Susan Kath announced as new Lead Designer for Tabula Rasa

Tom Potter has stepped down to pursue another opportunity, and Susan Kath has stepped up to the plate to take on the role of Lead Designer in the epic SF MMO Tabula Rasa. Susan is more than qualified, having worn numerous different hats in her career with TR, and been with the project for four and a half years.

In her meaty introduction, Susan quickly switches from talking about herself (which she dismisses as 'boring') to talking about Tabula Rasa's future. There is no doom. There is only awesome. The coming content includes 'a new instanced map, in which players (with or without clans) can battle over control points in order to win exclusive rewards.' There are prototype mechs in development, and a tantalizing system of mech customization through a form of alternative advancement.

But possibly the most exciting news is the emphasis on a dynamic and changing game world. Explaining that she wants players to have a reason to log in every day, and that an evolving world is a big part of that, Susan outlines plans involving epic Bane mobs, dynamically altered maps, and themed mini-bosses.

Some players have reacted with concern to the news that clan-owned control points had apparently been put on hold, but Susan herself has clarified the situation on planettr.com: 'We aren't throwing the Clans out with the bathwater. We are focusing right now on getting this big, huge system with months of work behind it out into the live game so that you can all enjoy it while we work on the Clan aspects. There's too much cool gameplay involved in the CP games for us to keep sitting with it behind-the-scenes when it doesn't need to be.'

Tabula Rasa is in the midst of a positive publicity storm right now, and the appointment of a new lead designer can only be good for the title. The coming content announcement is some of the best news to come down the pipes for Tabula Rasa in a long time, and we can't wait to see what the new Lead Designer and her team bring to the game.