Some thoughts on Tabula Rasa

As I’m sitting here re-ripping my entire CD collection into MP3′s again (something I should probably detail in another mundane & boring post), it made for a perfect chance to put down a few thoughts I had playing through the beta of Tabula Rasa, well, what little I can stand of it anyway.

With Tabula Rasa, I had the same problem getting into the game as I did with all other sci-fi-oriented or alternative MMORPG’s that tries to defy the traditional fantasy convention. There are a lot of game-related knowledge that doesn’t have to be explained in fantasy-based RPG’s. A lot of conventions are inherited, preached, rehearsed from years and years of fantasy literary work. Even those who aren’t into the whole RPG scene, understand the basic nature of the medieval-derived culture.

Here’s a pack of hungry wolves, they’ll probably bite me. Here’s a dragon, that’s really bad. I have just acquired a new plate mail armor, which is definitely stronger and sturdier than my previous chain mail armor. Picking up a bigger, two-hand sword probably means I do more damage than a one-hand sword, but swings much slower. Learning a new fire spell that shoots out a bigger fireball, is probably better than the one that shoots out a smaller one (unless, the smaller one is a completely different spell with a bigger concentration of heat in a small package!). Lastly, a blacksmith does exactly what a blacksmith does, and a leatherworker or an alchemist is unlikely to be taking care of farm lands anytime soon.

These are all conventions that one can easily assume when stepping into a fantasy world, and fantasy based MMO’s doesn’t have to explain those items & mechanic in as rich or deep of detail for the gamers to just step into the game to understand. One of the elements that made World of Warcraft so immensely successful, is the speed you can get into the game without having to read or think much about it. Hey, pick up a quest here, it’ll teach you what you need to know. Go find this trainer here, and they’ll teach you what you need to know. Combine that with the normal conventions that you’re used to, it makes for a game that works without having to pick up an instruction manual and dig through forums of information before you even start playing.

With a game like Tabula Rasa, I get the exact opposite feeling. Sci-fi thrives on inventing new terminology and technology. While this works extremely well in other entertainment mediums where the explanation of the technology is a part of the story, it really suffers in games, especially a MMO where there are massive amount of knowledge that has to be acquired already. The preference is that these knowledge will be slowly acquired over time, as in: What does 1 point of strength do for my character development? Exactly how much +hit% do I need? Those are the detailed, geeky math that you get into once you’re really deeply involved with the game. On the outset, you want the basic information to be taught to the gamers as soon and as easily as possible.

Without prior knowledge and conventions, a sci-fi MMO has a much larger task ahead of itself when it comes to the education of its populace. It has to teach you that one type of armor is better than another, what this weapon does versus another. Is a plasma rifle really as useful as a shotgun given your training & talent point allocations? Even the very basic neccessities of the game has to be “taught” somehow transparently to the gamers. If you had to force the community to reach to an outside source to understand what’s going on inside the game, even at the very beginning, then you would’ve created a huge barrier of entry and preventing you from ever building a large & successful community.

I’ve only played Tabula Rasa for a total of 2 hours on my character. This is exactly how I feel.

I don’t understand what’s going on, I don’t understand all the conventions & technology. I can’t even figure out how to equip spells that I supposedly had already trained, then had to take my web browser to a wiki site to figure out how to activate my abilities. Even after learning what I have to do, I failed to do so because by that point, I’m too annoyed by the game to want to play it. Lastly, of course without understanding the conventions and technologies, it makes crafting an impossible variety of jargons that I can’t even start to think about.

The combat system lacks a certain amount of involvement that’s required to keep me interested. What WoW did very well, even with its bloated number of spells & ability in the game now, is making sure that each spell & abilities you used had a purpose of some sort, and you had to use a combination & variety of them to be successful. This was evident very early in the game. This is not quite so evident in Tabula Rasa, where I am not sure why I would use spells versus armed weapon in different situations, or whether there would be any value to ever use one or the other. What I choose to do, seems completely random and have very little effect on the outcome unless I’m specifically told to “use lightning spell on this boss.”

That is not to say that these spells & combat system will become more purposeful as you get to higher level, but if I don’t sense that amount of clarity now, there’s no reason for me to progress beyond the current tedium. It’s more likely for me to think, “OMG, there are how many more of this pointlessly-firing-at-whatever I have to do? For how many levels?” than to consider the fact that the game will expand into some richer & more satisfying.

So, I guess I won’t be playing Tabula Rasa when it reaches final release. Here’s hoping Hellgate: London turns out much better.