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Tabula Rasa: Studio Visit and Hands-On
Recently, Community Manager Laura Genender visited the NCSoft offices in Austin, TX to take a look at the upcoming MMORPG, Richard Garriot's Tabula Rasa.
Recently, I traveled to Austin, Texas to visit the NCSoft offices and to take a look at the upcoming MMORPG, Richard Garriot's Tabula Rasa. During my stay I got to talk with Garriott about the new game, as well as sample it for myself!
Speaking With Garriott
Tabula Rasa is so named for the blank Logos tablets that players start with, but the name also fits Garriott's approach to the game's design. He feels that our industry has entered a status of stagnation: MMOs today all base their foundations off of UO and EQ. In making Tabula Rasa, Garriott's goal has been to rethink the genre completely, and to start with a blank slate (the English translation of the title).
Garriott feels that TR offers players new approach to MMO gaming, and he highlighted five ways that it does so:
Combat: Garriott described the average MMO combat system as a more technical version of whack-a-mole: you autoattack, watch your UI, calculate what combination of skills produces the most DPS - rinse and you repeat.
;)
Tabula Rasa's combat system is fast paced and tactical - there is no mindless clicking of the same skill, no autoattack, and no massive collection of hotbars to clutter up your screen. In fact, Garriott's description made the game sound like a hybrid MMO/FPS, but the sticky targeting and target lock options eliminate the need for perfect aim or bunny hopping.
Tabula Rasa also brings the environment into the equation. For example, if you crouch down behind a sandbag wall, your enemy is less likely to hit you. Distance, cover, and position all play a part in the die roll.
Battlefields: The traditional MMO map, according to Garriott: players visit level one towns, which send them on level one missions, to level one areas where they get level 1 gear. The area is always the same; even if you kill one bandit, you can wait ten minutes and watch him reappear in the same spot.
In Tabula Rasa, the battlegrounds and even the towns, will change based on enemy AI. Enemies are able to take over towns, as are the friendly human NPCs; a player might head to a familiar outpost to finish up a quest, only to find it under enemy control. To finish their quest, the player will have to help other players and NPCs take the area back over. In fact, some NPCs will give missions to help take over a new base, or to reclaim human ground!
Instances: Most MMOs use instances as private dungeon crawls - maybe capped with a raid or boss target at the end. "We think that dramatically under utilizes instances," says Garriott.
The TR team plans to use instances to allow for more detailed storytelling. Garriott described it further by referencing the single player world: in single player games, the player is always the hero, and the center of the story. In the MMO universe we spend time killing rats, and all the other level 5 warriors are killing rats right next to us; we are, as Garriott put it, "rather average". The Tabula Rasa instances will offer players changing situations, and the ability to influence their areas. Players will be able to rescue NPCs, blow up fuel tanks, etc.
;)
Ethical Parables: Starting with Ultima IV, Garriott's games have always held an extra complexity for players: the presence of ethical choices and the need for decision making. When you tell stories that are relevant to contemporary issues, says Garriott, it resonates with users.
Missions in TR have multiple outcomes exclusive to each other. For example, one mission you receive is to smuggle drugs to soldiers in the field. You can take the drugs to the soldiers for a large cash reward, or turn the smuggler in to his superiors.
Class Tree, Loading Zoning, and Saving: One of the first decisions you make in an MMO is your class - if you want to sample a different class, or don't know what class you want to be, you need to start over at level one. From a development standpoint, each time a player starts over, that's an opportunity for them to start over in a different game.
This also limits players content-wise. A player who doesn't want to play multiple characters will never see the content created for other classes.
In Tabula Rasa, all players start as Recruits. At levels 5, 15, and 30 you can specialize into various class trees, from Spy to Engineer. Along the way, you can create "clones" of your character - perfect copies of skills, quests, and logos found (but not gear!). Each clone shares a similar last name but has a unique first name.
The World, The Enemies, and The Language
After explaining the broad topics of Tabula Rasa, Garriott told us a bit about the world he and his team have built. Tabula Rasa is currently based on two planets, Foreas and Arieki, though a third world is planned. On these worlds you will fight the Thrax, while collecting hidden clues and logos, or symbols, left behind by the Eloh. More on the Eloh, later!
