So, who are you and what do you do? [Archive] - Page 5

tempus67

01-28-2010, 10:54 AM

This got bumped again and this time I won't procrastinate until it falls off the first page.

I'm a 42 year old web geek managing a small team of developers at Amherst College. Started gaming when the local Radioshack got a trs-80 in and it became my after school hangout, though it was my jr high school's computer lab full of Commodore Pets and a single Apple (I? II? II+?) that really sealed the deal. Started at home with a Sears Pong machine and have owned most of the home consoles since then, along with computers running most of the OS's available over the years - in terms of popular US machines, I think Radio Shack, Atari, and the Amiga are the only ones I've never owned. I play lots of genres, RPGs, turn-based strategy, and FPS being my favorites. I play a lot of boardgames as well. I'm recently married with (hopefully) kids on the way.

Misguided

01-28-2010, 10:59 AM

I'm a 40 y.o. former M.D./Ph.D. student, former tabletop RPG publisher, former Gamestop store manager that just moved with my wife of 17 years, 2 kids, 3 dogs, and cat to Seattle, where I'm looking for work in the game industry in QA or community/CS. My handle is a reference to my old company, Misguided Games, which I was running at the time I joined the community.

Marcin

01-28-2010, 11:03 AM

I don't think I ever posted here ...

Born in Poland in '75, emigrated at 13. Currently a web developer at Garage Games; got here through an interest in web content management at various places: Audiogalaxy started it, and then I bummed around for a while at advertising, educational and even plumbing companies. This is the best fit so far, as is Oregon; moved here both for the job and the location. It reminds me of my homeland, except with more beer variety. Married, expecting a little girl just about any day now.

I've been interested in games from the very first Pong machine and ZX Spectrum that I saw. My emigration caused my gaming history to have a very weird gap in that I jumped from Pong and Speccy to the 8086 (actually a V20 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEC_V20)) and SNES. Still mostly a PC guy, but I enjoy my consoles too.

J. Matthew Zoss

01-28-2010, 03:49 PM

Hans Lauring

01-28-2010, 03:55 PM

I've posted here before, but things have changed considerably since then. When I joined I was working in video game PR. But I got laid off, and I've returned to video game journalism* as a freelancer.

32, married, live in Minnesota. Two cats, one of which is being bad as we speak.

*I know that it's a profession that's about as popular as George W. Bush around here. Sorry.

Nah, it's very popular. It's so popular, that people go out of their way to expose the pretenders and wannabees.
It's just not automatically popular, you have to earn it. And bragging that you scammed Activision out of five DJ Hero turntables isn't earning it...

Hippocampusforlife

01-28-2010, 04:24 PM

Seems like as good a place as any to make my first post:

I'm a PhD student in Neuroscience (a.k.a Unemploy(ed) (-able?)). I guess I'm due to be finishing soon, but that doesn't seem terribly likely. Maybe I'd like to break into some form of computer science post-doc; Adaptive neural networking as it applies to AI is pretty interesting to me, and my background is all in adaptive neural networking (LTP, place cells, that kind of jazz).

In terms of the gaming industry, I've written a few non-paying reviews for the major games site in New Zealand (Gameplanet.co.nz), mostly simulations which I've loved since Gunship! and F-19 Stealth Fighter on the c64; so nothing major, given the popularity of simulations and the obscurity of the country.

I've been doing the gaming thing since ~1985 with a C64, and my pedigree moves through an Amiga 500 to various IBM-compats with various sidelines via Sega Master System (Called a Genesis in America?) and 3DO.

Maybe that explains why I never did the console thing beyond buying a wii for my partner.

Oh, I'm also a Kiwi; I guess that makes three or four of us here? We must have the highest posts on qt3/head of population ratio in the world by now, surely.

J. Matthew Zoss

01-28-2010, 05:18 PM

Nah, it's very popular. It's so popular, that people go out of their way to expose the pretenders and wannabees.
It's just not automatically popular, you have to earn it. And bragging that you scammed Activision out of five DJ Hero turntables isn't earning it...
Fair enough. I admit that the comments and complaints I've read on Qt3 have had a big effect on my writing!

Abilio Carvalho

01-28-2010, 11:56 PM

My real name is Monty, and I'm at an awesome awesome MMO developer startup...

Wheelkick

01-29-2010, 12:33 AM

38 years old, 2 kids, wife. Work with project management and information security. Currently as a consultant at a multinational telecom company.

In regard to gaming I have worked with publishing, development, licensing and also written reviews for one of our daily papers over here (here being Stockholm, Sweden). Left the gaming business in 2001. The reason was mostly due to the business being so immature. Been thinking of getting back, but I don't know if a) it has matured enough for me, and b) what I would like to work with.

I just rediscovered martial arts after a five year break and I am now back training Jujutsu (Hontai Yoshin Ryu).

Paul_cze

01-29-2010, 12:45 AM

22 years old gamer, was a student till year and a half ago when I dropped from college after 2 years (didn't enjoy doing what I don't like without getting paid and prospect of another two years..bah), so I got a job where I help employees of our company from western europe with their PC problems, so, doing what I like and getting to speak english every day = double win.Wouldn't wanna leave anytime soon. Gamingwise, mostly PC gamer - from consoles I have PS2 which is being used solely as dvd player and oldschool 80's GameBoy which rocks and still works.Discovered QT3 about two or maybe 3? years ago when there was a link here from some gaming website because there was some big discussion here going on about Something Important(tm) between Brad from Stardock and some other devs.
Been addicted to this board ever since eventhough I registered just half a year ago.

red guy

01-29-2010, 01:39 AM

I'm 40 years old, single, have a MSc in physics, and have spent the past decade as a business software programmer. I'm starting to get bored of that, but not yet sure where to go from here.

I don't do sports, and I have a very peculiar taste (some might call it 'terrible') in entertainment: I've seen every episode of Dark Angel, and my favorite Star Trek is Voyager. In games, I search for absurdity, which is why Sims 3 and Bayonetta are among my current favorites. The discussion of Katamari Damacy on this board is what convinced me to buy my first console ever.

Alex Pirani

01-29-2010, 02:41 AM

I'm a 20 year old, directionless student currently regretting taking advanced statistics. I could see myself enjoying working somewhere in the gaming industry, but I'm unsure of how to exactly get a job or how to qualify for it. I grew up on an SNES and playing warcraft. I love text based games, even though I've never beaten a single one. I consider myself skilled at FPS's. I used to be a detail obsessed mapper for half life and the source engine, I decided to stop in order to maintain sanity. I play EVE online. My favorite beer is a toss up between Brooklyn and Newcastle. I wait tables and absolutely hate it.

Flavius

01-29-2010, 05:14 AM

Hi Everyone,

My name is Pat. I occasionally ignore my beautiful wife and two little girls to kill a few brain cells by drinking beer and playing videogames. I'm a J.D. (not practicing...long story that I might share here some day, but it doesn't involve me being disbarred or not being able to pass the bar exam...honest!) teaching law here in Orlando.

While I am not in the industry, I did do some freelance games writing back in the early days of the internet (pretty sure I never received a paycheck, but getting free games rocked!). I fully admit to being a somewhat jaded son-of-a-bitch when it comes to gaming these days, but the occasional surprises are still sufficient to keep me hooked and waiting for the next big thing.

Might as well update...

Well, I've worked my way up to the wonderful world of middle management in academia now...Associate Dean for a small, local college. I've managed to avoid further impregnating the wifey, but we did add a chocolate lab to our herd. Sweetest, biggest pain-in-the-ass dog ever! Still teaching a bit on the side, though mostly online stuff (hey, I'm here...might as well get paid!).

Still not practicing law, and still happy to not be doing so. But I have been getting some intriguing offers on that end recently, so another update may already be in the works.

Brian Rucker

01-29-2010, 05:20 AM

OOC: I work for a appellate litigation printing company in Richmond, VA which means dealing with lawyers and snooping through volumes of sealed documents (I could tell you but I'd have to kill you). I'm 38. Into alternative and roots rock music. I eat meat. Red meat.

IC: I do some writing, mainly interviews, on the side for Gamersclick but I just started that recently. As a longtime non-PC or console gamer, I got my first IBM-Windows PC in 1996, I tend to think my views are all incredibly original and useful as I haven't been around as long as ya'll and seen them all before a thousand times before. My gaming background does include Mac gaming, since the mid 80's, and roleplaying, wargaming, and boardgaming back into the late 70's. I've also been playing catchup with classic titles (and trust me, it's not all rose colored glasses with the oldtimers). Despite my tastes I don't really fit into the fannish ('bearded men') category - more of a gaming drifter myself. A background hanging out in a very competative music scene effects how I see creative, imaginative, effort or lack thereof.

Well, it's been a while (since 2002) but I'm basically the same guy and doing the same things. I like stability and it's working out well for me so far. However, I feel pretty 'caught up' by now on the classics I was interested in and my brief stint as a gaming journalist faded out as I lost interest.

While some assignments were great and I was able to interview some interesting developers working on projects I found worthwhile, too many games I was asked to write about were junk or tech demos or just plain things I wasn't interested in at all.

I think, in the end, I'm a just a gamer but a very discriminating one.

PeterGinsberg

01-29-2010, 06:32 AM

Recently delurked to start posting. I'm a self-employed freelance progammer/web guy who manages to keep scraping along with various small web site projects, mostly little content management systems and ecom sites.

Since we're all doing updates, and my last post was in this thread was in, uh, 2003...

Not long after I made the above post I moved to doing more and more flash game development. Formalized things a bit into a small company (THUP Games (http://thup.com)), and have been pretty much doing casual game development of one sort or another since. Done a lot of stuff for cable channel web sites like Nick and more recently Adult Swim. We sort of built a rep for making really elaborate games for specific demographics (e.g. tween girls).

We've also made a couple of successful toddler iPhone games. The jump from Flash to iPhone really wasn't that bad. To a certain extent, game dev is game dev.

It's a weird world out on the fringes of the game industry, but it beats having a boss.

Right now we are mulling moving from a 2 person company who used a whole mess of freelancers to hiring actual employees. Which is daunting, but necessary at some point I suppose.

dfrandsen

04-21-2010, 08:19 AM

I couldn't find a newer "introduce yourself" thread, so I thought I'd start here. I'm juggling a lot of things right now so I'll try to keep it short.

For my day job, I work as a Business Intelligence Consultant. Basically I do a bunch of database work, and make data actually mean something to our clients. I graduated from Western Michigan University April 2009 and have been working full-time since then.

In the realm of games, my game development experience is still in the realm of "hobbyist", while continuing to attempt to move past that label. I started a game development organization at WMU, and spent a little over a year developing a game as my senior project. After spending another year after graduation finishing and polishing the project, it's finally released on Xbox LIVE Indie Games. The game is very similar to Rez, with some gameplay changes that try to differentiate it from the source material.

On a personal level, I'm the process of closing on my first house. So my life's a bit hectic right now.

My game "company" is Red Button Games, and the game on XBLIG is "Olu". If you want to know more, you can google "olu game" and you should get some more information. There's a youtube trailer out there as well. You can also download a demo of the game for free on Xbox LIVE.

edit: Apparently I can't post links, being a new member. Sorry.

Tyjenks

04-21-2010, 08:26 AM

I couldn't find a newer "introduce yourself" thread, so I thought I'd start here. I'm juggling a lot of things right now so I'll try to keep it short.

edit: Apparently I can't post links, being a new member. Sorry.

Welcome, this is the appropriate thread. :)

I don't know what the number required is, but as you do not seem to be a loon and can contribute, I bet you will surpass that threshold in not time.

dfrandsen

04-21-2010, 08:36 AM

I don't know what the number required is, but as you do not seem to be a loon and can contribute, I bet you will surpass that threshold in not time.

I think it said 50. And thanks for the anti-loon vote!

IainC

04-22-2010, 03:17 AM

An introduce yourself thread? Why not?

I'm a British guy in his 30s living in Germany. And things were not always thus.

About a million years ago I worked for Games Workshop as a games developer and then as a White Dwarf staffer. I got out of there and drifted into video games and found myself in Paris running the English language Dark Age of Camelot servers, I spent three years doing that before transitioning to the European WAR team in Dublin as Community Manager. A few ups and downs later and I migrated once again, this time to a tiny town in the Black Forest where I'm a games designer for an online FPS which should be released later this year.

