Sidewinder : I really like this topic. I can honestly say I haven't seen another like it before, and I'm surprised that it has never come up.

As for your layout, you need to align the position, instead of having the image tiled.

Time is just a man-made idea, intended to create the illusion of being in control. In truth, we have very little control, and we're all constantly waiting; whether you are waiting for love, change, wisdom, or even for something as simple as the bus. We are all born into this world waiting to die. I think that people should take action instead of waiting for things to happen, and learn patience for those things in which they have no control. Even if our efforts always turn up having the same result in the end, you can't say that they don't make the ride interesting while it lasts.

Jordanv78 : Thanks for mentioning that. I had almost completely forgot about the Fn key functions.

duebeldiva : Did you read the thread I sent you to about control issues? If that doesn't help, I would say to go ahead and make a topic about it in the RGR Help forum, if you haven't already. I'll keep thinking of other possible solutions, but in the meantime, there may be other users in the community that could give you some suggestions.

Eirinn : Thanks for the summon.

From the past several posts, I saw a theme forming. When you are summoned, you give a reason as to why you are so old. I'll stick with that.

I'm a geezer, because I remember when pogs were the hippest thing, Squeeze-It was the drink of kings, and candy cigarettes were still legal to manufacture. Those were good times.

I can't really think of anyone to summon.

duebeldiva : That most likely means your saved data was corrupted and lost. If you were playing a Nintendo 64 game, that is sadly a common occurrence. The graphics engine used to design most games for that system was and still is hard to emulate, thus causing a whole array of different glitches. If nothing happens when you press F4, then you need to check your data folder for the save file, as it likely doesn't exist anymore. You should always keep extra copies of your save files in a separate area, so that you can restore them in the event something happens to the originals.

If the save file is still there, a possibility also exists that it could be your controls. In that case, you can refer to my other thread concerning control issues, which can be found here:

https://www.vizzed.com/boards/thread.php?id=54206

If you need any further help after this post, just let me know and I'll do what I can to continue troubleshooting.

Sidewinder : The purpose of mistakes is to learn from failure, so that we and others do not make the same ones again. In a way, it takes a mistake to prevent a mistake. But yes, I have to agree that human nature has a lot to do with it. A mistake to one person, may be the complete opposite for someone else. It has a lot to do with personal perception, but there's no arguing that wisdom is always to be gained. That's why I don't necessarily put an age on maturity. Although age usually means we have experienced more through time, there are some people that experience far more than others in a shorter amount of time. I think it also has a lot to do with the lifestyle one is born into. Personally, I'm not afraid of making mistakes- if anything, it just comes to show my humanity.

Anyway, you pose a good question. Also, I think I know where you might have gotten that question.

That's a long story.

When I was about nine, I realized from the moment I met her that I was in love. I know that probably sounds irrational to say, but even now when I look back, I can say that she was my first true experience with love. She wasn't the most popular girl, and I met her on the playground one day, several guys picking on her. I stood up for her, and decided that from then on, I would be her friend and protector. Every day for the next several years, I stuck by her, and defended her from those who decided to cause her trouble. One day, near the end of my middle school years, we had our first dance. I asked her to go with me, and she agreed, but then ended up telling me she couldn't because she had already promised someone else. When the dance finally rolled around, the guy she went with made passes at her, and she ended up coming to me and crying. At that point in time, I finally told her just how much she meant to me. She said that she felt the same way, but just never knew why we never mentioned it. I had my first dance and kiss with her.

Over the next year, we stayed in touch and spent our time together, and everything was great. But something kept bothering me. I knew that our middle school years were over, and that as we went into high school, we would be changing in many ways. It turns out that we would be going to entirely different schools, and meeting entirely new people. And being so young, I knew it would be hard for us to manage a relationship, also realizing how most adults wouldn't believe a bond such as ours could exist at our ages. I had no idea what to say or to do, so on the last day of middle school, I gave her a jewellery box with a set of earrings. I told her how much I cared about her, and for that to always represent our bond, but I just couldn't be with her. I told her that I loved her, but in order to move forward, I had to let that go. Although upset, she accepted my decision.

A few years later, I heard from one of my closest friends that she had been transferred to his school, and was dating some guy that treated her badly. From him, I was able to get back in touch with her through phone talks, and I can't tell you how overjoyed I was. I had found her again, and I wanted to tell her how sorry I was for ever letting her go, and that it was one of the worst decisions I had ever made. She went on to tell me things that I had never known about her life.

The first thing was- she was adopted. Her real parents abandoned her, and her adopted parents treated her worse. She told me how they would cuff her to the bathroom sink and abuse her. She told me how hard her life had been with these guys who took advantage of her and abused her, but that's all she ever really had known. She told me that she had attempted suicide several times, but was treated for mental illness and taken to the hospital each attempt. Finally, she told me that her life had been nothing but constant pain, and the only person she ever had whom she felt really cared, was me. I was totally beside myself, because I felt completely and entirely to blame for everything that happened to her during the course of her life. I apologized and explained to her that I still loved her, but I knew in my heart that my apologies could never mend the abandonment she felt from me. She admitted that she still loved me, too, but could never be with me; that trust in me and in all people had been ultimately shattered. That was the last time I spoke to her for many years.

So, skip forward several of those years. I went through unbelievable mental anguish for quite some time, until I finally came to realize what I was doing- it wasn't solving anything, nor could I change the past. I heard from that same friend, that she had tried to overdose herself and landed in a mental institution. I knew at that point there was nothing I could ever say or do, and it all just made me feel that much more helpless. I started shutting myself off for a long time, thinking about things, and in the process losing my friends. Most of them didn't even try to stick by me when I truly needed them, and I guess that others, I just drifted away from- including my best friend. After a long time in solitude, I finally decided to turn my life around, and dedicate my pain and wisdom to something more positive. I decided to start helping others as my sole purpose.

