BitRefill is a great service that makes it easy for people to purchase gift cards and vouchers for a discount with their crypto.
Currently they have a refer a friend programme where they give both the new user and referrer $5 in free Bitcoin once the new user has spent $50 on gift cards and vouchers.
BitRefill has been around for a while and they advertise a lot on Reddit. Many users have take advantage of the free Bitcoin bonus. If you have a bit of crypto they are a great service to use.
You can deposit your Bitcoin via the lightning network, straight from a Coinbase account, or via the usual Bitcoin core network.
Links:
Here are the links for BitRefill.
My Referral Link $5 bonus - Ensure the code w8zjokmu is entered in the 'I have a referral code' box.
non-referral link (no bonus).
Proof of $5 reward
Refer-a-Friend Program
Steps:
Here are the steps to follow to get your free $5 in free Bitcoin:

1. Sign up with my referral link / non-ref (no bonus).
2. Purchase a total of $50 in products. This can be spent all in one go or spread across multiple products. ( I purchased a £40 voucher to be sure, this is just over $51).
3. You'll see $5 bonus in BTC added to your wallet immediately after payment.
4. You can withdraw the $5 bonus straight away.
5. Share your referral code for more free satoshis.

If you a bit of crypto and haven't tried BitRefill yet now is the time. You can always sign-up and just use it to purchase a gift card when you need. The ability to deposit via lightening is also a great feature.

Please comment before PM.
Scam Warning: Stay vigilant! There are unscrupulous individuals operating in the subreddit who might attempt to mimic my username. Always confirm the identity of the user you're trading with to ensure you're dealing with the genuine account and NOT trading with sayknn.
Scam Warning: Stay vigilant! There are unscrupulous individuals operating in the subreddit who might attempt to mimic my username. Always confirm the identity of the user you're trading with to ensure you're dealing with the genuine account and NOT trading with sayknn.

Click here to start a trade.

If you prefer to send chat messages please use the start trade link first.

• I can use any low transfer fee crypto that is not mentioned for a 2% exchange fee.
• Please double-check the username before the trade.
• Minimum trade amount is 50$.
• If you have a high trade count (100+), I will go first. Otherwise, contact me if you are comfortable going first.
• Provided rate ranges are based on the user's profile and trading history.

The gift cards I'm looking for with their rates:

Card	Crypto Rate1 (Ł)	Cashapp & Paypal F&F	Paypal G&S Rate
Amazon US (receipt preferred)	66%-70%	75%	75%
Best Buy	55%	55%	60%
Target	55%	60%	60%
Walmart	55%	60%	60%
Apple/iTunes US	45%-55%	50%	55%
Steam TR	60%	60%	65%
Starbucks	40%	45%	45%
T.J. Maxx	40%	45%	45%

​
¹The rates shown above are for Litecoin (Ł) only. For trades with Bitcoin (₿), the rate decreases 1-2% depending on the amount.

~Escape The Night~ PvE w/PvP ZonesWIPED3PPHelisAI-BossesRaidingBBP100kNoobsKeycardsAirdropBunkersParty-SystemTraderBlackmarketBankingDrugsBedRespawnSpawnSelectVehicles+Guns+Loot+
IP: 51.81.221.168:7915
Join Our Discord https://discord.gg/2EQPEZ8
Server Restart Intervals Are At 5:40AM PST - 11:40AM PST - 5:40PM PST 11:40PM PST
BASE BUILDING: AT THE MOMENT TRADERS DO NOT SELL NAILS/FOOD/ARMOR, for a more survival feel we made base building a little more grindy than other servers for a better experience (MOD: BASE BUILDING PLUS), THERE IS NO BUIDLING NEAR PVP ZONES, HIDEOUTS, OR TRADERS (500m from Hideouts/Traders, 300m from PVP zones). Get your grind on and have fun with more of an immersive pvp building system. We have BasicTerritories/PVEZE Flag Zones. You need a flagpole to make a base & you need a flag fully raised on your pole to enable PvP. Since we use PVEZ the flags help in case you need to defend against a raid. The flag also helps keep all your items secure from poofing away. Sadly bases can be raided even with your flag pole lowered. So it’s recommended that you keep your flag pole raised.
ALL BASES HAVE A LIMITED AMOUNT OF VEHICLES THEY CAN POSSESS! Each base can have a max of 3 Land Vehicles & 2 Helicopters (This Is To Help Prevent Lag)
PVP ZONES/PVE: All PVP Zones contain either a military spot on the map, or Custom Keycard areas, Custom Key Cards spawn randomly around the map or in airdrops/military bases/bunkers.THERE IS ABSOULETLY NO KILLING OUTSIDE PVP ZONES, what ever damage you afflict on another Survior, that damage will come back to you, this a noob/pve setting of a server so show some respect.
KEYCARDS: There many different keycards you can get but they all are different. Some have different loot, some have mixed loot. Rare keycard rooms give 10x better loot than normal military/bm loot. There Is 2 Red/Black/Violet/Green Rooms. 1 Yellow/Blue/Med Lab/White Rooms.
Right Now The Keycards Ranging From Best To Worst Are Red, Black, Yellow, White, Violet, Green, Blue, Med Laboratory. There will probably be more in the future. Red Keycard Loaded but is suuuper rare.
(NOTE: Right now please don't fly into keycard areas. We recently added helis again and some areas are possible to fly into (AI will probably shoot them down but still we want keycards to be used to access keycard areas. ALSO When you open a keycard room it will stay open until server restart because the loot crates wont reset until after restart)
THE BUNKER: Right now there is currently 1 bunker on the server. You need a White Keycard to enter it & when you enter it turns to total darkness. You'll need a light or nvgs too see anything after entering. This place is worth checking out but be careful of possible chances of Zombies/AI. The bunker is really nice for finding blackmarket items and chances decent/guns/armoammo.
TRAVEL TRADER: We recently added a trader that can change locations and also change what they Buy/Sell! The Travel Trader Can Spawn At Any Keycard Locations (Based On When I Move Them) & Trades Rare Items Other Traders Might Not Sell Or Might Buy/Sell At A Discount!
TRADERS: Traders are all around the map and they only sell certain items there. Very high powered weapons cannot be bought a civ traders, they will most likely be purchasable at Blackmarket or not purchasable at all, you will need to scavenge your way around the map if you want to be the best, there are no handouts. Normal Civ Traders will have the essentials there to survive.
AI/BOSSES: AI spawn at all keycards/hideouts except Blue/Green Keycards. They have a chance to spawn anywhere else. There are 3 Bosses on the server. Killa, Zryachiy, the Goons. Killa spawns at Red/Black/Yellow Keycards. Zryachiy spawns at Prison Island. The Goons can spawn at Red/Black/White/Med Lab. The Goons are the rarest Bosses to run into right now while Killa and Zryachiy are about the same. Killa and Zryachiy can have guards.

I’m almost always buying US Amazon GC, Best Buy GC, Steam GC, Apple GC, Chick-Fil-A GC so just leave a comment before sending a chat or PM. Here's rep from one of my previous posts. I’ll go first if you have higher rep than me. Thanks!

Hi Reddit, my fiance and I are planning our honeymoon for a month in Japan, in March/April next year, during the cherry blossom season. I came back from my first trip to Japan this January, and had such an amazing and memorable time (credits to you guys for helping with my itinerary for that!). My honeymoon will be my second time in Japan, and I was hoping to get some feedback/advice/suggestions etc. on my draft itinerary!
(Please excuse the formatting - I'm on mobile)
Please read after the itinerary for some notes...
DAY 1 (12th March) - FLIGHT - Flight from Australia to Tokyo Haneda Airport - Arrive in the evening - Overnight stay in Tokyo
DAY 2 (13th March) - Tokyo - Overnight stay in Tokyo
DAY 3 (14th March) - Tokyo - DisneySea - Overnight stay in Tokyo
DAY 4 (15th March) - Tokyo - Overnight stay in Tokyo
DAY 5 (16th March) - Tokyo - Overnight stay in Tokyo
DAY 6 (17th March) - Tokyo - Overnight stay in Tokyo
DAY 7 (18th March) - Tokyo - Overnight stay in Tokyo
DAY 8 (19th March) - Nikko Day Trip - Day trip to Nikko using Nikko World Heritage Pass - Overnight stay in Tokyo
DAY 9 (20th March) - Hakone - Use Hakone Kamakura Pass - Travel from Tokyo to Hakone - Overnight stay in Hakone
DAY 10 (21st March) - Kamakura/Enoshima - Use Hakone Kamakura Pass - Travel from Hakone to Kamakura + Enoshima - Overnight stay in Kamakura
DAY 11 (22nd March) - Tokyo - Return to Tokyo - Overnight stay in Tokyo
DAY 12 (23rd March) - Tokyo - Overnight stay in Tokyo
DAY 13 (24th March) - Flight to Okinawa - Fly from Tokyo (Narita/Haneda) to Okinawa Naha Airport - Car rental - Overnight stay in Okinawa
DAY 14 (25th March) - Okinawa - Churaumi Aquarium - Overnight stay in Okinawa
DAY 15 (26th March) - Okinawa - Overnight stay in Okinawa
DAY 16 (27th March) - Flight from Okinawa to Osaka - Fly from Okinawa Naha Airport to Kansai Airport - Travel to Osaka - Overnight stay in Osaka
DAY 17 (28th March) - Osaka - Universal Studios (with Express Pass, hopefully) - Overnight stay in Osaka
DAY 18 (29th March) - Yoshino Day Trip - Day trip to Mt Yoshino - Overnight stay in Osaka
DAY 19 (30th March) - Osaka - Overnight stay in Osaka
DAY 20 (31st March) - Osaka - Overnight stay in Osaka
DAY 21 (1st April) - Kawaguchiko - Take Shinkansen from Osaka to Mishima Station - Transfer to Fujikyu bus and travel to Kawaguchiko Station - Overnight stay in Kawaguchiko
DAY 22 (2nd April) - Kawaguchiko - Chureito Pagoda - Oshino Hakkai - Overnight stay in Kawaguchiko
DAY 23 (3rd April) - Kawaguchiko - Lake Yamanaka - Overnight stay in Kawaguchiko
DAY 24 (4th April) - Tokyo - Take Fujikyu bus back to Tokyo - Overnight stay in Tokyo
DAY 25 (5th April) - Tokyo - Overnight stay in Tokyo
DAY 26 (6th April) - Tokyo - Overnight stay in Tokyo
DAY 27 (7th April) - Tokyo - Overnight stay in Tokyo
DAY 28 (8th April) - Tokyo - Overnight stay in Tokyo
DAY 29 (9th April) - Tokyo - Overnight stay in Tokyo
DAY 30 (10th April) - Tokyo - Disneyland? - Overnight stay in Tokyo
DAY 31 (11th April) - Tokyo - Overnight stay in Tokyo
DAY 32 (12th April) - FLIGHT - Flight from Haneda Airport to Australia

Notes:

1) I don't think we would need the JR Pass for this trip. 2) The reason why we are spending so many days in Tokyo is because we feel we didn't get enough time in Tokyo last time (we got ~ 5 days including both Disneys). We didn't get to explore as much as we wanted to. 3) I've only had a brief look of what activities we can do in Okinawa, hence it's pretty empty at the moment. Anything we find, we can add to our itinerary later. 4) Similarly, we haven't planned much for Tokyo because we want to be more spontaneous with our plans there, apart from places like Disney, Pokemon Cafe, etc. We also have a friend living there whom we plan to meet, so we aren't worried about not having set plans (we had more fun that way!). 5) Since there are soooo many travel passes out there, are the passes I've chosen (Nikko WH & Hakone/Kamakura) good enough? We still have our Pasmo cards which we can use in the cities. 6) I've tried my best to plan the different places according to average cherry blossom forecasts, knowing that the forecast can vary every year (although I know Okinawa gets sakura very early, so I don't mind missing it there as long as we get to see it on the main land). 7) We are planning to go to the theme parks (both Disneys & USJ) on weekdays, hopefully for less crowds (considering it would be peak tourist season). 8) Due to the length of our trip (and hence our budget), I doubt we will be able to stay at a hotel/ryokan with a private onsen with Mt Fuji view (that has been my dream, but it's like $600-1000 AUD per night :( ). Are there any suggestions for hotel/ryokan with private onsen alternatives, even in other places such as Hakone? We are trying to spend ~ $100 AUD per night, but I understand that such places would be far more expensive (we'll see if we can spend a little extra, otherwise leave my dream for a future trip!) 9) We were originally planning to go to Sapporo during the Okinawa dates, as I really want to go to Shiroi Koibito Park. But, it seems like it would make more sense to go to Sapporo another time, such as during the snow festival, and even in March I'd have to pack extra warm (and possibly heavy) clothes. Hence, we decided to swap Sapporo with Okinawa, since it's said to be more "tropical". 10) Is it possible to do Izu Peninsula as a day trip from Tokyo?
Thank you (especially if you read this far!)

