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Tabula Rasa - A Talk With Starr Long
Community Manager Laura Genender recently had the opportunity to ask questions of Starr Long, the Producer of Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa to ask him some questions about what we can expect to see upcoming for the game.
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MMORPG.com:
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What kind of high end content is slated for Tabula Rasa? Will there be raids, and if so, can you give us some examples? |
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Starr Long:
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We have already begun adding new maps starting with patch 1.3 with a new level 50 instance. We are hoping to get another couple in with patch 1.4. We also are going to work on multi-squad maps sometime “soon.” These will be maps that multiple groups can enter (instead of just one group). |
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MMORPG.com:
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What is planned for high end PvP content? Are you adding contested areas, or even player-contested Control Points? |
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Starr Long:
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In addition to other high end content we’ll introduce over time, we are planning on Clan ownership of Control Points that clans can challenge each other over. We think this feature will resonate with our higher level players. |
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MMORPG.com:
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Logos seem to play a surprisingly small part of the game – are there any plans to make Logos more useful? |
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Starr Long:
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We are seriously considering a revamp of the Logos tablet. Currently, as you collect Logos elements you hear a small bit of the story about who the Eloh were and what happened to them. When the revamp is done the players can hear the entire story of the Eloh via the Logos Tablet instead of just one piece at a time via the Logs Shrines. We have other long-term plans for Logos, but this is what is coming in the near future. |
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MMORPG.com:
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Some players have expressed that the higher end areas seem barren and unpolished; what are your plans to improve and add to high-end play |
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Starr Long:
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The higher end areas got added in later than the starting areas and so they have had less time for polish. We are actively working on polishing all of those areas and this should be evident with each publish we complete (we do multiple publishes per month). Beyond polish, there are big plans for the upper level content being worked on now and we will get those features into the game in the coming months. |
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MMORPG.com:
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When will we see an auction or private store system? |
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Starr Long:
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We call our player item selling system Military Surplus. The first iteration of this feature went live to the players on Tuesday, December 11th! We will continue to expand the features of this system with periodic updates. |
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MMORPG.com:
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Currently, most players don’t seem to bother with crafting until level 50. Are there any changes planned to make crafting more useful and intuitive and lower levels? |
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Starr Long:
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This is an area in which we’ve had a lot of feedback from our players and we are planning on a crafting revamp early next year based on that feedback. We hope to make it much easier to use and much more relevant to gameplay. |
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MMORPG.com:
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When are we going to get our hands on the PAU? |
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Starr Long:
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We hope to have PAUs complete in the first part of ’08. We’re as excited about PAUs as the players so the sooner we can get them in, the better! |
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MMORPG.com:
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What are we going to see in the first expansion/update? |
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Starr Long:
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We are planning to release constant updates vs. periodic expansions through the first half of 2008. After that we’ll start focusing on expansions, but for now, we decided to get content and features in the game as they are completed, rather than holding and packaging them for release at a later date. In the next couple of months we hope to release more new level 50 instances, Hybrids, PAUs, and Clan ownership of Control Points (to name a few). |
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MMORPG.com:
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Are there going to be more servers? Do you have any plans for reducing server lag/issues? |
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Starr Long:
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So far all “lag” issues are not a general issue across the board, but are isolated to specific maps (mainly at higher levels). Adding more servers won’t fix these. Instead, we are making further optimizations that will help those specific maps, as well as tweaking things like how many NPCs are on those maps. There really aren’t any server lag problems in the game, according to our data centers – just in certain, specific places there are issues which we will be fixing very soon. |
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MMORPG.com:
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How do portable waypoints work, and how are these different from the Engineer Temporary Wormhole? If they’re the same thing, why would an Engineer spend skill points on Temporary Wormhole anymore? |
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Starr Long:
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Portable Waypoints are consumables that are very much like the current Temporary Wormhole ability. When the portable waypoints come on line we will also be removing the Temporary wormhole ability from Engineers and replacing it with the ability Malfunction, which breaks down mechanical objects to jam weapons, prevent Logos use, and even stop movement at the highest pump levels. |
So baically the main bulk of the expected content wont appear until 'later' meaning mid 2008 'it'll be complete' enough for many of those naysayers to come back, just after AoC is a 'complete diappointment' for them, good good
*hides from the stoning* i kid i kid, but it's good news to know WHEN the stuff is out at least
they had better concentrate on customer relations and get their lazy gm's working or hire more. this game is like a drug, so interesting and yet so infurriating with the way the gm's handle things, i cant decide on a month by month payment or simply leave it alone......................
I'm sorry that you have had bad experiences with the GM's. I've interacted with 2 different GM's and both were extremely helpful and solved the problem quickly. Now it's true you need to file a petition first. But once filed, it asks for you to tell them when you are on-line by replying to the petition. In both cases, once I replied that I was on-line, a GM contacted me within minutes and worked out the problem. It would be nice just to have them respond to you without going through this process, but the system seems to work.
As to the high end content? Well I'm no where near level 50 and I'm enjoying the game so far. But if lvl 50 becomes raid mania and PVP, well I'll just move on. I'm not interested in a who is uber and who has the better gear contest..
I would like to know what people expect for a level 50 to do? If your not going to raid, and you don't want to PVP what else is there in a game to do? Sure you can go out and RP, if that's your thing good. I just can't understand what any one has to do once they get 50. Sure you can farm the full set of purple armor and weapons, but then what? yea you can mod them to the max, ok all of that is great, but there is no instance that you have to work to finish, no amazing item that will drop, if the best you can get is Purple, then any one can get the best set of gear. Now people can argue that having the perfect set of stats and effects on a weapon make it better than other ones, and I agree. If there is nothing to use it on, no real PVP other than finding a clan and roaming the world looking for people in that clan to fight... well that just seems weak to me.