;)
Garriott talked us through some of the enemies that players would meet, and the diverse strategies that will be needed to face them. Each enemy takes a different method of battle; for example, shield drones project force fields, so you have to get in close to attack them, while Juggernauts hit hard but take a long time to turn, so you need to be constantly working your way behind them.
Some enemies carry multiple weapons; one of the most formidable targets, the Stalkers, have a main turret as well as a plasma bomb drop: every 2 to 3 minutes they drop a plasma bomb that kills everything in the area. Players can tell that these plasma bombs are coming by watching visual cues on the Stalkers.
One of the most interesting aspects of the game that Garriott shared - in my admittedly nerdy opinion - was Tabula Rasa's language of Logos.
Through gameplay and questing, players will be able to find Logos, or symbols, left by the peaceful Eloh. These Logos serve multiple purposes: they are a fully functional pictogram language, for one thing! The Logos are used as keys to gain access to instances, and to unlock new skills. One of the early skills that players will receive as a recruit, Lightning, requires the user to have the "damage" Logos. Check out http://www.playtr.com/community/contests_02.html for a contest to decode some of the Logos language.
Hands On- Playtime
After talking with Garriot, it was time to sit down and try Tabula Rasa for myself. Starting off as a raw Recruit, the game was action packed and I felt driven through the instanced starting area - a little too action driven, maybe, as I felt like I didn't have time to really read the quest dialogue.
The controls did feel a lot like playing an FPS, but without worrying about bunny hopping or too much aim. The target reticule "sticks" onto your target as long as you keep it mostly centered; you can "lock" it in place with the TAB key, too, and you won't lose your target as long as they are on your screen.
;)
I spent most of my time watching my screen, and not my UI. Toggling through skills and weapons is easily done with number keys or the Q/E - and quite frankly, you have to watch your screen. I was constantly dodging melee boargars, switching between EMP and laser damage for mech vs live enemies, and figuring out strategies to handle other enemies.
At my first class transfer point, I chose the Solider class, picking up new armor and weapon abilities, as well as the Shrapnel ability (once I unlocked the corresponding Logos). While there aren't many active abilities in Tabula Rasa, I noticed that most of the high level players were still using their original Lighting ability - as you progress, you can train in skills, and they never really outdate.
The quests are fairly varied, but at this point they didn't give me much direction, so I set off exploring the game world. The fast pace of the game and the longer quest dialogues just didn't mesh very well, and I ended up sacrificing story and immersion for speed. My travels though, were interesting: the landscape was a mix of battle-scarred deadlands and alien vegetation; Treebacks and other harmless creatures were a nice touch. Travel in general is very well done; while players must hoof it to new locations, once you've reached a new outpost you can step on the teleport pad and return to any past outposts you have visited.
I made my way to a level 15 area - at this point, I was only level 6. Refreshingly, TR rewards good strategy and cautious gameplay and I was able to hold my own. I encountered a few outposts under attack and helped defend them, but I never actually saw an outpost change hands.
Thoughts on the Game
My initial explorations of Tabula Rasa have definitely piqued my interest; the gameplay was strategic and engaging, the land was refreshing after so many MMO worlds full of castles and pretty forests. Higher end gameplay - namely, the outpost battles - intrigues me... Garriott even alluded to possible future plans of player-owned outposts and PvP, but not at launch.
I am not sure that Tabula Rasa is able to hold my interest yet. The fast-paced tutorial area set a precedent of ignoring mission text, and this lost me a lot of immersion and interest in the story. We will have to wait and see as the game comes nearer to launch.
This game actually sounds more and more interesting with every report. If the biggest low spot is that the in-game action takes away from your desire to read quest text... then I might actually consider that a good point.
In most games I generally skip the quest text... after a few years of reading the same basic thing with only the "end" different it all becomes meaningless anyway. Until a game can come out with writing as good as a published novel and the ability for the player to actually reach the "end" of the story and impact it in some way... then I don't really see the need for quest text and such. There are many, many good sci-fi books to fill my reading time, but a decent sci-fi MMO (that is avatar driven) would be something quite new.
