Tabula Rasa dev diary on control points

Love them or hate them, control points are an integral part to Tabula Rasa's gameplay. As the most recent dev diary explains, they wanted the game to feel like a battlefield. On a battlefield you have objectives to capture, and so they added control points into TR. Game developer Starr Long even says they add a level of excitement to the game. A base that is under your faction's control has quest givers you can interact with, has vendors, is a safe haven for your character.

Now this isn't a new concept by any means. I can think of a specific town in Nagrand in World of Warcraft that runs completely off of this game mechanic. However, centering the gameplay on this mechanic is a mistake in my opinion. I have seen large scale PvP in MMOs before — the base building in Anarchy Online for instance — but it didn't inhibit gameplay. Capturing a base is a large undertaking, and for a single player just trying to get missions completed, this is impossible. It only serves to slow the player's progress and keep him from getting things done. It seems that if they want to create a war, then quests should be minimal if at all, and should revolve around capturing enemy objectives. Then at least you would have progression and massive battles at the same time.

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