The Humble Weekly Sale featuring Tripwire

Oh no, Steam not again.

What an obscure future for DRM Free gaming on Linux since Steam started on it.

Quoting: IvancilloWhat an obscure future for DRM Free gaming on Linux since Steam started on it.

My greatest hope there is Kickstarter since most games there specify that they are going to be DRM free (alongside Steam releases.)

But yes, it does have to be said that while Steam has brought a lot more games to Linux and a lot more attention to it, it has been damaging the DRM free cause, especially now that the Humble Bundle is a lot less reliable when it comes to that point (most of their main bundles will still be DRM free, but that means a lot less now than it used to.) :(

DRM...OH.NO.....Whatevs. I got tired of playing supertux and frozenbubble. 99% of my Linux OS is DRM free, its not like using steam to launch your only DRM software is a big deal. Its not even inconvenient, why so much hate for steam. I mean if you dont like it you can still use tux racer if you want?

Well, I in fact do "still use tux racer" if by that you mean keep playing and buying non-DRM games (it has admittedly been awhile since I have played Tux Racer itself though). 

The real problem here though with regards to the main topic of discussion is that the Humble brand used to stand for more, and back in the day they sold it as such, which is part of the reason why it initially got so much support. Now their message is meaningless since they themselves are not really willing to follow it and are seemingly willing to ignore what they stood for on the merest of whims. They used to be taking a stand for something, and now whenever they do something akin to their past principles it seems more like a half-hearted attempt to keep people like us buying their bundles.

The other problem for me is that Linux used to be a bastion for progressive DRM free gaming (which actually used to be the norm, but sadly that is no longer the case, mostly due to people like you who are willing to accept it) and now that is far from being the case. A lot of people promoted the arrival of Steam to people like us by saying that we would get other non-direct benefits from it, but so far it seems like we received a whole bunch of games we can not play unless we bend our principles,  which has actually caused a lot of people to do just that, including game developers, which is the greatest shame.

If you really think that is the best choice you can make by all means do it, play your Steam games and buy from these sales, but do not begrudge us mourning what once was and trying our best to maintain a gaming climate we can still ethically feel we can support.

Quoting: HamishA lot of people promoted the arrival of Steam to people like us by saying that we would get other non-direct benefits from it, but so far it seems like we received a whole bunch of games we can not play unless we bend our principles,  which has actually caused a lot of people to do just that, including game developers, which is the greatest shame.

You know The Linux Game Tome will shut down on April 13. Yea because actually nobody care even maintaining one of DRM-Free game site. It's easy to blame game developers, but you need remember that they programming not for hobby but for living if they fail - they bankrupt, lose jobs. Even greatest HB sales would be nothing to AAA game company. To be fair how many money people in most cases spend on HB.. yea not much mostly lover than 10$ for let say for 5 games. What I trying to say DRM-Free in gaming industrial never really existed. Yea there was some exceptional cases but mostly because A) They were small and want free advertise (DRM-Free is great marketing buzzword) B) They really don't care any more, because game was launched long ago so it basically nothing to lose (who wanted game - already purchase or pirated). And no.. there no "C)". If you ever think that game company made game DRM-Free because of morality you are very wrong, or too young to understand how business work (hint: there no such thing like morality in business). Now if we take a look to greatest hobby-based games (I'm talking about open source games) like tux-racer it still sucks more than "crash bandicoot racing" (13+ years old PS1 game). That means that open source games evolving freaking slow. Easy to guess why.. because lack of donations, people just don't bother to spend money for game which they can download for free.

Sadly, I think xeranas is right. But, I also think it is good to fight for what we believe, especially when it seems legitim.

It is interesting to see xerenas claim I am too young to understand how the game industry works, as xerenas himself seems to be the one ignorant of past events himself. DRM free gaming did not start as a reaction to DRM, but rather it was the norm for most of the industries history (just as Indie gaming was once the norm, especially when PC gaming was dominated by shareware). DRM free advocates are very much like free software advocates in that they are actually a reaction to unwelcome changes to the industry, rather than people who are actually trying to force a new separate change on it. His claim that DRM free gaming never truly existed is simply laughable.

Second, this has nothing to do with "open source" or the Linux Game Tome. The Linux Game Tome is not a DRM free site; in fact it's hosting was supplied by a company that extensively uses DRM in it's products. What about it's unfortunate closure has any bearing on this debate at all? Same thing with the debate about hobbyist gaming versus professional - that has nothing to do with this discussion. Saying I want to support DRM free gaming is not akin to saying I do not believe in professional game development. By claiming I am you are doing a disservice to your argument and biting off way more than you can chew when it comes to the discussion.

There is no solid evidence that DRM improves sales, or that it prevents piracy. You do not need it to earn a living. Professional game developers worked quite happily without it for decades before it's great rise about eight/nine years ago. We are not proposing something that is pie in the sky or even never attempted - we just want the industry to be like it was before game publishers decided to start persecuting their own customers.

Third, let us discuss the morality of it, especially with regards to the Humble Bundle. It is simply a joke to suggest their was no moral component in it, or at the very least the suggestion that it was all done for a good and ethical cause. That is why that example hurts the most, as they aspired to loftier goals and then soured on them right when they were milking in the true fruits of their success.

Finally, there may or may not be morality in "business", but there certainly is in human endeavour, whether business types wish to see it or not. Just because you are running a business does not give you the right view yourself as being above your obligations to society, it does not give you the right to treat others any worse than any other member of society, and it does not give you the right to spy on your customers and abuse their own rights and freedoms in the name of illusory profits.

In more philosophical terms, businessmen are bound by their social contracts to society just as much as anyone else is. This is true of anyone who works in a society, benefits from a society, and is protected by a society. The fact that we live in a world where people are convinced that they are somehow outside and above it goes to show why we have so much problems in this world, which go far beyond DRM.

In short, you can support what you want, but please, never accuse me of being too young or too ignorant. I know of what I speak and flailing your arms about and attacking strawman with cliches is not going to change that.

i try to cut HIB some slack.  i won't begrudge them their business or their opportunity to provide awesome game deals to other platforms.  good for players, good for devs.  i don't expect them to cater just to me.  i'm happy they cater to me at all, when historically most companies haven't.

simply, as a linux gamer that prefers DRM free games (though not exclusively), i just won't buy such bundles and instead wait for the products that do interest me.

That's fine as far as it goes - and if the Humble Bundles never had pretensions of anything greater I honestly would not be writing these long angered tyraids about it. But the Humble Bundle made you feel like you were a part of something greater, and that was not just my impression of it, they deliberately advertised it as such. To see them act like everyone else in the end does hurt the reasons why we were so generous to them, and as I have said before, it dulls their original message to a blunt and chipped knife edge, as it shows that not even them are truly willing to believe it or follow it. :(

i can understand that.  i suppose my trust only goes so far... >_> :)