Tabula Rasa not vaporware -- starts beta testing

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jan 6th 2007 at 7:25PM }

NCSoft's Tabula Rasa began sign-ups for beta testing this week. The sci-fi MMO, headed by Richard Garriott of Ultima fame, is a title that's been a long time coming. Showing at E3 2005 and 2006, with launch dates always shifting, there still is no reasonable explanation as to why this game is taking so long. We're sure to get another Tabula Rasa fix at Min-E3 and with any luck they'll finally nail down an official launch date.

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Tags: beta, mmorpg, ncsoft, tabula rasa, TabulaRasa

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Jdoki @ Jan 6th 2007 7:51PM

...there still is no reasonable explanation as to why this game is taking so long...

I thought it was well documented that part way through development the devs decided to change the focus of the game entirely - from a traditional MMORPG to a more action orientated one.

Fingers crossed this turns out to be something more original than the standard Everquest / WoW rip-offs.

Nathan Nash @ Jan 6th 2007 8:30PM

I remember signing up for beta testing that game probably more than one year ago. The reason why it's been taking so long from my understanding is that they had a frame work and developed the game to a semi playable level and scrapped it because they weren't happy with the outcome. It's kind of ironic because Tabula Rasa literally means "clean slate."

Dirtyboy @ Jan 6th 2007 8:39PM

Jeez, don't act like a local tv news reporter, do a little research, will ya? =P

Signed up for the beta, hope it's not as un-inspiring as Vanguard. Funny how now matter what beta or trial of any MMORPG I try, WoW is still far and away the best out there. Despite the fact that WoW has numerous problems, no other developer out there "gets it". I'd say Guild Wars is probably the one that is closest, but still a million miles behind WoW.

bounchfx @ Jan 6th 2007 8:43PM

played it at e3, loved it, its a mix of fps and rpg but it's very well done, I can only hope it will come out as good and fresh as it felt when I first played it.

much potential

h2c @ Jan 6th 2007 10:08PM

Tabula Rasa was never vaporware. No one can put it in the same league as Duke or the Phantom.

Anyway, here is a snippet from an OGaming interview with Lord British:

OGaming: Why was the original version of the game scrapped?

RG: Our original idea for the look and feel of Tabula Rasa was “too original.” What I mean by that is it was very “unfamiliar.” We had unfamiliar player statistics, unfamiliar player clothing, unfamiliar player equipment. It all added up to a world that even we, the developers, could not relate to in an empathetic way. We did not desire to embody the characters we created.

OGaming: How has the title transformed and reinvented itself in the intervening months?

RG: The new Tabula Rasa still contains what we believe was the best thinking of our original design, but it is now presented from a much easier beginning point. We start the player with visuals and equipment that are much more embraceable and build into more and more exotic and powerful items.

http://www.ogaming.com/data/3262~TabulaRasaInterview.php

I'm looking forward to this. Well, as much as a jaded MMOG player can look forward to a new game, anyway.

otakucode @ Jan 6th 2007 10:34PM

Damn... I know next to nothing about this game, but the title is being wasted.

An MMORPG named "Tabula Rasa" should seek to emulate the name. Start with a blank slate. Think all players who start playing on day 1 being born into a world with only natural resources available. Through combination, skill advancement, and the planning and work of players, the world would develop. Sort of like Spore, but probably more complex to create. Deciding how low to go with the simulation would be difficult, but a really interesting game could result. Emergent gameplay would be everywhere. I'm not talking something like Second Life where the players create with modelling and code, I'm talking a game where players would create by take a stick, a bit of plant fiber, some other sticks, etc and come up with bows and arrows. Man versus the world in the beginning, later 'generations' of players would more likely be competing against other players, etc. THAT would be a Tabula Rasa.