To the Tabula Rasa Community,

Last November we launched what we hoped would be a ground breaking sci-fi MMO. In many ways, we think we’ve achieved that goal. Tabula Rasa has some unique features that make it fun and very different from every other MMO out there. Unfortunately, the fact is that the game hasn’t performed as expected. The development team has worked hard to improve the game since launch, but the game never achieved the player population we hoped for.

So it is with regret that we must announce that Tabula Rasa will end live service on February 28, 2009.

Before we end the service, we’ll make Tabula Rasa servers free to play starting on January 10, 2009.

- Ethic

The End of Tabula Rasa is a post from: Kill Ten Rats

But, with MMOs being so cutting edge why do they require all-or-nothing committment?  They are providing a service, and plenty of other services have many different options for subscriptions.

Take, Lord of the Rings Online.  They have a $200 lifetime subscription or $9.99/month subscription plans available every once in awhile.  This is a great plan to bring people on the edge of a subscription back in to the fold.  It breaks from that $15 flatline.  I think, along with all the new shinies, that breaking from the $15 flatline is the best plan to bring people back (barring an expansion, which is the ultimate in shinies).  Lord of the Rings Online isn’t hurting for subscribers, and has found its niche.

Sony Online Entertainment also changed the game, but their plan isn’t as good as Turbine’s.  For $30/month you can get a ton of subscriptions for MMOs.  You can play Pirates of Burning Sea, Vanguard, Everquest II, Matrix Online, etc., etc., etc.  A dabbler’s dream.  Do some PvP-like action of Planetside, switch to a trader on the high seas, and then go back to vanilla EQ.  It’s great if you like one of the games to begin with.  But, if you want to play just only Matrix Online to mess around for a month… $15.

The Guild Wars business model is the stuff of dreams.  They are heading towards 6 million units sold.  That’s all I will say about that.  World of Warcraft and Warhammer Online… and I guess Age of Conan don’t need to try any “crazy” business models yet.  Of course Warhammer Online and Age of Conant don’t want to admit they can’t run with the big boys…

But, back to Tabula Rasa.  Is the nodal point for supply and demand so fixed at $15? They have sent up spaceships with founders and given their subscribers some great new content (much of it directly requested by users).  They are trying everything to get you back… except push off from that $15 flatline. 

–Ravious
…better than a 100% slice of nothing.

$15 Flatline is a post from: Kill Ten Rats

Akela lists his reasons as such:

Feeling of being a hero, not a nameless part of a team.
Inability to trust other players.
Time management.

For my situation, the first two certainly apply. I enjoy being the star of the show and I detest when other players lower my enjoyment of a game. Time management isn’t a big concern for me, as I tend to be the one scheduling the guild events and trying to get everyone together.

For me, it often boils down first to a lack of friends playing the same game as me. Most of my friends are in City of Heroes, a game that I’ve had a love/hate relationship with since it was released, mostly due to my decision to roll an empathy defender. Too often during my time with CoH would I log on only to find nobody I knew online and no way to complete my missions solo (my empathy/psychic defender can heal himself all day long, but actually inflicting damage on an opponent is out of the question).

My more recent MMOs, mostly Guild Wars and World of Warcraft, have done a very good job of catering to the solo player. WoW is, without a doubt, one of the easiest MMOs I’ve found for the solo player. I played a priest to 70 and rarely ever grouped up for any of it. Guild Wars wasn’t very solo-friendly at first, but with the release of Nightfall, became much easier thanks to the addition of Heroes (AI-controlled characters that could level with out and could be customized and even controlled directly by the player, depending on how much micromanagement you enjoy.) With my AI teammates in tow, I truly get the chance to be the star of the show while still having the support of a full team.

Besides that, however, I get to play the game my way. This is important to me, especially since I don’t generally know everything there is to know about a game. I don’t know the best way to configure my warrior hero or even where to get all their upgraded armors. I know my character, I like my character, and that’s good enough for me. Having another player around telling me how he thinks I should have everything set up doesn’t interest me in the least.

