When it comes to the layout itself, it shouldn’t be as cluttered with useless crap as it used to, some can even assume it has some order in it (I had to look that word up). Categories follow a structure (wha’?) now aswell, although that’s not as recognizable as I want it to be, it kinda makes sense when administrating them. There you go, you even get informed about stuff you won’t notice! Now I just have to work on not mentioning it if you don’t care, but all in a days work!
Over the next weeks there will be more updates in that regard, most notably THAT bugger needs some attention. If it’s there it deserves content I guess.
But more on that later, for now… enjoy less tags, and a – in my opinion – better layout!
Thanks for staying around btw… except you, dreaded spam bots, you suck, some day you will be outnumbered by actual readers! *imagine evil world domination laughter by a guy with a monocle and a tophat*

To show everyone how serious I am, this post doesn’t even have any tags!

It’s Skyrim time! Bethesda released a demonstration for everyone to see (even without a youtube account). Actually it’s the one people saw at E3 already, so most aren’t in here for a surprise here I guess. But if you want a coverage of the whole demo, without any cuts in between, give it a shot.
Not sure if I should paint everything black now, as it’s quite disturbing to me how they keep distance from showing off the character creator. But that’s marketing we all love… and probably hate when we finally get our hands on the real walk.

To spice things up, I’ll add my own marketing to every video part. However, take it with a grain of salt, I’m pretty much just shooting blindfolded here, quite ironic, as in the end it probably just evens out expectations. ;]
On top of that, marketing gang war crap aside, I’ll give a small summary what you can expect from that part, if you’re in a hurry for whatever reason.

So, here we go:

- The engine has been completely rewritten, to make use of higher graphic standards,
- Animations profit from new code aswell, as they look worthwhile now.
- No trample-rampage on grass and bushes, still static objects it seems, at least wild-life got some more love.
- Combat feels more dynamic now, as you can combine both hands now to fulfill desired effects.
- There seem to be finishing moves when striking down near death opponents.
- Weapons aren’t blood defiant anymore!
- The inventory looks terrible, and reminds me of being a douche with an IPad.
- When it comes to the map, it’s fully rendered in 3D now.
- Skills upgrade as to be expected (=learning by doing), however, there are now perks associated to every single one of them, giving more options to create a unique character, visualized by star constellations.
- As to be expected, console players need to cheat to play the game.
- Some NPCs have emotional issues with expressing being frightened (at least the old lady didn’t do the moon walk).
- Time doesn’t halt when starting a conversation.
- Riding is in of course, doesn’t look as if mounted combat is though (hinted at by not showing it off and beating the living crap out of air).
- There are no major skills anymore, everything adds to your leveling progress.
- Snowstorms are awesome!
- Sometimes it’s a great idea to just back off, when you meet a dragon (apparently even if you cheat, chicken!).

- Old ruins are immune to snow storms (well kinda), although they don’t feel as generic as in Oblivion anymore.
- As to be expected, sneaking looks worthwhile now aswell, considering it’s part of the category “better animations”.
- NPCs react to killed companions, by drawing their weapon and doing nothing. Female opponents love expressing their departure with male voices. (indeed, that part is seriously messed up)
- Dual Wielding is in! Don’t expect to block anything with those though (Blocking seems to be an exclusive to shields, which makes sense, let’s see if parrying somehow finds a way in)
- Spells can be used to lay traps.
- Finally there are biiiig spiders aswell!
- Attacking chums being caught in spider webs, does make them feel better, don’t try this at home.
- “You fool, I run slower than you! cy@uuuaaahhrg”
- Electricity works on dead people.
- Following the waterflow is probably a good idea, although it’s not that you had another option here anyway, just don’t deny gravity. ^^
- Switching weapons with an IPad sucks.
- Some candles would receive a AAA+ rating when it comes to saving energy, and life expectency.
- A potentialy great puzzle gets revealed in a demo, let’s hope the rest are as worthwhile to be titled that way.
- Bats are Batman, and vanish out of sight!
- Water gets spammed in that dungeon like there is no tomorrow, although I’d show that off aswell… it looks awesome.
- Summoned NPCs can take aggro from console players, to prevent them harming the source which would get rid of summons aswell, at least for some seconds.

