using the wildcard element (AIML)

Hey all, my bot isn't responding to using a single wildcard. See below for example:

<category>
<pattern>*</pattern>
<that>MY LITTLE HUMAN HELLO WHAT IS YOUR NAME</that>
<template>Owh, nice to meet you, <set name="name"><star/></set>. I should already know your name but my system is still getting used to your brain and the way things are stored here... Do you know who I am?</template>
</category>

The above one does not work. I can't just enter my name. BUT the one below works:

<category>
<pattern>MY NAME IS *</pattern>
<template>Owh, nice to meet you, <set name="name"><star/></set>. I should already know your name but my system is still getting used to your brain and the way things are stored here... Do you know who I am?</template>
</category>

Not sure what my mistake is. I've tried changing things to play around with it but nothing's worked so far.