My Guitar - Completing my Soul

I have felt that there is a part of my soul that has always been missing, or actually a couple of them. Maybe that is why I am totally INSAAAANE?!!!! No, that's not it.

Anyway, I decided that its just mental to go around being annoyed by something I can actually do something about, so I went and bought a guitar the very next day.

Yamaha X31825B3Z POWER!

You're a nice guy - but no thank you.

This nice guy in Gibraltars Main Music Store offered me a nice Yamaha Guitar and it didn't take much convincing before I agreed to his offer. He then also offered to give guitar lessons and gave me his business card.

Okay stop right there.

Gold text on Red Background?! I think I'll need eye surgery if I'm ever going to be able to read that shit. N00b. I ain't takin' any lessons from someone that requires his clients to have the vision of an insect.


"The internet is for... "

... free guitar lessons. I managed to find a few nice beginners videos. I really liked the hair due and the "can I please pet your cat" attitude of a guy from like the 80s or something and took up the challenge to learn how to play Ode of Joy, the puppy dog version.

After a few days of practice I can finally pull it off without thinking, just trusting my fingers to remember the movement. Since this guy wanted to continue with an Elton John song, I said FU and checked out some other guides. I should really be learning the names of the strings, some basic cords and these things before getting too deep into songs. I found this one video with a few hints, but it turned out to be a troll-ish advertising channel for a website that proved to be shit.

I finally find this girl who I decided was an appropriate candidate for teaching me the basics... mainly because of her English accent that reminded me that it is so much fun to say NAAUTEEE (even though no one is really listening)!

I now learned the C Major, F Major, E Minor and A Minor. Well, I am still learning, but the plan is to nail it and be able to switch between them before the end of this week.

Okay, I have to admit that I have been cheating a bit by trying to learn Nothing Else Matters from this dude as a little motivational side quest. One day I'll fuckin' nail this sh1t.

For my next blog post Ill try to record a video of me playing a song I learnt, but it'll probably be shit so don't get any high expectations.

GO ME!

Movie Time: Swedish Midsummer in Gibraltar 2012

Even though I have been here for nearly 3 years now, this is the first actual Midsummer I have celebrated in Gibraltar. I guess it is much thanks to the girls being awesome and taking the initiative.

Swedish Midsummer food. Find more picture in NATHALIES FACEBOOK ALMUB or BLOG!

I've hid a surprise at the end... ;)

Let's cut to the chase: We spent an awesome midsummer yesterday on the only patch of grass in Gibraltar. Have a look yourself to see how it was (unfortunately I forgot to film when Pelle played the violin and some of us danced around like a crazy cult)!

Everything in my life is a project

My relationship, my games, my work, my friends, my diet... everything is a project. I open a worksheet and start filling things in. Some projects are large (like my p****), some are small (like Pelles p****). Some projects ends within days, some within months and some I have no idea how long they will last. There are some I hope never ends.

I know what you guys are thinking "FUCK! ROFLMAO! Here's ANOTHER philosophical 'let's think about life, universe and everything!', cry in a little jar - eat the jar and... probably get really sick/die because eating a Jar of any shape, metal or consistency isn't a really good for you... STORY"

Eh, what? Right, going back to the topic.


Projects I have ended

I am Tony Stark, BO-YAA!

I just finished Mass Effect 3, which was awesome (not that it actually ended but I enjoyed putting the dot at the end of the story).

I not so long ago also decided to push aside a few of what I call "fake friendships" with people who care a little bit too much about them self and a little bit to little about anyone else. That was also quite awesome. Waste of time.

I'm quite happy that I ended the chapter at PokerStrategy.com. I don't think I would want to go back working there even if I was offered a really good opportunity. Although I am happy I got the opportunity to learn so much about how a business works and more importantly how people work. This way I know what kind of people I would like to work with in the future. I feel richer knowing know what I did not know before starting working there.

They are having a Summer Party today, but even though I was offered I don't want to go. This project has ended.


Projects I want to focus on

Rock Band from an armpits perspective

1) My self
2) My work
3) The people I care about

My plan is to be as happy as possible. In order to get this I need to make sure that things I do is a bit more involved in what is good for me, rather than what is good for others. Sounds shit, but I tried the other way around already and the return of investment wasn't consistent enough. Focusing on myself is.

But to be happy I need to spend the time I invest in my life wisely. I therefore will have to make sure that going to work every day is something that really excites me. Good thing for me is that Traffic Generation is a damn good company with damn good people. I get to do what I want to do, work with gaming, being there from the start and building something great together with people I enjoy spending time with.

But as I am a quite (believe it or not) emphatic person, something even more important to me is to care for and surround myself with lovely, funny or totally insane motha' fuckahs like my friends, family or my extremely pretty girlfriend (whom which I share my kingdom with).


Now, what the fuck was this post all about? No idea, but I'm going back to watching Dr. House now. Cya bitches!

Two old Farts back in town! Guess who!

Oshlopki everyone! Yes! That is my new favorite Russian word!

A few days ago Fredrik and Julie came back to Gibraltar. If Håkan hadn't spoiled the surprise, I would have shit my pants when I saw that (Julie was suppose to come a few days before Fredrik, you see) Fredrik in fact came down at the same time. Luckily both Vlada and Johan both went whattefack when the saw the old schlong standing there at my doorstep.

Welcome back. Now, let's play some Rock Band and drink IKEA GLÖGG!

Rock Band with the good ol' gang

Well except Johan and Håkan, but they have babies (it is still not 100% known who is the father of Leo). Wild nights are wild.

Vlada on Drums, Fredrik on Base, Phil on Keyboard and Julie singing hear eyes out!

Will they stay or will they go?

We will see, but I do hope that they will stay. Now finally I wont have to nag a week for anyone to come and play Rock Band or come with to Badminton (fuckin' La Linea fuckers are fuckin' lazy fuckers... fuck!). OH! Yes, Magic the Gathering is back on the table. So long have I waited... SO LONG!

Hmm... How the f*** will I have time to play Diablo 3?

My name is Johan Renner

Before you have known me as Joakim Bergman, but today... I am Johan Renner. I transformed during lunch to a vile sex beast (before I was only a _regular_ sex beast). With the help of a shaver, a professional hair stylist and some guts I did what I have to in order to achieve my goal.

Johan's reaction was... interesting. I believe I heard him say with a squeeky voice "I'M SO SHAVING MY BEARD! THIS IS NOT COOL MAN!".

