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Tabula Rasa: Review Part One - Levels 1 - 25
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
MMORPG.com Community Manager Laura Genender has been playing Tabula Rasa since its launch a month ago. Wanting to be fair to the game, we have decided to break this review into two parts, this one, describing Laura's early experiences in the game as she leveled from 1-25, the next is an account of her late and end game experience, where she will officially score the game.
Since my First Look article, the game has lived up to my standards of “fun” though the polish is slowly peeling away as I march through the levels. Levels 1 through 15 were smooth and enjoyable, with one minor bug in a small, unimportant mission. My entire time spent on Concordia Wilderness (the starting map) was a blast.
Things changed, though once I left Wilderness and entered Concordia Divide/Palisades. It almost feels like they rushed the game out after polishing the first map, with intentions of catching up after launch. There were/are issues with control points not triggering correctly, missions with broken steps, and bosses not spawning. A lot of the issues – especially those on Divide – were fixed with the last patch, and I’m sure the Palisades bugs will be next. The good news is, the bugs are getting fixed quickly and developers are listening to what bugs are high priority to the players. The customer service team is also on top of things, and will fix missed flags/bugged missions for you if you petition. If you’re a casual player you should be fine to start Tabula Rasa today; if you’re a hardcore leveler, expect to outpace the fixes and content quickly.
Other than the bugginess, the majority of gameplay is engaging and exciting. Control Points, especially, are absolutely fantastic. It’s hard not to feel invested and immersed when you see that red flag glaring at you off your map, and you know those damned Bane just took over River-base Krimm. Even if you don’t need the attack tokens, it’s hard to resist haring off to retake the Bane base.
;)
Read the whole review here.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
Thanks for a well-written and informative review.
I am particularly glad to hear the game is relatively soloable. If there is anything I really dislike in MMORPGS it is "grouping choke points" -- places in a mission, storyline, or quest line that absolutely require grouping.
Don't get me wrong; I enjoy grouping occasionally. I just hate being "stuck" and unable to get from Point A to Point B because a group can't be found. Does TR have a good mechanism for finding groups when you need them?
I will be interested in the followup article to see whether the solo-friendly aspect of the game persists at the higher levels.
There is a LFG tab, but you can only have one tab open at a time. The result is that its pretty much a dead tab.
As far as solo aspects, this is a solo game with the ability to group. I have gotten a few characters into the 30s and have zero problems soloing. I have also talked with a few that have hit 50 without having to solo...actually, I dont know of anyone who had to group to get to 50.
The game is basically completely soloable; I have grouped maybe twice in my entire career. Group finding (so far) has been very easy; you just find someone running around the same area as you and they're likely on the same quest/quests! The LFG tab helps, too.
Laura "Taera" Genender
Community Manager
MMORPG.com
Well written review, thanks for sharing the in depth info, still not my type of game, but glad to hear its fun for many folks
Who the hell are you, and why should I care?
Congrats! You are a victim of Trollstar!
Yeah I've only grouped twice, once for an instance and once for a open-world mission.
I hate the group interface and dynamics.
It's a crap shoot, pretty much.
Very little coordination and strategy, just kill kill kill and move on.
If you are lucky enough to have a specialist who will actually heal, you don't even notice. There is absolutely no down time, just run and gun through and through.
Maybe it's just my inexperience with grouping in TR, or that I am SO used to grouping in WoW, where you have defined roles, must have organization, and where communication is key.
In TR instances, it seems one person knows "where to go" and everyone else just silently follows, killing and killing and killing.
Again, maybe it's just my personal experience... but after a few group runs I just leveled a bit and ran the rest of the Wilderness instances solo.
Besides that, thanks for the great review Taera, pretty spot on. I'm nearly 100% in agreement with you.
My only real problem, and hence why I play so much Mass Effect instead... is that I don't feel like I'm really "working towards" anything in TR. I'm gaining levels to get more points to get more skills... so I can gain more levels to get more points to get more skills.. so I can gain levels and choose my next class. I just feel like I'm just grinding levels just to get more levels. I don't "feel" as if I'm working towards anything.
I dunno how much sense that makes, but that's the only way I can describe it. Ya know?
