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WRUP: What's a WRUP? edition
What's a "WRUP," you ask? Well, in our game-addled brains, it stands for "what are you playing" and it's a chance for you and the Massively staff to chat about the most important subject in MMO gaming today: what you're playing right now. Here's what the Massively team is up to this week, a list dominated by everyone's favorite MMOs. Of now free-to-play Tabula Rasa, all we have to say is: it's a trap! You'll either enjoy it -- but it's shutting down forever soon -- or you won't enjoy it and it will have been a waste of playtime. Alexis Kassan: I'll be playing mommy to a sick puppy dog. Hoping to spare a few minutes to level my main in WoW and try to max out Mining and Cooking. Eventually I'll bring my Blacksmithing up to speed too. Major goal is to level from 72 to 73. Brendan Drain: EVE Online. I don't have much time to play this weekend due to exams so today I just ran a few missions. I might go for some small roaming gang PvP in the faction warfare region Black Rise later or if there's a big fleet going down I'll probably join that.Colin Brennan: Looks like my guild is doing classic raid content in World of Warcraft. Blackwing Lair, Onyxia, and Kara. Also heavy roleplay. :DDan O'Halloran: I'll continue to furiously level my Lore-master in LotRO to get him to Moria. I'll also be participating in the Lunar Festival in WoW to get moving on all the Achievements associated with the seasonal event.Kyle Horner: Double experience weekend in City of Heroes for me! I'll probably be playing my gravity/empathy controller.Michael Zenke: Catching up levels in LotRO. I'm 28 pushing on 30, and next week I'll be into Book 3.Shawn Schuster: I'm on the home stretch for getting my LotRO main to level 60, and my kin and I have Book 2.4.7 scheduled for tonight. Other than that, I've just downloaded City of Heroes and can't wait to try that out for the first time, thanks to that Tabula Rasa "severance package" from NCsoft. If you don't hear from me on Monday, it means I'm drowning in alts. Sweet, sweet CoX character creation.William Dobson: Giving Vanguard a try for the first time. So far, so good!So what are you playing this weekend?
Tabula Rasa to merge all servers into one
NCsoft has just announced during today's Feedback Friday that they will be merging all four Tabula Rasa servers into one main server, in preparation for the final shutdown next month. This server merge will basically combine all characters and items onto one main server, located on the East Coast of the US.In a situation like this, many factors are to be considered. What about duplicate character or clan names? Will all characters on one account be combined onto the same character selection screen? These questions, and more, are answered by a handy FAQ set up on the main TR website. They also mention a release of Deployment 16 coming during or shortly after the merge itself, which will introduce all the goodies we've been hearing about for awhile.
The Daily Grind: A full MMO or an MM-No?
Last night while talking about some of the recent news, we hit upon an interesting question in regards to smaller MMOs and sunsetted (or currently being sunsetted titles) Smaller MMOs sadly don't often get a lot of investment in terms of money or developer time, so many times they wind up locked into near-stasis, with perhaps one large content patch per year, if that.This morning we thought we'd ask - if presented the choice of seeing your MMO which was in heavy development change, which would you prefer? Would you rather it just be shut down altogether; going out at its peak, as it were? Or would you prefer your game to essentially land on life support with only the occasional update and very long development times between them?
A timeline of Tabula Rasa
As Tabula Rasa approaches its final lap, the community retrospectives continue to arise, showcasing the best and worst that the game had to offer. Over at Ten Ton Hammer, they've compiled a short run-down which chronicles the rise and fall of NCsoft's failed sci-fi shooter.Beginning in August of 2007, open beta rolled out, in what easily became tens of thousands of beta testers. Reviews for the game were mixed as the NDA lifted, and the polarizing opinions that later defined the game's community came out in full force. From there, the game suffered a few personnel changes and brought out its biggest guns when Richard Garriott announced a promotional tie-in with a space flight. This wasn't enough to keep the game afloat, as Garriott himself left the flock and the game's closure was announced 10 days later. This article at TTH gives a brief timeline for the features and highlights of the game from early beta to now. It's worth a read if you're curious about the game's life, or want to simply look back fondly at its progression.
