I’ve bought AIOn yesterday after watching quite a view videos as well as many reviews. I’ve heard just about only good things about it and the final push came when i was told that a bunch of my friends are playing it already. Apparently somebody forgot to mention that to ME… anyway…

AION is a MMORPG, if you haven’t heard of it yet. It’s about a divided world and you are super and what not, but i wasn’t really paying attention because i’m the kind of player that just wants to kill stuff… SO!

I was pretty much forced to go Asmodian, the darker side, due to all my friends playing there. It’s not that bad, but i kind of want to try the Elyos as well to see how it is.

First things first, character selection screen. Below you can see what it looks like.

Personally, i chose warrior because later on, i wanted to branch out towards Gladiator. Every class has a basic class and then branches out to two different ones. Warrior, for example, is Templar and Gladiator.

Second is one of the most dreaded things ever. Character customization. I just really can’t do it right, ever. And it takes me about 3 hours each time.
This is the basic character customization. To the left, you can switch through pre-made faces and bodies and to the right, you can adjust the basic settings.

Then, for the hardcore, you can go into the advanced menu with ungodly amounts of sliders that drive every sane person mad.

Before you create your character, you can check how he/she looks like in high level armor. Pretty neat if you ask me!

Now, i didn’t really take any screenshots of the beginner area and such, but that’s kinda of boring anyway.
In the beginning you do the usual kill and gather quests, but they are very streamlined and involving for some reason. It actually matters if you move around or not (Forward – Attack Power, Backwards – Parry/Block, Sideways – Dodge) even with NPCs. Talking about NPCs, it’s actually challenging to fight one. You pay attention to what’s going on.

Once you hit level 10, well, i guess it’s actually 9, then you do your ascension quest, you get your wings and can go to the main city.

The main city, Pandorum (i think… i wasn’t paying attention…) is huge. There is everything there from bank to auction house and whatelseomg.

There are a few nifty things in this game, including mobile trading posts players can set up:

What this allows you to do is sit there (AFK) and offer certain items to passersby’s. They are informed of what you offer by an automatic ’spam’. This is all done in /say, so you don’t crowd trade or just make everybody go apeshit.

Second is the gathering. You have a gathering skill that let’s you pick up ore, flowers, wood, food etc.. You are also not required to use tools, which makes it easier, in my opinion.

Ok, here is a picture of my character on her cloud (Yeah, that’s right, MY cloud.) so i can show you the itnerface.

You have your basic HP, Mana and XP bar, ofcourse.
First slow is your action buttons. What you can’t see, is that the skill i have bound to 3, is actually 3 skills ‘deep’. It’s a chain skill. You start out with one, then you press again for the next skill in line for the combo, then the third. Saves room and is pretty awesome at that.
On the row above it, you can see (under A+1) a shuper Speciul ability. This ability costs 2000 DP, which is the green bar down there, and is filled very slowly when killing mobs. It’s a sort of oh shit button or just rape face button. I like it. It makes you sparkle!
Then you ahve your map and assorted menu links to the right. What you can see to on the top right is the quest-watcher. Quests are very well explained in general, sometimes not, but you can track them as well as look on the map where in general the guys/mobs are. Makes things a lot more streamlined.

Now, i really quite enjoy this game so far. It looks good, plays well, is not really buggy (had a bug where everything was Korean, but that’s just for Europeans, apparently) and generally entertaining.

Things that i don’t really enjoy is the sometimes hardcore asian influences in mob design as well as voices. I mean yes, it kind of was my own fault for choosing a ’seductive’ voice, but having my character constantly scream as if she was a dominatrix in a dungeon does get kind of tiring.
The other major problem i have with it, is the controls. It appears very jagged. When running, then jumping and switching on the wings, i have to let go of W, then hit it again to get moving again. It’s kind of cumbersome. And it’s not only with flying. For some reason, when just looking around with the camera whilst running away, from a mob that i attacked without looking at it’s level, i all of a sudden turn around and head TOWARDS him. No idea why…

Overall, the game is really enjoyable and worth the money so far. Once i get into the Abyss where all the PvP and most PvE happens (at 25), i’ll make a new post to let everybody know how it is.

You might ask yourself now, what is he going to do about it?

I have no idea, to be honest.

