I bet you didn't know I was new here.

Oh, I posted in the new member forums? Well, I guess that ruined that cool introduction then. /sigh

Yes, I'm kind of pushing the rules a little. I know there's a limit to posts implied on members with less than fifty submissions. I have put up a few comments (5) in the week I've been here, randomly was replied to by an Admin (kind of proud my first post got a Thanks from Rich), and put up a few more. I decided to go ahead and pop over to the forums and say a little hello to get started. Any how, from the look of the community, no one will take offense to my post here coming a bit early. I know, I should lurk more than a week before posting, but hey, I'm in the mood to be social.

So, what should I really say about myself? I mean, obviously I play video games to some extent, or I wouldn't have to a website with walkthroughs, hints, tips, and cheat codes. Amusingly, I'm not a big player of video games as much I play classic table top games. In fact, I initially only came here to get an answer about a silly little Facebook game my I started playing at the request of some friends. I'll get to all that later though. (Oh yes, I write, a lot).

As I said, I'm a table top gamer. If it takes more than three hundred pages just to know how to play using only the core rules, I'm down for trying it. Dungeons and Dragons, GURPS, Legend of the Five Rings, SpyCraft, StarGate SG-1, d20 Modern, Wheel of Time, Fireborn, Mutants and Masterminds, In Nomine... these are books I've used in some way just since the start of the year. I haven't played a session of them all, but I've read, pulled ideas, worked on characters, wrote some session pieces. Yes, I'm a nerd.

I'm also a huge hockey fan (Go Pens!). That comes as a surprise to most people seeing as how I grew up on a white sand beach on the Gulf of Mexico. Yes, I'm from the south, no I don't have a drawl, I rarely wear denim, I own more pairs of sandals than shoes, I don't have a five-gallon hat, and I don't chew on tobacco. I was born in Mississippi, raised here, live here, and will finish my first two degrees here. I couldn't care less about your ideas of the south, because most are horribly skewed, and it's just funny at this point in my life. Twenty four years of hearing redneck and fat jokes just proves how bad stereotypes are in the States.

Any how, that's not important.

I came here, as I said, for some clarification about a random little Facebook game and instead I found a lot of people posting questions in the comments about things I had figured out. One thing lead to another, and after a while, I had posted my first comment (nothing huge, about 650 words if I had to guess). Seems that it was appreciated since Admin Rich mentioned a little thank you and suggested I check out more about the game. I spent some time this afternoon just saying little pieces here and there and finally decided that I was willing to be social.

That's how I at least came to be over here on the forums. /shrug Enough rambling, I guess. On a side note, if anyone who reads this happens to enjoy play-by-post games, I've been contemplating running something if I had an active group. Let me know if you'd be interested. Could be fun to have another group of completely random people trying to work together in some setting. /laugh

You're easily in my top ten for members on this site.
Congrats!
Please stay. (:

Oh. Welcome to the forums and such.
Be active.
Don't abandon us.

You seem like an awesome person.

On a side note: Are you a Southerner who uses the word 'pop' or the word 'soda?'

Thanks for the compliment. Glad to be so welcomed by someone. /laugh I'll probably stick around, mostly lurking, occasionally popping onto a thread to say something, but since most of it is video game related, and I have only a few that I actually play with any regularity, I'll be in the banter boards more than anything.

Jay_Dee said:

On a side note: Are you a Southerner who uses the word 'pop' or the word 'soda?'

Neither actually. I'm pretty specific in conversation, and actually have told a waitress (mostly joking) that "No, Coke will not be all right, I requested Pepsi, and they aren't the same." ^_^ If I use a generalization, I don't think I've ever used "pop" unless I was quoting someone, or playing off another accent. But I'm from the south, so Soda isn't as important as my sweetened iced tea.

And to all of you others, there is a major, and I mean MAJOR difference between putting the sugar in while hot and putting the sugar in after being iced down. /nodnod

I rarely... actually, with this account, I don't think I've EVER posted in the video game forums. I only stick to the General Boards. They're better, in my opinion.
Don't be afraid to check out the Teams and Clans, either. There are some pretty cool people there - and many of them are never, ever on the forums.

