After 5 years...
by Michael Perry · 12/31/2013 (7:56 am) · 53 comments
Greetings everyone. I hope the holidays are treating you all well and that you are looking forward to 2014 as much as I am. While this blog is being posted as an employee, I'm not really announcing anything. This is more of an old school .plan, just talking a little bit about GarageGames and my time with the company.
I was struck with the urge to post a blog for several reasons. First, there hasn't been an employee blog in over a month. Second, I haven't posted a blog in a very long time. Next, I'm getting close to the big 100 mark for blogs.
However, the main reason is due to a recent anniversary that came and went without a whisper. 2013 marked my fifth year at GarageGames. For those that know the history, I am including all past incarnations up to the present. Old school GG back in Eugene, Oregon. The move to Las Vegas and renaming to TorquePowered. The shutdown and rebirth as GarageGames, LLC. Then up to the present day.
To me, five years at a tech company is kind of a big deal. If you follow the industry, there have been many startups and shutdowns across all the branches. Game engines, game studios, monetization focused groups, and kooky companies that split focus between a web-plugin/game engine/Guitar Hero clone. I survived three rounds of layoffs and a full company shutdown. I consider myself lucky to have been counted among the folks re-hired at GarageGames, LLC. It was a great day and has continued to be an adventurous experience.
This brings me to the point of the blog. What has it been like working at GarageGames? What have I seen and learned? If you check out my blog history, you will see I've jumped around a lot inside the company. Specifically, I'd like to call out my origin story: MAJOR Documentation Announcement 1. That blog truly represents old school GG, specifically the folks at Tech & Tools. I was blown away at the response. My fellow community members congratulated me, while my new teammates proceeded to create a fantastic photoshop war. Lesson learned: do not post topless pictures of yourself on the internet. You will get what you deserve =).
Rather than continuing lengthy paragraphs, the following list represents some of the bigger lessons I learned at GarageGames:
1. Writing documentation is always a rewarding experience, but it is probably the most difficult task to take on. It spawned one of my catchphrases: "Docs. Everyone wants it. No one wants to write it. It will never be finished." Do that for a few years and the very makeup of your brain will change. Hopefully, my work as documentation engineer was beneficial to those who took the time to read it.
2. Never, EVER, doubt the power of a community. It can not be overstated how powerful we are, even in our reduced capacity. We've laughed together, bled together, fought like bickering children, and survived major changes that would have broken weaker communities. Specific to my learning experience, you all taught me infinite patience, humility, and how to pick my battles. I'll still think a jackass poster is a jackass, but I do not get enraged anymore. If anything, it's a good thing if I continue to read your jackass posts and take it into consideration =).
3. If you're not having fun, you're in the wrong business. I've never had more fun than working at GG. The pranks, the Friday Night Game Night sessions, the Street Fighter IV and ping pong tournaments...it was all great. I think I miss that more than anything.
4. If you are not challenged, you are doing it all wrong. Never settle. Never plateau. Never stop looking for ways to advance in the company. I am lucky to have had teammates that pushed me to be the best. Primarily, current CEO, longtime friend, and noble leader, Eric Preisz. That guy knows me better than anyone, except my wife. He doesn't give me an inch and I appreciate that.
5. Sacrifice is a necessary component to following your dreams, but it never stops being painful. When I left Florida to join GG, my wife and I had to leave all our friends and family. However, we found new friends and family that will last a lifetime. SHOUT OUT TO THE BLENDENS and BRONSONS! When the company moved to Las Vegas, we had to give up living in the city we came to love. We adapted, but were never truly happy with the location. So once again, we moved back to Florida and I lost all friends and day-to-day interaction. The flip side was seeing my son every single day, throughout the entire workday. I would not give that up.
So there it is. Five year, five points. You will not see a "sixth year" blog from me. You can look forward to the next pointless blog from me in another five years. That's right. After five years of adventure, sacrifice, non-stop challenges, and fun, I am still on team GG. Here's to striving for ten years at the same company I always loved.