As far as skipping dialog text, maybe Voiceovers are in order for this kind of a game.
The game sounds fund, and keeping the reviewer in mind (VG is "the shitt", and not into FPS's), i bet its allot more fun and engaging than this article leads you to think.
Good article nonetheless.
In all fairness, I don't like long quest texts and jibberish,
and I want fast action, and I hate fantasy...
For some of us this game is just getting insanely great.
Hopefully mr Garriott will have the decency to put in voice-overs AND shorten the info as much as possible and instead involve the story during the combat...
God I want this game soooo bad..
You may not remember me... I was "Premium" on the CoH/CoX boards
(CuppaJo is in charge of the community for Tabula Rasa and former Community Director...?(or something like that) for City of Heroes)
You know what you guys need? A good cinematic giving everyone an idea what the TR world is about.... something giving us a feel for the game and what can be expected. (and not just people shooting floaties).
Something like what CoH had where you see characters in "signature" situations... conversing in a way that you intuitively understand what their (and what would be your) world is like.
Right now all I get from what we've seen so far is that I'd be fighting waves after waves of aliens all from the interstellar force of invading aliens... so as I understand it... the same aliens... only tougher...
I think you guys need to break away from this perception people are getting.
Also, I get this very generic perception from the game... like it's every Sci-fi MMO... tech, guns, aliens, planets
I have not followed this game very closely but everytime something from it has managed to grab my attention, it did nothing todraw me in.
I find a video does the job real quick in a very efficient manner.
I have one question: what is the point of a game so fast paced it slams you through without story where there is no PvP? At least if they are slaming you through sans immersion to end game PvP, there is a purpose.
Maybe I'll play, but most likely not until they add PvP. The game and setting seems so perfect for it too, that's what is sad. It could have been the game that changed MMOs forever by pitting the invasion forces against the "good guys" and making battles matter.
"Garriott even alluded to possible future plans of player-owned outposts and PvP, but not at launch."
This is good to hear.
I never played Ultima Online, but the general consensus seems to be that it was famous for its great PvP. Given this background, it seems odd that Garriott didn't make PvP a higher priority for Tabula Rasa.
The more I read about this game, the less excited I am about it. They are making the same mistakes as 90% of the games out there, and I see nothing leading me to believe that 1) They are going to deliver on their ideas, or 2) That they are going to deliver it in a playable state. Player housing and PvP systems need to be structured for launch. Today's mmo needs to have their core systems in place before they hook umpteen thousand players, so those players don't feel cheated or scammed when they are forced into nerfs for a new system that doesn't exist. I had hoped TR would have learned this lesson after 6 years of development and one do-over. Apparently they have not. It's a real disappointment for me personally too.
The gameplay mechanics sound really great. And regardless of whether or not it ends up being a game that I play, I give them 5-star kudos for trying new stuff.
As long as everyone stands around saying "This is great. Everything's perfect," then nothing will change. Change is good.
Don't get me wrong, I think TR is a fun game and I feel like it introduces a lot of new elements to MMOs - I LOVE bringing tactics back into battle. I had a lot of fun just finding new areas and figuring out how to combat the enemies there - is there a shield drone I have to get close to? A security camera I have to avoid? A linker I need to kill as fast as humanly possible?
My problem is that I'm not really feeling the world immersiveness that I think they're aiming for - I think they have the pieces in place, but they need to find a way to bring the user closer to that. I also didn't feel much quest direction, but it's still a ways from launch. It's got my attention, which is no small task, but that leads to the next task: Keeping it.
