Zhakrin's Introduction

Hello...

My in-game name is Zhakrin, taken from a trilogy I read long ago from Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis (The Rose of the Prophet I think). Why? Any other name I chose was taken, and I figured the name of a god of death from a trilogy written 20 years ago wouldn't be. I was right, and there you go. Currently, I'm a lvl 91 WR.

My real name is Steve, born, raised, and still live in San Jose, Caliornia, what is commonly called Silicon Valley. But I knew it when there were only cherry and walnut tree orchards everywhere, before HP and Apple ended all that in the 70's and turned it into a computing mecca it is now. Before someone asks, yes, I do know someone somewhat famous. I went to high school with and knew Jerry Yang (founder of Yahoo), but lost contact when he went to Stanford and I went to San Jose State University. Ah well.

I've been playing games since Pong, my Atari 2600 (which still works), my Apple 2e (which also still works), and the days when Wizardry, Ultima, and King's Quest were hot stuff. If anyone can correctly guess what a grue is, +1 to you, since I played all those games too.

In real life, I am 40, married to a woman who's you'll only find playing Bejeweled for computer games, and not much else. I have 1 son who's 3, who often times watches daddy kill the bad kitty, or bad birdy, or whatever nice name I can give the mob I'm going after.

I also travel much for my company, but much less now thanks to the economy. That traveling over the past 10 years has taken me all over Europe (was in Amsterdam for 6 months), North America, and much of Asia. Thanks to that, it's given me a cultural education that has helped me get along quite well wherever I land.

Last, I'm a helper, not a hater. Killing another for the pleasure of it is evil, and where I encourage people to explore what the game has to offer, I can't say I approve of pker's much. So long as they leave me and my friends alone, I'm content. But I have been known to aid in killing Zhang several times when some player decided it would be funny to see the lower levels get slaughtered in Fishing repeatedly. I've worked hard since about last June to be strong enough to help anyone when they call, so don't hesitate if you see me online for help, or to answer a question.