Shout outs in no particular order:
Derek Bronson
Mike Blenden
Joseph Thomas
Eric Preisz
Erik Graham
Justin Head
Scott Burns
Melv May
Dave Wyand
David Montgomery-Blake
Deborah and Jacob Fike
Matt and Talana Fairfax
Matt and Channa Langley
Josh and Lara Engebretson
Ken Holst
Eric Fritz
Davey Jackson
Ray
Steven Garcia
Richard Ranft
Brett Seyler
The rest of Tech & Tools
Ben Garney
My folks in Siberia
Bacon Henge
Ronny "orb" Bangsund
Dave Calabrese
Rene Damm
Steve Acaster
Mike Lilligreen
Konrad Kiss
Novack
Morrock
Johnny Vo
Marc "Dreamora" Schaerer
eb
Conor O'Kane
Tom Spillman and everyone else at Sickhead Games
Tim and everyone else at MGT
Sven and everyone else at Luma
All the deviants in the IRC channel
The former iTorque group
The current Torque 2D group
The unfortunate folks involved in the infamous ban hammer spree of 2011
And everyone else in the community!!!
All of the following are clickable
"Read. Read Code. Code"
"Documentation. Everyone wants it. No one wants to write it. It will never be fininshed."
"What did you get your degree in? Donuts?!"
"A wild Mich appears."
"Puppy shader!"
"RTFM"
Best regards to all and Happy New Year!
- Mich
I was struck with the urge to post a blog for several reasons. First, there hasn't been an employee blog in over a month. Second, I haven't posted a blog in a very long time. Next, I'm getting close to the big 100 mark for blogs.
However, the main reason is due to a recent anniversary that came and went without a whisper. 2013 marked my fifth year at GarageGames. For those that know the history, I am including all past incarnations up to the present. Old school GG back in Eugene, Oregon. The move to Las Vegas and renaming to TorquePowered. The shutdown and rebirth as GarageGames, LLC. Then up to the present day.
To me, five years at a tech company is kind of a big deal. If you follow the industry, there have been many startups and shutdowns across all the branches. Game engines, game studios, monetization focused groups, and kooky companies that split focus between a web-plugin/game engine/Guitar Hero clone. I survived three rounds of layoffs and a full company shutdown. I consider myself lucky to have been counted among the folks re-hired at GarageGames, LLC. It was a great day and has continued to be an adventurous experience.
This brings me to the point of the blog. What has it been like working at GarageGames? What have I seen and learned? If you check out my blog history, you will see I've jumped around a lot inside the company. Specifically, I'd like to call out my origin story: MAJOR Documentation Announcement 1. That blog truly represents old school GG, specifically the folks at Tech & Tools. I was blown away at the response. My fellow community members congratulated me, while my new teammates proceeded to create a fantastic photoshop war. Lesson learned: do not post topless pictures of yourself on the internet. You will get what you deserve =).
Rather than continuing lengthy paragraphs, the following list represents some of the bigger lessons I learned at GarageGames:
1. Writing documentation is always a rewarding experience, but it is probably the most difficult task to take on. It spawned one of my catchphrases: "Docs. Everyone wants it. No one wants to write it. It will never be finished." Do that for a few years and the very makeup of your brain will change. Hopefully, my work as documentation engineer was beneficial to those who took the time to read it.
2. Never, EVER, doubt the power of a community. It can not be overstated how powerful we are, even in our reduced capacity. We've laughed together, bled together, fought like bickering children, and survived major changes that would have broken weaker communities. Specific to my learning experience, you all taught me infinite patience, humility, and how to pick my battles. I'll still think a jackass poster is a jackass, but I do not get enraged anymore. If anything, it's a good thing if I continue to read your jackass posts and take it into consideration =).
3. If you're not having fun, you're in the wrong business. I've never had more fun than working at GG. The pranks, the Friday Night Game Night sessions, the Street Fighter IV and ping pong tournaments...it was all great. I think I miss that more than anything.
4. If you are not challenged, you are doing it all wrong. Never settle. Never plateau. Never stop looking for ways to advance in the company. I am lucky to have had teammates that pushed me to be the best. Primarily, current CEO, longtime friend, and noble leader, Eric Preisz. That guy knows me better than anyone, except my wife. He doesn't give me an inch and I appreciate that.
5. Sacrifice is a necessary component to following your dreams, but it never stops being painful. When I left Florida to join GG, my wife and I had to leave all our friends and family. However, we found new friends and family that will last a lifetime. SHOUT OUT TO THE BLENDENS and BRONSONS! When the company moved to Las Vegas, we had to give up living in the city we came to love. We adapted, but were never truly happy with the location. So once again, we moved back to Florida and I lost all friends and day-to-day interaction. The flip side was seeing my son every single day, throughout the entire workday. I would not give that up.
