*sigh* Damn blog memes. Thanks Tobold. :)

Herewith, then, are five things you probably don’t know about me:

1. I ran over an old woman with her own truck. True story.
   
2. I graduated from a college with no grades – It’s true. The Evergreen State College offers a four-year undergraduate program with two unique attributes: Individual classes are interdisciplinary, and rely on evaluations for benchmarking. This is a fancy way of saying that I only took one course a quarter, and that course covered all aspects of a particular topic. The Evolutionary Biology course I took my junior year, for example, required a lab component, in-depth literary analysis of evolution texts, and a strong writing commitment. Instead of grades, I got a piece of paper with a description of how I’d done over the previous ten weeks. While I certainly don’t recommend it for everyone, I found that I got a lot out of it.
3. I’m ‘no good’ at playing Massive games – Actually, you probably already knew that from comments I’ve made on the site, but just to put it into words: I’m not a ‘good’ player. I’m actually not that great a gamer in general; a little writing talent and a little gaming talent go a long way in the right shoes. I have a lot more enthusiasm for the genre than I do actual successes in playing. I’ve never been a regular end-game raider, and I can only name two titles where I hit the level cap. I don’t have the focus or dedication to stick with one game at a time, and the patience required to be a good guild member escapes me. It’s funny, because a lot of times I feel like just what my about box says: ‘an enthusiastic cheerleader’. I’m not qualified to build or play, so all I can do is shout encouragement from the sidelines.
4. I used to be a programmer – Not a very good one, but that was what I was. My formal training in school made me ‘qualified’ to work on the backend system of an ordering company for university book stores. My interests lay in the direction of web programming, so I eventually graduated to working on the web front end for the ordering system; two long years of working with true Java in college resulted in salvery over hot Javascript in a soulless corporate environment. When I gave notice with my supervisor, he was happy that I was getting out.
5. I wrote a chapter, in a book, on Massive Games – I’m admitting this in tune with some of the other statements other folks have made, copping to things they’re not all that proud of. I will admit to having written the bulk of chapter 3 in the book Gaming Hacks. Specifically, I wrote hacks 28 – 33: Practice Proper MMORPG Etiquette, Understand MMORPG Lingo, Grind Without Going Crazy, Make a Profit in Vana’diel, Write MMORPG Macros, and Building an Effective Group. Looking through what I wrote just two years ago, I wonder about my grip on reality back then. Bah.

Now, like a fast zombie, I have to tag people to keep the meme going. In the interests of getting him to respond, I’ll join Abalieno and the Freeman in tagging Foton. I’ll also join Lum in tapping Damion. More originally, I reach my arms of horror out to Van Hemlock, Tony, and Alice. See now what you’ve done Raph? It’s spreading beyond the MMOGBlogosphere. Now nothing can contain it. NOTHING!