Does one continue on a relatively serene path of mediocrity or does one plunge head first into madness, naked, with glowsticks and suction cups on ones nipples?

It’s hard to break the habit, however.

Either way, i still have a few more months anyway.

I’ll just be naked at home until then.

Guess one did.

I’ve started listening to some The Black Keys albums and DAMN i love it.
They’re originally from Ohio, a two man group and they play blues, blues/rock kind of music. Here are a few songs i really like.

I forgot how much i actually like blues. I mean i watched my VHS recording of Blues Brothers so much that the tape eventually disintegrated.

And i guess because of this, i’ve come to the conclusion that there is absolutely no point in keeping the M3. It has to go. I’m done.
Cars have been my only interest as of late, so i have to make a major change here. I’m not going to give up on cars, but i’ll reduce my lust after automotive information somewhat and try to figure out what else is out there that interests me.

Enter motorcycles! Ok ok… i know what you’re thinking, but it’s not a car now is it?!

I’ve been into Bobbers and Streetfighters and such for a while. If you don’t know what a Bobber is, here is a great example.

Pair that with some badass leathers and a Rockabilly hairstyle such as

There is NO way you won’t be picking up some of these fine pieces right here!

Mmm… tasty

I was maybe twelve at the time. We met through my mom. She was french and around the same age as me.
It was my first time, you know. Completely inexperienced, no idea what i was doing, but wow, it was great. I could not stop smiling.

Mind you, we were too young, so it didn’t last long.

Since then, i’ve gotten older and wiser. I’ve had the occasional fling with an Asian and Swedish, but nothing you could really call a relationship.

Then we all moved to the US. Now this opened a whole new world to me, really.

When i was sixteen, i met this British one. Boy, she was gorgeous. She was a bit older, more experienced than me. I learned quite a lot from her, to be honest. She had a great big heart, but in the end, she left me stranded a few times. Because of this, i simply couldn’t go on with her once i got done with High School. I needed one that i could rely on.

So i found this American chick. Slender, great looking, and one Firey Chick.
We hit it off great. Even my dad liked her. We had some great times, even though we looked pretty out of place together. Her, the powerful gymnast and me the hairy Austrian, but no matter, we had a great time.
That is, until this one day.
She was ripped out of my life by an Asian…

I wasn’t the same afterwards. No idea what i should do.

Because of this state of mind, i hooked up with another American.
She wasn’t really funny or fiery, but more the reliably, slightly chubby kind.
It was a nice time, you know. Nothing special. We got along well, but in the end, i just couldn’t do it anymore. I needed something different.

Then came the Swedish one. She was a sleek, safe blond/brunette. We were quite happy together. She also was the first one that pulled herself through life instead of being pushed. It was an interesting experience.
The thing is, she wasn’t very exciting either. I thought i could live with somebody like that, but it was a mistake. Again.

During this time, i’d pretty much given up and moved back to Austria.

Back there, i’ve had a short fling with a red Italian, but nothing special, really.

Then i saw her.

She was German. Purple at that! Wow. I’ve never seen anything like it before!
So i met up with her one day. We had such a great time together, you have no idea. She was absolutely gorgeous, incredible fun so i hit it off with her.
I spent 2 years with her. Actually, more than 2 1/2, but it’s a bit complicated.
Mind you, she is the best thing that has happened to me, but lately i’ve been looking for something more secure. Something i could rely on a bit more.
She really is a party chick. We’ve spent so much time together, gone to so many places, but i simply cannot keep up. That’s why i cheated on her…

She’s a sophisticated German. Knows the rigors of life. Been everywhere. She’s a doctor, for crying out loud.
She’s also a friend of the purple German chick…

This has been going on a few months now. I haven’t seen or talked to the purple on in a while now, but i think i’ll have to get things straight by next week. We’ll see how that goes.

Now, the time with the sophisticated German chick has been quite nice and interesting. People do come up to us because of her, but there simply is not spark between us. I don’t know… maybe i should give it a few more months and see where we’re going, but i don’t think it’s really worth it. I’m in one of my slumps again.

That’s why i’ve been browsing again. Looking for something new. Something fresh. Something i’ve never done before. I am, again, on the lookout for that perfect one. One that can do everything. It’s not easy by any means.