There is SOME strategy in how you fight different Bane - what resists you use, how far you need to be, etc. For example, I shotgun hop with a Kael, and snipe off the Lightbenders. The fact is, though, that most creature types are the same after the first 15-20 levels. You learn all the strats and there's no adaption later on.
Heerobya, I'm not sure how far you got through TR but Eloh Vale created that first sense of "moving toward something" for me. If your subscription is still active, check it out; it's wonderful.
Laura "Taera" Genender
Community Manager
MMORPG.com
Fair review, Taera. I spent a few weeks on this one in beta, and for the most part these are the same things I experienced. But, the one thing that turned me away from Tabula Rasa is the same reason why I don't bother subscribing to Hellgate London. There really is no need to interact with the community. Maybe that's just how I am, but player interaction is one of the most important things to me in an MMO.
The game is basically completely soloable; I have grouped maybe twice in my entire career. Group finding (so far) has been very easy; you just find someone running around the same area as you and they're likely on the same quest/quests! The LFG tab helps, too.
I am curious to see why no mention on the MIRES zone was talked of. In the performance department hehe.That being probably the biggest problem in-game to me and many atm.
I think to give this game a fair chance you have to look at it from a 30+ perspective. Lets face it, levels 1-30 are just a learning curve. Granted, levels 30+ at the moment has no value besides if you take a strong interest into a PvP flagged clan.
30 is a big level in the game, it is when you unlock the skills you've been working hard to get. Hopefully more good things come into your gameplay 30+. But if you do not like PvP i predict a sour review to come
There is just nothing more to do....at all. WTB content.
---------------------------------------------
Buying an mmo= 35.99 +14.99 a month.
Playing games for years= fun
Playing SWG from your hotel room on a laptop, via business trip for 10c a minute (3day trip)= not priceless! 1900.oo later! Try explaining that to your wife.
Yes i shot myself for letting SOE cost me that much $ hehe.
RiP- Old SwG.
Hard to resist, indeed.
This is only the first part of the review... levels 1-25.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
The game is basically completely soloable; I have grouped maybe twice in my entire career. Group finding (so far) has been very easy; you just find someone running around the same area as you and they're likely on the same quest/quests! The LFG tab helps, too.
I am curious to see why no mention on the MIRES zone was talked of. In the performance department hehe.That being probably the biggest problem in-game to me and many atm.
I think to give this game a fair chance you have to look at it from a 30+ perspective. Lets face it, levels 1-30 are just a learning curve. Granted, levels 30+ at the moment has no value besides if you take a strong interest into a PvP flagged clan.
30 is a big level in the game, it is when you unlock the skills you've been working hard to get. Hopefully more good things come into your gameplay 30+. But if you do not like PvP i predict a sour review to come
There is just nothing more to do....at all. WTB content.
Until the first Operation that is scheduled for January there really isnt much 30+ content. That is in fact why I stopped playing my level 30 Guardian and started playing some of my clones that are still in the teens which is nice. That way I can wait for the content to catch up and have a chance to play other classes and see how fun they are.
The game is basically completely soloable; I have grouped maybe twice in my entire career. Group finding (so far) has been very easy; you just find someone running around the same area as you and they're likely on the same quest/quests! The LFG tab helps, too.
I am curious to see why no mention on the MIRES zone was talked of. In the performance department hehe.That being probably the biggest problem in-game to me and many atm.
I think to give this game a fair chance you have to look at it from a 30+ perspective. Lets face it, levels 1-30 are just a learning curve. Granted, levels 30+ at the moment has no value besides if you take a strong interest into a PvP flagged clan.
30 is a big level in the game, it is when you unlock the skills you've been working hard to get. Hopefully more good things come into your gameplay 30+. But if you do not like PvP i predict a sour review to come
There is just nothing more to do....at all. WTB content.
While I heard about the Mires lag, I haven't been there yet (and I hear they fixed it), thus why it wasn't included in my 1-25 review. I'll be looking at 25-50 content, next
And yes, I am massively looking forward to 30 skills!
Laura "Taera" Genender
Community Manager
MMORPG.com
Dangit Taera, I was gonna write my own two reviews 1-25 and 26-50 in my blog but you pretty much said everything I was going to say!
