Re: "Tabula Rasa" Pre-Release Review

**Cappy** · 09-17-2007, 07:58 PM

ya great write up bro,, ill have to check it out....

thank you for your time and effort that went into writing this up for all to read

+rep

**jaymind** · 09-17-2007, 09:42 PM

I had a lot of fun in the beta for the past 6+ months - saw lots of changes. I still don't really like where they went with the ranger/sniper class though.

I still have this awesome pre-nerf lightening pistol that just rocks up anything.

It's a fun game that doesn't fall into the usually of most MMO's. I don't know that I would call it tactical however, that may be stretching it; but I will say that it's about as tactical as an MMO can get for the time being.

**Gambit7** · 09-17-2007, 10:15 PM

Originally Posted by jaymind

It's a fun game that doesn't fall into the usually of most MMO's. I don't know that I would call it tactical however, that may be stretching it; but I will say that it's about as tactical as an MMO can get for the time being.

Were you able to get into any large, organized engagements? Unfortunately, with all these server wipes I just didnt get far enough.

I agree that "tactical" is stretching it, but only at the lower lvls (so far). Basically, anything under lvl 20 is "easy mode." But hell, I did lvls 1-20 in WoW w/o dying a single time... and up to lvl 60 largely alone most of the time. I've actually died more times in TR. Also, the devs DID say they lowered the difficulty level of the game for betatesters to more easily get through content. Currently, there's some confusion as whether they'll ramp it back up or not.

That being said; I should reserve judgement on the "tactical" aspect until the higher levels. But from what I know and have seen it's there for the pickings. If the speed of lvling is how it is now (which is respectably fast even w/o xp-multiplier), then the "tactical" nature of the lower levels is of no consequence anyways. It's like any other MMO...

"The game begins at or near end-game."

And with TR being more of an instant gratification type game... that grind to end-game will be all the more painless. Some people like that pain (your EQ-types), others do not.

**Tarenth** · 09-17-2007, 10:46 PM

Yeah...everyone is saying how this is a great single player game even if its supposed to be multiplayer. Give it a shot and you've won't be dissapointed with the experience even if the multiplayer aspect is somewhat lacking a bit. There might be more call for it if they ramp up the difficulty, but you can solo a lot of things and even the instances so grouping up loses importance.

I'm glad they changed the point system , it was frustrating getting to Sniper and then finding the class useless and having to play from the start against because the clones I had were locked in what I later learned were bad point choices. After playing through soldier and up the tree with clones I just got burned out on finding that things were so often broken that I stopped playing. Definately not a TR-guru, but I do still poke at the forums a bit to keep myself informed.

And yes, a pistol IS more powerful than a chaingun of the same level on a per round basis. People often use the pistol over the chaingun as they get more used to how the weapons handle. There is, however, an unwritten bonus to using the chaingun I'll admit. To paraphrase, when you hit a mob with the chaingun "your target will be laughing so hard at you it will be unable to counter attack". If 1 shotgun shot does 500 damage at 20 yards, a pistol does 150 damage, a rifle does 250 damage, and the chaingun does 25 damage...which would you pick? Its an accepted tactic for someone in the soldier tier to be delegated to a support role and so they will typically carry the highest level chaingun using the cheapest ammo so they can laughlock a difficult mob. The reason why the chaingun is so weak is because it uses the same ammo as the heavier damaging per shot weapons and pisses it away. At 216 creds a round in the end game scene firing a weapon that does a fraction more DPS at 21,600 creds a clip overheats more and has a nonexsistant crit rate has shelved many a chaingun.

On the flip side, you hear people swearing by the fact that if you take a good rifle/pistol you can pretty much keep a x6 crit modifier forever because you can take down single targets quickly and cheaply at a decent range without any danger of overheating or running out of ammo. A shotgun can be used to the same affect, but you tend to kill large groups of enemies too fast to work up a high modifier and the low range makes the run a bit of a pain.

You can shoot at things out of the optimal range like taking pot shots at 100 yards with the pistol, but the miss modifier is ramped up exponentially beyond twice the optimal and you'll do less damage. So a shotgun dominates at 0-10, misses a bit at 11-20, and couldn't hit a capital ship's broadside at 21 and over.

**Gambit7** · 09-18-2007, 12:19 AM

Originally Posted by Tarenth

Yeah...everyone is saying how this is a great single player game even if its supposed to be multiplayer. Give it a shot and you've won't be dissapointed with the experience even if the multiplayer aspect is somewhat lacking a bit. There might be more call for it if they ramp up the difficulty, but you can solo a lot of things and even the instances so grouping up loses importance.

They've definitely fooled with the difficulty levels more then once. Where it ends up at release is the million dollar question. One of the biggest issues is the gulf between solo play and group play and trying to cater to both. Garriott, while always a proponent of "multiplayer," has said he will make his game playable alone... he's riding a fine line. The current version of TR IMO is mostly solo-based below even lvl 30 from what I hear in PVE. Granted, content will take longer and it's just more FUN to be in a good group.

