Sure, there are risks both ways but one can be mitigated more than the other. The piracy hammer has always come down on distributors with very rare exceptions. With proper precautions (VPN, usenet, foreign seedbox, etc…) nobody would ever know or care about the private individual self hosting a media server on a closet raspberry pie.

Legally you’re covered with Steam but you have very little actual control over your collection. The ideal is legal physical media that you can digitally copy and store but that’s basically impossible these days.

My apologies, 76% 😂

Do you have a goal where you’ll stop and catch up? More games are being released than ever, if you get every deal you see those numbers won’t meaningfully converge.

I’ve never had a Steam game removed from my account due to DRM. And should that ever happen, I have games on GOG that are DRM-free.

It’s not just DRM, the platforms have carte blanche to change the terms of your license at any time. For example, they could start charging per download, completely remove offline library access, remove/censor games, delete your account at any time, etc… Gaben pinky promising to release all games DRM free if Steam goes under isn’t the same as having them.

Inheriting a Steam library is already against TOS, if they start strictly enforcing that your collection dies with you. GoG is slightly better at the moment, but only if you download all games on purchase (the DRM policy could change at any time).

I don’t personally pirate, but it’s the only way to really ensure access and ownership of your library. The hassle factor was true, but there are a lot of new tools in the space that make managing a library painless (a quick search shows Playnite as the game library equivalent of Plex/Jellyfin).

And all of that is putting aside the fair-value argument for creators. They’re getting ~$0.40 from your purchase, not enough to sustain themselves unless they have a massive number of sales.

By all means, enjoy your library and deal hunting games, but your methods run counter to your stated goals.

Maybe it’s consumerism. If so, it’s certainly fettered.

Statements of the utterly deranged lol. You admit to buying stuff knowing there’s an 80% chance you never touch it. That’s indulgent no matter what budget you set.

I’m not one to shame steam libraries, mine is certainly lopsided in playtime, but if you’re in it for collecting and preserving hidden gems just pirate. You’ll no longer be locked in to Steam and if you like a game you can still buy it at full price and give the devs more than pennies.