FOR STEAM, ROCKSTAR, AND EPIC LAUNCHER VERSION OF GTA ONLINE PC

MODDED CONSOLE ACCOUNTS (OLD AND NEW GEN) ALSO FOR SALE

PACKAGES:

°$5 PACKAGE°

RP=ANY RANK (1-8000)
GTA $= 2 BILLION
ALL UNLOCKS (INCLUDING CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE UNLOCKS, LOS SANTOS DRUG WARS CONTENT, LS CAR MEET UNLOCKS, RESEARCH AND ETC.)
MAX STATS
CLEAR REPORTS AND BAD SPORTS
RESET MENTAL STATE
EDIT K/D STATS

°$10 PACKAGE°

RP=ANY RANK (1-8000)
GTA $= 5 BILLION
ALL UNLOCKS (INCLUDING CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE UNLOCKS, LOS SANTOS DRUG WARS CONTENT, LS CAR MEET UNLOCKS, RESEARCH AND ETC.)
MAX STATS
CLEAR REPORTS AND BAD SPORTS
RESET MENTAL STATE
EDIT K/D STATS

°$20 PACKAGE°

RP=ANY RANK (1-8000)
GTA $= UNLIMITED MONEY SUBSCRIPTION (FREE MONEY RE-MOD NO LIMITS,5 BILLION AS INITIAL MONEY)
ALL UNLOCKS (INCLUDING CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE UNLOCKS, LOS SANTOS DRUG WARS CONTENT, LS CAR MEET UNLOCKS, RESEARCH AND ETC.)
MAX STATS CLEAR REPORTS AND BAD SPORTS
RESET MENTAL STATE
EDIT K/D STATS

°$35 PRE-MODDED GTA ACCOUNT FOR PC° (INCLUDES BASE GAME + MOD)

RP=ANY RANK (1-8000)
GTA $= UNLIMITED MONEY SUBSCRIPTION (FREE MONEY RE-MOD NO LIMITS,5 BILLION AS INITIAL MONEY)
ALL UNLOCKS (INCLUDING CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE UNLOCKS, LOS SANTOS DRUG WARS CONTENT, LS CAR MEET UNLOCKS, RESEARCH AND ETC.)
MAX STATS CLEAR REPORTS AND BAD SPORTS
RESET MENTAL STATE
EDIT K/D STATS

°$80 PRE-MODDED GTA ACCOUNT FOR CONSOLE (OLD AND NEW GEN)°

RP=1000+
GTA $= 5 BILLION
MODDED UNLOCKS
MODDED STATS

°$100 PRE-MODDED GTA ACCOUNT FOR CONSOLE (OLD AND NEW GEN)°

RP=1000+
GTA $= 8 BILLION
MODDED UNLOCKS
MODDED STATS
MODDED OUTFITS
FAST RUN

NOTE:

*ALL UNLOCKS INCLUDE:
BUNKER RESEARCH, FIGURES AND CARDS, FAST RUN, OFFICE AND BIKER DECOR, ALL OUTFITS, VEHICLES, TATTOOS, LSC UPGRADES, LS CAR MEET UNLOCKS, ARENA WAR UNLOCKS, PARACHUTES, WEAPONS, HAIRSTYLES, NIGHTCLUB POPULARITY, CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE UNLOCKS, LOS SANTOS DRUG WARS CONTENT, AND ACHIEVEMENTS
*UNLIMITED MONEY SUBSCRIPTION = FREE MONEY RE-MOD WHENEVER WITHOUT LIMIT
*I USE A PAID MOD MENU, NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT BAN WAVES

TO AVAIL, YOU CAN SEND ME A MESSAGE ON REDDIT (u/KageKyoshin), SEND ME A DM ON TIKTOK (GTAONLINEMODSERVICE), OR JOIN THE DISCORD SERVER LINK BELOW

NEW DISCORD SERVER FOR RECOVERY SERVICE: https://discord.gg/4N2dqX8vYv

CHECK BUY CHANNEL OF THE DISCORD SERVER

✓LINK TO MY OWN SUBREDDIT WHERE YOU CAN SEE REVIEWS/VOUCHES OF MY CUSTOMERS✓

GTAOnlineModService
https://www.reddit.com/GTAOnlineModService/comments/ghne46/vouches/
https://discord.gg/4N2dqX8vYv <-- CHECK VOUCHES CHANNEL FOR LATEST REVIEWS

I USE DISCORD SCREEN SHARE SO CUSTOMERS CAN SEE ME MOD THEIR ACCOUNTS LIVE

ENABLE STEAM GUARD OR 2-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION FOR ACCOUNT SECURITY

HOW THE RECOVERY SERVICE IS DONE
I USE A DIFFERENT MENU NOW, THE VIDEO IS OUTDATED
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xwy7cRV4Fqc

Hey all,
Im active military and recently moved to Kodiak on military orders but I’m in that iffy legal age range of 18-21, where I simultaneously am an adult but also not. I know I cannot buy a handgun from a dealer under 21, but in Alaska, I can legally purchase a handgun from a private seller.
My main intent for doing so is bear defense but if I can even just add a .22 to my lackluster pistol collection I’d be happy with that as well.
Seems to be a decent following on gunsalaska for private sellers, but never in Kodiak. Same with alaskaslists. Unfortunately, making it up to Anchorage for a sale is not in the cards right now.
Just to be clear, I AM NOT looking to purchase a firearm from anybody through Reddit, I just want advice or information.
Thanks.

For sale, for Steam gift cards (or gifted Steam Wallet balance):
​

• Dark Souls™: Prepare To Die™ Edition (removed from Steam Store; $350 $400 or best offer)
• Fall Guys (removed from Steam Store)
• Fall Guys - Dragon Hugger Pack (removed from Steam Store)
• Fall Guys - Icy Adventure Pack (removed from Steam Store)

​

• Humble Hunie Sakura Bundle (can also trade for a full "charity" bundle (Australia Fire Relief Bundle or similar))
• Humble Sekai Project Bundle (can also trade for a full "charity" bundle (Stand with Ukraine Bundle or similar))

​
For trade:
*tentatively up for trade, assuming I buy the bundle
​

• Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery
• Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition

​

• Bionic Commando: Rearmed
• Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
• Lost Planet 3 - Complete
• Mega Man Legacy Collection
• STRIDER™ / ストライダー飛竜®

​

• Aground
• Calico
• Evan's Remains
• Lake
• StarCrossed
• Teacup

​

• Into the Radius VR

​

• Aliens: Fireteam Elite
• Founders' Fortune
• Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp

​

• Nomad Survival
• Scarlet Tower

​

• The Citadel
• Forgive Me Father
• Viscerafest
• WRATH: Aeon of Ruin

​

• The Blackout Club

​

• BIOMUTANT
• Edge Of Eternity
• Golden Light

​

• Call of the Sea
• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

​

• 112 Operator
• 911 Operator
• The Amazing American Circus
• Armello
• Backbone
• Calico
• Cris Tales
• Euro Truck Simulator 2
• Farming Simulator 17
• Ghostrunner
• Gotham Knights
• Guilty Gear X2 #Reload
• Lust from Beyond: M Edition
• Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine
• Orbital Racer
• Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Enhanced Plus Edition
• PAYDAY 2
• Pilgrims
• Soulblight
• Space Crew: Legendary Edition
• Starfinder Core Rulebook (Paizo key) and Starfinder Adventure: Junker's Delight (Paizo key)
• Strange Brigade
• Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones
• System Shock 2
• System Shock: Enhanced Edition
• Ticket to Ride
• XCOM® 2
• X-Morph: Defense Complete Pack

​

• Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game
• Fallout 76
• Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel
• Othercide
• Shady Part of Me

​

• The Last Campfire

​

• Sakura Swim Club

​

• Summer in Mara
• Townscaper

​

• The Long Dark: Survival Edition

​

• Stranded Sails - Explorers of the Cursed Islands

​

• Conan Chop Chop
• Grow: Song of the Evertree

​

• Styx: Shards of Darkness

​

• Hard West
• John Wick Hex
• Phantom Doctrine
• Red Solstice 2: Survivors

​

• Arizona Sunshine

​

• Backbone
• Blade Assault
• First Class Trouble
• Super Magbot

​

• Golf Gang
• Maid of Sker

​

• Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York
• Vampire: The Masquerade - Shadows of New York
• Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Heart of the Forest

​

• Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl

​

• Baldur's Gate: Faces of Good and Evil
• Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear
• Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition

​

• Crown Trick

​

• Guts and Glory
• Hello Neighbor

​

• Day of the Tentacle Remastered
• Grim Fandango Remastered
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
• STAR WARS®: Knights of the Old Republic™ II

​

• Duke Nukem Forever
• PGA TOUR 2K21
• WWE 2K Battlegrounds

​

• Emily is Away <3
• In Sound Mind

​

• Little Big Workshop
• Not Tonight

​

• Brigador Deluxe Edition
• Verdun

​

• Resident Evil 0
• Resident Evil 6
• Resident Evil
• Resident Evil Revelations

​

• EVERSPACE™

​

• Dreamfall Chapters

​

• Cultist Simulator
• GWENT: The Witcher Card Game - Ultimate Starter Pack (GOG key)

​

• The LEGO® NINJAGO® Movie Video Game

​

• 2064: Read Only Memories

​

• Legend of Keepers: Career of a Dungeon Manager
• Legion TD 2 - Multiplayer Tower Defense

​

• STAR WARS™: Squadrons (Origin key)(?)