I think i’m going Asian next. I’ve always been a fan of Asians, even though they can be quite mental…

Not to say that the music i found is new. Not by any means.

Let me start with some Shpongle.

Shpongle is kind of a group of DJs. Very interesting stuff. It’s very psychedelic. The album Nothing Lasts but Nothing is Lost has to be listened to in one big go, really.

This is why it’s a bit hard to really link a particular song right now

Anyway,

Another band i’ve come to like as of late, is Goldfish. Alex and me had a bit of a hard time getting our paws on a copy, but we managed.

Goldfish are from South Africa and make Down Tempo sort of stuff. It seems that they have many different singers as well for their songs. Quite interesting.

Well… i guess that’s all i can come up with right now.

Not really anything exciting going on. Anybody know of something?

Maybe it’s just human nature that one always aspires for something better and is only satisfied with what one has for a short period of time.
Or maybe it’s because one gets things to tide oneself over for a certain period of time, but never what he/she REALLY wants.

Personally, i’m not sure. I guess the main problem would be that i haven’t really found the thing i’m looking for yet. If i knew what it is, i could aspire to it, but not knowing makes me just waltz through life with no real purpose in mind.
It’s not like i live/lived an ordinary life until this point. Quite on the contrary, by certain standards. Just not sure what it is.

There are many things i enjoy. Many people i enjoy being with and i would do just about anything for them.
Nonetheless do i have no idea what i really want.

Many things have captured my interest. Many things i tried to figure out and get information about. Still, there is nothing i can say i have a passion for.

So, whilst listening to some great music again (Telepopmusik), i’m, again, sitting at home, thinking what i really want and, again, i’m coming up with nothing.

Could it be that i’m relatively young, still? I don’t think so. I think at my age, i should have something that takes my breath away when i hear people talk about it or i see it. Or maybe someone. Nobody knows.

It’s just that i haven’t felt truly happy in a while.

And now, just for Chris, here is a pic using Lightbox!

To showcase it, I’m going to show everyone the most epic picture of Jakob to date (in my opinion, anyways)

For some reason, slimbox wasn’t cooperating so I decided to integrate Thickbox since I’ve been enjoying it with some success for a while.

And yes, It does the cool iframe inside of it as well. Click the link above to see!

- Chris

The story is this. There once was this racetrack, pretty much the only premiere racetrack in a country called Austria. The track was called the Östtereich Ring (Austria Ring).
It was the host of the Formula One Grand Prix in Austria from 1970 to 1987.

During those days, the track was one of, if not often THE fastest, track on the Gran Prix calendar. It was fast and flowing, which made for some great racing.

Here is a lap of the original Österreich Ring by E. Cheever and P. Tambay in the Renault RE40 which was in ‘82, i believe.

It was then shortened (By about 2 kms) as well as a few corner changes were made, which resulted in a much less flowey circuit, and it was renamed the A1-Ring. It was host for the 1997 through 2003 Austrian rounds for the F1 Grand Prix.

Here is a lap of Kimi Raikkonen in 2003.

Then in 2004, Dietrich Mateschitz went ahead and wanted to rebuild the track. This is what he envisioned.

The only problem was, that people living in the surrounding area (Which are not many…) decided to protest the rebuild. There was also insane amounts of environmental issues, apparently. Many sponsors jumped ship because of that. They simply thought that it’s too much hassle to continue with this.
Five years later, there seems to be a conclusion. People in the surroundings have been paid insane amounts of money (about 3 million overall) by the state, to either move out or stop moaning. Don’t get me started on the people the moved to Spielberg in 2004, knowing full well that there is a racetrack, and now get free cash.
The overall cost of the project will be around 70 million Euros, with the blunt being carried by Mateschitz and the state.

I went up there today, with my trusty Governor Leopold, to see what’s what. It’s still pretty cold and snowey, so there wasn’t much to see, but the progress seems slow. I just hope they can get it up and running soon.

Here is a view from where the new stands are supposed to be. End of the straight, looking towards where the pits are supposed to go.

Looking down the straight from the first corner. You can see the track being torn apart.

Out of turn one, up towards the Remus curve.

Apparently, there are no plans to host any new Formula 1 or MotoGP races, just DTM races. The track is supposed to be done in 2010.

What the hell am i going to do until then?!?!?!