A picture says more than a thousand words

Me wearing Johan Renners beard and attempt of hairstyle.

Bean and Gone is the best restaurant in Gibraltar!
Check it out here!

I must say it takes a lot to impress me. No that's a lie. I get quite easily impressed and excited and all that shit (my friends keep telling me this bs). Either way, this place rocks. It has the best food I've had since I moved here 2,5 years ago.

It is small. It is cheap. It is home made.

Totally awesome. I am, as you know, on the LCHF lifestyle diet (yes I know that those two words mean the same thing). That means I cannot eat much carbohydrates. No problem! At this place I can order the freekin' burger and get high-end carb replacements like zucchini pasta (tastier than it sounds) and whatever I want, plus - they don't charge extra.

Try it once, if you don't like it I'll paint my toe nails pink and post a picture here on my wall. You have my word.

Bean and Gone Café, 20 Engineers Lane, Gibraltar.

Beards - a Couple Decision!

While trying out Mass Effect 3, going WTF over spontaneously swollen legs, experiencing the World Championships of Ice Hockey 2012 I started to think about my beard.

Some things you have to decide together.

She hasn't said it yet, but her eyes tells me what I need to know. It has to go. But the question is, how long can I wait until she finally takes matters into her own hands? Should I push the limits or concede. The man in me says I should keep it, but some part of me (guess which!) tells me that it is probably a smart decision to shave.

Three days? Two? Four?! Maybe a week! Can I risk it... hmm?

I love her too much to let a beard get in-between us. I'm shaving... soon.

Other stuff!

Mass Effect 3 isn't really impressive... but Swedish Ice Hockey is! It has been many years since so many hot shots came back from NHL to support our country. The only one missing now, really, is Henrik Lundqvist. We need a solid Goaltender or we are toast.

The game against Germany and Czech Republic was easy, but I admit we struggled on the rest (especially Russia, but they do have a stronger team this year + Jemelin who rather shows off his acting skills rather than playing Ice Hockey). I liked to watch the game against Germany. A good team some years, but only dust to an Ice Hockey nation as Sweden.

I want to abuse Facebook! In every way!

I just made the best Bolognese (and without pasta... woot?!) ever. I'm full, a bit chocked that I managed to pull it off and a bit exited about everything. I feel a need of doing something. Something creative perhaps! Or just express myself (why can't I decide?). 

This is why I'm here, sitting at my computer desk admiring it's smart design hesitating if I should dig into Mass Effect 3 or start getting to the damn point of this Blog post (again, decisions!).

I need to tidy things up a bit I think...

My mind is chaos. Always.


Life Event Feature... hmm!

I was just now playing with the Life Event feature, hoping that if I used the "other life event" option I could abuse the feature to migrate my blog completely to Facebook, just as an experiment.

The problem is, Life Events cannot be directly Shared. Damn. That makes it worth shit to me.


Page Tabs - Very interesting!

If you have a Page rather than a Profile (which although have lots of drawbacks) you can do A LOT if you use the Page Tabs in a smart way. 

For instance, if you install the Woobox Iframe App it will allow you to either take you directly to another URL (making the tab a LINK basically) or, if you want, even an HTML iframe that pretty much gives you the option to create anything inside. Me like.

An example I found of this was from the Trophy Slots Community Page. This is pretty simple HTML but imagine what you can do (you can even share the page!):

Sofa is being deleted and I'm migrating!

I'm in a "high on something that is not drugs" mood today, for several reasons.

As some of you know, I have had this damn left over sofa in my apartment since we moved in. It has been in the way, it has caused me pain and it have silently mocked me every time I tried to squeeze through in the hallway. For almost 4 months I have endured this hell, but now... it is finally being amputated from my life!

Since I got some more space in my life, I've decided to migrate to a new group of friends (the old ones doesn't have any more money I can acquire with my evil scamming schemes).


The sofa of death is gone!

Well, it's in the hall way outside of my apartment but I still feel I've finally slain my dragon with my giant spear. Sofa, you are penetrated, dismembered and disgraced - just the way I like you. May you never rest in peace you IKEA son of a bitch.

And for all of you perverts that thought the paragraph above was a bit... you know: IT IS ALL IN _YOUR_ MIND SICKOS!

Hahah, gotcha! *high-fives myself*

The feeling of *Aaaah...*

New Groups and now complicated thingies!

I have lately, since my old group split up after the "old job" incident I have felt a bit lonely (and you can understand me since you know that I am a social freak of nature that require constant attention and love).

I've been so sad that every time I've seen a ginger boy chasing after girls in red dresses (referring to people reminding me of Håkan Sjölin) or whenever a Knight on a White Stallion has been riding by (referring to people reminding me of Fredrik Öhman), I must admit that I cried a little. I miss you guys!

(yeah yeah you jealous sons of a bitches I miss you all just as much!)

Luckily, I'm working with some fun new people that has chosen to include me (pfft, how could you NOT want to include me?) in their social group... even though one of them enjoys her sofa way too much. I wont mention any names but I'm talking about Louise Coady (yes of course, the singer!).

It's a fun new group. I will never get tired of Victorias craziness, Adelle's improper comments or my new soul mate Matts' tight heinie (sorry Craig but you've been avoiding me and I need way more love than you have shown me lately! You are demoted to number two in my list of soul-mates).

Alright, back to doing some work followed by watching House MD and Game of Thrones.

Assassins Creed 1, 2, Brotherhood and Relevations

Today I am going to have a few words about these games and what I think about the progression and the overall experience I had when I played each of these games.

Too bad the control improvements from each games kind of kills the replay-ability of the earlier games. It is easy to move forward... but to step back?


Altair you rock, game-play you kind of suck!

Altair, Assassins Creed

Initially this was just awesome. Loved every piece of it... until...

Repetitiveness. All the time the same thing. The ending was nice, the story was also brilliant. Great character development. I really felt like an awesome assassin with a great soul.

Altair Ibn La Ahad, I love you but I don't think I could ever replay you in this game.

I give you:
4/10. Okay, but something was missing...

Oh hello there Ezio! Let's go and screw the pope!

A new hero emerges. Ezio Auditore Da Firenze. In this game not really as strong character as Altair, but I am starting to like this guy.

Technology has caught up, I got my own place, Leonardo Da'Vinci is my buddy and my enemy is the Pope! Can it get more exciting? I don't think so. A thrilling story, a fun Gameplay with more things to do and improved controls. Plus, I got two hidden blades now. Kick ass.

