I would rather have them working on the next patch/DLC than perusing the forum for compliments.

So what's the deal with GOG? I'm using Steam and while it's not perfect, I don't - yet anyway - see any reason to give it the heave-ho.

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What's gog

It might not have been something they planned to do until fairly recently.  A big part of GalCiv3 on Steam was so it could use the workshop and through that allow people to share ships, races, etc more easily.

I really dont understand the Steam hate. It just seems irrational to me. I use both Steam and GoG and I dont get why Steam is considered evil for requiring you to login to download a game online and GoG is not considered evil for the exact same thing. 

Example:  I buy GalCiv on Steam and download the game. This requires me to log into my steam account and be online to do so.  I can play it anytime without internet connection after downloading.

               I buy GalCiv on GoG and download the game. This requires me to log into my GoG account and be online to do so. I can play it anytime without internet connection after downloading.

As you can see there is no difference between getting the game on Steam or getting it on GoG.

I lived in the far north for over 6 months and played every steam game I had installed including Steamworks games like CIV5 or Skyrim without any internet connection. Many games on steam you can run directly from the games folder without running it through the steam app at all. I really think it comes down to misinformation when people say they hate steam. So many people think you require always online connection which it just flat out untrue.

To answer your question: We were under NDA.

Hahaha GOG is somehow better than Steam?

I can tell you that GOG is just as "evil". They won't allow perfectly good games that are a bit smaller because they're "too niche". Since when are 4X games "too niche"?  

I get so tired of the ol' "Steam is teh evilllllll" posts. All businesses are "evil" at some level. They're all out for themselves. Some of them are just a bit more transparent about their real motives. 

The least intrusive games on Steam actually allow you to just run the game from the folder, so they dont have that key fail point. You activate once just like GOG and copy that game onto any computer without ever using steam again. I own quite a few games like this. Even some Valve games are DRM free like Halflife 2/ HL2 episodes and portal. All can be installed once and played without steam ever again.

You can also transfer steamworks games to another computer. I have done it myself to save on download time. People talk about steam as a control system but it actually allows much more freedom with your games than an old CD where if you lost the CD-KEY you were screwed or limited activations. On steam you can share games with 10 other people, and play from any computer anywhere. I remember the days of Starforce and SecurRom, those were access control. Starforce used to kill cd-drive hardware. I lost a drive to it when I bought the first version of X2: The threat by Egosoft.

All you need to do with steamworks games is login once to activate the game on the computer. Then play offline all you want. That means if you upgrade your computer every 5 years you would only have to login once every 5 years. That takes 30 secs. 

The amount of vitriol I see against steam over a simple login requirement once in a blue moon just blows my mind. That is not even in the same galaxy as EVIL.

No need to edit the registry, just download steam on any computer and copy the old steamapps folder you already have on a usb stick or whatever. Not much on a computer that is more simple than copying a folder. A lot of people that dislike steam are just misinformed in how it works and all the features that actually benefit the consumers freedom to use their software.  A lot of people think it is harder to do things than it actually is, just as in your example of requiring a registry edit.

Many games on steam dont even require it to be installed after downloading if you really dont want to use it. Crusader kings 2, Europa Universalis 4 and pretty much any other Paradox game, FTL, Kerbal Space Program, Wasteland 2, and even a few UBISOFT titles, Farcry 2, and Assassins Creed: Directors cut for some reason.  I own all those games have personally tested it. Plus many more that you can find other people have tested. Its actually something that I wish Valve would mark on their store page which games are DRM free the same as they do with games that use a 3rd party DRM.  Those DRM free games work the same as any game bought off GoG. 

Steamworks is also the lightest of DRM to be basically not be one. As I said, a single login once every X years you upgrade your computer if you really dont want to be online is pretty minor access control. I would also put Steam in the TOO BIG TO FAIL market right now. 125+ million users are mighty valuable. Steam would be sold to Microsoft, SONY or Google before it would ever shutdown. 

I just buy the game where the best deal is. Both CDProject RED and Valve actually have very similar values and ideas when it comes to DRM. They both came about because of the Starforces and SecurROMs of the past. They are both companies that prefer to give the consumer more rather than take away.