Tabula Rasa, now with no FUN!

[Venkman]

Your second paragraph is the reason it works. Cheap, requires less risk, requires less work.

I can't remember what report I read this in, but it was about Audition, circa 2006. They had figured out (based on a combination of uniques, credit cards, IP addresses and something else) that approximately 40% of all Koreans had played it in that year. Or, you could choose to read it as virtual machines, or whatever. I keep meaning to find the report, but it's buried in a pile with the rest.

That's not the answer of course. Nor is is an example of how all of them work. But then, for all the arguing we've done over the years on just those games that do collect a flat fee, I don't really feel like we should be expecting more clarity from different business models either

[WindupAtheist]

Well it's the same thing in Hollywood.  Not every movie needs to cost $200 million and make $500 million.  But while the picture that costs $10m and makes $40m is turning a greater proportional profit, the blockbuster is still putting ten times as much cash in the bank.  I mean there's always a place for smaller projects with smaller overhead.  It's not like I'm predicting everyone but Blizzard is going to go out of business or anything.  I just see it more as "Oh well I can be an industry bitch and still make a nice living" than the case of "I am the clever little mammal scurrying beneath the feet of dinosaurs" that some like to spin it as.

Speaking of the Hollywood comparison, how much do these Korean games actually make in terms of cold hard currency?  Because it occurs to me that while we like to talk about users, the people calling the shot really just care about money.  I mean there's caring about games as games, in which case all you need to worry about is whether it's fun, then there's caring about games as business ventures, in which case it's dollars and not user numbers that pay the bills.

[Slyfeind]

Speaking of the Hollywood comparison, how much do these Korean games actually make in terms of cold hard currency?  Because it occurs to me that while we like to talk about users, the people calling the shot really just care about money.  I mean there's caring about games as games, in which case all you need to worry about is whether it's fun, then there's caring about games as business ventures, in which case it's dollars and not user numbers that pay the bills.

I would love to know that too. There's so much spin going on that it's not making sense anymore. Minions of Mirth has three developers, and reportedly 100,000 paying subscribers, so...they each make $33,000 a month? Huh?

Then there's the dollar amount attributed to accounts, whether active or not, which makes Microsoft pay a million dollars just to own 1.5% of Facebook. I'd happily run an MMO that was free to the players if I could have that kind of revenue. But it's not legitimate unless players pay a monthly fee? I'm still confused. Hell, I'd play a free game hosted by Dell and Pepsi, even if all the weapons had the Dell logo and potions of healing and mana were Pepsis of varying brands. As long as it was fun.

I've avoided the Burger King games, because I can't imagine a fast food game being fun. People here who've played those games say they're a blast.

I'm still confused.

[Lum]

Wake me up again when someone can tell me how many people actually play Korean MMO X, and not how many free accounts have been created and abandoned over the years.  I'm sure Blizzard's numbers would be much higher if they didn't insist upon accounts being active and paying in order to count.  See NCSoft and their silly "15 million Lineage accounts have been created, but we're not giving actual sub numbers!" press release last year or whenever it was.

The real measure of success in any business is revenue earned. I don't think anyone familiar with the market disputes that Asian games have earned their creators a *lot* of money. NCsoft posts their financials as they're publicly traded on the Korean stock market. Lineage 1 (a game over 10 years old) and Lineage 2 (a game almost 5 years old) both made over 100 billion won ($105 million) in revenue last year. (The same report also lists "active users" based on subscriptions for all of NCsoft's games; L1 and L2 both have over 1 million.)

[Falconeer]

**DISCLAIMER**: I got no time for bullshit about AoC here. I am still playing it too many hours a day, our guild is down from 50 to 30 but things are stabilized and healthy, fun and looking brighter day after day. You heard me Lakov? ** /disclaimer**

Italians post offices are weird places, especially considering they poorly execute the things they are supposed to do, yet they sell lots of useless stuff and even got bargain bins recently. In said bin I found today Tabula Rasa for 9 EUR. Couldn't leave it there, Richie Garriott would be sad.

