As a Person

I started pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Multi Media with Emphasis on Computer Graphics from a local university in 1994 and I completed it in 2002. I began that program in hopes to one day make games for a living. I still know a few folks in the gaming industry and many of my classmates have gone on to produce professional titles that you have probably played. It was a revolutionary program for 1994 and we were under the distinct impression that it was the first of its kind. Despite my multi-media background, I ended up as a computer programmer making business applications rather than games. I am now a Data-Center Team Leader in the US Army who is furthering my education towards a Master’s Degree of Organizational Leadership (MOL).

The MOL is a great program that studies what leaders do that makes one group more effective than the others. My thesis so far is that the most effective leader will; (1) work to get the right people on the bus, (2) inspire a shared vision amongst the group, (3) promote new leaders from the group, and (4) prepare the organization for revolutionary change through new leadership rather than protecting or maintaining the status quo. These steps require careful attention to skills in communication, team building, conflict management, decision making, and politics.

Naturally, when a game like NWN and NWN2 comes along, it really captures my attention as a perfect opportunity to express myself, exercise my skills and help lead people into having a lot of fun!

As a Player

I have been playing Neverwinter Nights for about 6 years now. My friends and I waited for years as the first release of NWN was being demonstrated throughout its beta stages of development. So I have been actively following NWN development since about 2000. As a player, my favorite part of the game is played between levels 1 and 9. I have never played a char over level 16 in my entire history. When I DM, sometimes I play the role of much higher level characters but I have never developed a character past level 16 on my own in our permanent death server. I think that high level characters are something to be respected which is why I try to play honest and why I rarely resurrect my characters that die. I have too much respect for players that have legitimately played their characters up to those levels and that rarity should be appreciated. That rarity is what makes this game great because when we meet high level players we know that they have really accomplished something magnificent! I also like to play non-epic, more common level support roles in role playing games. I do not very often like to play the role of the primary hero or leader, I prefer to be the helpful side-kick.

As a Builder

I have been building NWN persistent worlds since NWN version 1 was first released. I have seen an amazing amount of progress in the toolset and in the community over the years over the years but this latest toolset is really something great! At one time or another I have been fully proficient in 3D Studio Max, Maya and Lightwave 3D so my taste for development tools is very complex. The NWN2 Toolset mimics many of the tools found in the top 3D development packages which has quenched my thirst for real freedom in video game development. The outdoor areas in NWN2 can be created in a streamlined fashion where our imagination is the only real limit. I really enjoyed working on Springwell Junction, Sea View, Sky Cliff, the Ivy Gorge, the Monestary and the Thieves woods.

As a Dungeon Master

I have been DMing since about 2003 and I still have quite a passion for it. I try to push the limits of what the server can do and what the players can handle. I like stories about human nature that challenge our morals and ethics. I love complex storylines, complex role playing and lots of action! This often kills players off by mistake but I am getting better at creating memorable and unique quests without killing off the whole party because that is certainly not my intention. There is usually a great story to be told and I like to link storylines together over many months and years. One of my favorite ways to kick things off is to make something highly unusual happen and then let the players go about figuring out why. This usually provides players with the ability to still work on their quests while I am not on as a DM and then when I do DM, hopefully we can get all caught up. Very rarely does one of my quests allow all loose-ends to get tied up. Usually when I answer one question, I try to propose 10 more!