TabulaRasa
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EVE Evolved: Why EVE Online will be around for a long time.
A little under five years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to a new online game he was playing called EVE Online. A key part of his pitch was that the game was less than a year old and I should get in on the ground floor. My friend correctly anticipated the massive success that EVE would be and that it would be good to get involved as early as possible. Over the years, that decision to start playing EVE in early 2004 has afforded me a lot of opportunities, not least of all being able to contribute to EON magazine and finally become a columnist here at Massively.Getting in on the ground floor:Five years down the line from EVE day one, it's easy for new players or those that want to sign up to feel like they've missed the boat and can't achieve what the older players have. In the same way that my friend introduced me to EVE, it's my turn to try and convince people that they can still get in on the ground floor of something new and immense. With two major expansions coming soon, including the revolutionary "Walking in Stations" expansion, I firmly believe that right now could be the best time in five years to get in on the ground floor of the incredible on-going journey that is EVE Online.In this article, I discuss the reasons why EVE will continue to endure for the foreseeable future and how getting involved now could be just as good as getting involved from day one.
NCsoft says Tabula Rasa is doing fine
An NCsoft Europe spokesperson tells Eurogamer that Tabula Rasa has a growing player base and isn't in any trouble. Recent reports suggest otherwise, as NCsoft was apparently too embarrassed by the game's performance to mention it in its recent Q1 financial report. NCsoft states that a recent European trial met with "great demand" and it'll do a similar promotion later this year. It's no secret that Tabula Rasa's had a slow start, but just how bad is it? If MMOGCHART is to be believed, Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa has approximately 75,000 players, the same subscription numbers as his decade-old Ultima Onine.
Zero Punctuation hates on Tabula Rasa
If you've been paying attention to the Escapist's Zero Punctuation reviews, then you've caught on that the whole point is to listen to some British guy hate on a game for a few minutes (the exception being the Psychonauts review where he just hates on people who didn't buy it). The latest review from "Yahtzee" has him hating on Tabula Rasa. As Americans (or, at least, Escapist editors) seem to love listening to British accents getting all uppity and nit-pick on things in absurdest Monty Python-esque statements, this Tabula Rasa review (found after the break) is another entertaining stroll of Yahtzee's breathless rage.
Tabula Rasa delayed until Nov. 2
Despite confirming an October 19th release date early last month, NCSoft has announced their years-in-the-making MMO Tabula Rasa will see a minor delay, bumped two weeks back to November 2. A message from the game's producer, Starr Long (now that's a stellar name!), on the official site explains, "This short but critical amount of time will give us time to address several issues including stability and balance as well as allowing our players to test the continent of Ligo (L38+) and our major changes to crafting for a few weeks rather than a few days."Don't get all worried pre-orderers, your Halloween plans aren't ruined after all; you'll still get the game three days early on Oct. 30. Everyone else, what can we say besides we're sorry?[Via Gamespot]
Tabula Rasa ends six-year wait with Oct. 19 release
Tabula Rasa is more than just the best episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it's also the new Richard Garriott MMORPG product being published by NCSoft, which revealed last night that the game will finally arrive on Oct. 19, after being announced in 2001.If you're among those who pre-ordered the game you'll get early entry on October 16. Not only will you get a few days ahead of your buddies in terms of experience, you can also be among the first to create overly-convoluted acronyms for common in-game objects. Could you imagine being the guy who created the next "LFG" or "SoW plz"? It could happen!
Joystiq interviews NCSoft's Brian Clayton and Richard Garriott
Whilst at the Develop Conference last month we, unfortunately, managed to miss our meeting with NCSoft's Richard Garriott. Thankfully we have still been able to get our questions answered via email. The majority of the following are responses by Brian Clayton, Executive Producer at NCSoft, who was directly involved with the Sony partnership. Richard Garriott answers the final two questions on MMO design. Why choose to develop exclusively for Sony in the console market? Brian: Sony has shown a commitment to developing robust console hardware with strong longevity which is crucial to any viable MMO console strategy. In addition, Sony understands that our MMO business model is different than the traditional console model and is giving us the flexibility to develop and publish AAA MMOs. We feel that together our strategic partnership will offer console gamers an experience that can't be matched anywhere else.
