Tabula Rasa, now with no FUN!

[Ghambit]

Is the grindyness gone?  I ran out of quests at lvl 40 with like 10 levels to go. 

[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. 

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?

Because I am not having any.

[Sir T]

Then quit worrying about the PVP you werent going to have anyway and play something else. Sheesh

Is the grindyness gone?  I ran out of quests at lvl 40 with like 10 levels to go. 

Aperently theres planty to do till you hit 50 and complete the plot. one there the main complaint is there seems to be nothing to do. The quests appear to be designed to give you experience boosts and if you "grind" quests it makes gets you to high level fast, especially with the experience boost you get for grouping up.

[Falconeer]

Then quit worrying about the PVP you werent going to have anyway and play something else. Sheesh

Why is that?
Before starting to worry about the carrot at the end of the stick (said endgame PvP), I looked for actual, present fun. I just couldn't find it. I guess it's my fault.
But for PvP needs I still play Conan every night so I gave Tabula Rasa a good chance as a PvE, non auto-attack based MMORPG.

[Slayerik]

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.

Hmmm, knowing that the endgame PVP of Conan was ass is why I quit. Why should I go through a big grind for trash?

[Sir T]

Then quit worrying about the PVP you werent going to have anyway and play something else. Sheesh

Why is that?
Before starting to worry about the carrot at the end of the stick (said endgame PvP), I looked for actual, present fun. I just couldn't find it. I guess it's my fault.
But for PvP needs I still play Conan every night so I gave Tabula Rasa a good chance as a PvE, non auto-attack based MMORPG.

I interpreted what you said as the treason you could not find fun is the lack of PVP in the end game. which sounded silly to me. apologies.

[Falconeer]

Hmmm, knowing that the endgame PVP of Conan was ass is why I quit. Why should I go through a big grind for trash?

Just to keep the un-buzz about Conan alive, let's have a derail!
What is TERRIBAD about Conan PvP is the lack of purpose as opposed to all the fluff we were promised. Then there should be Battlekeep fighting, but apparently the bugs are stronger than any attacking team. Me and my guild attacked 3 times an UNDEFENDED Battlekeep and lost the siege all the 3 times due to 3 different bugs. We destroyed everything there in 3 different nights and we still can't get it, and there's no one defending.
 
But Slayer, the actual PvP combat, the action, the dynamics, the pace and the required skill is definitely great. That's why I am still there. We fight every night, be it Border Kingdom, 6vs6 arranged minigames, 10vs10 arranged BK combat, and some sieging from time to time just to get a different fighting scenario. We are hating Conan because it is forcing us to find or create the motivations to fight, but I'd say that it blasts away every other non-FPS game when it comes to fighting other players and having fun. I know you played extensively, and that's why I'd really like to know if there's a MMORPG that you deem more compelling PvP-fighting-wise, cause I'd like to play it.

[Rake]

Did they ever get round to fixing the Guardian that they broke half way through Beta?

Out of all the Chars that was the one I liked best when you could stack the basic melee attack with Rage and the Staffs melee damage.
It was still a bit risky to play as you were having to rush in and kill before being killed, but at the time I was really loving this.

Seems like most of the game wasn't thought out so well and the changes were just "winging it".

Anyway, they did have a fun game at some point, but that all got taken out a while before it released. So, I never gave it any more time.

[Tale]

Then quit worrying about the PVP you werent going to have anyway and play something else. Sheesh

Why is that?
Before starting to worry about the carrot at the end of the stick (said endgame PvP), I looked for actual, present fun. I just couldn't find it. I guess it's my fault.
But for PvP needs I still play Conan every night so I gave Tabula Rasa a good chance as a PvE, non auto-attack based MMORPG.

I think you were doing it wrong. Most who have tried TR seem to agree there's fun to be had at first, but no longevity.

Did you level up your firearms and lightning skills, and dance around Memory Tree Hill with a shotgun using your knockback on groups of enemies and frying them with chain lightning?

Did you hold off waves of enemy attack at a control point, learning the right weapons for each creature, until your pistol overheated, with your armor and health way down low?

Did you experience taking out striders and flying laser drones, busting your way into a heavily defended fortress to get that final logos?

All those have been fun for me.

