So I signed up for Steam. I was considering their Spiderweb bundle over Gog's because it has Nethergate Resurrection and Avernum 2 Crystal Souls (but lacks Avernum 1-3) for only $2.50 more.
But, I figure by the time I get around to wanting to playing Crystal Souls, it might be bundled at Gog. And if that happens, and if Gog adds Nethergate Resurrection, they, unlike Steam, will give me credit for already owning games in the bundle. And I don't want to have to deal with having to have an internet connection to play a game (thanks for clarifying, guys). My cable internet does go down for 2 hours at a time sometimes, and my laptop's wireless adapters are awful (the internal's range has dropped to 10 feet and the external is slow, and they both stop working at times, requiring a reboot).
So I remain Steam-less and am sticking with Gog for now. It may change if the Fallout games go on a better sale (I saw they've been less at Steam before), then again I may hold out and hope Gog gets them again unless I run out of games to play.
Does anyone have any reliable information on which service gives a higher percentage to self-publishers?
If you're planning to stick w/ one service and you really want to play certain particular games, this is going to be a losing battle for you. As much as I love GOG's attitude of No DRM, most companies likely won't throw their games on GOG b/c they want DRM on their games - especially when they're brand new and want to try to keep piracy down (even if it's just a little bit). And if a company signed to GOG has a big title game (especially if it's AAA), they might not even put the title on GOG until way later when they feel they've made already their round of major sales on a new title w/ its DRM-laced version - like Deep Silver has done plenty of times.
Then maybe way later, they might feel it's time to get it on GOG to get the GOG fans who held out on the game to hit the service b/c they're loyal to GOG + DRM-FREE attitude; and/or get some fans who love the game that own a DRM-laced version to go ahead to double-dip just to get it DRM-FREE from GOG - i.e. SR2 + Saints Row: The Third were Steamworks games first for quite a few years, but they both just recently this year got DRM-FREE versions release on GOG.
Also many games are requiring one service just ain't found anywhere else period.
i.e. AAA EA Titles like Dragon Age: Inquisition; Mass Effect 3; and BF3+4 and Hardline are only on Origin + requiring it.
i.e. Most of the newer Zenimax + BethSoft titles are now flat-out requiring Steam.
i.e. Valve titles are only on Steam; a lot of 2K's games require Steam.
i.e. For some reason, Arcanum can only be found on GOG.
I suggest this: you just buy most games cheap that you plan to backlog (i.e. not play ASAP) like most of do here in sales - whether from Bundle Sites; Amazon DVG; Gamersgate; Direct2Drive; GreenManGaming; or whatever + wherever. It's the best way to do things - especially since you can find Steam-versions often cheaper in other places besides Steam. GOG is often not as cheap as Steam.
Also, sometimes HumbleBundle and other Bundle sites might sell a game where one purchase from them gives you both a Steam-key + direct download from them for a DRM-FREE version - i.e. Best Of Both Worlds, as I like to call it. For example -
Dreamfall Chapters,
Shadowrun Returns, and
Shadowrun: Dragonfall on HB Store when purchased once there give you DRM-FREE download + a Steam key.
Also, you need to see this thread on GOG. Bookmark it. Make it a GOG favorite thread (so it's stickied):
http://www.gog.com/forum/general/list_of_drmfree_games_on_steam/page1
The above linked thread on GOG is about games w/out any DRM found on Steam (they don't come w/ Steam's CEG DRM or any other 3rd party DRM crap). Yes, these games do exist - these games can be run from the game-folder when Steam's closed and do boot right up no problem w/out forcing Steam to open; or you can create a shortcut directly from the game-folder's EXE while Steam's closed and boot the game forcing it to not boot Steam. Sure, you'll still need to download the game from Steam initially, in the first place - but still, in some instances, you can work around this stuff once you downloaded the game from Steam, if need be.
But, you'll want to make sure you back-up the Steam game-folder somewhere, so you have it - just in case a company changes game and could add DRM later in a patch (Skyrim, anyone?); you may want to mod the game; so you don't have to re-download the game (especially if it's a big-sized title); or whatever reason you can think of. Sometimes, when you get a Steam-version w/out DRM - that game might actually work when it's not in the Steam-folder + saves locally to the hard-drive (i.e. see Wizardry 8 on Steam).
I hope all of that information helps you out.
cant decide
