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I've been spending a lot of time pairing up characters so that they get married and then I get to meet their time-traveling  progeny. It's fun to see what characteristics the parents pass on to their kids and get an extra perspective on this doom-and-gloom future everyone is ranting on about. It's also rewarding to fill out my party with new blood; the excitement of new life offers a soothing counter to the anguish of life lost.

Today I mourn Vaike.

Look at this cocky bastard. Weird chains dangling off his neck collar like so much Ylissian bling. Can't be bothered to keep track of his axes. Refers to himself not just in the third-person, but makes himself into a proper noun: "The Vaike." No shirt, no helmet, no problem. 

But what a soldier! When he torqued those practice-hardened muscles back and uncorked a ferocious axe strike, the Risen rose no more. He was a fierce fighter and a trustworthy ally, lending unbending support and an easy smile to all his compatriots. We'll all remember "Teach" sharing his strategies and tips freely, solicited or no. His confidence, his self-assurance, and his gusto made us all better soldiers, better allies, and better friends. 

Vaike, for your rockin' hair, your rockin' bod, your rockin' attitude, and your rockin' axe, we salute you. Rock in peace.

[ Watch Video ]

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He didn't pull me from a burning building or rescue me from a frozen lake. But when I was suffering from a depression that had me constantly on the brink of suicide, he was the man who kept me on this side of the abyss. 

He was my therapist, but that word is so clinical, and doesn't accurately describe who Dan was to me. Friend? Yes, even though I usually only saw him in the confines of the office of a mental health clinic in Warren, PA. Father figure is more accurate, I suppose, but whatever you call him, he was the one that convinced me that life was worth living. His office was the safest place on the planet. It was there that I felt most vulnerable, and most cared for. He is the reason I am still here today, rather than a memory, or at very least, rather than a human husk, withering away in a hospital for the remainder of my days. 

He shared with me stories that a professional therapist shouldn't generally be sharing with his patient, and yet it was exactly the right thing to do in my case. I would record myself playing Christmas music on cassette tape and give it to him as a Christmas gift. I went to a church where he was a guest pastor one Sunday and marveled that this man could radiate such kindness and generosity. I read about his exploits with his boy scout troop, and wondered if those young men knew how fortunate they were that someone like Dan could be in their lives. 

I also know that Dan was an imperfect man. But I wasn't prepared to discover that several weeks ago, this man responsible for me being here to share this story today went missing. Vanished from his house, his wallet and keys left behind. No note, no goodbye to his wife Penny, no sign of a break in, no indication that something was wrong. He was simply gone. 

The police have searched, and the Conewango Creek and local branch of the Allegheny River have been scoured. No one knows if Dan, at the age of 69, wandered off to take his own life, or fell into the river and was washed away. Perhaps he was discontent and troubled, and decided to travel where he couldn't be found and live out his last days in peace. Perhaps he simply went for a walk to some unknown place and suffered a heart attack, and hasn't been found in spite of the exhaustive search. 

But it doesn't seem that Dan is coming back. 

The last time I talked to Dan was a few years ago. He sent me an email entitled "The real story...for those with a warped sense of humor." It was a typical viral email that people might send, this one with pictures of fairy tale princesses as they might have ended up. Snow White with her several babies and a good-for-nothing prince sitting in front of the TV. An obese Little Red Riding Hood wandering through the forest, sipping on a Big Gulp and carrying a basket full of bread. It certainly wasn't the most socially sensitive communication, but it's what I have. 

I love you Dan. I hope that you are close to God now. 

Edit: My mom shared this YouTube link with me of Dan leading vespers in 2012. http://youtu.be/dmVaCIoxeI0

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Also, on Playstation Plus there is Demon's Souls on the Playstation Store for free. I downloaded that immediately and I am loving the game so much. Alright, I'm off to play my video games talk to you guys later.

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Hello dear readers

its been a while but i thought today is the right time for making a new blog. The power of the purse hhm strange blogname so what's it all about. The recent discussions here on gs as well as in the whole gamer scene about dlc season passes failing game series and lack of innovation brought me to this point. Why cause we the gamers are the cause of this situation and of the upcoming way gaming will be. Thats the power of the purse cause through the point that the gaming industry is more money gaining then the movie industry in the meantime things and companies have changed.

So the main point will be innovations and how we gamer handle them. In the last year there always was that bick yell throughout the community that there is a lack of innovation. Old game models and series get milked and milked often on a cost of quality. So the Community yells hey we got a lack of innovation in the game development scene. Well dear gamers were the cause of it. Why do you think do we see the most innovations from small game companys or indi gamers cause they are still willing to not avoid risks at all costs cause they are in my eyes more connected to the game community then the global big companys. Why is thats so mentioning the movie industrie above was the first slightly change the gamers recognized.

