Massively^™

And so we mark the passing of another MMO. I was going to add an adjective to that sentence, maybe 'great', 'fine' or even just 'good'. I couldn't decide, as I didn't play Tabula Rasa beyond the Open Beta. That's clearly not my fault though, obviously it's something to do with the developers not making exactly the game I wanted, needed or deserved at the time. Cry, whine, QQ, etc.

Don't worry, this won't be an obituary for TR. That would be silly; I'm not lying when I say I didn't play it beyond Open Beta. I liked it well enough, but it lacked the spark that drives me to log on, night after night.

The news of TR's demise however, has got me thinking. Like it or not, nothing lasts forever. MMOs are subject to the same financial rules as any other business, and sometimes those rules mean you lose. Regardless of how long we've been playing any particular game, how many alts you've raised up or how much of a home you've made for yourself in the community there, there's a chance your MMO will die eventually. Some games last longer than others; gaining enough momentum to garner a fair-sized and dedicated fanbase before they're shut down. Others barely get out of Beta testing before things go South, and the doors are closed before momentum really gets going.

Earlier today we started giving away 50 Tabula Rasa soldier packs. There's some really nice swag in there ... but it is just not enough. See, Massively and Tabula Rasa share pretty much the same birthday. Last year's giveaway extranavangza had us doing an entire 24-hour marathon of giveaways. So this year we wanted to offer something really special to everyone serving in the AFS. That's why we have the AFS Commander Prize Pack. If you win this one-of-a-kind pack you'll get: A collector's edition box of Tabula Rasa (retail: $39.99), a Tabula Rasa T-Shirt, a TR Zboard keyset, TR dogtags, a TR hat, a Tabula Rasa lanyard, a commemorative patch from Richard Garriott's flight to the ISS, and a fantastic Tabula Rasa poster signed by General British and Starr Long. Total estimated retail value: $116.

All you have to do to win this kingly swag pack is leave a comment on this post telling us whether you'd want to serve on the front lines against the Bane. Would you sign up, or leave the alien-fighting to others? You'll need to comment before 7:00 AM EST Wednesday, November 5th to be eligible. You can only enter once per person, and after the contest closes we'll ship out the prize pack to one randomly-selected winner. Give us at least a week to ship out this massive pile of swag, though. To win you must be age 18 or up and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec). For full eligibility details, we suggest you read our official rules. Good luck!

We thought we'd kick off today's giveaways with a bang! You're almost guaranteed* to win one of these packs, we've got so many of them! 50 of you lucky readers will get to walk away with the ultimate in Tabula Rasa swag packs! Each pack has (at least) 1 XL Tabula Rasa T-shirt, 1 set of Tabula Rasa Dog Tags, and 1 Tabula Rasa Lanyard! Of those 50 packs, 9 of them are going to find an extra special addition slipped inside: a commorative patch from Richard Garriott's historic flight to the International Space Station! Total retail value of everything is less than $20. Plus, every NCsoft giveaway we do today is going to get some extras, like City of Heroes/Villains balloons, buttons, and bumper stickers ... what you get is a total surprise!

Remember, we've got 50 of these things to giveaway! Enter quick to get your chance! All you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling us what you like about Tabula Rasa! You'll need to comment before 7:00 AM EST Wednesday, November 5th. You can only enter once per person, and after the contest closes we'll ship out these fantastic prizes to 50 randomly-selected winners. Give us at least a week to ship out this massive pile of swag. To win you must be age 18 or up and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec). For full eligibility details, we suggest you read our official rules. Good luck!

*Mr. Asterisk guarantees nothing.

Tabula Rasa has seen a lot of attention recently, what with the free trial offer pulling in many curious new (and old) players, and Richard Garriott sending a message in Logos script back to Earth. Now, excitement is hotting up for the next deployment due to be issued to Tabula Rasa players.

Three of the team members have been talking about specific areas of the game that are due to be addressed. Casey Thorp gives the rundown on changes in enemy strategy on Divide, with an increase coming in Bane aggressiveness and tactical intelligence. There's also a tantalizing hint at a new system of Dynamic Spawners, 'the first steps of a system of modular kits that will add new and interesting combat scenarios to the already lush environments of TR.' Casey doesn't go into detail, but it seems there will be reactive spawns specifically engineered around player presence.

Dwight Spaulding describes changes to the treasure chest mechanics on Plains and Mires, with a broader variety of loot and a chance at enemy response, while Raven Sherman has explained the addition of expanded storage in the Clan Lockboxes, something the players have been asking for. Many players are also revved up at the arrival of the long-awaited PAUs (Personal Armor Units) on the Public Test Server, which (although the design has changed since the first announcements) show a good deal of potential.

