Not entirely sure what a meme is, but apparently it’s when you talk about yourself. Is it a youmeme if someone else asks you to talk about yourself? Or maybe a meme is already when someone asks you to talk about yourself.

I might need some beer.

Anyway, the ever so lovely (in a stab you in the face kinda way) Girl IRL started the latest chain, and I’ll play along though I’m not sure how I feel about being probed multiple times… The Homunculus kicked it over to me, which is pretty cool. I kinda feel like a community member now! Without further ado..

 1. What is your current main character’s name (or names, if you play multiple games)? Explain how you chose the name.
Ah, well. Preferring my anonymity, I’ll stick to Grimnir. It’s not original by any means, but I have plenty of names out on Praag. I got off on a huge Slayer kick, and Grimnir is an epic name to bounce around with.

2. What was the name of your very first character in an MMO? Explain how you chose that name.
I started out playing DnD, so there were a couple epic characters that I still pull out names for. Vilani was my first convert to an MMO back when Ultima Online was still 2D only. DnD-wise, he was an Elf rogue-mage lead of a mages guild, and shadow-lead of the thieves guild. Pretty epic sort of guy. When I started running my own games he became a minor god of the spellthieves.

I once aspired to be a fantasy novelist, with a rather hefty volume since abandoned.

3. Have you kept a specific name through various games, or do you tend to change your naming habits based on the individual game?
Tough to call on this one, typically I’ll pull names from my DnD games that strike me as particularly epic, but they’re not really reused. I stick moreso to common naming conventions as per race, and shy away from the pointless or mundane names. Dwarves should have dwarf-y names, Elves should have elf-y names. Etc. etc.

4. Do you ever reserve names, planning to use them for characters that you might play later? If so, what are they and why do you hold on them?
Nah, plenty of names to be had. The only thing that bugged me was when my Squig Herder had to move servers when Chaos Wastes closed. Couldn’t keep my name, so I stopped playing him and flipped to Order on Praag.

5. Of the three common archetypes in MMOs — tank, healer, DPS — which is your current main character?
Heh, current main character. That’s funny… My R40 is an Engineer. Also playing a Slayer, White Lion, Bright Wizard, and started out on an Archmage a couple days ago. I guess that’d make me a DPS’er, but I can play just about anything decently. Archmage makes for an interesting playstyle with the balance mechanic, I am enjoying it.

6. What archetype was your very first character in an MMO? Why did you choose it?
Ultima Online didn’t really have archtypes, but he was an archer by all means. I suppose if I go back even further,  I used to MUD it up as a Monk. That might be a little too far back for some people though.

7. Are you usually attracted to one archetype over another, or do you play them equally? Why?
I’m a team player. When there’s a class in need, I’ll roll it up, and rock it out. Lately we’ve been a bit short on healers, hence the Archmage.

8. What is your favorite feature from an MMO you no longer play?
Geez, tough question. There’s so much to choose from… I guess it would be along the lines of player-created content from the likes of UO houses, or Shadowbane cities. In UO you could (and really should at all times) lock up your house, but it was free game for people to invade. Shadowbane cities were great in the sense of belonging to a guild and seriously defending the place if a Banestone landed on your porch.

9. Is there an MMO that you would play if it was free? Which and why?
Nah. I played Dungeon Runners for the crazy goofy take on MMO’s for about 2 weeks. F2P MMO’s just aren’t for me. People don’t value what they have and tend to be much more sporadic. It’s also a nasty habit to get into if you’re a hardcore player since there’s SO many F2P MMO’s out there to get into at any given time. I have to say, there’s a few that look interesting, and the quality has definitely come up a large amount over the past  year or two. Still, if someone isn’t willing to invest 15$ a month in a game, I’d rather not play.

10. How do you measure the success of a character in an MMO (total kills, titles accumulated, wealth, rare items collected, level reached, etc.)?
Tome unlocks are a great way to figure out how much you’ve seen in the game. I’m on the verge of 2000 with my Engineer. The Dammaz Kron addon for lifetime kills is pretty cool, though I wish I had started the game with it. Renown rank is a great way to tell how much time you’ve invested, We have one guy in our guild at RR65. He’s a sexy retarded pimp BW. I’m not a huge fan of epic set gear though. That just means you’ve grinded the same damn instance a couple hundred times. Not as epic, imo.

So that’s that there. These chain-letters make for an easy bit to blog about. However, I think I’m going to have to list all the past participators at this point so we know who’s been called out for what. How many links are we shooting for? Who knows! Homonculous did 4, Girl did 5 (but she started it), I’d guess between 3-5 would be OK?

Girl IRL Probes…
– Healer at Heart
– The Homunculus
– Wizards & Wenches
– Stylish Corpse
– Bio Break

The Homonculus Probes…
– Way of the Chosen
– Incoming Pull
– The Captain’s Blog
– Grimnir’s Grudge

I’ll even toss out a few! I want my buddy gobbo here at mmofansites Nazgum, gimme some Gaarawar (he had a pretty sexy rundown of all the Empire PQ’s), and finally, serve up some Pancakez and Omlettez for breakfast at war.