Since you can make so much money through selling a great game it has become more and more a pure economical thing then creating a piece of art or something that should affect people in a new way. Only the profit comes in view when deciding about making a new game. You see this in the spreading like mushrooms dlc for games. Well but were the paying gamer comunity are the cause of that as long as we will throw our money into dlc season passes or games which came out every year with only slightly changes and a bit of polish we shouldnt cry for lack of innovation.

This is the cause why there still new CoDs ever few month and someone like double fine needs to make a crowdfunding to develop an adventure. Yes cause all companies tell them hey you wont get our money for that make us an CoD with Dlc that will make 400% more profit. (Sorry about the alltime CoD reference but its the prototype of those games).

So the only creative innovation or games including so much love and art come from the small companies and we got it in our hand. We shouldn critisize every effort to create something new picking the weakspots and ruining a game. Look at the beloved fps mentioned in the last escape from mount stupid where is the innovation? What is new beside 1-2 small new functions and a new textureset and maps not much in the last 10 years. Still its the cash cow of the industry all want to make pfs or action games cause they sell best.

Since this is going on now for years the big game companies lost all effords in making an game which is new and might not be loved from all people cause its new different and unexpectable.

So dear gamers think of your power of the purse when getting your next games when you want a change and a new game century of innovations and new things for us. Support those who are innovative and have an critic view on those best selling games what do they offer you new? Is it really worth getting it cause all people get it?Rethink and force the companies to take more risks by making not economicly planed games a huge success.

throw your coins in the right direction

hoped you liked my thoughts, your welcome to comment and im waiting from your view of that situation

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04-25-201211:31:59

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One of the latest memes on the internet sprouted from one of the most popular video game releases of 2011; The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. A casual comment spoken by various town guards is, " I used to be an adventurer like you, but then I took an arrow in the knee." It comes up frequently enough, and is quirky enough, that it caught on as a meme. In the past two months, endless spin-offs and remixes of the phrase have surfaced.

Earlier this week, a blogger on Tech in Asia posted an article about the use of the phrase by Chinese speakers on the internet, and how that culture has adapted the meme to their own current events. As a language learning company, our ears perked up at this concept. Maybe the complaint that the meme is being overused would disappear if it were… in German? Russian?

When you're learning a language, having fun with it is a big step in the right direction. And so here we present some additional translations from our language team for when you take an arrow in the knee. We've included both the original sentence, and a handy fill in the blank version for whatever it isyouused to do.

1. I used to be _______________ like you, but then I took an arrow in the knee.

2. The original: "I used to be an adventurer like you, but then I took an arrow in the knee."

French

The first one is a bit difficult because "J' tais ________" is only correct if the next word describes the actual person. (Ex: I was an adventurer or I was short or I was happy.) However, if you want to say "I used to play" (so, in this case describing a habitual past action), the verb must actually be conjugated in the imperfect. Ex: Je jouais =I used to play. Here is a direct translation:

1. J' tais ________comme vous ,mais puis j'ai pris une fl che au genou.

2. J' tais un aventurier, mais puis j'ai pris une fl che au genou.

Here are two examples:

I used to bake my own pies, but then I took an arrow in the knee.

Je faisais mes propres tartes mais, puis j'ai pris une fl che au genou.

Or, you could express it like this:

Je faisais moi-m me des tartes mais, puis j'ai pris une fl che au genou

(In either case, gender or speaker doesn't matter because it's the action.)

I used to be a language learner like you, but then I took an arrow to the knee.

J' tais  tudiant de langues mais, puis j'ai pris une fl che au genou

In this case, gender does matter because it's describing the person. In the example, it's masculine. If feminine, it would look like this: J' tais  tudiante

And, if you want to really designate that the "used to" was in the past, one might add the word "autre fois" (In the past).

Portuguese

1. Eu era ______ igual a voc , mas da  eu levei uma flechada no joelho.

2. Eu era aventureiro igual a voc , mas da  eu levei uma flechada no joelho.

Spanish

1. Yo era ______________ como t , pero me hirieron con una flecha en la rodilla.

2. Yo era un aventurero como t , pero me hirieron con una flecha en la rodilla.

Danish

1. Jeg var engang _________ som du, men s  fik jeg en pil i kn et.

2. Jeg var engang en eventyrer som du, men s  fik jeg en pil i kn et.

The translations are not literal, but adapted to a wording that sounds more Danish. (Jeg plejede at…, I used to…, is more used with active verbs, like "I used to swim each Friday".)

Russian

This meme is doing fairly well on the Russian Internet. The full sentence is:

for a male:Я тоже раньше был искателем приключений, как и ты, но потом получил стрелу в колено.

for a female:Я тоже раньше была искательницей приключений, как и ты, но потом получила стрелу в колено.