​

• Bionic Commando
• Street Fighter V

​

• As Far As The Eye
• Impulsion

​

• Orcs Must Die! 2 - Complete Pack

​

• Bartlow's Dread Machine

​

• Blaston

​

• White Day: A Labyrinth Named School

​

• The Walking Dead

​

• Total Tank Simulator

​

• Archangel: Hellfire - Fully Loaded

​

• XCOM® 2

​

• Black The Fall
• Goetia

​

• Highway Blossoms

​

• Among the Sleep - Enhanced Edition

​

• Dear Esther: Landmark Edition
• This War of Mine

​

• Tom Clancy's The Division™ (Uplay key)
• Tom Clancy's The Division™ - Survival (Uplay key)

​

• Highway Blossoms
• HunieCam Studio
• KARAKARA
• Sunrider Academy
• Sunrider: Liberation Day - Captain's Edition

​

• Civilization VI - Australia Civilization & Scenario Pack
• Civilization VI - Vikings Scenario Pack

​

• A Kiss For the Petals - Remembering How We Met

​

• Hacknet
• Satellite Reign

​

• The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Final Cut

​

• The Elder Scrolls: Legends: 2 Card Packs (Skyrim) 1 Event Ticket 100 Gold 100 Souls
• ESO Vanity Pet: Bristlegut Piglet and 15 Days of ESO Plus

​

• Ame no Marginal -Rain Marginal-
• KARAKARA
• Memory's Dogma CODE:01
• Narcissu 10th Anniversary Anthology Project
• Narcissu 10th Anniversary Anthology Project - Season Pass

​

• A Kiss For the Petals - Remembering How We Met
• Sakura Angels
• Beach Bounce
• Beach Bounce - Soundtrack
• Blue Rose

​

• Lionessy Story
• My Personal Angel
• Natural - Beyond Nature -
• Postmen Of Horizon (removed from Steam Store)

​

• The Reject Demon: Toko Chapter 0 — Prelude

​

• Koi-Koi Japan [Hanafuda playing cards]
• Mahjong Pretty Girls Battle
• Mahjong Pretty Girls Battle : School Girls Edition
• Poker Pretty Girls Battle: Texas Hold'em
• Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire

​

• Guns of Icarus Alliance
• Guns of Icarus Online
• Impossible Creatures Steam Edition
• Lethal League
• Tempest: Pirate Action RPG
• Tempest - Treasure Lands
• Tempest - Original Soundtrack
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf
• Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide

​

• For The King
• Book of Demons
• PlateUp!
• Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition
• Kingdom Two Crowns
• White Day: A Labyrinth Named School
• Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War
• Chivalry: Medieval Warfare
• Steel Rats™
• Hue
• Sifu Deluxe Edition Upgrade Bundle (Epic key)
• Gal*Gun: Double Peace
• The Invisible Hours
• Synergia
• ROCKETRON
• Project Nimbus: Complete Edition
• Dead Age
• Dusk Diver 酉閃町
• Spirit Hunter: NG
• Slain: Back from Hell(?)
• Cook, Serve, Delicious!
• Tower of Time
• Danger Scavenger
• Survive the Nights
• The Beast Inside
• Valfaris
• Nongunz: Doppelganger Edition
• This War of Mine
• My Time At Portia

​

• Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Edition
• Knights of Pen and Paper 2 - Here Be Dragons

​

• 112 Operator
• 911 Operator
• Book of Demons
• Broken Age
• Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons
• Crying Suns
• Crying Suns
• Dear Esther: Landmark Edition
• Driftland: The Magic Revival
• Liberated (GOG key)
• Moon Hunters
• Out of Reach: Treasure Royale
• Rustler (Grand Theft Horse)
• Wanderlust: Travel Stories (GOG key)
• WARSAW
• X-Morph: Defense + European Assault, Survival of the Fittest, and Last Bastion DLC (I believe this redeems as the linked Complete Pack, minus the soundtrack)
• ΔV: Rings of Saturn(?)

​

• Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game
• Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel
• Phoenix Point: Year One Edition
• Deliver Us The Moon
• Morkredd
• Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos
• Space Crew: Legendary Edition
• Spirit Hunter: NG
• Survivalist: Invisible Strain
• Warhammer: Vermintide 2
• ENDLESS™ Space 2
• Surviving the Aftermath
• The Long Dark

​

• Blade Assault
• Founders' Fortune
• Hokko Life
• Monster Crown
• Fallout 76
• Othercide
• Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition
• ScourgeBringer
• Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey
• HOT WHEELS UNLEASHED™
• Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition
• Sonic CD (removed from Steam Store)
• LEGO® Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• LEGO® Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• STRIDER™ / ストライダー飛竜®
• Bionic Commando
• Full Metal Furies
• Ultra Street Fighter® IV
• Starbound
• Mafia III: Sign of the Times
• Outlast 2
• BioShock 2
• Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition
• Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter
• The Mean Greens - Plastic Warfare
• Crusaders of the Lost Idols Legendary Starter Pack
• Project CARS (removed from Steam Store)

​
WANT:
​

• 5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel
• A Hat in Time
• Avernum: Escape from the Pit
• Bendy and the Ink Machine
• CrossCode
• Dead Rising 4
• Dungreed
• Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition
• NBA 2K Playgrounds 2
• NECROPOLIS: BRUTAL EDITION
• Omensight: Definitive Edition
• Submerged
• Tower Unite
• Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap
• Zombie Army 4: Dead War

​
IGS Rep Page: https://www.reddit.com/IGSRep/comments/ti26nz/mizznos_igs_rep_page/

Eh, you get used to it. After reading 1000 copypastas about graphically sucking toes or smelling farts, pretty much nothing phases me at this point. Not into any of it, but I'm not even remotely close to being uncomfortable. I mean, half the time, it's funny - someone goes on and says "Oh don't eat the orange chicken from Lotus Blossom Cafe in Disneyland, I got the runs" and the first reply is always someone impersonating Disney crew like,
"Oh no! We're sorry to hear that you had an unpleasant experience at one of our restaurants - can you please describe the texture and smell of your movement? These details will help me in determining which batch of chicken was used. Also, could you provide any additional details, like the bathroom location and which stall you took? How many people were already there? What kind of sounds did you make?" And on and on.
The best part is sometimes people will reply with a bunch of details about the texture and consistency of their you-know-what without even realizing Disney has no official reddit account. I think I've seen over 30 people fall for this over on disneyland and disneylandparis together. Truly hilarious, and always a great addition to my day.

Xbox Games
​

Title	Console	Price (USD)	Region
The Elder Scrolls Online Deluxe Collection: Necrom	Xbox	60	Global
Street Fighter 6 Deluxe Edition	Xbox	60	Global

​
Playstation Games

Title	Console	Price (USD)	Region
The Elder Scrolls Online Deluxe Collection: Necrom	PS4 & PS5	60	Global
Playstation Network Card $70	PS4 & PS5	63	North America
Playstation Network Card €75	PS4 & PS5	68	Europe
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum Precious Edition	PS4 & PS5	30	Europe
Space Engineers	PS4 & PS5	10	North America
Miasma Chronicles	PS4 & PS5	30	Europe
War Mongrels	PS5	25	North America
Serial Cleaners + Dino Park DLC	PS4 & PS5	25	Europe
TT ISLE OF MAN: RIDE ON THE EDGE 3	PS4 & PS5	30	Europe
Skinny & Franko: Fists of Violence	PS4 & PS5	12	North America & Europe
Space Engineers	PS4 & PS5	15	North America
DriftCE	PS4 & PS5	20	Europe
Stray Blade	PS4 & PS5	15	Europe
Clash: Artifacts of Chaos	PS4 & PS5	20	Europe
Transport Fever 2 Console Edition	PS4 & PS5	25	Europe
Townsmen PSVR2	PS5	20	North America
Football Manager 2023	PS4 & PS5	25	North America
Scars Above	PS4 & PS5	28	Europe
Chef Life Simulator	PS5	25	Europe
Townsmen VR PSV2	PS5	20	North America
Cities VR: Enhanced Edition PSV2	PS5	20	Europe
Cave Digger 2: Dig Harder PSVR2	PS4 & PS5	15	Europe
Colossal Cave	PS5	20	North America
Overland	PS4 & PS5	10	North America
Dungeon Munchies	PS5	10	North America
Overland	PS4 & PS5	12	North America
Emoji Kart Racer	PS5	15	North America
Broken Lines	PS4 & PS5	15	North America
GRIME: Colors of Rot	PS5	15	North America
Do Not Open	PS5	20	Europe
Last Day of Lazarus	PS5	13	Europe
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed	PS4 & PS5	15	Europe
Dakar Desert Rally Deluxe Edition	PS4 & PS5	20	North America
LEGO Brawls	PS4 & PS5	15	North America
The Tomorrow Children: Phoenix Edition Island Explorer	PS4 & PS5	15	North America
Strategic Mind: Fight for Freedom	PS4 & PS5	15	North America
Serial Cleaners	PS4 & PS5	15	Europe
S.W.A.N.: Chernobyl Unexplored	PS4	10	North America
Path of Titans + Founders Pack	PS5	20	North America
DreadOuts 2	PS4/PS5	15	North America
Two Hundred Ways	PS4	7	North America
Train Valley	PS4	7	Europe
Arcadegeddon	PS4/PS5	15	North America & Europe
Hourglass	PS4	10	North America
My Universe - Green Adventure: Farmers Friends	PS4	18	North America
Escape Game - FORT BOYARD 2022	PS5	18	North America
Lumberjack's Dynasty	PS4	15	North America
Tour de France 2022	PS5	25	Europe
Demon's Tier+	PS5	6	North America
This War of Mine Final Cut	PS5	15	North America
Ogre: Console Edition	PS4 & PS5	14	North America
Best Month Ever!	PS4 & PS5	10	Europe
The Fortress Deluxe	PS4 & PS5	10	North America
Rogue Lords	PS4 & PS5	15	Europe
Metal Tales Overkill	PS5	10	North America
Winkeltje: The Little Shop	PS5	10	North America
Cathedral	PS4 & PS5	8	Europe
Liberated: Enhanced Edition	PS4 & PS5	15	North America
A Juggler's Tale	PS5	10	North America

​
PC Games

Title	Platform	Price (USD)	Region
The Elder Scrolls Online Deluxe Collection: Necrom	Steam	55	Global
Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection (Vol.1 + Vol.2)	Steam	35	Global
Redfall	Steam	30	Global
Thea 2: The Shattering	Steam	5	Global
Assetto Corsa Competizione 2023 GT World Challenge DLC	Steam	8	Global
House Flipper Farm DLC	Steam	8	Global
Total Tank Generals	Steam	12	Global
Leap	Steam	10	Global
Climber: Sky Is The Limit	Steam	5	Global
Sunblaze	Steam	8	Global
MADiSON	Steam	18	Global
Re:Legend	Steam	8	Global
Hard West 2	Steam	15	Global
Civitatem	Steam	8	Global
Terraformers	Steam	7	Global
Arcadegeddon	Epic Store	10	Global
The Tenants	Steam	12	Global
My Time at Sandrock	Steam	15	Global
Tennis Manager 2022	Steam	15	Global
Captain of Industry	Steam	15	Global
Space Engineers	Steam	15	Globalc
Bunhouse	Steam	10	Global
Nero	Steam	10	Global
Pro Cycling Manager 2021	Steam	10	Global
Rogue Lords	Steam	13	Global
Solaris Offworld Combat	Steam	8	Global
Boombox	Steam	8	Global