- There is more to see than just lush, endless forests, and awesome looking mountain passes full of snowstorm pleasure! (I made it sound as unimpressive as possible)
- Our beloved guilds are part of the game.
- Mammoths weighting like 12 tons, hate it to get attacked. Other than that not everything tries to charge at you on sight.
- Cheaters take a pounding from Giants to summon totally not scripted dragon events.
- You can’t back off, when there isn’t a cave nearby!
- The words “Come on! Monster” are taken serious by dragons, most notably when you’re burning already.
- Kill commands used by console players now summon badass looking thunderstorms. On a more serious note, those Dragon Words have quite an impact, not only on graphics but also on gameplay.
- Falling damage is for PC players (with Mods!)
- Let’s hope that head smashing kill animation is all they copied from Dragon Age 2.

All sarcasm and cynism aside… great videos, looking forward to NOT play it on a console. PC all the way… for the mods alone, I want parry (and fall damage)!
Anyway some random stuff as closing words:
- There will only be three attributes: Health, Magicka, and Stamina (they can be raised without cheating aswell).
- Skills also got cut to 18 in total, no Acrobatics and Athletics anymore for isntance, although I liked the idea of those two, they were realized in a totally useless way.
- There are no class archetypes anymore, you just do what you want to, and get defined by how you pick perks.

Hope that helped a bit, if you had a laugh, it was totally not intended.

And now to something completely different the shiny stuff:

Batman: Arkham City
I had my great share of fun with Arkham Asylum, and I expect no less from its successor. Diving from roofs, and beating the living crap out of people not only works in TF2, it looks even more awesome when its actually intended in the meta game. On top of that you’re freaking Batman afterall.
End of October 2011

Diablo III*
Well, is there even anyone on that planet who doesn’t want to play this? You don’t count, shut up! =p
But what the hell is that asteric for? No, it’s not here to screw up proper search terms to keep WoW kiddies out of this holy sanctum of awesome. It pretty much only means that I need Beta access to stream it, otherwise it wouldn’t make sense to post it here, as we’ll probably won’t see it until december…
When it comes to the class I’ll pick, it probably won’t be Demon Hunter… (although it would be my class, I want my stream to be awesome!).
December 2011

Saints Row: The Third
That E3 presentation sold me! A totally exaggerated intro mission, and sense defying gameplay are totally my stuff. I’m still not sure if they will fail as hard when it comes to porting it over to the PC as they did with Saints Row 2… other than that, it could be the underdog of 2011. Unless you’re a serious guy of course, go play your Sudoku.
Mid of November 2011

TES Skyrim
Nothing to add here, this will be the game of the year… not only because it’s impossible to come up with such a terrible leveling mechanic again, they also reworked the animations and the AI. Sounds more like a patch to Oblivion then, but no, it also adds freaking dragons… what else do people need? No, it’s not a breast slider (although you can change weight, whatever that means…).
11.11.2011

Torchlight II
The polar opposite to Diablo III according to most people, but that doesn’t mean it sucks… it’s actually certainly not the case if you can mod it, play with up to 8 players (not decided yet from what I’ve heard) on LAN (!), and just pay 20 bucks for it. Coming from a great share of people who actually bestowed Diablo II upon us, and by the looks of it, it very well represents their vision with 2011 standards.
Before December 2011… they have to (with Torchlight 3 aswell… =p)

Tribes: Ascend
Free to play, fast paced gameplay, disc launchers, jetpacks, and FINALLY more than 12 opponents on large scaled maps? I’m sold! At least until it’s pay to win…
Damnit, I’ve had so much fun with Starsiege Tribes, don’t screw this one up, it’s about time to finally reconstruct my Quake 2 genes again.
I don’t expect 2011… although the Beta should do

