Thank you Panaias for the giveaway and the spreading of positivity.

I would like to be in for Shivers.

A few months ago a friend accidently cut themselves while in a remote area. We were able to control the bleeding and get him to a hospital. After several stitches and bandages he was released from hospital. Thank goodness my friend was not by himself when this happened and I was able to assist in him getting the help he needed. It also taught us to keep a first aid kit handy at all times.

All the best in the New Year and stay safe.

Thanks for giveaway

i am in for

Dracula 4 and 5
Myst Masterpiece Edition
Spycraft - The great game


There were four kittens we found at work. one of them got into a pipe and couldn't get out. The sound of a cat is coming from somewhere, but where? When we realized that it was coming from inside the pipe, we started to cut the pipe with the saw in our hand. When we tried for about an hour, the cat was alive, but it was too scared and wet.

Thanks, I'm in for RIven and Zork Nemesis!

I've been a food bank volunteer this winter, insanely busy right now as more and more people can't afford to eat, with gov policies cutting their income while the cost of everyday basics goes through the roof. Please help stop hunger by donating tinned goods and/or offering your time if you can!

Not in but thats great news. Congratulations on the new job.

I'm in for Myst Masterpiece edition

As for me and my story...
So I moved down to Florida from Pennsylvania over 2 years ago. When I was up there, there was a Christian summer camp I went to for 2 summers and I wanted to work there, so last summer (and the one before that) I payed for a plane ticket and volunteered at this summer camp. It was very good for me again, being able to help kids who may be struggling and meeting amazing friends. It really help me get back to realizing that people actually cared and life has good parts and is worth living. I really hope I can go back but starting college might make it harder...

Now for the difficult part...
There was this girl who I worked with in Food Service. This was her first summer working there so I got to know her.
I did tell myself at the start of the year I wasn't going to fall for anyone because then I would get rejected or just not be able to do anything about it and be sad. (Long distant is an option but from everything I've read and heard it is really hard and I don't have the resources to make a long distant relationship work.) But plot twist I fell for her, she was amazing, very kind pretty, and made me happy to be with. I was pretty good at not being obvious about liking her mainly but during the last week she figured it out and we talked. From what I got from that convo is that she liked me a little but ofc we weren't going to be any more then friends for a while, that was enough for me to be really happy. But about a week after returning home she sent me a clarification that she may have not clearly stated that she in fact did not like me and I should never expect for the possibility of a relationship. It half way destroyed me and I haven't talked to anyone about it for the most part, it still hurts and I still love her. That was about 3 or 4 months ago... I want to try to talk to her but I have no idea what to talk about and I have stress and anxiety about talking to people directly online.

Hopefully eventually I work up the courage to talk to her some time, I do miss her and we were good friends.

great idea!
and great prizes. but I'm not in for I'm already too lucky with the GAs lately.

Hi Panaias, glad to hear your Eureka moment worked so well :)
Thank you for the initiative & generosity and thanks to the participants for sharing their personal stories!

I'd like to participate for:
Myst Masterpiece Edition
Riven: The Sequel to Myst
Dracula Trilogy
Barrow Hill: Curse of the Ancient Circle

About a personal story where -my actions- helped to overcome a difficult situation this year...
That’s a tough one. Difficult situations in 2021? No doubt! However, unfortunately, I do not find any personal action that stands out... maybe a trace that it has not been the best year in general nor my best year to be honest...
I guess would be to -try- to keep positive, be patient and stick to the social distancing no matter how tired, annoyed and desperate I am after almost 2 years practicing it... But hey! I try to see it as is my silent very little help to support the health of my family, community, nation... but the end is not at sight yet. Not sure then if that action counts.

Hi, thanks for the giveaway. Not in because my backlog is big but I'm glad to see a veteran adventurer who isn't afraid to go on a first-person adventure. I like your selection.

Many thanks for the giveaway.
I'm not entering the contest because of my backlog, but I would like to thank you for both your generosity and positive attitude: I wish you all the best for your new job and for the new year.

First off, congrats on the new job, really glad you're doing something you enjoy; it's very important since we spend so much time of our lives working, yet way too many people are stuck with jobs they don't enjoy because they have to make a living.

Secondly, thanks for the lovely, end of the year adventurous GA with the positivity theme, +1.

Funnily, my story is work related too, but in a different way.