Opinions flare from ex-NCsoft employees about TR's closing
As Tabula Rasa approaches its end days, the anger, sadness and I-told-you-so sentiments are rising up more than ever. This week marks an interesting occasion where two former NCsoft employees each wrote detailed stories on their own perspectives regarding the sci-fi MMO's downward spiral.First we have this post by Adam Martin, former CTO of NCsoft Europe, where he explains his views on why the game failed. Granted, he admits he wasn't actually on the TR team, but he was privy to the internal mailing lists and information about the game from Alpha to launch. As a response, we have a post from Scott Jennings, who sums it all up fairly well with this statement: "The biggest failing, though, was that it was in development about twice as long and spent twice as much as it had any right to. And that's what promotes it, in this snarky outside blogger's view, from understandable failure to extinction-level company-slaying train wreck."Update: Although Adam Martin's post states that he was the European CTO at the time, we get word from NCsoft that he was never the CTO for NCsoft Europe. He was the Lead Programmer.
Why you should be playing Tabula Rasa: It's free!
If you're still postponing the dive into NCsoft's Tabula Rasa, because of that whole shut-down thing, I wanted to just let you know that you may be missing out on a historical opportunity here. How often is it that you get to play a game through its last remaining weeks, and actually witness the end first-hand? Right now the game itself is even free to download. I'll explain more on this later, but if you're feeling extra generous, or you're big into souvenirs from dead MMOs, you can pick it up on Amazon or most brick-and-mortar shops for $5 US. If you want to spend the extra cash for a Collector's Edition, to get some dogtags, an AFS Challenge coin, a "Making of Tabula Rasa" DVD and more, you can do that for $15-$30 usually. Or perhaps, you'll be lucky enough to find a dumpster full of boxes behind an EB Games somewhere.
Tabula Rasa burial ground, behind EB Games
Despite the title of this Kotaku post, I still refuse to call Tabula Rasa a bad game. Sure it's certainly not an encouraging sign to see dozens of sealed TR boxes filling a dumpster behind an EB Games in Canada, but I am not going to jump on that wagon.In this Kotaku post, we see two reader-submitted photos of said dumpster, and it really makes me sad to think about where those games could have gone instead. I wonder if they first tried to give them away for free, or perhaps the EB Games upper management told them that it's not even worth the shelf space, considering their PC shelf space is shrinking every day anyway. Would you have taken a free copy of Tabula Rasa, just to play it out completely free these last six weeks? Am I being a complete fanboy? Yes, but I know I've never had a stronger compulsion to dumpster dive in my life.
One Shots: The bane of the Big Apple
In one of the shockers of the year, we've seen Tabula Rasa head towards shutdown just one year after initial release. What's really disappointing is that so many people we've heard from have said that Tabula Rasa has come leaps and bounds from original release. Several think the game is very enjoyable now that they've added in the new content. Whether or not people coming back and playing TR now may be enough to make NCsoft reconsider their decision or not remains to be seen. Nonetheless, today we've got a screenshot sent in to us by Kaczmanchoy, who has also been enjoying the new content. Kaczmanchoy writes: This is from Tabula Rasa's latest high-level epic instance "The Empire Sector". This is the view that greets you when you first come out of the subway tunnels after taking the wormhole back to Earth. Not only is NYC in ruins (although the Empire State Building still stands in the background), but the Bane have already begun terraforming it to their liking. Are you still playing Tabula Rasa or Hellgate London? If so, we'd love to have some screenshots from you to preserve your games for future generations. Just send those screens to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and whatever you'd like to say about it. We'll post it out here, and give you the credit for snapping the image. %Gallery-97989%
Tabula Rasa goes free-to-play one month early
The news coming out of the Tabula Rasa camp this evening just keeps getting better! First we hear about the new content being released with Deployment 15, then the upcoming PAU and Mech units being released in Deployment 16, and now we get word that the game will be going free-to-play a full month earlier than originally planned.As of right now, Tabula Rasa is completely free to current players, former players and brand new players. Head on over to the PlayNC store to create or reactivate an account and enjoy the final months of the game at no cost. Check out the official announcement for more details on creating or reactivating an account, and check out the game before it's too late!
