Gaming

Pretty much every online game has at least one non-player character (NPC) that folks just love to hate.

Mine, which happens to correspond with the opinion of many of the members of the EQ2 tradeskill community, is a little boy called Qho Augren.

It isn't that he's rude, or mean, or even very bratty. To be fair, I have to give him points for not worrying his parents by wandering off on his own to obtain all the harvesting samples that he wants.  (Though the fact that he spends all his time in that one little pond, often totally submerged does make one wonder if his parents were aquatic creatures of some sort, as opposed to human!)

However, no matter how politely he asks, by the third time he has sent you out to harvest an ever-growing list of items for A Gathering Obsession, you're likely ready to scream at him. By the time you have found the last bit of meat needed from Rivervale, you may be tearing your hair out. When you finally earn your cloak, you may have pondered several wonderful means of murdering him. 

 Annnnndd, if you're like a certain stubborn redhead, you have likely had to go through the entire questline, several times, and you now flinch every time someone mentions going out to find their "Qho-ta" for Qho.

We just love to hate him, and since he's just a little pixelated kid in an online game, our hate is a relatively safe and silly thing.

What does this have to do with asking about what to do with him?

 SOE had some of their employees decorate game-themed Mighty Mugg characters for the 2010 SOE Fan Faire, to be sold in the silent auction.  Emily "Domino" Taylor, crafting dev extraordinaire, not only did a wonderful job of creating Qho, but she blogged about the process.

He's now sitting on my kitchen table, along with the receipt from the silent auction, as I ponder his fate.

Rijacki and I both thought of turning him into a voodoo doll if we won him. Calthine from Zam had several suggestions involving firearms. I've also considered just hanging him from a "noose" in my home office.

I'd really rather not damage the replica, especially given the work that went into him, so I'm open to suggestions that will show how many of us feel about Qho while still respecting the work that Emily put into the replica.  Depending on where you're reading this, feel free to respond on my personal blog, on facebook, or on my forums with your suggestions for the little brat.