And, if you need to call multiple parental classes, there's NEXT, e.g.: $class->NEXT::new(%params).

As for $this vs. $self -- it seems that should be a local style standard, and not a global Perl-wide proscription. So long as it's consistent inside a given project, and easily s///able, use $dohickey, $The_Monster, or $Frank. TMTOWTNI.

-- Frag.
--
"It's beat time, it's hop time, it's monk time!"