Massively's best of - Biggest surprise of 2008
Winner: The shutdown of Tabula Rasa (writeup by Shawn Schuster)This year's Biggest Surprise goes to the news that Tabula Rasa is closing for good in February of 2009. Some might think this was no surprise at all, considering the exodus of players over the past year, and the recent news of Richard Garriott leaving NCsoft to pursue other interests. We chose it because of the vivid community still surrounding it, with the actual finality of a closure a surprise to us all. What makes this an even larger surprise is the fact that the September closure rumors were quickly denied by NCsoft themselves. Recent reports of several new and exciting game features, plus the announcement that players would have a chance to return to Earth in the game made us firmly believe that TR was making a strong comeback. In game, we started to see more players running around in the world, more players in chat and full groups again. The PlanetTR weekly events were filling up like they did in the old days, and we were optimistic. For whatever reason it was too little, too late for NCsoft. The publisher is not in the market of losing money, and we understand that. Yet if we see another closure of an NCsoft title any time soon, it certainly won't be on our Biggest Surprise list.%Gallery-39348%
Honoring Tabula Rasa through screenshots
Over the next 2 months, we here at Massively plan to honor Tabula Rasa through a series of articles. The news of the game's closing affects all MMO gamers, even if they never actually played Tabula Rasa itself. So in this first one, we're taking a look at the community's best screenshots in an abbreviated gallery of event pics, rare captures and just a bit to help us look back once it's all gone.These 45 screenshots were all created by the community at the PlanetTR forums, with a few thrown in by myself. They show everything from the early days of Beta to the high-level instances. I wanted to thank everyone at PTR who submitted literally hundreds of screenshots to me to make this possible. Follow the link below for the complete gallery.%Gallery-39348%
Tabula Rasa's PlanetTR forums to change format
With the news of Tabula Rasa's closing, one might wonder what will become of the game's largest and most popular unofficial forums. As was announced this past weekend, the PlanetTR forums will be changing formats after TR closes down in February. This will all be accomplished through a series of in-game and on-forum roleplaying events, introducing the world to a rogue band of AFS named The Agenda.You can read a complete backstory on the creation of The Agenda, as well as an in-character thread from the story's Captain Durall for more information. The main in-game event will happen in January, and it promises to be an extensive war, much like their previous Server vs. Server wars, but larger. From there, in March, the forums will change format to appeal to a broader audience and be renamed to The Planet, although the domain name will remain planettr.com. It hasn't been decided exactly what direction the site will take, but you can make your voice heard in this thread, and of course we will be sure to keep players informed with any news.
Behind the Curtain: Innovation
I'd like to talk about Innovation for a little bit. There's an argument which runs along the lines of, "gamers don't get innovation because gamers don't want innovation." There's a certain logic there – if we, as consumers, are not willing to spend money buying games with innovative features or content, then why should developers and publishers spend money to make them? Eating the same food again and again, refusing to change your diet would be monumentally unhealthy for you. Why then, do so many of us do almost exactly that when it comes to our gaming habits? In my opinion, there's been plenty of innovation in gaming in past years. Half life 2 introduced a character I'm sure many of you grew attached to almost as much as I did; Lamarr Miss Alyx Vance. For the first time ever, we had an NPC did more than just get in your way, die easily and spout the same catchphrase over and over. While Alyx really shines in Episode One, the introduction of her character in the original game stands out for me.
Tabula Rasa crafting: What didn't work then, and what works now
Several times I've wanted to just sit myself down and write an in-depth article explaining the original crafting system in Tabula Rasa (before it was announced to close), but it's just one of those things where the explanation would not make much sense unless you've frustrated yourself with it firsthand. It was complicated, time consuming and you would only need to kill 3 or 4 more Bane to get a better item anyway. Yet in Deployment 13, the crafting system was completely overhauled, simplified, and caused players to actually craft again. But was it just too late?Over at Van Hemlock's blog, he takes a practical look at the past and present of TR crafting, explaining what we once dealt with versus the new and improved system. For anyone who has simply ignored the crafting in TR based on previous bad experiences, this post if worth a read.
Tabula Rasa introduces Epic instances
As announced in today's Feedback Friday, the Tabula Rasa team has been working on a way to present low-level instances in what could be considered a "hard mode" of sorts. The first of these is the Caves of Donn instance which now has an Epic version, accessible through the CELLAR Arena.This Epic Caves of Donn instance has Epic versions of the Caretakers, Technicians, Soldiers and the brand new Ravagers and Seekers created for the Back-to-Earth campaign. This instance is repeatable, allowing players to eventually gain all rewards in addition to the XP, Prestige and Mimeomech. Admittedly, the developers report that the instance doesn't have as much polish as they'd like, but considering the circumstances, we understand.
