MMORPG.com Community Manager Laura Genender has been playing Tabula Rasa since its launch a month ago. Wanting to be fair to the game, we have decided to break this review into two parts, this one, describing Laura's early experiences in the game as she leveled from 1-25, the next is an account of her late and end game experience, where she will officially score the game.

Since my First Look article, the game has lived up to my standards of “fun” though the polish is slowly peeling away as I march through the levels. Levels 1 through 15 were smooth and enjoyable, with one minor bug in a small, unimportant mission. My entire time spent on Concordia Wilderness (the starting map) was a blast.

Things changed, though once I left Wilderness and entered Concordia Divide/Palisades. It almost feels like they rushed the game out after polishing the first map, with intentions of catching up after launch. There were/are issues with control points not triggering correctly, missions with broken steps, and bosses not spawning. A lot of the issues – especially those on Divide – were fixed with the last patch, and I’m sure the Palisades bugs will be next. The good news is, the bugs are getting fixed quickly and developers are listening to what bugs are high priority to the players. The customer service team is also on top of things, and will fix missed flags/bugged missions for you if you petition. If you’re a casual player you should be fine to start Tabula Rasa today; if you’re a hardcore leveler, expect to outpace the fixes and content quickly.

Other than the bugginess, the majority of gameplay is engaging and exciting. Control Points, especially, are absolutely fantastic. It’s hard not to feel invested and immersed when you see that red flag glaring at you off your map, and you know those damned Bane just took over River-base Krimm. Even if you don’t need the attack tokens, it’s hard to resist haring off to retake the Bane base.

Read the whole review here.

Thanks for a well-written and informative review.

I am particularly glad to hear the game is relatively soloable. If there is anything I really dislike in MMORPGS it is "grouping choke points" -- places in a mission, storyline, or quest line that absolutely require grouping.

Don't get me wrong; I enjoy grouping occasionally. I just hate being "stuck" and unable to get from Point A to Point B because a group can't be found. Does TR have a good mechanism for finding groups when you need them?

I will be interested in the followup article to see whether the solo-friendly aspect of the game persists at the higher levels.

Originally posted by tmr819

Thanks for a well-written and informative review.

I am particularly glad to hear the game is relatively soloable. If there is anything I really dislike in MMORPGS it is "grouping choke points" -- places in a mission, storyline, or quest line that absolutely require grouping.

Don't get me wrong; I enjoy grouping occasionally. I just hate being "stuck" and unable to get from Point A to Point B because a group can't be found. Does TR have a good mechanism for finding groups when you need them?

I will be interested in the followup article to see whether the solo-friendly aspect of the game persists at the higher levels.

There is a LFG tab, but you can only have one tab open at a time.   The result is that its pretty much a dead tab.

As far as solo aspects, this is a solo game with the ability to group.  I have gotten a few characters into the 30s and have zero problems soloing.  I have also talked with a few that have hit 50 without having to solo...actually, I dont know of anyone who had to group to get to 50.

Originally posted by tmr819

Thanks for a well-written and informative review.

I am particularly glad to hear the game is relatively soloable. If there is anything I really dislike in MMORPGS it is "grouping choke points" -- places in a mission, storyline, or quest line that absolutely require grouping.

Don't get me wrong; I enjoy grouping occasionally. I just hate being "stuck" and unable to get from Point A to Point B because a group can't be found. Does TR have a good mechanism for finding groups when you need them?

I will be interested in the followup article to see whether the solo-friendly aspect of the game persists at the higher levels.

The game is basically completely soloable; I have grouped maybe twice in my entire career.  Group finding (so far) has been very easy; you just find someone running around the same area as you and they're likely on the same quest/quests!  The LFG tab helps, too.

Well written review, thanks for sharing the in depth info, still not my type of game, but glad to hear its fun for many folks

Yeah I've only grouped twice, once for an instance and once for a open-world mission.

I hate the group interface and dynamics.

It's a crap shoot, pretty much.

Very little coordination and strategy, just kill kill kill and move on.

If you are lucky enough to have a specialist who will actually heal, you don't even notice. There is absolutely no down time, just run and gun through and through.

Maybe it's just my inexperience with grouping in TR, or that I am SO used to grouping in WoW, where you have defined roles, must have organization, and where communication is key.

In TR instances, it seems one person knows "where to go" and everyone else just silently follows, killing and killing and killing.

Again, maybe it's just my personal experience... but after a few group runs I just leveled a bit and ran the rest of the Wilderness instances solo.

Besides that, thanks for the great review Taera, pretty spot on. I'm nearly 100% in agreement with you.