Can't complain guys, you did a great job on this one.

8/10. Nearly there now!

Ezio, Assassins Creed 2 by TheBarcay on DeviantArt.com

Seriously Ezio, he is not that hard to kill!

Ezio did it again! And this time he is ready to step up and take control over Rome, the city if cities. A huge area to expand, renovate (my favorite part!), more Leonardo crazy stuff and even better controls. Well done!

But honestly, the Crossbow? Really?.. I have one ranged weapon, why would I want to use the Crossbow? Sure, it has more ammo but... it was a bit too much of a desperate "OH SHIT WE NEED TO INTRODUCE A NEW WEAPON!" kind of thing.

Story was really good, especially the "It's a me, a Mario!" part (check end of blog post for the video). The villain was a bit ridiculous gameplay-wise compared to the Pope (I mean, did you really have to beat him that much, couldn't you just shoot the fucker and get it over with?), but his character was much stronger and well developed. Almost a masterpiece IMO.

My own Assassins. Yummy.

9/10. Don't be desperate guys, just do what makes sense.


Ezio is BANG-tastic and I love him more than life!

This might be the best game in the AC Series. Highly optimized Apprentice/Recruitment system (it really makes sense now and every Assassins feels unique). The Hook Blade and the Bombs is actually the only new things I need, good choice. I love that the controls and the weapon customization and usability was greatly improved.

The story suffers I'm afraid. I fail to really identify a bad guy that I can watch how he develops. I haven't finished the game yet so I might be wrong, but I have come a fair bit into it. I don't like that Desmond is in a coma for so long, it feels like that the Developers tried to save time by excluding lots of the "non-Animus" game-play and replacing it with annoying mini-games inside a computer.

Still, I enjoy the game a lot and have had some fun with the perhaps flawed Tower Defence mini-game. I love to revisit Altair and I love to be Ezio once again in a very nice city (which I like more than Rome to be honest). I miss my horse though.

9/10. Please get that 10 in Assassins Creed III please.

A Swedish Easter, by Deckard Cain

Warning! This blog post is written by Deckard Cain from the computer game Diablo!

This is the story about the 2012th Easter since the false date of Jesus birth. Since many people celebrate this holiday, we will zoom into the city of Gibraltar and particularly the Swedish group plus their sworn companions.

Gathered in this faithful celebration (at some point from wed-Sunday) was: Joakim, Vlada, Johan, Trine, Leo, Nathalie, Pelle, Alexander The Great, Jamie the First, Mollie the Miniature Giant Space Hamster, Camilla, Charlotte Uffe, Marina, Paula, Michael, Johanna, Andreas, Zeru, Annika, Håkan, Phil, Jennie, Rebecca, Phil, Johan (the new Fredrik) and more.

The Quiz Battle for Britannia
The group of combatants was divided into two squads in the event called "Pub Quiz". War sungs such as "Vi äro små fiskar vi, blubb blubb" and "Vad kommer inte in på systemet? - Hunden; Katten (korven?); Glassen!)  was sung while the two teams answered tricky questions about the wetlands (Britannia).

Strangely enough, the smaller team won after the team with most Swedes got all of the Swedish questions wrong (Rebecca, Jennie and Håkan is responsible for this mistake about Sweden being a Kingdom or a Republic).

Johanna and Joakim sure knew how to get all of the answers right. Piece of cake.

Joakim, Johanna, Balrog and Rory

Friday Feast with the Milk of a Unicorn!

On the Friday the group gathered once again, but this time to celebrate and feast at the Tavern called Charlies! The evening brought the group to Brunos where lots of drinks and laughs were had. When the evening almost couldn't get any greater, the group discovered the legendary Milk of the Unicorn, which was devoured by Phil the Fierce, one of the local natives that just happen to love a warm jug of mead.

The Evening was a Success. Everyone was a winner!

Håkan and Trine with William in the background!

The Northern Gatherings of Saturday

An Easter Lunch was devoured to prepare for the Great Bowl of Greatness! Both events was very successful and amazingly enough, there was a Swedish winner in the Great Bowl of Greatness... Johan Renner! Johanna would have won if she had listened to Joakim. It's all in the hips.

Before the night was over this bunch had drunken buckets of beer, invaded Gilbert's Hunters Lodge and raided a nearby country (Spain). Well done Northern Adventurers.

Deckard Cain, signing off.

Uffe, Annika, Zeru, Charlottenlök, Michael, Paula, Marina, Johan, Andreas, Joakim, Håkan, Johanna, Camilla, Pelle, Johan (New Fredrik) and Rebecca!

Places to Eat in Gibraltar

I've been thinking for a while about writing a blog post about the pretty and the shitty places where you can eat in Gibraltar. If you can't take bad language you shouldn't keep reading, 'cause I'm pretty pissed at some of the places here (although quite happy about a few others).


Great Restaurants of Gibraltar!

Charlie's with my friends and old freelancers :)

1) Charlies Tavern, Ocean Village [their website]
Best food in Gibraltar. Indian Cuisine is fantastic, but their burgers, ribs and sea food is quote damn nice as well. The Service is usually really nice except from when this Blond Manager Woman misses out on the important fact that THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT! She can tell customers off for either their own or the customers mistakes, which is not cool. The rest of the staff is awesome and they even remember your favourite orders and make jokes etc. Love them.

2) Cafe Rojo, Irish Town [their facebook page]
Great food, but less to choose from. Little LCHF friendly food, but what they have is amazing. Service is great, but less personal touch than Charlies. Still really like this place.

3) Lek Bangkok, Eurotowers [their website]
Love the Thai food they got and their owner is awesome. He is just a god. A tad more expensive now than before but still produce the best Asian food in Gibraltar.

4) Ipanema, Ocean Village [their website]
Great food, although a bit bland sometimes and quite expensive. Drinks are the best ones in Gib as well. Love their meat buffet. Service is very good most of the times, but I've experienced clumsy bar men and waitresses (and sneaky extra fees!) a couple of times. But all in all quite good!

5) Taps Bar, Ocean Village [contact info page]
Good prices, nice food and the owners are just awesome. Two of their waitresses is really the bottom scrape of Gibraltar. I hope they both get fired. One of them had to take my order 4 times (by me walking to their actually not so busy bar) and still not delivering (but delivering the same dish to people who came later). This waitress in particular was probably dropped as a child.


PIECE OF SHIT Restaurants of Gibraltar!