I mostly play a lot of Eve online these days and my main combat character is the first alternate in the Council of Stellar Management (Helen Highwater for those of you in the Qt3 channel).

liquidben

04-22-2010, 08:37 AM

I'm a Pittsburgh-based 31 year old IT worker at an international law firm; a firm which has a massive body of work that includes such illustrious work as representing 50 Cent in a lawsuit against a "Punch-the-Monkey" Flash ad derivative called "Shoot the Rapper". I never cease to find this hilarious.

I'm amazed to find I've been married for three years and our first baby is on the way and oh my god, how am I going to pay for all this?

I'm the current owner of a Xbox 360, PS3, GameCube, SNES, original model NES where I replaced the pins, a self-modded Xbox (XBMC), an unmodded Xbox, DS & PSP. The majority of these are gathering dust as I try to update the house for the inbound baby, or indulge my pregnant wife's urge to rewatch the entire Buffy canon.

Despite having heard the site name-dropped on a bunch of podcasts, it took my lurker buddy's recommendation to visit. There's a lot of interesting conversation and it's neat to see people like Jeff Green & Chris Remo posting on here.

So anyway, my name's Ben, and this is my TMI self introduction.

nlanza

04-24-2010, 04:12 PM

Coca Cola Zero

04-25-2010, 03:14 AM

Zak Gordon

04-25-2010, 03:21 AM

well if you live in the usa maybe, but in the rest of the civilised world most people live until they are 70 or 80 years old. Some are still involved in games.

Mox

04-25-2010, 03:23 AM

Despite our best efforts!

Gladguy

04-25-2010, 06:04 AM

This thread is weird because when you look at the first posts in it, you see a bunch of people in their mid to late 30s and then you think, wow, that was 2002, a lot of those people are probably dead by now!
Seriously! I can't believe it's been 8 years (and 5 or 6 jobs) since I started this thread.

If I'd known then what I know now...

Razgon

04-25-2010, 07:14 AM

Seriously! I can't believe it's been 8 years (and 5 or 6 jobs) since I started this thread.

If I'd known then what I know now...

I dont know what you know, but I know Hegemonia is one of my all time favorite games...man I loved playing that...actually, I think I'll load it up again! Thanks for reminding me of that :-)

kaosfere

04-25-2010, 03:02 PM

Oh, what the cheese. Might as well post now.

I'm an almost-31 IT geek running high frequency trading systems for a proprietary trading firm in the shadow of the Sears Tower, Chicago, IL. I'married (3 years in May), and we just had our first kid last week, a 10 pound (eek!) baby girl.

Was a PC gamer exclusively growing up, then became a console jockey mostly because of the Gran Turismo series. I'm an amateur racer IRL, and loved being able to drive cars I'd likely never be able to drive in heat. Recently drifting back to PC because of a number of interesting games, and built myself an $1800 rig after I got tired of trying to play them on my Macbook.

Unix geek, amateur photographer, amateur racer, as noted, and general car fan. (Bought myself an E46 M3, which I've long been in lust with, a couple weeks ago). Right now... busy trying to adapt to life with a newborn.

So... hi!

sinfony

04-25-2010, 03:38 PM

It's the Willis Tower.

kaosfere

04-25-2010, 03:48 PM

It's the Willis Tower.

No. Never. Deal with it. :P

Charles

04-25-2010, 04:09 PM

Unix geek, amateur photographer, amateur racer, as noted, and general car fan. (Bought myself an E46 M3, which I've long been in lust with, a couple weeks ago). Right now... busy trying to adapt to life with a newborn.

So... hi!

Tell me it's Laguna Seca Blue!

kaosfere

04-25-2010, 04:15 PM

Tell me it's Laguna Seca Blue!

Negative! Oxford Green over Cinnamon leather. Really rare color combination. I was questioning the leather in the photos (looks rather pumpkiny) but once I saw it in person, where it looks like a natural baseball glove, I felt a lot better about it.

http://sigilism.com/e46/used-2004-bmw-3_series-m32drcpe-5428-5403082-3-640.jpg
http://sigilism.com/e46/used-2004-bmw-3_series-m32drcpe-5428-5403082-24-640.jpg

Gets positive comments from everyone who sees it.

Michael Fortson

07-09-2010, 12:00 AM

Doing my part to help the newcomers find this thread.

My update: No longer at Qik (3 years, fun ride, but time to move on). Doing mobile+social product design consulting for current and future startups.

Sirrush

07-09-2010, 03:49 AM

"So Sirrush, who are you?"

Well Dave, I'm an (an? a? I never know for sure when its followed by a number) 18 year old (19 in less than 2 weeks!) college student from (currently) sunny Delft, The Netherlands. I recently finished a 2 year general IT course and I'll be starting a Game Development course (It's just programming, really) this coming September.

I am primarily a PC gamer, a major fan of Guild Wars and I have the honor of being a part of the Test Krewe (i.e. we work with the GW1 Live Team on their updates)(Edit: Oh, and I am very much looking forwards to Guild Wars 2 and am active on the GW2W, too.). Other than Guild Wars, I play EVE-Online and a lot of TF2... Well, I've only got 200 hours to my name, but that number is rising.

I also have an ancient Playstation 2 (I believe it was one of the first models/batches to be available after launch) which still works perfectly. I play on it from time to time, but it's mostly retired.

Other than that, I am an amateur DJ, something which I've been doing at home for the past 3.5 years now. DJed at various small online radio stations and am currently taking a break from it all.

Aaaaand, I think that's all I have to say. Flame away ;)

NeilV

07-09-2010, 11:55 AM

Hi I am a 39 year old (currently Unemployed) IT/customer care trainer. I have been gaming since I was 11 when I got my first computer (ZX81) I currently live in Ireland and have been here for the last 12 years but I am originally from the UK.

I used to be a Die Hard PC gamer we had a PS2 in the house and a couple of DS but I never used them, until we decide to buy a 360 it was meant to be for my better half (who does post here which is why I signed up) as at the time she could not find anything on the PC to play. after about one day it was connected up to my monitor and has been there ever since. So much so we went out a brought a second 360 so that I did not have to share. I still do play Games on the PC but I now after about a year and a half I have quite a large collection of 360 games.

When I am not playing games I tend to be busy creating 3D art Using Poser, Carrara or DAZ Studio

Hylo

07-09-2010, 01:05 PM

Perhaps it's time for me to add to this thread. I'm a 40-ish scientist working in biotech on the West Coast. Never worked in the games industry at all, just bought myself a PC as soon as I could wrangle it, overclocked it, and haven't looked back since. Although I do remember programming my buddy's C64 with a D&C character generator back before he had a tape drive, and watching it all go into oblivion when turned off. I now make a decent living, and can now afford may of the gaming toys I had to forgo through waaaay too many years of schooling. I'm keeping a promise to myself that I would allow myself to buy these games when I could afford to.

I lurk around here because I enjoy getting info from folks "in the know," and I enjoy the self-aware cynicism that is often displayed in these parts.

Mighty Ponygirl

07-09-2010, 01:11 PM

I wasn't let in with this batch, but I'm a 30-something female database developer living in the northeast. I used to run a gaming blog but had to give it up because I didn't have the time to maintain it. I mostly like RPGs and Adventure, with a little strategy thrown in. I used to DM back in the 2nd Ed days and I've promised myself I'm going to get back in the habit now that I've rescued my massive library of books from my parent's basement. But that time is still an issue. In the meantime, I can usually scrape together enough time to get an Arkham Horror game going on a Sunday night. That and Betrayal at the House on the Hill are like the gateway drugs to tabletop role-playing. :D

Brian Rucker

07-09-2010, 01:49 PM

Talisman is back on the shelves these days too. Just sayin'...

Mighty Ponygirl

07-09-2010, 01:59 PM

Talisman is back on the shelves these days too. Just sayin'...

I bought Shadows over Camelot a while back and we opened it up and realized it's going to be a while before our friends are ready to tackle that one.

I think I can get a friend of mine in on some old 2nd Ed Ravenloft though. There's a low-level puppetmaster module that's perfect for him.

Clay

07-09-2010, 02:12 PM

The title of this thread reminds me of when I worked at a game development studio... I was a QA tester and was told that I would be the lead tester on a new project that was in the works. The lead designer called me into his office, didn't ask me to sit or anything, looked at me and said, "So who the fuck are you and why the fuck should you be allowed to work on my project?"

I had been at the (very social) ~40 person company for close to a year. He was fired shortly thereafter for failing to deliver a design document on time.

Anywho... I live in Washington, DC and work for myself as a public health / technology consultant. My expertise is in complex emergency response, so I'm frequently on the ground shortly after a disaster, designing data management systems that the responders can use for logistics and to track information about patients, unaccompanied minors and the like. My non-disaster work is comprised mainly of public health research and the technical side of software design (database design, etc).

MatthewF

07-09-2010, 02:16 PM

Hmm. Guess I never found this thread. I'm a 30 year old game developer, and I tend to bounce back and forth between design and programming (or at least I have several times in my 8 year career path). I'm currently doing UI programming for the PS3/360 versions of The Sims 3. Trying to start up an indie games company, and have been developing an RPG on my own for the last 2 years. Till I finish that, though, I'll probably be your average game code monkey.

vyshka

07-09-2010, 03:04 PM

38 year old programmer, working on fault tolerant versions of UNIX, Linux, and VMWare ESX. Mostly spent fixing bugs in hardened device drivers or doing core dump analysis, but occasionally wander off into the kernel. Have lived in the Phoenix area for about 10 years now.

Gaming began with pong and the atari, but I managed to get a C64 in the 5th grade and it took off from there. Mostly a pc gamer, but occasionally will do console gaming. Haven't had a console since the xbox, but ordered a father's day ps3 bundle from newegg today ($349 for ps3, hdmi cable, and little big planet) in preparation for a ncaa 11 dynasty with some friends I served with in the Army. I also went ahead and ordered MAG to join the QT3 MAG night. These days I game when my wife and daughter let me, or when every one else is asleep. :)

Nixxter

07-10-2010, 05:46 AM

53 (!) year old working for one of the big 4, about a block away from kaosphere in the Windy City. I suppose I did get introduced to gaming with Pong but sadly didn't get back in the saddle until around Diablo time and have enjoyed every bit of it since. Mostly PC gaming though I have expanded my horizons (PS2, 360, DS, PSP). Main passtimes at the moment, road biking when I can, and growing dahlias and (hopefully) 17' tall sunflowers.

TimElhajj

07-10-2010, 10:52 AM

Had to Google the big four (http://www.fathomevents.com/concertsandmusic/series/the_big_four.aspx). Wow. I wish I worked for one of them!

videotape

07-10-2010, 11:19 AM

I never posted in this thread before, so here goes. I'm 27 and currently living in the DC area, but am originally from Pennsylvania. I live with my beautiful girlfriend of almost 3 years and also our adopted fluffy white dog mix that we think is mostly Bichon.

I have my B.S. and M.S. in electrical engineering, and at work I do FPGA firmware development and also a little embedded processor coding. Outside of work, my hobbies are watching sports (big Philadelphia sports fan), running when I have the time, and playing games of course.

I own all 3 consoles and a good gaming PC. I tend to play most on the PC these days due to Steam sales, but don't really have a platform preference. I play pretty much every genre outside of JRPGs.

One thing I'm hoping comes from being active in QT3 is I find more people to play online games with. I rarely play online and have never been overly competitive when it comes to video games, so I'm hoping there are people here who I can game with a little more casually.

Major Malphunktion

07-10-2010, 11:24 AM

fuzzyslug

07-10-2010, 01:05 PM

One thing I'm hoping comes from being active in QT3 is I find more people to play online games with. I rarely play online and have never been overly competitive when it comes to video games, so I'm hoping there are people here who I can game with a little more casually.

This is a great place for just that.

Hans Lauring

07-10-2010, 02:03 PM

This is a great place for just that.

Yes. A lot of us are quite old and frankly suck.

