I like how Galaxy handles patching for games that are currently being supported, but patching your game is something you could easily do yourself if you're the type of person who is on top of these things. many GOG games don't even get patches. cloud saves are nice if you use multiple computers or if you need to reformat or if you're the type of person who installs and uninstalls games frequently (I do, my hard drive doesn't have much space left), but again, backing up your saves is something you can do yourself. I like the quick access to the forums, but, you can do that with a simple bookm... you get the idea. it has a number of ease of use functions, but it is largely unnecessary. I'd say try it, poke around, see if you like it, uninstall, no sweat.

I do use Galaxy and i don't even care for cloud saves or achievements, it's just great for downloading your games and expacs faster, it's more convenient when updating the games you have installed etc.

I also want to stress the importance of offline installers and being able to back up your games because that is the single most important feature GOG has imo and if it where to disappear so would i because there would be no reason to use GOG in that case.

No, it doesn't. If you install with the offline installers, you can run the game without Galaxy firing up. If you add that game to Galaxy, you can run it through Galaxy or with the non-Galaxy desktop installer and it still won't fire Galaxy up if you choose the latter option.

If you install the game through Galaxy, then the desktop shortcut created will point to Galaxy and fire it up when you launch the game. But if you install with the backup off-line installers, this won't happen.

I do, I do. I happen to actually really prefer to update my games manually. Not having any automated attempt or reminder to do it. For me, updating a game is not necessarily a good thing. Some new mechanics (Cultist Simulator), some new designs (Chuchel), some new cutscenes (Portal), may be unwelcome. And a client staying on the verge of auto-updating the games (if reverted to default auto, or if keeping a notification ready to be inadvertently clicked) is an annoyance.

I'm a client of both GOG and Steam, and I largely prefer the GOG side of my games and patches handling.

(The only convenience that I could find attractive in clients is cloud saves, in some rare cases. But not the patching.)

I only use the offline installers, but using Galaxy wouldn't be a problem if I needed it. I almost only play single player and I don't care about achievements, so the offline installers do the job without installing and managing another software. If at some point Galaxy becomes more convenient for me (maybe I will get into cloud saves, who knows) then I would just install it, and stop using it when I don't need it. That's the joy of an optional client.

Oh ok, good to know. Is that the default now?

I thought I read earlier that even with the standalone installers, the shortcuts it creates (to your Start Menu and/or desktop) try to load the Galaxy client along with the game, IF the client is installed. And yes I am talking about installing with the standalone installers, not through Galaxy.

People kept suggesting that you can edit the shortcut to remove the part where it tries to load the Galaxy client, or make your own shortcut manually pointing to the game exe directly.

I use Galaxy to download and install games. It's far more reliable thanks to my spotty internet connection, not to mention more convenient. I don't bother with Galaxy for actually playing them, though.

Backup offline installers only here.

The funny thing is that GoG might actually want to emphasize the optional nature of Galaxy a bit more, with the growing resentments for more and more clients and launchers being required these days.

Yep, that's the default with the standalone installer.

Nope. You only get that if you install via the Galaxy client. There was a period where they included Galaxy in the installers (you must remember the shitstorm that caused), but they no longer have that.

Only necessary if you install via the Galaxy client.

Very much this. If you use Galaxy to install a game and check the option "Create desktop shortcut", it will create the circular game icon which opens Galaxy when using it. Just delete/don't create this icon and create your own by creating a shortcut on your desktop pointing straight to the game exe.

On topic:
I mostly use Galaxy for installing games and the convenience of patching the them. I had to disable auto-updates though as it was constantly removing some of my mods and I like to check what is new in an update before I commit to it. Had this when I recently played Tower of Time. Was at like 3/4 of my playthrough when they rolled out a big update that changed a lot of the balancing and what not. I wanted to finish the playthrough with the old rules, not just switch them up in the middle.

But I still play the games without Galaxy. I have no interest in time tracking, achievements or cloud saves. But as an installation manager, it is actually quite nice.

It kinda makes sense IF you are installing the game with Galaxy.

However, I was under the impression that even with the (updated) offline installers, the shortcuts would still try to run Galaxy, IF the Galaxy client was installed.

However, maybe the information I read was wrong, and this was only about games installed WITH the Galaxy client. I guess I could try it at home today.

Then again I am still unsure why I would want to use Galaxy, as I mostly play the older games which are not actively updated anymore, and don't care about achievements and no real need for cloud saves either. I guess to try out GWENT?
But at least I wouldn't have to avoid Galaxy anymore either, IF it won't automatically load when I run my offline GOG games.