[Personal] She's Here..

Yes, my granddaughter Kait arrived safely, although for some reason she seems to be obsessed with putting things on my head...

...like a pink blanket in this case. (Not shown: plastic shovel, bucket, sock, styrofoam plate...and that was just last night.)

Yep, this is going to be an interesting visit.

[Testing] The Five Stages of How A QA Department Is Perceived

I've spoken with enough people in testing and been around long enough that I've been able to isolate out five seperate stages in how a QA department is perceived.

1) Unnecessary Evil. "I don't need testing... I can find my own problems..."

2) Assholes. "Those assholes found problems with my stuff!"

3) Necessary Evil. "Yeah, they find problems before they go out, but they're still evil...let's segregate them, or make them work harder for their bugs by not giving them all the information they need."

4) Grudging Respect. "Okay, they've helped out quite a bit, and they know their stuff, but they're still not at our level."

5) Peers. "Hey, let's gets test input to see if there are any problems with this design before we start coding."

What stage is your department at?

[Personal] The Visit

On a more upbeat note, my granddaughter is going to be arriving in Dallas in about an hour and a half, and staying for about a month.

I haven't seen her since January, so this will be a fun experience. If she behaves anything like she did back then, I have a feeling that I'm not going to be alone any time soon...

[Misc] Can Not Answer

I can't answer all of these E-mails in a language I don't understand...

Thank you to those of you who are at least trying to write in English, but I really can't answer any more questions.

The total content changes involved in the USK release are under 25Mb total. That's it. You aren't shooting robots. Blood didn't turn green. Elexis isn't suddenly wearing more clothing. Jessica's nose is still pierced. Your guns don't shoot rainbows and sunshine. Poison time still fucks you up. You get Arena Mode out of the box. Heck, even the ad for "Ed's Gun Emporium" is still proudly displayed.

I can't ask Valve to unlock the non-USK version for people who purchase the USK version. The rules are very clear regarding what we can do in Germany in regards to the non-USK version. A rough translation: It is forbidden to advertise it, make it available for kids and teenagers, sell it openly in shops, sell it via direct mail selling or to make it available for download on the Internet. The game may only be sold under-the-table, and only to adults who ask specifically about it and can identify themselves with a passport. Whoever doesn't follow these rules, risk indication and jail up to 1 year.

I'm not in PR. This blog is not a PR vessel. This is me sharing my experiences with the world in an entirely unofficial manner. Would a PR entity mix posts about their products with posts regarding why they have two more toenails than they do toes? (Post going up in about a week.)

I can't fight your political battles for you. In the United States, some of us are trying to make sure we don't end up with an Index of our own due to the inept attempts at legislating morality that are being attempted in our fair country.

All I can do is do my best to make sure that when you get your game, it is stable and works as it is supposed to.

[Personal] Stopping Talking On...

Well, I've said all that I can about the German build of "SiN Episodes," so I won't be responding to any questions until the game is released.

To the people who have been abusive towards me in the forums, I'm no longer going to be responding to them.

To the approximately 3,000 people who have the warezed version of "SiN Episodes" who want the shipping bugs fixed and have somehow found this site via Google, all I have to say is BUY THE FSCKING GAME!

And finally, this blog may be dim over the next month. My granddaughter is going to be visiting from Utah, and I want to be able to spend some quality time with her.