The translation of the phrase "I used to be___________ like you, but then I took an arrow in the knee" is "Я тоже был/была _________________ как и ты, но потом получил/получила стрелу в колено". (I provided both male/female versions for the verbs)

The Russian meme also has such versions asЯ тоже хотел/хотела…. (I also wanted), including this hilarious one -http://demotivation.me/vfw2rbpab5c7pic.html(I wanted to be a liberal president, but then I took an arrow in the knee)

Swedish

1. Jag brukade vara……….som du, men sen blev jag skjuten i kn et. (but got shot in the knee)

2. Jag brukade vara  ventyrlig som du, men sen blev jag skjuten i kn et.

Irish

1. Bh nn i mo ______________ mar thusa ach ansin bhuail saighead m  sa ghl in.

2. (adventurer: eachtr na )Bh nn i m'eachtr na  mar thusa ach ansin bhuail saighead m  sa ghl in

There's a contraction now, "i'm" instead of "i mo," because of the two vowels. There are actually about half a dozen ways to say this, but I think this pattern is the most straightforward.

German

1. Fr her war ich ______________________ wie du, aber dann schoss ich einen Pfeil ins Knie.

2. Fr her war ich ein Abenteurer wie du, aber dann schoss ich einen Pfeil ins Knie.

Note: In German we say "einen Pfeil schie en" (to shoot an arrow). This, again, expresses who is the agent/doer of the action, which is not the case in this situation.

So, when the speaker 'shot himself in his knee' say "aber dann schoss ich mir einen Pfeil ins Knie". When someone else 'shot an arrow in the speaker's knee', say: "aber dann schoss man mir einen Pfeil ins Knie" (like above). When you do not want to stress whom the speaker 'shot in the knee', say: "aber dann schoss ich einen Pfeil ins Knie" (also the same like above).

Polish

1. Byłem (male)/Byłam (female) __________ jak ty, ale potem dostałem(m)/dostałam(f)strzałkę w kolano.

2. Byłem (male)/Byłam (female)poszukiwaczem przyg d,ale potem ostałem(m)/dostałam(f)strzałkę w kolano.

Now you can tell all your Danish friends about your extreme archery misfortunes. We'll add new translations as we get them. Happy language learning!

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I have never seen so many bugs, glitches and errors in a console game in my life. Hell, even World of Warcraft in beta was more polished then this outrageous release from Bethesda.

Some other press representants have already spoken about it, yet, as we could expect, Gamespot is acting like nothing happened.

When the Sony collapse happened, leaving players months without online gaming, Gamespot would post a new article about it every day, sometimes twice a day.

Now that Bethesda, a company "befriended" with Microsoft is commiting (AGAIN) a real software crime against the consumers, Gamespot is quiet and silent.

Wake up people, this is not a serious gaming site.

You can see the REAL situation in the official Skyrim PS3 forums: http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php?/forum/182-playstation-3/

Shame on you Bethesda, shame on you Gamespot.

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Perched on my tower of critical analysis, I knew that Bastion was a great game. There's an enticing relationship between your actions and the story that I've rarely seen before, and the delicate artistic style presented a serene landscape that was easy to get lost in. Fast combat kept diverse by new weapons and varied enemies demanded focus. But if you've played any of Bastion, you already know the intricacies that make it tick.

Even though I was fully aware of all the things Bastion was doing really well, I didn't ultimately care. I can point to the extremely linear level design or iffy long-range aiming as slight problems distracting me from the tasty goodness everyone seems to have been devouring, but I know that would be disingenuous. There aren't any tangible problems in Bastion that could leave me with a feeling of indifference; I just didn't have any emotional connection. It happens in every art form. No matter how impressive the craftsmanship is, it won't resonate with everyone. I resolved to keep playing, because it was still fun and I wanted to see what lay ahead, but it felt more like a duty than a passion.

And then I reached The Singer.

When the level began, the narrator started talking about something I couldn't quite understand. "There the kid hears something he ain't heard in a long while. How's it go again?" Up to this point, the narrator talked about your story and actions, things The Kid had experienced or was doing first hand. I could hear, faintly in the background, an acoustic guitar start up. Quietly at first, and then louder, with vocals slowly coming in. A woman's voice, beautiful, sad. The narrator continued, after a short pause, "That's the one.... timeless."

And I was finally invested in the world. The structure of this level is the same as the previous ones – switches, enemies, rising pieces of land forming a path – but it was much easier. Enemies were less prevalent than before. The narrator quieter. It was about the music, and it was mesmerizing. "Some day your bird is gonna fly."

It's not often that I play a game that fully realizes the emotionally potential of a masterful piece of music presented in just the right way. Whereas the visuals and combat moved me on an intellectual level, it wasn't until I was struck by the melancholy beauty of this song that my emotional side was piqued. I stood still for long stretches, just soaking it in, hoping it wouldn't stop. And when I reached the end, a singer was sitting in the grass. I had initially assumed the narrator had broken the fourth wall by recognizing the soundtrack, but that wasn't the case at all. The Singer was as real as The Kid. And I stood next to her, listening to the words and the music repeat over and over.

Zia's Song

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