NCSoft announcing PS3 MMO games by end of year
Developer legend Richard Garriott of NCSoft fame recently keynoted the Brighton Develop Conference, giving us a few tidbits about the E3 announcement where NCSoft agreed to exclusively create or move PC MMOs onto Sony's sexy console. We say tidbits, not details, because his speech was not focused on this subject. Speaking to Eurogamer after the keynote, Garriott explained that "hopefully by the end of the year we're going to be able to announce what they're going to be" in regards to the PS3 titles.Since Garriott talked about Tabula Rasa a lot in his keynote, can we assume that is one of the games that will make the jump? The title has been in development for ages, so perhaps this deal with Sony has been under wraps for a long time, too? Maybe. Either that or we'll see ports for other popular titles like Lineage or Guild Wars. Perhaps we'll see something original. Place your bets!
Richard Garriott calls for MMO devs to innovate
Speaking at the Develop Conference, game designer Richard "Lord British" Garriott (Ultima series) called for innovation in the field of MMO games. "Game design has not changed over 10 years. Fundamentally the gameplay is unchanged," he said, referring to his 1997 Ultima Online title that arguably laid the framework for modern-day MMOs. He later added, "We owe it to consumers to provide new kinds of gameplay." Garriott lamented on the prevalence of level grinding in current titles and emphasized the importance of artificial intelligence as the genre moves forward. We can think of at least nine million people who enjoy the current state of MMOs. Garriott has laid down the gauntlet; time will tell if his latest project, the oft-delayed Tabula Rasa, will advance the genre.
Tabula Rasa shows off heavy weapons
Tabula Rasa has been a long time coming. Thankfully, it recently started beta testing and we're looking forward to getting a solid look of the end product by E3. When Richard "Lord British" Garriott (who we recommend not robbing) showed the game last year, it was coming along and looked like a perfectly fine alternative to the fantasy filled orc-lands we've gotten used to in the MMO market.In the video, after the break, we get a look at Tabula Rasa's weapons. Graphics have never been a big selling point of MMOs (ask Vanguard what happens when you try do that), so we're just waiting to get a real feel for the questing and gameplay once the beta reports get out. Personally, we still like the Team Fortress 2 heavy weapons video much better.
Does the industry need to give WoW competition?
Right now WoW stands as the big boy on the online gaming scene. It will take quite a bit to close the gap between it and the other -- some could argue the inferior -- titles. Mark Ward at BBC News wrote an article on the subject of competition to World of Warcraft last week, and it raises some interesting issues. Mark interviewed Funcom game director Gaute Godoger, the man responsible for the upcoming Age of Conan MMO. Gaute believes that competition is needed for WoW because it has such a stranglehold on the market right now. Normally, I would have to agree with him, since competition breeds innovation. But in the case of Blizzard, they are competing with themselves for innovation, which is why WoW constantly comes up with new and fresh concepts and content that other games strive to copy. From where I sit, the company appears to be driven by the internal desire to put forth the best game possible, and so I see little in the market today that would have the potential to actually compete with their ethic.