If you want to die of food poisoning and have your night ruined, go to these places:

1) The Square Café in Casemates: Serves raw/frozen chicken, got food poisoned 2/2 times
2) Pizza Express (frozen pizzas are bigger and taste better)
3) O'Reillys (shit food and worst service in Gibraltar)
4) Celebrities Wine Bar: Good Drinks, shit food. Love the owner though.
5) The Casino: They heat stuff from Morrisons, end of story
6+) Most Mainstreet places actually.

The Scariest thing in my life...

Yesterday was a very fun, weird, drunk and absolutely terrifying day in my life.

Cheese, Wine, Poker and Club Fifty Five!

Louise - Loser

After a nice day at work with my wonderfully weird colleagues, we brought out the ten (YES TEN!) cheeses and defiled our LCHF bodies with some crackers (read it with a Bristolian dialect a la Louise).

Enjoying some white and red wine while starting to pile up our starting stacks of poker chips, certainly a wonderful way to do start a game of poker.

(scroll further down for the scary story thingy)

Long story short. Victoria wins the game like a pro with AA and Louise was shit (and wasn't too happy about not winning).

Entering the Private Member Club of Gibraltar, Fifty Five, was quite exciting. I pretended to be English (didn't work out very well) and ordered a few interesting drinks (after having to tell the waiter three times with my English accent). We all ended up a bit tipsy (to say the least) and decided to call it a night.

Victoria - Winner

That's when it happened.

... what the hell is going on?!

I came home, sneaking as quietly as I could just to not wake my little princess up (my life depended on it) and was quite proud of myself sliding in under my duvet without a sound. She seemed to be sleeping so no harm done. Perfect. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzz.

*BANG BANG BANG*

What the fuck was that? Oh right, I'm dreaming.

*RING RING RING*

Oh wait, that's my Phone! That means... I WASN'T dreaming before. Who the fuck banged on my door! Shit!

I look at my phone.

"Vlada Bajeva calling..." WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!? How can she call me if she is lying next to me?! This is scary shit! Drunk as I was I almost started to sweat, rushing up from bed, not checking if Vlada was still in the bed, and opened the door in my trendy underwear.

There's Vlada! Coming home from her company night out! I had totally forgotten about that and had just ASSUMED that she was next to me all along. I felt stupid and went back to bed in shame. She of course laughed her ass off.

Help! I am lost in a Virtual World!!! Call the Media!

Is it lame, a shame to have friends with in a game? Isn't it the same as having friends out of game?

Btw, I'm doing another "When I met" post today, so scroll down below the Youtube clip to read it!


Either you play alone or with friends

Some people like to play alone, not being disturbed by other people or annoying chats that you have to answer to etc. Many other people quite enjoy talking and playing together with people they have some kind of relationship with. It makes the experience more fun... and also there's cookies (right, Jilly?)!

I remember a painting my mom has, it goes "Shared happiness is double happiness". If this is with real life friends or people you only spend time with online doesn't really matter, imo. Just have a nice balance and you'll be fine. People who think differently are imo. uneducated.

My view: I can understand how it can seem lame to an outsider. I don't blame you. But in fact hanging out with people you like in game is a way of enhancing your experience and helping you from become an anti-social person that have lost connection to reality.




When I met: Fredrik Andreasson
See my earlier "When I met" posts here and here and see if you are mentioned!

More like, my first real interaction of Fredrik Andreasson (since I don't remember the very first moment). I was set to be in the same Game Dev. Project Team as Fredrik and 11 others. I was the Project Manager and he was the Lead Artist of our team.

Fredrik seemed quite persistent about what he thought was right and wrong. In fact I was quite frustrated at him at first. But then I realized why and had a moment where I started to realize that I was wrong getting frustrated at him...

Okay, let's slow down a bit.

It turned out that Fredrik was a natural leader... which was hard for me trying to lead a 13 man (and women) team with quite little experience. What I realized was that Fredrik was way better than me at this. He seemed to have way more experience and the others respected him. Even I!

STOP NODDING!

I never told him, but I think I learned a lot from him during this project (maybe the hard way since Fredrik generally is quite open when it comes to things he is not 100% ok with). This is a great quality. It's hard enough with a Swedish team where very few dares to express their true opinion and be okay with a discussion about it. It is hard to know if you are doing a good job if everyone just nods all the time.

Thanks Fredrik for not nodding! :)

It is not strange that Fredrik Andreasson today is the CEO of Immersive Learning.

Ok... this turned out to be a "Hey, let's start around a religion around this guy that I LUUUV <3<3<3<3<3" post, but I think sometimes it's okay to give another guy some kudos when he consciously or subconsciously helped you develop your skills.

This is him btw! :)

Hiring, Celebrating and Stealing Babies!

Yes, it is true! I am hiring babies! If your baby got what it takes, don't hesitate to send me an email! We guarantee a paid Mother Milk Deluxe Lunch every day and fresh Nappies from The Lady Next Door That Doesnt Know We Break In And Steal Her Nappies!

No.


Would you rather hiring a friend or a possible foe?

I am currently in a situation where I need to look into the process of hiring a person. A friends name popped up in my mind... and this made me think about a lot of things. How big is the risk that it would be too weird to hire a Friend and that I might damage the friendship? Am I willing to take that risk? What is the risk of hiring someone relatively unknown that you don't know if you would work well with? Is there a perfect answer?

I think in this case it will be fine, but I have to be careful if I choose to walk this path. It's like Anakin in Star Wars: Episode II, when he choses to take the chance and  ..........*SPOILER ALERT* .......... marry Padme. Will I become a Sith... or remain a Jedi?

Helmet... or no helmet?

My babies goes Irish!

Only missing some The Dubliners songs that I Like, the band at O'Reillys (the place with worst service in town, quickly followed by Taps when this cunt waitress is there), St. Patricks Day turned out to be one of the (THE?) most fun Party Evenings so far this year.

From Guiness hats at O'Reillys to a Pub Crawl on Mainstreet, to meeting Johan the new Swede in town, to forgetting Phil and Johan at Charlies Tavern to Meeting up with Quisqueya, Jun, Incarne, Louise and Victoria in La Linea for some tapas and live band music at Molleys. All good, all awesome.

Sorry Johan, I still owe you those 7 euros. Since you now got the job (not at my company), I'll take you out for dinner once you arrive!

Click Image for Rebecca's St. Paddys Day Gallery!

My friends Babies goes Stolen!