[Kageru]

I liked it too... but even if you are not at (or even involved) in the end-game you need to feel the designers have a story they want to tell and are hard at work on the next chapter. Tabula Rasa had a good foundation but, other than futzing around with the rules a little, seems to have been abandoned on launch. I visited one of the websites I used to read and there are still people waiting for direction on what is now an old and I assume under-populated game.

[Falconeer]

There's lots of me wanting to like it, and there's a part of me that still likes TR. Visuals, colours, bits here and there.
It's just that feels like a blandly played Hellgate: London, it lacks the oomph to me.

Sure the shotgun is fun, but I'd say this game needs more one-shotting. Hate to buckshot point blank a bunch of mobs and not killing them on the spot.

I am not despising it, I see some quality and I specified I can't really pin down why it bores me. It just does. It could be that I came to the point where you can't take any more DIKU unless there are friends involved, or PvP.

EDIT: Took me 10 years to get to this point? What a failure of a player I am!

[Tale]

Sure the shotgun is fun, but I'd say this game needs more one-shotting. Hate to buckshot point blank a bunch of mobs and not killing them on the spot.

Firearms 5 and a flame shotgun. Cone-effect buckshot that sets the targets on fire. I think you need to be level 22 or so. Higher weapon skills makes a significant difference in the damage you output, and it has to be a gun of the right type for the target's vulnerabilities, and the right level for you. Heavily armoured enemies around your own level are never going to be a one-shot kill, but I could do two-shot kills with my pyro shotgun and I'm a sapper class, not a soldier.

[Slayerik]

But Slayer, the actual PvP combat, the action, the dynamics, the pace and the required skill is definitely great. That's why I am still there. We fight every night, be it Border Kingdom, 6vs6 arranged minigames, 10vs10 arranged BK combat, and some sieging from time to time just to get a different fighting scenario. We are hating Conan because it is forcing us to find or create the motivations to fight, but I'd say that it blasts away every other non-FPS game when it comes to fighting other players and having fun. I know you played extensively, and that's why I'd really like to know if there's a MMORPG that you deem more compelling PvP-fighting-wise, cause I'd like to play it.

I don't think it was Conan's combat that had anything to do with me quiting. I'm just totally over Diku bullshit man. 'Meaningless' PVP kinda turns me off as well. Eve PVP is cool because it matters if you win or lose. There is a lot I don't like about it, but to me item loot/loss matters. I'm a rich SOB in the game now, and I still get that rush everytime I put an expensive ship at risk.

So basically, I'm waiting for a non-Diku, non-raid based PVP+ game with item loot, ganking, housing, etc. Basically, I'm waiting for the impossible...UO2.

Back to TR. I wanted this game to kick ass. But they fuckin' Dikued it out. NEXT!

[WindupAtheist]

Slay, that is the best motherfucking avatar ever invented.

[Slayerik]

Thanks to FatuousTwat for requesting it, Bloodworth for making it, and me for claiming that FatuousT waited too long to make it his avatar ;)

[Sir T]

Slay, that is the best motherfucking avatar ever invented.

Signed :)

[UnSub]

Has there ever been a MMO that has had more lead designers in a shorter period of time than TR?

[FatuousTwat]

Thanks to FatuousTwat for requesting it, Bloodworth for making it, and me for claiming that FatuousT waited too long to make it his avatar ;)

DIE!

Nah, j/k I change my avatar too often to care :).

[UnSub]

Some media reports that NCsoft is contemplating what we all suspected for a while now:

In news that may be worrying to Tabula Rasa players, Kim writes that NCsoft "is now reluctantly discussing whether to pull the plug on "Tabula Rasa,'' developed by famed game developer Richard Garriott and the product of a seven-year, 100 billion won investment. Tabula Rasa is now looking more and more like a monumental bust, earning less than four billion won in the first-half of this year. NCsoft can ill-afford having another expensive project blow up in its face."

So, TR cost roughly US$75 million dollars. Perhaps Garriott left before they could shut down his name sake in order to save some face.

Point of the article is that the Korean MMO scene is going through a rough patch and Aion really needs to succeed to keep NCsoft as a notable player.

[FatuousTwat]

So, hopefully Aion falls flat on it's face so we can all move on?

[Surlyboi]

So, does that mean we can change the thread title to, "Tabula Rasa, now with no FUNDS!"?

