TMC Reviewer Profile: Joanna

When I was a small child, I was given a children's book about space. I decided I wanted to be an astronaut because of that book. It talked about how the universe was like a hamburger bun and the sun was like a grain of sand in the middle of that bun. I've always been attracted to the strange, I suppose. (Don't tell my husband I said that, by the way!) In time I realized that astronauts stay cooped up in their space ships for many days (months, years) in a stretch, and that's not really my style. Whether it's because I have a ridiculously short attention span or my high level of distractibility, I'm not sure, but I knew then and I know now that it's not really something I could for longer than say, maybe 15 minutes?

As a youngster I also went to a day camp where I first helped with special needs children. I assisted the people who worked at the camp with taking care of and creating a good environment for a child with Down's syndrome. That is when I decided I wanted to be a special education teacher. Of course that didn't last long. The next up was science research, I think. Then forensic pathology seemed cool (pre-CSI, by the way). Those two items and some wise educational decisions landed me in a "special" (read: extremely geeky) high school where I had a blast and started down the medical path. After acceptance into medical school, though, it again didn't fit. Then I thought a photographer would be a cool job. Did I mention I have a short attention span?

It was time that I took an evaluation of what I actually did like to do and think about a career - I had discovered that living accumulated bills and bills could only be paid with real money. My dad used to pay me Daddy Bucks(TM) to keep my room clean, apparently in the real world those aren't valid anymore, which was a very disappointing discovery! During school I had been barely making a living through work with computers - monitoring monitors for alarms and fixing problems. Sensibly enough, I made my move into the career world with a tech support job. Wee doggies.

I'm not exactly sure what hat I wear now, but I know I have several computers in my portion of the rat maze we call an office. Beneath and throughout all the strange and weird decisions I made during my younger years, I enjoyed writing. I had an idea to become a writer at some point in there, but I wasn't sure where it fit chronologically, so I didn't include it in the walkthrough. At one point, I decided that it would be so beneficial to me to play text-based games so that I could learn how different types of characters really work and how to be more descriptive without visual aids. What all began as my little social experiment has taken over my life to some extent. I think that bit comes from my father, an avid gamer of the board variety. He even participates in a gaming group that was started by him and old childhood pals that still do a Game Night once per month.

My first MUSH was one based on the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. I loved (and still do) her work, even though I had to creatively borrow the books from my brother who found her first. My first MUD was Age of the Throne, and I still play there. I enjoy role-playing, but I do become very bored very quickly. I prefer games with true historical themes rather than fantasy, unless it's a fantasy theme I am already familiar with. I am often ridiculously addicted to games and that's a good sign, unless I fade away from them because there are not enough different stimuli for my ping-pong playing brain. I will try any game just for the sake of seeing if I could fit in, but naive and immature gamers and staff sincerely bother me. I am opinionated and fairly bull-headed. Unless you ask my husband, he will tell you that I'm extremely bull-headed and also stubborn.

I have been a builder and an administrator on MUDs, which I have greatly enjoyed. It's always fun to be in on the ground level for something that is a work of art or literature. I enjoy helping out the MUDding community because it is something I enjoy very much. I tend to play games until I see them when I close my eyes Pikmin and Super Monkeyball were great for that. I have made great friends through the community and I am always looking forward to my next adventure. Plus, I'm sure my employers are thrilled because since my interest level in text-based games increased, I haven't been as fickle with my career path decisions.

One last note - I'm a Gemini. I blame my attention span and distractibility problems on the stars. And now that it's all come full circle, I'm pleased to be a reviewer for TMC.