Long story short. BBQ at Pelle and Nathalie, Vlada steals Molly, Kids Steal my Sausages, Pelle plays the Fiddle and Phil the sax (so much that Alex started crying). But it was really nice and I must say that I don't regret cheating on my LCHF diet by eating the cake/pie thingy that Nathalie baked.

She complained yesterday how much her arm hurt after carrying Molly around. :P

Finishing this blog post by saying the Lek Bangkok (link) is awesome. Try number 78 (Beef Red Curry in Brandy Sauce)... it's the dish of my life.

How to trick your players with smart(?) design!

I've started noticing some things lately when playing a few games. I knew for a fact that these productions were big, maybe even too big. Another thing they have in common is Electronic Arts.

What is priority when you got too little time for a too big project?


Wow, this games is awesome!.. oh, wait a minute...

Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic... the Sith Lord who should have been more epic.

When I first started playing Dragon Age, the original, I loved it. When I finished it, I loved it. The designers clearly had lots of time and made sure the game was good all the way through.

Then there's games like Dragon Age 2 or why not Star Wars: The Old Republic (which I right now play and have for a long time rather enjoyed). The beginning of the game is quite good. It's actually so good that you can't wait for the later levels. It has to only get better, right? 'Cause that is how a game should be. The more time you invest, the better content should be awarded to you. Not anymore.

I believe that if a Game has too little resources before release, the first levels of the game is strategically designed to be really good, in order to capture the player and make him/her invest. Once the player has invested in the game, he/she might still be disappointed by the not-so-good late levels, but since the investment already has been made there's less incentive to stop playing.

Smart move by the designers! But is it... really a smart move? What will the expectation for future games? Is it worth the cost in reputation? I honestly don't know. Do you?


When I first met Johannes Thorén...

... I was working on this forum quite used to all kinds of weird people entering the forum and introducing themselves. Then one day a guy called "Stripps" came. He seemed like a very sincere young boy hoping to one day become a very good poker player. Obviously that never happened. :P

Over time Stripps became more and more active in the forum and one day he was doing so well that I hired him as a freelance moderator. That's when we finally decided to bring some of our people down to Gibraltar for a week or two. That's when I REALLY met him.

He looked a bit different than I had imagined, but I liked the fact that he looked like a younger sibling of Per Wolf, my former Line Manager. They also had quite a similar personality. Both extremely messed up but very happy at all times.

To celebrate this, we raped Johannes head. See the video below:

New Project: When I first met...

It's amazing how you come up with awesome ideas when you lie awake trying to get back to sleep at night. Finally I manage to actually remember one of them so that I could put it into action (you have no ideas how many ground breaking ideas I've lost 'cause I've finally fallen asleep... damn it!

In the upcoming blog posts I will, in the end, include one RANDOM friend and write about when I first met this person... and what my thoughts was. :P This could be embarrassing at some points, but fuck it, that's how I roll!

In this launch post I'll actually start off with two friends. I'll use random.org to help me choose which friends to talk about.


When I first met Håkan Sjölin

Kåt-Håkan Sjölin, looking like a boss!

It was a normal day at my old workplace and I was just about to go up to the kitchen and fetch myself some Nutella toasties. I ran into my old line manager Leo, who told me that there's a guy here for an interview... some blond Swedish dude that apparently worked with Gus before. Hmm... Someone here to take my job?! Nah, I'm too valuable :P

Finally up in the kitchen I see some freakishly ginger-blond guy in something that was suppose to look like a suit and I started to suspect this was the guy. He was talking with Gus, which made me even more sure. But to just be safe I started by speaking some English... turns out it was quite clear that he was Swedish (his accent). Then when he switched to Swedish I thought that his Stockholm accent was a bit tainted... I wasn't quite sure if he was native or not, so I tried to speak as clearly as I could.  Turns out he was native, it was just me not being used to talking to a person who is constantly... excited :P.


When I first met Nicklas Lindgren

Nicklas Lindgren, drawn by David Palm 2012.

I first met Nicklas on the first day of University actually. He was one of the other aspiring Game Designers that had arrived to conquer the University of Skövde.

My first memory is when we were on the top floor of the Game Dev. Building and someone had (I think Cidh?) spilled some water on the floor. Before someone managed to dry up up Nicklas was suddenly standing there trying to breakdance, slide around with his feet or whatever he was trying to do. At that point I was quite sure that he was going to be "The Arrogant Player" or "Mr. Popular" of the class. Turns out I was wrong... and right.

By player I was thinking "womanizer", which was COMPLETELY wrong. Until he met his Monika he was only interested in (mega) men. But I wasn't completely wrong. I don't think there's many people on this earth that have played so many different games as this guy. At least non-PC ones. 

Shotguns, accidents and I an invitation for... you!

Could I have chosen a more confusing title? Probably.

Work has taken up a lot of my time lately... but in a good way. A lot of good things are happening every day and we are moving forward with quite nice results so far. Working with Johan, Louise and Andy makes me think about the old days with Pelle, Johan, Håkan and Fredrik at P.com. Every day has a few laughs, a few wtf's and new philosophical thoughts on life around lunch time.


Pull!!

13/25 hits. Next time I'll probably do 1/50... :( 

Last weekend I was invited by Phil to join him and his colleagues from the Gibraltar Port to shoot some Clay Pigeons. Only having one (bad) experience previously, being 12 and only hitting 1/10, my hopes wasn't that high... but hey(!), it's something new to do!

There where 5 stations, each with a sound funnel who register when you say "pull"... or cough something similar to that. You shoot 1-2 shots at each Pigeon and then switch station (game balance ftw). Costs £18 for two boxes of ammo and that lasts for about an hour, if not more.

Personal Invitation: If you want to come with us, let me know and I'll write you down on the list. The plan is to go next weekend, but I will have to get back to you on the date/time (will update it here).


Sure, let the guy fûckin' bleed to death on the street, you tw@ts...

Last week a friend of mine was in an accident here in Gib. Some idiot rammed him from behind when riding his scooter. Of course, the guy/girl shoots off (hit and run a la carte!), but then, when lying there in his own blood and gore the other cars carefully try to go aaaaround him. Don't want to get your tiers dirty, you know. People were walking past this poor fellow, looking at him... and walking away. No one even cared to ask how he was and if he was okay. People didn't give a shit.

Luckily, my friend was fine, just lost a bit of blood, skin and belief in the people of Gibraltar.

Now what do I think about people who live here? Well, have a guess...

What makes a Friend?