Level requirements range from 86 to 89, not too bad, I’ve expected it to be higher. Every nation gets a new tier of essential ingredients to cook up some BBQ (got it? BBQ(Q)! Bloody brilliant!), so we have T3 engines, T3 eels, along with T3 FCS, T3 toilets, T3 rubber ducks, and more supports slots (actually when it comes to additional slots the IJN receives 2 slots, while the other nations get 1).
Interestingly the overheat ratio drops from 36% to 16% for all nations, keep in mind though that we heard yo like caps, so we put a cap on yo cap… well it’s still capped at 40 knots, so that’s not a big deal I guess, just spam Engineers where they fit (not on R/T slots if you’ve wondered).
Torpedoes are the standard 2k increase, no big news here… more burst, pretty much the same DPS compared to earlier tiers because of a higher reload time. UK, IJN, and MN have access to Scouts, while the IJN takes it a bit further (yeah, right) and can equip some aerial firepower… to be shot down by any capable CV (I’m not sure if that feature pays itself off… I highly doubt it).
No idea about dive times, but if it’s not a significant upgrade over SS4, my Type IXD2 will rot in the harbor (as likely as SS3 rotted there). What SS5 tend to share are terrible turn rates, both KM and SN take the lead with 21, (still a drop by 3 compared to SS4), while IJN needs the whole map to turn with 17 (seriously!).
For a detailed list of stats I can offer this thread on NFNA, or you can head directly over to NFKR where everything is listed (except dive times).

Here is my personal total scientifically approved ranking from best to worst on Tier 5 submarines:

1.) USN Gato – Finally here, and undoubtly the winner in that tier, perfectly suited for its intended role, sinking capital stuff with 6 bow tubes, and hailing white pills of colaterall splash giving doom to chasing vessels dumb enough in doing so, the USN finally prevails, when it comes to submarines…
2.) SN D Class – Not as many tubes as the Gato, but still gets the job done, on top of that an upgrade compared to earlier tiers (herp, derp).
3.) KM Type-IXD2 – Finally a new sprite, but technically it’s a downgrade to SS4 I guess, 2 support slots may help to reach your victims faster, but one more stern tube, that’s it… I’ll miss those Flaks, the new deck cannon probably just sucks, nonetheless it gets the job done, we all know what comes with SS6 here…
4.) IJN Kai-Ko Class – The little brother of the legendary I-400, quite a winner when it comes to playing styles, but in the end, you’ll hate enemy carriers, and friendly flak spam, just to find out that you are the slow big target with a terrible turning force, and less tubes to retaliate.
5.) MN Surcouf – The Jack of all Trades, Master of none… except that it rivals with the IJN to be a big slow pile of junk, those guns sound like some fun? You’ll learn the hard way on NFEU, even ignoring the interesting turning angle of those… ;]
6.) Border Humping – It makes people get kicked out of the game occasionaly.
7.) Islands – I’ve seen vessels get crushed by them!
8.) Paratroopers – … can jump out of planes…
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.
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47) KM Type II – It can spam those mines you still have from events…
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.
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9001.) RN M Class – Oh my goodness, what a disaster, 4 tubes? Really? And a 12″ gun with wooping 20° coverage? You gotta be kidding me… 4 tiers of endless tube spam get compensated with tier 5, enjoy sinking stuff with a terrible spread, turn speed, as you gotta turn the whole sub into an undesirable direction, just to get sunk after two seconds when trying to do so (on NFEU).

Thanks for reading (also thanks to spam bots for giving me hits, I guess)!

DISCLAIMER: I’m awesome!
Also keep in mind that I never tried any of those yet, that’s just pure speculation, although… you gotta be kidding me, the RN SS5 is so terrible.

On the one hand, I really want to play some Team Fortress 2 again, just to spam voice commands as a Spy (and maybe doing some useful stuff too), but on the other hand it pains me to realise what that game has been turned into, when thinking of installing it.
I mean it’s awesome to see the devs dedicate themselves to their product, and actually release free stuff, but then again… humanity is one evil entity.
At least it makes more sense to me, when thinking of them using TF2 as a free advertising platform (YES I TOTALLY FOUND THAT OUT MYSELF), hell those guys actually wanted me to believe L4D is a successful attempt to combine single- and multiplayer. Freaking marketing trash-talk… those guys are ranked 2 after EA (although the latter is unmatched in being the deceiver of fools).
Not that those ridiculous hats and gimmick items (which freaking costs a small fortune if you don’t happen to have the appropriate crafting items) interfere with my voice command spam, but hell, I just miss those times where that game didn’t feel like a big pile of malware. Thinking of that I’m actually wondering why valve didn’t implement advertising boards on maps yet (but well, can’t remember Blizzard doing that in WoW, so that’s probably the reason). But whatever, no TF2 for me!
I actually have no idea why I’m posting that anyway, but while I’m at Steam, I really should start to mention Natural Selection 2 more often from now on, it’s shaping up pretty well. In a few months it raised from an unplayable sluggish alpha into an incarnation of fun (which is still a beta though). The devs really love hearing out the community and squish a lot of bugs in every new build, which pops up every 2 weeks. It’s totally playable, but it needs tweaking, and isn’t feature-locked yet (if dynamic infestation looks half as awesome as rendered, I’m happy with it).
Coverage about it can be found on youtube (I’M BATMAN) aswell. So feel free to hop into NS2HD’s channel, and grab your share of beta-news.
I’m terribly sorry to bring that up… I just can’t hold myself back, it’s NOT that interesting to mention a sore throat (or whatever, it was so unimportant I forgot it already) in every single part (it didn’t help anyway, I can’t remember it anymore)… but other than that kudos to NS2HD (seriously, thumbs up from ME, that’s worth something). =P
I guess I’ll add my own category for NS2 soon (valve time is for sissies).