It was the end of my high-school years, so I began dedicating more time toward my new passion than ever. People from every quality of life imaginable began flocking to me, but one person stood out from the rest. There was one girl in particular, who felt suicidal and completely unloved, and she reminded me a lot of you-know-who. For several years we spent our days talking to each other, and I would give her insight that I had learned through the trials of others. I felt that she cared about me deeper than friendship could go, but to prevent history from repeating itself, I kept urging her to find someone and follow her dreams. Without ever asking how I truly felt about her, she took my advice, and I suppose that she understood why I took that route. When she finally had moved on past her problems and found happiness, she told me that she had always felt that I was looking out for her like a guardian angel. She was the one who deemed me GuardianZack. Sadly, I never really got a chance to say thank you, because her life got busy and, slowly but surely, I was forgotten.

But the name stuck.

I started using it as a screen-name, but then others began associating me with it everywhere I went, including offline. I continued to spread good, and to help every person I came in contact with, no matter how great or small the issue was. It became so much more than a screen-name, but represented my past and who I was as a person. People would refer to me as Guardian, even when they didn't know my first name; I even sign my name with Guardian instead of Mr. sometimes. It isn't just a nickname to me, but it's part of who I am.

Just a few years ago, I found her again. She had moved on to get engaged, have several kids, and told me that she was alone. I told her that I still loved her, and that I wanted to be with her. I'm not one to see or understand why marriage is so important, and although I don't want my own children as not to take up my time dedicated to the world, she was what spurned me on to begin with. I had been engaged before, because I knew it was important to the person I was with at the time as far as their religious beliefs were concerned, but that bond still meant nothing to me as a person. But finding her again- I wasn't about to let that go without doing everything in my power to show her just how much I did indeed love her, and with her, that bond truly meant something. I offered to marry her, and to be a father-figure to her children. She told me that she still loved me, and wanted to give it a chance.

For the next several months, I hardly had a chance to speak to her. She kept making excuses to avoid meeting me face-to-face, but kept promising that we would be together soon. That's when I found out she was already engaged. I found out through a friend of his, and according to him, she had been known to cheat and make drama in the lives of many men. She tried to apologize and make it all sound reasonable, but could no longer cover up her own faults. It took me until that point to realize that, all the way back to that first school dance and kiss, she had made promises while with someone else. She fed off of the drama, and in my guilt and shame, I had dedicated my life to helping other people in her honor. It took that blow to realize, I had been blaming myself for over a decade as to how her life had turned out, when her actions had little to do with me. The truth finally smacked me in the face, that no matter what I felt that I had done, she made her own choices in life, and undoubtedly used my feelings as a weapon all along. It hurt, but it finally set me free, also. I finally felt free of the pain I had accused myself of inflicting, and relieved myself of trying to protect the world as a means of making amends.

That is when I also realized my own selfishness.

All this time, I had been calling myself a Guardian, and using the problems of other people to make myself feel better about what I had put her through. I wasn't helping people out of love and compassion, I was doing it to mend my own wounds. I had to ask myself, was I any better than her? Through my new-found clarity, those wounds have long healed, yet the scars remain. Those scars remind me of my own imperfections, and how I used my power for personal gain. But I have to take my own advice, as I have told many people in the past:

"Mistakes are just wisdom in disguise. Instead of allowing your faults to push you into those same mistakes forever, learn from them. Nothing good can come from blaming yourself without forgiveness, but if you instead use that knowledge to forgive and better yourself, others can ultimately learn from that example."

Since then, I've began to change drastically. I no longer help people because it makes me feel better. I don't listen and take interest because it will somehow mend my past mistakes. I don't do it because I expect something in return, nor do I do it for god or morality's sake. I do it because it's part of who I am; it isn't what gives me purpose, but it is my purpose. And I just hope, that someday when I am gone, Guardian will remain as a reminder. Not as a reminder of my accomplishments and failures, or even me as an individual. I simply want people to never forget what my life stood for, and if that can continue to help people even long after I'm gone- use that wisdom. Remember to love people for the right reasons, and treat yourself with that same love. Remember to listen instead of always being heard, and try to understand where other people are coming from, because they have reasons for what they believe in just like everyone else. Remember to have respect and tolerance for all life, no matter how great or small, because everything has a purpose; in that way, we are all just as equally important in our existence, no matter how different those purposes may be.

So, you asked me what my user-name means. It's much more than that. I hope it gets people to stop and think, and all that I am will shine as a symbol of peace and compassion. We all have a guardian angel inside of us, and we make a difference in the lives of others, as they in turn do for us. It may be something subtle, or that you don't even realize, but we each help compose the story of life in some way- and sometimes that contribution can leave an everlasting impression.

I am, and always will be, GuardianZack.

greenluigi : I understand that you are new, so this is alright. Just make sure that you understand what each forum is for before posting. Although it's great that Vizzed has helped you out, this forum is more about explaining yourself, and what makes you unique in detail. This really doesn't qualify as information about yourself, but instead a shout-out to Vizzed; which is nice, but can be spammy.

If you would like to add more to this, just let me know, otherwise I'll remove it after a little while.

Don't worry, most people have trouble deciding which forum to post in at first, but it gets easier with time. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me or any of the staff. Thanks for being a member

I loved that game, but it still had a lot of areas where it could have been better. The masks, for instance. There could have been more, and they could have had more usefulness overall. It just lacked the action and feel that Ocarina of Time provided, although I'm not entirely sure why that is. The creepiness factor was on par, though. I often wished that Zelda games were more in-tune with their older players.

WarpStarFerret : I would have to go with Magikarp. You can just see the malice in his beady little eyes.