Tabula Rasa Launch Impressions
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These may seem like minor quibbles, but they're noteworthy over the course of hours of play. In fact, everything wrong with Tabula Rasa has the air of the 'minor quibble' to it. For every two things they got right, there's something weird or out of place. For example: the game has one of the best simple inventory systems I've seen in an online game. There's no need to buy 'bags' to expand your large-ish inventory, and items are auto-sorted into the appropriate tab. Likewise, there's a lot of fun to be had customizing your character at the start of the game, tweaking facial features and armor. Unfortunately, both of these elements are muted through gameplay, as your inventory constantly fills with worthless vendor fodder and replacement equipment quickly ruins the 'look' you established at the character select screen. It's like this all throughout the game: your paperdoll is really annoying to use, but there are easily seen quest markers on the world map. The game's control point capture system inspires easy PC camaraderie, but the branching class structure seems like a bad idea. Outside of the basic tutorial there are almost no explanatory elements, but crafting is one of the least complicated systems added to an online game.
The overall impression of Tabula Rasa you're left with is exactly that: mixed. There are lots of new and interesting elements here, game concepts that haven't been well integrated into an MMOG before ... but there are lots of little quirks. The chatter from players seems to be that TR is a 'stop over' point on a lot of veteran's journeys. The WoW expansion is long since conquered, and new games are still a few months off. TR, then, is going to be something of a 'winter shelter' for the eternally wandering online gamer. In the meantime, the live team continues to work to iron out the rough spots and improve the experience. They also seem to be committed to live events in a way not terribly popular with most modern online games; they've already held several quizzes and conflicts, with more planned for the coming months.
If the question is whether Tabula Rasa is worth $15 a month, my answer is yes ... for about two months. At the moment TR feels like all flash and little burn, with enough niggling details left unpolished that you'll eventually get bored. It's well worth giving a try, and if you have a friend with the game they're currently running a 'referral program' that might get you some free playtime. Either way, taking the fight to the Bane is a fun and altogether different experience from your average Massive experience. The MMO field continues to fill with feisty contenders, and I have high hopes that the team at Destination Games will keep the sci-fi dream alive.