Although, I wouldn't let the TR community off the hook as easily as you did though. General chat is awful... much worse than Barrens chat, even. Seriously.
Anyway, nice review, you summed it up nicely and I feel pretty much the same way.
Nice to see a fair review, thanks Taera! So, nothing really changed from beta... I'm with you in hope that one day some content will be added.
what server was the reviewer playing on.
On the Eu server the chat is usually pretty mature and fun and friendly all night the ocasional pvp rants carry onto it but for the mostpart its a nice healthy community
Hi all,
I haven't played this game, but my years of experience in the industry has taught me this...
Community is everything. If TR has a lack-luster community the way the reviewer is saying, TR will just end up dying after the newness has worn off. The reason I say this is because TR is a niche game, kind of like Auto Assault was. It has potential to keep a good crowd from what I've read about its mechanics, but a low population and/or bad community will just doom this game. If I was one of you good TR community members, I would take control of your game now and drive away those bad apples while you still have a chance. I'm still playing and trying to beat Guild Wars right now, but when I am through, I am hoping TR will have a Free Trial for me to play in order to decide for myself. However, I won't bother if I keep hearing about a lack-luster community. Bad communities has a way of driving off potential players.
Anyways, have fun TR players. Good review by the way. Really gave me a feal for the game.
MMORPG's w/ Max level characters: DAoC, SWG, & WoW
Currently Playing: WAR
Preferred Playstyle: Roleplay/adventurous, in a sandbox game.
It is my pleasure to give credit where it's due, Ms. Genender: this is a thoughtful, well-written, and even-handed review. Thank you SO much for writing something helpful about a rather controversial game!
I do have a question for you TR players, though.
You refer to "instances." Are these mission/quest areas that are designed for groups or for individuals? Or can both individuals (solo) and groups complete them because they are somehow scaled to party size?
In WoW, of course, you really *must* find a group for the dungeons/instances, so I am curious as to how TR handles this issue. Frankly, I like the Guild Wars feature of offering players a choice: (i) solo the instance by taking along henchmen, (ii) go in a group of players, or (iii) go in a mixed group of both players and henchmen.
Are instances in TR designed specifically for group play (like in WoW)? If so, that'd be a real turnoff for me, as it sounds like some of the instances are pretty fun. I would also like to know if these instances/missions are reasonable in terms of being time-consuming -- WoW's dungeons, assuming you could even find a group, always struck me as being just too long.
I note that TR is now being offered at 50% off at Amazon so, pending your answers, I may just give this puppy a try. :-)
In terms of instances, it's the one thing I disagree with the review writer about. I've found the lower level instances to be quite fun and manageable in say 30 minutes to an hour. I also like the multiple objectives - not to give too much away, but in the Crater Lake instance you have to establish a comlink to receive additional orders to blow a shield generator, which in turn allows you to break into the facility and rescue the hostage scientists. Very well done, although I can't speak for higher level content.
Oh and instances are completely soloable, although you'll want to be slightly higher level if that's your plan. Some classes do get "henchmen" of a sort - the ranger can call in support soldiers, the engineer can create bots, and exobiologists can rez dead Bane to fight for them.
D&D Home Page - What Class Are You? - Build A Character - D&D Compendium
Well, from what I've heard, they're *supposed* to be group content - I'm a very stubborn soloer though and I've been finding ways to solo through em. My general tactic once I arrive at a new public map is to do all the non-instanced missions, then head into the instances; that puts me slightly above con for the area and I can clear through with relative ease.
Laura "Taera" Genender
Community Manager
MMORPG.com
Originally posted by Taera
"I'm a very stubborn soloer though and I've been finding ways to solo through em."
Haha. A kindred spirit!
Thanks for the answer.
If you like large fire-fights take a group through the instances. Spawn sizes are increased.
I completed tree-back camp recently. This was always one of my favourite instances. Annoying to see they have changed the mission rewards - you used to be able to get almost a full set of lvl 20 armor with some nice stat bonuses from the treeback camp instance.
Personally I like the U.I - I tend to keep general chat on (Orion server) and keep an eyeball on it so I can answer the occasional player question.
