Spotify Exclusive Podcasts also contain sound ads here in germany. For me it was a reason to unsubscribe as i don’t listen anymore to so much new music and have a own catalog of music from past.

download some unknown exe or sideload some dll with admin rights sound like good idea.

An own launcher does not fit at all to what is reported about Larian. Steam has monopoly position and that will probably not change so quickly. Another launcher will only annoy the users. I personally avoid even games that need an extra launcher on steam like from Ubisoft or EA.

The only thing I could complain about is that I am still downloading. Due to the games size of over 100GB and no preload, the launch player numbers are very falsified think it will be much more. As I say I am still downloading.