My only real problem, and hence why I play so much Mass Effect instead... is that I don't feel like I'm really "working towards" anything in TR. I'm gaining levels to get more points to get more skills... so I can gain more levels to get more points to get more skills.. so I can gain levels and choose my next class. I just feel like I'm just grinding levels just to get more levels. I don't "feel" as if I'm working towards anything.

I dunno how much sense that makes, but that's the only way I can describe it. Ya know?

There is SOME strategy in how you fight different Bane - what resists you use, how far you need to be, etc.  For example, I shotgun hop with a Kael, and snipe off the Lightbenders.  The fact is, though, that most creature types are the same after the first 15-20 levels.  You learn all the strats and there's no adaption later on.

Heerobya, I'm not sure how far you got through TR but Eloh Vale created that first sense of "moving toward something" for me.  If your subscription is still active, check it out; it's wonderful.

Fair review, Taera. I spent a few weeks on this one in beta, and for the most part these are the same things I experienced. But, the one thing that turned me away from Tabula Rasa is the same reason why I don't bother subscribing to Hellgate London. There really is no need to interact with the community. Maybe that's just how I am, but player interaction is one of the most important things to me in an MMO.

Originally posted by Taera

 

Originally posted by tmr819

Thanks for a well-written and informative review.

I am particularly glad to hear the game is relatively soloable. If there is anything I really dislike in MMORPGS it is "grouping choke points" -- places in a mission, storyline, or quest line that absolutely require grouping.

Don't get me wrong; I enjoy grouping occasionally. I just hate being "stuck" and unable to get from Point A to Point B because a group can't be found. Does TR have a good mechanism for finding groups when you need them?

I will be interested in the followup article to see whether the solo-friendly aspect of the game persists at the higher levels.

Thanks for the props! ;)

 

The game is basically completely soloable; I have grouped maybe twice in my entire career.  Group finding (so far) has been very easy; you just find someone running around the same area as you and they're likely on the same quest/quests!  The LFG tab helps, too.

I am curious to see why no mention on the MIRES zone was talked of. In the performance department hehe.That being probably the biggest problem in-game to me and many atm.

I think to give this game a fair chance you have to look at it from a 30+ perspective. Lets face it, levels 1-30 are just a learning curve. Granted, levels 30+ at the moment has no value besides if you take a strong interest into a PvP flagged clan.

30 is a big level in the game, it is when you unlock the skills you've been working hard to get. Hopefully more good things come into your gameplay 30+. But if you do not like PvP i predict a sour review to come :(

There is just nothing more to do....at all. WTB content.

Hard to resist, indeed.

I think to give this game a fair chance you have to look at it from a 30+ perspective. Lets face it, levels 1-30 are just a learning curve. Granted, levels 30+ at the moment has no value besides if you take a strong interest into a PvP flagged clan.

30 is a big level in the game, it is when you unlock the skills you've been working hard to get. Hopefully more good things come into your gameplay 30+. But if you do not like PvP i predict a sour review to come :(

There is just nothing more to do....at all. WTB content.

This is only the first part of the review... levels 1-25.

Originally posted by tgreer

 

Originally posted by Taera

 

Originally posted by tmr819

Thanks for a well-written and informative review.

I am particularly glad to hear the game is relatively soloable. If there is anything I really dislike in MMORPGS it is "grouping choke points" -- places in a mission, storyline, or quest line that absolutely require grouping.

Don't get me wrong; I enjoy grouping occasionally. I just hate being "stuck" and unable to get from Point A to Point B because a group can't be found. Does TR have a good mechanism for finding groups when you need them?

I will be interested in the followup article to see whether the solo-friendly aspect of the game persists at the higher levels.

Thanks for the props! ;)

 

The game is basically completely soloable; I have grouped maybe twice in my entire career.  Group finding (so far) has been very easy; you just find someone running around the same area as you and they're likely on the same quest/quests!  The LFG tab helps, too.

 

I am curious to see why no mention on the MIRES zone was talked of. In the performance department hehe.That being probably the biggest problem in-game to me and many atm.

I think to give this game a fair chance you have to look at it from a 30+ perspective. Lets face it, levels 1-30 are just a learning curve. Granted, levels 30+ at the moment has no value besides if you take a strong interest into a PvP flagged clan.

30 is a big level in the game, it is when you unlock the skills you've been working hard to get. Hopefully more good things come into your gameplay 30+. But if you do not like PvP i predict a sour review to come :(

There is just nothing more to do....at all. WTB content.

Until the first Operation that is scheduled for January there really isnt much 30+ content. That is in fact why I stopped playing my level 30 Guardian and started playing some of my clones that are still in the teens which is nice. That way I can wait for the content to catch up and have a chance to play other classes and see how fun they are.

