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Tabula Rasa the ET of the new millenium ?
Most of the folks here do not remember the video game market crash of the early 1980s, so let me give you a little history and maybe you can see why I want this game to be a failure.
The video game industry was booming in the early 1980s, just like it is now, and what happened to cause the almost complete collapse of the industry in the 1980s wasn't because people didn't want to play video games it was because greedy developers started turning out crap game after crap game literally filling the shelves with garbage games that kids got tired of quickly and parents got tired of buying a new game every week because last week's game was crap.
There were good games being made but the vast majority were trash, the sheer numbers of which completely overshadowed any good products.
How many games can the parent afford to buy before they find one that will keep junior busy for more than an hour ???
It culminated with Atari producing the horrible ET game, a game Atari had banked so much on, and that was so bad, it literally sank the company.
The industry struggled back to it's feet starting about a decade later and has held on strongly for another decade.
Which brings us to today and Tabula Rasa.
Tabula Rasa is a perfect example of what happened in the 1980s, NCsoft throwing huge amounts of development money at a product that really only has Richard Garriott's name as a marketing factor.
Just like Atari did with ET.
In this day and age of high prices and a plunging dollar, can parents afford to buy a new game every week, or should we hold the game developers to higher standards so that we actually get a decent value ??
We are at a point where tons of video games are being marketed, too many to play if you own a PC and the 2-3 major consoles.
Why should we, as consumers, continue to spend our hard earned dollars on products that are poorly designed and have poor playability ??
Games like Tabula Rasa need to fail to send a message to the gaming industry that throwing money at hype and perceived developer fame is only going to continue flooding the market with crap games and we the consumers will not pay for it.
To me, Tabula Rasa exemplifies the type of multi million dollar hype that brought this industry to it's knees a couple decades ago.
The bottom line, don't accept garbage, we need to force the developers to make quality products that are worthy of our hard earned money or we will see another decade long wasteland of no decent video games because the people with the money will stop risking it on hype that doesn't earn them any profit.
The game industry didn't die in the 80s because there were no developers or no more money in the world, it died because the investors got tired of throwing money away.
Comments
/agree totally
It really amazes me that developer still seem to believe that people are willing to accept shoddy, unfinished products, so long as they feed them the line 'please bear with us, and please continue to pay us, the game will get better, we promise'.
It also amazes me that there are enough people out there gullible enough to buy into this line of BS and are willing to cough up their hard-earned wages on such an unfinished product.
This must be the only industry where such a mindset exists. I can think of no other business that has the unmitigated hubris as to roll out an unfinished product and expect people to support it.
E.T. was a major movie hit. Nobody will know what TR was.
SWG on the other hand....
Maybe educating junior to be a critical consumer? Spoil him less by giving in to all his wishes? And if he's bored, so what? There's tons of other stuff junior can do to keep himself busy. It doesn't have to be games. And when he's old enough, he can even earn a bit of his own money with paper delivery for instance, so he can buy new games himself.
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Playing: Final Fantasy Online: ARR, Destiny
Most memorable games for me: UO, GW1, LoTRO
Problem is, Atari buried 90% of the ET cartridges in a landfill. Laws against toxic waste in landfills prevent the same treatment of TR.
As consumers we should do the research before spending our money. Try the demo, read the reviews etc.
But to keep it short - if you dont like the game - dont buy it.
It amazes me that some people think because they dont like a product its crap for everyone and no-one likes it. That isnt automatically true.
Jesus Christ, people. Tabula Rasa isn't THAT bad! Seriously, it isn't.
Mostly it just struck me as an easy, fast paced diversion. A flashy run and gun alternative to the archetypical Asian grinder developed for a western market. If you think this game is worse then Lineage 2 or other such cheap imitations of watching paint dry you've lost more then a few fries, mate. I doubt it's going to be extremely successful, anyway, and it certainly won't sink NCSoft.
How do you kill that which has no life?
It will be cancelled in its first year.
What game are we talking about again...Auto Assault 2?
Oh yea...hey all, glad to be here
well dude it aint that good. if i wanted a westernized asian grinder id still be playing Lineage2.
