Keep in mind that
- this is often the case on Steam as well (see previous point)
- occasionally when it comes to the GOG version this is made possible by REMOVING features that conversely are available on other stores (i.e. "the GOG version of GAME XY comes without the multiplayer mode" etc).
Older games on GOG obviously won't come with all the features that those games launched with (GOG stands for 'Good Old Games' and when they started, that was their entire identity) and why are we turning this into a GOG vs Steam thing?
GOG's entire existence is about being DRM free. It is like their mission. Steams isn't and it wasn't built for that so just because you are able play some games without DRM, does not change that (specially if you have to follow a specific way to avoid the DRM aspect).
People should also keep in mind that often "owning a physical copy" doesn't mean jack shit.
If your favorite multiplayer game gets its servers shut down you could own a whole freaking pallet filled with hundreds of physical copies and you would still be unable to do fuck anything with them.
And THESE are the games that can be "retired" from your online accounts. No one is taking away your Steam copy of STALKER 1 or Super Meat Boy.
Multiplayer games aren't usually the ones being questioned in discussions like this. Most people understand that those games won't be available forever.
And the point wasn't lost on me, and again, I said this in the first post you responded, the disclosure on Steam is simply requiring them to be more transparent. It hasn't changed anything and even if GOG allows us to download game installers to manage on our own, does not mean we get more rights to those games compared to steam in terms of ownership. The difference is, GOG is choosing to put their trust in us, not to do it, vs steam, which has measures in place to prevent us from doing it. That is what they [steam] offer to publishers willing to put their games there, also why not every game is available on GOG.
So going back to my main point, if you really care about this stuff, and this new disclosure has perhaps made it clearer, then we've still got GOG.