​
https://www.reddit.com/IGSRep/comments/mc209m/xterno50s_igs_rep_page/

There are a lot of people upset at the moment and some argument over whether or not this game is F2P or P2W. I'd like to keep it open to discussion and opinion, but here's my diatribe on the matter.
Some of the practices that have been shown regarding pool drops, card nerfs, and bundles have been problematic. They aren't overwhelmingly covert about trying to make money from the players willing to pay for things. But, that said, the things are almost entirely cosmetic. And those that aren't, which is basically just getting to a card faster, is not something I would personally consider a P2W system, somewhat in general but especially in this game.
So here goes the hot take while everyone's outwardly upset at the devs at the moment, I really do think that Snap is ultimately a very free to play friendly game.
FWIW, I just got my buddy into the game during this last season and he hit 85 with a Devil Dinosaur and never spent a penny, or will. I was impressed because I came nowhere close to that my first season but that's beside the point lol. This is purely anecdotal but it does reinforce for me how true it is that despite everyone being upset at the prospect of having things be less easy to obtain than they may have anticipated, it is by no means inaccessible, and it is not at all necessary in order to achieve success without being overly arduous.
There is nothing forcing your hand to spend in order to remain competitive. That's part of what P2W is to me. The other part being even less applicable where the whales who spend the absolute most are at the top or every leaderboard, with maxed out units and gear and stuff and things and junk - you'll find no fair equivalent here.
The truth is the game does reward simple consistency. Nothing is barred behind money walls and they also give you the choice of what you want between the seasonal and the token cards for the things that you want most or won't be likely to open.
I've only ever spent a penny on the season bundle and I've hit infinite multiple times. But I wouldn't have needed to in order to do that. I believe that but I won't lie and say I've never spent a thing. But what I can say is that getting there taught me something I had to learn in my journeys to hit infinite, especially the first time. It was never about which specific deck I used. Just consistency. Playing smart with cubes. Playing with experience. And just very simply, maintaining consistency in my climbing.
So while I do think it may be 'pay to have the newest shiniest thing taking over the meta', it really isn't 'pay to win'
It is, in pretty much every way, free to play. And like most free to play games in the modern era, for better or worse, there are things that can be purchased and there are incentives for them; but none of it is needed by a player who's looking to win. It's almost all cosmetics. And the only thing that actually comes close to directly buying power is the season pass to get a single card earlier, meaning within the month that that one said card is released.
There's nothing unavailable to a 100% free to play player. There's no reason, especially for someone who has played a season or two and gotten deep into pool 3, maybe even with a good token choice or two but even that's not necessary, would need to pay in order to win.
They won't have all the neat cosmetic variants people got from bundles. Obviously. And they might not have the meta deck on everyone's lips, but also... they just might. Or be very close to it just looking at what's performing best right now.
The deck at the top of the list last season, and the deck that is still showing top of tier 1 after being updated for High Evolutionary was, and continues to be, Sera Control. Everything in that deck outside of Hit Monkey is Pool 3 or sooner and has plenty of viable alternatives.
The new shiny thing has been High Evolutionary, and now I'm sure we'll see a spike in movement with Ghost Spider and see if it sticks, but neither of those are necessary to be able to play and win. That sounds pedantic. Neither of those are necessary to play and win at a much higher rate than without. That's more to the point. They might not have all the cards for the suggested net deck of everything on said tier list for whatever they're looking at; they might not have as much variety; but patience and smart play may see them win even more than those bouncing around to play what seems to be the best at the time.
You can pay to expedite. Sort of. But unlike most mobile games where that's a thing, getting things faster is not a direct translation to power level. You're not upgrading buildings or levelling up heroes. It's a deck builder, where the vast majority of the cards are obtained freely and at a pretty quick pace. A deck builder with only 12 cards to a deck. Lots of synergies. Lots of strategies. Lots of options. F2Pnewbie27 will be able to find something competitive within their collection pretty quickly if that's their aim.
I get it, the Darkhawk thing is, no pun intended, ruffling some feathers. That's totally fair. Some of what they've done regarding pool drops and nerfs and all that has been very lame. Very discouraging. Some of the bundles are absolutely atrocious with lack of value. There are a lot of things to criticize and be upset by if that's your modus operandi. I don't mean to fight for the game against any of that. The sole point I'm attempting to make, and you can still simultaneously be mad at them about other things, is
as far as any big mobile games go, this game is just about as F2P-friendly as it gets.

Hi there guys. Hope everyone is swell. But basically I’ll start from the beginning and the back story of my friendship with this dude.
History: -so this dude, we’ll call him Jack. I’ve been best friends with Jack since we were 13/14 years of age, I am 23 as of now and Jack is 24. But I’ve kept in close contact with him since via gaming, texting, meeting up to play sports. Basically we been in each others life and spoke about our deepest darkest secret so our happiest moments for the last decade.
Build up of frustration: -so the build up of my anger I’d say started from constantly paying for thing for example if we went to play snooker I’d pay all the time. Only rare times Jack would pay, it would be as if it’s a surprise when he payed or even pulled out his card lol. But I let that slide cause come on, it’s my best friend. Also, I lent him a lot of money which he had paid back after failing to meet the dates he’s promised. And he wanted the new iPhone but I put it on my name cause he wouldn’t be able to get a new phone otherwise.And then it lead to us making the best friend birthday deal we’ll call it where we promised to each other that we would do a tradition of buying gifts for each other. Over 3 years I bought him a huge birthday cake, amongst other food items. An expensive hoodie and oodie out of love for the guy but it felt when it was my time he was somehow broke financially? But I see the money be waste in self pleasure whether it’s £330 on some Jordan’s 4 or buying a brand new console. But I let it go tbh. I cracked some jokes and moved on. Just accepted for what it was. And then comes him lashing out and ruining the vibe if we go to a friends dinner or are gaming with mates and he’ll say some rude stuff. But I let it go and accept him for how it is. But he did start to improve himself and stop Being a dick and I was over the moon with the new and improved Jack. (More below)
Issue: So beginning of this year I had a severe asthma attack which led to a very traumatic experience Im talking shaking on the floor being barely able to breath to seeing my mother whom I love very much panic and cry over me, and having to wait 5-6 hrs to finally be treated (don’t blame the hospital staff cause of strikes. Love them). It was just very traumatic time. And Jack lived less then 10 minute walk away and didn’t even visit me?!!! He had a day off from work? He didn’t have any plans? So why did he just swing by and say hello? I defo would’ve have if it was vice Versa. My other mate Zack (only known him 2 years) checked up on me by text non stop, asked if I needed anything and planned to visit me and he has a very busy schedule. But luckily I got dismissed from the hospital but Zack kept checking up on me. So after that happened I kept my distance from Jack for a while and then expressed how I felt through text. He said he’d do better and I was happier. Then it came to him seeing potential gf. One lived 2-3 hrs away but he drove all that way. Paid for fuel, hotel, dinner for both of them and activities for both of them? Where’s he’s getting this money from? He doesn’t have much. (Does work just spends stupidly). She broke up with him and I told him how I felt that he doesn’t want to hang with me cause of money but will drive far for a girl. He said he’s do better. Guess what, finds another girl cause the other broke up with him and goes all the way for 1-2 hrs away and spends money on them both but not for me? It’s like I don’t exist? I expressed how I felt and he replied “I’m almost 25 now. I need to settle down.” Which felt like a cop out excuse answer tbh.
How I’m feeling -I’ve just been feeling agitated, angry against him and disappointed and sometimes it shows through text unfortunately and I keep having this extreme lingering rage whenever I talk to him now. I just want to know am I wrong for being at times aggressive with him ?
(I’ll answer any questions needed)

Hello Gaming Laptop Community,
I just want to spread this PSA out that Antonline has been selling defective Lenovo laptops lately at crazy good prices. The problem is that they don't honor returns, charge 15-20% restocking fees and try to get the seller banned (eBay, Walmart, NewEgg)
AntOnline makes it very difficult to get an exchange or a refund. Even if they accept your refund they will try to force you to take a restocking or get your buying account flagged or banned. I know their legion prices are good with the 4000 series but it is not worth the hassle.
Outside of the popular Lenovo Legion Laptops, they are also notorious for messing up PC parts, games, and more.
To all the people that had no issues but savings from them: Great you got a non-defective unit and are happy with your purchase. So you don't need to deal with the hassle of a return or exchange then good for you. (You guys are very lucky, but make sure Lenovo confirms they are an authorized seller)
The problem is when you have issues within the return period, they will make you not have a great time at all.
Even Lenovo recommends I return/exchange instead of using the warranty if it's within 30 days.
Please note Antonline has plenty of Reddit shill accounts to suppress their negativity so be careful. They also have discord fake accounts and paid accounts as well to spread misinformation.
Please make sure to be cautious when buying from them. They will do everything they can to make your return/exchange experience as miserable as possible.
So save yourself a headache and just buy it from other places.
Sources:
http://antonlinesucks.com/
https://www.bbb.org/us/ga/atlanta/profile/computer-dealers/antonlinecom-0443-4003659
https://www.reddit.com/GamingLaptops/comments/10kulkj/antonline_scam_company/
https://www.reddit.com/LenovoLegion/comments/v8vx53/psa_be_careful_buying_from_antonline_they_just/
https://www.google.com/search?q=antonline+beware&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS1032US1032&oq=antonline+beware&aqs=chrome..69i57.4120j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#ip=1

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 68%. (I'm a bot)

Senegal has temporarily closed its consulates abroad following attacks on diplomatic missions in Bordeaux, Milan, Paris and New York among others, the foreign affairs ministry said on Tuesday.
The ministry did not link the attacks that justified provisionally closing Senegal's consulates to Sonko's sentence or the ensuing violence.
The general consulate in Milan was particularly hard-hit, with passport making machines and identity cards destroyed, the ministry said.
Italy's public broadcaster Rai News reported an assault on Milan's consulate on Monday during which it said around 40 Sonko supporters gathered outside the building with flags and anti-government signs.
The legal issues embroiling Sonko first triggered protests in 2021, when he was briefly detained on rape charges he and his supporters denounce as a political ploy to prevent him from running.
Access to several social media and messaging platforms had been restricted since Thursday, when the sentencing of Sonko sparked unrest.

Summary Source FAQ Feedback Top keywords: Sonko^#1 consulate^#2 ministry^#3 security^#4 attacks^#5
Post found in /worldnews, /AutoNewspaper and /FRANCE24auto.
NOTICE: This thread is for discussing the submission topic. Please do not discuss the concept of the autotldr bot here.

With the incoming flood of new investors into this sector when the bull starts running hard we are bound to get this question asked repeatedly.
I can't provide financial advice, I am just a fellow "investor", cough gambler, cough so it is best to do your own due diligence/research.
There are newsletter writers you could subscribe to that can provide information and opinion for a fee - I am not advocating yay or nay.
There are many savvy investors/speculators in this reddit community and on Twitter who can provide information also.
One possible strategy to consider would be to buy into an ETF, that has a wide exposure to various companies. Alternatively, look at what companies that they have chosen and create your own ETF. If you have a crystal ball, buying companies that they might add may reward you.
ETF examples include:
URNM https://sprottetfs.com/urnm-sprott-uranium-miners-etf
URA https://www.globalxetfs.com/funds/ura/
URNJ https://sprottetfs.com/urnj-sprott-junior-uranium-miners-etf/
HURA https://horizonsetfs.com/ETF/hura/
Good luck.

Two weeks ago, I spoke on the phone with Tom Ono, the manual writer for Heroes of Might and Magic III. As usual, Tom asked how things were going. I said things were good... then proceeded to whine and complain for the next five minutes (much to Tom's amusement).
When the conversation concluded, Tom said, "Don't complain too much. Some people would give their eyeteeth to be in the game industry." I responded, "Who are these people and why haven't they been beaten for their own good?"
My name is Gregory Fulton, game designer for Heroes of Might and Magic III (developed by New World Computing, published by 3DO). You may call me Greg. Like most game designers, I'm sure you'll find me a bitter and cynical man, aged beyond my years, full of sarcasm, and inexplicably drawn to the horrors of game production like a lobotomized moth to the "pretty" flame.
As I guide you through your weekly tour of my memories, I promise the recollected images will be truthful and sincere but written with a smirk and a wink.
Undoubtedly, we will interact with the following animals: artists, level builders, managers, producers, programmers, testers, and monkeys. To help ensure your safety, I request you fasten your seat belts, keep your hands to your sides at all times, and be sure to not make any quick and sudden movements. Remember... we will be passing through the game production process.

12/05/98
It's Saturday. I'm at work with three other members of the Heroes3 team. I'll be in again tomorrow.
Smells like "crunch time."
Everyone in the game industry knows the term "crunch time." Those not in the industry may ask, "What is crunch time?" Long hours: 10-18 each day. We're starting our fourth crunch month. We have at least one more after this.
Bad take-out food: Mexican and Chinese food are New World's favorites. Today we had Taco Bell and Domino's pizza as part of NWC's "work for food" program.
Social Life: To work in the game industry you must already have some form of social retardation. When crunch mode begins, you may only speak in code to coworkers. Immediate family and friends may be seen on brief occasions so they don't file a missing-persons report. I'm one of the lucky ones; I don't remember having any friends or family.
Hygiene: Haircuts and showers become optional in favor of more sleep time. For me, showers are a must, but my hair is sprouting wings and a tail. Pretty soon I'll look like the lead singer from Flock of Seagulls.
Stress: Anger and frustration are frequent companions. If bridges are burned, this is usually the time. Earlier this week morale was low. In a fit of anger concerning team interactions, I was heard shouting, "I feel like a kindergarten teacher. Can't everyone just keep their hands to themselves and play nice!"
Murphy's law: Any potential hazard will be encountered. I'm writing this diary from the NWC conference room. My computer refuses to function for more than five minutes without seizing up.
12/06/98
This weekend I'm taking care of my PR duties (hence this diary). Not the most exciting stuff, so I'll relate a short story from earlier this week.
David Mullich (producer), Mark Caldwell (NWC vice president and programmer), Jon Van Caneghem (NWC president, creator of all things Might and Magic, and company design visionary), and I found ourselves crowded into the sweltering office of Scott White.
Scott did all the town screens in Heroes III except the Rampart, Necropolis, and Fortress. Since he finished his 3D duties, he's turned his skills to the game's interface. Believe it or not, we were in Scott's office arguing about color: interface colors and player colors.
After much arguing about the interface colors, we decided to leave it virtually untouched. Player colors were a different subject.
Originally, we used light blue, dark blue, red, green, purple, brown, black, and white. These colors needed to change. Light blue looked like the blue used in the main menu. Brown clashed with the brown used in the general game interface. Game text disappeared against white. Black and green disappeared with the terrain colors shown on the game mini-map.
OK. We agreed some of the colors needed to change. After this, the agreements stopped. I don't know what is more ridiculous... arguing over what colors to use or the twisted logic behind the arguments. Red, blue, and dark green were safe choices. We still needed five other colors. The conversation went something like this....