3.4ghz Phenom II X4 965, 8GB PC12800 DDR3 GSKILL, EVGA 560GTX 2GB OC, 640GB HD SATA II, BFG 1000WATT PSU. MSI NF980-G65 TRI-SLI MOBO.
LucasArts and SOE destroyed SWG with the NGE and Jedi, plain and simple.
I don't see TR being a bad game. Maybe not appealing to the hardcore PvPers, but it's a good game, has an in-depth story, and is quite entertaining.
It's a game you can play for an hour or two, walk away from feeling like you've had fun, and when you log back in still have plenty to do.
Honestly - who really wants another grind-fest type game? When you level up in TR, you get a feeling of accomplishment more-so than a need to level up again and again and again just to "keep up with the Jones'".
A 100 million dollar loss could very well bring NCsoft to it's knees and that may be the reason that they announced a partnership with SoE.
My feeling is that after Tabula Rasa crashes and burns SoE will acquire NCsoft and then we will see all the NCsoft games under SoE's station pass.
From the following article:
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/biz_view.asp?newsIdx=10753&categoryCode=123
" The situation is more urgent at NCsoft. Its operating profit has rapidly diminished over the past three years. One reason for such lethargy is the lack of diversity in its portfolio. Another is the murky outlook for its future games."
"``The only person in the company who have trust in the Garriotts is the CEO,'' another said in 2006."
" NCsoft is to release ``Tabula Rasa'' on Oct. 19, which will be a critical test for its long-term survival. A failure could be too much for the firm and its CEO Kim, considering the amount of investment and resources the project has devoured."
I have to ask you an honest question:
What is the "in depth" part of the story ?
To me, the story plays as follows:
Super Powerful Aliens attack Earth and wipe out just about everything with humanity being able to offer little, if any, resistance.
Super Powerful Aliens take a smoke break while humanity's "best" (gee, didn't the best go out and die in the initial invasion ?) lines up and walks through magical alien teleporters that have been hidden and are now somehow instantly ready to haul humanity to the stars.
Super Powerful Aliens get back from smoke break, OOPS they let a bunch of humans escape, but they can now enjoy some torture and consume the remaining humans because the "best" ran off like cowards and left the infirm to suffer.
Humans are now on another planet, but they are suddenly able to kick the crap out of Super Powerful Aliens that just a short time ago devastated their home world with impunity.
I guess we didn't have any rocket launchers, grenades, shotguns or rifles on Earth...
And our "alien allies" live in teepees, wear loin cloths, and carry sticks...
All very shaman-like and wonderful but where is all the technology needed to drive a "war".
Just where in the hell are the manufacturing facilities and industrial base that are producing the thousands of weapons, armor and ammunitions (not to mention the prefab geodesic units and the farming/mining equipment) ?????
The story is just as shallow as the gameplay, it's a stupid story which isn't even fit for badly written comic books or sunday funnies.
.
I don't know the number of ppl playing this. But I honestly don't think it's that bad either.
And I feel like less ppl try this game because of some idiots who write about how bad their
experience with a game in beta is (which probably isn't even allowed).
I have only played this game to about lvl 12 but I am enjoying this, thats all I can say.
And if you guys have been playing the OB then I'd guess you are not anywhere near end game
let alone mid game content.
PPL should stop praising games that aren't released yet and stop talking beta's down.
Just let ppl play what they like and you'll see there will be plenty ppl playing TR.
And the OP is probably drunk or depressed.
And to make a point. How the hell can you say this without complaining about the console market which is much close to the point that you are describing. MMORPG's are the newest genre with few good ones because it only just started. And the fact is there have been a couple of good ones that could keep you busy for a few years. And it's not even going downhill. The stuff on the horizon keeps getting bigger and better.
First, you have only played the game to level 12 call back and tell everyone how great it is when you hit 25.
Second, if people didn't "talk down" betas then the consumer would have to accept whatever crap a game developer could make and have to buy it blindly or based on paid reviewers that gush over anything.
Third, the MMORPG "genre" has been in the video game market for a decade, saying it's the "newest genre" is really ridiculous.
Finally, your assertion that it's all getting "bigger and better" is a child-like perspective on the current world economy.