Omniscia

07-10-2010, 02:11 PM

I also went ahead and ordered MAG to join the QT3 MAG night.

Perfect! Fresh meat for the grinder.

Make sure you try loading it well before Tuesday night, though (assuming it arrives by then), as the patching process can take a while. And create a S.V.E.R. character, since that's what everyone seems to play. Apparently, you're only allowed one character per PS3 user profile.

kaosfere

07-11-2010, 05:52 PM

Had to Google the big four (http://www.fathomevents.com/concertsandmusic/series/the_big_four.aspx). Wow. I wish I worked for one of them!

While that would be entertaining, I suspect Nixxter meant one of these (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Four_auditors). Going by location, I'm going to guess Deloitte, who have a big shiny building right near my office, but I think PWC is also in the immediate vicinity.

Hello to my fellow Chicagoan!

TimElhajj

07-11-2010, 11:12 PM

You're probably right, but I do wish I worked for one of the ones in my link. Can you imagine?

Anders Hallin

07-11-2010, 11:53 PM

At the moment I'm doing a Master programme in Political Science in Germany (Konstanz) and will be going to Toronto (York) on an exchange next semester.

Omniscia

07-12-2010, 06:17 AM

You're probably right, but I do wish I worked for one of the ones in my link. Can you imagine?

"Tim!," yelled Dave Mustaine. "These leather pants won't shine themselves!"

Talisker

07-12-2010, 08:15 AM

You're probably right, but I do wish I worked for one of the ones in my link. Can you imagine?
I can imagine -- the older brother of one of my best friends back in college was Megadeth's road manager for several years. He had, uh, interesting stories (his favorite one was about a japanese groupie with no teeth).

TimElhajj

07-12-2010, 08:42 AM

"Tim!," yelled Dave Mustaine. "These leather pants won't shine themselves!"

I can imagine -- the older brother of one of my best friends back in college was Megadeth's road manager for several years. He had, uh, interesting stories (his favorite one was about a japanese groupie with no teeth).

LOL, way to spice up the thread.

electragician

07-12-2010, 09:00 AM

I'm Matt, a 40 year old Ops Manager at an electrical suppply wholesaler. I'm not new here, but I lurk far more than I post :)

I've been PC gaming since 92. I own a X-Box 360, but use it solely for piping multi-media content to my TV. As a general rule, I've found I don't care for console gaming, with a few rare exceptions.

I mostly play MMOs, with the occasional FPS or RPG thrown in for flavor. At the time of this writing I'm playing TF2 almost exclusively and waiting for the next MMO to draw me in, which will probably Jumpgate Evolution, when it's released.

vyshka

07-12-2010, 11:11 AM

Perfect! Fresh meat for the grinder.

Make sure you try loading it well before Tuesday night, though (assuming it arrives by then), as the patching process can take a while. And create a S.V.E.R. character, since that's what everyone seems to play. Apparently, you're only allowed one character per PS3 user profile.

I should have it ready to go for a week from this Tuesday (fingers crossed that I didn't just curse my order further). Newegg's system decided to fail authorization on my order Friday, because for some reason our isp/routing at work makes it look like we are coming from the uk instead of arizona. Found that out this morning, and reordered from home, so the ps3 won't be here until late this week probably. I think MAG arrives tomorrow, so it will get to sit there and taunt me for a few days.

Nixxter

07-12-2010, 11:20 AM

While that would be entertaining, I suspect Nixxter meant one of these (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Four_auditors). Going by location, I'm going to guess Deloitte, who have a big shiny building right near my office, but I think PWC is also in the immediate vicinity.

Hello to my fellow Chicagoan!

Kaosfere has me pegged all right (including my firm and the shiny building).

Not WBIE either (I think that was a reference to Warner Brothers?)...

Sadly, the life of a tax accountant is not nearly as exciting as some of the other possibilities (including those in the gaming industry, though we can still come here and mingle with the rest of you captains of industry!).

kaosfere

07-12-2010, 12:55 PM

Kaosfere has me pegged all right (including my firm and the shiny building).

In that case, I work directly across the street from you, in the much uglier building across Wacker. I was a block further south (200 South Wacker) for a year, then changed firms into a much nicer position in a much less shiny office.

But the pay's better, and I don't hate it. Two good things!

Kunikos

07-13-2010, 01:29 PM

So, uh... I'm not new but haven't been active for quite a while so new people may not know me or people may have tried to forget about me (hurr).

Anyway, I am a software engineer that used to work on slot machines management software for a big casino systems company, and recently got a job with EA Sports and am relocating to join their office that does Madden, Tiger Woods, etc. (go me!)

MatthewF

07-13-2010, 01:48 PM

Redwood City is nice. You'll like it there.

Kunikos

07-13-2010, 04:50 PM

No, try Orlando, Florida. :)

http://www.tiburon.com

Screw California, WAY too expensive. ;)

Robert Sharp

07-13-2010, 04:52 PM

Tiburon seems like it would be a great place to work, so grats!

MatthewF

07-15-2010, 01:24 PM

No, try Orlando, Florida. :)

http://www.tiburon.com

Screw California, WAY too expensive. ;)

Ha, and I used to work at the Redwood Shores office! I coulda sworn the sports dev teams were on the third floor. Or at least, that's where all the cutouts and posters were. And here I've basically come full circle, porting The Sims 3 over to 360/PS3 (but under the developmental umbrella of Edge of Reality, not directly working at EA). Still a lot of contact with EA people though, some I recognize but I doubt remember me. My tenure was only about a year at EARS, and it was 6 years ago.

Eric T Cheng

07-15-2010, 02:11 PM

I've been an artist in the gaming industry for almost 13 years. Currently I'm at Ubisoft Vancouver.

I'm Dr.Q to Jagged Alliance 2 fans.

Shangry

07-15-2010, 03:26 PM

Hey Everyone...I wanted to say a quick Hello and introduce myself in the only thread I could find that felt appropriate. I've been lurking here for over a year and decided to join with Tom's blessing, of course.

I'm 35 years old from and presently living in upstate New York. I'm a network operations technician for one of the four* leading wireless telecom providers in the US. I've been with the company for just over 7 years and feel blessed to even have job in this economy.

I've been gaming since I was a kid (Atari2600, NES, Saturn), but only count my young-adult years (1995 and on) as being a 'gamer'. I'm primarily a PC gamer and will be forever but I do, however, own a PS3 and have enjoyed some titles greatly. Still have to get around to Demon's Souls one of the these days.

I really enjoy this site and the community for more than just games. I'll probably lurk more than post unless it's something I feel I can constructively add to the conversations/debates.

Thanks for having me and I'll try not to be a nuisance ;- )

*the # 4 spot until we absorb a competitor or get bought out which is a very real possibility.

ChiTownBluesFan

07-15-2010, 06:39 PM

Missed this thread. Suppose I can still partake.

41 year old technical consultant for a national software company - which means that once the salespeople sell a client something, I'm the one that has to actually install and make it work for them. Only 'gaming' programming I ever did was for a project while getting my masters degree - a 3D Othello game, if memory serves. In Java. But that's it. I just enjoy playing the games.

Earliest gaming memory was being so happy when my parents bought the Atari 2600 and a few cartridges for it. That only lasted about a week, as my mother then took the machine back because it had 'too many wires'. Never really forgave her for that.

First PC in the family, despite my warnings against doing so, was a PC Jr. Awful machine, although I remember playing MS Flight Simulator, Jet (MS first combat flight sim, which wasn't all that much, really), and I think Lode Runner.

First PC of my own was an XT machine which got a lot of use playing Gunship (loved that game), the original Wayne Gretzky Hockey w/ the add-on League Manager software (damn good hockey game for the time), and the D&D Gold Box games.

Now - I just get the absolute best machine I can get (at a semi-reasonable price) every five years or so, mostly so I don't feel the need to replace the machine every two or three years. I'm due for a new one now. But even still, a majority of my gaming has switched over to consoles (I have all three), which started because sports games just stopped being made for the PC, and once there, I saw the lure of gaming on a 72" HDTV while resting on the couch. I still prefer the PC version of a game for most things (if my current rig can handle it, which the current one can't really do anymore), but I don't really prefer one platform to another. So long as the gaming experience is a good one, I could care less about the platform.

Oh, and I think X-Com: UFO Defense is the best game of all time. Can't even begin to count the hours spent playing that game, and the hours of sleep lost.

Kunikos

07-17-2010, 07:36 PM

Ha, and I used to work at the Redwood Shores office! I coulda sworn the sports dev teams were on the third floor. Or at least, that's where all the cutouts and posters were. And here I've basically come full circle, porting The Sims 3 over to 360/PS3 (but under the developmental umbrella of Edge of Reality, not directly working at EA). Still a lot of contact with EA people though, some I recognize but I doubt remember me. My tenure was only about a year at EARS, and it was 6 years ago.

You know, I think they may trade off yearly on which studio puts out the titles on that list so that they can still have a 2 year dev cycle

Marcus

07-17-2010, 07:53 PM

26 Used to live in Seattle and worked as a Purchasing Manager but moved back down to CA and now work in Sales ( sales blows IRL ) and am currently waiting for the date to go in to the LAPD academy. Yay moving to LA!

EDIT: Oh yeah and I was in the Navy and was in Iraq and all that shit too.

So I guess I could update this 5 years later.

Currently working in Hollywood doing detective work (not even exciting as it sounds) so if you get your ass kicked or stabbed in Hollywood I'll prolly be working the case!

I love the job hate the desk. I'm trying to go back to doing field work which I like the most. Having spend over 4 years in LA all I can say is Boo LA.

Omniscia

07-17-2010, 08:01 PM

Which one are you more like, Harrison Ford, or Josh Hartnett?

Marcus

07-17-2010, 08:28 PM

Josh totally.

habibi

07-17-2010, 10:17 PM

I'm 37, married and has no time for gaming due to my attention-craving 14-month old toddler (how do you guys cope with the family, job and gaming, I have no idea) and as such, I am lurking Qt3 using iPhone while putting her to bed. I will make time for gaming, one day, I swear because I have 90 games in my Steam waiting to be completed - PC gamer all the way - currently about to finish Batman AA. And I want forum Avatar, pretty please? Oh, and I am from Malaysia.

Kunikos

07-18-2010, 09:15 AM

And I want forum Avatar, pretty please?

Never gonna happen. This forum is anti-sig and anti-avatar, because people abuse them.

John Many Jars

07-18-2010, 11:05 AM

THIS IS WHO I AM AND WHAT I DO (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRbdlST-NGA&feature=related)

Kunikos

07-19-2010, 10:08 AM

Currently working in Hollywood doing detective work (not even exciting as it sounds) so if you get your ass kicked or stabbed in Hollywood I'll prolly be working the case!

Well, grats, man. I can remember when you just started out there.

I hear a lot of people start in the LA area in PD and transfer out to the burbs or somewhere else after their rookie time is up, so it sounds like you have been sticking it out.

bluemax

07-19-2010, 07:24 PM

I'm a 27 year old game programmer for a dwindling independent games studio. If you or any of your friends are hiring for people with generalist experience let me know! Oh and I live in Los Angeles etc.

infornography

07-19-2010, 07:50 PM

I am a 32 year old network technician for a major telco. Been a gamer since the Commodore 64 was still relevant. Mostly I like RPGs and strategy games, but am an unashamed whore for customizable giant mechs. I really hope the new Mechwarrior game hasn't died in the womb.

Pogue Mahone

07-19-2010, 07:51 PM

hanji

07-19-2010, 08:14 PM

I'm a 27-year-old web developer. I don't care for what I do but I'm slowly trying to work out what it is I want to do. I like programming but I hate what I do for my day job. Not satisfying in the least.

Really, I'd play rock'n'roll all day if my brand of rock'n'roll wasn't so terrible. Thunder Fuck's EP - WTTF ('http://thunderfuck.ca/files/Thunder%20Fuck%20-%20WTTF.rar')... Uh, enjoy. I love our brand of punk rock'n'roll but I don't expect many others to also enjoy it.

PS: Thunder Fuck is the name of my second-rate band.

