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TR's Mechs have arrived on PTS with Deployment 16
Tabula Rasa's Public Test Server just received a brand new shipment of Mechs, and the AFS recruits are pumped! With the highly-anticipated Deployment 16 hitting the PTS last night, Personal Armor Units are finally here. The CELLAR Arena and the Edmund Range Training Grounds have both been expanded to accommodate the Mechs, as well as some newly available combat technology installed.This patch also brought about some other goodies, including three new armor sets with level 50 stats that can be worn by any level, new pets, new emote items, hyper-EXP tokens and probably the coolest thing of all time: 40 unique weapons named after some of the game's most involved players. Look for a post later today regarding more on that. In the meantime, if you don't already have the PTS installed, check it out for these latest changes to the game before they go live.
TR's Deployment 13 introduces new Command System
Tabula Rasa's Deployment 13 has just hit the Public Test Server, and we think you might be excited to hear about the new Command System being implemented with it. Previously referred to as the Minion System, this enhancement gives better control over AI pets and controllable NPCs, also called subordinates, in the game.Subordinates now have better control features where you can set their aggressiveness or defensiveness, assign an anchor point, order them to attack or heal a particular target or set them to simply follow you. All of these commands are done through a set of easy commands and hotkeys. To find out more info on the complete Command System, check out today's Feedback Friday.
Blizzard seeks PTR feedback
If you're testing on the PTR to try and determine what changes patch 3.0.2 have on your character, take some time and give some feedback on these specific issues. Blizzard is specifically asking folks to note if they've lost any abilities they should have or gained ones they shouldn't, if the new token panel is functioning correctly, if mounts and pets are being properly learned from their respective items, if all of your bags and bank slots are working properly, and if you're gaining all of the Achievements you should have.So, please help our blue overlords determine that everything is working smootly for the launch of 3.0.2 so that we don't all end up with abilities we shouldn't have or tokens lost in the ether. I would, but beta testers aren't able to.
Tabula Rasa's Progressive Weapon system upgrades
In this week's Tabula Rasa Feedback Friday, the Progressive Weapons are explained a bit more for those high-end players looking for something new and exciting with their firepower. Anything from Series 2 up will play by a new set of rules, revolving around better skins, more specified damage types and more damage dealt. Plus, With the upcoming deployment 13, players will have the chance to duel-wield certain Series 2 pistols.In addition to all of this, there was a new patch today for Deployment 12.4, which is currently on the Public Test Server. This patch was implemented mostly for bug fixes which include many for the COCP map. Check out the complete Feedback Friday and the complete patch notes from Deployment 12.4 for more information.
Tabula Rasa's Deployment 12 nears the Public Test Server
With this week's Feedback Friday, the Tabula Rasa folks let us know about their basic plans for the upcoming Deployment 13, which will bring a brand new map, new v2 and v3 weapons and make some highly-requested UI tweaks.However, the main focus is on what's coming to the Public Test Server very soon with Deployment 12. This is the deployment that will introduce us to the first iteration of the Clan Owned Control Points on a special prototype map for players to use and abuse to their heart's content. Plus, there's word of the Epic Gauntlet Test Map which is aimed towards the level 50 crowd. This map will be a series of 10 rooms, each with a different assortment of Bane creatures. Things get progressively more difficult throughout the map, so it's aimed more towards the hardcore AFS soldiers: no wimps allowed! Check out the entire feedback notes as well as what the community thinks about the upcoming changes.
New Tabula Rasa event brings the pain
When you get invited to an in-game event that consists of the word "pain", you know it has to be good. Kagasumi, one of Tabula Rasa's QA Testers, is looking to test the limits of high-level monster AI with an event called The Pain Train. This event will take place on the Public Test Server on Friday, August 22nd from 2pm to 4pm Central Time (-6 GMT) on the Palisades map.As Kagasumi says, this event was created to test some very strong monsters against players to see how they fare. Apparently, he says he's been surprised at how players can always come out on top when they're up against large mobs of Bane. So Kagasumi simply wants to test the limits of player/monster combat balance, with your help. He promises lots of giveaway goodies, so even if the thought of high-level Thrax makes you wish you were back in Bootcamp, you'll want to show up and help out as much as you can.