Huge losses are forcing many development house to be swallowed by Microsoft, SoE and similar giants which will leave the market with two or three giant corporations monopolizing the industry and forcing the entire consumer base to eat whatever drivel they decide to develop.
If people do not complain about over priced garbage products, like Tabula Rasa, then we will all eventually play the McDonalds of video games and gladly pay full price for it.
I, for one, have no such intention and I hope this game fails hard enough to send a strong message to the industry as a whole.
Im amazed with this post! You actualy saying all this crap about TR? Amazing! What a bunch of lies!! What people do and say when they are desesperate! Tabula Rasa is becaming to put some fear in some people! Why? Do you think if the game is a success that they will stop playing your favorite MMO and you will play all alone in your big world?...GROW UP MAN!
agree this game isnt that bad i think some of the aeras pick at the blow out of porpotions. and becuase of the city of heros/villans and GW thsi will not take down TR if its as bad as you say it is. i think it will do ok as it different from your standard whack-a-mole elf and orc game.
Hold on Snow Leopard, imma let you finish, but Windows had one of the best operating systems of all time.
If the Powerball lottery was like Lotro, nobody would win for 2 years, and then everyone in Nebraska would win on the same day.
And then Nebraska would get nerfed.-pinkwood lotro fourms
AMD 4800 2.4ghz-3GB RAM 533mhz-EVGA 9500GT 512mb-320gb HD
Irony at its best.
Are you serious? Oh wait, he is.
That's a possible scenario. Recently, though, Electronic Arts has purchased two game studios in Austin for $800+ million. Gasp. That's not a typo. Almost a billion dollars for two studios which are smaller than NcSoft NA. The Garriotts must be crying in their beer for only milking the Koreans for a lousy $100M.
EA has shown an interest in entering the Asian/Korean market. I'm think EA might be the white knight that rescues NcSoft after the Garriotts cash in and bug out.
Which would be hugely ironic. The Garriotts boasted of taking NcSoft to NASDAQ--but, then, they sure do a lot of boasting. Brag, brag, brag. That's because they're never held accountable by their adoring fanboys.
EA bailed out a failing Origin--maybe they'll now bail out a failing Ncsoft. And under the EA banner, they'll get to be traded at Nasdaq.
Until you spread your wings, you have no idea how far you can walk.
You heard 'im boys, stop the lies, we're all just a 'feared other MMOs will be drained of players by the greatness that is TR! Pack it in, we've been figured out, the jig is up!
Lol! Too much.
The problem with this analogy it that Atari was the big name in video games back in the 80s.
Nowadays there's a little company in the MMORPG market called Blizzard. NCSoft could completely collapse and many MMORPG players would not even notice (except the Koreans of course).
If NCSoft went down you could bet another company would snatch up GW, Lineage and the other games that aren't on the same path as Auto Assault
I'm not saying NCSoft isn't regretting paying that $18 million for the Garriott bros at this point, but their loss wouldn't be the same as Atari's collapse in the 80s.
Hey I still have my E.T. cartrige and it works
Actually what you wrote is a typo - the main studios of Bioware and Pandemic are in Edmonton, Brisbane and Los Angeles. Only one of their 4 studios (the bioware mmo) one is located in Austin.
Perhaps you could post a link showing where they have made a $100 million loss. There is a big different between a 100 million spent setting up NCSoft NA and developing games and a loss.
A loss is were your costs exceed your revenue. ie you lose money. Even if they write-off the entire $100 million spent over 7 years they are still turning a profit.
So, what, man? The facts ($825M) appeared in the Austin American Statesman because the news was of interest in Austin, and there were studios IN Austin. D'uh. What great gotcha do you think yo have?
And the sources for the $100M investment in the Garriott Genius Brand can be found in the Korean Times, as has been pointed out to you more than once. The reporter who worte the story was also the first reporter in the world to report that Garriott was going into space, when he was going into space, and that the Korean CEO was even thinking seriously about NcSoft buying the ticket until the public and stockholders were outraged at the idea.
The Genius Brothers have exploited NcSoft ruthlessly. Watch what happens about...oh...December or January when the year turns over...
So, if you've got the "sand" as the ridiculously grandiose General Pratish would say, show me the typo.
Until you spread your wings, you have no idea how far you can walk.