Anxiety and Letting Off Steam

[sesquipedality]

I've been a bit confused as to why I've been all shut down the last few weeks, since I have enough experience of depression to know that I'm not depressed. I think I've finally managed to pinpoint it to a generalised amorphous anxiety that I don't really seem to be able to do much about. Expect a slightly more broken than usual Cassandra in the mean time, and be aware that there may be associated irrationality and paranoia. I'm certainly trying to be aware of that.

I've been seduced by the ease and cheapness of buying computer games online, and now have much Half-Life and Uplinky goodness courtesy of Valve software's Steam. However, it sadly doesn't seem to play nice with Vista. So I decided to have a play with Valve's tech support, as I'm sure they'll be pretty unhelpful anyway.

I don't seem to be able to order any new Steam products 
or download demos on Vista.  Clicking a link to download or order just does nothing.

I'm aware that you don't support Vista yet.  You should be aware that I'm unlikely 
to be buying any more Steam products until you do.

Of course if you don't want my money, please feel free to ignore this mail.

Petty, but it made me feel better. Less good was impulse ordering "Beyond Good and Evil" from the Ubisoft online store today. While you can't complain about the price (£7), I can't help but feel that the experience would have been enhanced by them providing an actual working link to download the darn thing from. :(

Comments

[al-fruitbat.livejournal.com]

Hm. I'm pretty sure they're working on it, but FWIW, I suspect there are some security / permissions issues to be dealt with.

Steam is a very 'insular' bit of software - it does everything itself, inside itself, doesn't provide feedback and basically obfuscates as much as it can.

Vista, on the other hand, is a rather 'dominant' bit of software. Microsoft want Teh Contorl of teh hardware, and so letting a quiet little app sit in the corner and spurt data back and forth (while checksumming and modifying files on the HD) isn't exactly encouraged behaviour.

I like Steam. Steam hurts cheats and thieves. We like hurting cheats and thieves ;-)

[sesquipedality.livejournal.com]

Also they do it in such a way that they make life easier for genuine purchasers who can still do everything important they could do with a disc (backup, play from different computers), and throw in auto-patching and no more intrusive license checks (I'm sure the disc was round here somewhere ... you mean I have to plug my DVD drive into my tablet PC to play this even though all the data is on the hard drive?) for good measure. That's what I call added value. It gives more money to the people producing the game and passes on cost savings to the consumer. What's not to like?

I noticed that your current project is up for sale on Steam. Price is a bit rich for me at the moment, but maybe when it comes down a bit ...

[al-fruitbat.livejournal.com]

If you want, you should be able to get free access to the MP beta (the bit I'm actually working on) here -
http://uk.gamespot.com/betas/darkmessiah/index.php?id=darkmessiah
(You need to sign up for a free GameSpot account first)

No idea how long it lasts, or if keys are still being given out, sorry.

[sesquipedality.livejournal.com]

Seems to have worked, thanks.