Noob joining the ranks

[sharkbit]

Hi.
First time poster here.

I just ordered my copy of SH3 on Friday and am looking forward to getting it like a little boy waiting for Christmas morning to get here. I can't wait.

I have been(and still am) a WWII buff since I was 12 or so. When I was in my late teens, early 20's, submarine warfare always held a special place and I enjoyed reading about it quite a lot. My step-dad had a copy of the old Silent Service computer game which I played on a Commodore 64 with a crappy monitor, but it was the best thing around at the time and I loved it.
Unfortuneately, I kinda drifted away from interest in submarine warfare due to demands of my job, getting married and raising kids, although I have found time to fit in study of other aspects of WWII.
Now, I'm 43 with a wife and 2 kids, and a puppy . Last week though, I was looking through my books and came across Edward Beach's "Run Silent, Run Deep" and started reading it. The fires started burning in my blood about submarine warfare. Of course I began wondering about what kind of computer games were out there now and discovered SH3 and SH4.

I've read all the reviews, discovered this forum and decided that I have to get this game. I've been looking at some of the videos and screen shots and it looks incredible. All I can say is WOW..we've come a long way from Silent Service.

I was scared of some of the reviews on SH4 and how buggy it could be, so I decided to get SH3 and give it a try.

So... here I am, anxiously awaiting my copy of the game and joining your ranks. I'm sure it will be an enjoyable ride.

Sorry for the rambling.

One more thing:
I've played online poker for about 4 years and am a member of a couple of forums. Sometimes, people on those forums can be quite snotty to noobs when they ask stupid questions.
I've been lurking here for the past week and reading a fair amount of posts and I haven't seen any of that type of behavior here. It's very refreshing. Everyone here seems very friendly and willing to help.