This development team needs to get on the move, there are a LOT of MMOs out and a LOT more coming out soon. This game is great when your level 25, try and get though the 40s and then tell me the game is just as fun, while there is nothing to work for at the end, and nothing new to look forward to when you get to 50. Games don't have to launch complete and I don't expect them to, I do expect them to have a thought about what your players should be doing once they have no more experience to gain, and have something for them to do.
This is all rabble rabble! basically thanks for paying up front for our office supplies, monthly fees and oh by the way stick around so we can continue to strip you of your cash and we may just be able to afford some new ingame items! bah, rabble rabble is all i got out of this!
Rabble... rabble... rabble... same copy/paste TR hater response... rabble... rabble...
I think the communities of MMOs these days need to have more of the game finished before they will truly stay with them for a long period of time. Most successful MMORPGs tend to have at lest some high level content finished and in the game before it launches. TR just has none. I for one will give them one more month, see what happens. If there is nothing to do when February rolls around they will have one less customer. I am not sure how many people will stick around when they seem to have all these cool features planed, and well none of them will be in before middle of 08. The time for finishing the game has past, they need to get the promised features in very soon.
Nice idea, Triprunner. Let's hope the TB devs read this. Humans fighting for the Bane, either willingly, or forced to fight, would be an interesting way to introduce more PvP.
Making Bane playable, as it is done in LotRO, would be nice, but I'm not sure if making them a separate faction to play as permanent characters would work for the game.
Oh BOY! They hope to introduce raid instances for the endgame soon so TR can be just like every other stupid MMO based on the race-to-endgame-and-raid-raid-raid business model!
Hooray!
Jesus Christ, they're taking away engineer's Temporary Wormhole ability? Thank you for making us completely useless to squads now.
Jesus Christ, they're taking away engineer's Temporary Wormhole ability? Thank you for making us completely useless to squads now.
Just like they just did to medic
Starr Long what a name :) Sounds like the name of some 80s **** Star.
Removing personal wormholes hardly was *the* group thing that engineers had to offer. I'm not wild about giving away the extra flavor that it brought to engineers, but they're getting an entirely new and useful ability out of it.
I hate the way they're going with PvP though. Humans against Humans PvP makes absolutely no sense with the story of TR. Earth was destroyed people. Killing another human in that environment would likely be the most evil thing that could possibly be done. I think TR caved to a vocal minority with PvP as it is now. OTOH, Bane classes and skills are well thought out and differentiated and would make a great playable race for PvP. For that matter, it even makes sense to be the Brann, who are the criminal penal colony survivors of their race. I could even go so far to say that it's possible to be the Cormans, since they're viewed with open dislike by the AFS. Neither of those two groups though have fleshed out skillsets to make a plug in playable race.
Level 40 will eventually grant you the PAU. Level 50 will let you command an NPC squad. Those are good incentives to level to those points. There's 8 different classes to the game, and it's a different playstyle to play most of them. I don't buy the level 50 boredom stuff. Make a guy down the other branch for a while.
in other words, the game will start looking complete around 6 months after launch
Just what many of us have been saying since early beta
There's plenty of content and gameplay to go around for the normal player. Hardcore extremists are bound to find disappointment in every game they play. There's a ton of fun to be had in the game. Instead of always whining about what's missing--something that every game can be trashed for--how about talking about how much action this game has compared to the stand still and press 1, 2 for 70 levels.
Just this....
If Starr applied the same level of honesty to the project in development that he has applied to this interview the game may be worth playing.
The classic :
Logos seem to play a surprisingly small part of the game – are there any plans to make Logos more useful?
We are seriously considering a revamp of the Logos tablet. Currently, as you collect Logos elements you hear a small bit of the story about who the Eloh were and what happened to them. When the revamp is done the players can hear the entire story of the Eloh via the Logos Tablet instead of just one piece at a time via the Logs Shrines. We have other long-term plans for Logos, but this is what is coming in the near future.
So lets get this straight.... the very thing that you basically marketed this game on as being the unique (the most over used word in MMO's) logos system never actually got any love at all....
Thanks for confirming the suspicions of the most cynical among us about how the hype always gets more time and moey spent on it than the game. Between banging on about the logos and printing Richard Garriots name on everything (which I bet he wishes hed never heard of the game now) you could have added all the content your promising and then some.....
Very shoddy, very half baked, very dissapointing and totally predictable...
Thanks for nothing.
Logos tablet could have been so much more, I agree. It would have been great if you could use the logos words to make your own abilities, sort of like how Saga of Ryzom had their plugin system for spells.
I like all the naysayers here.
I especially liked the guy with the Xfire which says he played the game for under an hour and was talking about how boring level 40 and 50 were.
Does the game have flaws? Sure, but I don't let it consume me like some folks here appear to be doing. Instead, I'm having a blast defending control points and running the missions. By the time I hit 40 or 50 the extra stuff will be in.
Why exactly are some of you already there? Slow down and smell the roses! Games are meant to be enjoyed and savored, it's not a race to 50.
This game is the best thing since SWG and I will be playing it for a long time to come.
Huh? I spoke on 1. General chat today, asked something, within 10 seconds a GM solved two of my issues
Nice interview, looking very much forward to the content.
1. Please stop trolling.
2. TR is one of the games where it doesn't really matter how a group is assembled class wise and how the individual group member spec, so you can't get obsolete in the first place as you never were required.
3. Medic is a good class.