Asherons Call: Quién es Taco Belle?

First I would like to say thank you for this interview Belle. Let's begin:
Tabu: Where do you live?
Taco Belle: I live in Florida, lightning capital of the world. Unfortunately the really bad storms knock out my cable modem and keep me away from AC all too often during the rainy season.

Tabu: How many characters do you play and on which servers?
Taco Belle: I have 40 characters on Leafcull. I do have some toons on other servers but only play there when Leafcull is down.

Tabu: Do you have a favorite character? If so, why?
Taco Belle: Taco Belle is my favorite. I've always preferred hunting my melee toons, and Taco was the first to reach lvl 126.

Tabu: How old are you?( ahem, you may say -29, 29 or +29, if you wish) :)
Taco Belle: I don't mind telling you my age, I'm 57.

Tabu: Are you really a girl? Boy? Hermaphrodite?
Taco Belle: I'm really a girl...or should I say old lady?

Tabu: How did you get started playing online games?
Taco Belle: A friend of my son's told me about a game he and his wife played called The Realm. It was made by Sierra and was the first online, multi-player game I had ever heard of. It sounded like fun, so I got the game and they helped me get started. I played The Realm for about two years.

Tabu: What is your earliest gaming memory?
Taco Belle: Creating characters, I remember how much fun I had just choosing eyes, hair, mouth, hair color, etc.

Tabu: Do you have male characters?
Taco Belle: Yes, I have half a dozen male characters. If I had any way now to change them all to females I would. Everyone calls me Belle no matter who I'm in game as, and being called Belle when hunting a male toon is a little hard to explain to people who don't know me. I also hate being called "Dude".

Tabu: Do you notice a difference if you play a male character instead of a female character?
Taco Belle: I do when people don't know it's me. Guys seem to talk a lot differently when they think there are no woman in a fellow.

Tabu: When did you come to join us in the world of Dereth?
Taco Belle: In December of 1999. I wish I had been in Beta but I didn't even know there was a game called Asheron's Call until it went retail.

Tabu: Do you have a favorite Quest? Why?
Taco Belle: Queen's Quest is my all time favorite. It was a quest I wanted so very much to do, I was so excited when I hit lvl 70 and could finally go. (Leveling was a lot harder back then). The first time I did Queen's Quest, my heart was pounding. We used a method that isn't used too often now. I was designated killer, and was told to jump down in the pit and start hacking away at the queen (this was long before tinkered swords) while everyone else remained above, healing me, replenishing my stamina, and killing the floor spawn. The Queen was so huge up close, I was in awe. I've never forgotten the excitement of that first Queen Quest.

Tabu: Besides AC, do you still play other games?
Taco Belle: No, I don't. I thought it would be nice to have another game so I would have something to do on patch days, and tried Horizon's, but I didn't like it at all.

Tabu: Have you based any of your characters on a favorite book, film or other fantasy?
Taco Belle: No, I haven't.

Tabu: What is your most vivid memory, good or bad, from playing AC?
Taco Belle: My most vivid good memory is that Queen's Quest. My most vivid bad memory stems from a hunt that went very bad for Taco when she was lvl 20+. I was hunting the swamp at Wai Jhou, and was LS'd there. A friend had opened the portal for me, and I ls'd because I liked hunting there. Taco didn't have item magic at the time. (She didn't have any magic skills then, didn't even get item magic until lvl 45). I died, and died again trying to get back to my corpse. Each time I died I would be at the Wai Jhou LS. The only way to leave Weijoi if there was nobody there to open a portal was to run to the Sho Roadside Portal, and I couldn't reach that either. I lost every bit of armor, my swords, just about everything I had, and with 40% vitae I was weak as a kitten.

Tabu: Do you use third party applications? What is your opinion about them?
Taco Belle: Yes, I use quite a few plug in's. I find them very helpfull.

Tabu: Do you have a favorite monster? Least favorite monster? Why?
Taco Belle: My least favorite monster would have to be a reedshark. I dreaded them when I first started AC. We didn't have buff bots and uber armor when I started, and reedsharks killed me often. I think I was around lvl 14 when I finally killed my first reedshark. I don't really have a favorite monster...

Tabu: What is your most treasured item and how did you come to acquire it?
Taco Belle: A Hoary robe. I'd wanted one for a long time before finally getting a hide. That may sound odd to people who now have Swarthy robes but I still treasure it.

Tabu: We all know that real life sometimes interferes with our game playing time, what keeps you busy in real life?
Taco Belle: Visits from family members.

Tabu: Did I miss anything that you want to talk about? If so, please tell me.
Taco Belle: I love AC every bit as much now as I did when I first started. I'm busy from the minute I log on until the minute I log off, usually in the wee hours of the morning when I can't keep my eyes open any longer. I'll never understand how people can get bored when there is so much to do. Between hunting, questing, tinkering, doing alchy/fletching/cooking, and just standing around the mansion chatting or answering tells my days and nights on AC are always filled, and there is always something new to look forward to each patch.