Real life first name: Constantin
Forum handle: Kumbaja
Main Character name: Kumbaja
Server: Antonius Bayle
Guild: D`Pikey

Where in the real life world do you live? Düsseldorf, Germany

How long have you played EQ? Since August 2000

What other MMOs have you played? I dipped into alot of MMOs briefly, i.e. DAoC, SWG, Horizons, WoW but the only ones besides EQ that I played for more than 2 months were Guild Wars and Everquest 2

What type of work do you do? I'm currently studying Information Management

How long is your typical gaming session when playing EQ? I'd say 3 - 4 hours on average during the week. Weekends can be a bit longer if I have a nothing else to keep me busy.

What does a typical EQ day consist of for you? My EQ day is heavly influenced by my guilds raiding schedule. On raid days I don't have much time for anything but hanging with my guild mates and getting ourselves killed. On non-raid days I run around alone and get myself killed.

What was the race and class of your very first character? My very first character was a dark elf enchanter which I quickly retired after a few levels because I died so much. Then I made a Dark Elf Necromancer, Lorkast, who didn't die any less but nonetheless became my main character for many years.

What got you into gaming and what sort of games do you like the most? What got me into gaming? Heh, what got the cat into catnip? I'm a guy! Guys dig games! Duh! No seriously, I guess I just grew up in a gaming generation so there wasn't a key moment that got me into games. However, my best friend Kevin is responsible for getting me hooked on EQ. My favorite games used to be adventures, but unfortunatly I haven't played a really good one in years. Other than that I really like RTS games like C&C, Warcraft/Starcraft, etc. and of course MMORPGs

What other hobbies or activities do you take part in, other then playing EverQuest? I used to play alot of Baseball (even though it's not a very popular sport in Germany), but since I started College and moved to a different city, I haven't had much chance to play. Instead I do a lot of bicycling now. Oh, I'm also a volunteer Fire Fighter.

What is your highest level in EQ? Kumbaja is level 70 with a couple hundred AAs.

What race and class is your main character? He's a handsome Ogre Berserker! Rawr!

What do you like the most about the class you have chosen for your main character? Can there be anything better than wielding huuuuge axes?

Does your main character worship a deity? He's agnostic. I wanted him to worship Rallos Zek but I must have misclicked at the character creation and by the time I noticed it, it was too late for me to restart.

How did you choose your main character's name? The name filter didn't allow any of the 'ogerish' names I tried so after the 6th or 7th time I got anoyed and just wanted to pick a silly name. Kumbaja was the first that came to mind and it got through the name filter

Which classes in EQ have you NOT played? I think I played all classes at least into the 30s, but I don't think I have ever played a Mage past level 10 or so. As I said above I played a Necro for a long time... playing a mage would be treachery =P

What is your favorite expansion? I'd have to go with Velious. Partly because it was the first expansion that I saw launching and partly because I really liked the Lore, zone design and the whole layout of the continent and the progression in the expansion. The different factions, the Coldain Shawl and Ring quests, Dragon Necropolis... It was just great content. Sneaking through Skyshrine so that I could pickup that elusive Dragon Tooth from the Cobalt Scar Dragon Ring is probably one of the best memories I have from EQ.

What is your favorite zone? Tough one. Favorite for adventuring, I'd have to flip a coin between Old Sebilis and Chardok. Best dungeons any Norrathian has ever set foot in. Period. Favorite for looks, there is zone in the LDoN Rujarkian theme that has a clearing/alcove in it, with a house, a tree a small waterfall and some butterflies flying around. When I saw that the first time my jaw dropped and I still think it's one the nicest looking places in the game. Unfortunatly it's hard to get to and not very quiet =)

What is your favorite npc? I always liked Boomba the Big alot =) Don't ask me why.

Which expansion do you like the least? Ironically I'd have to say Gates of Discord (Ironically, because that's the expansion that brought us Berserkers). GoD kinda marked the point for me where I lost track of the Lore. With hindsight GoD did have some great lore, but it was just buried too deep into the zone and wasn't accesible enough, in my opinion. Seeing all these Ukuns, Kyvs and whatnot (which in my opinion didn't really fit into the existing world) made it too confusing and disconnected from the rest of Norrath for me.

Which zone do you like the least? Plane of Water. Fighting under water is just gah!

Which npc do you like the least? Coirnav. See above!

What is the most platinum you have ever spent on purchasing a single item for one of your characters? Don't really remember. Can't be more than a few thousand plat though. Somehow I always manage to be broke and I never had more than 20kpp in my bank at any time. Never been much of a bazaar person.

Do you have an item you no longer use but keep around for nostalgic reasons? If so what is it and why do you keep it? Well, Kumbaja doesn't really have any really old items that I could keep for nostalic reasons since he isn't that old himself, but he still does have his newbie Tunic and newbie Axe and always carries them with him. On Lorkast (my Necro) I still have a a few nostalgic items that I would never sell even though I don't play the character anymore. Top of that list would be my pre-nerf Circlet of Shadow.

What do you like best about EverQuest? Making friends. I still have contact to some of the folks that I met as a level 3 Necromancer running around in Nektulos looking for my corpse, even though some of them don't play anymore.

What do you get out of playing EverQuest? Funsies! Isn't that enough?

Describe your best experience from playing EverQuest? I've played for such a long time I can't chose a single moment. I have many fond memories and all are there for a different reason. Some because they represent great milestones for my character/guild, some because I had alot of fun with close friends, and some because I just found myself completely lost in a world of pixels and polygons.

Do you run or work for an EverQuest Fan Site? I'm hosting the Antonius Bayle community forums (www.antonius-bayle.org) and I'm a moderator at www.Goberserker.com