"I don't want yellow. Yellow is the urine color."
"What about brown?"
"I don't like brown."
"Brown is the s**t color."
"What about pink?"
"Pink is a sissy color."
"We won't call it pink. We'll call it 'rose'."
"Rose?"
"The rose player?"
"I don't know. If I saw a pink hero, I'd turn and run away. You know any hero secure enough to use pink as his color is bad ass."
"What about magenta?"
"What about cobalt? What about cadmium?"
"Have we accounted for all the fecal colors?"
"What about orange?"
"Phelan (our art lead) doesn't like orange. It looks bad."
"So. I don't think it looks bad."
"Fine. You tell her you want orange."
"She'll kick your ass."
"Oh. Fine. We won't use orange."

So it went. Fifteen minutes later everyone agreed to disagree, and Jon was made the final judge. Here are the final colors: red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple, aqua, and rose (pink).
12/07/98
Today we stopped all map production. From here until we ship, I join the mapmakers and testers in playing maps and writing bugs... or so I thought.
Today, I had dropped into my lap the assignment of converting the 144-plus pages of the game manual into a help file. Anyone who has written a help file knows how huge this task can be. I could probably finish it in a day, but it requires no one bothering me for an extended period of time. Ha!
At this late stage of the production cycle, my entire day is spent meeting with people, making sure people are doing their work, and confirming that what is being done is correct. I don't have time for work. I've made the ugly evolution from game designer to middle manager.
It wasn't like this at the beginning of the project. At the beginning of the project the game designer is the screaming prophet, lost and alone in the desert (or the design process if you prefer).
In the middle of the production process the prophet is being screamed at by all his fellow coworkers who are wondering what to do because the design doc is behind schedule.
At the end of the project, everyone's a screaming prophet, and everyone is screaming at everyone else.
Sometime in the middle of all this screaming I've got to write this help file. Maybe I could give the assignment to Christian Vanover (H3 assistant director). Isn't it the job of a middle manager to delegate?
12/08/98
Yesterday I was wondering where I would find the time to write the game help file. Today I have the answer.... I think I have the flu. This doesn't feel like any 24-hour "see-ya-bye" flu either. This feels like "kneel before Zod!" flu.
All right. I've got a story for you.
Earlier today we "officially" stopped making maps. From here on out, we play, test, and polish the game. This could mean a little, or a lot. If the maps play well the first time out, revisions will be minor. If we end up chucking whole maps, we may find ourselves back to making maps. Thus, we started playing them today. JVC (Jon Van Caneghem, New World's president) ended up playing a notorious map named "Barbarian Breakout."
Ten minutes after he starts, JVC pages me over my phone intercom: "Hey Yoda." (He's been calling me Yoda lately. I don't know why. I'm not sure if I should be honored or offended. On one hand, Yoda is wise and he trains Jedi Knights. On the other hand, he is a short ugly green dude with big ears.) "Enemy hero with six behemoths (one of the highest-level creatures) knocked on my front door on week two, day one."
"Oops. I'll be right there."
As soon as I walked into JVC's office, the razzing began.
"What's with the six behemoths? Is this one of the balanced scenarios?"
"OK, OK. Something's wrong. Turn off the fog."
Jon restarts the scenario, turns off the fog of war, ends turn four times in a row, then right-clicks the enemy hero to see the extent of his forces. Aside from his other three stacks of creatures... he has one stack of six behemoths. Oops.
"All right. Open the map in the editor."
Jon opens the map in the editor. What do we discover? First, the enemy hero starts at level three, and the mapmaker (Dave Botan) has given him four stacks of creatures. In addition, the enemy hero's starting town has three of seven creature generators already prebuilt.
No wonder the enemy was able to recruit behemoths on day four.
Remember the story about the father who comes home from a bad day at work and yells at his wife? She in turn yells at her kid. The kid in turn kicks the dog.
At this point, I'm looking for a dog to kick. So, I hunt down Dave Botan. Immediately, Dave states his defense.
"Everyone says the map's too hard. It isn't. The AI's cheating." (Recently, we discovered the artificial intelligence was exploiting an undiscovered bug allowing it to recruit more creatures than were actually available.)
"The AI doesn't need to cheat. It's already got a huge advantage."
"There's a bug."
"Doesn't matter. Set all players to normal starting conditions."
At this point everyone begins to playfully dog-pile on Dave telling all the reasons why his maps suck. In the end he relented and fixed the map.
12/09/98
I'm not writing from work today. I'm writing from home. I have seven-way-straight-from-the-bottom-of-the-Amazon-flu.
With this kind of flu the logical course of action would be to rest, drink lots of fluids, watch lots of movies, maybe see a doctor. However, I am a game designer and unfamiliar with the ways of logic. A day at home with the flu means I have the opportunity to finish the H3 help file.
Wow.
How pathetic can you get? On my day off to rest and get better, I use the uninterrupted time to convert a 144+ page manual into a help file.
I should get sick more often. I get more work done.
12/10/98
I'm back at work today. Good news... I finished the help file. Bad news... I still have the flu, and because I was so efficient in writing the game help file... I've been given the task of writing the map editor help file. Oh yeah, finish it by Monday.
Monday? There's so much pressure in my head, when I sniff, my eyes want to flee their sockets. My voice has the auditory consistency of sandpaper. Monday? Sure, I'll have it done by Monday.
12/11/98
Well, it's Friday night, and I have yet to see Star Trek: Insurrection. Doubt I'll be seeing it anytime soon.
One of the unmentioned symptoms of crunch time is cultural unawareness. In my time at a previous company I almost missed the entire O.J. trial. I haven't seen a movie since Starship Troopers. I'm not kidding.
12/14/98
I shouldn't have come in to work Thursday and Friday. It really pushed me over the edge. For the past two days I've been laid up with fever and chills. Remarkably, it was the one thing to take my mind off work. Aside from a froggy throat, it seems to have passed.
Enough about my illness. From here on, assume I'm always ill with the flu.
12/15/98
Today NWC (New World Computing) took a brief pause from game development to listen to Trip Hawkins (president of 3DO, NWC's parent company).
Twice a year, Trip makes a formal visit to talk about the company and where we're going as a company. It's a nice break from things.
However, Trip wasn't half as exciting as David Richie (our tools programmer) who sat next to me. Turns out David is coming down with the flu.
Over the course of the meeting, the air conditioning didn't turn on. With over 50 people crammed into a room, it got hot very fast. As the minutes passed, I could see David slowly whither.
I thought he was going to vomit. So basically, for most of the meeting, I sat envisioning how I was going to get out of the way when the volcano erupted.
Luckily, the volcano did not erupt. David left in the middle of the lecture and I haven't seen him since.
12/17/98
Welcome to the end of another working day at NWC. There is still no sign of David Richey. Another one of our programmers, John Krause, called in sick today. David Mullich (the Heroes III director) was ready to take bets on who would call in sick next. Of course, everyone blames me for getting them ill.
As far as your average NWC workday goes, this one was hectic and full of revelation.
Revelation?
Yes. Revelation. Only today did I look at my calendar and realize Christmas was next Friday.
Hectic?
Yes. Hectic. Every now and then I need to wipe my desk clean. This means catching up on all the hand-scrolled notes and stray post-its littered about my desk. When my desk is clean, I'm caught up.
This very act of cleaning makes for a semi-chaotic day. There is much gear shifting and subject changing to close dangling issues.
Add to this my usual parade of visitors, and my first chance to test multiplayer, and it takes great effort to avoid turning into a screaming monkey. Yes, I said screaming monkey.
Frequently, I find myself held hostage in my own office as a line of visitors (testers, programmers, artists, producers, etc.) quickly assemble outside my office in a short period of time, all wanting a piece of my brain.
Today it happened to occur while I was in the middle of a multiplayer game with Jeff Leggett (H3 multiplayer programmer). Simultaneously, I had three people show up and cram themselves into my small office. Each began jockeying for position to ask a question. Meanwhile, Jeff waited on the phone intercom, with Heroes III continually chiming in the background, letting me know it was my turn to play.
At this point you may apply the screaming monkey metaphor.
Despite the great potential for chaos, I asked Jeff to wait, gave my three suitors a number, told them to wait in line, then answered each of their questions.
On the surface, everything looked under control. Little did these poor souls know there was a screaming monkey, trapped in my mind's steel cage, wildly thrashing about in a desperate attempt to escape and turn me into a volcano of anger and lunacy.
When it was over, I took a deep breath, noted the walls weren't sprayed with the blood of innocent coworkers, and returned to my multiplayer game with Jeff.
Heroes II multiplayer wasn't friendly in the least. When it wasn't your turn, all you could do was sit at the computer and stare at the screen like a moron.
Well, thanks to our wonderful network programmer, Jeff Leggett, a moron you will no longer be.
Jeff has finished implementing multiplayer support. Now we're on a bug hunt. So, today, Jeff and I played a multiplayer game in the background while we went about our work.
I must admit, I had a blast. Moments like this make me forget my job is serious work.
12/18/98 Friday
Today I actually managed to catch up on all my notes. Next up, International Translation Kit. It can wait until Sunday. I don't get to enjoy these moments of accomplishment very often.
Being a game designer is nothing more than a life of delayed gratification. You spend the first month of the project "being creative," then spend the next 17 as a bricklayer implementing low-level details and boot-strapping the game design when unforeseen consequences arise.
Tomorrow we have our annual company Christmas party. I won't be going. I see my coworkers every day at work. I don't want to see them in a social environment. It'd be too weird. They'd have, like, spouses and dates and stuff, and wear dress clothes.
We've been told we can dress formal or casual. To me this means torn jeans and a food-stained white T-shirt. To everyone else, this means dress formal, because no one wants to underdress.
I don't want to see any of my coworkers dressed up. The thought frightens me. We're a bunch of geeks. We don't look good in casual wear. Formal wear will only amplify our geekiness.
Only one thing could entice me to go to the Christmas party - seeing the wives go off on the management for working their husbands so hard. I'd pay to see that... provided I wasn't on the receiving end.
By the way... hello to Chris Cross and Brian Reed, two friends I made when I briefly worked at Dreamworks Interactive (I didn't work on Trespasser). They called me today. They'd read the first entry in the Designer Diary and called to tell me what they thought. They then tied me up on the phone for the next 30 minutes while simultaneously sending me e-mail with bizarre and obscene attachments.
01/02/99 Saturday
Well, I'm back at work. The Christmas break was needed. I spent the first three days drinking eggnog, sleeping in 12- and 16-hour shifts, and watching Clinton get impeached.
After I was well rested, the eggnog was all gone, and Clintion was impeached, I did what any game design loser would do... worked on the game while on vacation. Ugh. I'm so pathetic.
My initial goal was to play existing maps. After playing five maps, it was obvious the AI hadn't been fully tested. It tended to sit back and never struck out until it had enough forces to guarantee a win.
This made for very extreme game experiences. Either you never saw the AI, or it came storming out of nowhere, knocked on your door, and politely introduced itself as your doom.
When our AI programmer (Gus Smedstad) gets back from vacation, I'll need to share my findings with him.
Well, seeing as I couldn't really play the game, I turned my attention to our 144-page game manual... much to my horror.
It turns out our second draft of the manual was full of errors. So, with red pen in hand, I promoted myself from game designer to fact checker. Over the next three days, I proceeded to bloody the pages of our beautiful manual.
To say it was tedious would be an understatement. When it was all over, I couldn't read anything if it wasn't written in fine print.
01/04/99 Monday
Today was another screaming monkey day. Why? One word: programmers.
I won't say who, but one of our programmers came into my office and proceeded to yell at me over a feature request he'd been given to program.
Why was he yelling at me? On the surface, it was because I hadn't given him enough details, or I hadn't thought through its impact enough. Or it could have been because it was simply a stupid feature, I didn't know what I was doing, and I was ruining the game.
The real reason? He wasn't sure how to program the task he'd been given, and the specified time frame was short. Instead of calming down, thinking it through, and telling me whether it could or could not be done in the given time frame, he panicked, and chose to vent at me.
Programmers are a unique breed. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. Some of my best friends are programmers.
I must admit I am fascinated. I've watched each of our team programmers code. It's very amusing. How they code gives me a unique insight to their personality. For instance...

