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Player of the Week: Grumilla (Date Posted: January 25, 2008) 
Real Name: TimAllakhazam Name: Gilfendel Character Name: Grumilla Character Race: Vah Shir Character Class: Shaman Deity: Agnostic (it was my only choice) Server: Rodcet Nife / Quellious Guild: Dragons of Exile Guild Website: http://DragonsOfExile.guildportal.com Guild Rank: Former Guild Leader; Currently the Flagging Officer Length of Time in Guild: I joined DoE about 3 ˝ years ago. Real World Location: I live in Dallas, Texas Career / Employment Industry: I'm a .Net Developer Hobbies: EQ of course! Family? I'm married and have a 13 year old daughter. A Biography: I've been playing for a little over 4 years. My original main was Grumilla, but at about level 19 I started a ranger and played him for the next couple of years. Eventually I dusted off the Shaman and rediscovered the fun of playing the class. I joined Dragons of Exile about 3 ˝ years ago and eventually became an officer and class leader. Then, as happens to guilds from time to time, we had an implosion and the guild nearly folded. People left, the former leader quit playing and the guild went stagnant. Eventually, the leader asked me to take over and try to rebuild it. I started from scratch, recruiting new members straight from the tutorial. I wanted my core group to grow up fighting and dying together, to be a family. It seems to have worked. DoE has gone from Kurns Tower to Anguish and beyond in just under 18 months of slow steady progression. My work schedule recently forced me to resign as leader, but I still play when I can, and offer advice and help to our new leader. Besides EverQuest, what other MMORPGs have you played? I played EQ2 for a very short while, but it didn't hold my interest. How did you find out about EverQuest, and when did you begin playing? I read an article about it on the internet around the time PoP had just come out. They talked about how people were on waiting lists to kill the end bosses. This got me interested. Then I discovered someone at work who played, and after talking to him, I decided to give it a try. Do you know anyone in real life who plays EverQuest? Yes, a couple of co-workers and a few guildies. How did you come up with your main character's name? The name Grumilla came from a Discovery Channel show I watched once about polar bears. One of their favorite bears was a huge magnificent beast they called Grumilla, which was equivalent to "gentle giant" in Russian. What factors affected your choice of race / class for your main character? I chose a Vah Shir Shaman because I loved the look of them: Tall and regal looking, and claws you don't want to mess around with! About how often do you play EverQuest, and how long is a typical playing session for you? I usually log on for an hour or two in the evenings after work to check on the guild, welcome any new members and say hello. I usually play for several hours on the weekend while I'm watching football. How do you spend your time in game? The last year an a half was spent working on rebuilding Dragons of Exile, getting members leveled and geared up, instituting a raid night and getting everyone their 1.5's. What other class/race combinations have you levelled past 35? I have a level 76 Wood Elf Ranger who was my main for a while. I have a level 53 Froglok Cleric and a level 65 Iksar Shadow Knight. Approximately how much of the EverQuest world have you experienced? I'd guess about 85% to 90%. I've been to about every zone with the exception of the high end raid zones and instances in the newest expansions. What is your favourite expansion? Depths of Darkhollow. I love the way it was set up with mission arcs with very nice rewards for completion of the arc, cursor loot for everyone in the group on the individual missions, plus a chest with even better loot to roll on. I just like everything about it. If you don't have access to cultural armor, this is one of the best places to gear up a toon. What is your least favourite expansion? Probably Gates of Discord. It was confusing and flagging was tough. Great loot though! What is your favourite zone? It's a toss up between the Ruins of Old Paineel and Lower Guk. Two GREAT zones! I always had fun in those zones! What is your favourite NPC? The little beggar in Butcherblock near the docks. Give the little guy a break; he's going through a rough time. What is your favourite raid encounter (if different from NPC)? The ranger 1.5 fight in Bloodfields. We worked so hard and failed so many times... I get immense satisfaction now that we can beat it every time without breaking a sweat. If the war between Firiona Vie and Lanys T`Vyl erupted again, which side would you take? Firiona Vie, the forces of Light need the help, because, as the great Dark Helmet once said, "Evil will always defeat Good, because Good is stupid." He must be proved wrong! Describe your most memorable moment or proudest accomplishment