Real Name: Tony
Allakhazam Name: Iluien
Character Name: Iluien
Character Race: Wood Elf
Character Class: Ranger (plus 6 year 2nd box Druid)
Deity: Tunare
Server: The Rathe
Guild: Terror Australis
Guild Website: Officer
Guild Rank: http://www.terror-australis.com/news/
Length of Time in Guild: Two and half years.
Real World Location: Melbourne Australia
Career / Employment Industry / Current Level of School: Chief Investment Officer for a trustee company.
Hobbies: Aside from EQ, music, movies and home renovation.
Family? Married, three daughters.

Besides EverQuest, what other MMORPGs have you played?
None, used to play a lot of RTS games C&C, TA, Starcraft etc etc, EQ was my first MMORPG and haven’t had the time or the desire to try anything else.

How did you find out about EverQuest, and when did you begin playing?
RTS games lost their way at around the time of Homeworld, became very predictable and boring so I said to the game shop guy one day, “what’s this thing like?” holding a copy of UO in my hand. He said try this its much better and handed me a copy of EQ. He was right :P That was at the time that Vazaelle was launched as a server (circa late Kunark), seeing it was the server at the top of the list, that is where I started.

Do you know anyone in real life who plays EverQuest?
Yes, I've met up with several people who I met first in game and made a several good friends as a result.

How did you come up with your main character's name?
Fiddled with the spelling of a game generated name till I got something that seemed wood elf rangerish that I could pronounce.

What factors affected your choice of race / class for your main character?
I was greatly influenced by the lore in the original game manual, well it was the Kunark release manual to be accurate. I wanted a non-evil, non-human, magic + melee combo. So the "free spirited" wood elves and the bushcraft + dual wielding of a ranger won out over the "honour and piety" of a stuffy high elf paladin.

About how often do you play EverQuest, and how long is a typical playing session for you?
I raid three nights a week for 4 hours each time, plus play 2 to 3 hours on off nights and Saturday or Sunday afternoons. Around 20 hours per week would be usual.

How do you spend your time in game?
Aside from raiding and preparing for raiding such as getting keys and doing flag missions, I mix it up between playing some lower level alts, doing spell/clicky quests, exping for AAs and haphazard trade skilling. I prefer to group, but wont hang around LFG for long and will go 3 box if groups aren't readily available.

What other class/race combinations have you levelled past 35?
Hmm, Wood Elf Ranger, Gnome Enchanter, Human Druid, Human Necro, Gnome Shadowknight, High Elf Cleric.

Approximately how much of the EverQuest world have you experienced?
Most of it I think. Never made it to Sleepers or Vex Thal and we are still to make it into some of the high end TSS and TBS instances.

What is your favourite expansion?
There has been something good for me in pretty much every expansion, Velious was very exciting, lots of anticipation and places like Kael, Skyshrine and ToV did not disappoint. I still think that DoDH is a very good looking expansion probably the best looking and the mission arcs are very good. But probably the two that I have had the most game play fun from at the time they were released have been Stonebrunt and Jagged Pines.

What is your least favourite expansion?
I think I would have to say Ykesha, it took me a long time to warm to it and is probably the expansion zones I have spent the least time in. But the UI enhancements were a plus.

What is your favourite zone?
For a long time I would have answered Stonebrunt. It’s a place that suited Iluien perfectly. Now though it is probably Stoneroot Falls (funny they have similar names, never thought of that before) SF is visually great, heaps to do, I love killing orcs, what more could you want?

What is your favourite NPC?
Krystal Aspen, she's a sweetheart.

What is your favourite raid encounter (if different from NPC)?
Vishimtar and Xegony. Both take a lot of hard team work and can't be beaten by just getting lucky. You have to execute the battle plan near to perfection and everyone has to contribute.

If the war between Firiona Vie and Lanys T`Vyl erupted again, which side would you take?
Hah, even my Shadowkight is an ally to Queen Firiona!

Describe your most memorable moment or proudest accomplishment in game.
Making the run from Kelethin to Qeynos at level 9 with three of my original EQ buddies (a dwarven warrior and a high elf wizard). Getting safely through Kithicor, Runneyeye and the Gorge, zoning into East Karana feeling extremely cocky and wiping to a crag spider, then a gnoll reaver, then an Evil Eye, sigh.