John Bolton (lead programmer): When John programs, it looks like he's playing chess.
David Richey (tools programmer): David doesn't code. Beforehand, he thinks about his task in depth, like contemplating philosophy, then simply writes it up. Quite often you can look through David's office window and see him bent over in his chair, chin on fist, like The Thinker.
Mark Caldwell (NWC VP): You need to know Mark to really understand, but when Mark codes, it's like he's in a boxing ring, ducking shots, trading blows, and trash talking with the program.

Now take such individuals and do the unthinkable... Make them into a team. Worse yet, force them to have meetings in which they must interact on a social level and agree to work together. Worse yet, force them to interact with right-brained artists and game designers.
It's a wonder any games ever get made.
Join designer Greg Fulton as gives us his very last Designer Diary entry, which tracks the last days of Heroes of Might and Magic III. In these last few days, the team waited anxiously to approve the gold candidate. But there is no rest for Greg, as he mentions a little something about the expansion disc. Join us as we count down the final development of Heroes III.
01/07/99
Ever heard the phrase "thousand tile stare"?
It's a phrase used by our mapmakers. You get the thousand tile stare from making H3 maps all day long.
Today I got the thousand tile stare after making a map for our eventual game demo.
It's a very simple, small map, letting players experience a portion of the game. Hopefully they'll experience enough and feel compelled to buy the game. I've been calling the map "Dead and Buried."
When I finished, I gave it to Chris Vanover (H3 assistant director) to play. Chris is an expert Heroes player. He's a good gauge of the map's difficulty.
Watching Chris play was a lot of fun. It allowed me to take a break from work and finally see the game in action. However, I am the worst person to have over your shoulder when you play.
Why? I'm a backseat driver. It's a bad habit from playing console games with friends.
Thus, I watched Chris play and second-guessed him all the way. We were like two old men spitting and complaining about the best strategy as Chris clicked his way through the game. It was rather humorous.
01/08/99
Today I gave the Dead and Buried map to a few select people to see if anyone could beat it in the allotted time frame of four game weeks.
One of my candidates was Jen Bullard. Jen is the only female tester in the QA area.
Upon entering the test area, I found Jennifer burning a candle at her desk. She wasn't afraid to comment aloud how everyone else in the test area doesn't wash their clothes often enough. She thinks they stink.
No sooner did I sit down to watch Jen play than the verbal bantering between the testers began.
Ryan Den, another one of our testers, was sure he found a bug and asked aloud if anyone had encountered the same bug. No one had. Immediately everyone began shouting "user error." Ryan thought they were all high... until he realized it was user error. Everyone then proceeded to playfully tear into Ryan yet again.
I must admit, our testers are pretty cool. Their interactions are quite amusing. They banter with the voracity of a knife fight, but it's rarely cruel.
01/14/99
Last night was my last chance to revise the game manual. Thus, I decided to pull an all-nighter to finish it. This was my first time being at NWC so late. I also experienced something completely new.
I had been drinking many free Cokes when my bladder reminded me who was really in charge. Without hesitation, I raced to the bathroom. I opened the door. It was dark. This is not unusual. The lights are hooked up to a motion sensor. To save energy, they turn on and off based on the presence of a moving body. Confident the lights would turn on, I strode into the bathroom.
The lights did not illuminate.
Fumbling around in the dark, I was able to find the light switch and flip it on.
Nothing.
Fumbling around some more, I found the door handle and exited the bathroom.
Moving quickly to Mark Caldwell's office (Mark and George were also working late), I told him, "The bathroom lights won't turn on." He said, "Yeah. The bathroom lights don't turn on after midnight." I asked, "How do you go to the bathroom with the lights off?" He answered, "Usually I just feel my way to the urinal."
"I need to take a crap."
"Hey, I wouldn't know anything about that. Get the flashlight from George."
"I need a flashlight?"
"Yeah."
So, I walked to George's office.
"I need the bathroom flashlight."
Giggling to himself under his breath, George reached into his desk and gave me a pocket flashlight. With flashlight in hand I returned to the bathroom where everything went according to plan.
I know game production has its odd moments, but... this one was really odd.
01/18/99
In the last days of a game's production, the game designer makes a desperate attempt to prevent features from being cut to make the deadline. However, if I got all the features I wanted, the game would never ship. Thus, there is always a tug of war between the game designer, management, programmers, and artists, to decide what gets into the game and what gets pushed back to the expansion or sequel.
Today I was doing my best to get a new hero into the game without too much additional programming or art. I realized I could get the results I needed by simply adding a new graphic and customizing an existing game hero. Even better, I could get the graphic from existing art in the intro movie. All the artist had to do was crop a freeze-frame from the movie and give it to our asset manager to be put into the game. I could customize the hero in the editor. All the programmers had to do was recognize the character's unique identification.
Well, we did.
I wonder how much longer I can push my luck.
01/19/99
I have become the Walmart floor manager.
No. I haven't quit my job.
Let me explain.
At this stage in the making of the game, I find myself spending most of my time walking the halls with my Notepad of Oppression waiting for people to call out my name.
The notepad is a list of issues needing resolution. Most people find the notepad humorous unless their name is on it. Ironically, I end up putting my name on the notepad more than anyone else's (I'm oppressing myself).
Regardless, when I am walking the halls and someone calls out my name, I duck into their office to answer their questions. Sometimes this means getting on their phone and calling someone else to clear up an issue. If I don't have the answer, I'm the intermediary.
Thus, I feel like the Walmart floor manager, roaming the isles, taking care of arising issues. All I really need is the blue vest.
01/20/99
For a moment, consider most game manuals. Usually, a manual details the game interface and introduces you to the various game elements. Rarely do these manuals give you true game statistics.
For Heroes III , we wanted to buck this trend. Using the Heroes II strategy guide as a model, we decided to make a big manual loaded with information. This is exactly what we did - 144 pages.
Today we signed off on the manual. Well, no sooner did the ink dry than we discovered some errors. It was terrifying. I literally sat at my desk, looking at the errors I had discovered, and heard the manual mocking me with the chittering of a wild hyena.
There was nothing I could do. It was carved in stone. Now understand, most manuals ship with some errors. This is what the Readme is for. However, several people had gone over this manual time and again, and still there were errors.
I'll never make a big manual again. It's too much upkeep considering the fluidity of game design.
I'm sure I'll lose some sleep over this.
1/25/99
Today the Coke machine caught fire.
Let me repeat this.
Today the Coke machine caught fire.
Since we started crunching, around 7:00pm each night, Mark Caldwell (NWC VP) has been unlocking the Coke machine for free drinks to go with our evening meal. We don't continue pressing the selection buttons for the various drinks. Instead, we literally open up the front half of this big, red, half-ton refrigerator, made to withstand the assaults of the most juvenile of delinquents.
Now, I'm not exactly clear on the details, but one of the testers pulled open the front door to grab a soda from inside. Apparently, some of the electrical wires were sheared, followed by fire and smoke.
Upon seeing the fire and smelling the smoke, the tester grabbed Ben Bent (NWC office manager and part-time game director). He then pointed out the fire in the Coke machine.
With perfect calm, Ben simply unplugged the Coke machine. Poof. The fire went away.
I must admit, I can't help but see the fire in the Coke machine as a metaphor for Heroes III in production. A fire starts, someone panics, and someone else calmly solves the problem.
Truthfully, it's the story of the game production process.
2/07/99 Sunday
Today could be the day.
We've decided to make a "final candidate" CD-ROM for 3DO approval. A final candidate is what we consider "ready to ship." We then send the final candidate to 3DO for them to do shrink-wrap testing.
Tonight, no one leaves the building until the game is finished.
2/08/99 Monday
It's 5:00am Monday morning.
We just started burning the final candidate.
About half the team is still here.
We've been crunching too long. Everyone's burnt.
About 15 minutes ago, Mark starting broadcasting Money For Nothing over everyone's speakerphone.
Ironic.
02/13/99
I am literally weak-kneed. Except for writing this entry, all I intend to do is just sit in my office chair and do everything I possibly can to do nothing.
As of 8:30 Saturday, February 13, we're calling it good Barring last-second crash bugs, the game is done.
It's 9:30, and with the realization the game is done, already I'm beginning to crash.
After crunching for so long, the crash is the aftereffect. This is the time when you finally realize you can relax and return to a somewhat normal life. This is also the flag signaling the release of all the pent-up stress and illness you've been holding off by sheer will for the past six months. Thus... crash.
Wow.
We're done.
02/14/99
Four days after announcing Heroes has gone gold, we're already talking about the expansion pack. Already, I've assembled my map makers. They're good people. With H3 under their belts they should make even better maps for the expansion.
The downside? Chris Vanover is moving onto a different project. Technically Chris was H3's assistant director, but I adopted him as my assistant designer. He was a big help in many of the grunt areas. I was hoping to hand the expansion off to Chris so I could concentrate on the next Heroes.
No such luck.
Ultimately, this means vacation must wait.
(whimper)
Where is a monkey boy when you need one?
02/19/99
David Mullich's (Heroes III director) wife was pregnant and expecting about the same time as E3 last year (Atlanta '98). So, he couldn't go and demonstrate the game.
I was the next logical choice. I know the game better than anyone else, and when needed, I can turn on the charm.
Now don't get me wrong, when I have demoed the game, it has been a delight. Yet, as a game, Heroes III doesn't demo well. It's a turn-based game. It's not a first-person shooter or real-time strategy game. There's no real immediate reward for your attention span to latch onto.
However, Heroes does have a very large, very dedicated following. Thus, most people who want to see Heroes are already fans. This was the case at E3.
At E3 I did the vast majority of the presentations. I did so many I ended up losing my voice. Almost all the people who saw the game were fans of Heroes and liked what they saw. We were so successful, people were taking chairs from the other game stations to sit in front of ours.
Well, the downside to my work at E3 was... I became the demo guy. The downside of being the demo guy is traveling.
I hate traveling.
Once I arrive at my destination, there's no problem. I'm just impatient by nature. I'm also 6'1" and hate sitting in supercramped airline seats.
So, today I got to fly up to 3DO with Peter Ryu (MM7 producer), Keith Francart (MM7 director), and Jeff Blatner (new Heroes producer) to give presentations on MM7 and Heroes III to our Ubi Soft partners and a smattering of European journalists.
As much as I hated getting up at 5:30am and traveling to San Francisco (less than one week after going gold), the trip was amusing for a number of reasons.
Since I have been at New World, Peter Ryu has always worn shorts and sandals. For the presentation, Pete was ordered to wear pants and shoes. Throughout the day, he was wincing as the shoes rubbed his feet raw.
The other amusing part was hanging out with the French chicks from Ubi Soft and the European press.
Last time I was at 3DO I did an H3 presentation to a number of European journalists. Not a French woman among them. It was different this time, and dare I say, worth the trip.
02/22/99
David Mullich (H3 director), George Ruof (H3 programmer), and I are the only members of the team in the building today. Everyone else is on vacation.
Over the weekend I began my self-rehabilitation for returning to the real world.
When you do nothing but work 12-14 hours a day, seven days a week, and then it all comes to an abrupt halt, you suddenly find you have all this spare time on your hands.
Ultimately, you become bored. You don't know what to do with yourself because your "normal" situation meant working on the game... but the game is finished. Normal has become different and no longer normal.
A logical assumption for curing this boredom would be a vacation. Not yet. I've got to write the design for the expansion disc. I've got two weeks before it is due. After hammering out the specs, everyone will be briefed, then I can go on vacation.
I've got it all planned out. I haven't seen my parents since Christmas of 1997. So, I'm going to go back home and sit in the rocking chair in front of my dad's big-screen TV and watch nothing but cable television for at least two weeks. You heard me. Nothing but CNN Headline News for two weeks. If by then I'm not properly vegetated, I'll watch it for another week. Then I'll track down my old high school girlfriend and see if she's still single.
I've set up an e-mail address for your feedback about the game when it hits the shelves. This e-mail is merely for player feedback and suggestions. I will be the one reading the e-mails, and most likely, I won't be answering any of them. So, don't flame me if I don't respond. [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]).
I've enjoyed writing these diaries. I wish I had been able to dedicate more time to them.
My apologies to Elliott Chin (who made these diaries possible). Elliott wanted me to talk about the design philosophy behind H3. After practicing design philosophy 12-14 hours a day, I couldn't bring myself to write a diary about it. So, I thought I'd do "a day in the life." I hope you enjoyed my tongue-in-cheek account.
I leave you with the following words I once heard the great Jon Van Caneghem speak, "When it's all over you'll forget how hard it was and do it all over again."
He's right. We will.

