Real Name: Don
Character Name: Otsego Undead the Faydark Gatherer
Character Race: Iksar
Character Class: Necromancer
Deity: Cazic-Thule
Server: Saryrn (Mithaniel Marr born)
Guild: Coalescence
Guild Rank: Member
Guild Website: http://coalescenceguild.com
Length of Time in Guild: 2 months
Real World Location: Massachusetts, USA
Career / Employment Industry / Current Level of School: Freelance Web Developer, College (Bachelor Degree)
Hobbies: Photography, Web Design and Development, Graphic Design, Soccer, Billiards, Drawing, EverQuest.
Family? Father, Siblings, Girlfriend
Allakhazam Name: Otswego
Your Website: http://burnsphotos.com (currently under re-design)

Besides EverQuest, what other MMORPGs have you played?
Diablo, Diablo 2.

How did you find out about EverQuest, and when did you begin playing?
A friend got me into it when Kunark was released.

Do you know anyone in real life who plays EverQuest?
Yes.

How did you come up with your main character's name?
It's an old Static-X song.

What factors affected your choice of race / class for your main character?
Iksars naturally have higher regeneration, armor class and fire resist. They have always been my favorite race, mainly because Kunark's lore is very interesting. To this day it is still my favorite expansion. I picked Necromancer because of all the different things they can do. We can live through any situation and if creative, can pull things off that other classes would not have a chance too. Being able to explore without worry is a nice thing also. We may not be as good as rogues, but we have a lot more tricks available to us.

About how often do you play EverQuest, and how long is a typical playing session for you?
Many people see my character online nearly 24/7, but that is basically because at night I am a bazaar trader and during the day I can AFK anywhere and anytime I want to, Necromancers can do that. With the nature of my career, I'm also able to camp rare spawns and do general non-group activities while at work.

For any given non-raid day, I'll be online actually doing something for 6 hours or so.

How do you spend your time in game?
I love to explore older zones a lot, least the ones that haven't been ruined with revamps. I help others when they ask for it and work on every quest I can get my hands on. I've collected clickie and wacky items from various places ever since I got my first, Bracer of the Hidden, back when the Lake of Ill Omen had 150+ people in it nightly.

What other class/race combinations have you levelled past 35?
Otsego Undead - 75 Iksar Necromancer
Sladeo X - 54 Iksar Monk
Sladex - 45 Iksar Warrior (deleted)
Sladez - 42 Half Elf Bard with Iksar Hide Mask
Slades - 39 Iksar Shaman (deleted)

Approximately how much of the EverQuest world have you experienced?
80% would be a safe estimate, since I have not seen any of TBS.

What is your favourite expansion?
Kunark, it had the best lore and content. It also introduced the Iksar race and is when I began playing. Many of my favorite zones are from the Kunark Expansion.

What is your least favourite expansion?
Legacy of Ykesha, it introduced little-to-no raid content and the group content wasn't very interesting. The highlight of the expansion was seeing the Frogloks kick the Trolls out of Grobb. Other than that the rest was dull and lacking.

What is your favourite zone?
That's a tough choice, I'm stuck between Plane of Mischief, Chardok and Charasis. But in the end, I'd choose the Plane of Mischief because some of my favorite NPCs were from the Plane of Mischief. Most rememberable was 'Life', a spectre who Death Touched you when you hailed him. There was also the dancing Sphinx's that did the macarena on request and a giant hand named Pinky Ekkolofezznaboten II, who responded to knock knock jokes with a knockback that would send you flying. There was also 4 shadowmen in the Upside Down Ring named 'You', 'Shall', 'Not', 'Pass' and the 4 scarecrows named 'Mees', 'Gono', 'Keel', 'Uuuz'. The zone in itself was one of the most unique things in the game. I really wish SoE would bring it back to its original version.

What is your favourite NPC?
I would say Vaniki is my favorite NPC, mainly due to the fact that she is still one of the most illusive NPC's in the game. I've spent more time figuring out her spawn patterns than any other NPC in the game, including the Ancient Cyclops of the Southern Desert of Ro. Even through all of the expansions that have been released since Velious, that little Chetari puts up one hell of a fight, something I personally don't think even Zlandicar can do anymore. She is the only NPC I can think of that does not have a set respawn time or a placeholder. We are helpless to do anything except wait for her to show herself, at any random moment; this makes Vaniki my favorite NPC in the game.

What is your favourite raid encounter (if different from NPC)?
I would say Lord Nagafen and Lady Vox, back in the old days when everyone was on a more level playing ground and the gaps between gear were not as dramatic from person to person. Back in a time when you bagged your normal gear and put on whatever resist gear you could find, even if it was mage summoned. Back when anything less than 4 groups would have absolutely no shot at winning or coming close. These raids stick out in my mind the most and are where I learned the term 'raiding', these are what started it all for me. Even years later as people started gaining levels 53 and higher, they were helpless to assist in anyway but buff. I liked that part of the encounter, because without that, the encounter would have become trivial and less significant and rememberable to me.

If the war between Firiona Vie and Lanys T`Vyl erupted again, which side would you take?
I would side with Lanys T`Vyl. In the war of good vs. evil, I stick by my evil roots.. even if she is under Innoruuk's influence.

Describe your most memorable moment or proudest accomplishment in game.
My most memorable and proudest moment was completing my Scythe of the Shadowed Soul (Duck Stick - Necromancer Epic 1.0). It was back in my <Veritas Arcanus> days, which in and of themselves were my most memorable and proudest moments each and every raid or gathering of any kind.