NOTE: I'm drunk atm, and I am always a bit too philosophical about life and all that when I'm in that condition...

I've been thinking lately about a few things. Friends that say they wanna meet up and do something and then never get back to you, friends that not contact you for a long time and kind of fade away a bit... then friends that live nearby that you hang out with and stay in contact with quite often.

What is the difference? Who is the real friend?


People who care about you

Even if a friend tell you "we should do something someday!" and not really get back to you on that, or doesn't keep in touch very good, it doesn't always mean that they are not really caring or are not really your friends. I think that if you really consider someone a friend and you know the feeling is mutual, that stuff is okay.

When things really matter, you truly see who is your friend and who is not. You'r brother dies or you lose your job - they are there, no matter what. You feel like shit and give them a call, they listen. That's what it's all about.

I think many people take too drastic decisions about who their friends are. Think a bit further before you make up your mind. It is worth it.


People who care only about themselves

Who is not your friend? That is easy. People that only talk to you when it is something about them that they need to talk about. They never ask how you are, what you have been doing (at least not sincerely) or if you need help/support with anything. They simply want attention and pity.

To these people I say: Fuck off, I am not your friend. Suck someone else's blood, you leech. I can't be bothered with you stealing my time.


I'm pretty sure about who my friends are. Are you?

Baby Skurt: GET OUT!

I think we are all thinking that very same thought right now. We ordered a damn baby god damnit! Johan did his part, now it is time for Trine to let the bun out of the oven. I have been dreaming about their baby getting born like 3-4 nights now. It is making me mad!


Furniture distractions

Right now I have some furniture delivered to take my mind off things (I have no idea why I get so emotionally involved in these things, so don't ask me). The sofa, tv table, bed, cloth hanger thingy and chairs are in place. Today we are going to finish the dinner table and tomorrow the wardrobe.

Right now, in the middle of everything, things are looking like this (CHAOS!):

My little Princess was not too happy about me sharing this photo, though :P

Star Wars: The Old Republic update!

It's been a while since the last update, so here we go...

My Jedi Sentinel guy, Yokee, has finally passed level 25 and can thereby get a drivers license... although it will cost me. Yokee's lust for love has driven him down a dark path. Cowards and other pathetic beings are starting to really annoy him. Well, at least he got his Datacron hunt up to speed, something positive to cling on to. Every time he opens a new Datacron he feels stronger, wiser and much more powerful. Rumor has it that there is one ultimate Datacron somewhere. If only he could find it.

Unless his smuggler cousin Moto finds it first, that is! Although Moto isn't as fanatic about Datacrons and power as Yokee, but he does like the sound of credits entering his account. Maybe this Relic that Yokee sent him will help him earn some credits. Credits always comes first... but not even credits can fill the void of his lovely jewel: The Century Magpie (his ship, duh!).

Yokee has joined "The Revenant" guild on the Progenitor Server. There are some awesome people in there.

Games: Taking Advantage of Problems

I've been thinking about problems quite a bit lately. There is always problems everywhere and people are always whining about them. Sometimes you solve the problem, sometimes you can't. But, have you ever thought about taking advantage of the problem?

In this post I will give you an idea of what I'm taking about. After you've read the post, think for yourself if any of your current problems can be taken advantage of to your benefit.


Help! People are misusing my product to make $!

There are many different perspectives we can look at this, but I choose the Design & Business perspective for some unknown reason.

Problem: People are farming in-game gold and selling it outside of the game, illegally. There is even an industry for this. Players gets pissed off, abused and many even leaves because this problem grows. You lose revenue.

Reaction: Spontaneously you would just take the aggressive approach to this and just ultra-ban any kind of illegal activity, but if you want to play smart you need to look closer at the problem. What are we not seeing here?

Why is this illegal business model working? Because people want easy ways of getting in-game money. They want a short cut. They enjoy a short cut - it makes them a happier player (even if it some times actually ruins the experience for the player).

So what can you really do? Obviously the need exists and there is a proven market for it. This is actually quite simple: Get into the market, compete with these illegal businesses and make it not/less worth while to buy illegal coins.

Example: EVE-Online was quick to find a smart solution: The introduced PLEX - an ingame pilot license that grants the user, when using it, 30 days of game time. This PLEX was created because a player bought it with real money, from the developer, and received the in-game virtual item. The player could now either use it himself or simply sell it for in-game money to other players to the highest bidding. Actually, there is even an entire market section for the PLEX right now. It is working great, the illegal activites has been reduced and the company is even earning more money now than before they had the PLEX... OR the illegal farming problem. 

Wicked, huh?


Here is delonewolf (damn Frenchie :P) from Youtube that explains a bit about the impact of PLEX in EVE-Online:

How you will die in Gibraltar...

Living in Gibraltar is a death trap. In this post I will reveal some things that probably could get people fired. Simply because they are practically being the cause of future deaths.

I know that what I am about to write is a bit offensive and could really piss some people off, but please do try to put yourself in my situation and think for yourself: "Is this really okay?".

Here is two stories of how you could die and one is actually about when I almost died here. Take your time and read it.


In case of fire

I have now collected enough stories to properly, without exaggerating, tell you the story of how fire or smoke will kill you in Gibraltar.

In Kings Warf as well as Waterport Place, for instance, there is a fire alarm that sometimes goes off 3-6 times a week for over a month at a time. No firemen ever comes though, since everyone kind of knows it is not for real. But that is not the worst part. People don't respect the fire alarm anymore. Now let me go on to the second story...

In EuroTowers, just 2 days ago, there was a fire alarm in the middle of the night. Automatically all hallway doors shut, as it should, and a signal was sent out to the local firemen (and this is the local firemen of a very small town). My mate, who lives in the same building (because I can't be bothered by the alarms anymore) told me that when he tried to get out, the emergency exits were locked and there was no way to get them open. They had to take the normal stairs and on the way open all the hallway doors in order to get out. Then, after 20 minutes, the firemen arrives. They calmly walks around scratching their heads and finally decides to randomly pick a block to enter... the wrong one of course. After a bit of convincing they finally found the right building to enter.

Now guys and girls. Imagine if this was the real thing. First of all, only a small percentage will bother to leave there homes. Then, if they do, they can't get out from the exits that might save their life. Then, 20 minutes of fire expansion (watch the clip at the bottom to see how fast fire spreads) the firemen finally arrive. But there is no need to rush, the fire can wait... right? So while you are dying upstairs the firemen calmly wander around until the find the right door to enter.