One of the MMO industry's most recognized names, Richard Garriott, is about to become the world's sixth private citizen to participate in a space mission aboard the International Space Station. The trip into space comes at no small cost through Space Adventures, and the whole experience of gearing up for the trip is documented on Garriott's dedicated site. The MMO tie-in is that Garriott's space walk is part of "Operation Immortality" which we've touched upon in the past here at Massively.

Garriott fans can watch him launch into space via streaming video at NASA TV, NASA Select TV (Australia), or the NASA TV Public Channel. Haters can do the same thing, just describing it as "seeing him strapped to a rocket and shot into space." It's all about perspective. Regardless of whether you think Operation Immortality and the trip to the International Space Station is interesting or not, it's a first in the industry. If you're in the Austin area, there will be a space watch party at Opal Divine's Penn Field restaurant, with live music and pre-launch activities.The launch is scheduled for October 12, at 1 pm Kazakhstan time. Since we suspect most of our readers don't reside in Kazakhstan, that's Sunday at 2 am Central, 3 am Eastern, and midnight Pacific. Best of luck with the flight, Richard.

Jon Wood at MMORPG recently put up a hands-on video of gameplay in Stargate Worlds. This latest footage gives us an early look at combat in Stargate Worlds. Primarily, it shows the importance of using cover to survive.

Wood seems to like what he's experienced of the game so far, particularly in terms of the AI in Stargate Worlds."Getting taken off-guard by AI opponents does not happen very often. But when it does, it's just fantastic. It gets your heart going, causes you to panic," he says. The comments related to the video are drawing comparisons with Tabula Rasa but keep in mind this footage is from an alpha stage of testing. That being said, what do you think about how Stargate Worlds is shaping up?

Tabula Rasa's Public Test Server has now been fitted with Deployment 10.6. The main feature of this update is a change to Grey Market Vendor items -- their cost has been increased by 500%. The developers felt that the power of the Grey Market Vendor weapons was not proportional to their price, hence the rather drastic increase. They have left Control Point vendor items alone, but they will continue to monitor the equipment situation to make certain that crafted items are better than those bought from NPCs.

if you want to get involved with the testing on TR's PTS, you can visit this guide at the official site to get started.

Last week we got a chance to visit NCsoft's Austin offices to attend the first ever AFS War College, where some of Tabula Rasa's finest soldiers were invited to join NCsoft's developers for a day of discussions, questions, and demos. We took a tour of the facilities guided by Richard Garriott himself, and we invite you to join us as we learn all about the design of Logos, hear all the details on how Tabula Rasa is developed, and see the TR developers' top priorities. Have we piqued your interest yet? Click along with us and see what came of this year's War College!

Let's get started in the audio department >>

The Tabula Rasa community website has revealed the four winners of the Foreas Base announcement contest for the US version, English Europe version, French version, and German version. They've also kindly translated the French and German announcements into English, so those of us across the pond can laugh about them too.

Below the main post are also the runners up for all of the different versions, and we have to say, it was quite a hard call. Congratulations to the winners, and congratulations to everyone who participated!

The winners will have their announcements voiced-over and added to the standard Foreas Base announcements, which, even if you're not a TR player, you should listen to. They're sure to brighten up even a non-TR player's sour day.

Dateline: the planet Foreas. Those psychotic raiders from beyond the stars, the Bane, are giving our boys in the field what-for. In response, high command of the AFS has authorized a big push against those conniving crusties at the Valverde Plateau. Now known as the "Battle for Trinity Bridge", the boys of the AFS are pushing back against those no-goodnicks in a big way.

If you're going into battle, TenTonHammer has what you need, soldier. Their guide to the Plateau and the surrounding regions will let you take the fight to the front lines, and beyond! From Fort Defiance to Maligo Base, all the boys in the field are swearing by it; make sure to read up and then hit them where it hurts! For the video news about these offensives, with high-quality footage from the AFS Network, check below the cut. Good hunting, soldier!

PC Advisor UK recently ran a "expert review" of Tabula Rasa, giving you a wonderful look at the game... up until level 10. Then apparently the reviewer didn't want to play anymore and started to make things up.

Tabula Rasa Vault picked this gem of a review up and actually reviewed the review, and I'm quite inclined to agree with them. Last I checked, Foreas isn't an island, Twin Pillars and Foreas Base are nice places to hang out, you don't waste so much ammo when you crouch and have a higher accuracy, and it's really easy to avoid enemy controlled bases by just switching battlefield instances.

Reviewing an MMO is tough - especially when you may not have alot of time to put into it. This review is, sadly, proof of what happens when you don't spend some time with the game beyond an early level. This reviewer never got to see the interesting facets of Tabula Rasa, like the community sponsored fist fights, the in-game events, and the other cities and planets.

If the reviewer had played past level 10, he might have started to like Tabula Rasa. This is a great reason to make sure your reviewer checked his facts before posting his review. Otherwise, you might just be believing an illusion.