I absolutely hate when people say "Would you like a Coke?" or any related type of thing. A Coke is a type of soda, not just soda in general. *eye roll*
I'm from North Dakota - born, raised, and living - and everyone uses 'pop' here. It annoys me, just as much as using 'Coke.'

Which time do you put sugar in? Hot or cold?

Hot. Letting it sit in the recently boiled water lets the sugar become a simple syrup initially, and thus is much easier to work into the tea. The sugar never stays as crystal, and instead properly and evenly spreads through the tea. No grains at the bottom of the glass. No poorly mixed sweetness. No swig from the glass of pure syrup either.

You hear "Would you like a Coke" with relatively high frequency down here. I think that's because Coca-Cola is a southern drink (Atlanta, with two company stations with thirty miles of each other here on the coast). Not to mention we're the home of Barq's Root Beer where I'm from (Gulfport, MS); first made in Mr. Barq's home in Biloxi. /nodnod Just kind of a local drink, and now the Coke Corporation owns it.

But yeah, I would suggest not visiting the south if "Can I get you a Coke" is annoying. /laugh

I put it in cold. :p
I only drink tea during the summer months, though. Coffee for winter, and sometimes during the summer, too.

I've been to the South before... uhm... Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky... Missouri... and Illinois (though I don't think those last two are considered 'southern' states... usually they're Midwest).

I freaking love Wafflehouses. They're... orgasmic. xD

« Last edited by Jay_Dee on Mar 7th 2012 »

Waffle House. /laugh My table top gaming group wraps up about midnight every Monday and we go to a Waffle House until about three am and just drink coffee and snack. Waffle House, honestly though, is a last resort option. You don't really choose Waffle House, as much as you don't have other options half the time. We just go because they won't kick us out no matter how long we're in there.

Illinois, Midwest.... Missouri, debatable. Has some southern interests, but it's a swing-state.

Psh, Tea and coffee are an any time drink. You can have both hot or cold, iced or straight brewed. I drink coffee most every morning, and tea just about every afternoon. Not British style 3-pm must have crumpets and tea. Just, I drink a lot of tea. Grew up with it in the house 24/7.

Side note... stalked you to one of your teams. ^_^

Welcome to the site! Too bad you're a Pens fan (Flyers all the way). Hope ya stick around. And don't worry about only posting in general forums; I've been here forever and hardly post on the video game boards either. Don't even play them much anymore really.

I don't even give a damn if Wafflehouses are the most unhealthy, most looked down on food stop in the South - I love it. I wish there was just one in the Midwest.... I'd go there every day, no matter the distance... xD

I, personally, would always call Missouri a Southern state... no real reason why, I just feel like it is. YOU can have 'em. :p

Well, of course I'll drink tea in the winter and coffee in the summer occasionally - I only noticed a pattern in what was more common for me in each season.

I've only recently gotten into tea, though. Maybe within the passed two years. Definitely glad I gave it a try, though. Love it. Though coffee will always be the better one. ;)

I see that. Thanks for joining! Hope you're into RPs, 'cuz I'll be putting some up, eventually. When I'm not feeling lazy.
But even if you're not, the chat thread should be just fine. Try looking around other teams, too. Some are filled with people - many of them are awesome, too.

@Steelers: I would usually ask something like: "How can you be a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and not a Penguins fan?" But fact is, I pull for Houston every step of the way in the NFL. At least your not like most Flyers fans I've met who would rather just insult and yell for not pulling for those tacky Orange jerseys. /I-Keed Thanks for the welcome all the same.

Back @JD: We really don't want it, though. I mean, we have Florida, Texas, New Orleans, Atlanta and Paris Island. We have pretty much the best places in the entire country. /shrug

You have some of the better places in the country, yes.
So it wouldn't hurt for you to have a relatively lame place, would it?
I've got North AND South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska. Some of the WORST places in the country. We could get rid of Missouri. xD

No offense to any Missourians out there... some of you are pretty damn awesome. :p

FrankJaeger said:

@Steelers: I would usually ask something like: "How can you be a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and not a Penguins fan?" But fact is, I pull for Houston every step of the way in the NFL. At least your not like most Flyers fans I've met who would rather just insult and yell for not pulling for those tacky Orange jerseys. /I-Keed Thanks for the welcome all the same.

