Sorry for the intrusion...

[Annette]

I hope I'm not intruding, but I know many of you play Dominions and thought you might like to know:

News Release For Immediate Release


Dominions 3 Declares War On Productivity!
Highly Anticipated Multi-OS Fantasy Strategy Title Now Shipping!


Hampstead, NC, 29 September 2006

It's time. Call in sick to work or school. Tell them you ate some bagged spinach and
you're violently ill. Claim amnesia and say you don't remember ever working at the
office or going to that school. Or just say you've come down with a sudden case of
agoraphobia and if you step outside you're sure the squirrels, which have been plotting
all summer to bring you ruin and destruction, will finally make their move. Whatever
plans you have, wherever they may be, cancel them. For it is finally here. The game
you've been waiting for, the game that will cause you to climb the tallest mountain and
shout for joy.

Dominions 3: The Awakening has shipped!

It's news so grand that it's worth repeating, in case your mind is still reeling with the
implication of that last sentence. Dominions 3-you know, that fantasy strategy sequel
to the smash hit Dominions II: The Ascension Wars for Windows, Mac, and Linux-is
now shipping.

Did you pre-order? We hope you weren't waiting to pick it up at the store. You won't
find it there. Dominions 3: The Awakening isn't meant to be sold by some slack-jaw
yokel in a blue polo shirt, no it's a game of inner grace and rapture that is meant to be
carefully cradled in a USPS box, handled lovingly by the caring folks at Shrapnel Games
direct to you. At this very moment, indeed this very second, those caring folks are
sending out legions of Dominions 3 games to all of you waiting for the greatness to
arrive. Soon friends, soon. You'll receive the game and the nice, thick tome of a manual,
and fire up that first game on your PC, Mac, or Linux box. Bliss. Bliss on a CD. All
hail the Dom.

If you did not pre-order (Why?) then let's talk about what you're missing out on.
Dominions 3: The Awakening is the next installment in the best-kept secret of strategy
fantasy gaming on your computer. Turn-based in nature, the general theme is one easily
identifiable to gamers: conquer your opponents in a fantasy world spanning three Ages
and encompassing fifty playable nations. Where Dominions 3 veers away from the
conventional is in the sheer amount of gameplay.

Most games leave you wanting more. More units, more spells, more whatever. There's a
reason modding is so popular. With Dominions 3 you may still want to mod, but no one
is going to say they've been left with too little. Just within the basic, unmodded game,
you get over 1500 combat units, 600 spells, and 300 magic items. Basically imagine
taking a shelf of D&D books and cramming them into a computer game. Whatever your
play style, whatever your taste, you'll find it in Dominions 3.

Speaking of play styles Dominions 3 caters to both the single and multiplayer player
equally. If you enjoy playing against the AI you'll find plenty of maps to play on, with
the ability to easily import new ones or even create them randomly. If you enjoy mixing
it up against other players Dominions 3 supports a whopping twenty-one (live or AI)
players in a game! And because turns are handled simultaneously the game never drags.

Dominions 3: The Awakening is also the easiest game of the series to get into. The 299
page manual is highly informative, the interface has been revamped, and many of the
mechanics have been streamlined and/or made much more visible. You'll be jumping
into the game and spreading your dominion quicker than you can say, "Shib-Niggurath,
Dark Mother of a Thousand Young, We beseech You to destroy our enemies, for they are
as molten wax in your cauldron of hate!"

For more information on Dominions 3: The Awakening visit its gamepage at
http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Illwinter/Dom3/1.htm. Once you finish salivating over
the sheer grandeur the game offers head on over to the official Shrapnel Games e-store,
the Gamers Front at www.gamersfront.com/xcart/home.php and place your order. After
all, when the Awakening comes, you don't want to be left behind, now do you?

Please visit www.shrapnelgames.com for our complete catalog of the best independent
strategy games available anywhere. From fantasy to military to sci-fi, Shrapnel Games
has something for everyone. Well, we don't have anything if you're a radioactive mutant
gopher, but we're working on it.

[Ed Kolis]

No problem at all - thanks for letting us know, and you are graciously letting us use your forum space!

[Possum]

Really, Annette. How could it be intruding, when we're guests in your house to start with?

[Combat Wombat]

Indeed a few posts premoting shrapnel products now and then is hardly an intrusion.

[Phoenix-D]

Now, that mercifully-blocked sidebar..

(i kid, I kid)

[Caduceus]

That was a good chuckle for the day, Phoenix-D, especially when my internal voice reads it in "old Billy Crystal" style.

[Annette]

Thanks, guys! I remember a few years ago when I was hesitant to even read these forums. One time I was logged in and lurking when suddenly a new thread appeared, something like "there's a lassie in our midst!" Was that you, Mac? Sounds like him, doesn't it?

Phoenix-D said:
Now, that mercifully-blocked sidebar..

(i kid, I kid)

So I guess you might be upset if we were to start posting banner ads between posts?

[Phoenix-D]

So, Shrapnel's being aquired by IGN?

[Ed Kolis]

You were hesitant to even read these forums? The SE4 forums or the Shrapnel forums in general? Why, were we all that bad?

[Will]

I believe that was Mac that posted that thread, I remember it...

Oh, and I already read the release in the Dom3 forum. And got the email that my preorder shipped. Now, Annette, I can just send you the bill for this semester's tuition to the return address for the Dom3 package, right? Because y'all are responsible for me flunking out