I don't like LONG quest texts and such, but a good storyline that draws you in - whether by shorter dialogue, or showing you a story playing out - really polishes up a gaming experience for me. From my play experience, I had a good time doing quests and I felt like I was a part of the story, but I was never realy clear about what the story was. There's still time before launch though and I think that, if they get that pinned down, this promises to be a good game. I really, really enjoy the combat. Have I mentioned how much I enjoyed the combat? :)
Got to throw in a little from the other side here. I'm one of those who likes the stories. I read quest text religiously. Groupmates from many games will concur that Xix is usually the last in line for the tansport to the instance ("wait please...I haven't finished reading yet!"). I often get killed in games because I'm looking around at the environment while something nasty this way comes. I'm kind of disappointed to hear that TR is becoming an FPS not only in combat style, but also in immersability (
). What's very strange is that while Lord British's single player masterpieces have always involved incredible storytelling and immersion, his MMO offerrings have been just the opposite. UO was the original sandbox, with almost no questing or direction. UO also had the crafting and housing we seem to be missing more and more in recent MMOs. While not as complex and community-building as pre-CU SWG, UO broke the ground for both those mechanisms.
I'm wondering why MMOs are moving in the same direction as single-player games did. From thought and take-your-time turn-based wargames to "fast-paced" RTS. I can only hope that somewhere along the line, MMO developers will find a way to integrate the storytelling and community-building back into the action. (I really think AA gave it the best shot to date, and for some reason even the producers of that one, which I still like a LOT, don't want to continue developing it.) "Fast-paced" combat is fine, but if you want knuckle-grinding PvP action with no story, grab your copy of Unreal or the like and go to it. I hope they at least give a thought or two to what's happened to the wargaming industry. It's stagnated to the point of disappearing. No more turn-based OR RTS stuf has come out in a LONG time. No longer can grognards find those great complex chess battles of history, or even the fun of the old Warcraft II, C&C and TA days. An entire segment of gaming is just virtually gone.
With TR being the ONLY Sci-Fi on the visible horizon, I intend to give it a try. It's got both a designer and a company I like behind it (Garriot and NCSoft). But I'm very worried that it won't be anything at all that I'll have the ability, reflexes, etc. to play.
Just that is not as indepth strategy like Guild Wars , and it has monthly fee.
Only good thing going for this game is their graphic department...
Hmm? I'd like to know where you assummed this from..
Let me guess 'It has instances it's published by NC so it MUST be GW..' by that logic Dungeon Runners is also GW...
Try again..
Anyway ignoring the oddness above...
Althogh many players would be going ZOMG! it's not a true FPSMMO as it has targeting!! I do actally like the idea of soft targeting as long as it comes with some sort of limitation (for example guns overheat more, if they actally will overheat that is) but I also like it becuase although it's kinda FPS ish the softtargeting also allows the non-elite shooters out there to enjoy the game (I know I'm one of them) also as it stated in the article it speeds up the gameplay a lot more as you'll spend more time moving and less time aiming..
The only problem a forsee with these types of games is lag, lag will deffinitly disrupt and destroy gameplay theres nothing like shooting a ton of buttles that don't actally do anything for at least 6 seconds but then you suddenly fllop over as about 60 have only just registered hitting you and you'll have no idea where they came from.. As long as the servers can cope with the numbers of players (and on the client side their pcs can run the numbers ok) I see a lot of fun from this...
Shotgun anyone? :)
You need to get out a little more.
- WH40K: Dawn of war, dark crusade, winter assault
- Battle for MIddle Earth
- Star Wars Empire at War
- Command & Conquer 3
- Supreme Commander
- Company of Heroes
There is a ton of great RTS games out in the last 2 years and more on the way.
I think they meant Clan pvp holding/losing outposts is not in for release.
They were certainly talking about having voluntary - dueling and group pvp in for launch.
I could be wrong on that though.
Individual housing - I just dont see that fitting the war setting. I would like to see clan bases though.
some people can read and shoot etc fast as and some cant, myself id probebly be like u, but i dont care much for story line or reading quests :P
I really liked the part about questing and coming upon a town that had been taken over by the "bad-guys", thus forcing you to help in the fight. I'm really interested in how much this game is going to bring you into the story line, for that reason alone I'll keep an eye on it.
Thanks for the article Laura. TR is certainly staying on my watch list.
With the addition of voiceovers I think it would help to capture my interest, I don't mind reading the quest text, but a poster above pointed out that we have plenty of good novels to read, we don't really want to waste time reading a ton of text. Especially if that text could be captured better by a few lines of voice dialogue. They need to blend an Oblivion style dialogue into the games.
Thanks for the informative article!
~Jerana
Me too.......
