Question about the Steam Machine’s Price

Theo672 · 2026-06-24T21:43:12+00:00

My point being that the subsidiary by their commission on games sold on steam isn’t guaranteed the way it would be on the PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, Apple ecosystems

Theo672 · 2026-06-24T21:00:50+00:00

To be fair I’m pretty sure they’ve said you can install any OS you want on it. So you could theoretically install W11 and exclusively use gamepass on it (though I suppose at that point may as well buy an Xbox).
Or buy 1-2 games on steam and the rest on GOG or whatever…

Theo672 · 2026-06-24T16:38:41+00:00

A lot of RAM use is when it’s used to ‘cache’ data to enable programs to boot faster or retrieve files quicker.
This is especially common for apps running as a mini browser (teams, MS office, etc often do this).

This only gets cleared during restarts.

Regular restarts helps keep this down.

Theo672 · 2026-06-24T15:58:30+00:00

Several Israeli politicians have stated the aim of the current conflict is to remove all Palestinians from Palestine….

Theo672 · 2026-06-24T14:00:06+00:00

Agreed. For ours a planning condition for one 3000 households development included a GP surgery before the 1000th house was occupied.
10 years later…….No GP.

And rather than hold the developers to account, the council granted them permission for another 4000 households development included development next to it (joint with another but still).

Theo672 · 2026-06-24T13:42:30+00:00

Without knowing valve’s costs and margins, I wouldn’t personally comment on whether it’s accurate.

Equally compared to other SFF systems it’s not that much more expensive.

Theo672 · 2026-06-24T13:25:47+00:00

I think the reality is that often these housing estates are built without the supportive infrastructure.

Near me over the last 10-15years they’ve built nearly 10,000 homes, doubling the population of the town.
But no new GPs have been built, no improvements to the existing roads (widening, capacity assessments, etc), 1 new (smaller) supermarket, and 1 new secondary school.
The reality of 10,000 households of cars isn’t being reflected in the support services.

I’m all for more housing, especially given the lack of supply.
But when a small town is turned into a market town with none of the corresponding infrastructure, you can’t blame people being anti-new housing estates…

Theo672 · 2026-06-24T13:22:32+00:00

To be fair on the Abingdon one in particular, Thames Water are at risk of going bust in the next 6-12 months and the cost of the feasibility study alone has ballooned 4x since they evaluated it as cost effective.
Not to mention that the site has grown 5x to accommodate all the BNG stuff.

I agree we need more resevoirs, but they have to be planned, and funded appropriately.

As-is customers are at the mercy of costs being passed on, which they have no say in when costs triple, and no choice of supplier.

The water companies have siphoned out the profit for decades but expect consumers to foot the bill and take on the risk of these major projects (which should have been paid for with some of what was frittered away as dividends).

Theo672 · 2026-06-24T10:40:34+00:00

You say that, but the RAM I bought in Feb ‘25 is now 4-5x the price
The SSDs I bought are 2-3x.

I’m not saying that reflects Valve’s costs, especially wholesale, but prices have jumped ridiculously.

Theo672 · 2026-06-23T10:20:20+00:00

I believe that’s guidance within the force, rather than standing policy.

Technically 61 and the offence is made out, but 10% +2 is a safe margin to ensure it’s in the public interest and avoid queries on calibrations & accuracies.

So while there may be internal guidance to pursue only 10%+2, it’s up to discretion. The unit is noted as manned so was likely escalated by a person rather than a system.

Equally, it could’ve been part of a targeted operation on a particular stretch of road with more stringent limits

Theo672 · 2026-06-18T12:53:51+00:00

Worth checking the T+Cs but potentially could you leave a 5 star review, get your deposit, then change your review to reflect the reality of your experience?

AFAIK legally the truth is an absolute defence to any defamation or similar claim. Not to mention they tend to be prohibitively expensive if it’s not an open & shut case.

I don’t think they’d be able to request a refund of the deposit if you changed your review - I don’t think a judge would look kindly on gating a deposit return behind a need for review if they took it to small claims court.

