Star Wars Galaxies: Player Spotlight: AschMhaRhee

Real Life First Name: Ilana
Forum Handle: AschMhaRhee
Main Character Name: Asche Mha'Rhee
Server: Starsider
Player Association: RS

Where in the real life world do you live? I live in Silicon Valley.

How long have you played Star Wars Galaxies? My husband Ruuke and I started playing in August 2003.

What other MMOs have you played? Just this one. We shunned MMO's because of their addictive nature and actually forbid the purchase of this game. One of our friends bought the account and gave it to us and in a moment of weakness, we got hooked and now have 12 toons on Starsider, Test Center Prime, Test Center, and Scylla.

What type of work do you do? After health problems forced me down from a high tech career, I have taken up the less stressful job of delivering lunch and dinner to two prominent high tech firms here in the valley. I also help my husband with his design firm and I dabble in vinyl decals.

How long is your typical gaming session when playing Star Wars Galaxies? Because of health issues that don't allow me to stand or walk very much, I play a LOT. On work days, I usually play for 5-7 hours and on weekends about 12-15 hours a day.

What does a typical Star Wars Galaxies day consist of for you? I wake up, grab a Coke from the fridge, and read the forums while my eyes are open. I usually spend the morning before work and a good chunk of my lunch time trying to help folks in the Tech Support and Tansarii Station boards. When I actually get down to game, I decorate, help guildies, tend vendors, loot for the family, catch/release new players, help anyone who seems to be in need, roleplay when I feel like it, and sometimes I just sit on a nice mountain top and watch the clouds go by.

What was the race and profession of your very first character? Asche is my original gal though she was Asch on Scylla before we transferred our hoard to Starsider in February of this year. In the early days, she was a Master Creature Handler with a little bit of carbine, medic and entertainer thrown in for good measure. She is human.

What got you into gaming and what sort of games do you like the most? I've gamed since Pong. I was that weird girl hanging at 7-11 to play on the Star Wars standup arcade game in the 80's. While gaming has been a part of my life since the 70's, it was my husband pushing me to build my first computer back in the mid 90's that really got me into modern gaming. He was getting annoyed with me always playing Myst and solitaire and not letting him get to his computer. Once I had my own machine, the gloves came off. We built our first null modem network to play Quake and Heroes of Might and Magic. We've been a house full of crazy gamers since. In the last 4 years, we've really only played SWG. I'm getting too old to keep up in the shooters now lol... motion sickness is not conducive to first person shooters.

What other hobbies or activities do you take part in, other then playing Star Wars Galaxies? We spent last fall fixing up my hubby's 1969 Chevy Nova and turning it into an Imperial Muscle car. I've been slowly working on turning our bedroom into one of the rooms from the old Myst game. Other than that, I'm an SWG gal, through and through.

What is your highest character level in Star Wars Galaxies? We have 12 level 90's on Starsider, and on Scylla and on TC. I am very slowly leveling toons on the new TCPrime but I don't think any of them are over 80 at this point.

What race and profession is your main character? Asche is a human Elder Jedi.

What do you like the most about the profession you have chosen for your main character? Pre-NGE, I loved to melee stack. My favorite pre Jedi template was Master Brawler, Master Sword, Teras Kasi Master. mmmm defense! I unlocked pre-CU but didn't grind her until after the CU when I figured out that MBH/Defender 4441/Healer 4000 was the best defense stacker in the game 1300/1300 defenses /giddy. It was a lot of fun to be that untouchable. I got very used to being the family tank, so the post-NGE Jedi is still pretty good for that.

What faction is your main character? Asche has always been Rebel, though there were those few weeks where I was spying on the Imperials while mastering all their pilot professions and poking around their retreat. =O

What is your favorite player owned ship? For rebel, I like the ADV X-wing.

What is your favorite ground vehicle? For Asche, the Command Barc, for Eniya (my staunch imperial), it would have to be the AT-RT for it's imperial overtones.

How did you choose your main character's name? Ash was the main character in a very obscure sci fi gamer movie called Avalon. It's a Polish film with English subtitles. I've heard from folks that speak Polish, that it's a horrible movie, but the English subs are great and it's a beautifully filmed movie about the drift between reality and game. Ash was taken when we started back on Scylla, so I choose Asch as an acceptable alternative.

Which current professions in Star Wars Galaxies have you NOT played? I have 12 toons lol. I have played them all.

What is your favorite expansion? Trials of Obi-Wan quests were really well done if you take the time to read them.

What is your favorite planet? Oh Naboo, hands down! Back on Scylla, because of city caps, we had to start our city on Dantooine and we were there until we transferred to Starsider. I will NEVER live on another brown, pink, or brownish pink planet again! I love the peaceful greenery of Naboo. Everytime I log in at our homestead outside of Kaadara, it's like going on vacation.

What is your favorite NPC? Borantok (461 257) on Kashyyyk. I just about fell out of my chair when he was talking about the bouncing Rodians.. sorry to all you Rodians out there, but it WAS pretty funny.

Which expansion do you like the least? I like them all a lot, but Kashyyyk didn't have enough content for my taste.

Which planet do you like the least? Lok. I can smell the stench from that nasty water/slime stuff and it's always too hot there.

Which NPC do you like the least? The Queen of Naboo. She should really be wearing something more appropriate to a Nabooian Queen instead of that Disney Princess look she's got going.

What is the most credits you have ever spent on purchasing a single item for one of your characters? I spent 125 million for a Dusk in Kachiro Painting.

Do you have an item you no longer use but keep around for nostalgic reasons? If so what is it and why do you keep it? My old CU era Jedi outfit with +25 to all the ranged mods. That was the most unsuspecting outfit and it helped me pack such a wallop. Nothin' like a good blaster by your side, kid!

What do you like best about Star Wars Galaxies? The community for sure. They have their ups and downs and trolls, but at the end of the day, they're a great family.

What do you get out of playing Star Wars Galaxies? I get to help people and that always brightens my day. It is also nice that I can feel like i'm being out and about even though I can't walk very much in real life.

Describe your best experience playing Star Wars Galaxies. There have been many but the one that really stands out is when Pex came out and granted me the accolade badge for being a credit to my profession for my work on the Shrine of the Elders on Scylla. In the end, the shrine was over 300 pearls in a sculpture built with tuned pearls from the individual Elder Jedi of Scylla. I spent months designing it and building it and the good players of Scylla got together and petitioned that I be granted the badge. It's the thing that I treasure most in the game because it really showed what the community could do.

There's an early pic of the Shrine here. That was half way through the build. At the end, it took up two structures.