stick with gog and forget about anything else for now. :D