Omniscia

07-19-2010, 08:45 PM

Should we assume that you're a big fan of the old isometric shooter Blue Max? Man, I loved that game, played it endlessly on my old C64.

edit: oops, that one was meant for bluemax. I always forget to use the 'reply' button.

He could also be a Great War aviation buff, with a penchant for the Germans. Or a fan of Ursula Andress movies.

Djscman

07-19-2010, 10:46 PM

He could also be a Great War aviation buff, with a penchant for the Germans. Or a fan of Ursula Andress movies.

Now I know not to use that movie for the Guess the Movie Frame thread.

I'm 32. I started reading Quarter To Three back when the first couple Shoot Clubs were posted. After increasingly lengthy periods between updates (there was a banner ad for the Royal Tenenbaums that stayed up for a year!) I started poking into the forums to lurk, recognizing names of games writers like Jessica Mulligan and developers like, well, Derek Smart. After a number of years of enjoying reading the insights, the humor, the comparatively cordial flame wars, I applied to get in. Unfortunately I failed the essay portion of the exam. Years later, I snuck in during one of the open-enrollment phases. That was about a year ago.

Professionally, the luster of the bookselling retail industry finally began to fade. I recently took up the trade of the alarm technician. It's basically a call center position but I can still say that, in the abstract, I fight fires and crime.

Gameswise, I really like open-world RPGs with a strong action/adventure/strategy component.

Hans Lauring

07-20-2010, 03:54 AM

Well, grats, man. I can remember when you just started out there.

I hear a lot of people start in the LA area in PD and transfer out to the burbs or somewhere else after their rookie time is up, so it sounds like you have been sticking it out.

Hollywood?
He's Harry Bosch.

bluemax

07-20-2010, 03:31 PM

Should we assume that you're a big fan of the old isometric shooter Blue Max? Man, I loved that game, played it endlessly on my old C64.

edit: oops, that one was meant for bluemax. I always forget to use the 'reply' button.

Way back in like 1996 or so when my parents let me have my first aol screen name, I was on this big Red Baron kick (as in Manfred Von Richtoffen the fighter pilot dude). I wanted to make my screen name Red Baron on AOL but someone had beat me too it. I tried a bunch of other names but being an uncreative 14 year old they had all been taken. Finally I went with bluemaxmb (the award for Allied WW1 Fighter Aces plus my initials). Since then I try to get bluemax as a first choice user name any time I sign up somewhere, otherwise I go with bluemaxmb. I did own a C64 but I don't think I ever played the BlueMax game.
He could also be a Great War aviation buff, with a penchant for the Germans. Or a fan of Ursula Andress movies.

Certainly not a buff, but I did a report on the Red Baron as a kid etc etc. I did have a copy of the Blue Max on VHS that my dad bought after I did that report.

Manresa

08-19-2010, 07:08 PM

Hi, I'm Rob, and I'm addicted to computer games. RPG, strategy, and "casual" games like Tetris, Peggle, and Lumines, mostly, but I'll play anything. My electronic gaming goes back to the Atari VCS & LED handhelds. Likewise, I've been lurking on QT3 for ages.

In real life I do data visualization and web design for NASA: one of my images showed up in the wallpaper thread, (http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showpost.php?p=2129473&postcount=135) which finally inspired me to post here. I have no direct involvement in game design but occasionally the blue marble picture will pop up unexpectedly, like in Dead Space.

Ephraim

08-19-2010, 07:23 PM

Manresa

08-19-2010, 07:33 PM

Hey! Awesome, glad my wallpaper post got you to delurk and join the conversation. Nice to have you here.

Thanks! Now I just need to think of things to say that haven't been said before: I have dogs that wake me up very early in the morning, which cuts into my ability to stay up late and geek out, so I'm usually on mission 3 while everyone else has moved on to the new hotness.

Marcin

08-19-2010, 09:50 PM

Thanks! Now I just need to think of things to say that haven't been said before: I have dogs that wake me up very early in the morning, which cuts into my ability to stay up late and geek out, so I'm usually on mission 3 while everyone else has moved on to the new hotness.

There's a lot of people here that are still on mission 3, myself included. Welcome (and nice image work). :)

Vesper

08-19-2010, 10:48 PM

After several years and 2000 posts, maybe I should introduce myself:

My name's Mike, and I'm a 35 year old lead software engineer in the mutual funds division of a large financial corporation. I mostly do web development in C#, database design, and attend meetings. I've done some minor games development at home, but nothing serious. My degree is in electrical engineering with a computer engineering emphasis, which I wish I could do more with other than "engineer software." At the very least, this engineering background helps me be good at my job.

I'm married and have twin 4 year olds (boy/girl) who keep life rather busy.

Also, I have way too many hobbies for the amount of time I actually can spend on them, including but not limited to: video games, following a few TV shows religiously, Pinball/Arcade games/MAME, hobbyist electronics, board games, and RPGs. Between work, home life, hobbies, trying to find time to exercise, and sleep, I have a lot to cram into any given day. Sleep usually loses this fight as I really like having freetime after the kids are in bed. As such, I am perpetually tired.

BattleGoat

08-20-2010, 04:30 AM

Vesper, I tip my hat to you, we have a 4 year old boy. I can't imagine having a pair :)

I'm 35 years old, married, with child (see above). I work for BattleGoat Studios, a small software developer here in Canada. We make the Supreme Ruler series of games. I've been in the industry for about 10 years now but hope to be doing something different by the time I'm 45.

I have a strong interest in politics both national and international (comes from working on the games I guess). I wish I had more time to play my guitar.

Greetings all,

TheTrunkDr

08-20-2010, 05:59 AM

After several years and 2000 posts, maybe I should introduce myself:
I'm in the same boat, guess I missed this thread way back. I'm now a software developer for Research in Motion though I've only been here about two weeks and I'm not permitted to discuss what I'm working on now (super secrit stuff is secrit!). Prior to that I was programmer in the games industry for 10 years working primarily on GBA, DS games and mobile games though I also did a good amount of work on PC and Xbox games earlier in my career.

Every now and then I think about it and I'm surprised that I am where I am and have had the career that I've had without a degree. Go, go college diploma!

The Mad Hatter

08-20-2010, 06:10 AM

38 years old, business analyst in Ottawa. I've been gaming since the original Pong, from there to a dedicated Space Invaders handheld, to Timex Sinclair (8K of gaming fun) and then to a Commodore 64 where the doors really blew off. Loderunner, Spy Hunter, Ultima 3...I spent the mid-1980s typing "LOAD "JUMPMAN",8,1.

Trivia - what did the ",8,1" refer to? I used to know, long ago...

Razgon

08-20-2010, 06:18 AM

38 years old, business analyst in
Trivia - what did the ",8,1" refer to? I used to know, long ago...

isnt it a designation of where to load from? I.e. disc, tape what-have-you?

IainC

08-20-2010, 06:23 AM

Trivia - what did the ",8,1" refer to? I used to know, long ago...
They are parameters for the LOAD command because the older Commodores didn't have a native disk operating system (until AmigaOS came along IIRC). 8 referred to the first disk drive and the 1 told it to load as machine language.

binglebeep

08-20-2010, 06:26 AM

I'm in Norway, and have been playing games for 30 years. I try to keep Windows and Citrix running for a living. I'm not directly involved with the game industry, but I have friends who are both here and in th US. My own attempts at game development happened a long time ago, and never came to much. I have 7-year old, who is already beating me at the games we play together.

Trivia - what did the ",8,1" refer to?

8 is the device, which would be the floppy drive. 1 is (If I remember correctly, too lazy to google) specifying something like loading data back to same adress space as it was written from, thus enabling automatic execution. Without the ",1" data would just load to the beginning of memory reserved for BASIC, and not do anything on it's own.

TheTrunkDr

08-20-2010, 06:31 AM

38 years old, business analyst in Ottawa.
We should get together, who's up for an Ottawa QT3 gathering? What are there, 3 of us now?

KevinC

08-20-2010, 08:21 AM

I'm in the same boat, guess I missed this thread way back. I'm now a software developer for Research in Motion though I've only been here about two weeks and I'm not permitted to discuss what I'm working on now (super secrit stuff is secrit!). Prior to that I was programmer in the games industry for 10 years working primarily on GBA, DS games and mobile games though I also did a good amount of work on PC and Xbox games earlier in my career.

Damn, and this whole time I thought you were a penis doctor. No wonder you never responded to any of my PMs regarding the various rashes and blisters I've encountered.

TheTrunkDr

08-20-2010, 08:46 AM

Damn, and this whole time I thought you were a penis doctor. No wonder you never responded to any of my PMs regarding the various rashes and blisters I've encountered.
Why would you think penis when it's clear I'm an ass doctor, hence the "Trunk."

Dufresne

08-20-2010, 08:47 AM

Why would you think penis when it's clear I'm an ass doctor, hence the "Trunk."

Think elephants.

TheTrunkDr

08-20-2010, 08:51 AM

Think elephants.
Wouldn't that then make me a nose guy?

ElGuapo

08-20-2010, 08:56 AM

Think elephants.

IfyouknowwhatImean.

glangmead

08-20-2010, 03:05 PM

Thought I'd toss in my hat -- I'm Greg, a 37-year-old living in Pittsburgh (and I saw at least a few others in Pittsburgh in this thread) and doing research and development in machine translation for a commercial software company. I start many, many games and finish very, very few. Right now I have started EU3 in the sense that I have watched many tutorial videos, read part of the manual, and made sure it runs nicely on my machine, but have not made a single mouse click of my own, due to an intimidation issue. I'm loving Race for the Galaxy (Keldon's version), and I have many iPad and iPhone games. I want the iPad gaming revolution to arrive more quickly, please. I have every modern gaming platform except PSP (and Android, but I have an iPhone, so I am already 3 years ahead there, yuk-yuk). I like turn-based strategy, and I suck at real-time strategy. I also suck at platformers, and want to throw my controller through the TV after 10 minutes of any Mario game. It's possible I suck at all games, but I don't care to analyze the situation any more closely.

XPav

02-25-2011, 11:51 AM

I'm a programmer that writes C++ for Windows and Linux for a company that does industrial HMIs.

I suspect that my job, while not in the game industry, is a whole lot more fun than the average game programmer because, well,

1) I have yet to experience an all-nighter in the 4 years I've been working for this company.
2) I don't have internet idiots sending me death threats because I nerfed their Level 55 Master Baiting Gnome.
3) I don't have a publisher.
4) I don't have mean people like Tom Chick that make fun of my work.

Oh, and I don't do that anymore. Now I'm a software lead for a small project of a small division of a mid-tier defense contractor.

Yeah, there's more paperwork than my last job, but it's great experience, and I still don't have internet idiots sending me death threats or reviews by Tom Chick.

Oh, and now I don't do that anymore, because now I'm the software manager in a small division of a mid-tier defense contractor.

Moving up in this world, yesirree bob.
Oh, and now I don't do that anymore, because now I'm the Chief Engineer of a small division of a different large defense contractor.

Continuing to move up in this world, at this rate, I anticipate total world domination by the time I reach 400.

twistaction

02-28-2011, 01:08 PM

Might as well make my first post in this thread.

I'm 27, live in Sweden, I'm an interaction designer and I spend quite a lot of time on game related stuff (surprise surprise!). Started out playing on a Commodore 128D (man I really loved that disc drive) ages ago, nowadays I'm mainly a console gamer although indie trends have drawn me back to PCs. I would probably say that more than 50% of the games I really enjoyed last year was independent productions to some extent (Super Meat Boy and Recettear among others, and a LOT of Drop7).

Recently, I've even gotten into game development myself on Android, with a hexbased puzzle game appropriately named Hextacy. We'll see how well it does, check it out if you're interested, it's available from Android Market.

I discovered this place when Fidgit shut down, expected to be among the veterans of this forum age wise, but judging from the posts in this thread it's the other way around. Tell me, what's the secret of aging with dignity?

Robert Sharp

02-28-2011, 01:10 PM

You thought that at 27, you'd be considered among the older posters? Heh.

Hans Lauring

02-28-2011, 01:15 PM

You thought we knew anything about dignity? Heh.

twistaction

02-28-2011, 01:19 PM

Sorry, I guess veteran isn't the appropriate word, but I expected to be in the older half of the crowd.

