Tabula Rasa
January 22nd, 2008 |
Posted in blog posts, gaming |
Because I haven’t had enough new games to play here lately (heh), I’ve started playing Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa. I’ve been following the progress of the game since it was in Beta at the end of last year, and while intrigued by the idea of a Sci-Fi MMORPG that doesn’t suck, I’ve been too addicted to World of Warcraft to really make the plunge into another game.
So after reading some reviews here and there, last weekend I decided it was time for me to give it a try. And surprisingly, I am very impressed by the game.
Tabula Rasa is your standard MMORPG in many ways: You create a character and it has basic abilities and attributes. You have to complete a variety of quests from random NPC’s in the game ranging from “kill x number of these mobs” or “get x number of these items from some mobs” and even “escort random NPC loserbutt from this place to somewhere safe by traveling through a very hostile area.”
The differences between Tabula Rasa and other MMORPG’s are quite numerous, however. Quests often contain elements of choice in them, which can (supposedly) drastically change your standing with various factions in the game. It introduces a bit of morality that while not as in-depth as some games like Fable, adds a nice touch that games like World of Warcraft lack.
You don’t pick a class at the very start of the game. Instead, you start off as a Recruit (the Tier 1 class), and once you get to level 5 you can choose between becoming a Soldier or a Specialist (Tier 2). At level 15 you can choose your Tier 3 class of Commando or Ranger (if you are a Soldier), or Sapper, or Biotechnician (if you are a Specialist), and at level 30 you can choose your Tier 4 class, which is either a Grenadier, Guardian, Sniper, or Spy (for Commandos/Rangers), or Demolitionist, Engineer, Medic, or Exobiologist (for Sappers/Biotechnicians). It’s a neat tree that lets you choose as you go so you can make choices that fit your gameplay style a lot better.
After leveling your character, if you decide you want an alt, you don’t have to start over from scratch. As you level you gain a number of “clone credits” you can use to create a clone of your character. That clone is the same level of your main character, has completed the same quests, etc. You can then decide to change the sex and class of your clone (and in the next major patch, splice in alien DNA to create a hybrid, woot!). This way you don’t have to start completely over. The downside is that your clone won’t have any good gear or any money to speak of, so save and plan in advance!
Combat is a lot different. You don’t lock onto one target and spam different abilities. Instead, you have to actually aim at your target before you fire, make strategic use of cover, and react to enemy AI that is more involved than in other MMO games. Enemies will attempt to flank you if in groups, and they will come to the aid of someone in need a lot more intelligently than others. Crouching while aiming improves your chance to hit and the amount of damage you can do. Also, if you kill a mob and move on to another one within a few seconds, you will get an XP modifier, making quick grinding an attractive option.
Another neat feature is that instances are scaled based on the number of players in your group. So you can actually solo some of the instances at low levels if you are having trouble finding a group. This feature alone has really kind of thrown the traditional “gotta have a tank, healer, and DPS to run this” paradigm out the window in a lot of cases until you get into considerably harder content.
My main character is currently a Specialist named Charlie Ashwell on the Cassiopeia server. I plan on making him into a Medic for his Tier 4 class. So if you feel like trying it out, look me up!
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