UO was my original MMO and I loved it.
I put faith in RG and Tabula Rasa for that.
I'm really hyped, and hopefully, the taking of territory will replace "farming"
"Hmm.. what to do today? Don't feel like questing/raiding, I'll go farm". And instead of killing the same mob over and over, just get some friends together and help take over the map. That kind of gameplay will keep me hooked.
That was the BEST aspect of UO pvp back in the day, with the faction system. You fought over towns and territory, not farming points to buy better gear. And, they were the ONLY ones still, to this day, that could pull that off with the Felucca/Trammel split. Everyone, and every server, could PVP or PVE when they wanted to. Just had to get a moonstone or whatever they were lol.
UO was the best PVP system, and I know, even if not at release, RG and TR will delivery the goods.
Beta key please? K thanks :)
Fair enough, but i think its safe to say you prefer fantasy over Si-fi...right?
I am looking forward to the game, Garriot always challenges the norms to provide something different.
I look forward to reading more about it. Well done article by the way.
We are working on some :)
She is indeed CuppaJo the community manager for T.R
If PVP turns out to be as good as it sounds, with soft lock, strategy and whatnot I could bite into this one for some time. Especialy since STO is trying to be TR or Huxley with ship mounts and RPG combat. Hmmm, even writing that makes me cringe in fear.
I read quests
there is another hand on preview at gamespot, with also a video interview of garriot, very nice and all.
I applaud Lord British for the risks he is taking and for the innovative features he is injecting in the game, dynamic outpost fight that will determine what spawn where is a great thing only partially seen before in the likeness of daoc.
Branching quests are absolutly new and I think it is a great idea to differentiate people from each other.
The possibilities for end game pvp and stuff are enticing and the whole design seems to be innovative.
I look forward to see if they can keep faith on their claim of using instances in a meaningful way.
The logos language just add to the complexity and immersion of this all.
I am puzzled on how people would compare this game with guild wars. yeah they both have instance but this is not 100% instanced.... well whatever.
finally, I do hope we will be able to read the stories at release, this is an rpg after all and stories should be a big part of the game.
Having read the previews from other sites that seem to have attended the same day - gamespy, ign, 1up, curse
it seems the staff writer could have written a lot more. Did you attend the same day?
One of the sites worte about being shown the hall of games with things from every game Richard Garriott has worked on - including the original apple 2 he wrote his first game on.
Okay it was nothing to do with T.R but a nice touch.
Looks like they did a big news day with lots of people attending.
IGN hands on
These quotes from the curse visit
Curse visit to NCSoft
They also got some information on a tier 4 specialist class - the Engineer
the gamespy article is extremely well written and has some good examples of the ethical parables. Well worth the read.
Gamespy NCSoft visit
1Up NCSoft site visit
some information in here on the crafting
and some more info on PvP
Garriott described "autoattack" and turn-based gameplay as a result of lag - but he also pointed out that, in the years since the days of UO and EQ, our technology and connections have gotten just a little better. With the sticky targetting I really didn't have trouble with "lag" messing up my shot, and hitting the tab key ensures you stay on your target very well.
As for shotguns...I'm a sniper type of gal, but I found a mean EMP shotgun that really worked wonders on the mechs. Pwehee.
Yes, you can duel.
Big all out guild/clan wars aren't in - yet - though.
I personally like text or storyline (in whatever form) in MMORPGs and would not be interested in a game that is little more than a MMOG form of Unreal or Quake.
That said, one way to get past the problem of trying to read a lengthy dialogue while ducking incoming would be to have the questgiver download the text to some sort of handheld, much like WoW does. The person gives you the quest and you accept. If you missed something you can go back and read it at your convenience.
"Heck, what did I just volunteer for?" *takes out the handheld and reads the brief while wolfing down some rations*
"Crap, not THAT!" Heheh.
Housing could be cool if you think in terms of "temporary" housing. SWG's housing was temporary in that manner. A whole town could lift up and move if it wanted to or had to (like, if it became a favorite migration place for Krayt Dragons before anyone could kill them).