So there it is. Five year, five points. You will not see a "sixth year" blog from me. You can look forward to the next pointless blog from me in another five years. That's right. After five years of adventure, sacrifice, non-stop challenges, and fun, I am still on team GG. Here's to striving for ten years at the same company I always loved.
Shout outs in no particular order:
Derek Bronson
Mike Blenden
Joseph Thomas
Eric Preisz
Erik Graham
Justin Head
Scott Burns
Melv May
Dave Wyand
David Montgomery-Blake
Deborah and Jacob Fike
Matt and Talana Fairfax
Matt and Channa Langley
Josh and Lara Engebretson
Ken Holst
Eric Fritz
Davey Jackson
Ray
Steven Garcia
Richard Ranft
Brett Seyler
The rest of Tech & Tools
Ben Garney
My folks in Siberia
Bacon Henge
Ronny "orb" Bangsund
Dave Calabrese
Rene Damm
Steve Acaster
Mike Lilligreen
Konrad Kiss
Novack
Morrock
Johnny Vo
Marc "Dreamora" Schaerer
eb
Conor O'Kane
Tom Spillman and everyone else at Sickhead Games
Tim and everyone else at MGT
Sven and everyone else at Luma
All the deviants in the IRC channel
The former iTorque group
The current Torque 2D group
The unfortunate folks involved in the infamous ban hammer spree of 2011
And everyone else in the community!!!
All of the following are clickable
"Read. Read Code. Code"
"Documentation. Everyone wants it. No one wants to write it. It will never be fininshed."
"What did you get your degree in? Donuts?!"
"A wild Mich appears."
"Puppy shader!"
"RTFM"
Best regards to all and Happy New Year!
- Mich
About the author
Programmer.
#22
So if you want to know about the most fun experience I had, best party, most embarrassing moment, biggest self f*ck-up, pre-shutdown decision, and so on...ask away. If I can't answer it, I'll let you know. If I can answer it, prepare for some crazy insight.
01/02/2014 (5:43 pm)
NOW THE FUN PART! I've accumulated many stories and jokes over the years at GarageGames. I'm opening up an AMAA (ask me almost anything) to the followers of this blog. I will answer almost anything. The almost part has to do with the fact that I still work at GarageGames and have a certain level of discretion and integrity to maintain. So if you want to know about the most fun experience I had, best party, most embarrassing moment, biggest self f*ck-up, pre-shutdown decision, and so on...ask away. If I can't answer it, I'll let you know. If I can answer it, prepare for some crazy insight.
#23
Apologies for the rest of the community, this is an inside joke that old time GG'ers may get.
01/02/2014 (7:17 pm)
If you were at a game conference, hungry and tired, what major meat would you order at a restaurant?Apologies for the rest of the community, this is an inside joke that old time GG'ers may get.
#24
..."major meat". "I could go for some for major meat". THERE ARE YOU HAPPY!?!?!?
01/02/2014 (7:26 pm)
...you suck Derek. Damn it...Quote:If you were at a game conference, hungry and tired, what major meat would you order at a restaurant?
..."major meat". "I could go for some for major meat". THERE ARE YOU HAPPY!?!?!?
#25
01/02/2014 (8:37 pm)
What's the longest crunch-time you've had at GG? I'm speaking non-stop, no sleep, coding + meetings. 
#26
Games? Game Engines?
Will Garage Games/TourqePowered be releasing or using a new version of the Torque 2D/3D Game Engines?
Will the game engines still be maintained by the steering committee? Yes? No? Will GG/TourqePowered Staff help in this?
- Ben
01/02/2014 (9:23 pm)
What is next for Garage Games/TorquePowered?Games? Game Engines?
Will Garage Games/TourqePowered be releasing or using a new version of the Torque 2D/3D Game Engines?
Will the game engines still be maintained by the steering committee? Yes? No? Will GG/TourqePowered Staff help in this?
- Ben
#27
The effort started as soon as this thread was posted. When we finished, I posted this blog. So that's about five months. I believe I went through a true crunch for about two of those five months. Due to the work strain and some traumatic personal experiences, I'm fairly certain I snapped. Eric gave me a few days off after we launched the new manual.
As far as coding goes, I've been lucky. I have not had to crunch too hard at GG while programming. I remember the iTorque 2D 1.5 being a bit grueling. T3D 1.1 was tough, but not a crunch. I think he most amount of time I put in was in that awkward phase between 3 Step Studio and Torque 2D MIT (2.0). Trying to juggle two projects and moving across the country was pretty challenging.