I am playing with two work colleagues and its a blast. We use Skype for always on voice chat rather than the in-game voice.
Bases defenses are fun and can be intense. Fort dew at palisades is cool, if the base falls you can fallback into the tower, get upto the 2nd level and snipe. If you have someone else with you, you can provide cover fire as they sneak out to retake the control point from inside the base.
Also Hydro base is fun for assault, you can fall back to the hydro generator area if you are defending the base and its being over run. For assault you can get up on the hills overlooking the base and snipe the bane with a rifle. If you have a ranger you can carpet bomb into the base.
If you are assaulting a base - shooting the forcefield will piss-off the bane and they will send a bunch out to attack you. Take these out, then shoot the forcefield again to get another bunch to play with.
Tactics wise - I shoot linkers first (I hate these critters), then caretakers, then technicians. Caretakers and technicians will ressurect dead bane/droids.
At higher levels - palisades and up - shield drones reflect most attacks (except EMP). Always fun to watch someone kill themselves attacking a drone.
So far, the only instance I haven't been able to solo was the Raging Patriarch one... which just bites as it is all that is preventing me to completely finishing out Palisades.
Good review, though. I thought it mostly mirrored my impressions of it (I'm currently a level 29 Ranger).
As to those who have said there's not much strategy, that's not entirely true. As you get into Plains and Incline (where I am now), Bane are usually found in groups... really squads. Often, they have droids floating around with them that generate energy fields that not only protect the squad from most forms of damage, but *reflect* the damage back at you. If you try to take them out, a technician will restore/revive them. If you try to take the technician out, a healer will come and rez him. So, you need to know who does what amongst the Bane, prioritize your targets, and use the right sort of firepower against the right sort of Bane.
Really, there is a good deal of tactical aspects involved. Not only what I mentioned above, but also using terrain, your weapon loadout (you can have only 5 weapons on your hotbar at one time), and special attacks (like using EMP bombs on Predators). What you see at the early levels does change as you advance. How things work past level 30, I don't know, but I suspect (hope) that the game will continue to grow more difficult.
Lastly, yeah... bugged missions. Very annoying. I've come across a few of them (I'm a quest-completing fiend), and there are still some bugs that need to be fixed. Still, I don't mind spending my money on it and so don't regard the game as in some sort of "advanced beta" but as a released product that still needs some fixing. YMMV.
The community comment is one of the thing i dont agree on in Laura's review. Perhaps she is used to community in "My pony online" ? However TR community is simply NORMAL. It is in no way horrible like GW one , or anti CHAT like LOTRO's "stop spamming boys"
If i would have to define it - it is closest to Anarchy Online community
Not much RP , ocasional witty comments ( can skip the WOW comments in new MMOs ... that is the fact )
Some politics , jokes about duch and lot of weed ... etc
And by the way
I am talking EU server
That's a darn good write up of TR, right down to the comment about general chat. The general chat actually gave me a real, honest-to-goodness headache and will almost certainly be the reason why some new players leave this game.
That aside, I've found the game to be an over all enjoyable experience. Considering that I'm in finals week at my university I also have next to no time to play, so the ability to pick up a 30 minute to one hour play session and actually do something has been very appealing.
In short, the only area that my opinion differs is with the comment about the Divide. Due to the aforementioned community I found the starting map to be a nightmare. Pretty much no one worked together for anything, and would many times actively work against me (attempting to out damage a mob, especially quest mobs, while flat out ignoring polite requests to team up so that everyone gets credit).
Once I moved into the Divide, though, I began running into players with higher level characters who work with you as a team even when you're not grouped. I've now experienced other players covering me (while not directly attacking what I'm attacking) if they see too many bane around me, and that's just cool. I also experienced that the other day when I got into a tangle with too many Xanx.
I also find it interesting that critters attack one another on the map, though I actually allow them to take each other out. Like those annoying flying bugs that shoot some sort of energy attack at you. I hate those things, but they'll thin the size of the bane squads for you and then you can pick off the weak.
It's also pretty wicked to see a Xanx run over and begin feasting on the corpse of a freshly killed Xanx.
Anyway, speaking of finals I gotta get going, but that's one article that I agree with almost word for word.
Laters.