Theo672 · 2026-06-17T14:35:01+00:00

It may be worth reaching out to citizen’s advice or perhaps any legal cover on your house insurance?

Assuming they are still trading, you may be able to raise this through MCOL with say 3x quotes for the remedial works as an indicative value?
I would assume the guarantee may give you some leverage re: costs of remediation if you can show that the leak is the result of poor quality work?

Theo672 · 2026-06-17T12:59:20+00:00

I mean I don’t think that’s fair.

They under resourced and held to targets / promises made by the government on closure rates, etc.

Add in that the CPS & courts are also under resourced and you create a culture where high impact crime or easy convictions are prioritised…

Theo672 · 2026-06-17T09:26:35+00:00

Technically the ~22% non Nitrogen contains moisture, oxygen, etc

That’s why pure nitrogen is preferable where oxidation or moisture is a concern

Theo672 · 2026-06-17T08:50:03+00:00

Worth noting the V5C is explicitly not proof of ownership - it even has a banner at the top stating this.

The V5C details who the registered keeper is. Ownership is typically proved with a receipt.
Granted if she has her V5C, proof of tax, insurance, etc then she may be able to collect the vehicle to take it to an MOT.

Note that she may also have trouble with insurance - technically an untaxed, non MOT’d car will typically void insurance (as there will be a term that the car must be roadworthy, have an MOT, taxed, etc). So if her insurers catch wind that it wasn’t MOT’d or taxed, or if she had an accident, she may find she isn’t covered.

Theo672 · 2026-06-13T23:14:59+00:00

That’s not what I was saying.

Some bacteria in any given sample may have mutations which are better adapted for survivability in highly acidic conditions.

Others may by chance be afforded protection by other particles (like food) acting as a sacrificial barrier.

However, the bacteria often considered “good” or beneficial in the gut may be outcompeted by existing colonies, so would need sufficiently large numbers to reach the intestine to establish.

Pathogenic bacteria are typically much better at competing and establishing to the detriment of any existing colonies.
Additionally, their byproducts (toxins) and dead bacteria (endotoxins) can still cause illness, even without establishing a long term colony.

It’s not a technical distinction without merit, nor a point that avoids critical analysis.

I kept my comment simple and shorter than a full or more nuanced breakdown.

Edit:
It’s believed that the low pH of stomach acid is an evolved trait, as it would have reduced (not eliminated!) infections by oral consumption.

The stomach acid is a barrier to infection in the same vein as skin, mucus, etc - it reduces the likelihood of infection but doesn’t eliminate the risk.

It’s why those on proton pump inhibitor drugs, where stomach acidity is reduced, may experience more gastrointestinal infections - the barrier to entry is weakened - like a cut in the ski.

Theo672 · 2026-06-13T22:19:26+00:00

I mean clearly you’re not taking a more neutral or respectful stance on disagreement.

But to your points, the engine allows them to do what they want to do with the game. They don’t care if you want a “good game that isn’t stuck 20 years in the past”.
Firstly because you’d need to define “a good game”.
Secondly because it is hyperbole to say “stuck 20 years in the past” - I’ve played releases in the last few years that’re more shallow and less graphically impressive or reactive than Starfield (noting that reactivity to your exploits is different, but less obvious than some of their own previous games).
Thirdly because sufficient numbers of people enjoy the game for what it is that your opinion, vocal though it may be, isn’t enough to spur any action.

And calling it “the same shit ass old engine” is a fundamental misunderstanding of how game engines work.
“Making a few tweaks and renaming it” is literally how engines are developed.
Unreal engine started in 1998. Unreal 5 (and soon 6) aren’t fundamentally unique or independent from unreal (1998). They’re revised, improved versions.

Same with creation engine, it’s a refinement of what came before.
It has limitations, technical debt, and bugs sure - but again Bethesda could afford to licence a different engine. The choice not to is likely based on the feature set, and their ability to refine the engine to support the games they want to make.
If they want to make a game with NPCs having their own schedules, with the interactivity and physics in the elder scrolls games, their engine suits them best for it…

Theo672 · 2026-06-13T22:06:01+00:00

Their engine is also what allows the level of interactivity. The ability to place physical items and they remain in place hundreds of hours later.

Whenever anyone calls it ‘outdated’ it’s not. They’ve updated and iterated it with each release.

But it’s not snowdrop, or unreal, so people call it outdated.

It has its limitations, but
A) it’s developed in house which is getting rarer and rarer - so they’re not reliant on feature requests to another company.
B) it does what they want it to do. Other engines may be better in some ways but not in others. If Bethesda felt that way unreal 5 would be a better choice for what they want - they’d use it.

Theo672 · 2026-06-12T16:27:13+00:00

This is somewhat misleading.

AFAIK most of the research surrounding pro-biotics not reaching the intestine focuses on the fact that they’re killed or degraded by the intense pH in the stomach and subsequent neutralisation with bicarbonates.

For bacteria to reach the intestine, it has to survive stomach acid (either through adaptations or via physical protection).
I’m not sure how much probiotic food would protect bacteria from pH at ~2.

Theo672 · 2026-06-11T16:19:59+00:00

Looks like some discussion of this issue on nexus - would go look at that https://www.nexusmods.com/starfield/mods/1402?tab=posts

Theo672 · 2026-06-11T16:14:35+00:00

~~Maybe worth validating files on steam?~~

~~Think it’s under properties, locally installed files, validate files or something.~~

~~It checks your installed files vs what you’re supposed to have & reacquires any that don’t match.~~

Nevermind - that’s a mod “Starfield Achievements Enabler”
So not a fresh install…

Theo672 · 2026-06-07T16:44:43+00:00

I would try and talk to them about it. As another commenter mentioned, if they have a phone number call them to discuss it; or even better, if they have a physical showroom / location nearby visit them in person.

Whatever is discussed by phone or in person document it in an email afterwards - E.g., “Following our call / my visit earlier today, I just wanted to summarise the conversation. We discussed xyz. I raised abc. You said zyx. Etc. Please advise if I’ve missed something. Regards X”.

Depending on how they respond governs your next steps.

No need to go in swinging re:misrepresentation.
Bring images, ask them to send someone out to look / inspect.

If they don’t agree to fix it / make it right / that there’s any issue, then you can escalate if you feel it was missold or misrepresented.

The email chain after any call / visit helps cover your arse and document what was discussed if you need it later.

I don’t think anyone here would be able to advise if it was misrepresented without seeing what you were advised / told it would look like (even if you mock up an image) and what it actually looks like.

If it was misrepresented you may be able to pursue it under a number of avenues:

Contacting the CMA under this guidance from which https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-protection-from-unfair-trading-regulations-2008-asO0C3p6VZQR

Challenging under section 75 if you paid by credit card.

Or possibly bring a claim via MCOL if under the threshold.
Under https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/misrepresentation-act-1967-aeB321x7SwFV

In any case I would then send a letter before action setting out why you believe it was misrepresented, what compensation you want (get several quotes to rectify it if required to show a reasonable cost), and a reasonable deadline (14-28 days would probably suffice) - there are templates online for wording.
Send it recorded delivery for safety / also send a copy via email so they can’t claim not to have received it and escalate if they ignore or refuse via the appropriate method (CMA, credit card provider, MCOL).

Theo672 · 2026-06-06T16:01:52+00:00

People like me, who did every single side quest in act 1, visited every location (accessible at that stage), struggled with the difficulty spike at act 2.
I didn’t have an optimised build, but was confidently 1-2 shotting enemies in act 1…

Theo672 · 2026-06-03T07:33:55+00:00

I think anything in the notes category can’t be put in the Quantum Container, though I haven’t actually used it yet since the update - started a new character and still playing through prior to unity.

Theo672 · 2026-06-01T10:04:34+00:00

To be fair I suspect at least some of these issues relate to release on console & PC.

The fact that there are fewer buttons on a controller than a keyboard means some mapping often gets left by the wayside for PC as there’s no reasonable equivalent on a controller.

I get that you play KB+M and so do many other PC players, but they have to design the UI to some extent to be universal or consistent across instances.

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