You forgot #4, and I still will not buy any game that requires 3rd party software. I have no problem buying from Steam but if Steam works is required I do not buy it.

They should also not be able to use the word 'buy' which implies ownership and the right to resell, you are only paying for a service for as long as they see fit to keep providing it.

DRM is good, it's good,

But it's not right.

Steamworks is free for developers and integrates many useful features that really aren't worth recreating from scratch.

You don't go Steam because of its DRM; steamworks DRM titles are cracked and pirated within the day. Heck, I've even got a recent pirated release sitting in my game folder that had Steamworks on it. I never pirate but in this case it was a completely new genre to me, with no demo Ended up playing for 20 minutes only. Doesn't make it right, but I don't have any regrets either.

My opinion; DRM-free of course. Pirates have so much more resources than you do as a small dev. The only fool-proof option is always-online DRM, which I hope you understand would be awful. 

DRM doesn't stop pirates unless it hurts the customers.

No drawbacks? As DRM it doesn't work, and even in this thread there are people who say they don't want it. I don't understand what you mean with "no drawbacks". The TRADEOFF is obvious. I would consider going on Steam a net bonus (exposure/various tools), but I know for a fact that not everyone agrees with me.

Deleted.

I suggest AGAINST DRM as DRM is bad experiences from 1979 where you had to have the ENTIRE manual AND box and enter a a single word from a given word count, line and page(and back then the software was on cassette that also faded over time and use and the analog casstte copiers usually distorted the signal enough that the copies often did not load, THEN the floppy disc (5.25 inch) came out with it's digital data storage and changed everything), therefor DRM IS last century and should die(btwq I also write software and the best means of reducing piracy is to give good support and respect the customer/user, and NOT restirct them without clear and good reasons and publish the reasons.

btw I consider steam to BE DRM.

harpo

I never buy games protected by DRM especially Steamworks. But I always purchase interesting indie games on GOG or directly from developers. I like to support indie developers not being DRM slave. You can't stop pirates but you can lose legal customers.

If someone with more credibility than I wasn't going to say it, I was...

There is one huge drawback.

It requires Steam.

Violation of Gamers Bill of Rights Rule 4.

Ahh... ohh yes.... the almighty cloud... the only possible future for 10.... or has it been 15 years already?

Besides, AI is usually limited by man hours, not calculation power.

As for gamers crying about DRM..... actually they cry to little about it.... and way to often buy anyway..... instead of entirely boycotting the companies that dare to release such fraud. If just once, DRM bloatwares like Spore... Sim City... ect... would face the severe loss in sales that they so fully deserve.... companies would stop doing this kind of nonsense.

From a customer point of view... DRM has NOTHING but disadvantages - even if only legal use is implied.

But then todays DRM is not so much about stopping piracy... a task it ALWAYS failed to achieve in any reasonable capacity, no todays DRM is about REMOVING legal rights of the customer..... and selling the customer to the advertisement industry.

A physical disk with a serial... you could sell again. Today.... forget it.

DRM today is nothing more than a money grab for selling data to the advertisement industry..... and nothing more than a attack on the used game market. Both things - I as a customer...... do not profit in the slightest.

Not to mention, the cloud, like all online DRM systems, gives YOU, the developer... the possibility to STOP

MY

game/software

from working at any time. 

I can still play Supreme Commander today... even if the Developer goes bankrupt or decides it is time for a new version of the game.

Within the cloud however..... the developer decides when the older game ceases working. So guess what... the moment the next version is out... the old servers will swiftly shut down.

About the limited data security in a cloud environment and the risk of economic espionage..... we really dont have to speak anymore.

There is one big major misunderstanding that to many game developers and publishes have..... that they are in charge.

They are not.

Do not misjudge unjustified leniency as often shown today (Steam Fanboys, *sigh*) as a resignation of power.

We... the customer..... are the people that pay YOUR bills. We do so, because we have come to the personally decision, that your offer is worth OUR money.

DRM in any shape or form is a reduction of my value for money.... so you better give me a damm good reason why I should spend it anyway.

“There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.”

Sam Walton - founder of Walmart.

You see.... I dont have to buy your games..... instead I will relax and lay back.... and watch your company crumble and then die.

If EA or Blizzard/Activsion goes bankrupt tomorow..... then this is not affecting me in any negative way. It is however affecting the people of EA/Blizzard/Activision in quite negative ways.

I dont need EA to play games and have fun. Since EA has made it clear beyond any doubt that they are unworthy of my money, I will save me all the trouble and spend I somewhere else. No problem for me at all.

While certainly not a developers dream for understandable reasons, tell me.... would you rather earn maybe 5 € on average per license "sold" or earn nothing because people pirate it for free?

I don't buy games with DRM. I don't agree with it so I have nothing to do with it. I consider it rude to include it in games and it demonstrates that the developers don't trust their customers. This would still be true if DRM somehow managed to work perfectly.

I wouldn't have a problem with your game being available on steam if it was also available elsewhere without trace of steam in the game itself. After all, if a game is offered on steam, it kinda difficult to avoid using steam for that version.

Firstly, your estimated cost is shall we say... "absolutely insane" for something with an estimated remaining development time of one year. IMO everyone should look at Skullgirls' Indiegogo campaign. If you're doing better than that on every front you miiight want to reassess.

Secondly, for a small company DRM is probably a bad idea. As others have said, it's an investment that is highly unlikely to save you anything. And just because something's on Steam doesn't mean it has to have DRM (even on the Steam version). There's games on Steam where you can just take the game folder, dump it somewhere random (even copy it to another computer) and it works fine (assuming Steam didn't screw up the download in the first place as it is wont to do).

Thirdly, I'll deal with that guy that thinks he understands how the cloud works later. I thought long and hard about it when the Xbox 720 (I suppose we officially call it the Xbox One now) rumours were floating around and I'm fairly sure what we know of how systems currently work basically permanently precludes the cloud ever being practical for an "intense" application, at least so long as the PC as we know it exists. (that doesn't preclude it being useful for a low-intesity application or in a non-PC context such as a smart phone) The response unfortunately requires a LOT of other advanced knowledge and history to be pulled in and I'm tired.