There's also really nothing in TR that tells you whether a place is soloable or not. You have to go in a find out for yourself. Most ARE soloable to an extent by certain classes or with certain skillsets, but some arent... especially if you're specced out a certain way. In this regards, TR's dynamic attitude kind of hurts it for many a player. This is a reason why I said being in a Clan was so crucial. Because even on "easymode" something may pop out in the game that you cant do alone. This has happened a few times with a few of us ingame at varying times. Generally though, 2 people can handle most situations. I've been in situations myself (alone on a low-pop. server) where I just simply got overrun by Bane even in the easy areas - the solution was to make a retreat for my nearest AFS encampment and then I was fine.

Other thing lately I noticed (wished I'd put this in the review), is that it SEEMS like ClanWars will be a MAJOR factor in seeing where this game will go. As for TG, interest in TR will only be maintained as a PvP Clan... this I know for a fact. Without at least the OPTION to PvP in large groups, much of the game's allure is lost. Adding that danger when traveling the world is also a major bonus. And of course, with added danger comes added reward. Without this, sadly, I think TR would initially fail.

So basically, I look at low lvl multiplayer as a totally consensual thing. You can do it if you want to, but arent forced to as long as you're a capable player. The caveat with grouping right now though is the loot table doesnt really change. There were rumors of scalable instances and loot, but I have yet to be able to confirm this. For now, it seems loot/difficulty is linear solo or multiplayer. Where the group gets its rewards is fun and the lesser amount of time it takes to get through an area, along with certain times when the xp multiplier is easier to do collectively.

So again, we're stuck conjecturing at what TR will be like at lvls 30-50. No one really is at these levels in Beta currently and the upper content I believe isnt active in this patch.

I will not lie to you though... unless NCSoft puts more content in the game before people get to lvl 40+ Tabula Rasa will definitely be uninstalled on a lot of people's boxes. The higher levels definitely require a good Clan for efficient play though, that much can be surmised from just studying the game's design.

Game aint GREAT, game aint BAD... right now it's "good" with loads of potential. We'll just have to wait and see.

**Tempus** · 09-18-2007, 10:40 AM

Thanks for the fantastic review. I am getting more interested in this game.

Is this a game that you have to be playing constantly in order to "Keep Up with the Jones'" skillwise, or is it more like EVE, where your skills can be 'trained' while you're offline?

**Gambit7** · 09-18-2007, 11:08 AM

Originally Posted by Tempus

Thanks for the fantastic review. I am getting more interested in this game.

Is this a game that you have to be playing constantly in order to "Keep Up with the Jones'" skillwise, or is it more like EVE, where your skills can be 'trained' while you're offline?

no offline training thank god. One thing I did realize with TR is that it's not as picky about mixed-lvl groups, unlike some other games. Dependant on class, a lower lvl toon could easily supplement a higher lvl person w/o problem (he may die a few times, but no big deal.)

**Augustus Gloop** · 09-18-2007, 12:41 PM

This sounds like a really neat game, but the thing that WoW has going for it (imho) is the constant PvP warfare. I play games for the direct player vs player element, and "consensual PvP" is to close to PvM for my tastes. Half of the thrill of leaving your house to go xp or explore is the threat of ambush, or having to fight over resources.

Obviously this isn't true for everyone, otherwise more MMO's would be total pk, but I'll have to be seriously bowled over by the rest of the game to consider playing without this element.

**Gambit7** · 09-18-2007, 12:57 PM

Originally Posted by Augustus Gloop

This sounds like a really neat game, but the thing that WoW has going for it (imho) is the constant PvP warfare. I play games for the direct player vs player element, and "consensual PvP" is to close to PvM for my tastes. Half of the thrill of leaving your house to go xp or explore is the threat of ambush, or having to fight over resources.

Obviously this isn't true for everyone, otherwise more MMO's would be total pk, but I'll have to be seriously bowled over by the rest of the game to consider playing without this element.

This is why more then likely TG-TR would be a PvP Clan for sure. Granted, at this time it's still somewhat consensual, but only at the initial War Declaration. After that, PK all you want. A SMART Clan would hold off on War Declaration until its playerbase was adequately lvled and equipped and THEN start pwning the other clans.

**WaffleHousChef** · 09-18-2007, 11:27 PM

Since the NDA has been lifted, I thought I would capture a bit of the essence of the game for everyone to see. I went ahead and made a video of a single 6x xp spree I did earlier this evening. This wasn't setup at all, I just ran out of the base in the second zone you get to where I've mainly been doing quests and found some mobs then started shooting (guns and film.

)

Keep in mind that my character is very optimized for regen, both stats and armor and I just hit a major level where you get some good equipment upgrades and my class's "uber weapon" opens up. The mobs I found happen to be a level or two lower then me for the most part. I wasn't trying hard to find anything in particular.

