Alter Egos

My life in other universes

Yes, I'm a gamer. Have been since before personal computers. I met my lovely wife during a pen-and-paper RPG session (Runequest); I was playing an intelligent (?) duck shaman (think medieval Howard the Duck). My first word to her was "quack". A quarter-century and three kids later, I'm a very happy guy.

Lochlyn — World of Warcraft

Yes, I'm part of the "world-wide phenomenon" known as World of Warcraft. Lochlyn works for Bill, the six-legged crocolisk, and you'll find them on the U.S. server named Terokkar. He's a dwarf hunter, specializing in firearms, engineering, mining, and treasure hunting.

As a young child, Lochlyn found a crocolisk egg abandoned on the shores of Loch Modan; today, they are inseparable. Which means I don't want to hear anyone complaining that Bill isn't an "optimal" pet for raiding! He works just fine, thank you very much. Ahem...

If I were actually in Azeroth, I'd be Lochlyn. Warcraft isn't very conducive to real role-playing, but that's okay, because Lochlyn is really just me. He's a jack-of-all-trades, with a pack of unsual engineering devices, a gun, and a friendly reptile buddy (who just so happens to have very sharp teeth.)

I'm not very big on the whole "horde vs. alliance" theme, and I don't spend much time playing PvP (player-versus-player). My interests are lore, exploring, raiding big dungeons, spending time with my friends, and working with my wife's characters. It's a great way to get away from the stress of the real world.

Lochlyn's Armory Page

Khorli — The Lord of the Rings Online

Khorli is a Guardian, which means he attracts monsters and annoys them while other people stand at a safe distance and kill the bad guys with spells and arrows.

I like the Lord of the Rings game system, and I've been a Tolkien geek from my high school days. I even took a college course in "Tolkien Studies" back in the late 70s — got an 'A', too, for a paper about how the true hero was Samwise. I remember long nights debating the dynamics of Gandalf's transformation after his death in Moria... and yes, I liked the movies quite a lot.

Khorli is still working his way toward the current level cap. Given my gaming focus on Lochlyn, Khorli sometimes languishes for weeks at a time wihtout getting any play time.

Online worlds can swallow your soul if you don't watch yourself; like a succubus, they offer a real good time, but the price can be steep if you're not careful. But dang-it, but these games are a bucket-load of fun... and even a succubus can provide an interesting experience, so long as you know what you're getting into...

Alanora — Guild Wars

Where to begin?

I don't play much Guild Wars anymore. I loved the game as originally conceived — unfortunately, the developers altered the gameplay, and the game gradually became more about time spent and less about creative character construction. So I moved on, while keeping an eye on developments for a sequel.

Alanora is my main Guild Wars avatar, a Krytan ranger with a Dune Lizard named Fluffy. The short version: When she finally charmed the lizard at level 17, she dismissed her cat, which had been named Fluffy. I forgot to rename the lizard, and after a while, it became something of a running joke.