Additionally, this means that I get to learn on my own. I get to make my mistakes and gain understanding of not only what the best way to configure my warrior is but why that’s the best way. I also don’t have to worry about somebody criticizing me if I make a mistake. The AI doesn’t taunt me for my failures.

Finally, I guess there’s just the sense of accomplishment of being able to get through something difficult without any help from someone who’s done it before. Most of the Guild Wars player base has finished the first three campaigns already. I’m still working on Factions and Nightfall, so the times I have joined a PUG, I’ve had a hard time just keeping up as expert players lead me by the nose through the mission as fast as possible, hardly giving me time to check out the new scenery and experience the unique encounters there.

For me, I suppose, the choice to play MMOs over a solo game is to have the option. If I get stuck somewhere, I have people I can ask for help. If I’m feeling particularly sociable one day, I can make new friends and give myself the opportunity to experience new parts of the game I was unaware of. For the most part, however, I will continue to play solo in these multiplayer worlds and thank the developers who understand enough to cater to my gaming needs in a genre that rarely understands my kind.

Why I Play Multiplayer Games By Myself is a post from: Kill Ten Rats

Lets start with the quote they chose from a Gamespy review:

“The MMO genre just got a serious dose of adrenaline thanks to Richard Garriott’s reinvention of online combat.” – Gamespy

Here is a quote from the same review chosen by me:

“… complaints about a memory leak and slowdown from the community … gameplay bugs … quests that won’t give the player credit for completing them … triggers that only go off for only a few members in a party, forcing players to run missions multiple times.” – Gamespy

Next up we have UGO:

“A great launch, open and constant action as well as compelling story, Tabula Rasa lives up to the hype…” – UGO

Now it’s my turn, from the same review:

“… really not much different from any other MMO once you get started. You level rapidly in the early levels and are forced at level five to decide if you will be a soldier or specialist, effectively limiting your final class options to four for each choice.” – UGO

Gamedaily wrote:

“Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa is fun to play, has stunning graphics and doesn’t take place in yet another tiresome fantasy fairyland.” – Gamedaily

Same review:

“Some missions never tell you where to go to claim your reward, so it sits in your queue taking up space (only 20 missions can be taken at one time) until you accidentally stumble on the NPC who gave it to you, or you abandon it.” – Gamedaily

Finally Tentonhammer’s review:

“I’m desperately trying to gather the motivation to pull myself away from the game to give an accurate portrayal of my first impressions.” – Tentonhammer

Harder to find something negative in this one but I did:

“… people are complaining about server disconnects or extreme lag …” – Tentonhammer

Twisting reviews for my own amusement, what is more fun?

- Ethic

Tabula Rasa Reviews is a post from: Kill Ten Rats

Heartless points out that reviews in the blogosphere are few and far between, surmising that perhaps with all the other games launched or in beta, Tabula Rasa just hasn’t inspired much enthusiasm.

Tobold has his review up, which as always, is quite insightful. Good game, but not his style.

Keen and Graev have a comprehensive review posted. They are pretty down on it in general.

Darren shares his thoughts on TR. He seems to share Tobold’s ‘good but not my bag, baby’ opinion.

Bildo was in and promises his thoughts soon. I’ll link to it when he puts it up [Edit: His review is up, and it is quite good. Go check it out.]

MMOG Nation was given permission to break the NDA to post a review back in July, and though more than a month has passed, it remains the most complete review I have seen thus far.

…that’s it. A Google search does reveal other reviews posted long before the lifting of the NDA, but I refuse to link to people who violate their beta agreements, even after the NDA is gone.

KTR readers, I invite you to post your thoughts and impressions of the beta if you were in or to post links to reviews that I have missed.

~Cyndre

Tabula Rasa NDA Lifted: 10/19/07 Launch is a post from: Kill Ten Rats