Use an adblocker. If you’re torrenting, use a VPN. While using a free VPN may seem enticing, they often don’t respect your user privacy and even if they do they often don’t support peer-to-peer connections, so you can’t use them to torrent anyway. The only good torrent client we'd recommend is qBittorrent.
Note: Yes, the GOG installer will ask for admin permissions. This is because the installers are ripped from the legitimate, non-pirate GOG Games site, and require admin permissions to install. We've had varied results installing without admin perms.
I downloaded from GOG!... now what?
First, open up your file explorer and right click the zip file you just downloaded, then click "Extract." This will create a new folder with the installers in them. If you remember from the Start page, the DLC episodes are referred to as the "Adventure Pass." GOG has two separate installers for the main game (Episodes 1-5) and the Adventure Pass (Episodes 6-8). For this to work, you have to install the main game first! This will be labeled as
"setup_minecraft_story_mode_2018-02-22_(18805).exe" <-- RUN THIS FIRST
The Adventure Pass installer will be labeled something similar with "adventure pass" at the end, like so:
"setup_minecraft_story_mode_-_adventure_pass_2018-02-22_(18805).exe" <-- RUN THIS AFTER
After that, the game should launch like a charm.
You can buy the physical PC disc off of Amazon, eBay or another trusted site. Season Two’s PC physical copy does not contain episodes 2-5 and there is no way to download the episodes without pirating them, so it's pretty much a waste of money unless you're collecting.
Steam keys are a mixed bag. You may get your account suspended and can easily get scammed. Prices are often outrageous, going for up to $150 to $200, It isn’t worth the money or the risk and the only people you’ll be supporting are the scalpers who sell the game for these exorbitant prices. However, if you’re insistent, buy a key from G2A.