Tabula Rasa Deployment 11 arrives on the test server
Now that Tabula Rasa's Deployment 10 has been unleashed to the world, it's time to start playing around with Deployment 11, which has just hit the Public Test Server today. In it, we get treated to a hefty revamp of both the beginning areas and the advanced areas. The Bootcamp zone has experienced a total revamp, plus there's the addition of a new level 50 instance entitled Omega Labs. However, one of the biggest changes to gameplay that was introduced with this content update is the changes to Adrenaline. As with any gameplay changes, player opinion is mixed, but NCsoft hopes to gauge player response through the test server and make appropriate changes before it goes live.
Deployment 10.6 now on Tabula Rasa public test server
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.
Gracia - Part 1 update now live on Lineage II test server
Lineage II players can give Part 1 of the Gracia expansion a go right now on the Public Test Server. Gracia is planned to be a three-part series, and this first installment offers a number of features, such as faster leveling and solo improvements, new hunting areas Kamaloka and Cruma Tower, and some skill and UI changes.Before diving on to the test server, you can get acquainted with Gracia at the expansion's official preview site. As well as listing the update's features, you can learn more about its back-story, reading straight from a stylish pop-up tome and enjoying some rather mysterious and epic music.
Tabula Rasa Feedback Friday
In this week's installment of TR's Feedback Friday, we get some information on a needed improvement to the Public Test Server and a change to the Shredder Ammo skill that players have come to love since the last patch.For the last few Public Test Server proliferations, a game master has been on-hand to give players an instant boost to level 30 in order to check out the Tier 4 class changes. This only seemed fair since the majority of changes happened to these high-level classes. In the spirit of convenience, the developers have created a PTS Level Command NPC who will do that dirty work for them.In addition to this, they mention their awareness of the problems with the Sniper's signature weapon -- the Torqueshell Rifle -- and how players have resorted to the Chaingun/Shredder Ammo combo with their Snipers. They state their intentions to re-balance this in order to make the TSR more effective, and lower the extremely unbalanced power of the Chaingun/Shredder combo.
Hands-on with Tabula Rasa's next patch: harder enemies good for the game?
Tabula Rasa is a peculiar game compared to many in that the difficulty of enemy encounters usually isn't measured by enemy strength, but by their numbers and composition. Man to man, your typical AFS soldier is more than a match for even the toughest units the Bane can throw at them. While that would seem to make the game a cakewalk, this is balanced by the fact that the enemy usually travels in roaming packs, containing enemies of different types that complement and balance each other. The difficulty of the game is largely derived from finding ways to pick apart these units before they can burn you down.Among the many changes to come to Tabula Rasa in the most recent patch on the public test server is a new, enhanced enemy AI. For whatever reason, the Destination Games team decided to amp up the difficulty of enemy encounters by increasing so-called "aggro sharing" between enemy monsters. Having given the new build some time on the test server, we've got some thoughts and criticisms.
New TR patch bringing the goods on test server
Word on the street is that Tabula Rasa's patch 1.7 should be hitting the public test servers as we speak. As you probably already well know because you follow our coverage religiously (right!?), patch 1.7 should herald in some hefty changes to the Spy and Ranger classes. We've been hearing good things about Fire Support, the new skill replacing Reinforcements. Evidently, these spawnable AI allies for Rangers actually have the capacity to kill enemies now! What a pleasant surprise.An even better surprise is that, perhaps hearing our prayers, dev team member Harleyquin will be on the test server all day at Alia Das, leveling players to 30 so they can test out the new class changes. This is an extraordinary boon to the player base, because their existing testing procedures only allowed players with characters on a given server (and it's Centaurus this time around) to run through the changes and report feedback. It's certainly not a long-term solution, but it shows that they've been listening. So make sure to go poke Harley if you've got the time to log on.For the full patch notes, check after the jump.