Tabula Rasa's weekend activites still going strong
As a testament to the fact that Tabula Rasa players aren't throwing down their rifles and giving up that easily, the community events are carrying on stronger than ever. Thanks to fansites such as PlanetTR and Gangrel's Forums, this weekend is chocked full of contests and special events to keep away those end-of-the-game-in-two-months blues.First, there's the EU Centaurus AFS Boxing Tournament, which is basically the EU server's answer to Friday Night Fights. Speaking of which, this week's FNF will be held on the Orion server at 10pm EST. Finally, we have this month's installment of the Server vs. Server War on the PTS for all to enjoy. You can find out more information on this SvS War through our previous coverage or at PlanetTR's forums. Hope to see you there!
Tabula Rasa's Deployment 15 hits the Public Test Server
For those players left to enjoy Tabula Rasa in its final months, NCsoft has remained diligent about keeping up with quality content. The most recent game update, Deployment 15, has now hit the Public Test Server and brings with it many features that players have been looking forward to for a while now.In addition to the new FPS camera view, we're treated to a new instance map entitled "The Empire Sector". This special map is restricted to level 50 players who must also meet certain Logos requirements. Plus, NCsoft's developers aren't letting the closure blues get to them as they break out with some holiday decorations throughout 16 different locations where holiday headgear and "Festive Footwear" await players. Check out the complete PTS patch notes for more information on this large update.
NCsoft clarifies its rationale for closing Tabula Rasa
Last week we spoke very briefly with NCsoft's Director of Public Relations David Swofford about the company's decision to close Tabula Rasa. He reiterated the basic statement we heard from several sources surrounding the call: this was all about the bottom line.David Swofford: We had to weigh Tabula Rasa against everything else that was out there. From our standpoint it was strictly a call ... it wasn't as successful as we needed it to be. We had to take this position.From our perspective, from the readers of Massively we just feel like there is a little bit of confusion. We spoke with Mr. Reid just two months ago, and the headline we used was 'Tabula Rasa is Triple-A and here to stay'. It just seems like it has been a quick turnaround in two months from 'we have every confidence in this game going forward' to 'we have to shut the game down.' Has something happened in the last two months that prompted this?Mr. Swofford: My reaction is that definitely at the time we thought we had something good going on ... we had the Operation Immortality promotion going, things were looking good, the team was working on the product. As David said, we considered it a Triple-A level product for the company. Things do change. I think he also said, and I'll reiterate, that we're constantly looking at projects. It's not like you have them out there and you let them go for a while, we're constantly monitoring them and weighing them against the success that they're having against the current market. I think things changed quite a bit since when you did that interview.Thank you for clarifying that – it's good to be able to get that explained, there was definitely a sense of confusion on the site.Mr. Swofford: No, no, we understand. This was not a popular thing and certainly not a pleasant thing to do on our end. When you look at it from a business sense it was really what we needed to do.
The Daily Grind: Penny for your Tabula Rasa thoughts?
The announcement that Tabula Rasa will close in February came suddenly, what with NCsoft employees saying there were "no current plans" to close the game only a couple of months ago. We're sad to see the game go, though we're not surprised in the wake of Richard Garriott's departure.Are you a current or former Tabula Rasa player, and if so, what's your take on all this? Did you see it coming? Is it a tragic early death, or an appropriate end to an era? And where do you plan to go next? NCsoft is offering a fair deal to refugees -- months of free playtime in City of Heroes, Lineage II, or the forthcoming Aion. Does that tempt you, or are you going to take your business elsewhere -- to Turbine, Blizzard, SOE, CCP, or Funcom, perhaps?
Tabula Rasa's subscriber rewards explained
As we're still digesting the sad news from earlier today of Tabula Rasa's demise, some may have overlooked, or simply become confused about the special rewards that NCsoft is offering their current TR subscribers. We thought it only fair for us to explain them a bit.First off, it's important to note that all of these goodies are only available to people who were subscribed to Tabula Rasa at the time of this announcement. That's right. There was no warning, or time to prepare. They are rewarding those who have stayed subscribed to the game, rightfully so.