What is the largest amount of platinum you have ever had at one time, and how did you go about accumulating it?
Hmm, well I'm guild treasurer, but putting aside the guild funds for a moment :P, I guess it would be around 200K, mostly from selling CT and PoP weapons during the PoP era. I’m not much of a trader, don't have the patience for it.

What are some things you would change or implement in order to improve EverQuest?
Well, you can see from the length of time I’ve been playing and the amount of time I spend playing, I’m generally pretty happy with the game. Several of the AA lines are too costly in experience time for the doubtful benefits they give. This whole area needs to be redone, things like wards, cures, attack and pets are really messed up. Some of the hybrid disciplines have also become completely redundant and need to be replaced with useful and interesting disciplines.

What types of spells, skills, disciplines, and/or alternate abilities would you like to see added to your class?
I would like to see Druid dot stacking fixed. I would like to see Druid cold nukes brought back up the relative strength they used to have. I would also like to see the Druid group heal spell made more effective and the line expanded. Rangers just need their archery scaled back up a bit. I would like to see Enchanters made a bit happier, give them improved dire charm and put a few charmable mobs in high level/raid zones for them to use, boost there debuffing/cripple/weaken lines so that they are raid useful spells.

If you were responsible for organizing and running a GM event, what would it be and how would it play out?
I would focus on events that would be an encouragement to new players. The most worrisome thing about EQ these days is the huge void between the tutorial and the mid 60’s when you finally get to see what the rest of the game population is up to.

If you had to start over from scratch, what race/class combination would you choose?
Necro something, probably human, maybe gnome. As a ranger/druid, the thing I envy most in other classes is the ability to command a pet and to survive deep inside dungeons. Who can do that better than a Necro? :P

How do you describe EverQuest to your coworkers or computer-illiterate friends?
With great difficulty, I try to explain that it is a worldwide online community that plays a fantasy role playing game together and that is based on the same physics and risk for reward characteristics of real life. That we get together as elves, dwarves and ogres to kill giant dragons, at which point they roll their eyes and walk away laughing.

What is next for you in the world of EverQuest?
To continue progress through the raid content and to put back into the community so that others can share some of the immeasurable enjoyment I have experienced because of the hard work of other people.

** Pick the winner in a battle between...

Grobb vs Ak'Anon - Ak’Anon, the gnome wizzies mages and necros will fry the trolls in their own fat.

Giants of Velious vs Akhevans of Luclin - Hmm, Giants could field a very well balance force, Giants I think.

Saryrn, the Mistress of Pain vs Terris Thule, the Dream Scorcher - Sayryn hands down.

Muramites of Discord vs the Drachnids of Darkhollow - The Muramites would sic their doggies onto the spiders and sit around laughing as they chewed the spider’s legs off.

Tradeskilling vs Questing - Equally mind numbingly boring interspersed with tiny moments of excitement.

Instance Zones vs Static Zones - Instanced zones when I’m feeling antisocial, static zones when I get lonely.

Monster Missions vs Project M (PvP as Monsters) - Project M? Project M? Where have I heard that mentioned before?

Soloing vs Pick-Up Groups - Pick up groups, something for everyone and you never know what’s coming next, could be a trip to the circus, maybe wrestle mania, or even a couple of hours of super experience.

Guild Raiding vs Grouping With Friends - Ever since the days of listening to Smasheroo, Tormentica, Thundra and Calimyr talk about raiding Sebilis I have been a confirmed raiding fanatic!

GM (real people) Events vs Scripted (computerized) Events - Scripted events without graphics lag, please.

Arena Royal Rumble vs 1-on-1 Duel - Royal rumble, I’m also a wrestling fan :P

Faydwer vs Odus - Need you ask?

Kunark vs Velious - Hmm, SoV for the win.

Planes of Power vs Gates of Discord - Our gods versus their gods?

Depths of Darkhollow vs Omens of War - Spiders and Squids versus umm that other lot, I dunno, poisonous dogs and snakes that charm may win the day.

Bard vs Enchanter - Whew, what a fight!

Monk vs Rogue - Monks unless the rogue catches the monk asleep.

Paladin vs Warrior - Warrior, eventually, presuming they didn’t both die of boredom first.

Allakhazam vs Illia - Draw!