Speaking of that I really should feed my Starcraft 2 category (seriously, it did exist already for ages!), not only I’m about to start again with grinding 1on1 (Platinum is doable I say!), it’s in general something which can be written about easily. There just happens so much stuff there, be it countless awesome shoutcasts, leagues, custom maps, whatever… it’s a bloggers dream. =P
I won’t dedicate myself to SC2 alone though, for self-preserving reasons… ^^

In other news, I’m not sure if I’ll update the Dragon Age 2 Nerd Compendium anymore, I’m aware of the fact that it’s totally unfinished and too generic, but I’m sorry to say it, that game just failed in my eyes… however, as that popped up so often on search results, here is my personal experience how to properly spec a 2H-warrior. Considering you love running around with Control (Vanguard sustained mode) I just brought Constitution to 31 (slowly, over the whole 3 acts, to meet the armour pre-requisites), invested into Strength to always reach 100% hit (only affects normal hits to prevent glancing blows, also keep in mind that this number is penalized versus bigger fishes, which can’t be negated), and stacked the rest on Willpower (as I used the Berserker spec). It’s science!
If you prefer Might over Control you have to get more strength of course. Other than that you can’t really do anything wrong (which is kinda frustrating).

Duke Nukem Forever really has been delayed btw… =P
And yes, I’m dodging League of Legends on purpose, that game sucks, Heroes of Newerth too of course. EAT IT!

Anyway, I just post this wall of text now…
No wait, a random video (full of awesome) for your viewing pleasure:

However, that doesn’t mean that some folks come up with creative stuff, which doesn’t really fool you, as it’s plain obvious, but it’s the work which counts. I guess I’ll write about those I’ll come across, and mention them. Of course I totally need to mention Blizzard, it’s not that everyone else does anyway. OLOLOL APRIL THE FIRST…
At least people have to suck up sarcasm on that day.

Stay tuned for that mindblowing entry the world totally needs, in the next few days… but maybe that’s my totally retarded crap I made up, depends if I manage to fool myself with that one. I’m so excited!

PS.: That post misses some comma on purpose, as some of those thought it’s too ridiculous to show up here for that useless day. Well the day is fine I guess, it’s the people who make it useless! =P
We invented comma afterall.

Yesterday I had my daily ship spinning pleasure on Amarr, while the same scammers had their daily routine too. Speaking of that, you ever wondered why the money you’ve been promised for just one Tritanium is coloured red instead of green? If not you’d probably wonder afterwards why you’ve lost that amount and gained one Tritanium instead.
Not to forget all these other contract scams going on, which just need some basic math, regardless how high the numbers are… just for the protocol, round up/down to get rid of annoying digits involving confusing commas/semicolons and you’re pretty much set, or just use the bloody calculator you get on your interface, to come to the conclusion that whenever everyone wants to rush a deal to get some liquidized whatever these retards name it… it’s a bloody scam.