01/02/2014 (10:01 pm)
@Simon - Good question. The longest crunch I've been through was not exactly coding related on my side. I had to write docs in C++, along with several others of the Torque team (T&T, Sickhead, Rene, Melv, etc). Rene overhauled the console system to accommodate the docs. That's why you will see DefineEngineFunction, DefineEngineMethod, and so on. The doc effort ended up dramatically improving the T3D engine itself, such as providing true callback capabilities.The effort started as soon as this thread was posted. When we finished, I posted this blog. So that's about five months. I believe I went through a true crunch for about two of those five months. Due to the work strain and some traumatic personal experiences, I'm fairly certain I snapped. Eric gave me a few days off after we launched the new manual.
As far as coding goes, I've been lucky. I have not had to crunch too hard at GG while programming. I remember the iTorque 2D 1.5 being a bit grueling. T3D 1.1 was tough, but not a crunch. I think he most amount of time I put in was in that awkward phase between 3 Step Studio and Torque 2D MIT (2.0). Trying to juggle two projects and moving across the country was pretty challenging.
#28
Nothing can stop a rogue group of talented individuals from starting up their own steering committee, website, and repo fork, thus taking Torque further than it's current state. That's the beauty of the MIT open source license. GG and everyone else can push the engine however they see fit.
01/02/2014 (10:10 pm)
@Benjamin - Quote:What is next for Garage Games/TorquePowered?I highly recommend you read through the most recent blogs from Eric Preisz. He talks about services, the big picture, and other business ideas that GG is pursuing.
Quote:Games? Game Engines?That's up to Eric, the owners, and our clients. GarageGames is capable of handling any contract that is thrown our way. I'm not at liberty to discuss our current clients, due to NDAs. What I can tell you is that we are working with some big names and they are happy with our work. GG has accumulated talented folks across multiple disciplines, which allows us to pursue service work in multiple industries. It's usually game related, but not always.
Quote:Will Garage Games/TourqePowered be releasing or using a new version of the Torque 2D/3D Game Engines?Torque 2D and Torque 3D are fully open source. No single entity has rights to a release. Someone could release T2D 4.0 with shaders, networking, and Steam OS support. That's totally up to the community and each user. The question shouldn't be "When will GarageGames...?", when it comes to Torque. The true question is "What can we do as a community for Torque?"
Quote:Will the game engines still be maintained by the steering committee? Yes? No? Will GG/TourqePowered Staff help in this?As with my previous answer, this can go in so many different directions. My core work hours belong to GarageGames. Outside of that, nothing really stops me from contributing to Torque. That goes for every person inside and outside of GarageGames. You should not be surprised if current, former, and future employees of GG contributes to the Torque engines. It's purely voluntary/goodwill, just like everyone else in the community.
Nothing can stop a rogue group of talented individuals from starting up their own steering committee, website, and repo fork, thus taking Torque further than it's current state. That's the beauty of the MIT open source license. GG and everyone else can push the engine however they see fit.
#29
I have one more question
Will changes made to the T3D / 2D Platforms have the changes pushed to the official repo?
01/02/2014 (11:02 pm)
Hey thanks for the many and detailed answers. :)I have one more question
Will changes made to the T3D / 2D Platforms have the changes pushed to the official repo?
#30
Another 5 years and you'll reach the level of Zen Master ;)
01/02/2014 (11:41 pm)
Congrats @Michael!Quote:I'll still think a jackass poster is a jackass, but I do not get enraged anymore. If anything, it's a good thing if I continue to read your jackass posts and take it into consideration =).
Another 5 years and you'll reach the level of Zen Master ;)
#31
01/03/2014 (12:15 am)
Awesome milestone - congrats and happy new year Mich! 
#32
01/03/2014 (12:18 am)
Happy new year to the "GG Team" and to you "Michael" ! 
#33
01/03/2014 (12:48 am)
Happy new year to GG Team and all that work with the community on torque ... Happy new year Michael ;) 
#35
First, changes have to be made. Then a pull request is submitted. Then it is reviewed. If accepted, it can be pushed to the repo. My strong opinion is that everyone in the community should be reviewing the pull requests. It should not be left entirely up to the steering committees or whoever has admin control of the GitHub project. If there are pull requests or issues in the queue, people should start weighing in on them. This speeds up the process.