I am NOT OP. Original post by u/sirtwixalert in workingmoms. OOP gave me permission to repost.
trigger warnings: Brief mention of child death, suicide, and abuse, but not the subject of the post

mood spoilers: Wholesome

 
Today I find out if the past eleven years were worth it - March 13, 2023
I started medical school in 2012, with the MD class of 2016; I’ll graduate this May, eleven years later, with the MD/PhD class of 2023. Four of those years were expected - two preclinical and two clinical years for the MD. Five more were added for the PhD, completed between the preclinical and clinical years of medical school. Another was interspersed throughout the two clinical years of medical school when my husband moved to another state for a three-year fellowship and I stayed behind to solo parent our daughters during most of my clerkships, and the last was tacked on as a leave of absence when COVID shutdowns and interstate travel restrictions would have kept our family separated indefinitely.
I’ve been married for 9 of those years and a parent for 7. I had our first daughter just a few weeks after I passed my PhD qualifying exam and my husband started his intern year of residency; I had our second two years later, after I had switched labs and my husband had started his final year of residency; and I had our third three years later, after I had finished most of my third year clinical clerkships and my husband had finished his first year of fellowship and the whole world had set itself on fire.
I was the primary parent, and I was parenting alone most of the time. During my graduate years, I got the kids ready and handed them off for the day, worked in the lab 9-5, and then picked them up, played with them, fed them, bathed them, put them to bed, cleaned and prepped for the next day before writing or analyzing data or reading until I couldn’t stay awake anymore. I brought my first tiny academic wingman to my first conference and gave my first presentation with her snuggled on my chest. I wrote my 243-page dissertation and prepped slides for my defense late at night with a sick child on my shoulder. During the clinical years, I coordinated early morning care for the days I needed to leave the house at 4am and late evening care for the days I couldn’t leave the hospital in time for daycare pickup at 6pm. I saved my 2 annual personal days for Halloween and the annual daycare-wide performance of the Nutcracker. I studied for shelf exams and board exams on my phone in the dark, sandwiched between two children who didn’t sleep through the night until this year and another who still wakes up at least twice a night. Most days looked like this, and many still do.
During my rotations, I stood with another mom as her two year old died and listened to a thirteen year old share the experience of her suicide attempt for the first time and played peekaboo with a four year old while my attending looked for signs of abuse more subtle than her obvious bruises and fractures and realized that I wanted to work with children and their families. I made plans to apply to three specialties that would allow me to do so – psychiatry, pediatrics, and triple board, which combines pediatrics with adult and child/adolescent psychiatry – at the hospital where my husband works, the only location that would allow us to stay where we are now. It is unusual to apply to more than one specialty, and especially unusual to apply to only one location; for each of those specialties, students usually apply to an average of around 45 programs with the goal of interviewing with around 10 programs. But my daughters have been through enough, and I will not put them through another move. So I applied to three programs, interviewed at all three, and ranked all three. At 10am today I’ll find out whether I matched, and at noon on Friday I’ll find out which specialty I matched to.
I’m too tired to even know what I want. Whether I want to match or not. Which program I want to match to. If I match, I know that the next 3-5 years of my life are largely out of my control and I will lose time with my daughters; I’m particularly sad at the thought of losing that time during the last few years that my oldest is still excited to hang out with me. If I don’t match, I’m sitting on a quarter of a million in debt without a clear path to repayment and back to square one in the finding-a-fulfilling-career game, and the time already lost in my daughters’ early years will sting even more than it already does.
I was planning to process all of this alone today, but of course it’s a professional development day for our school system so my girls will be right here with me. They know that I’m nervous, they know that I’ll probably cry no matter what the email says, they know that I’ll be both happy and sad at the same time and they know that we’ll be ok. This morning I saw my oldest looking through our giant pile of Costco greeting cards and I heard her tell my middle that she chose the one that says GOOD JOB! because “no matter what happens, mama did a good job” and my middle solemnly declared that she would stop my youngest from spilling all the cups today because “that would probably be extra hard for mama today” while my youngest calmly poured her water on the cat in the other room. These kids. My heart.
 
UPDATE: Today I find out if the last eleven years were worth it - March 17, 2023
I matched to my top choice - psychiatry! It's bittersweet, as my 7-year old told me it would be, to close the door on pediatrics, and I think a part of me was hoping to fall down my rank list to triple board (which would have allowed me to do both), but this was the best outcome for my family and ultimately for me as well. In just a half-decade or so I'll be ready to practice independently, and I'm so excited to help kids and their families and learn all of the things I should have done differently with mine!
 
OOP also added additional updates to her original post:
Edit 1: I matched!!! My oldest read the email, all three ran around screaming, and then they went and pulled out the Costco card, the extra special other cards they made, and the bag of program (but not specialty) specific swag my husband had hidden for me. I assume he had a no-match bag hidden too, so now I’m on the hunt because that one probably has more candy.
Edit 2: thank you all for your thoughts and well-wishes! One of the hardest things about adding the PhD (and then two extra other years) is that I know very few people in my graduating class, and it has been lovely to share this day with a larger community!
 
Reminder - I am not the original poster. OOP is u/sirtwixalert, who deserves all the credit.

Purtle's Internet Lineup for June 6th, 2023 5:20pm
Pics:

• Sends your Lisia back to 2002. Sorry she's in ruby and sapphire now. Yeah shes on the gameboy advance, sorry https://twitter.com/AbilitySymbol/status/1665380389865820162
  
• Every so often i randomly send the "i know he ate a cheese" image to my dad bc it's his favorite joke https://twitter.com/Rigamo12/status/1665182842421116929
  
• 22 years ago we (well, Japan) had crossplay going on with Dreamcast and PS2 owners on Capcom vs SNK 2 https://twitter.com/SEGAotaku/status/1665724587315789824
  
• I absolutely hate that being technically competent in 2023 means sounding like a Luddite when it comes to the latest digital snake oil. These things are always cool, fascinating tech, but the are also always massively oversold and dishonestly represented, with roughshod ethics. https://twitter.com/mikeBithell/status/1665671313577369601
  
• perfect card sleeves https://twitter.com/UltimaShadowX/status/1665958075809890305
  
• wow 2023 will be so futuristic https://twitter.com/ow/status/1665775757438898176
  
• Anime/Japanese video games will show you the most gorgeous woman you've ever seen and claim they have a terrible trait ruining their love life and the trait in question is being 30 or older. https://twitter.com/UltimaShadowX/status/1666158038716121098
  
• Street Fighter 6 Stuff
  
  • basketball https://twitter.com/MyMyMavka/status/1664826025392390144
  • sick tech https://twitter.com/Le_Brutus/status/1665965976066637824
  • dhalsims a cheater https://twitter.com/OmarCameUp/status/1665639794733375488
  • Be sure to turn on the Input Delay Reduction option in graphics settings, for all consoles + PC. It makes a world of difference. It's turned off by default. https://twitter.com/DreeceDaBeast/status/1665837495999684610
  • My SF6 World Tour character in any cutscene https://twitter.com/TannerOfDaNorth/status/1665854196871057412
  • Combos/setups/tech
  • Momochi DeeJay perfect KO https://clips.twitch.tv/EphemeralAdorableDeerEagleEye-LwmyTYgoGq_oUxpE
  • manon anti e-honda tech https://twitter.com/frionel26/status/1665733503831490565
  • - Buttslam Counters for JP 1/2 https://twitter.com/NoMoreMrIceGuy_/status/1666139765673017345
• Zelda ToTK related stuff
  
  • picklerok https://twitter.com/UltimaShadowX/status/1666179349463089154

Clips:

• Momochi DeeJay perfect KO https://clips.twitch.tv/EphemeralAdorableDeerEagleEye-LwmyTYgoGq_oUxpE
  
• the apple vision reaction comparison https://twitter.com/LiquidHbox/status/1665879184239996930
  
• What happens when you speak Japanese for the first time in Japan https://twitter.com/RealKaoura/status/1663221159830208527
  
• SF6 Dee Jay Combos - desk [2:30] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNxPx6LXUDM
  
• SF6 Zangief Combos - desk [2:30] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQTZjWHEtww
  
• My SF6 World Tour character in any cutscene https://twitter.com/TannerOfDaNorth/status/1665854196871057412
  

Videos

• How Flood Tunnels Work - Practical Engineer [13:54] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4G0aTq5oSM
  
• Interview with Larry Summers, Former Secretary of the Treasury The Problem with Jon Stewart [7:51] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU3rGFyN5uQ
  

Articles/News/Other

• Twitch has changed how branded content works, and it's bad https://help.twitch.tv/s/article/branded-content-policy?language=en_US&tt_content=branded_content_update060623&tt_medium=notification_center
  
  • On-stream logos are limited to 3% of screen size,- Burned-in video Ads are NOT allowed, - Burned-in Display Ads are NOT allowed, - Burned-in Audio Ads are NOT allowed. https://twitter.com/zachbussey/status/1666111039736258561
  • lsf thread on the topic https://old.reddit.com/LivestreamFail/comments/142lmb9/twitch_has_new_branded_content_guidelines/
  • OTK Co-Founder Tips Out announces OTK will be leaving Twitch if the current guidelines change goes through. https://old.reddit.com/LivestreamFail/comments/142n5vk/otk_cofounder_tips_out_announces_otk_will_be/
  • the number of people currently scrambling over whether their business can still exist & what they need to do to make sure it can, geez. Trying to make a living can be weird when the digital landlord you have to rent from can do almost anything it wants https://twitter.com/ultradavid/status/1666120721905627137
  • This is a textbook example of "enshittification", a term coined by doctorow that refers to platforms intentionally making themselves worse for users & sellers/advertisers alike in the search for revenue. Great description of this kind of business imo https://twitter.com/ultradavid/status/1666134792549826561
  • All streamers should be looking to leave Twitch if this goes through continuing to hurt the bottom line of all streamers OTK will go to Youtube Rumble or Kick Streamer Awards will not be possible Any high quality production will be too expensive to make and will not be possible https://twitter.com/REALMizkif/status/1666173559960420352
• Twitch has also updated the Terms of Service. https://twitter.com/zachbussey/status/1666110088220753926
  