Tabula Rasa's testing procedure needs a revamp
With the recent announcement that, once again, our favorite servers weren't going to be part of the testing process (no offense Centaurus) for Tabula Rasa's new patch 1.7, we're reminded of how horrible this system has proved to be over the last several months. For the uninitiated, the TR development team generally chooses only one of the game's four servers to copy over to the test server. If your server is picked for that patch, all of your characters are copied over and you can log in and test things out a couple weeks before the patch goes live. If yours doesn't get picked, you're stuck rolling a new character from scratch.There are several problems with this. For one, the active hardcore fan base (that is, the kind of people who would actually log into a test server to report bugs and forgo any progression on their actual character) is precipitously small to begin with. So when they take this active player base and divide them by four to test new patches, everybody loses. Only a fraction of the community leaders get to contribute input to class changes, patches don't get as thoroughly tested as they might be if the full community was brought to bear, and poor writers like those at Massively only get to cover patch changes in earnest when their servers are chosen.Is it really too much to ask to be able to copy a character to test on demand? Let your hardcore fans do your work for you!
Seeing Tabula Rasa's future
I've spent a fair amount of time on the Tabula Rasa public test server over the last few days trying to score me some of that sweet "Charcoal Colored Armor Dye" being given away during Test Fest '08. I've also experienced some of the things that will be coming in the next patch (1.4), which I could blither on about... but why bother when the gang over at Ten Ten Hammer has already done the grunt work?In their latest report from the front line entitled, Testing the Future, Tony "RadarX" Jones breaks down the slew of new goodies that will drop, including the the much heralded Hybrids. Since this particular topic has been talked to death already, I'll just add that I have in fact seen a few. They're ugly. But I can't wait to give them a whirl. They may be ugly, but they're new! Equally intriguing are all the other changes and tweaks to armor, ammo, attributes, shield extender, hacker skills and the oddly worded "Game balance has been adjusted to be slightly easier at all levels (higher character survivability) and significantly easier at higher levels."Aside from the obvious game balance adjustment, which frankly I don't feel the game needs (at least at the lower levels I'm participating at), the biggest areas of concern for me are the "Three A's" (armor, ammo attributes). Last night while attempting to take over the Pravus Research Center with my level 15 Ranger (solo) I noticed a distinct change in armor absorption. The absorption rate seemed seriously degraded, but I didn't seem to die any quicker. This was likely due to the changes with a player's Attributes. Body, Mind, and Spirit will now provide bonuses! Body improves max absorption, Mind improves Logos damage, while Spirit gives a better chance to Critical Hit. Ammunition changes weren't immediately noticeable aside from being able to use standard canister ammo for my chain gun instead of just standard cartridge ammo.All in all... good stuff. Read the whole report to get all the juicy details.
Charcoal is the new black: Test Fest '08 details
As they promised last week, the Tabula Rasa community crew has finally released the details for Test Fest '08, their new promotion to encourage players to take an active role in keeping TR bug free. Starting January 21 (that's today) through January 28, any player with an active account who logs two or more hours on the public test server will receive 10x "Charcoal Colored Armor Dye" on February 14. Gamers as a group probably have more angst per capita than the general population, and the concurrent desire for black digs has gone unmet so far by Destination Games. There's no black armor dye of any sort in the game right now; it's mostly a mixture of horrible looking pastels and bright fluorescent colors. Now, why they would choose to give us the black armor dye on Valentine's Day of all days is beyond me, but sometimes it's better not to ask questions and take the goodies when somebody offers them to you.As an amusing aside, it's interesting to note how what was previously referred to as "Black Armor Dye" in the official materials has undergone a sudden shift to being referred to as "Charcoal Colored Armor Dye." Methinks somebody over at the Tabula Rasa team realized what a horrible faux pas it was to have an announcement for "black" armor dye on Martin Luther King Day, of all days. This is further supported by the fact that they sort of buried the announcement within the Weekend Wrapup. What was once a big exciting promotion is now a one sentence blurb hidden amongst other smaller announcements. Oops!
Lineage 2 expansion out on test server
If you've been hanging out for Lineage 2's upcoming free expansion, The Kamael, then you may be interested to know that the content is available for testing, right now. Curse.com noticed that the game's public test server now includes the new content, so players can go and try out the Kamael and their not-suitable-for-flying single wing.You will need to have an existing Lineage 2 account to be able to log in to the test server, and if you don't have the test client yet, it can be downloaded from Fileplanet. The news story on Curse.com includes a few links to the test server's forums, and a post on those forums that contains a list of testing notes for The Kamael, so if you're interested in giving it a try then be sure to check those out.There is no officially confirmed release date for The Kamael just yet, so if you're really hankering to try it out, it would be better to jump in to the test than wait around and hope it comes out soon.