Matt Bowyer

02-28-2011, 01:22 PM

I'm 28 and I consider myself one of the young ones.

Dave Weinstein

02-28-2011, 01:23 PM

Get off my lawn!

Mysterio

02-28-2011, 02:38 PM

I see young people...and it pisses me off!

PeterGinsberg

02-28-2011, 03:06 PM

Sorry, I guess veteran isn't the appropriate word, but I expected to be in the older half of the crowd.

You gotta remember that QT3's roots are from a usenet forum, this place is still lousy internet dinosaurs like myself from those days.

Also, the lack of horrible animated avatars and giant sigs is a big turn off to the young folks. How can they post on a forum without including their computer specs, achievements, and favorite anime characters at the bottom of every post?

Alan Dunkin

02-28-2011, 03:20 PM

Fidgit shut down?

No 27 is not the older half. I think you're probably right in the middle. How centrist of you.

Many of us have been around for a long while, and we're holdovers from the days (as said by Peter and others) when Usenet <5000 groups and at times occasionally helpful. Generally comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.* days... ahhh...

I don't think I ever updated myself actually; I've moved from Texas to San Francisco for work at a company I'm sure many of you have heard of and just as many probably hate. But it's quite the experience, for sure.

--- Alan

DennyA

02-28-2011, 03:31 PM

You're not alone in your age!

I have a t-shirt from a Mac launch event my freshman year of college that's also 27.

SuperiorSpecimen

02-28-2011, 03:36 PM

I am a 25 year old college student, relatively recently a civilian again after a 5 year stint in the Marine Corps.

Never worked in the industry, but you should see my magazine collection!
Plus lurking here helps.

Old Man Gravy

02-28-2011, 04:08 PM

I love it when young uns think they're going to have trouble relating due to advanced age when they sign up here. I signed up what, seven years ago at 32 and thought these hip youngsters would probably throw me out on my depends-wrapped ass (hence the handle). Then right when I walked through the door I tripped over Jeff Green's walker, bent Denny's hip replacement while trying to catch myself, and got my iPod earbud cord caught in the Victrola speaker Tom Chick had shoved in his ear.

twistaction

02-28-2011, 04:15 PM

That is a respectable background for a forum. I'll try to keep it in mind and provoke rants from you oldies whenever I get the opportunity.

mouselock

02-28-2011, 04:26 PM

Many of us have been around for a long while, and we're holdovers from the days (as said by Peter and others) when Usenet <5000 groups and at times occasionally helpful. Generally comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.* days... ahhh...

Am I the only one bemused by using the fact that you're comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.* vets as a signifier of age, as opposed to a comp.sys.ibm.pc.games vet? (Y'know, back before they split the group by genre of games.. ah.. trn, how you made my life complete.)

Alan Dunkin

02-28-2011, 04:55 PM

Am I the only one bemused by using the fact that you're comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.* vets as a signifier of age, as opposed to a comp.sys.ibm.pc.games vet? (Y'know, back before they split the group by genre of games.. ah.. trn, how you made my life complete.)

I would have but I didn't want people like you asking questions about what I meant because your Alzheimer's had kicked in already.

--- Alan

RepoMan

02-28-2011, 05:36 PM

Almost two years ago:

Three point five years ago:

Two point five years ago:

Just turned 34, been living in San Francisco area since 1990, professional programmer...

Two minor brushes with gaming fame: my name is in Uncle Albert's Catalog (and Catalog 2) for Car Wars, for inventing the Heavy Duty Transmission and the Bollix. And I met (and briefly interviewed) John Carmack when he came to SF in 1998 or so. Aside from that, I'm just a plain gamer, always have been... was playing Paranoia with high school buddies, and these days we have a little gaming group that mostly plays Illuminati, Hills Rise Wild, or various Cheapass games.

Own an XBox and a GameCube, and a couple of PCs. First computer was an Apple ][+ (even got the 16K add-in card and the Microsoft Softcard Z80 coprocessor so I could run Microsoft MuLisp! yes, this was 1980 :-) ).
Got a beautiful baby girl now (she just turned 1 and she is working on being able to say "cat", "dog", "mama", "papa", "all done", "bath", "fish", "nurse", "light" and then some... baby signs rock!). My wife has joined me in WoW and we're playing with some coworkers. Getting a DS for Christmas, upgraded my gaming rig in mid-2004 and it's still a humdinger, and gonna got a 360 next summer or so after the first price drop.
Now we live in Seattle; I have the greatest job EVER as a principal architect at Microsoft on an OS incubation project; we have a second child, a son who's almost 2; our daughter is reading at double her four-year-old age; and my wife is happily out of the workforce, at home with the kids.

On the game front, the 360 and the PC are both in heavy rotation (recently finished Fallout 3 and Defense Grid: The Awakening, almost done with Dawn of War 2, and rapidly getting hooked on the new Wolverine game). My wife, meanwhile, is seriously into Ace Apollo on her DS, and I got her Puzzle Kingdoms for Mother's Day :-)

So, actually, life's never been better, and we're extremely aware of -- and extremely grateful for -- how blessed we are. We're enjoying it while it lasts, and NOT taking it for granted!
No longer a principal architect (long story there), but still very happily involved in the same OS incubation project, and just had a major unexpected win that I can't talk about for at least another year. Suffice it to say that hopefully someday my code will be used by millions if not billions of Windows users :-)

Gaming-wise, I'm kind of all over the map these days: Professor Layton with my six-year-old puzzle-hound daughter is sheer bliss; playing lots of indie games, both with and without my wife (she and I are enjoying occasional bouts of Scott Pilgrim); and we're starting up some game days with local parent friends, where the kids run around downstairs with the wine-sipping moms, while the dads beat the hell out of Castle Ravenloft upstairs. I am also spinning up on some side hacking projects that eat into the game time fairly seriously.

We continue to be astoundingly grateful for our extremely fortunate lives.

(XPav, I love this historical schtick (obviously), but isn't it a fucking pain in the ass with this forum's refusal to include nested quotes?)

Relayer71

02-28-2011, 06:53 PM

I'm 39. I'm Relayer71. I'm really old.

Warning

02-28-2011, 07:06 PM

Fuck you all. I'm 42 which also happens to be the ultimate answer to life, the universe and everything.

John Reynolds

02-28-2011, 07:14 PM

I'm 46, turning 47 later this year. It hurts when I pee.

Tman

02-28-2011, 07:29 PM

I'm 46, turning 47 later this year. It hurts when I pee.

John how many times do I have to remind you put the seat UP before you start peeing.

madkevin

02-28-2011, 07:34 PM

I'm forty, and it also hurts when John Reynolds pees. Weird, right?

Ryslin

02-28-2011, 09:10 PM

Wow, A place I actually feel kinda young at a spry 37.

XPav

02-28-2011, 09:26 PM

(XPav, I love this historical schtick (obviously), but isn't it a fucking pain in the ass with this forum's refusal to include nested quotes?)

Yes, it's really annoying, I think I'm going to have to stay in this job forever so I don't have to requote myself ever again.

And man, I'm a young whippersnapper, I'm like... what.. 33 now?

bloo

02-28-2011, 09:46 PM

Two minor brushes with gaming fame: my name is in Uncle Albert's Catalog (and Catalog 2) for Car Wars, for inventing the Heavy Duty Transmission and the Bollix.

HD Tranny?! Sweet!

(Founding member of T.O.O.B.A.D. - Tulsa Over Operators for the Betterment of Auto Dueling, home of 1st Car Wars National Champion)

Staff Sergeant

02-28-2011, 09:55 PM

Not sure I ever posted in this thread.

I'm a 21 year old second year in Engineering Physics aiming towards specializing in Nuclear Engineering at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.

To my chagrin I've never had a job that paid better than minimum wage (excluding tips) and that probably won't change this summer either, but I will probably be moving to Ottawa for the summer as I like it better there and you can find work anywhere with 5 years of cooking experience and a willingness to work for minimum.

Gaming wise my tastes change month to month except for the last little while I've really stuck with Blood Bowl. Currently I play more Black Ops than I can really afford to, and I recently completed ME/ME2 in 2 marathons sessions happening within 2 36 hour periods on my christmas break and the spring break. I also probably get XCOM out and beat is 1-2 times a year. I usually spend more time in a given week on the frozen pond near my house than on video games but that's probably going to stop this week, then it will have to be back to running to maintain an appropriate amount of exercise.

Overall I can't really complain about my life, with the exception of the mountain of debt I'm currently staring at/adding to.

Alstein

02-28-2011, 11:17 PM

33, also semi-recently a civilian (did 4 years AF and got out a couple years ago, best thing I ever did as my life was going nowhere) I came in due to curiousity about the Elemental drama, and found that I liked it here.

gaming-wise: My first genre was competitive fighting games, but discovered EU2 and GalCiv 1 and became a strategy game fan from those.

My life's fine enough- I'm doing ok for myself.

Octonoo

03-01-2011, 12:13 AM

Edit - never mind, damn it...

Razgon

03-01-2011, 03:01 AM

Slight update

I am now in training as a Vatican Assasin Warlock instead of my previous job and have already unlocked Firebreathing fists!

Hunty

03-01-2011, 03:34 AM

Staff Sergeant

03-01-2011, 06:54 AM

33, also semi-recently a civilian (did 4 years AF and got out a couple years ago, best thing I ever did as my life was going nowhere)

Was getting out was the best thing you ever did or was joining was the best thing you ever did? I'm curious since one of my good friends is in Mechanical Engineering and in the AF as a pilot with them paying all his bills.

KaoFloppy

03-01-2011, 07:35 AM

I'm a 21 year old second year in Engineering Physics aiming towards specializing in Nuclear Engineering at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.

To my chagrin I've never had a job that paid better than minimum wage (excluding tips) and that probably won't change this summer either, but I will probably be moving to Ottawa for the summer as I like it better there and you can find work anywhere with 5 years of cooking experience and a willingness to work for minimum.
My 2nd cousin is studying Masters of Mech Eng there now. Maybe you know him?

I suck at search (because of my place of employment LOL), so I'll just update with no context to my last post X years ago. I work for an Old database company which for the past few years made some major acquisitions that annoyed most tech people. I'm now somewhat versed in J2EE, but am totally annoyed by it.

Playwise, I switched to PC gaming for the past few months because of all the indie sales and Steam sales. But this month I've restarted an old game I had kicking around: Super Robot Taisen Original Generation on the GBA.

Also I got a new puppy (4 months hound? x lab?), which completely deleted all free time with pee and poop and classes.

Staff Sergeant

03-01-2011, 07:39 AM

We don't really interact with grad students unless they TA to make some money. Considering he's in the mech discipline it's unlikely I've ever met him as we share very few classes with them so he has probably never TA'd for me.

EDIT: Unless he was a design project coordinator I guess.

John Many Jars

03-01-2011, 08:19 AM

I AM JOHN MANY JARS

KNEEL BEFORE ME!

KNEEL!

Ben Sones

03-01-2011, 08:22 AM

I'm 39, and I hurt when John Reynolds pees.

BlueJackalope

03-01-2011, 08:25 AM

I’m frikin bayonets, you know. I’m battle tested man. I’m tired, I’m so tired of pretending like my life isn’t perfect and bitchin and just winning every second and I’m not perfect and bitchin and just deliverying the goods at every frikin turn, because, look what I’m dealing with man, I’m dealing with fools and trolls, dealing with soft targets and its just, you know its just strafing runs in my underwear before my first cup of coffee because I don’t have time for these clowns. I don’t have time for their judgement and their stupidity and you know they lay down with their ugly wives in front of their ugly children and look at their loser lives and then they look at me and they say “I can’t process it”

Kalle

03-01-2011, 08:37 AM

I'm 39, and I hurt when John Reynolds pees.

Close your eyes.

Clanan

03-01-2011, 08:41 AM

Hello Qt3ers, I'm 24 and am only a few months from my B.S. in chemical engineering. Returned to school after getting a degree in political science so I could get a job doing something interesting (and non-politics). Since August I've been frantically job searching and have received... two responses (not offers). Married with a son who eats more than I do, and a daughter on the way!