• Four classic games are now live for NintendoSwitchOnline members! NES – Mystery Tower, SuperNES – Harvest Moon, GameBoy - Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble, Blaster Master: Enemy Below [2:06] https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/status/1665886852694302723
  
  • yt version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e80uqBEgxSI&ab_channel=NintendoofAmerica
  • Just like using a Game Boy, you can tilt the Nintendo Switch console or controller to make Kirby roll back and forth, left and right, and jump! Kirby looks like he's having a lot of fun https://twitter.com/Kirby_JP/status/1665917041331818496
  • Wait, "Mystery Tower"...? They renamed "The Tower of Babel" but this does not show up in any of my documentation for Nintendo's lotcheck. [thread] https://twitter.com/LuigiBlood/status/1665888325964554241
  • I confirm it's a hack done at runtime. The base ROM file still has the japanese title screen. This is actually a first.
  • The funny part, the japanese title screen for The Tower of Babel is modified too. I'll put the original and then both hacked title screens. https://twitter.com/LuigiBlood/status/1665922479955607557
• Capcom Showcase is confirmed for Monday, June 12th at 3 PM PT. Approximately 36 minutes long https://twitter.com/Wario64/status/1665887355138609152
  
• It is now being reported that in October a Mar-a-lago employee drained the resort’s pool. The water from the pool just so happened to flood the room where the computer servers which contained the resort's surveillance video logs were. DETAILS: - According to reports by CNN, a witness has been asked by federal prosecutors about the flooded server room. - While there is no public evidence that the flood was intentional, investigators are suspicious. - The actual surveillance video was not reportedly damaged in the flood. - Investigators could be using this incident to decide on whether there was attempted 'obstruction'. https://twitter.com/krassenstein/status/1665816087840321536
  
• Incredible news out of Florida. Florida's gender affirming care ban has been blocked in part. The decision is complex, but this should be enough to allow care to proceed soon. This is the first (of many) wins against gender bans this year. https://twitter.com/ErinInTheMorn/status/1666088074013708296
  

Part 1
Part 2
We were driving rapidly down Main Street as a horrible creature from another dimension followed behind us, its long strides keeping pace and making the car shake with each step it took. The engine roared as we sped away from the butcher shop. Randy was sitting in the seat next to me and it took me a minute to realize he was eating something.
It was a bucket of KFC.
"Seriously!? How can you be hungry at a time like this?? We're about to die, Randy!"
"We got bigger problems than that right now," he said, patting down his pockets with greasy fingers and leaving stains as he searched for something. "We're all out of booze! We need to make a pit stop as soon as you get a chance."
Normally this would be an absurd statement. But unfortunately the lack of alcohol was a bit of an issue, since there were plenty more monsters ready to come through into our world, and the only thing keeping them out was our ability to stay intoxicated so we didn’t see them. I had kept my percentage down below the legal driving limit, but I was starting to feel like that wasn't cutting it anymore.
"You need to start drinking more," Randy explained. "You're the one who saw it first, remember? If anything, this is kinda your fault."
I gripped the steering wheel with white knuckled rage and continued driving.
Regardless of what he said, I want to make sure it's on the record that this was all Randy's fault. He had admitted to making at least one wish using a cursed magic monkey paw - and we all know how that usually plays out.
I saw a convenience store and immediately slammed on the brakes. Reaching over Randy, I threw open his door and kicked him out. It was easy since he wasn't wearing a seatbelt and was already beginning to fall asleep.
"What the fuck, dude?" He yelled as I pulled away.
"Get us more booze! I'm gonna circle the block," I shouted at him out the window, picking up speed.
Then I took out my gun and aimed at the monster which was getting closer by the second. I took three shots at it over my shoulder and missed two of them. But the third caught it squarely in the neck and it began to howl a guttural cry, dripping black blood all over the street from its fresh wound. It slowed down momentarily, but then picked up its pace again, coming after me with renewed rage.
My goal had been accomplished, though. I’d been trying to keep it away from Randy, since he was on foot and more vulnerable. We would need to abandon the car, though, I realized. If I was going to start drinking more I wouldn’t be able to drive safely. As bad as things were getting, I wasn’t about to start breaking the law - especially that particular one. I’d seen enough death and destruction caused by drunk drivers over my years on the force. I wasn’t going to go down that road.
I looked back to see the creature still gaining on me.
My mind was racing trying to think of a way to evade it, to outwit it. I needed to do something to kill it. But what?
Suddenly my cell phone was ringing. I picked it up and looked at the caller ID. It was Jay, the delivery driver. He was in the car ahead of me and I had kind of forgotten he was there.
“Listen,” he said quickly. “I got a plan. We need to lure that thing to the swamp. Just follow me and keep up the pace.”
“It’s a cop car,” I said dryly. “I’m pretty sure I can keep up with your piece of shit-”
My words were cut short as the line went dead and the car ahead of me began to accelerate rapidly. I floored it but found the guy was still gaining distance between the two of us.
Whatever he had under the hood was making that little car go a lot faster than I would have thought possible.
My phone dinged and I looked down to see a text from Jay. It was an eggplant with a water spray emoji.
This fucking town…
*
We reached the edge of the city limits of Hollow’s End to find a parking lot which sloped at an unnatural angle downwards. At the bottom of this strange gravel lot was a murky-looking swamp full of brackish green water. A small copse of trees stood to one side near the shore.
No other cars were parked there which was good, since the creature was still close behind us.
I was following Jay as closely as I could and imitating his car’s movements, although my vehicle was sluggish and clumsy by comparison. He was still driving at top speed, and I figured it was important that I keep up with him for whatever he planned to do.
When we reached the edge of the water, near that little grouping of trees, he hit the brakes and swerved to the right. His tires stayed on the gravel, but just barely. The entire parking lot was sloped so severely towards the water that the force of gravity was insisting on taking us into the swamp.
Realizing that my bigger vehicle wouldn’t make the turn in time, I hit the brakes early and tried to slow down, knowing that otherwise I would crash right into a tree or go into the water trying to make the move.
As soon as I slowed down I could hear the creature’s breath and its movements just behind the car. I avoided the temptation to look back, since I knew it would be my death if I did. Instead, I yanked hard on the wheel and turned it to the right, skidding to a stop on the grass, my fender just inches away from a large pine tree.
The creature’s brakes were not quite as good as mine, since it was desperate to kill me and hadn’t really slowed down. Instead, it went skidding into the green water, coated with algae and looking much thicker than was normal. It was like a giant bowl of pea soup. The creature was thrashing around, looking as if it were in pain, and then I noticed the tendrils of swamp water moving on its skin, pulling it in deeper, like an enormous squid wrestling with a shark.
My phone rang again and I picked it up, my eyes still focused on the creature trying to get out of the swamp. It looked like it would not be able to escape from whatever was holding it there, and I breathed a sigh of relief that I hadn’t gone in with that wild last minute maneuver.
Then it was as if an enormous hand reached up from below and pulled the creature under. Despite the fact that there were only dark empty sockets where eyes should have been, I could have sworn I saw them widen as it was dragged under, and then was gone.
“Problem solved,” Jay said when I answered the phone. “You can thank me later. And we’ll definitely owe Swampy a favor. Now let’s get back into town and grab Randy. Maybe the three of us can figure out a solution to this whole mess.”
*
I managed to convince Jay to let me ride shotgun in his car, telling him that mine was having engine trouble. This was partly as a ploy to make him our designated driver, but also to cover for the fact that he was clearly the superior driver of a far better automobile than my cruiser. And who knew when we’d have to outrun one of those monsters again?
After applying copious amounts of duct tape to all of the mirrors on the vehicle, we were off, heading back towards the convenience store where I’d left Randy.
We found him out front with a large paper bag full of bottles in his arms, sleeping in the grassy ditch near the road. There were several children taking turns at poking him with a stick.
“Okay, beat it, kids!” I yelled at them as we approached.
The children ran off and out of the corner of my eye I noticed a few of them looked very odd. One had a furry face and ears like a dog, while another had red eyes, and yet another was running on all fours. They scattered in every direction, making it difficult to pinpoint any other discrepancies.
“What’s the deal with this town?” I muttered to nobody in particular.
“How much time do you have?” Jay asked, laughing. “This place is weirder than you could possibly imagine. There’s a lot of history here. Sorry to say, you didn’t really know what you were getting into when you moved to this place.”
“Can you give me a quick summary?” I asked, kicking Randy gently in the ribs. He snored and swatted the air like an annoyed cat, then rolled over on his other side. His right leg began to pump up and down as if he were chasing a rabbit in his dreams.
“I’m not really at liberty to discuss all of it. People in Hollow’s End prefer to keep their secrets to themselves. But if you get to know them, you’ll find most folks are nice enough. As long as you live here, anyways. Tourists do tend to occasionally go missing if they stay out past sunrise. And if you meet anyone wearing a hooded robe your best bet is to avoid them. Oh, and there’s this guy named Frank who-”
Randy sat bolt upright, screaming at the top of his lungs, clutching the bag of liquor bottles so tightly against his chest that I thought they would shatter.
“It’s okay, man,” I said, leaning down to pat his shoulder in what I hoped was a comforting gesture. “It was just a nightmare.”
He was breathing heavily for a few moments and didn’t respond. But then finally he unscrewed the cap of one of the liquor bottles and took a long gulp.
“Right. A nightmare. That’s all it was.”
He didn’t seem entirely convinced.
“Alright, what’s the plan, guys?” Jay asked. “I’m happy to help out if you need me to.”
I took one of the liquor bottles from Randy and took a long drink from it. After wiping my mouth, I screwed the cap back on and stuffed the bottle in my pocket. Thinking hard about the next lead to follow up on, I came up short. We didn’t really have anything.
“Do you know anyone who would be interested in buying a monkey paw?” I asked. “Is there anyone in town dumb enough or reckless enough to take ownership of it? Because I feel like that fucking thing is at the center of all of this. It’s like a murder investigation - if we can find the weapon used to commit the crime, we might be able to solve it.”
Jay looked at me and Randy looked at the ground between his legs.
“I know just the guy,” Jay answered. “You know how I was telling you to stay away from Frank? Well, we might need to disregard that advice, just temporarily.”
*
The three of us pulled up outside a house a short while later, now with Jay behind the wheel, chauffeuring us around town.
We went up to the front door and he continued explaining the protocol for how to deal with this Frank individual.
“Remember, whatever you do, don’t stare. And don’t go inside his house - whatever he wants to tell us he can tell us outside. People who go in there are usually tourists, and they’re never, ever seen again. That’s like guaranteed death just stepping into that place.”
I tried not to think about how many rules I was breaking, how many vows in my oath as a Sheriff were completely null and void now.
“You know I’m a police officer, right? Most people don’t speak so freely about the kidnapping and murder of tourists.”
Randy slapped my arm.
“Come on, man. Just when we’re starting to think you’re cool, you go and say something like that. Killing tourists is a proud tradition in Hollow’s End. If you don’t like it then you shouldn’t have moved here.”
I didn’t have time to debate the subject anymore, as Jay was now knocking on the front door of the house.
The door swung open on the first knock, as if it had been slightly ajar.
“Hello,” Jay called into the darkness. “Frank? Are you there? I need to talk to you about something.”
He stuck his head into the dark gap afforded by the open door. For a moment I had a horrible mental image of it slamming shut on his neck, squeezing and choking him as blood poured from wounds created by the pressure of sharp wood on his flesh.
But instead, something worse happened.
Jay let out a gasp and then disappeared through the gap. As if he had been picked up by his hair and was dragged inside by a hungry bear.
My heart was pounding fast as I realized I was going to have to ignore all of Jay's warnings if I was going to save him and the town. Despite the dangers, we were going to have to go inside after all.
YT
TCC