One thing you'll notice is that every once in a while the mob will die with a green cloud coughing up its lungs and puking green. That's the specific death animation for the Viral damage type. All the different damage types in the game have an alternate death animation depending on which damage type struck the killing blow. Electricity will have the mob spasm while lightning flows from their bodies, etc. The long death animations help you while spree-ing becuase you are "in combat" until the mob finishes the animation, so you can move from that one to the next without worrying about your timer expiring. The down side is that you cannot loot a mob until it is fully dead.

Tabula Rasa 6x Spree ~150MB

**Gambit7** · 09-19-2007, 02:13 AM

Waffle, I wish we had your ingame video tonite for the endless supply of high lvl mobs the GMs threw at us in Alia Das, there was a lot of stuff I've never seen before - someone's really got a pretty vivid imagination (British and the 3 lady community devs were there also).

Also, we got overrun at a few Control Points and it was just a helluva good time. Bane were throwing airdrops at us, Predator straffing runs, bombing runs, and endless lines of Thrax and Forean all shielded. I died many many times. In response, the AFS dropped those "mechs" you see in the videos. THEY were pretty damned cool to watch just mow down the Bane. The Control Points are definitely more of a hotspot now post-patch, even in the Wilderness. All this was going on and my box was completely stable - no vid. or net lag.

Another interesting thing I saw is reinforcements pop out from some kind of elevator pod at some of the Control Points, along with the usual airdrops. Also, and this really impressed me, I've NEVER seen this in ANY MMO before.... The NPC AI HEALED my health and armor. For a second I thought a PC just came to help, but I turned around and it was a simple NPC medic. I was pleasantly surprised by this (I saw no mention of this feature from the Devs, musta missed it). Not only do they fight by your side, but they heal you as well.

Lastly, they had a radio-show with the 3 lady Devs being interviewed all the while stuff was going on tonite. It was actually quite entertaining and enlightening. Good times.

**ouija** · 09-19-2007, 01:27 PM

Tabula Rasa is definately a nice game. It isnt exactly what I was hoping for, but it is delightfully different.

Great write up Gambit, and you pretty much explained it all...if you enjoy MMOs, and shooters, you will most likely enjoy this game.

The only reservation I have about it...I dont know how well level progression goes after you get out of the divide...I hope it doesnt slow to a total crawl. And I really hope they add some zones for pure clan warfare...

**Gambit7** · 09-19-2007, 04:56 PM

Originally Posted by WaffleHousChef

One thing you'll notice is that every once in a while the mob will die with a green cloud coughing up its lungs and puking green. That's the specific death animation for the Viral damage type. All the different damage types in the game have an alternate death animation depending on which damage type struck the killing blow. Electricity will have the mob spasm while lightning flows from their bodies, etc. The long death animations help you while spree-ing becuase you are "in combat" until the mob finishes the animation, so you can move from that one to the next without worrying about your timer expiring. The down side is that you cannot loot a mob until it is fully dead.

Tabula Rasa 6x Spree ~150MB

Another thing about the death animations, if they've got the red-skull and havent died completely yet, unless you finish them off melee-wise you dont get the bonus xp from the finishing-move. Kind of a catch-22.

One of my favorite finishes though (and yet another subtle thing I just learned) is killing with lightning, doing the fatality, which in turn causes them to explode in a ball of lightning turning them into a giant crater with crystalline spikes around them. Interesting thing is, you can use their remains as COVER! sweet... definitely strategy there - but until they raise the difficulty back up it's kinda wasted at the lower lvls.

Anyways... I went ahead and installed the new Vista-friendly version of FRAPS on my new box, so I should have some vids. of my own tomorrow night.

**Gambit7** · 09-21-2007, 12:58 PM

Welp, they've surprised me again:
http://boards.playtr.com/showflat.ph...e=0#Post101890

VERY nice being able to choose either server. Actually, in the beginning of beta you could choose either server as well. When they had their big push they patched it up so you had to physically be in the region to logon during playsession times, but during 24/7 times I believe you could put a toon on either server. I actually had a lvl 10 on the Euro server pre-wipe, lag was very little.

TG has a LOT of Euro players... this means that if we DID support this game we can easily play together, since the fellas across the pond can simply join the US server. This is good news... not a lot of games do this.

**Gambit7** · 09-21-2007, 01:18 PM

Boy o boy, I found a new toy (FRAPS... now that it works with vista).

Here's a video detailing a few of the "elemental" death animations the game has:
There's the Lighting Logos (electric), Viral Leech Gun (viral), and the laser rifle (laser).

[media]http://www.feeblegenius.com/videos/TR_Fatality.wmv[/media]

There are many more, including animations for melee attacks. I saw someone use a flamethrower the other night and basically turned the thrax into a crispy critter.

more vids to come.