pres.umptuo.us

I’m always a bit hesitant to give out my screenname/website because it leads into the embarassing story of where the name “Valloq” came from. The short answer is it’s just a name I thought up that sounded like something that would come from Star Wars. The long answer goes back to when I first got on the web.

Command and Conquer was one of the first games I played online. The joy of blowing up enemy stealth tanks, the struggles at the age of 14 to work as a team to destroy the opposing team’s Temple of Nod.

The company that put out C&C, Westwood, included a chat client that was used to set up online matches. I got hooked on it fairly quickly, chatting away with other nerds and 14-year olds to compensate for our lack of friends in our youth. Mind you, someone even suggested using the code “PAW” to alert whenever Parents Are Watching to keep the chat content civil.

I started using the chat client when it was still in its early stages, and when it went official and more people joined, they forced users to register a screenname. At this point I came to realize that I couldn’t just keep calling myself “Jedi5″, or whatever number worked (I once accosted the user with the handle “Jedi” in a chatroom and berated him for taking the coveted title). And so I decided to create an alter ego for myself that was unique and would not have to worry about it being used elsewhere.

I’m drawn to the letter “V” for some reason. Victorious. Valiant. Val Kilmer is a cool name. Somehow I got Valloq (Pronounced “Val” as in Val Kilmer, “loq” as in lock). Treldon just sort of flew out behind it, and behold I had my alter-ego to exist within the Star Wars Universe (This was before Lucas ruined it. Star Wars was still cool in my mind at this point).

And thus is explained my bit of geekery, which I’ll say has worked for me so far. I get the screen name anywhere I go where a sign up is required, so if you ever run into Valloq while playing an online game or in some forum, odds are it’s me. No need to tack on the dates of my birthday or pager code for “Hoochie Mama” and get all confused. Who else has that luxury with their screen name?