[Sir T]

Ok that particular Korean writer has a serious bee in his bonnet about NCSoft in general and has been screaming they are about to fall apart and are broke since last December, and has always been wrong. I'd take what he says with large helpings of salt.

There are at least 2 updates planned for TR and I doubt that they would be working on those unless they were going to at least keep the servers running. Yes it could fold tomorrow, but the signs are not really there yet.

[Slyfeind]

It must be awesome to be a journalist in Korea. They look like they have so much fun with their work!

[Ratman_tf]

Ok that particular Korean writer has a serious bee in his bonnet about NCSoft in general and has been screaming they are about to fall apart and are broke since last December, and has always been wrong. I'd take what he says with large helpings of salt.

There are at least 2 updates planned for TR and I doubt that they would be working on those unless they were going to at least keep the servers running. Yes it could fold tomorrow, but the signs are not really there yet.

Usually the signs aren't there until it's already happened. You don't keep consumer confidence by advertising that your game isn't doing so hot. (The reason why most companies don't advertise sub numbers unless they're doing really, really well.)

We all know TR isn't returning the kind of money they hoped it would.

[Sir T]

No-one is claiming that it is, to be honest.

[Ghambit]

Honestly, it'd be a shame if this title tanked.  I dont play TR and havent in a LONG time but I always thought it to be a worthwhile venture.  Now, why the hell cant NCSoft just dump the thing on someone else?  Rather than just shutting the doors.  Trim down the servers, get PAUs, flashpoints, etc. online and let the game grow from scratch again.

One of the most ludicrous things I've seen with these MMOs is that they go completely offline.  There's really no reason to do-so as long as at least a few subs are paying.  Hell, let the players run the damned thing if they want.

Does it really have to be so cut and dry with this genre?  Have we forgotten how this medium really started?  I'm sick of these whiney nerdraged devs throwing tantrums and tearing down the house because their original concept failed, e.g. "If I cant do it no one can!" whaa whaa whaa... nobody wins when they do this.  Trim down, step aside, and let the IP play itself out in different/better hands... minus the grubbing pubs and big studios.

[Sir T]

I actually agree with you. If you pull the developers onto something else you can still leave the servers running and all it costs is the Electricity really.

[Lantyssa]

... and customer support which is one of the larger costs once live.

I'm all for shoving the game into a corner that is heading for shutdown if it's profitable to support itself, but a big company might not feel the investment of resources is worth the return.  If the alternative is to sell, it might be less of a hassle to turn off the servers than find a buyer, sort out licensing, transition a team, work out legal issues, and all the other good stuff which comes with migrating a service to a new company.

[UnSub]

I actually agree with you. If you pull the developers onto something else you can still leave the servers running and all it costs is the Electricity really.

The second that players know a game is on life support, a lot of them will dump it. You need to leave a few people on it, just to keep things ticking over and the occasional patch.

AFAIK, MxO has 4 devs on it, 3 servers and a pretty small player base. I don't think that NCsoft wants to go down the SOE route of having a large number of undead titles on its books, especially since it is yet to leverage them all together in some sort of all-in-one pass. NCsoft has shown a tendency to slit a title's throat (Auto Assault) rather than leave it in an undead state (Dungeon Runners might be an exception here, but it isn't a full sub game so I'm ignoring it).

[Tale]

This is a game that deserves to survive. I like it and I will miss it terribly if it goes away.

It works, I like playing it, they brought my FPS skills and MMOG skills together in a way I enjoy, I just don't play it obsessively like an EQ1 or a WoW. I subscribe for a month or two, then unsubscribe for a month or two. Currently subscribed again.

[Tale]

P.S. I always hated the title of this thread.

[d4rkj3di]

Stick a fork in it.

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

[Trippy]

Stick a fork in it.

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

Auto Assault lasted longer than TR

[Draegan]

It's truly amazing how people can still make the same stupid mistakes over and over and over and over and over again.

Here's to the next round fellas.  On to Aion, Darkfail, Jumpgate, Spellborn and a few others like Mortal Online while we wait for Blizzard's 2nd, the Agency.  At least we have Diablo soon.

[rattran]

Soon by Blizzard standards, so sometime in the next couple years.

Still sad about TR, it was so close to fun at a couple points in the beta, without really ever achieving fun.