You know all those features that are left out of WoW because they're too busy polishing who knows what? Everquest II has them and more.

• Learning Spells: You automatically learn the basic spell, and you can learn the advanced versions from a book you can buy beforehand and take with you.
• Buffs: No need to renew buffs every 10, 30, 60 minutes.
• Implied Targeting: This is just plain makes life easier.
• Heroic Opportunities: Combos! Group combos too!
• Quest Log Limit: 75 quests at once? Sign me up.
• Collection Quests: Find random junk and get a reward. I love scavenger hunts!
• Creature Catalog Quests: More scavenger hunts!
• Outlevelled Quests: You can find all those old quests.
• Commission System: Professionals can effectively sell their services.
• Guild Levels: Guilds that are more than a chat channel pasted to a friends list.
• Finding a Group: A real LFG tool, not a chat channel pasted to it's own member list.
• Buy a House: A home inside my home away from home...
• Learn the Languages: Not just a half-baked, unimplemented system.
• Change your Alignment: I can change my alignment, and even if I don't I can still communicate and group with the players of the other alignments.

I exported my google reader subscription list and hand edited it to make my link page. I have now found a much easier way to do things. Here is the explanation site. Here is my new improved link page.

I love rocket launchers. They do massive damage, and I can take out a group of enemies in two shots. I can take out a strider, control point cannon, or boss in about four shots. Grenade launchers are pretty awesome too. They're like a ranged shotgun with a stun instead of knock back. I've decided to go Grenadier with my first character, and I've reached level 20 now. I blew the clone point I was saving to re-spec, but I can get a new one from the Wilderness Targets of Opportunity mission once I complete the storyline missions and destroy a dozen more shield drones. I'm loving the change to Prestige. No more running around to collect tokens, and I'm accumulating Prestige a lot faster than I was tokens. One rather large problem I'm having is storage. I've maxed out, started a bank alt, and will be starting another in short order. The easy way to fix this is to carry the tab functions in my character bags into the bank. As it is now, I can carry twice as much stuff on a character than I can put in the bank.

I love control points. I can participate in a group without the time constraints required for an instance. I earn decent experience, semi-valuable loot, and tokens I can use for re-specs, XP boosters, and crafting. I've completed most of the missions in the Concordia Wilderness area, but have stayed and gained almost two levels just playing at the control points. I can't wait to upgrade my hardware though since it is a bit hard to play at the abysmal frame rates I get when all those Bane drop in. I'm playing on the Pegasus server, and my last name is Calthrop if anyone wants to look me up. I'm currently deciding whether to go Sniper or Guardian, and with clones I can have both without having to start all over from the beginning. I'm saving my level 5 clone point for when I hit level 29 so I can start a crafter alt to make my ammunition for me. I go through a lot of ammo, and I'm hoping that I can produce that ammo myself for a lower cost. I may keep my TR subscription going after Eve implements ambulation.

I've been getting some search hits for the 'Cash for Capsuleers' mission line in Eve. You can find some nice guides at Eve-Survival and Battleclinic. I prefer the Battleclinic guides for their content, but they aren't as visually appealing as the Eve-Survival guides. They both cover missions from level 1 through 5, and I'm pretty sure the 'Cash for Capsuleers' missions are classified as level 1. As many people have said these missions are very helpful with the rewards they give you.

Have you seen the numbers for GTA4? Slap in a transportation system between cities like an airport, bus, and/or train station; put two teams on new city development to keep supplying new content; start charging money for visual adjustments like armor, weapon, and vehicle paint; and shop for some advertisers for in-game billboards.

Fuck World of Warcraft. Between a recommendation and the absurdly low ($16.99) price on Amazon.com I picked up Tabula Rasa, and a bonus included but not mentioned by the seller was the preorder box. I have found something to replace WoW, and fulfill my desire to actually play a character. Once ambulation hits in Eve and depending on how well it is done I will probably drop TR, but in the mean time it is very fun to play. My current hardware can barely handle it and going near a Control Point can be screen freezing death. World general chat is crap, but regional general chat is pretty decent. I don't think a general chat can be any good unless it is separated by game regions, and even then it can go horribly wrong(Barrens Chat). The class system isn't as crappy as other class systems I've seen. With cloning and class decisions spread out over the leveling process it helps people out who aren't sure of how they want to play at first, and make some mistakes along the way. It's still not fantasy, but it does have people that aren't frozen corpses drifting in space.

The recent patch and a certain blogger have lured me back to World of Warcraft. I am now debating whether or not to maintain my WoW subscribtion beyond May. As much as I love flying a spaceship I miss the fantasy aspect of gaming. The glaring faults of WoW are still there and tearing me up inside, but until something better comes out I am pretty much limited to WoW for my fantasy MMO fix. I guess I will pry open my wallet and keep my account active, but with Age of Conan and others on the horizon I won't be investing in the six month plan. Look for me on Whisperwind playing Brandsoul, Brandshar, or Brandshard. In Eve news, I am down to my last Vexor in 0.0, and will be spending some time mining to replenish my hangar and wallet. Looking at my skill plan I am thinking that it will take some time to move up to a better ship, but the fittings I'm able to use are getting much better. I am going to try transporting my own stuff from empire to 0.0 once I have a few more key skills, and the extra ISK to ensure that even if I fail it won't break the bank.

Edit: I will be playing on the Drenden server, not Whisperwind.

There is no debt accrued when raising a child. Having a child is a decision and obligation taken on by the parents. A child is not raised on credit, and has no debt to repay their parents when an adult. Hypothetically, if God were real and wanted recompense for his blessings; he would have to prove his existence, prove that said blessings were provided in full by himself, and establish a price/contract before said blessings occur. As a side note, for a contract to be viable something of value must be offered by both parties. As a supposedly omnipotent being, nothing would have any value to God since he/she would be able to produce anything at any point. A claim could be made that a person's soul would have value to God, but omnipotence would technically be able to create anything, including souls. (In response to Keith and the Girl podcast #697.)

After a brief stint working for an idiot; I am now employed by Red Dwarf Mining Corporation, part of the SWAT alliance. Since being employed I have gained the ability to install a jump clone, and positioned myself to easily jump between empire and 0.0 space. I have also had the chance to experience some large and small scale PvP, and I am impressed. The more I play Eve the more I love it. I'm having some identity problems since my main character is named Calthrop, but I'll fix that with a name change to Brandstone pretty soon.

Edit: I guess there are no name changes unless the name violates the naming policy. If anyone can think of a way that Calthrop violates said policy please report it. ;)