Tabula Rasa

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Saito
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Tabula Rasa

Post by Saito »

DISCLOSURE: I have no affiliation with PlayNC, Destination Games or Richard Garriott. This is not an advert - I just like the game, okay!?}

I started playing this about 1.5 months ago. It's a Sci-Fi MMOG set in the near future where the human race is evacuated from earth in the wake of an attack by a massive alien force. You end up thrown into an intergalactic war on alien worlds against the force that razed earth to the ground, assisted by the native inhabitants and a mysterious and ancient race of noble beings that have been all but wiped out in the war, called the Eloh.

Tabula Rasa is written and overseen by Richard Garriott (aka Lord British), who's accolades include being the father of the 'Ultima' series of games, including Ultima Online, which was one of the original 'modern' MMORPGs.

As for the game itself, it's pretty much as most MMORPGs are apart from it has big guns instead of swords and the like. Eloh 'Logos' abilities replace conventional spells. It's pretty much the standard fare otherwise apart from a few neat little things, like being able to clone your character at any stage (as long as you have a clone credit) and re-spec all their stats as a totally new character, just the ticket for playing around with the class system when you fancy a change :) The game has a look and feel to it that is VERY reminiscent of Starship Troopers. It even has a similarly healthy sense of humor.

I am really enjoying playing it at the moment, and I thought I'd share it here as I thought some people here would be interested :). Like any MMOG it has a few bugs and stuff that need ironing out and it's changing pretty quickly at the moment as it's only been public since November 2007, but so far it's very good and well thought out. If you like MMOGs but aren't into orcs and goblins and swords and magic and all that stuff (as I am not) then this is a great game to pass the hours.

More info at: http://www.playtr.com
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Post by sonic »

Ack, MMORPGs (*dies*).

Yay to the non-orcs and sorcery angle, though. I'm not big into elves. Heroes in space has much more appeal for me (*hearts futuristic environments*).
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Post by Saito »

Sylphisonic wrote:Ack, MMORPGs (*dies*).

Yay to the non-orcs and sorcery angle, though. I'm not big into elves. Heroes in space has much more appeal for me (*hearts futuristic environments*).
Yep, I hear ya, I used to think MMORPGs and RPG-style games were for dorks until I played a couple of Sci-Fi ones. The combination of a futuristic Sci-Fi environment, a well thought out story and a kick-ass look about the whole game does make TR really work well.

All the way from The Matrix to Dune, the most important thing about a story is it has to be believable, no matter how far fetched it is. Backstory that builds up the picture, and plot lines that are consistent and compelling are essential ingredients also. Most important of all technology, and it's uses inspire my mind, and it's that inspiration that fuels my interests in Sci-Fi over fantasy.
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Post by sonic »

LOL, but I don't mind 'sci-fi fantasy'. I didn't find the Matrix particularly believable however. Neo was... every tech boy's wish fulfilment in overdrive, which took me out of it. Splitting hairs >_>
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Post by Saito »

Sylphisonic wrote:LOL, but I don't mind 'sci-fi fantasy'. I didn't find the Matrix particularly believable however. Neo was... every tech boy's wish fulfilment in overdrive, which took me out of it. Splitting hairs >_>
The devil is in the detail. The plot is only a path through the story. The story behind The Matrix is much greater. Watching all the Animatrix shorts, reading the comics and listening to the Wachowski Bros talking about it and discussing the movies and extras as fans opens the whole thing up a lot more. I'm a little biased because I filled my head wit hit for a couple of years of my life, and wouldn't stop until every last detail was explored. That's how I am with stuff that catches my interest. That;s why I'm here, after all.
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Post by sonic »

Yah, I'm just talking about the films of it I've seen. Just not my personal cup of tea. Perhaps if Morpheus had been the main hero of the story (and therefore it was a slightly different story) I would have enjoyed it more. The Animatrix is a neat adventure in animated short making though- worth having enough that we bought it again after our original copy went in the burglary. My connection with it due to the kind of "obsessive love" that you are talking about is through Final Fantasy oddly enough- I was so happy just to see the virtual actors they created for the film get used in one last thing (Final Flight of the Osiris) that I would have bought it just for that. Even though I didn't think it was the greatest short on the DVD, lol.

Anyway, enough of my hogging of this thread to say stuff like that. You were talking about a game; Tabula Rasa....
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