Hello all,
My name is Jon. I play Saveena a warrior and former blacksmith turned leatherworker. I also play Satine, a pure mage with a penchant for cooking. Satine also tans for anyone who needs it, including Saveena. Both Satine and Saveena are currently in SaS, and I'm playing them both fairly equally though Saveena is still pretty far ahead of Satine in experience. My dad plays RAOK, the warrior mage.
As my poppa mentioned we live in upstate New York in a city named Syracuse. Syracuse is the hometown of Syracuse University whose basketball team WON the NCAA 2003 basketball tournament. Of course, I'm much more interested in Dransik than I am commercial team sports. I do play racquetball whenever I feel like its time to be a little more physically active. Syracuse gets the most annual snowfall of any continental U.S. major metropolitan area. We average 196 inches a year and our airport has some ridiculously behemoth snow plows. I've never like the cold very much but it's nice to have more snow than slush. I grew up in the Midwest (mostly Fort Wayne, Indiana) where there is a lot of slush in the winter.
Both my parents had careers mostly in Social Work. That, of course, is why I studied computers in college. (Just kidding.) Actually my passion is music and musicianship has been a hobby of my father's as well, it's just I didn't think I could make the life for myself I wanted with a career in music - and working with computers seems to be doing that well for the moment. On that note, I hope you've heard the new music at the Thieves Fort on the west mainland; it's great - wonderfully epic!
If you'd like to know more about the player behind the 'Sa' girls drop me a line: johorne @ wolfbound.com (no spaces). As cliche as it is, and you all must know how much pop and I love cliches, I strive to be an open-book. And speaking of books, I love to read - and I love you to read so we can talk about what we've read. I have just decided that one of my mottoes is, "Read more, now, as fast as you can!" Though you wouldn't be able to tell it by how much I'm writing. ;)
I share many of the values of my dad when it comes to playing. From a pragmatic perspective we both thoroughly enjoy exploring all aspects of the game itself. We strive to know all the skills, places, and goods and the relative merits and weakness of each. And it's in this regard at least we both hold Zophkiel in high esteem for his dedication to exploring all aspects of the game. One of our second shared values is freedom, one measure of that has been simply the ability to move freely about all the continents of the Dransik world. Thirdly of course, there is the social aspect of the game. This element of Dransik has been a constant source of surprise and delight. Gentle Myst has been a profound leader and teacher for me, especially when it comes to social gaming.
Some time ago, while still in beta, RAOK and I noticed a gaping hole in the body of community knowledge about the game. We set out then to chart the various underground areas. At the time it seemed an impossible journey since we were both under 15 and we'd taken on one of the biggest caves in the game. It turns out that cave has YET to be mapped!!! It's monumental now only in it's shear size. (I'm referring to the north cave on Scarab Island which once was a fine alternative route to Krythan Island, now sadly closed on one exit by order of Kind Lotor.)
There was a time when even the newest player with a certain hunger for exploration could reach the farthest shores of the land. I recall fondly our wide-eyed awe-filled jaunts to the mainland and even the estimable Farmland where Satine wished to have spent many moons. Sadly our exploration was interrupted by conversion to Pay to Play. Our will was momentarily subdued. After a few months though, the exploratory hunger in our hearts swelled - and we CANCELLED our cable TV! Now, our minds resolved, we are re-committed to making the Dransik world a better place for all to live.
Many things are compelling for me in the social venue: the thrill of newness about the game always available simply by lending a helping hand to new players, the swift and delightful shift into guild life made so comfortable by my warm and welcoming companions in Sinners and Saints, even the intricate and complex interactions among groups of players (politics), and even servers, and devs. There is always so much more to learn; and the learning, though sometimes painful, is almost always a thrill.
Saveena decided early in her life to be strong (str) and agile (dex), preferring to avoid her enemy's blows whenever possible but still having the strength to work against the evil of the world up close and personal. Still, new objectives and skills have often distracted her - so much so that she has even had a career change now, and is working diligently in the leathercrafting trade. Saveena often works alone anymore, and in the final calculation she's likely never to have a long-term partner. She's independent and loves being able to take care of her self. Still, she'll gladly lend a hand or indeed her steady skill at sword, to anyone in need. She also loves fighting under the superior protection of her poppa RAOK when he's wearing his Mystic Robe. She also thrills to take a point or protective role in mapping and large group adventures. Saveena is a tough girl. She has little shame, and no thought of changing anytime soon. She does concede she has plenty to learn about grace and she's not completely without some will to do so. She's very protective of her little soul sister Satine and provides for Satine is every way that she can.
Satine hopes to be a spunky but sprightly, and easily thought amateur magician all of her life. She's often upset at the boring needless repetitiveness the god's think mixing ingredients for baked goods should be. Still she tries to keep Saveena and RAOK at least in supply of the finest donut bites and cinnamon twists she can manage. She usually restrains herself to cherries. You wouldn't believe how much those two EAT! :) She thrills at the excellent whistling work that is tanning. She's often looking for young people to heal, but she's careful because she knows how little experience she yet has in the arts of magic. Satine also knows a bit about the soothing and therapeutic agricultural career. She hasn't really 'come into her own' yet and probably for sometime will be struggling to understand who she is, who she wants to be, and how to become that person. She wants to be available for anyone to have an ear for their concerns and she's trying to encourage Saveena to be more like her.