to me, it sounds like you haven't played Dungeons and Dragons Online. It's my favorite game because it's an MMO, but it does a lot of things differently. A lot is the same and/or could be improved but it gets a lot of things right, that no other game that I've ever played, seen or heard of does. The optimal solution/party make up is always going to have a CC, a healer, and lots of dps and often a tank. A lot of people in game will always want to optimize the group that way. However, it really has the flexibility and complexity of the rules that are used so well that I find it has infinite little differences and really makes every time you repeat a quest unique. It's an MMO, but strangely many MMOs are way too solo friendly, and while DDO has gone a lot more solo friendly lately it is still a very strongly group based game. That said, most of the time groups made up of any race/class combos will be able to get past the encounters and quests as long as the players plan ahead, work together and are pretty decent. The stealth mechanism is pretty good, as is most of the mechanics. I strongly suggest you or anyone else who likes RPGs/MMOs to try it out. It is one of the most innovative games I've ever played. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Yesterday Google changed the layout of the igoogle page in Canada to match what it started around a year ago in the states. Over the past year many countries have suffered the same fate. There was however a work around that would let people use the main google.com page by going to http://www.google.com/ig?hl=all and this worked up until yesterday. It's very surprising that Google would force a significant and controversial change like this on its user base after over a year of people complaining and asking and googling for ways to change it back... I'd hope that they could at least figure out how much of the population that uses igoogle tried to get it to work with the established layout by talking to people on the appropriate team and using their own Google tools. I’m one of the many upset users who are now going to have to consider the value of my google branded homepage and if it is worth getting used to the new layout when the current people in charge over at Google don’t seem to understand the significance of keeping an option for the old layout that is in many opinions a much better use of space. I might or might not switch to bing, or yahoo, or any number of other sites but I’m honestly strongly considering leaving the igoogle home page after many happy years.

My ISP is Rogers... my biggest complaint is that while the Download speed has increased over the years, the upload speed has actually seriously DECREASED... that's what pisses me off... Rogers and Bell both have had periods of having Monthly caps (or not having them), generally they've both had (or haven't had) them at the same time. There was a period where Bell didn't have caps caused me to consider switching, until they announced they were getting caps too... Overall, my standard connection with something like a 10 Mbps Download and 512 Kbps Upload with a 60 Gig monthly cap isn't terrible, except that as a power user I end up getting really near my cap and sometimes passing it. Warning, incoming wall of text about my opinion on the root cause of the problems and to what I object about with the filtering: What I object to is the traffic shaping and the way they decide how to prioritize the internet connection when I, as a smart competent user that knows what he's doing, has already decided how I want my data and when I want it... I understand however that as most users don't know what they're doing, don't know how to change and manage settings and applications and just want things to work and the fact that most applications have terrible defaults, that the ISP needs to get involved and needs to make sure that the service they sell doesn't get used in a way that users aren't expecting (aka the user passes his monthly cap in a matter of days because a P2P app manages to use it up, viruses and other such things...). I have seen how people can easily use up their service without realizing it, but in the end, it's caused by their own actions... what the ISPs should be investing in is more education for the general public... we're really at a situation where the general public is too stupid in what it knows or understands about the computer world (or often, doesn't care, unfortunately) but is smart enough to be dangerous and to be able to cause problems... This is why it's problematic, because as an ISP, they have to deal with all the people out there who just don't know better, not the relatively small amount of users out there who actually have enough of a clue out there to not be serious problems (and that's totally ignoring the INTENT of everyone... never mind just accidental/standard behavior). If people actually knew what was allowed, and possible, they'd probably find that most people would behave properly after getting properly warned and educated after the first period of problematic usage/behavior... the problem is, people are now going to rely on having the filtering reducing the amount that people have to think and know to control their behavior and be good net citizens...

this topic seems appropriate as it was just recently announced that my favorite MMO, Dungeons and Dragons Online, was moving towards a Free 2 Play Hybrid model. The way it'll work is that existing subs at the standard MMO rate of 15/month or so will be converted into VIPs who will have access to all content as well as 500 points / month. Once the game is relaunched this summer, people will be able to play entirely for free, play for free but pay to unlock certain pieces of content or customization options or pay to be a VIP and have the 500 points/month to spend on convenience and customization options. This system is a generally well planned but highly complex system aimed at providing the most options and attracting the most players in a financially responsible way. More information about the specifics of the announcement can be found at the website for the game at http://www.ddo.com/