To sum it up: Green=Good, Red=Dead.
The latter not only sticks true to combat, but also to the market…

Anyway, so much for the small excursion to scam, now let me follow up with the end of my awesome story… so I spinned my ship around like a bloody idiot while checking my 16day skill training from time to time (in case you’re curious, no it didn’t finish), and all of a sudden I read some random casino ad:

How bold to advertise for a casino in EvE Online! Some minutes later I just saw it again, but this time I actually had to click on the guy’s name to check for the ~4 hour lifetime he had to have… and all of a sudden my world broke apart. Said character actually had over 4 years on his back… holy dooley!
Why would that guy risk his account for a random casino?

That was actually the part where I just clicked on Rothbards, as I had to check out, what that was all about. You probably clicked it too now, and come up with the same conclusion I had. It looks quite plain, without any flashy, shiny stuff going on. Pretty common for scam sites…

BUT! That’s not what it’s about.
To finally conclude this, just read the FAQ… nah well, it’s not that easy.
Said site belongs to Edwin Rothbard who grew bored of ship spinning, and thought it’s time to start his very own casino fueled with ISK. By that I don’t mean the icelandic currency, no, it obviously is about EvE credits. You could have read that in the FAQ too btw.

I’m not saying I’d vouch for him, but I made an account there, and got what he promised… Blackjack and Hookers 1 mil ISK.
Seriously, sign up there and see for yourself, I don’t get anything for proposing that, all you have to do is letting him know how you’re named in EvE along with adding a valid e-mail address.
You’ll not only find Black Jack there (which got added recently), but also something quite noteworthy with equal odds of winning.
For a clean 50/50 chance you should give Matari Pick’em a chance, and check out “High Low”. The other options aren’t as much in your favour though, but it’s a casino afterall. epic fail on my part, how bold of me to not think that the house always wins, the 8 actually has a 25% percent chance to be in your “favour” (giving you back the bet), resulting in one of the worst odds (~48%).

And a quick sidenote on Blackjack, I’m pretty sure it’s “Stand on 17″, but maybe I just spread a rumour there, although it would be in your favour if it’s the case.
Anyway, thumbs up for that idea, I’m gambling in EvE now, without having walkable stations yet.
Give it a try aswell if you’re into stuff like that, it’s free afterall, at least until you’ve wasted your promotion amount. ;]

Although most people expected some station walking, and Dust514 coverage, CCP really did a fine job to delay these demands at least until monday, when the hard reality of a normal work-day’s schedule in tandem with the dreaded, utterly pointless summer-time kicks in, making people bash everything without any reason.
To sum up the Saturday, there was a lot more talk than walk in my eyes. I certainly don’t mean it as negative as it it sounds, but I just hope CCP is up for the challenge their hype caused. When it comes to content which we might see in the near future, I’m certainly impressed, but as a (totally) new player I’d probably not really care about those features.
I’m talking about redesigned totally awesome looking (actually something I really look forward too) nebulae, and (also great looking) animated turrets!

I’m so looking forward to seeing those, the latter announcement actually really came by surprise, very refreshing to still see gaming companies which don’t neglect the small things, which still count! Thumbs up CCP.

“Eat it Drone- and Missile-Users” – A shame I’m one of those, but still looking forward to it. =P

But that’s not all, Friday also revealed a preview of a new feature, which hits Singularity (PTR) in the next few weeks. And it actually counts as content which probably will attract new players aswell. Indeed, I’m talking about Officer’s Quarters, the beginning of station walking!
Totally looked unfinished (and in my eyes even underwhelming), but there certainly is some time left until summer keeps us chained at the PC because of hot temperatures! Yes, that last sentence is misleading, and I guess that was intended.
This feature basically will get rid of the basic icon UI when docked at stations, quite refreshing, I just hope it won’t get annoying too fast. I somehow love my excel and ship spinning, but in the longrun it’s just a part of something even bigger.
Walking in space stations itself still has been mentioned, and all I can say is, if it’s only implemented partially, it still will be a a huge success. Adding socializing elements like gambling and aspects which come close to a black market – including smuggling – really feel comfortable in the already intriguing and dark world of EvE online. Smuggling actually should be mentioned on its own, as in the future it’s quite possible that cargo is not scanned by NPCs but by players itself, allowing them to tag illegal transports.
Still a vague vision, but I’m really looking forward to it!
All these activities you find on stations most certainly will involve ISK in some way, and it also has been revealed that corperations really have an influence on how things work out, literally, as they even can add new NPCs with unique features.

