Has the migration back to Tabula Rasa begun?

by Shawn Schuster Aug 4th 2008 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Forums, Game mechanics, Opinion, Tabula Rasa

Recently, with some of the new features added to Tabula Rasa in Deployments 10 and 11, it seems older, original players who left the game in droves are now curiously scratching the door, asking to be let back in. Is this a sign of things to come, as a part of the usually inevitable return to an MMO that most early adopters face, or just a sign of player boredom as we all await the fall launch season?

Either way, and for whatever reason, it does seem like more players are making the return to Tabula Rasa and finding that they enjoy the game again. Of particular interest is a recent forum post over at PlanetTR where the players compile a pleasant list of things they've enjoyed in the game that seem different than other MMOs they've tried. After all the negativity surrounding the game in previous months, it's nice to see that the game might enjoy a resurgence afterall. It's happened before with other games, so it's certainly a possibility with Tabula Rasa as well.

Tags: destination-games, ncsoft, planettr, return, tabula-rasa, tr

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

crsh said on 10:13AM 8-04-2008

Perhaps, what matters is how many of those returning subscribers actually stay though. We've all heard of people to "re-discovering" such games as Vanguard as well, or as I like to put it, they found another way to kill time until a more interesting title comes out (aka Warhammer, for those eagerly awaiting its release).

Nadril said on 10:26AM 8-04-2008

It kind of seems that way. I can't comment on end game, but Tabula Rasa seems like a fantastic "leveling game" experience.

I picked up the trial last friday with some friends after they told me to get it. We've been playing it for these past few days and, as far as MMOs go, it's been a refreshing change and pretty damn fun so far. Of course we all just came from the train wreck (an understatement, it's much more like the fucking titanic) that is Age of Conan so anything that runs without crashing is awesome at this point.

Seriously, however, the game is good fun. The instances that are really mission based are fun. I also really enjoy the city sieges that happen, where aliens will just bombard cities with mobs. We've been grouping up recently and just defending cities and hopping between them, awesome XP and its a lot of fun and a good change from the boring and predictible AoE pulls in Conan.

Overall I would recommend it even just for a game to kind of kill the time until Warhammer or WoTLK comes out.

Jacob said on 11:19AM 8-04-2008

I 'rediscovered' Tr recently, i'd played it for perhaps a month not long after it released, and i got my char to 22, i thought it seemed like a fun game, but my guild didn't, so we went off to play lotro. Recently (after the rather messy explosion of the Nuclear Warhead that was age of conan, i crept back into it, i was enjoying it again, they've fixed lots of problems and the up coming content looks great (battle grounds, clan owned control points, PAUs, another planet) however, the problem for me is that once i hit 30 (took about a week) i suddenly noticed that i had 20 levels of nothing but grinding upto the max level, which is still unfortunately lacking. Personally i just couldn't see the point in grinding my way through 20 (rather long) levels when i knew my only reward would be a doing the pittifully small amount of end game content. Once you hit the 30 you find your drive to level slowly slip away, i cancelled my account once i hit 35, i loved the game, but i just didnt see the point in grinding another 15 levels, just to roll an alt and start again. The devs have fixed all the small problems, but the big ones, the lack of end game content and the 'drive' to level, is still severly lacking.

nickpick said on 11:10AM 8-04-2008

Hmm... maybe it's because they're launching Garriot into the orbit? Or because there's a free-trial available? *shrug* I doubt that it's the new Deployment causing the comeback. How many people are we talking about anyway?

JP said on 12:34PM 8-04-2008

There’s a LARGE amount of new and old players coming to TR. I play TR exclusively right now. I love it. All the changes being made are making combat even FASTER and more furious. It’s incredible. Plus, TR has one of the best, most communicative development teams out there. Hands down.

End Game & sand box are still issues. But, players that accept TR for what it is: Combat driven, SciFi, shooter-hybrid, won’t be disappointed.

Like a lot of MMOGs that come out, things need to mature. TR is at a stage where all those “this game has lots of potential, but…” comments are starting to dwindle.

Some of the recent changes to combat that will make the game so much more exciting are: Cast-on-the-run abilities, “unlocked” scrolling during power’s activation, use of abilities while crouched, new “epic” weapons being introduced over time (double and triple barreled shot guns on live, and double barreled rocket launchers on test so far) and that’s just to name a few.

We know a new crafting system is being prototyped, the Clan Owned Control Points have been (all but) promised in the next patch, and PAUs are on the verge of release. I’m guessing for the 1 year anniversary.

It’s an exciting time to be a TR player. It’s not at the point of living up to the potential it has, but it’s making huge strides getting there. While the past few patches have seen huge playability increases, going forward from here will be nothing but excitement.

As far as the player not wanting to “grind out” the last 15 levels: I can attest that while getting to 30 feels like that’s all there is to accomplish, gaining more points and stronger “pumped” abilities certainly makes the character feel like it’s progressing. And PAUs, when implemented, will be for high level characters only. Something to look forward to.

Tony said on 11:47AM 8-04-2008

I bought it around launch and it was "okay". I tried it again recently, albeit before this new redeployment.

I still think the battle system is solid and I really like how they've set up the gameplay around it. It's also much more fast paced in other ways... being able to teleport to any place of note, icons showing you where quests are, etc. Sometimes I don't want to figure out where "NPC Bob" is for an hour.

I've not spent hours upon hours in it... I guess my only continued complaint is that I simply do not care about the world or story. It just doesn't interest me.

I am turned off by the voice overs they use in the training section now too. They seem so out of place lol.

SgtBaker said on 12:53PM 8-04-2008

Sorry, completely off-topic, but why do people use 'lol' as punctuation? I don't get it.

Tony said on 2:01PM 8-07-2008

How is it punctuation if there's a period after it?

Alarie said on 12:43PM 8-04-2008

Was hoping to check the game out again but, my inactive for 90+ days has not come up yet. I wanted something to pass the time till Warhammer.

I may just bite and screw the 90+ day deal. I enjoyed the game.

danarchy said on 6:36PM 8-04-2008

Same problem I had with TR. Got my engineer to 31 and started to get a real diablo feeling, but not the good way. All the monsters were the same ones I had been fighting for 30 levels, maybe a new trick or two but just different colors. I too restarted my account just to look around and got bored about 30 minutes later. I really love the concept, and the fighting truely is interesting, but it has the same issue as AoC did for me. Whats the point in making the trip if the destination is just another alt and the trip all over?

sean said on 10:15AM 8-05-2008

I love TRs combat system, and I love the experiance multiplyer which encourages you to be fast, efficient and engaged with your fights.

But I hated the "kill 20 dingbats" objective which featured in most of the quests!

They need to add a progressive reason to kill monsters and explore rather than for the next level or generic title.

devilininheaven said on 1:17AM 8-06-2008

the fact that they have a free trial (albeit a short 1) is all that is drawing a few people in. the fact is there is a skeleton crew actually working on the game and ALOT of the problems from launch are still there. its fine that everyone has their own faves and stuff, in fact it is truly GREAT that its a sci fi game! but it sucks completely that they have nerfed the graphics AND still haven't figured out that reloading a wep (shotguns especially) should have a sound SYNCED with the action, not a sound that just goes off randomly so you never really know if its reloaded until you go to use it again.
game is a fail, i went back last month and it is still a disaster, whats more the community mostly sits there and whines about how bad the game sucks all day and all night.