On the side I'm all over the place with my gaming tastes. Currently enjoying Bad Company 2 and Rift, as well as Pathfinder when the dice-rolling addiction needs a hit. Also learning to code and about to get a macbook to try my hand at iphone dev!

And wtf is comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.*?

RickH

03-01-2011, 08:56 AM

And wtf is comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.*?

And that's the beauty of usenet, everybody either forgot it or never knew about it.

RickH

03-01-2011, 08:59 AM

I'm 46, turning 47 later this year. It hurts when I pee.

You can pee?!?! I wait and wait...

Sinkytown

03-01-2011, 10:49 AM

I'm 21. Is that cool? Who's 'Usenet'? My favourite Zelda game is the first one:

Ocarina of Time.

Omniscia

03-01-2011, 01:01 PM

I'll bet you liked the Star Wars prequels, too.

DennyA

03-01-2011, 01:06 PM

A Child's Primer for Usenet (http://groups.google.com/groups/search?q=tom+chick)

Usenet is where people used to get their porn before torrents and Tube sites were invented.

scharmers

03-01-2011, 02:03 PM

All I can say is that I'm glad that PapaDoc didn't follow us in here. :0

Some USElessNET folks definitely came from the KooK side of the intarwebs family

Alstein

03-01-2011, 03:39 PM

Was getting out was the best thing you ever did or was joining was the best thing you ever did? I'm curious since one of my good friends is in Mechanical Engineering and in the AF as a pilot with them paying all his bills.

Both. The AF (military in general) is a great opportunity, and fixed my life, which was going down the crapper- but I didn't want to make it a career, especially in a backbiting career field.

Omniscia

03-01-2011, 07:38 PM

A Child's Primer for Usenet (http://groups.google.com/groups/search?q=tom+chick)

Usenet is where people used to get their porn before torrents and Tube sites were invented.

There's some interesting reading (http://groups.google.com/group/rec.autos.makers.jeep+willys/browse_thread/thread/36cfc51656a3eb98/685244d585104ee0?q=tom+chick#685244d585104ee0) in those there groups...

Matt Matthews

03-10-2011, 09:13 PM

I'm 46, turning 47 later this year. It hurts when I pee.Wait. Are you the John Reynolds who used to post in the 3dfx.* newsgroups? Crazy if so.

Dave Weinstein

07-29-2011, 10:57 AM

Quote:
Ex-game-developer (11 years), married (14 years as of today), now living in the foothills of the cascades working in computer security...

Still comfortably an ex-game-developer, still married (closing in on 20 years), still living in the Cascade foothills, and still working in computer security.

But I'm wrapping up my work at the Microsoft Security Engineering Center to move over to the Bing Security Team (with a week off in between to play with a new puppy!).

KevinC

07-29-2011, 11:31 AM

Wow, congrats on the 20 years. You should get some sort of Achievement for that!

hanji

07-29-2011, 11:41 AM

I'm sure I posted in this thread at some point not so long ago, so I won't dredge it up. I'm still a whipsnapperish 25.

I'm mostly posting because I noticed that hanji is in Thunder Fuck! Which is pretty awesome. I came across WTTF recommended on some hardcore forum or other back in the day and rather enjoyed the bits I heard. So you've totally cracked it across the pond, sir.

No shit? Seriously? Any chance you remember the forum where you saw it recommended? I didn't think anyone outside of TF and our friends had ever heard of (let alone listened to) WTTF. That is so cool.

Staff Sergeant

07-29-2011, 02:12 PM

rossm

07-29-2011, 02:51 PM

I graduated college and got a job as a programmer at a startup in Baton Rouge. I'm very fortunate that they took a chance on me, since I didn't have any prior work experience. It's working out very well so far.

Also I moved to BR, and I'm engaged. I'm still working on games in my spare time, but that spare time is extremely small now.

John Reynolds

07-29-2011, 03:07 PM

Wait. Are you the John Reynolds who used to post in the 3dfx.* newsgroups? Crazy if so.

That's me, though I sheepishly confess it (god I was such a fanboy of that company in the late 90s).

Omniscia

07-29-2011, 06:40 PM

Grandpa, what's a newsgroup?

(Kidding! I spent my share of time on alt.games.daggerfall...)

XPav

07-29-2011, 07:02 PM

Ahhh, the alt.* groups.

I think we should argue about top vs bottom posting now.

Matt Matthews

07-30-2011, 11:03 PM

That's me, though I sheepishly confess it (god I was such a fanboy of that company in the late 90s).It's fine, dude. We all had those periods in our lives. I was a Diamond Monster Voodoo2 owner back in the day. Until the day I die, I will remember that first time seeing Quake running glassy smooth (by software rendering standards) with a transparent pull-down console. It was about as close to the Arthur C. Clarke technology/magic aphorism as I'd ever experienced in my life up to that point.

Anyway, good to run into a familiar handle from the distant past. Cheers.

Edit: Bottom posting is clearly superior, especially if you're using vi as your editor while posting from tin. Just sayin'.

Dave Weinstein

07-31-2011, 09:52 AM

Bottom posting is superior for threaded persistent discussions (newsgroups, forums, etc).

Top posting is superior for ephemeral discussions (i.e. email chains) where new participants can be added to the discussion at any time.

Also, have hired new puppy. We expect him to be a PM, as he shows no ability in code or test.

http://twitpic.com/5yjh9m

Bobs Lawn Service

12-22-2011, 09:16 AM

Hi everyone.

I used to post here far too long ago and decided to take a bit of a break. So I'm back two or three years later and giving it another go.

What have I missed?

kerzain

12-22-2011, 09:21 AM

You haven't missed anything.

Foxstab

12-22-2011, 09:26 AM

Mostly lame drama, stupid (flame) wars, general asinine behaviour towards fellow posters, bans and rage quits.

Bobs Lawn Service

12-22-2011, 09:29 AM

Mostly lame drama, stupid (flame) wars, general asinine behaviour towards fellow posters, bans and rage quits.

So, business as usual then?

Anyway, I'll stop yenta'ing it up and get on with things shall I?

Bahimiron

12-22-2011, 09:30 AM

Mostly lame drama, stupid (flame) wars, general asinine behaviour towards fellow posters, bans and rage quits.

...and that was just Foxstab!

SuperJay

12-22-2011, 09:31 AM

Oh sick burn dude. Sick.

Foxstab

12-22-2011, 09:32 AM

So, business as usual then?
http://www.asklopan.com/pictures/christmas%20%285%29.jpg

billy7777

12-23-2011, 03:29 PM

Hey gang,
I'm curious as to your (obvious?) connection to the gaming industry. Are you a Developer? Publisher? Gaming Journalist? Innocent Gamer? Jaded son-of-a-bitch?

Avid gameplayer and Game Developer (working on new Vampire RPG game)

KittensClaws

01-08-2012, 02:31 PM

I originally posted this elsewhere, but started a bit of a kerfuffle, so it's here instead.
I'm Rebecca, AKA Kittens Claws or Rex. I'm happy to be here, and I can't wait to get to know you all. Or at least some of you. Regardless! Hi! I am currently in training for Office Administration at Job Corps in Phoenix. I'm going to go to college for psychology, to be a counseling psychologist.
I'm a proud ladygamer and nerd. Every day, I learn more, and I love adding to my nerd cred. Gaming all-nighters are no sweat for me, either.

Here's a question:
If you could meet and talk to two people from history, one man and one woman, who would you chose?
They can be alive or dead, but they must be real people. I'm looking forward to your answers!

Ken at Popehat

01-08-2012, 03:13 PM

RichVR

01-08-2012, 03:24 PM

Welcome KC.

divorced

01-08-2012, 04:59 PM

Hi. I know a number of you from other boards, but haven't met the rest.

Ken here. 42. I live in Los Angeles. During the day I'm a lawyer -- criminal defense and litigation and, increasingly, administration. When I'm not working I'm trying not to strangle my three kids, blogging, and gaming.

Kind of like a reverse superhero. By day, he's a mild-mannered lawyer. By night, he roves the streets looking to murder innocent children in their sleep!

Rory Stewart

01-08-2012, 05:39 PM

I'm a 22-year-old Scottish...filmmaker...I hesitate because I'm really just starting out though I'm developing a short film script with a relatively successful UK production company.

I'm a casual gamer and serious cinephile with a focus on obscure British cinema. I actually have a dissertation in a very small museum's collection !

I found this site because my friend and fellow filmmaker is also called Tom Chick. I don't dare decide which one I like best.

RichVR

01-08-2012, 05:41 PM

Where can I get a copy of The Bed Sitting Room? I really want to watch that movie again.

Rory Stewart

01-08-2012, 05:48 PM

The BFI have a DVD copy and probably a blu-ray too, it's part of their "flipside series" which is mostly disappointing but sort of interesting "counter-culture" stuff.

I don't think BFI released region 1 versions so I guess you'll need to watch it on VLC or something, I very much doubt there will ever be a criterion version released as there isn't much demand, even in this country, for that sort of thing.

A quick youtube search reveals you can watch a cruddy quality version in nine parts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX3ltFkrngY

RichVR

01-08-2012, 05:52 PM

Sad that. Great movie. Thanks.

Jackstar

01-08-2012, 07:49 PM

Speaking of great move ease:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7kIMZ2Yup0

sit%%;

Rory Stewart

01-09-2012, 02:21 AM

Tempted to start posting obscure UK movies, will avoid the derail temptation and perhaps start a new thread in movies!!!

Brian Rucker

01-09-2012, 04:54 AM

OOC: I work for a appellate litigation printing company in Richmond, VA which means dealing with lawyers and snooping through volumes of sealed documents (I could tell you but I'd have to kill you). I'm 38. Into alternative and roots rock music. I eat meat. Red meat.

IC: I do some writing, mainly interviews, on the side for Gamersclick but I just started that recently. As a longtime non-PC or console gamer, I got my first IBM-Windows PC in 1996, I tend to think my views are all incredibly original and useful as I haven't been around as long as ya'll and seen them all before a thousand times before. My gaming background does include Mac gaming, since the mid 80's, and roleplaying, wargaming, and boardgaming back into the late 70's. I've also been playing catchup with classic titles (and trust me, it's not all rose colored glasses with the oldtimers). Despite my tastes I don't really fit into the fannish ('bearded men') category - more of a gaming drifter myself. A background hanging out in a very competitive music scene effects how I see creative, imaginative, effort or lack thereof.

Well, I'm the same old dude still working the same old job. It's a little family business and I've essentially been adopted. Very comfy, aside from the physical side of it, gig which left me plenty of time for posting on assorted forums during slow spells.

However, my father passed away in 2009 and my mother, whose dementia eventually saw us place her in assisted living, this Thanksgiving. It's been a very rough couple of years now for myself and especially my brother who still lives in Northern VA and has been dealing with situation up close.

If there's a silver lining to all this mess it's that I can finally retire later this month. Everyone's worried that I'm just going to barricade myself into my apartment and play computer games day and night. That's just silly. I think.

Alistair

01-09-2012, 05:19 AM

'Finally' retire? You were 38 in that post. How old are you now?

I'm prepping the bitter envy :(

mdowdle

01-09-2012, 05:26 AM

Where can I get a copy of The Bed Sitting Room? I really want to watch that movie again.

True fact (as if there is any other kind): I asked this very question on this very board in 2003! So don't go around thinking you're something new and special around here.

But if you do get an answer, please let me know. That was one great movie (at least if you're into the late '60s aesthetic).

Kelan

01-11-2012, 04:58 AM

Thanks, Tom for helping to get my account activated. It looks like I originally tried to sign up in 2008 and was a lurker for quite a time before that.

I am an electrical engineer/programmer in my 40s that has been working with controls and automation in a manufacturing facility for over 20 years. While I don’t make games for a living, I have done some hobbyist game programming going back to junior high/high school on the C64 and like to game whenever I can find the time. I even finished a working bowling game and D&D rogue-like on the C64/128 back in the day. I really need to dig those up again and see if they still work.

Here are some of my fondest gaming memories (I have way too many to list, but here are a few off the top of my head:

Getting my first C64 in junior high. One year for Christmas all I got was the C64 computer. The next year, all I got was a floppy drive to go with it. They were two of the best gifts I ever received.