The Fanfest 2011 didn’t end with a well advertised party for most people however. The big bang being a video of CCP’s future vision.
I’m not sure if it’s such a great idea to hype it too much, but the crowd even asked to have it played again… quite a bold move on CCP’s behalf, let alone the seamless transition between EvE Online and Dust514. Quite a feeling to see console players being the PC gamer’s bitch. ;]

Anyway, enjoy the walk:

I’m not sure if I should be sceptical though. It certainly is just a vision, but from what I can see here, it fits to the whole theme of EvE Online. So yeah, I’m looking forward to see what the future brings to EvE Online, the ever evolving MMO. The stakes are high CCP, and a lot of companies have failed from what I can tell in that regard, but for whatever reason I have faith in you.

“Now keep going, and do what I’m paying you for…” – speaking of that, the Hardware has been upgraded aswell…

First one which comes up my mind is Duke Nukem Forever, indeed, no April fools day yet, but seriously, it’s coming out on May the 3rd THIS year (2011!).
Quite ironic after my past rants in that regard (adding link to that post if I’m not too lazy to look it up), but I didn’t expect it to be released in the first place. On top of that 3D-Realms is still DEAD, and that’s all that matters to me. =P
Trash-Talk, Guts, and Glory, it worked more than a decade ago, and I’m not sure if it does in 2011, but I’ll probably give it a shot.

Next in line is The Witcher 2. Even though I didn’t play through the first incarnation completely, as I thought it was quite tedious – be it the story or the gameplay itself – the successor we may see on the 17th of May 2011 really looks like an improvement in every aspect. The Prison Break Trailer really impressed me, although I still have no idea if I like the combat system, as I hardly saw anything of it, but taking a stroll through dungeons, lush environments, and a huge city which actually seems to live sounds promising.

Then we have Torchlight 2, coming out sometime in July 2011. It’s probably not a game which keeps me satisfied for ages, but I’m pretty sure what to expect here. Diablo 2!
Mindless item farming on randomly generated levels with friends over Direct IP? Very refreshing these days. Nothing wrong with some nostalgia… oh yes, the good old days.

Well, and now to some titles which are quite past the few months, but still on my list.
Why wouldn’t I mention TES: Skyrim? It got announced for the 11.11.2011, quite a chunk of time left, but when looking at Oblivion how dedicated the community was/is to mod all kind of stuff (apart from over 9000 of female body replacers) it certainly has a lot up its sleeves. I just hope the combat system will be a bit more complex this time, and maybe the leveling system itself should be looked at too… but does it even matter? The community makes their own roads anyway! That’s a safe bet for RPG of the year btw, only The Witcher 2 may stand in its way (nope, no Dragon Age 2 here! =P)…

And maybe at the end of the year we see the first expansion for Starcraft 2, Heart of the Swarm. I’m not only curious to find out if I really saw the outro already, because of all these recent valid Blizzard leaks which floated around long enough, but dashing through Insane difficulty and hunting the campaign achievements, makes me feel so much better. But when I think about it, I don’t even play Zerg… anyway, I’ll get that one for sure.
Speaking of Blizzard, I have no idea if I should mention Diablo 3 here, I’m just not sure if I’ll like it. Or better said, I’m pretty sure Torchlight 2 will do a better job in that department, but on the other hand I thought Dragon Age 2 will be a success too… which it clearly wasn’t in my eyes. Anyway, I’ll keep an eye on that one too, although I somehow have a feeling that it might fail.

Guild Wars 2 should be mentioned too, although I have no idea when it will be released. Even if it’s a MMO, you don’t have monthly fees, and arena.net is well known to focus entirely on PvP. That’s what I’m talking about!

Maybe I’ve missed some things, but that’s a quick list of stuff I’m aware of.
Oh and… I actually can’t believe how many people fall for that Sims 3 Unleashed trailer, it’s a trap! No pets for you guys, that thing is fake. Not only it doesn’t make sense to have an expansion title recycled, no the sims don’t even interact with their pets, I’m pretty sure those guys would have done the same without having pets around. On top of that it would be an insult to reveal the fifth expanion when the fourth hasn’t even been released yet (or did I miss anything?). On the other hand it’s EA, they are that retarded… but whatever, April probably will tell more. Why am I even posting this? =P