Now for my embarrassing thread which consists of an embarrassing question and story.
Question: On this forum, the black shadow image next to the words Sins of a. What in the world is that?! I've been wondering since I first came to the site and it's driving me nuts.
Story: Because of my deep devotion to Sins of a Solar Empire - let me reiterate... because of my almost unhealthy obsession with Sins of a Solar Empire, I want Rebellion to be the best it can be. To that end, I offered my experience to Ironclad via e-mail as a beta tester, but never heard back. Now I'm a little embarrassed. I don't know why, but I feel like I made a fool of myself in front of a company I really like.
The e-mail explained that I've been working in Quality Assurance for 9 years. I test new systems we develop, report bugs, and suggest ways that the systems could be better. I also document much of our system. So I'm extremely technical. After 9 years in the business, I've developed a sharp eye and it's helped me become a very valuable asset to our developers. I hate sharing any of this because it sounds like I'm boasting and I never do that, but this is something I'm good at. On a side note, I don't want to be in Quality Assurance for the rest of my life. I have other career goals that involve writing sci-fi (and other genres), getting published, and being a chaplain like my dad. My company is paying for school so that's why I've been doing what I do.
Anyway, with my experience, I would love to be apart of the QA process for Rebellion because I want this game to be perfect. There are several reasons why I am so devoted to this game - one of which I can't talk about as it relates to my writing, but this devotion sent me running to the makers of Sins. I may be lacking the years of an experienced player and the talent of a modder, but I still have a good eye, devotion beyond any game I've ever played, and a passionate desire to further the excellence seen in the Sins franchise. Maybe my e-mail didn't make it or maybe it did, but they weren't interested. I'm okay with not being approved for helping test Rebellion, but I'm embarrassed for sending the e-mail. I just hope it got warm reception. Like: "We don't need a tester, but he sounds like a good guy who just wants to help."
If anyone has an embarrassing moment that is on your mind right now (a moment that is appropriate for sharing), please post (i.e., make me feel less embarrassed). 