I live in Jersey, only about an hour away from Philly, so that kind of explains why I like most Philly teams. My parents grew up as Cowboys fans, so I was born with a deep-seated hatred of the Eagles. So I chose the next best thing: the Steelers. I suppose you could argue that the Giants are closer, but again they're in the Cowboy's division. So I'm a fan of all the Philly teams and the Steelers haha. I get a lot of crap sometimes when people learn that I'm a diehard Phillies fan and then turn around and hate on the Eagles :p.

Understood. I live 70 minutes from the SuperDome in New Orleans. I travel to NO just to have lunch some days when I have extra free time, but I refuse to cheer for the Aints unless they're playing a regular season game against the Colts, the Jags, or Titans just because it means costing them a loss against my Texans.

I can feel the Eagles hate, but they're actually one of the few NFC teams I pull for, but that's just a personal thing. No one should root for the Giants any how, so I won't complain there.

@JD We have plenty of lame places. We have Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas. I mean, other than SEC sporting events, we don't really have anything worth caring about. Then again, I couldn't care about the SEC since I watch Longhorns for football, no baseball, no basketball, and then UPitt and UConn for my college hockey.

steelersrock01 said:

I live in Jersey, only about an hour away from Philly, so that kind of explains why I like most Philly teams. My parents grew up as Cowboys fans, so I was born with a deep-seated hatred of the Eagles. So I chose the next best thing: the Steelers. I suppose you could argue that the Giants are closer, but again they're in the Cowboy's division. So I'm a fan of all the Philly teams and the Steelers haha. I get a lot of crap sometimes when people learn that I'm a diehard Phillies fan and then turn around and hate on the Eagles :p.

Never knew we had the same quandary — except my AFC team is the Dolphins.

And Frank, thanks for joining. You seem like a normal, well-adjusted person. I like that. *evil laughter*

It's cool. I don't mind the evil eye or the GM upon me. Tends to make the world that much more entertaining. ^^

FrankJaeger said:

@JD We have plenty of lame places. We have Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas. I mean, other than SEC sporting events, we don't really have anything worth caring about. Then again, I couldn't care about the SEC since I watch Longhorns for football, no baseball, no basketball, and then UPitt and UConn for my college hockey.

But you still have decent places, too. I mean... Minnesota is in the Midwest. And that's the closest we have to a decent place - and that hardly even counts. xD

Cross Stinger said:

You seem like a normal, well-adjusted person. I like that. *evil laughter*

He's basically implying that, by the time he's through with you, you'll have no sanity whatsoever... ;p

Cross Stinger said:

steelersrock01 said:

I live in Jersey, only about an hour away from Philly, so that kind of explains why I like most Philly teams. My parents grew up as Cowboys fans, so I was born with a deep-seated hatred of the Eagles. So I chose the next best thing: the Steelers. I suppose you could argue that the Giants are closer, but again they're in the Cowboy's division. So I'm a fan of all the Philly teams and the Steelers haha. I get a lot of crap sometimes when people learn that I'm a diehard Phillies fan and then turn around and hate on the Eagles :p.

Never knew we had the same quandary ? except my AFC team is the Dolphins .

LOL. Maybe Miami can get Manning and they'll be more than spoilers for playoff hopefuls again.
My family is a bit weird with sports. My parents and I like the Phillies and my brother likes the Yankees. My mom now pretends to like the Jets and my dad pretends to not like the Cowboys because they're terrible lol. Well I suppose we're getting a bit off topic here. A shame.

Do try to stick around, dude.

It's a welcome thread, man.
Meant for bonding.
Learning about the new member.
We're not getting off topic. ;)

« Last edited by Jay_Dee on Mar 7th 2012 »

Bonding, you say? Then let us carry on ;)

Here here!

Wait just a second. I've actually got a couple bottles of wine put up! Give me just a minute and I'll be back with one or two, or seven. Nah, I'm not that bad about my drinks, but I can put quite a few away.

And I don't know entirely if we're skirting the edge of off topic-ness, but I agree. It's creating a welcoming atmosphere inspiring a new member to stay and remain active within the community. I don't see how it could actually be a negative thing even if it does divert from the normal path of a welcome thread. But seeing as how we're almost twenty posts in, I think we went past the normal a while ago.