If you survive this scenario, you are either very lucky, skilled or simply invincible. If you are a cripple, old, pregnant or a child however... you are DEAD! See you on the other side!

Now, boss of fire guys, if you read this I really hope that you invest in people that have brains. These guys are clearly less smart than our local monkeys or simply want to watch innocent people burn to ashes. The Gibraltarian incompetence never seize to amaze me.


The day when I almost died (for real)

Construction workers (or welders) of Gibraltar is also not really of the highest quality, just like the guys at the tax office, at the bank or any similar place. Don't get me wrong, there is surely lots of qualified people here as well and this is probably the fact of many places around the world.

Anyway, did I tell you about when I almost got a brick in my head a few months ago? It is totally true and I can tell you that if I was standing one meter to the left, I can guarantee you that I wouldn't be sitting here blogging right now.

The new buildings in-between Kings Warf and Euro Towers was finally finished... or at least that's what we thought. Thing were still falling off the roof, you see. When I was walking to Morrisons, I took the new and really nice short cut through this area. When passing by a newly built Bus Stop something suddenly BANGS down on the bus stop, bouncing of it and onto the street... right in the middle of me and two people passing by on a scooter. They stopped and we were looking at each other for a few seconds with faces white as... bird shit(?), before we decided to say WTF and then move on.

Incompetence almost killed me that day.

The fact that many children are playing around this building makes me really nervous and the fact that I have experienced so much incompetence since I got here (my first one was the Rental Agency "Find a Property" that moved me into the wrong apartment and gave out peoples keys like they were freebies).


To finish off I must balance this post out with some positive things. I do love to live in Gibraltar and it has many good sides, nice people and very smart companies. I have had some of the best years of my life here, but even so, when it comes to safety I think that I would probably not want to raise a kid here. I like my offspring to have a decent chance of survival. I'm sorry, but Gibraltar cannot provide this.

After two weeks at work...

What have I achieved? What do I think about my new job? What will happen next?

Before answering these questions I would like to briefly mention to all SWTOR-friends out there that I am playing on "The Progenitor" under the name Yokee. Add me ingame! :)


The cake is not a lie

At this company the cake is definitely not a lie. You work hard, you learn a lot and in the end when things go well there is a great feeling of accomplishment rushing through your body. To do this much and to touch so many previously unexplored areas has been eye-opening for me. When you do things your self, and succeed, life is good.

I like this job.

Monday will be a big day. The boss is back, got a newcomer starting and we will have a team building evening with the Swedish drink "Glögg" and some Rock Band with the team. Unfortunately the newcomer is a singer so... I wont be the star anymore. That sucks. Ah well, I was never really any good at singing anyway :P


SOPA/PIPA dead, but ACTA is more alive than ever

We achieved a great victory recently. Perhaps you haven't heard? SOPA and PIPA has gone down into the trash bin after our protests. But an even bigger threat is still out there and has already been accepted by 22 countries (including the United States and Sweden). I wonder if these countries took the decision with the voice of the people or with the voice of their own ego and hunger for power.


Why not ACTA? (read more at stopACTA.info)

You are considered a criminal if you, for instance, would share something you learnt at a seminar you paid to attend to. You are a thief and will be treated as such!

- Youtube will die
- Twitter will die
- Flickr will die

Good bye Sharing.

Unwrapping my Star Wars: The Old Republic

After having a very busy but satisfying day at work (isn't it fun when so many things are happening all the time?) I finally got to bring the little paper, that now will grant me an awesome evening, to the post office to pick up a package.

This is not a normal package.

This is Star Wars: The Old Republic. The irony is that my land lord has had my mail for some time now and it took me quite some time to finally get my hands on it. Things moves slowly in Gibraltar. Especially peoples heads (I'll elaborate later in another blog post about the Tax Office of Gibraltar).


Who is Jo Starbender?

Is he a Smuggler... or a Jedi Knight? As you remember from this blog post, I wasn't sure what class I would play. Still, today, I am facing the same problem.

The Smuggler is charismatic, clever and fun to play as some kind of sidekick to the main story... but is he really meant to be a main character? Is he meant to be able to stand toe to toe with a Sith Lord or even a Bounty Hunter? No.

Since I first heard of the game I've pictured myself as the sneaky Smuggler that took care of the economic part of the war, smuggling goods back and forth to fund my guilds war efforts. Obviously I knew this wouldn't be the reality. This is not how the world of MMO-games work at the moment (with the exception of the brilliant, but complex game EVE-Online).

Well, I think that decides it. Jedi Knight it is. Simply because I wont be able to play the Smuggler as I've imagined it.


Who wants to play with me?

Although the game hasn't impressed me before I've actually given it a fair shot... I think that this will probably beat most current MMO's out there (maybe not EVE-Online). For a "hey, I need to please everyone" kind of Game, I'm confident in the developers behind the game, despite my earlier complaints during beta.

I would like to try to see if I can get all my friends into my Guild, or alternatively joining a friends guild. Playing together is always more fun.

Who wants to play in Momentum? Does anyone have a spot for me? Which server should I play on?

Until I see you in game, here's an old Star Wars classic:

SOPA/PIPA/ACTA: No more sharing!

Read about "Black March" here

That's right. The entertainment industry want to treat us all as thieves just because a few commercializes piracy (which I agree is bad). YOU ARE A THIEF TOO!

Imagine your neighbor robbing a bank. Then you both get put behind bars. You are both being punished for a crime only one person did. Do you think this is fair? Then SOPA/PIPA/ACTA is for you.

I wont bother explaining them all in detail, but you can get a pretty good picture by simply viewing the brilliant video in the end of this post.


Newsflash: Sharing is FREE marketing
Note: The facts below are not 100% accurate, but should give you a good idea

What many people in this industry STILL don't understand is that most of their products wouldn't have had a chance without sharing. Person A downloads game X. He plays it and then tells his his three best friends, B, C and D about it.

Person B then also downloads the game (and tells three of his best friends). BUT(!!) person C and D goes to the store and BUYS the game, and then tells their three best friends about the game.

Result: Per 1 person that downloads game X, you in average get: 3 people acquiring the game where 50% are downloaders and 50% are buyers. around 75% would probably have never heard about game X unless person A had downloaded it and spread the word.

The important fact here is that the game developer probably have earned money on this action, but he probably doesn't know it. You simply can't count every download as a loss. Merely an investment where the ROI not necessarily is optimal, but definitely positive enough to be profitable.

