by: Tony "RadarX" Jones

It's been an extremely busy week for Tabula Rasa soldiers, and the AFS has kept us engaged with lots of news and events. Here are the highlights of this week and what you need to know!

Game Cards are Coming - Let's face it, whether it's because of age, financial situation, or just personal preference credit cards don't work for everyone. The option of purchasing time cards even online are a smart marketing idea. Last Monday's Friday Feedback put some fresh information in our hands regarding time cards.

We now have a PlayNC Game Time Card. This game time card is good for most NCsoft games, including City of Heroes/Villains, Tabula Rasa, Lineage II and more!

Great answer! Check with your local game stores to purchase time for Tabula Rasa. If you missed last weeks Friday Feedback head over to the official site to check it out.

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Be Very Very Quiet...

Soul of a Soldier - Many people enjoy a well written story. Whether it's curled up next to a warm fire with a copy of Treasure Island, or listening to a chattering NPC while taking fire from Bane patrols. Soul of a Soldier is an on going series from the TR team giving insights into the lives of the men and women of the AFS. What are their lives and thoughts like in this tramautic time of war? Sergeant Cody Lindstorm and AFS Marine shares his experiences on the front line and what it's like sending recruits to their deaths. If you enjoy lore, this is a great series.

Tabula Cast 7 - Tabula Cast #7 hit the Virginworlds Podcast Collective this week, providing an entertaining and insightful look at the soldier class and its abilites. Shawn also goes into what is coming with patch 1.4 and what players can expect. If you are a fan of podcasts, there is no reason you shouldn't have downloaded this one yet. Head over to Virginworlds or the Tabula Cast site to check it out.

Screenshot of the Week - This weeks screenshot was near and dear to my heart as a Sniper. We see to the right a powerful Strider with Bane operator atop moving with perceived invulnerability. Little does it know the ungodly power of the stealthy Sniper. He can be dropped with a few well placed shots before even turning around to return fire.

Tabula Rasa Roleplayers Interview - Ok it's a slight bit of self promotion but I think very worthwhile. If you aren't familar with TR Roleplayers, they are a group of people who roleplay in the game. Seeing as most roleplayers play fantasy games I found it not only interesting but unusual. I caught up with Ainilome who runs TR Roleplayers and she was gracious enough to discuss this mysterious art with me.

"If the influence of this community hasn't been made obvious, take for example the roleplaying events of the past few months supported directly by the development team. While commonplace 5 years ago, actual involvement by the people responsible for game design is almost unheard of today. Ainilome speaks very fondly of the NCsoft group when asked about the support they receive. "From the begining the community team support for events has been phenomenal. FireLotus has been our go to girl for far too many lore and storyline questions I'm sure, Miss Morrison herself has stopped by and RPed on our forums and in our shoutbox before. When it comes to events we have several weekly or biweekly, like tavern nights."

Learn more about role playing in this interview.

Test Patch 1.4 - Ok, ok...if you stop drooling I will. 1.4 FINALLY patched and people scrambled to hop on especially considering we're getting black armor pant for helping. It was so cool they crashed the Test server only hours later. All we have is the notes so here are a few interesting things you can expect to see before the end of the month:

• Added new Operation: Sanctus Grotto. This Operation will be available 1/25/08. - This means they are adding an entire new zone but it doesn't specify where. A logical guess would be the high end content where the most concern is. More content = happy players.
• Purples have been removed from mission rewards; after 1.4 you will see only Green items available through Shared missions and Blue items available through Instance missions. - This one kind of came out of the blue but perhaps purple rewards were getting too powerful? There is a later bug that states we aren't supposed to be selling mission rewards to begin with so I'll admit I'm a little confused.
• Hybrid Races Added - Players who complete certain missions will be able to create clones with hybrid DNA which affects both their appearance and stats. Missions are available at varying locations/levels. DNA options for hybridization include Thrax, Brann, and Forean. - This particular piece is the most newsworthy bit of the patch and allowing people to use hybrids should not only provide additional content to unlock but give them a further way to seem unique. From the information and speculation we've read, missions are required for each type of hybryid and are found in various areas level 35+. They do provide a unique look and their total stats are similar to a human but balanced differently. This appears to be another method of customizing your character and provides additional variations.
• 855 missions have had their rewards re-evaluated and replaced with new items. Items previously obtained through these missions will not be changed, but will no longer be available to future players. - I'm impressed they actually audited 855 mission rewards because if you think about it we get a minimum of 3 reward choices.
• Added 16 new missions to Marshes. - More high end content is just what people need and the Marshes can use it just as badly as other zones so hopefully we'll see more elsewhere in time.

Guides - Here is some of the content we've put out this week:

• TOO - Torden Incline
• TOO - Torden Mires
• TOO - Divide
• TOO - Wilderness
• Tabula Rasa Leveling Guide 10-15
• Baylor Base Missions
• Guide to Tahrendra Base
• Editorial: A Mid Game Crisis
• That's How We Role Player - An Interview with TR Roleplayers

That's if for this week! We hope you've been brought up to speed if you were not. Be sure to keep checking our forums for current discussions and news.