@Nils -
I shall work hard. Happy New Year!
@Mike - Thanks for all your dedication to the 2D engines over the years. You've been an invaluable community member. Happy new Year!
@Jean-louis - And a Happy New Year to "you" as well =)
@Andrea - Happy New Year and thanks for the appreciation!
@Steve - No sense waiting on anyone.
1. Open the GUI editor (F10).
2. Create new GUI.
3. Add GuiButtonCtrl.
4. Add the command "makeMyMMORPGFPSRTSOMFGBBQGame();"
5. Then in an executed script, do this:
01/03/2014 (7:50 am)
@Benjamin - Quote:Will changes made to the T3D / 2D Platforms have the changes pushed to the official repo?
First, changes have to be made. Then a pull request is submitted. Then it is reviewed. If accepted, it can be pushed to the repo. My strong opinion is that everyone in the community should be reviewing the pull requests. It should not be left entirely up to the steering committees or whoever has admin control of the GitHub project. If there are pull requests or issues in the queue, people should start weighing in on them. This speeds up the process.
@Nils -
Quote:Another 5 years and you'll reach the level of Zen Master ;)
I shall work hard. Happy New Year!
@Mike - Thanks for all your dedication to the 2D engines over the years. You've been an invaluable community member. Happy new Year!
@Jean-louis - And a Happy New Year to "you" as well =)
@Andrea - Happy New Year and thanks for the appreciation!
@Steve - No sense waiting on anyone.
1. Open the GUI editor (F10).
2. Create new GUI.
3. Add GuiButtonCtrl.
4. Add the command "makeMyMMORPGFPSRTSOMFGBBQGame();"
5. Then in an executed script, do this:
function makeMyMMORPGFPSRTSOMFGBBQGame()
{
// Executed in another script
%result = generateMMORPGFPSRTSOMFGBBQ();
// ... Rest of code omitted from this post, since it doesn't matter
}
#36
Now that all that is over, what are you doing now? (IE: what role within GG are you playing. ((everyone knows you don't work when you do what you love)) )
01/03/2014 (4:33 pm)
It seems like yesterday you were a newbie community member then employee. Time flys. The work you did with the docs were top notch and much appreciated. Now that all that is over, what are you doing now? (IE: what role within GG are you playing. ((everyone knows you don't work when you do what you love)) )
#37
01/04/2014 (4:23 pm)
Good wishes for a happy new year. Just wondering your thoughts about the recent crossover of nasa's robonaut with Xbox kinect 2 and oculus rift. Is GG pushing the envelope on similar remote presence technology?
#38
I do a mix of things, but I'm a developer to the core. I can't talk about specific projects I've worked on, but I have been continuing to write code. My absence from Torque 2D has been noticed, but it's no secret that I've been working on GG service contracts. Eric is lining up a new project for me in 2014, which if planned properly will be one of the most exciting things I've ever worked on.
@Nathan - Happy New Year!
I think it is FANTASTIC! VR and AR are the future. I believe all facets of life and work are going to change in the near future as VR and AR hardware becomes more powerful, accessible, and affordable.
Well, we have the talent to do it. Dave Wyand has become the Oculus Rift and has shown a knack for understanding VR experience. I've spent the past three years studying AR extensively. I know hardware, software, and user-experience. I hope to one day be one of those guys pushing the envelope with AR tech.
01/04/2014 (5:31 pm)
@Mike - In someways, it seems like a short period of time. Then I remember all the events up till and it makes sense again. Glad you appreciated the docs.Quote:Now that all that is over, what are you doing now?
I do a mix of things, but I'm a developer to the core. I can't talk about specific projects I've worked on, but I have been continuing to write code. My absence from Torque 2D has been noticed, but it's no secret that I've been working on GG service contracts. Eric is lining up a new project for me in 2014, which if planned properly will be one of the most exciting things I've ever worked on.
@Nathan - Happy New Year!
Quote:ust wondering your thoughts about the recent crossover of nasa's robonaut with Xbox kinect 2 and oculus rift.
I think it is FANTASTIC! VR and AR are the future. I believe all facets of life and work are going to change in the near future as VR and AR hardware becomes more powerful, accessible, and affordable.
Quote:Is GG pushing the envelope on similar remote presence technology?
Well, we have the talent to do it. Dave Wyand has become the Oculus Rift and has shown a knack for understanding VR experience. I've spent the past three years studying AR extensively. I know hardware, software, and user-experience. I hope to one day be one of those guys pushing the envelope with AR tech.