I don't want to waste the 30 free days now that I wouldn't play it at all, but I am wondering what's the state of the game now and if there's a chance of it being shut off completely soon. If that is the case, I wouldn't mind activating it anyway and check it out next time Conan servers are down for a patch.

Mmmmm now that I think of it, I doubt there's anyone on this board still playing it but it was worth a shot.

[Hawkbit]

I got a CE off ebay for $4 shipped a few months ago.  I loaded it, played to lvl ~30 in a week and then uninstalled it. 

I give them credit for trying something new, but they really should have seen this game for what it was.  Amazingly, Auto Assault would have been a great add-on to TR.  I wish that could have happened. 

Imagine vast areas to blast stuff while driving, then getting out of the car to quest in little quest zones.  It really would have worked.  Still wouldn't have been a great game, but better at least. 

Anyways, I would not be surprised if this game goes the way of AA in the next year. 

[IainC]

They're now starting work on adding fun to the crafting system according to my TTH RSS feed...

[Ratman_tf]

Mimeogel? No. I'll give them some suggestions for frees. That's just a crap name.

[Morfiend]

I actually had a blast with this game and you can find my BIIF Here. That is until they put in a major patch that completely slowed down the pace of combat, gave everyone a shit load of life, and nerfed quite a few of the classes.

The game was buggy, but the fast paced semi FPS style combat was worth it.

If the game manages to survive another year, it could be fun to play again. Maybe you should sub up and let us know what you think.

[Lucas]

If you are planning to have a shot at Tabula Rasa again, perhaps the next couple of weeks is a good timeframe. Looks like there is a good amount of new and returning players lately.

Next patch (or "Deployments" as it is called in TR) will provide a whole new "New Player experience", with a new tutorial map and better progression through the early stages of the game (better loot tables, addition and removal of certain missions). These are the patch notes:

http://eu.rgtr.com/en/news_article/deployment_11_patchnotes_known_issues

They added (and adjusted) a lot of stuff in the last two or three patches, check the deployment notes 8 to 10 when you have time ("Prestige System", new art for a couple of new weapons, Clan lockboxes, new Looking for Squad tool, squad "merging", abilities you can now use while running, new lv. 32 and lv.50 instances, with one more lv.50 on test server ; Clan Control Points System starting to be implemented on Test and more).

In other words, while the attention toward this title may be low (not to mention the sarcastic opinions and excessive hatred which I never understood, really) , and the Dev Team somewhat reduced in size, they are continuously adding new features and looks like they have a nice roadmap ahead.
--------------

This game might not be your cup of tea; nonetheless, it is everything but dead. Actually far from it.

There are "Cons", and they could actually be BIG cons depending on your tastes:

- No defined roles in grouping (no holy triad and stuff, think UO back in the day, with everyone being able to do everything, which was great, IMO, but I digress) ;
- Lack of alternative activities to questing and fighting, especially if you are not into roleplaying (which, given the nature of this game, is even more difficult to do than in other games, go figure) ;
- Crafting is still the same you experienced back at release if you tried the game; a member of the Dev Team announced there is a new system being prototyped in-house, tho, and it will be gradually implemented in future iterations ;
- Traditional endgame is still low: they added a new lv.50 instance, a new lv. 30 one, and one more lv. 50 is currently being tested on the Test Server. They are working on more in-house, tho ;
- Class system: you select your last "tier" at lv.30; next twenty levels is about allocating points to attributes and skill points.

In conclusion, though, it would be an excellent product if no monthly fee was required, because it's really a game you can log in and quickly accomplish stuff and have fun with (combat system is simply the best and funniest out there, of all MMOGs, imo).

[KallDrexx]

are mob health values still out of whack?

[Lucas]

are mob health values still out of whack?

"I can't help you with that" ; well, I think that during the last few months the Team adjusted both the abilities' damage output and mob health; mob now use a peculiar ability against you, depending on the monster (lightbenders, for example, use a flash of light in order to get away from you if you get up close). Hopefully, someone in here will be able to tell you more.
----

I've been playing this game on and off since Febraury 2007 (VERY early beta), but IMO, the major turn off during release has been the constant changes to the abilities and attributes, in terms of damage and usefulness; heck, they also changed quite a few of the ability names; it really felt like a work in progress 'til  a couple months ago. It made you feel detached from the game and from your character, because you basically played a new game (and I don't mean this in a good way) every time a patch was released. I kept asking to myself "Why should I play during this patch timeframe since the next one will probably make my character advancement useless?". And, even without knowing nothing about game design, I suppose that is not a good sign :P. So I held off, or played for 5 or 6 days to check out the changes.