Factions sound interesting but if some players get more interested in killing other players rather than aliens because of the same old tired excuse that there is more challenge then the game will decay into a gankfest with very little point. I think it is the hope of game designers that the players will take interest in the content before worrying about becoming the uberest PvPer on the server.
I really like what I've read in the concepts. We'll see what actually comes out but I am a fan of Sci-Fi and looking forward to this.
I used to feel the way you do.... Before I played twenty different mmo's with the same pve content with little variations.
The problem with pve focused mmos, and I think this will become more prevalent as the newer generation of mmo'rs that were introduced to the genre by games like World of Warcraft, is more and more veteran gamers are becoming jaded with the same "been there, done that" feeling.
Let's say you spend 10 days of real world time leveling your character, what do you have to show for it other than some 1's and 0's as a digital record of your time spent ingame? At the end of the day you beat artificial intelligence that, and let's face it, is so easy children can do it. At least in pvp I know I beat another human being and yes I still only have 1's and 0's to show for it but at least I know I accomplished something the person I beat, did not. Or I help my team capture the opposing factions city and my time spent impacted the gameworld for that day.
Anyone can level a character. And when you've done it so many times in so many games it doesn't hold the same meaning it did as when you leveled that first character. Don't get me wrong there will always be pve focused games around but I think they, and the people that play them, will gradually become the minority.
Right now I am playing WoW, and after taking the resources in Arathi over and over or capturing the flag in Warsong over and over it all becomes the same. PvP combat is usually over so fast that it is rare to actually learn from it. It is not fencing - it is adherence to gear standards and template builds that usually decide who wins and who loses. Some skill is involved, but the majority of skill is in escaping.
The kiter wins. The twink wins. The ganker wins. The toe-to-toe fighter usually gets triple teamed and dies (by the kiter, the twink and the ganker).
There will only be fewer PvE players when MMOGs cease to be interesting to us. I already see that a MMORPG has less attraction than a single player game like Morrowind, for example, but it is possible to continue to build an environment that keeps even the most avid explorer occupied for awhile. The story is necessary to make all the things on the map make sense, otherwise, who cares? It might as well just be a big green box you play in to beat up other players. Terrain, at this stage in the game, has little meaning.
TR seems to be a step in the right direction toward remedying that particular issue - if cover makes a difference, for example, then diving for cover will be a meaningful maneuver. I find being shot through a wall annoying.
Face it, pure pve enthusiasts are a dieing breed. They won't become extinct but they will be on the endangered list.
I agree Wows pvp has little to do with skill , tho skill does play a role.
Play daoc templates help but skill is 1000x more useful.
its pvp is faster then wows but you learn fast because there is something to learn because skill plays a part in the outcome.
That being said i have totally outskilled people in Wow but equip >>>> skill in WoW.
I have followed TR for a long time... i am not impressed now. Not hatin' just statin'.
"Face it, pure pve enthusiasts are a dieing breed. They won't become extinct but they will be on the endangered list. "
I'd like to know where you dug up that bit of foolishness. First you say Wow's pvp is horrible then you try to tell us that dedicated pve'ers are a dying breed? Nothing like contradicting yourself. Wow has so many subscriptions due to the Pve, not pvp.
Just to clue you in, pve games do much better in the marketplace than pvp games. That is a fact you will have to deal with.
It is such a well known fact that Turbine released Lotro without pvp and it is quite successful.
I am just waiting for some examples to attempt to prove your point.
Then we had SWG, and the "best buffs wins" rule and "my kung fu is too strong for your power armor and plasma cannon".
EQ2 may have had a good system but the idea of PvP there was annoying. "Duel me" became the most repeated phrase in the game.
So far WoW might be flawed but the system has the most checks and balances to prevent one class from being totally "uber" over all the rest and combat lasts more than two whacks, unless you are caught unaware by a stealther.
Considering WoW is 75% gear and 25% skill it doesn't really matter what class is the most "uber".
So anything Richard Garriot is involved in has my attention. But Tabla Rasa looks to me like another one of those forced-group-at-higher-levels games, not really new turf at all, and not something I'd enjoy playing beyond the first dozen or so levels. Sadly, it looks at this point like I'll be giving it a pass.