They kinda could have clarified you can't play against other random players BEFORE people started redeeming and pre-ordering via GOG.
why should they have? All the games on GOG have been DRM free sinse the sites launch, and as such wont support the online features of the games. This a smart thing cause all it takes is one person to buy a DRM free game (if you could use the online features) and pass it around say 30 people or post it online for all to pirate. Bad enough people can pirate the single player.
You could make the argument that Larian should have mentioned this as people may be new to DRM and GoG, but then fool on them for not finding out what DRM is and how not having it affects your game cause GoG mention it on thier front page.
They specifically stated that there are no differences in functionality between the versions, and all versions are DRM-free.
What they said as well is that the game is unable to use SteamWorks features if it's not on steam. Which is fine - Steamworks involves directly inviting your Steam friend in your game, the ui-overlay, the steam guides and all that nonsense no one really needs, right? (And maybe even the Steam Cloud save in case you use more computers, although as I've read on the Steam forums, that doesn't even work.)
Apparently wrong, because the game doesn't ship with an actual connection capability to a match making master server, and thus is not feature-complete. Imagine the following scenario: You go to the store, buy your StarCraft version at full price, but don't receive a CD key for it. You can freely install your game anywhere, but you can't access Battle.NET (the master lobby server where you can actually play with other people from all over the internet),
DESPITE PAYING FULL PRICE.
WHAT THE HELL WAS LARIAN THINKING?
(Apart from "hey, let's also distribute a third version on GOG to attract more players, but let's not tell them that they can't access our match making server until they've actually made their purchase - but at least we got all the cash we need :)"
Or at least, that's what it looks like from the outside, which kinda sucks.)
Sigh, the more time passes by, the angrier I get.
