Susan Arendt is the Executive Editor of The Escapist Magazine, a job which among many other duties includes: overseeing the news team, fielding pitches, communicating with her army of freelancers all over the world and if she has time, write an article or two and interact with the ever-growing Escapist online community.

The Escapist has been huge supporter of Desert Bus since 2010 and Susan has been big reason for that. We are excited to welcome Susan back this year.

Susan will be calling in today, Monday, November 19, 2012 10:00am PST. Leave your questions in the comments!

Epic Games are the developer of the Unreal Engine, used by some of the most popular games ever made. Basically Epic has been helping us run around and shoot people we don’t like (and some we do) since 1998. Games developed using the Unreal Engine include Mass Effect, Borderlands, Bioshock, Epic’s own Gears of War series, and apparently a pinball game of some kind. We’re not quite sure how that one worked. This year Epic has graced Desert Bus with some awesome Gears of War swag. Horray!

Ever seen a picture of something awesome on Reddit? Did you know there is 38 percent chance you’re looking at something Harrison Krix of Volpin Props made?

World famous for his Daft Punk Helmets and his Half Life Gravity Gun, Harrison’s creations have raised tens of thousands of dollars for charity. And we’ve hit the big time! We have a Krix creation to auction off!

A replica of the “steel axe” found in the game Skyrim, this is 1 of only 3 such completed axes, and the only one that will be offered for public sale (well, donation). The detailed handle wrap is genuine leather, made by God Save the Queen Fashions. While we can’t guarantee that this axe will improve your gameplay for Skyrim or any other game, we are ready to definitively state that it will make you plenty more badass and awesome in general.  All its parts are handmade.

Harrison Krix, the man behind Volpin Props, is a mainly self-taught designer and maker of props and replicas. He works out of his garage creating stunning one-of-a-kind weapons, helmets and other props, many of them replicas of items from video games and films.

It’s being auctioned off on Tuesday at 6:00 PM PST, so be sure to tune in then!

Show off your generosity in style with three new items up for auction that will look great on your wall!

• A hilarious Xzibit “Yo Dawg” cross stitch by the amazing Mary Van Tyne guaranteed to pimp any room!
• Featherweight has created a set of four  paintings depicting the starting pokemon! Total geek chic!
• A magnificent Majora’s mask crafted by Anna Braumberge that would look great on any wall or anyone!

Obsidian Entertainment rose like a phoenix from the remains of Black Isle Studios after they closed in 2003. Since then they’ve found critical acclaim creating games Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, Alpha Protocol, and Fall Out: New Vegas. Their next game is a fantasy RPG that is somehow based on South Park. We can’t wait to see it! This year Obsidian has really raised the bar, donating signed copies of Fallout New Vegas, a signed and framed Fallout New Vegas poster and some incredible Wasteland 2 lithographs! Check out our prizes pages to find out how to get your hands on this stuff!

We asked you to submit a photo of you with your BFF and you all have so many friends that we are jealous!

For future challenges please make your pictures no larger than 1000 x 1000 pixels in size, and use the following file formats: JPG, PNG, GIF.

But as with the Highlander there can be only one winner, and that was Matthew Rasmussen of the Child’s Play benefiting game marathon Indie Games for Good. Possibly because he has so many friends (he’s the one in the light coloured t-shirt at the bottom).

Runner up was Isaac De King who dared to be friends with a sleeping Slenderman.

And here are the rest!

Dolphins! Scourge of the ocean! They make humans look bad by not polluting the world! Our last, greatest, hope is Bill! We asked you guys to create pictures of Bill fighting a Dolphin, and you delivered in spades!

Here’s the winner by Michael Northcott.

And the runners up!

Robert Ericson.

 
and David Craig!

And here’s the rest!

Four more auctions coming your way!

• An awesome replica of the Desert Bus by Punk Rock Zoologist that includes passengers! Create your own make believe adventures! Raise money for imaginary children! Just don’t pretend that Matt’s driving!
• Sarah Overall has made a full set of magnetic emoticons! Or in other words…  =P :O XD =D
• Bid on your own fancy schmancy Jayne hat hand-made by Tina Hollands!
• A high quality London Fog brand messenger bag emblazoned with the DC Comics logo and donated by Ken Steacy!

After much deliberation Cam has finally chosen the winner of his Desert Bus driver challenge! Congrats to Jon, who wins a set of From the Vault: Exiled, very generously donated by Wizards of the Coast.

Honorable mentions go to David and Donovan!

And here’s the rest of the entries!

We got a number of great submissions for the Dengler & Butts poster challenge, but the winner is…

Kia-Ora!

The rest of the amazing submissions are here: