When did "twink" change meaning from "min/max" to "power up low-level characters"?

Serious question. Back in my day "twink" was just a synonym for minmaxing. On PoE forums, all I see "twink" refer to is items that power up low level characters.

No, it's always meant a low level character being helped up by the more experienced one. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twink_%28gay_slang%29

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twinking

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In MMORPGs, twinking refers to a character gaining equipment with the assistance of a higher level character, particularly by giving said low level character higher level equipment that is otherwise unattainable

Fascinating...

Don't feel like doing proper scholarly research at the moment, but it looks like "boost lower levels" is the true etymology.

There are sources that attest to my (mistaken) interpretation as well though -
from http://mcclaud.wordpress.com/2008/05/23/dd-4th-edition-dungeons-and-dragons/

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Oh and for those of you reading who don’t know what a twink is, it is a player who analyzes every skill, every trait, every aspect, etc. in relation to the game being played so they can design an uber-character.

Probably I learned that as my first definition because of 8-Bit Theater.

Those were the days.

EDIT: Looks like Wikipedia has done my research for me. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twinking

It's funny, because to me ARPGS have always been more similar to table-top (5% miss chance no matter your stats, anyone?) than MMORPGs. But I guess WoW's explosion of popularity will cause more people to associate things with MMOs more frequently... sad, to me. But it's okay. MMORPGs fill their niche quite nicely.

Wait i thought "twink" was gay related. Do i have to buy a new dictionary? :|

The original Twink

First time I heard the term "Twink" used was in Anarchy Online. An old school MMORPG. And twinks in that game were absolutely insane. A lot of gear didn't have level requirements, but had stat and skill requirements instead. So it became a game of getting stat and skill levels as high as possible to try and use some really OP gear and skills for your level. The better twinks could solo bosses that were double their level or more. An example of an insane twink is to be level 60 engineer and have a level 180-200 robot pet. I had a level 80 nano-tech (basically a mage), and was kiting massive groups of level 180+ cyborgs and aoe nuking them by groups of 50+ at a time. People paid me a LOT of currency to powerlevel them in that game.