Buying Ultima III with birthday money the year it came out. I seem to remember paying like $60-70 back then and had to travel 60 miles to my grandma’s just to pick it up down at the Berkley computer shop in a Detroit suburb. One of the best gaming experiences of my life and actually completed the game two times.

Joining the Links 386 Tour and competing competitively. It was expensive, but I did manage to win a couple tournaments and still have the plaques down in the basement. Good times!

Beta testing Meridian 59 and then following the progression of MMOs and RPGs from Meridian 59 to Diablo to Ultima Online to Everquest to Dark Age of Camelot. Some of the most fun I have ever had gaming in my life, and some of the most addicting.

Now my wife of 20+ years and I play MMORPGs together whenever we can. We are currently in Rift, but have played just about every MMORPG as they have come out. When we are not playing together she likes to play Adventure and puzzle games although she did really like the Bioshock and Vampire Bloodlines games. I tend to play more strategy games whenever I get extra time.

Thanks for the invite and I am looking forward to being able to contribute to the community.

Foxstab

01-11-2012, 05:08 AM

Well, I'm the same old dude still working the same old job. It's a little family business and I've essentially been adopted. Very comfy, aside from the physical side of it, gig which left me plenty of time for posting on assorted forums during slow spells.

However, my father passed away in 2009 and my mother, whose dementia eventually saw us place her in assisted living, this Thanksgiving. It's been a very rough couple of years now for myself and especially my brother who still lives in Northern VA and has been dealing with situation up close.

If there's a silver lining to all this mess it's that I can finally retire later this month. Everyone's worried that I'm just going to barricade myself into my apartment and play computer games day and night. That's just silly. I think.

http://fsb.zedge.net/content/2/7/9/4/1-5943225-2794-t.jpg

Papa?

Mike O'Malley

01-11-2012, 08:11 AM

Either I'm not getting the joke or that's in very poor taste.

RepoMan

01-11-2012, 11:02 AM

Consider the source.

'Finally' retire? You were 38 in that post. How old are you now?

I'm prepping the bitter envy :(

That post was ten years ago, so he must be 48 now. Retiring at 48? Not my plan, but I hope it goes well.

Brian, does your job now involve more contact with people? When you retire, will you have less contact with people? I mean actual people, not forum people -- forums should not be your entire social life, it will make you crazy. You might want to reconsider the retirement plan if that's the case....

(But then you mention being into a music scene, which seems pretty social.)

Anyway, sorry you've had a rough few years with your parents. Mine are still holding up well, but I know that won't last forever. (And so do they.)

Mr Popov

01-11-2012, 01:07 PM

He (Brian) hasn't answered this thread yet with our questions. What could he be doing? Talking to people?

Brian! Come back! Stop talking to people and come talk to us!

Rory Stewart

01-11-2012, 01:30 PM

True fact (as if there is any other kind): I asked this very question on this very board in 2003! So don't go around thinking you're something new and special around here.

But if you do get an answer, please let me know. That was one great movie (at least if you're into the late '60s aesthetic).

The BFI have a DVD copy and probably a blu-ray too, it's part of their "flipside series" which is mostly disappointing but sort of interesting "counter-culture" stuff.

I don't think BFI released region 1 versions so I guess you'll need to watch it on VLC or something, I very much doubt there will ever be a criterion version released as there isn't much demand, even in this country, for that sort of thing.

A quick youtube search reveals you can watch a cruddy quality version in nine parts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX3ltFkrngY

There you go.

Brian Rucker

01-11-2012, 01:56 PM

Honestly, I have no idea what I'm going to do. My job was fairly physically demanding and I was getting worn out anyhow. We weren't expecting mom to pass away so soon either. So this is all a bit out of the blue. But I can't hump boxes up hills anymore if I don't have to: delivering lots of dead tree matter to uphill courts was part of the gig.

I'll find something to do with my time. But I think I need a nice long breather first. Get my head on straight. Don't want to be rushing off into something else until I have my bearings.

Scuzz

01-11-2012, 03:14 PM

Let's just say I am in my mid-50's, graduated high school in 74 and college in 81. I worked for the IRS while attending college and then went to work for the family construction company as a paper pusher. Thanks to the economy I currently have lots of time to visit forums, but it was the gaming info that brought me here after OO and GT.

I have been married almost 30 years, have two daughters in college.

I like FPS's and RPG's. Like to play golf, fantasy sports and alcohol.

I have gone from being very liberal to very conservative to much closer to the middle. Age and being self employed can do that to you.

porousnapkin

01-11-2012, 04:15 PM

I'm a 25 year old game programmer just getting started in the industry. I recently shipped my first title on iOS (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/inertia-escape-velocity/id476098796?mt=8) and Android (https://market.android.com/details?id=com.redflystudio.inertiaescapeandrdoid) to mixed reviews. Because it was based on a school project my friends and I made, I got to be lead on the mobile version, which was an interesting and fun experience.

I play a lot of RPGs and Strategy games, play a lot of board games (though I'm always about a year behind on the big releases), and infrequently watch weird cult classic movies. I've been regularly lurking and irregularly posting for the past few years, with my biggest involvement being in the recent Frozen Synapse tournament that I disappeared from when I got overloaded with work. I mostly pop in here periodically to find out about great games that get missed on other sites I visit.

Giles Habibula

01-11-2012, 04:32 PM

I am 51, bought my first computer in 1993, and have been trying to figure the damn things out ever since. I love computer games of all kinds, but I seem to have settled on FPS games as my favorites, with my all-time favorite being "Thief".

I started out in the working world as a drycleaner, but after 20+ years of inhaling chemical vapors, I got out of that and am currently employed as a para-transit bus driver for the elderly and handicapped. It pays very poorly, and I'll thus probably be working until I drop dead, but it's the first job I've ever had that has some very enjoyable and rewarding moments. Negative aspects include awful hours and weekend work, and 10-hour shifts consisting of constant in-town driving.

I love to relax at home, playing computer games and reading, and spending quality time with my long-time girlfriend and my cat.

The Mad Hatter

01-11-2012, 04:43 PM

39. Born in Halifax, moved to Ottawa in my 20s. Work as "Verification Specialist" (software tester/analyst) on long term contract. Live with girlfriend and her son, no kids of my own. Gaming since 1980 on a Timex Sinclair, C64 and of course PC gaming, with a spell playing fighter games on a Sega Genesis, some Xbox/PS2 gaming and now their successor systems.

Pogue Mahone

01-11-2012, 05:24 PM

Hey, I remember when I was a college student in Louisiana. Or more accurately, since the drinking age at the time there was 18, I don't recall it all that well. Good times.

I had resisted putting info on myself in here just because I don't have much interesting to say about me, but ... what the hell. I work for Microsoft, though not in any games-related capacity. I was just married a few weeks ago and am recovering from the honeymoon-induced jet lag. I also like kittens and sailboats, and my favorite color is blue.

edit: oh hey, here's a weird fact about me: would you believe I have never played World of Warcraft, nor have any real interest?

Ah, the good old days! The reappearance of this thread reminds me that my info is way out of date. Unfortunately I had to part ways with Microsoft for my mental and physical well-being. But on the bright side, my wife and I are expecting a baby in late May!

PolarBear

01-11-2012, 06:51 PM

My first post might as well be an introduction. So this is what I wrote to Tom when he asked for a short written introduction when I registered for the site:

I am 42 years old. I have been (quite happily) married for over 11 years. I live in Connecticut. My background is working in the back office / IT departments of various banks/financial institutions in New York and CT.

I have always enjoyed video games and have been an avid gamer since the days of the Atari and the Intellivision. I have fond memories of playing Archon and Lords of Conquest with friends on an Atari 800. I love the Civilization series and almost everything else from Sid Meiers, all of the Infinity Engine games as well as more recent series such as Halo, Assassin’s Creed and CoD. Half-Life changed my life.

After several years of lurking I have decided that I would like to become part of the conversation. Unfortunately in my regular life it is almost impossible to find people with whom to have serious discussions about video games. The QT3 forum seems like a great place to have these conversations with other adults who have similar experiences and taste in games.

Pogue Mahone

01-11-2012, 06:56 PM

We take our time-wasting diversions very seriously here, PolarBear. Welcome to the club. Also, since it's your first time at Qt3, you have to fight.

MarcJR

01-14-2012, 04:58 AM

I'm a 33 year old South African living in Belgium.

I write and direct films, just a couple shorts on my 'filmography' though.

My first film: 'Mompelaar' came out as part of a dvd compilation (put out by Wholphin, an excellent little distributor) alongside a short by Spike Jonze and another by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Very happy about that.

http://www.wholphindvd.com/issues/wholphin-no-9/

My latest is a stop-motion short I did with my girlfriend.
It's called 'Oh Willy...' and I'd invite anyone interested to have a look at the trailer up on vimeo:

http://vimeo.com/34891933

It'll be doing the festival rounds this year.

I enjoy games, though mostly vicariously hence my presence here.
My favorites include: Star Control II, Stalker (SoC), Dwarf Fortress and lately I've played an insane amount of The Binding of Isaac.

I greatly admire Tom Chick's podcasts, the movie podcast in particular tickles me no end.

Nixxter

01-14-2012, 05:56 AM

Aah, so you are ticklish then? Divulging that may prove to be a fatal error, we have a lot of feathers around here and we are not afraid to use them!

Welcome!

Michael Fortson

01-14-2012, 06:25 AM

Since my last post: Qik (my previous startup; first employee, not founder) was bought by Skype (who was then bought by Microsoft). Also celebrated my 10th wedding anniversary. Starting another company in SF now (and looking for another mobile developer with some free time and an interest in the consumer space, btw).

Anonymgeist

01-14-2012, 10:47 AM

Hey everyone, I figure I might as well introduce myself.

My name's Jeff, I'm 29, and a property accountant at a Seattle-based commercial real estate management company. I'm single, unattached, and live with my two gigantic cats.

I think my first experience gaming was 10-Yard Fight and Excitebike for the NES, which my family bought when I was four, but once we got a PC capable of playing Elite I became primarily a PC gamer and stayed that way until I bought my PS3 a couple years back. My two favorite games are Arcanum and The Last Express.

Foxstab

01-14-2012, 12:51 PM

Welcome Jeff!
Saddened to hear about your sunken fall onto the abuse of console. ;P
Obligatory demand for pictures of the felines, please!

Anonymgeist

01-14-2012, 01:59 PM

Welcome Jeff!
Saddened to hear about your sunken fall onto the abuse of console. ;P
Obligatory demand for pictures of the felines, please!

In my defense, the vast majority of my game playing is still on the PC (if only because I tend like playing games with my TV on in the background) but I enjoy having my console for games that don't come out on the PC at all (like Heavy Rain and Red Dead Redemption) or have a long delay with the PC release (such as LA Noire).

Charlie:
http://i42.tinypic.com/erfsk4.jpg

Alistair:
http://i39.tinypic.com/2a51lf.jpg

And the two together, after I interrupted their fighting:
http://i40.tinypic.com/245hdw4.jpg

They may not look huge in the pictures, but they're both 22-25lbs and not very overweight. The vet said they're the largest domestic short-hairs she's ever seen.

Alistair

01-14-2012, 05:23 PM

Mrrraaow!

RichVR

01-14-2012, 05:32 PM

Dang Kelan you got the floppy drive that soon? You lucky dog. I spent a year with the tape drive and Flight Sim 1. But I did have two Atari joysticks set up, taped to the arms of a chair, so the left was the throttle and the right the actual stick.

OTOH all I had was the Chicago Kankakee area.

I still spent hours in the "air" with that.

Welcome dude.

nogwart

01-15-2012, 04:51 AM

Guess it's my turn...

48. I'm a programmer/analyst by day and a musician by night. Although I consider myself a musician first and programmer second, music doesn't pay the bills like it used to, so the day-job has taken the primary role these days.

I'm almost exclusively a PC gamer now, although I do own (but rarely touch) a PS2 and Wii, and one of my saddest days last year was when I finally sold all my old Nintendo games and console in a yard sale (goodbye Duck Hunt... [sniff]).