Originally posted by tgreer

 

Originally posted by Taera

 

Originally posted by tmr819

Thanks for a well-written and informative review.

I am particularly glad to hear the game is relatively soloable. If there is anything I really dislike in MMORPGS it is "grouping choke points" -- places in a mission, storyline, or quest line that absolutely require grouping.

Don't get me wrong; I enjoy grouping occasionally. I just hate being "stuck" and unable to get from Point A to Point B because a group can't be found. Does TR have a good mechanism for finding groups when you need them?

I will be interested in the followup article to see whether the solo-friendly aspect of the game persists at the higher levels.

Thanks for the props! ;)

 

The game is basically completely soloable; I have grouped maybe twice in my entire career.  Group finding (so far) has been very easy; you just find someone running around the same area as you and they're likely on the same quest/quests!  The LFG tab helps, too.

 

I am curious to see why no mention on the MIRES zone was talked of. In the performance department hehe.That being probably the biggest problem in-game to me and many atm.

I think to give this game a fair chance you have to look at it from a 30+ perspective. Lets face it, levels 1-30 are just a learning curve. Granted, levels 30+ at the moment has no value besides if you take a strong interest into a PvP flagged clan.

30 is a big level in the game, it is when you unlock the skills you've been working hard to get. Hopefully more good things come into your gameplay 30+. But if you do not like PvP i predict a sour review to come :(

There is just nothing more to do....at all. WTB content.

While I heard about the Mires lag, I haven't been there yet (and I hear they fixed it), thus why it wasn't included in my 1-25 review.  I'll be looking at 25-50 content, next :)  And yes, I am massively looking forward to 30 skills!

Dangit Taera, I was gonna write my own two reviews 1-25 and 26-50 in my blog but you pretty much said everything I was going to say!

Although, I wouldn't let the TR community off the hook as easily as you did though. General chat is awful... much worse than Barrens chat, even. Seriously.

Anyway, nice review, you summed it up nicely and I feel pretty much the same way.

Nice to see a fair review, thanks Taera! So, nothing really changed from beta...  I'm with you in hope that one day some content will be added.

what server was the reviewer playing on.

On the Eu server the chat is usually pretty mature and fun and friendly all night the ocasional pvp rants carry onto it but for the mostpart its a nice healthy community

Hi all,

I haven't played this game, but my years of experience in the industry has taught me this...

Community is everything. If TR has a lack-luster community the way the reviewer is saying, TR will just end up dying after the newness has worn off. The reason I say this is because TR is a niche game, kind of like Auto Assault was. It has potential to keep a good crowd from what I've read about its mechanics, but a low population and/or bad community will just doom this game. If I was one of you good TR community members, I would take control of your game now and drive away those bad apples while you still have a chance. I'm still playing and trying to beat Guild Wars right now, but when I am through, I am hoping TR will have a Free Trial for me to play in order to decide for myself. However, I won't bother if I keep hearing about a lack-luster community. Bad communities has a way of driving off potential players.

Anyways, have fun TR players. Good review by the way. Really gave me a feal for the game.

It is my pleasure to give credit where it's due, Ms. Genender:  this is a thoughtful, well-written, and even-handed review.  Thank you SO much for writing something helpful about a rather controversial game!

I do have a question for you TR players, though.

You refer to "instances." Are these mission/quest areas that are designed for groups or for individuals? Or can both individuals (solo) and groups complete them because they are somehow scaled to party size?

In WoW, of course, you really *must* find a group for the dungeons/instances, so I am curious as to how TR handles this issue. Frankly, I like the Guild Wars feature of offering players a choice: (i) solo the instance by taking along henchmen, (ii) go in a group of players, or (iii) go in a mixed group of both players and henchmen.

Are instances in TR designed specifically for group play (like in WoW)? If so, that'd be a real turnoff for me, as it sounds like some of the instances are pretty fun. I would also like to know if these instances/missions are reasonable in terms of being time-consuming -- WoW's dungeons, assuming you could even find a group, always struck me as being just too long.

I note that TR is now being offered at 50% off at Amazon so, pending your answers, I may just give this puppy a try. :-)

In terms of instances, it's the one thing I disagree with the review writer about. I've found the lower level instances to be quite fun and manageable in say 30 minutes to an hour. I also like the multiple objectives - not to give too much away, but in the Crater Lake instance you have to establish a comlink to receive additional orders to blow a shield generator, which in turn allows you to break into the facility and rescue the hostage scientists. Very well done, although I can't speak for higher level content.

Oh and instances are completely soloable, although you'll want to be slightly higher level if that's your plan. Some classes do get "henchmen" of a sort - the ranger can call in support soldiers, the engineer can create bots, and exobiologists can rez dead Bane to fight for them.