in game. Seeing my guild defeating 1.5 and 2.0 raids makes me beam with pride. When I took over as leader 18 months ago our big “raid” night was grinding in Kurn's Tower, now we're about to move into Anguish. I've never been with a better bunch of people!! What is the largest amount of platinum you have ever had at one time, and how did you go about accumulating it? I have about 700k right now, about half of that came from a Legends of Norrath Starter pack that dropped for me in the Hive. Someone offered me 400k for it and I jumped at it (unbelievable!). The rest is from grinding and selling the tradeskill drops for the new expansion. I'm saving up for a set of cultural armor for my Shammy. What are some things you would change or implement in order to improve EverQuest? I'd let people deposit platinum in the guild bank and I'd put in a filter for the Legends of Norrath <systemwide> spam that annoys me every time I log on. I'd also make tradeskilling a bit easier so that players without millions of platinum in their bank will have a chance at getting and buying cultural armor. What types of spells, skills, disciplines, and/or alternate abilities would you like to see added to your class? The newest expansion really took care of a lot of those things. Shaman have needed an AA slow for a long time. We also now get a limited forage for those hard to find alchemy components. However, Shaman still need an upgrade to their Cripple spell, an AC Buff that stacks with Focus/Sta/Agi and some sort of limited Mana regen. It should be better than the beastlord spell, but not as good as the enchanters spell. If you were responsible for organizing and running a GM event, what would it be and how would it play out? I always wanted to run a wedding ceremony, but about halfway through, the wedding party would be surrounded by an army of orcs on one side, led by Emperor Crush himself. On the other side would be a large band of bandits, let by the bandit Princess. Instead of attacking, they would ask for a temporary truce, because a wedding of such moment requires even the bitterest of enemies to stop fighting, if only momentarily. Crush and the bandit Princess would approach the couple getting married to present them each with a gift, but they would kidnap the couple and vanish. I would send the wedding spectators on a mission to rescue the couple. The Player(s) who rescue the couple would get a reward and a title of their choice. If you had to start over from scratch, what race/class combination would you choose? I'd still be a Vah Shir Shaman, chicks dig the furry tail! J What is next for you in the world of EverQuest? I'll continue to help my guild grow and become more powerful. ** Pick the winner in a battle between... Qeynos vs Felwithe - Felwithe, the High Elves may look fruity, but they're tough customers! Innoruuk the Prince of Hate vs Cazic Thule the God of Fear - Cazic Thule... I mean... look at him! He's a badass! Giants of Velious vs Akhevans of Luclin - Velious giants are wusses. Muramites of Discord vs the Drachnids of Darkhollow - I've fought both, and I can say that the Drachnids would destroy them. Tradeskilling vs Questing - Questing... hands down! Instance Zones vs Static Zones - Instance zones. No goobers training the zone, making fools of themselves in /ooc or trying to steal your camp. Monster Missions vs Project M (PvP as Monsters) - I'm not a PvP'er. Soloing vs Pick-Up Groups - Pick-up groups are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get, but it'll probably kill you in the end. Guild Raiding vs Grouping With Friends - Grouping with guild friends. GM (real people) Events vs Scripted (computerized) Events - The GM events I've been involved in have always degenerated into a big mess. Every jerk in Norrath seems to be online anytime a GM event starts, so I'll go Scripted. Arena Royal Rumble vs 1-on-1 Duel - Again, I'm not a PvP'er Faydwer vs Odus - Faydwer... especially with the SoF expansion! Maybe it's just me... but shouldn't those Rangers in Kelethin have discovered all that land in SoF at some point? Kunark vs Velious - Kunark!! Where would we have been without those Epics? Planes of Power vs Gates of Discord - Hmm... My two least favorite expansions. Let them duel, maybe they’ll kill each other and we'll be rid of them both. Depths of Darkhollow vs Omens of War - Wow, two of my favorite expansions. Have to go with DoDh! Whoever came up with MPG and the trials deserves a medal though. Brilliant!! Bard vs Enchanter - First round knock out. No chance for the Enchanter in this fight. Monk vs Rogue - A truly epic battle. The Monk has mend, but I have to go with the Rogue, they're sneaky and fight dirty. Paladin vs Warrior - In a one on one battle, the Pally destroys the meat shield. Allakhazam vs Illia - Is this a trick question? I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I'm not the dumbest either. Alla FTW!!!!
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