My admittedly indirect link to the game industry is the fact that I created and released 2 Fan Missions (FMs) for the PC game Thief 2: The Metal Age which, as of this posting, over 1,800 players have downloaded.

Lurker. I very rarely post, but do read much of the Games section and daily check the "I'm only going to speak in Animated GIFs" thread in Everything Else because it makes me laugh like a maniacal scientist at times.

Pharoah

01-15-2012, 06:30 AM

I'm 38 (I think, changes all the time ^^), I work for an indie studio called Arkedo (you may have heard about Nervous Brickdown or Big Bang Mini on the DS).

I live in Paris, France.

First games played: on the ZX81/Oric Atmos/Vectrex/CPC 6128.
Current system: mainly the 360, but quite a lot of DS and iPad with the kids.

I'm planning to go back to beloved PC gaming as a hobby very soon, now that notebooks can play games properly, as I am getting a bit sad to play PC indie games or cool mods only at work.

I am mostly a lurker, and enjoy this place very much :)

Pogue Mahone

01-15-2012, 09:27 AM

Hey, you guys at Arkedo made some pretty fantastic games for Xbox Live Indie Games right? Really enjoyed those.

mjgreeny75

01-15-2012, 11:51 PM

Hi all. My turn I guess.

I'm 36, married with 2 kids. In daily life, I'm an archaeologist (not digging anything up myself anymore though, telling other people to do so).

When I can find the time (which isn't very often, see the 2 kids above) I play all sorts of games, mainly on pc but on Xbox aswell (Skyrim atm). First game I can remember really enjoying was civ 2 (allthough I think that also had something to do with being the first game I played in color...). More recently I have enjoyed Mass Effect 1 and 2 immensely, and I can't wait for part 3!

Bit of a new guy on the forum, lurking more then writing. And I'm now of to the above mentioned Animated gif-thread, which I haven't tried out yet!

bweasel

03-14-2012, 09:37 PM

So, I'm 45 with a 1-year-old baby, so remarkably little time for gaming. Moments on the DS (Ace Attorney Investigations, right now, after giving up on the boring Fire Emblem Shadown Dragon) or iPhone (Ascension, Elder Sign.) Generally a strategy gamer; I played a lot of Civ IV in the pre-baby days, and am still trying to occasionally play SoTS 1. The recent forum thread prompted me to dust of Master of Magic on my MacBook, which I play on airplane flights to confuse passers-by. (I also installed KOTOR on the laptop, but that just confuses me, not the passers-by.)

By day (or some nights) I'm an astronomer, looking for extrasolar planets. I've only found 4, but we're doing it the hard way.

Oh, and my name is Bruce, and my arch-rival gaming friend from my youth was a cunning rules-weasel named Tom - reading the TvB columns was always a bit surreal.

lokiju

03-15-2012, 06:19 AM

<--- 40 year old with 14 years as an elementary school (K-6) P.E. teacher, married to a Yalie wife with a Ph.D in Psychology. We would be an odd couple if not for the fact that she's as much a gamer as I am (awesome raid healer and tank in WoW). I'm an unusual jock/geek hybrid who loves PC TBS games, has a Friday strategy board gaming night with a bunch of nerdy friends, all while playing/coaching volleyball 3-4 times a week.

I'm a "gym teacher"...but I don't really follow professional sports all that much. I'd rather play sports than watch someone else do it for me. My school staff doesn't know what to make of me.

I do have my Ed.D in administration, but honestly, I love gaming (and helping children learn to be active) so much that I don't want to lose my vacations (like summers!)...even for a higher salary. Principals only get a couple weeks off.

My wife is having our first child in August, so I'm genuinely scared about losing our gaming (anything entertainment time, really) time. I might go back and read this entire thread to see how people (like bweasel above) deal with such a huge change. *gulp*

Ephraim

03-15-2012, 06:35 AM

Welcome, welcome! Good to see the mean age of Qt3 continues to hover well above 30! ;)

As for gaming with a young child, this is the way it worked for me: casual and/or portable. That way I can squeeze in a bit of gaming on the go, or in the all-too-rare quiet moments before either my daughter or wife need my focused attention. The iPhone's fairly decent selection of interesting, bite-sized game experiences has really been a boon on that front.

mjgreeny75

03-15-2012, 07:34 AM

Clay

03-15-2012, 07:41 AM

By day (or some nights) I'm an astronomer, looking for extrasolar planets. I've only found 4, but we're doing it the hard way.

There's an easy way?

Clay

03-15-2012, 07:54 AM

My wife is having our first child in August, so I'm genuinely scared about losing our gaming (anything entertainment time, really) time. I might go back and read this entire thread to see how people (like bweasel above) deal with such a huge change. *gulp*

For the first few months, your baby will go to sleep pretty late, but by month 6 or so, bedtime will move up to 6-7pm and you'll find that you have plenty of evening time for gaming. You probably have an army of people recommending various child care books, etc... I strongly recommend reading the Weissbluth book about sleep patterns (http://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Sleep-Habits-Happy-Child/dp/0345486455/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331823116&sr=8-1). It's a little disorganized, but if you follow the general principles about napping and sleeping, you're more likely to achieve both a) a non-cranky child and b) more time for gaming.

Sinij

03-15-2012, 08:59 AM

I'm Sinij and have been gaming since dawn of time. I have been playing MMORPGs since early days UO and have been member of LtM community since early days of ranting.

John Many Jars

03-15-2012, 11:13 AM

I call myself John Many Jars, but my real name is SPURT MAGOO and you can call me SPURT. I am a board-certified dentist but have never practiced. I believe very strongly in free love. I got into video gaming from the old slot car parlor scene that once dominated the boardwalk in Erie, PA. I won a bronze medal in crokinole in the 1986 Canada Games. I enjoy riding buses and talking with the elderly about dental care and dental history and historiography. My favorite games are Laser Squad Nemesis and DWARF FORTRESS, neither of which I play anymore. My favorite animal is the binturong. My least favorite state is Indiana. My least favorite country is Japan.

Nixxter

03-15-2012, 11:17 AM

That's very spunky of you JMJ!

John Many Jars

03-15-2012, 12:51 PM

Also, here's a recent pic:

http://i42.tinypic.com/2irumxl.jpg

IainC

03-15-2012, 02:19 PM

Also, here's a recent pic:

Prove that's you, tell us what the dog's name is.

John Reynolds

03-15-2012, 02:55 PM

I want that van! Man, I miss the 70s. Growing up in Springfield, Ohio, the cultural black hole of the planet, there was this van that was beautifully painted in a way that imitated the original Star Wars poster. I loved seeing that van parked at the mall back in 78 and 79.

Anyways, carry on. I'm a middle-aged nerd who refuses to grow up. I love fantasy books and games, chocolate, pizza, women, and computer hardware. I have a MA in English Lit and run a research network for the Air Force. I was born in the wrong century, but those earlier centuries would've killed my asthmatic ass before adulthood.

Alistair

03-15-2012, 03:01 PM

AirNet? SpaceNet? FlyNet?

RichVR

03-15-2012, 05:35 PM

I also love chocolate pizza women.

The dog is obviously named Spuds Many Jars.

bweasel

03-15-2012, 09:53 PM

There's an easy way?
Old-fashioned exoplanet astronomers just watch for Doppler shifts as the planet orbits the star, or see the star blink slightly as the planet passes in front of it[1]. We squint very, very hard[2] so we can see actually see the planet itself next to the much, much brighter star.

[1] You can even do this from your back yard, with a high-end amateur CCD.
[2] The technical term is "adaptive optics coronagraphy".

Dave Weinstein

09-14-2012, 03:20 PM

Still comfortably an ex-game-developer, still married (closing in on 20 years), still living in the Cascade foothills, and still working in computer security.

But I'm wrapping up my work at the Microsoft Security Engineering Center to move over to the Bing Security Team (with a week off in between to play with a new puppy!).

CH-ch-changes.

Well, some.

Still married, still living in the Cascade Foothills. The puppy is now larger, and slightly brighter.

However, in two weeks time, I will leave Microsoft, and go work for HP's DVLabs as a Security Researcher. So, occasional trips to Austin are about to happen, and the rest of the time I will be working from the Snoqualmie Valley.

Tom Chick

09-14-2012, 03:27 PM

However, in two weeks time, I will leave Microsoft, and go work for HP's DVLabs as a Security Researcher.

That sounds like an ominous occupation trying too hard to seem innocuous.

-Tom

JoshV

09-14-2012, 03:38 PM

CH-ch-changes.

Well, some.

Still married, still living in the Cascade Foothills. The puppy is now larger, and slightly brighter.

However, in two weeks time, I will leave Microsoft, and go work for HP's DVLabs as a Security Researcher. So, occasional trips to Austin are about to happen, and the rest of the time I will be working from the Snoqualmie Valley.

Hah, small world, I'm in Duvall, and at MS. Enjoy HP.

Kevin Perry

09-14-2012, 08:59 PM

trying too hard to seem innocuous.I've known Dave for 15 years now and never found a quote so apropos.

Ultrazen

09-14-2012, 09:10 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_3MYzWTTKU

I'm the bass player. I also produce music for a living (produced those GLB albums). Worked in QA for Titan Quest as a lark.

lord_pall

09-14-2012, 09:26 PM

37, Married for 14+ years years, Had our first kid in April. Loving the whole thing.

Game Designer, been doing it for around 17 years. Worked on a lot of games, all over the world.

Lived in Austin, London, Cambridge, Helsinki, Los Angeles and I'm now in San Francisco.

I currently work at Kixeye, heading up a team making hardcore f2p games.

Even after all these years, I still game a LOT. Hell, I came here to see how everyone was doing in FTL before I got back into my current game.

Oh yeah, I run HOTUD.org. I don't do much with it, but I pay the bills and make sure it stays reasonably functional.

Pogue Mahone

09-14-2012, 10:51 PM

Home of the Underdogs? Man, I have killed some serious time on that website.

Brian Rubin

09-14-2012, 11:23 PM

Home of the Underdogs? Man, I have killed some serious time on that website.

OMG ME TOO! Totally loved their forums, and their addition of a new game was like Christmas. Sigh, I miss it so.

Razgon

09-15-2012, 12:43 AM

OMG ME TOO! Totally loved their forums, and their addition of a new game was like Christmas. Sigh, I miss it so.

Why would you miss it? Its still there :-)

Brian Rubin

09-15-2012, 02:55 AM

Why would you miss it? Its still there :-)

Sort of, it's just barely a shadow of its former self.

DennyA

09-16-2012, 12:24 PM

Hah, small world, I'm in Duvall, and at MS. Enjoy HP.
Hah. Small world. I'm in Duvall, and at MS.

:)

RichVR

09-16-2012, 02:53 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_3MYzWTTKU

I'm the bass player. I also produce music for a living (produced those GLB albums). Worked in QA for Titan Quest as a lark.

How did you hit ctrl/alt/del with little stubby wings?

TimElhajj

09-16-2012, 04:27 PM

How did you hit ctrl/alt/del with little stubby wings?

http://www.nirvananet.org/img/LARK1282.JPG

RichVR

09-16-2012, 04:37 PM

Why are those cigarettes flipping me off? You trying to start something, tough guy?

TimElhajj

09-16-2012, 06:54 PM

Those are two handed gang signs. You better watch your back. It's the signal for Lark attack!

RichVR

09-16-2012, 07:01 PM

Quaker Parrots for life, beeyotch!

Quaker Parrots! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBOBw2G9iU4)

DennyA

03-06-2013, 04:16 PM

Okay, got that Vista thing all fixed up and just about ready to send out the door, so I'm now the Games editor for Xbox.com.

Whenever I'm in a car with my four-year-old son, however, I'm either Will Turner or Green Lantern to his Jack Sparrow or Superman.

Good to be back in the games biz. I started writing about games professionally in college at age 21, in early 1987. 41 now; I was 35 when I first logged on to QuarterToThree.

And now the four-year-old is 10 and I'm finally changing jobs. (Hey, the Xbox.com gig was fun!) Still at Microsoft, but moving over to work on doing game-related scheduling/programming (the "what runs when" kind of programming, not the "PRINT CHR$(RND(0)*255);" kind of programming) for the Xbox LIVE dashboard.