Tabula Rasa not vaporware -- starts beta testing
NCSoft's Tabula Rasa began sign-ups for beta testing this week. The sci-fi MMO, headed by Richard Garriott of Ultima fame, is a title that's been a long time coming. Showing at E3 2005 and 2006, with launch dates always shifting, there still is no reasonable explanation as to why this game is taking so long. We're sure to get another Tabula Rasa fix at Min-E3 and with any luck they'll finally nail down an official launch date. See also: Tabula Rasa at E3 (2005) NCSoft's E3 booth tour (2006) PC impressions: Tabula Rasa (2006)
NCsoft Austin shows 70 workers the door [update 1]
Perhaps fueled by the disappointing performance of Auto Assault and other MMOs under NCsoft's control, the company has confirmed that they have indeed made a round of cuts to their Austin office -- 70 employees have been pink slipped. According to a statement on the company's Lineage II boards:"NCsoft's Austin business has announced an immediate restructuring within its organization that included the difficult task of reducing members of its workforce. ... the company sees a slowdown in its launch pattern and the need to streamline its business. For this reason, NCsoft has reduced its 300 person workforce in Austin by approximately 70 people to accommodate this change. This decision has no impact on the schedules of any projects currently in development and service to NCsoft's current games will continue without interruption."While some have blamed the subscription numbers of AA and City of Heroes/Villains, an NCsoft rep assured GameSpot that those rumors were false. A rep said the figures shown were incorrect, and "not just barely wrong, but all wrong." NCsoft's Guild Wars may be enjoying some real success, but it seems the others may be holding the company back. Who knows how this will affect their upcoming venture Tabula Rasa, but considering this recent news, it can't be all positive.[via MMORPG.com][Update 1: The Austin chapter of the International Game Developer's Association (IGDA) is looking to help any recently laid-off game designers. They write, "There are plenty of employers around town who would like to snatch you up as soon as possible because of your previous work experience. We'll be displaying the resumes on our website along with an announcement of this opportunity for other employers around town."Interested? Stop by their website and see what they need from you.]
Lord British Defies Blizzard's Throne
Longtime gamers will immidiately recognize the name of Richard Garriott, a.k.a. Lord British, creator of the original Ultima series & MMO pioneer. After several years out of the spotlight, Garriott has teamed up with NCSoft, makers of CIty of Heroes & Lineage, for a new MMO called Tabula Rasa. In this audio interview from TGDaily.com, the Lord talks about his vision for a next-generation MMO and why he doesn't fear competing with Blizzard's juggernaut.I've played Garriott's games for around 20 years now, in one form or another, and I'd love to see him at the forefront of online gaming again, but a lot of things have changed since Ultima Online, and it will be curious to see how Garriott's new venture fares. The interview can be found here.
NCsoft's E3 booth tour
NCsoft's booth was mostly about the games, with banks of PC stations set up for passers-by to play at. There were plenty of knowledgeable staff on hand, and plenty of t-shirt giveaways. However, the booth's main attraction was its stage -- when we visited, The Mutaytor was helping to create the post-apocalyptic atmosphere appropriate to Tabula Rasa. At other times in the day, Guild Wars tournaments took centre stage, with large crowds gathering to watch top PvP teams face off. Between this and the pyrotechnic dancing, we really managed to get a feel for the atmosphere of NCsoft's game offerings, something which few other booths managed to convey.
PC impressions: Tabula Rasa
Tabula Rasa is a sci-fi themed MMO from NCsoft. Among its arsenal of features are: party-based voice chat, instances and open battlegrounds, a range of weaponry and an interesting cloning system. The class system is branching, and players can clone their character at any time -- change your mind about a class, and you can just dust off the clone and try again, rather than re-roll at level one. Playing the game, it comes across as the crazy lovechild of a MMORPG and MMOFPS. Combat is fast-paced and loud, with a big focus on guns and special abilities. Aiming isn't the FPS-style twitch-based shooting, though, and players progress through levels and missions much like in other MMOs. Being able to zoom into first-person view makes Tabula Rasa play almost like a straight-up FPS at times, but without the response and accuracy that FPS games are used to.
MMO design: the job of creating worlds
Decisions over how long burning rivers should stay aflame for can have a profound impact upon the atmosphere and enjoyment factor of a virtual landscape. This, and many other decisions like it, is how Richard Garriott spends his time these days -- as executive producer for Tabula Rasa, he has to help craft a variety of planets. World-building isn't a new hobby; fantasy authors and tabletop GMs have been facing questions like this for years, and often throwaway comments cause a lot of trouble for those making film adaptations or video game versions of the world. Creating a world from scratch for gaming means that all the important questions need to be answered at once, however, or the players will ask them. It doesn't stop at the design stage; game companies are providing governments, too, by creating laws and rules on the fly.Universes created primarily by users, like the world of Second Life, still operate within boundaries and constraints set down by the developers and providers of that world. If the Metaverse idea is really the future of online gaming, there's going to be a lot of influence exerted by some early decisions, just as early networking protocols and standards still influence today's Internet.[Via Walkerings]