Now they finally stopped fooling around and like I said, a more coherent roadmap seems planned out (coincidentally, with the promotion of a new Lead Designer, Tom Potter) .

Obviously, though, if you don't like the core of the game, everything that is added to the "frame" won't be enough to justify playing it.

[K9]

Is there a special deal on transporting my jizz into outer space included?

[Nonentity]

I uh

I may have paid $20 to play for a month. I signed up and immediately canceled my subscription.

Does it get fun after the wilderness and divide? I'm level 11, I think. Some dude at least pointed me around, so I'm running around with some purple rifle I got on the 'Military Surplus' for cheap.

[Ratman_tf]

In conclusion, though, it would be an excellent product if no monthly fee was required, because it's really a game you can log in and quickly accomplish stuff and have fun with (combat system is simply the best and funniest out there, of all MMOGs, imo).

If it were free, I'd be playing it.

If it were non-instanced, had mechs and vehicles, a way way better tradeskill system, and more robust PvP I might consider giving NCSoft some money to play.

Until then, just lemme know when they next give out free time on trial accounts. 

[Ghambit]

As usual, this game will still be dead until they get PAUs active, get the Control Points and Flash Points active, and finish endgame and have a purpose to it (perhaps by adding space combat and housing).  They're moving at a snail's pace at doing these thing so far.  Hopefully the change with the lead Dev helps (I'm betting it will).  All I've seen so far from these guys is constant tweaking of the ruleset; that's not gonna make me come back.  Btw; did they reinstitute the 6X chain-kill xp multiplier?

Y'know, this game in many ways reminds me of Earth and Beyond.  A sci-fi game that's just "sooooo close," but someone higher-up in the food chain makes bad choices that ultimately kill the game.

[Tale]

As I said in the "jizz into space" thread (nice, K9), I resubscribed in a moment of boredom and can again send 4 people 3 people a 5-day "try Tabula Rasa" key. What I need is a PM with your email address (make sure it's the email address you're going to use for the trial subscription, so that when you sign up, I win free gaming time I'll never use).

Does it get fun after the wilderness and divide? I'm level 11, I think. Some dude at least pointed me around, so I'm running around with some purple rifle I got on the 'Military Surplus' for cheap.

I liked the bit you do in the early 20s, Torden Plains. You walk out of a massive friendly base into a raging battle (trench warfare) on another planet. Here's an animated GIF. Basically I like the parts of maps where the enemies are there in major force, with all their most badass equipment, and you can get into some real scraps. Same goes for stepping into control point battles and making a difference (even if it's only temporary).

On returning, I find the AI has changed and the places I liked now behave differently in battle - groups of enemies break off and chase me, which may be an attempt to force players to group up. It was a ridiculously solo PvE game that needed more of a PvP teams element, but I sort of liked it, which is why I'm back for another look.

[Lucas]

Three or four days ago, Deployment 11 was...well, *deployed* on the live servers. Here are the patch notes:
http://www.rgtr.com/news/patch_notes/deployment_116_8152008.html

Among other things, a whole new tutorial experience, better progression for the first few levels, a new level 50 instance, new graphic options (especially for high end machines) and more...

Also, last friday the Team released a little preview regarding Deployment 12, which should hit the Test Server in a couple weeks:

http://www.rgtr.com/news/latest_news/feedback_friday_8142008.html

Worthy of notice is that, on the Test server, there are trainers in the beginner's area (Alia Das) where, if you wish, you can instantly train your character to any tier level and buy the appropriate equipment.