#39
That's why we don't see him posting as often, he just became a hardware device. Very Tron-like of him.
01/04/2014 (6:06 pm)
Quote:Dave Wyand has become the Oculus Rift
That's why we don't see him posting as often, he just became a hardware device. Very Tron-like of him.
#40
I wanted to tell you that reading your post filled me with positive energy and a confidence that I may have found the right group of people to work with since I started my search. Your dedication and the hard work that your entire team has put forward through the good and bad times speaks volumes about you all, your commitment to this product and to each other.
All I want to add is that if I do choose this product to pursue my own goals I know already that it is filled with like minded people and that I would be happy working with you guys for years to come.
Vince
01/04/2014 (6:52 pm)
Hi Michael, I only found out about GarageGames and it's products today after several months of poking around for a decent low budget game engine I can use to destroy Shaiya with but I just had to comment on your post.I wanted to tell you that reading your post filled me with positive energy and a confidence that I may have found the right group of people to work with since I started my search. Your dedication and the hard work that your entire team has put forward through the good and bad times speaks volumes about you all, your commitment to this product and to each other.
All I want to add is that if I do choose this product to pursue my own goals I know already that it is filled with like minded people and that I would be happy working with you guys for years to come.
Vince
Employee Michael Perry
ZombieShortbus
@Steve - Yes, puppy shader. An inside "joke" that will go over the heads of newcomers, especially T3D MIT users. Oh...the dark times. Led to much drinking my friend.
@Richard - You know this "thing" won't die. It's too good to not live on in one form or another. I just truly miss a lot of people I mentioned in the shout-out section.
@Szzg07 - Thanks for stopping by. I love seeing your blog posts. I'm very impressed by your output. Keep posting, keep working, and I look forward to your 2014 posts.
@Simon - It was truly a privilege on my part. You, Charlie, and Mike helped keep Torque 2D alive. With your effort, passion, and knowledge, it would not have made it this far. You really knew the path. I want you to keep blazing your own trail amigo.
@Dwarf King - Thanks for the kudos on the docs. My own wife can attest to the strain that writing Torque documentation and community moderation had on me. It was a labor of love, as well as a voluntary burden. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Happy New Year!
@Ron - Man, I'm glad to see you posting =). You don't always know the person on the other side of the monitor, but it doesn't change the strength of the bond collaborating asynchronously on the same project.
@Tim - Happy New Year! I'm sure we'll be talking more in 2014. Awesome work on the Android port. Everyone in the community should be thanking you for that.
@Evan - Full disclosure...I carefully worded the blog title just to draw attention and cause a little stir. Sneaky? Somewhat. But I knew the collective intelligence of the community would bite, then read fully to get it. Glad you stopped by =)
@Daniel - I'm glad you have lasted around here too, especially to recognize the .plan throwback.
@kcpdad - Happy New Year to you as well. Thanks for the congrats. I believe 2014 will be the best year in my career yet.
@Michael - Sorry for the scare. Kind of intentional, but I wanted to grab some eyes. I wasn't sure what kind of sway I had over the community after my blog silence. I'm glad it grabbed some folks. Since GarageGames gave the entire world Torque for free, it has shifted focus to stay viable. It's difficult to come up with blog content on GG.com when you aren't working on Torque, but I decided that was no reason to stay silent. If you all want to know what GG is up to, we are willing to talk about it. Even if it doesn't pertain to Torque, a piece of the old GarageGames spirit lives on and we are more than happy to share that with our community.
@Peter - That's AWESOME to hear. While I much enjoy T2D MIT (2.0), I still believe the older TGB has a place in the world. I'm glad the engine and my docs have helped you. Helping other folks finish their games is the whole reason I joined GG to begin with.
@orb - Yup, five years of fun battle. Oh yes, the perks. I should make a fake Fallout GG perk list sometime. My gaming role is very similar to my professional role. I tend to be on the support side. Usually the medic in TF2, healer in MMOs, technician in Payday 2, etc. However, when I decide to go on the offensive, I don't mess around. Pure destruction as a pyro in TF2, whirlwind barb in Diablo 2, bloody mess perk in Fallout 2, ivory-hilted claymore in Dragonrealms, and so on.
So, yes...I can now lift a 2-handed Torque over my head and bring it down in a thunderous motion.