˙uɐɔ I ʍouʞ I ¿sıɥʇ op I uɐƆ

I have the strangest feeling that I may have slightly overplayed the beta for FFXIV: ARR although I only reached the end-content segment of the beta last night, which also served as the last time I will ever access to my in-game character as he is. Seeing the achievements of other players and even other members of this very forum slightly emphasises the fact that while I probably did better than average the highest level I achieved was 22. The game was quite fun for me though.

This is perhaps the first time I've ever really been able to play a game properly socially even though the limitations of a USB keyboard in combination with playing on the PS3 did somewhat limit communication. Despite now being a professional game designer (in a manner of speaking), I still find that my interests in games remains slightly niche even among my contemporaries - plus I still suck at the social thing anyway. I partied up with some TFFers during the beta, and healed with the semi-regularity that was expected from me which I think must make me a good team player. Also no screenshots because it doesn't work on the PS3 yet. Shamefully.

For some reason I feel like my English has been slipping as of late, and reading the previous paragraphs seem to be confirming this. This may be because of my lack of writing since the end of the last semester, and the nigh-ESL situation at my weekend job. It's jarring, given that this time last year I was striving for Queen's English in Tunisia in an effort to be understood through my accent - which although soft, seems to confuse foreigners, and make iteration necessary for individuals from places as far afield as Plymouth*. Last week my sister commented that I sounded very Scottish. I think that thanks to all of the episodes of Buffy and Storage Wars she's been watching, and her recent trip to Germany may have caused this.

Anyway onto the title of today's blog.

"In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: The police who investigate crime, and the Procurator Fiscals who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories."


Dun-dun

For the second time, I have been selected for jury duty, and this time I couldn't come up with an adequate excuse to get out of it (I'm not sure the last time was too adequate, but I have yet to be arrested for it so, meh). Today was the first morning of a week of making my way to Sheriff Court <img src="a few blog posts ago">, and although I entered the court feeling a bit apprehensive about the entire situation after going I again feel a twinge of excitement. Today was the first time I've ever stepped inside a court room or even a court house, and the first thing you notice when you enter a Scottish court is that the media which we all have instant and constant access to in the modern day world doesn't really serve as a great font of information on the Scottish court system. Sure, you can use Wikipedia and other more academic sources to study the theory of Scottish trials - but that's about it. Despite the above court there has never been a Scottish version of Law & Order, and although a murder trial was recently aired on television (first time ever?) I missed it. Simply put, the Scottish people - even the well-educated and well-read - have a general ignorance of the court system unless they have faced it personally. Fifteen jurors, three possible outcomes, and a court layout that vaguely resembles a board meeting. I think if I'm chosen for service I'll have to write a lot about it.

Unfortunately, I wasn't chosen today - because there was no trial today due to unforeseen circumstances that cannot be publicly divulged. In this case, I too am a member of the public, and do not know these circumstances. There will also be no trial tomorrow, and I am not required to attend - thank you prerecorded message for saving me from an early morning. But on Wednesday. I am going to juror the shit out of whatever case it is, if I get picked. I wanna know what a trial looks like damnit. I shouldn't know more about American and English trials than Scottish trials⁺.


"How now, brown cow?"
*The joke here - which I feel is necessary to explain since I'm currently in that state of tiredness where I feel a wee bit drunk - is that Plymouth is in England.
+Or for that matter, Japanese court cases thanks to the vague interpretations provided by the Ace Attorney series. Yes - pretend Japanese court is better known to me than real Scottish court.