On the infamous "Operation Immortality" website, there is a link to a 7-days trial. Click on the "Leave your legacy in space" tab and on "initiate download". You should be re-directed to the PlayNC website of your area
https://www.operationimmortality.com/

[Slyfeind]

I'm playing the reactivated-accounts trial thingie. It's pretty much what I remembered: a good game that never got done. I think a 5-day trial is perfect, because it's really fun for those first five days. After that, and it starts to wear thin.

[Ratman_tf]

They didn't reactivate my beta or trial accounts, so I made a third (And last, I'm not going to make a bunch of throwaway email accounts to keep playing the first 5 days over and over) trial account to see how the game has shaped up.

It really hasn't. I mean, like I said, it's a fun romp, but teh shinay wears off fast long before I think of reaching for my CC.

[Tale]

I still like it. It can't be the game in your life. It's a game to enjoy now and then. That's not the ideal situation for a subscription-based MMO, but I've enjoyed paying for a month now and then, and will continue to.

[Lucas]

Very interesting patch deployed on the Test Server:

- New lv50 instance (Omega Labs)

- First iteration of Clan Control Points (for now in a instanced map for testing purposes0

- New Gauntlet Map (progressive difficulty of mobs, grouping required)

- Two new weapons (including new art)

- Next week they should also add the first iteration of the new crafting system

- Maybe a revamp of the Palisades Map

- And other additions

http://www.rgtr.com/news/patch_notes_public_test/d12_patch_notes.html

[schild]

Why's it interesting? Why are you still playing?

[Lucas]

Because I think it is fun, no matter the title of this topic ;)

[Rishathra]

It's good for every game to have its Gutboy.

[WindupAtheist]

I've lost my title as f13's main "guy humping the corpse of a worn-out old game".  Fuck.  Time for some UO threads.   

[Ghambit]

Once Clan Control Points, PAUs, and decent crafting go active I'll be back.  There's enough content now it seems to take the grindy edge off as well.  Until then, I shall muddle my way through AoC. (irony sux)

[Cheddar]

This game is out?

[Rasix]

I've lost my title as f13's main "guy humping the corpse of a worn-out old game".  Fuck.  Time for some UO threads.   

You've got a lot of catching up to do.  I don't think a screenshot of your cyborg ninja elf riding a unicorn could top the unrelenting retardation of Gutboy's SWG fanatacism. 

You're just out of your league.  The game has passed you by.  Time to retire.

[WindupAtheist]

I know, he posts the patch notes and town hall videos and everything.  I don't think I ever did all that.  Then again, this weekend's UO Town Hall is supposed to feature some kind of "big announcement" so maybe I'll start working my way back to the title.

[Ghambit]

I think it's admirable.  Keeps us a little bit more grounded here and doesnt let us stray too far from titles that may be deserving of a 2nd shot - or 3rd.  Anyways, when is Darkfall releasing?   

[Sir T]

I've been playing it a fair bit over the past few weeks, and I find it a lot of fun. I even made a couple of vids for it, which shows that I pretty much like a game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikIRxsE9HhU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQCDZkGHriE

[Falconeer]

I installed and started playing 3 days ago. I find the UI attractive, but I am severely bored with the game. Can't pin down why yet...
It could have something to do with the lack of endgame PvP, squeezes the will to go on out of me like mayo from a steamrolled tube. 

[Tale]

Yeah it looks and feels like it should have an epic PvP endgame with meaningful objectives that could change the course of the war. But it's mostly PvE.

[Sir T]

I installed and started playing 3 days ago. I find the UI attractive, but I am severely bored with the game. Can't pin down why yet...
It could have something to do with the lack of endgame PvP, squeezes the will to go on out of me like mayo from a steamrolled tube. 

I dont get this. Why the heck should the lack of PeeVeePee at some unspecified point in the future affect the fun you are having right now? A saner way of going about it would be to enjoy what you are doing right now and if at the end its not to your liking walk off, but don't think about the end till you reach it. If you are just going through the motions of some guide to power leveling a cookie cuter optimized Peeveepee char to reach the PeeVeePee at the end you will never enjoy any game. You might as well pay some Mexican to level your char for you. You will never enjoy any game if you are just looking at the end.

Personally I've been leveling 2 characters through the game, playing though the quests and enjoying the experience right now, and I'm having a blast.