Can we get a description or a photo of your office/cubicle?
My cubicle, The Torture Chamber, was transformed back in October 2007. After Halloween ended, everyone kept asking me when I was taking down my Halloween decorations. I kept responding, "What's Halloween?" The Torture Chamber is currently in a state of disarray. I moved to a different location over the winter holiday break and haven't had time to put it back together the way I prefer it. Normally my cubicle is pretty dark, evil and uncluttered. Currently, its half decorated and half full of stuff that needs to be sorted. Yes Brenlo and Grimwell, I'm going to straighten it up soon!
Explain that mess on your desk. *g*
Oh no, who told? I really have been trying to find the time to clean it up! I have various evil creatures lurking about. I do just happen to already have the story written down for the Portrait of Zatozia the Torturess:
Back in 1999, a great artist from The Rathe Server, Quinne, Order of Polaris guild leader, drew this portrait of my avatar. Thanks again Quinne! The image was based on the screenshot version that was up on the Harpy's Head Tavern profile when that website was live.
Quinne, along with many other notables from The Rathe community, was deeply into roleplaying and I enjoyed interacting with him. As a ranger of Tunare he was destined to be my enemy, however, he never claimed as such and always tried to convince me not to torture and tried to mediate between me and others, especially during the great dark versus light war that took place. For this, he was spared from being tortured himself.
He sent me the artwork long ago and I printed it out. I didn't realize how big the actual size would be. I thought it would print out on an 8 ½ by 11 page. The image ended up printing out spread across nine 8 ½ by 11 pages. Oops!
I could have reprinted it using fit on page option but instead, I taped it together carefully and placed it within Jeff Butler's office, who was the Customer Service Manager at the time. I had planned to take the taped version home to get a frame for it but put it in Jeff's office temporarily to keep it from getting mashed up around my desk.
Later that day, John Smedley went into Jeff's office for a meeting of some sort and happened to see the picture. He came out of his office and asked me to send him the electronic version of the image. He then had someone get it printed out on quality poster paper and had it framed! Thanks again John!
Back in the day, it used to hang up on the wall of my office, however, as you can see, I have a cube now! Yes, I got NERFED! I had it hanging up at home for a while but once I came back working on EverQuest, I felt the need to set the mood for torture!
What are you ignoring so you can finish this Q&A?
I'm ignoring Brenlo, who happened to be looking over my shoulders while I was answering the first question. Actually, I have a few web articles that I'm ignoring. But I'm a work-a-holic though so I'll finish them before I permit myself to leave for the day.
When you look into your personal crystal ball, what do you see in the future for EverQuest?
I see the EverQuest franchise continuing for years to come.
Now for some in-game stuff. Do you still play fairly regularly?
Yes I still play regularly. Not as regularly as I would like to though due to having a busy personal life. I tend to take breaks from playing and then jump back into the game and play in marathon sessions with work breaks in between. It makes it hard to keep up with my guild though.
What class and race is/are your character(s)? What class and race do you prefer overall and why?
My main characters are a human druid and human cleric. Yes I know humans are good aligned character and not evil. Zatozia forgives me for it! I also enjoy playing wizards and warriors. I tend to like healers and classes that can do a lot of damage quickly.
Can we see what your toons look like please?
Sharing a picture of my play characters might give away their identity. However, I am willing to share some of Zatozia.
Do other players know which characters are you and/or do you have a 'stealth' character for when you simply want to play rather than manage?
When I log in to game to work, I usually log in with either Zatozia or a character that is not intended to be my play character. Those characters I don't mind telling people who they are. When I'm logged in to game to play, I usually log in at home and with my play accounts. Only a small amount of people know my play characters.
Are you in a guild? If so, can you tell us which one?
Yes I'm in a guild. No I will not tell you which one! For the protection of my /tell window and sanity, I don't like to reveal my guild. My guild has been a successful raiding guild though. Unfortunately, I don't get a chance to raid with them anymore due to my time constraints.
What are your favorite quests?
I enjoy all the epic quests because they give the classes a feel that they are following the path for their classes.
What areas in game are your favorites and why?
My favorite zone is Blackburrow because it one of the first dungeons most of my characters experienced. I even like the tree trap. Besides who doesn't like hearing the gnoll barking and running from trains? I also like the Plane of Earth and the Rathe Council raid from Planes of Power. I think its one of the best raids in the game. I'm sure people handle the encounter differently these days, but at the time it gave everyone a job to do throughout the fight. It made everyone feel equally important.
Which expansion have you enjoyed the most? I mean, we know the answer is, "ALL of them!" but there must be one that holds a special place in your heart. Which one and why?
The Planes of Power was my favorite expansion due to the raid progression. Lore-wise, I think Seeds of Destruction has jumped up amongst my favorite because of the history it unfolded.
What critters do you slay that bring you perverse pleasure at the end of a tough day?
Rats and Snakes! And yes, I mean the ones you find in the newbie yards. Back before changes were made to the model, I use to bounce over rats. Basically, I would run around the newbie yards, bump into a rat and it would force me to bounce over it. Afterwards I would then kill the rat! I like to kill snakes just to hear the sounds they make when they die!
Please add anything else that pleases you!
The EverQuest community is the true secret behind what has kept the game going for all these years. Thank you!
