Just wow.

Something that everybody keeps assuming is that I have the Valve All-Access Code already. Just last night, a good friend made the assumption that I had L4D2 now. Funny thing is, I don't. I haven't received the code yet. The slowness on that aspect of my prize isn't PC Gamer's fault. The computer was shipped out the day after I filled out all the forms, which was just an impressive response time that PC Gamer should really be proud of. I think they were just as excited to get me that computer asap as I was to receive it and that's awesome. But the Valve All-Access Pass, they still hadn't received that from Valve.

Obviously, the contest was something that had been in the works and announced in advance. Enough time for Digital Storm to custom paint my beautiful new baby's exterior and its interior grills and vents with an automotive grade paint finish. That stuff takes time. Every aspect of that computer obviously took a great deal of time and care in its making. The wiring is so beautifully done that it's virtually invisible. Time and effort went into making my beautiful baby and probably quite a bit of both. On Valve's end, they already had a similar code that is apparently used for its employees, reviewers and close industry ties. All they needed to do was make it so that I could enter that code in and get that same kind of access. Apparently, that takes longer than building a custom painted monster of a machine because Dan Stapleton of PC Gamer was apologetic in the code's absence after my computer was shipped out.

We make jokes about "Valve time" and how slow they can be. It's like the ETF2L Highlander Community Challenge medals that we all haven't received a year later. I've seen most people who are eligible for the medals give up on ever receiving theirs. Should I give up on receiving my code? A company should always be mindful of how its customers' view their reliability and trustworthiness. I think of Valve's promises and I think of Left 4 Dead, the Highlander medals, the Half Life monthly episodes. Am I going to have to add in the all access code to that list where Valve smiled and said they were going to do something only to not do it at all?

I posted on the Steam forums seeing if anybody had any ideas on what to do about getting them to get me the code because, honestly, I'm scared. I'm scared that I just simply won't get it. That Valve will just forget me because of some convention somewhere, some new game that they're playing or working on. Maybe they'll forget me because they're working on new hats. The thread on Steam was courteous--amazingly so considering it was Steam forums--so it was a cold hard shock to see that ian, one of the forums' moderators, declare that the thread was going into "dark, dangerous and evil places" and promptly lock it down. I have 83 games through Steam and those don't include the so far non-existent pass. I have thousands of dollars invested in a company who makes promises that they don't keep and shuts down threads that voice a concern. To me, that's dark. That's dangerous. That's just bringing things into an evil place.