Please do let me know if you want me to elaborate. I could probably spam an entire blog post about it :P


Bye Piratebay, bye Megaupload, bye Sharing
Yes, these sites might be partly censored or even completely shut down. No more sharing, thief!

You people are probably too darn lazy to do anything about this. I bet you are sitting in your computer chair right now thinking "nah, it will never happen, someone else will fix it for me". Well it is time to wake up. There is no someone else. There is only you.

Similar things already happened in Sweden (IPRED, FRA etc.) and no one really thought it would happen... that "someone else" would fix it.

I will now ask you to do only two things:

1. Watch the video below
2. Think for yourself: What can I do to contribute?


What I have done to contribute is to change my profile pictures everywhere to the picture in the top of this post, to spread the video below and to try to in general spread the word as best as I can. You can do either more or less than me. It is up to you, no one is forcing you.

I bet you wont do shit to contribute. Care to prove me wrong?

This is my job! (finally!)

Okay, I have probably been a little bit too careful with what I can say or not. So here we go: I am the Head of Customer Communications for a marketing company called Traffic Generation. We do many different things, many projects and lot's of interesting things to do every day. Can't wait to get back to work on Monday, especially since there will be some new cool stuff in our office. :)


Being a part of a team

It feels nice to, after six months of involuntary holiday, get back into a team of creative minds. Especially when all of us share the same ways of thought (is that how you say it?). It feels really good to be stepping up from a Community Manager role to an extremely challenging Head of Customer Communication role, where I basically decide everything myself. Huge pressure but I must say that I've learned a lot in just a few days. I am the expert, I am responsible for the results. If things goes to shit, it's on my head, but if things go well... then I will enjoy multiple mental orgasms. I like this.

Next week there will be a big chance that I will be working totally alone for a few days, since Johan probably have become a daddy by then and my boss is dealing with some important business stuff. Speaking of babies... I have a feeling that the baby will come tomorrow (Sunday the 22nd). Let's see if I'm right!


Good places to eat in Gibraltar

Since I recently have been both very impressed by some places in Gibraltar as well as LESS impressed I would like to take a moment to list the top 3 restaurants as well as my top 3 recent disappointments (going from good to bad).


Good places to eat in Gib:

1. Charlies Tavern
2. Cafe Rojo
3. Taps Bar (new!)

Motivation: Even though I would like to also include the Ocean Village Mexican place I fear that even though they have improved, they are not really qualified for the top 3.

Charlies Tavern in Ocean Village has a good mix of excellent Indian food (best in town!) with an awesome grill cuisine. Whatever you order is just awesome. The service is mixed... the guys tend to be really nice but the girl waitresses can be a bit rude at some points (blaming the customer for their mistake etc.).

Cafe Rojo in Irish Town has recently started to really impress me. Their food is done with a "feeling" so to speak. They care for their food as well as their customers. Top service, small menu but at least something really tasty for everyone.

Taps Bar is the new place behind KFC in Ocean Village that has tables with beer taps built into it. Really awesome concept and the tapas their is the best ones I've had in Gib, by far. The service is probably also the best one in Gib - you even sometimes get a ketchup smiley face on your tapa burger. Lovely little detail.


Places that nowadays SUCK!

1. Lord Nelsons
2. O'Reilly's
3. Bianca's

Motivation: Both Lord Nelson and O'Rielly's has the same owner... and you can kind of tell. Once they were both really good, mostly because of the really nice staff that both cared for their customers and could manage to deliver good food in little time. Now they have cut down on staff and hired cheap holiday party girls/guys that don't care what so ever about the customers, the service or the quality of the food. Honestly some of them look quite drunk/hung over and a little bit like they've been in a huge orgie the day before.

Bianca's just have crappy and expensive food. The only thing I like there is the Garlic Mushrooms. I must say that their dessert is quite nice, but you pay quite a bit for it and the glasses they use make it look like you get more than you actually do. Cheap illusion trick. The service is okay though.


So how is it going in Europa Universalis III?

Well, quite well actually. I've strengthened my economy A LOT recently for Sweden. Also I have colonized parts of Greenland, West Africa and the Canary Islands. I also managed to invade some North American Indians near Florida and steal some land from them. But enough goofing around with colonies when I have a more important continent to conquer: Europe!

Wish me luck!

Management at work and at home

Today was my third day at work! Wohoo! Today I learnt that my boss is made of steal, that Johan is in fact slightly retarded (and that I am too).

Side Note: I did want to write about SOPA (read more) today, the new weapon against piracy and also your privacy, but feel that I need to read up a bit more to make be completely fair. Soon you will see a dedicated blog post about this and learn the true reason behind this powerful weapon of an unworthy (and self proclaimed) world police: the USA.


Out of the ashes and into the fire!

After a few days at work I finally start to get used to the old rhythm of going up early in the morning and sitting in front of a desk spitting out ideas and creating plans and content for the current projects. I love it.

Still I want to be careful about what I work with and where I work. I can tell you that I will continue to work with the stuff I really love: Communication, Creative Thinking and close Team Work with awesome colleagues.


Europa Universalis III - A game you probably can't handle

I am also managing things at home, like the Swedish Nation in the game Europa Univeralis III: Divine Wind (Patch 5.1). It is a very complex game similar to the board game Risk, but very much more complex, where you actually have to rule the nation in every way you can imagine. Many things to keep track of, but it never gets boring bashing the Danes out of Scandinavia or challenging the Russians to the east.

The game is a few years old, true, but the constant releases of expansions keeps the game fresh and up to date. Since I played it many years ago it is almost completely different in it's details, but still got the same charm and purpose. I wonder how successful I would be colonizing North America with Swedish Colonists. Will The United States of America be with me or against me once the thirteen states gets pissed of at England and decides to go their own way? Or... should I do what Sweden does best: Staying neutral?

Who the f*ck is the Golden Horde?

Right now I have beaten Denmark and forced Norway into becoming my vassal. Hopefully I will soon be able to annex their nation.

The game is very complex and it takes a strong brain and a lot of patience to be able to handle it, but once you have gotten past that obstacle I can promise you that this is a game that you would love. Really good work Paradox Interactive. This is possibly your best product ever. Credits to my friend Sara Wendel-Örtqvist who has been working on the latest expansion of this game.

I was very inspired by this guy, an... American(?) playing as Sweden and recording everything on Youtube. Ladies and Gentlement, I give you... MindofScience3!