It all started in late autumn 2020 when I got a ten months contract at a public library, primarily to create a database of a specific set of hard-copy records. As you can imagine, after setting up the db, the daily job consisted of data entry; not particularly fun, and definitely not creative at all, but the environment was pleasant, the librarians and other staff was nice, and the director (my immediate supervisor) was pretty awesome, open to suggestions and very easy to work with/for.

I was about a month in, when she (the director) called me in her office and asked me if I was versed in Photoshop... eh, not particularly, I said, but I do know my GIMP (which she hadn't heard of).
The library was in the process of publishing two books (for which the director was the editor) which were in need of covers. We discussed a couple of ideas, I did a few concepts, we settled for one and I was given the job/task. It had nothing to do with what I was initially contracted to do, but I was more than ok with the change as this was tons more interesting and fun, and I trained a couple of the staff to continue with the data entry (which I had to do anyway, just a lot sooner).

About a month later, and while I was happily working on the covers, the director was at the verge of a break down in her capacity as editor -- the author was constantly making changes and missing deadlines, and the printer they had contracted (who wasn't local) was doing such a terrible job with the page and text layout that things were looking really bleak; she had started thinking that the books wouldn't be published in spite the hard work she had put in.

I offered to help, but my initial efforts yielded no satisfactory results.
So after the New Year holidays, I did a lot of research and reading on publishing/self-publishing and related standards, and came up with a different approach -- I setup Scribus and created templates of page and text styles and layout for the various sections and chapters of the books with detailed notes on them about every single thing, and contrasting them to the work the printer had done.
Additionally, we set up a team of librarians to help speed up proof-reading and cross-checking sources and bibliography, and document all the necessary corrections.

It took from early Dec 2020 to late May 2021, lots of hard work and long hours, and seven revisions for the books to be finally ready to go to print.

When we got the printed books early June, the director wouldn't stop thanking me, saying that my involvement was pivotal as she seriously doubted the books would have been published, which would have had serious repercussions on her job and position.

For the remaining time of my contract I had to go back to that database thing; kinda bleh, but it was only for about another month as the director was so appreciative that I got about a paid month off right after the books were published.

But for about seven months I had the chance to do some cool creative work on a professional level, learn and get actively involved in the editing process of publishing, and based on what the library director kept saying, I helped save her sanity and job; she's the type that doesn't handle stress particularly well, and my positive attitude of reassuring everyone that we had things under control and were going to do a fine job in time, was helping her regain her calm and not give up.

It's a time I think back with fondness, and a job I'm probably the most proud of.

OK, this turned out a lot more long winded than I initially thought/intended it to be; sorry about that, hope you didn't mind the long read.


I'd like to be considered for:
- Shivers
- Barrow Hill - Curse of the ancient Circle


Happy New Year, everyone, may it be a year full of positive experiences.

Thank you for sharing your story. Many hard situations from this year would be too personal or too much drama to go in detail. I think I have been helpful to many and strenghtened my relationship with my new chosen family and found a new important person in my life that I am helping as much as I can and has serious problems.
Despite my general situation being not great I am proud of what I have done this year.
I'm not in.

I'm in for Spycraft mainly.
Shivers and Zork games look interesting too.

I have been dealing with many difficulties during 2021. Some family issues have left me with many additional responsibilities to handle. To top it off, we caught omicron shortly before the holidays began
So Christmas got cancelled basically

The positive part is we are all still alive and I am thankful for that.
Despite the physical distance, we could still use technology to interact as opposed to the 1940s, so I am also thankful for that. Hopefully we will make a full recovery soon and I can continue with my errands.
So many things to do!

Best wishes to OP and GOG friends!

Thanks to all of you for sharing your stories and thoughts.

It is important to try to find the slightest source of light when in dark places, even if you have to rediscover fire :)

The giveaway is now closed.

I will contact each winner through PM in the next couple of hours, so please make sure we can actually chat!

(I will also post the winners here in this thread.)

And the winners are *drumroll*...

All of the participants :D

Namely:

-51nikopol
-ywzywz
-servobeupstry
-aCyborg
-tag+
-HypersomniacLive
-drxenija

Congrats!
The gifts should already be under your Christmas trees just in time before the year ends :)

I want to thank you all for sharing your thoughts, even if you did not participate in the giveaway.
I am very grateful for being lucky this year, so the least I could do was to share a piece of my joy with you.

May we all have a great new year, with good health, love and happiness!

'Til next time ;)