It is the people you accomplish things with that make those proud moments memorable, it is the people you accomplish things with that cause this game to grow as it does and personally the reason I kept playing and came back to the game.

What is the largest amount of platinum you have ever had at one time, and how did you go about accumulating it?
The largest amount of platinum I've had at once was 7,500,000 and change in mid-2004. I only managed to save half of it before quitting for three years, but it was a good amount to come back to the game with. I was able to catch up quite well.

I accumulated it by playing the bazaar, farming my normal spots in Chardok, Chardokb, Plane of Hate, Plane of Fear and Plane of Torment, among other zones. My biggest seller was by far the Ceramic Shackles of Torment from Plane of Torment, selling at about 200k a pop back then. I was usually able to make one or two a day solo.

What are some things you would change or implement in order to improve EverQuest?
I would simply listen to my customers requests/petitions and work on a way to prevent the rampart hacking that is going on. It's the customers that make the game and I think that needs to be remembered now and again.

What types of spells, skills, disciplines, and/or alternate abilities would you like to see added to your class?
I would like to see a lich spell with a non-standard skeleton model at level 75 (rottingbone skeleton or even the red skeleton would be nice to have again).
I would like to see a non-skeleton/spectre pet, but thats not very important.
I would like to see an upgraded twitch spell, the last one we received was Sedulous Subversion at level 56.
Other than that I am happy with my class, I don't have many complaints.

If you were responsible for organizing and running a GM event, what would it be and how would it play out?
I would like to see more racial discrimination in the game, as bad as that sounds.

Since the Nexus and Plane of Knowledge, all races seem to be tolerant of each other, having no discriminations whatsoever. I would like to see the Iksars at war against any given town and the good races going against the evil races. It would be interesting to see towns taken over by another race temporarily, such as Iksars overtaking Freeport -- Something similar to the Troll vs. Froglok wars, where Frogloks took over Grobb temporarily.

After a while, massive amounts of humans and other allied races could overwhelm the Iksars and kick them out, but it would be interesting if an event like that happened once per week or so, having different outcomes each time, especially if players intervene.

Perhaps the races with towns taken over would receive some temporary benefit until the city was liberated.

Something like this would bring the community together more often and make the game a lot less raid-oriented, without being straight racial PVP.

If you had to start over from scratch, what race/class combination would you choose?
I would play an Iksar Monk again. I currently have one at level 54, but he is no longer my main or even a played alt. Monks are a lot of fun to play and have similar if not better ability to explore areas unharmed. Instant feign death is something I'm envious of monks for having. But honestly, if I had to start over, and it wasn't on a type of progression server, I don't think I would continue playing.

How do you describe EverQuest to your coworkers or computer-illiterate friends?
In the end it's just a game, it's not hard to explain at all. Instead of it being two to four players, it's anyone that decides to connect to it. Besides being in your living room, the players are all across the world.

What is next for you in the world of EverQuest?
I'm currently working on catching up to old friends that have been playing the three years I've been away from the game. Since November I've jumped from 4200hp to just over 10,000. I'm currently working on maxing tradeskills and helping anyone who asks, as long as I'm not raiding. On the raiding aspect, we are currently doing the Demi Plane of Blood, Deathknell, and other similar targets. What's next will be taken as comes, not even I know what may happen next.

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

Felwithe vs Neriak - Neriak
Solusek Ro, Lord of Flame vs Karana, the Rainkeeper - Solusek Ro, Lord of Flame
Muramites of Discord vs the Drachnids of Darkhollow - Muramites of Discord (I hate Drachnids)
Tradeskilling vs Questing - Questing
Instance Zones vs Static Zones - Static Zones (I love guild competition)
Monster Missions vs Project M (PvP as Monsters) - Project M (I hate monster missions, especially Dains)
Soloing vs Pick-Up Groups - Pick-Up Groups (Soloing and MMORPG seem kind of weird to put together in my opinion)
Guild Raiding vs Grouping With Friends - Guild Raiding (Grouping with friends comes hand-in-hand with raiding)
GM (real people) Events vs Scripted (computerized) Events - GM Events (Who would want to know exactly whats going to happen next?)
Arena Royal Rumble vs 1-on-1 Duel - Arena Royal Rumble!! (Learn who your friends are very quick in these situations)
Faydwer vs Odus - Faydwer (I am the Faydark Gatherer after all)
Kunark vs Velious - Kunark (my homeland)
Planes of Power vs Gates of Discord - Planes of Power (awesome raid content)
Depths of Darkhollow vs Omens of War - Depths of Darkhollow (fun raids)
Bard vs Enchanter - Bard (Running speed for the win)
Monk vs Rogue - Monk (More of a fun class to play)
Paladin vs Warrior - Paladin (Heals and Resurrection in a warrior-like package)
Allakhazam vs Illia - Illia

Rooftops Dragon Necropolis	Tower of Death West Cabilis	Arena West Cabilis
Ruins Lake of Ill Omen	Windmill Lake of Ill Omen	Outside Chardok Burning Woods
Royal Chambers Chardok	Central Hub Charasis	Outside Kurn's Tower Field of Bone
Outside Old Sebilis Trakanon's Teeth	Fear Portal The Feerrott	Innoruuk's Domain Plane of Hate