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Tabula Rasa: Cloning System
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
Today, NCsoft released this non-exclusive feature on their cloning system, a mechanic which allows players to make copies of their characters, replacing "alts" which force players to start again at level one.
I think we have all had that moment when you are so busy you just wish you could clone yourself. I know as we get closer to launch, a few clones of the development team would be a welcome addition. But that's not the kind of cloning I want to talk about. Though the Medic class can create a temporary clone to fight alongside them, the actual Character Cloning System(tm) in Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa is a bit different. It is a way for players to save their progress with a character so they can try new classes and new builds without having to start over.
The idea behind cloning is to give players the ability to save their progress with a particular character before making a major change. It allows a player to say, "I want to do something radical or something I'm not quite sure of," while acting as an insurance of sorts while they try something they may not have done yet. It allows players to have more choices and try new classes and builds without worrying that once that change is made, there is no going back. In my mind, while I was helping to develop this system, I was hoping that we could encourage players to not be as cautious as they might be with a typical MMO. To encourage them to take chances and try new things.
;)
Read the whole article here.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
I have issues with the cloning system.
1. It pretty much creates a total detachment from your character just in trying to respec.
2.You are forced to clone if you really want to be effective. Example: You put points into motor assist armor while leveling through to lvl 15 where the commando armor is, if you dont clone when you get to the commando choice you have to live with those points in the motor assist armor that you wont even be using anymore thereby, so its clone or die which leads to example 1 complete disconnect from your character.
3. Logos. The most important part of this game both story wise and gameply wise, i.e. you dont have logos you cant use the skills that the logos require. So you clone, play 5 levels of your new class search around and get 3 or 4 logos maybe, then decide you dont like the class choice you made so your going to go back to your clone. Well now you get to hunt down all of those logos again and experience all of that "content" again. Instead of making the cloning system that was touted to increase replayability, It creates a system where you are rerolling before you are even max level and having to repeat tedious actions again and again.
That is all the rant i have in me today. I was really into this game right up to lvl 20 where i realized i could either weart out my mouse by clicking 2345984735923475934579345 times and experience mindless combat with feaux "cover" or i could preserve my mouse by just holding the fire button down until it was time to reload then repeat ad naseum.
I hope PotBS, WAR, or AoC bring something to the table that isnt just a mindless grind to the top followed by a wait for content.
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Honestly, sometimes I wonder if the people who write these reviews have even played the damn game they are writing about.
Dont put more than 1 point in the 2nd tier armor. You will always find bits of tier 2 high level armor later that you can swap in to replace a bit of tier 3 that you havent found in that level yet.
Also - its not like you are going to die later because of that one skill point.
And in any other game if you changed class your would restart at level 1. T.R lets you restart at level 15 or 30 thereby skipping quite a bit of content you have done.
Well, it's a developers, so I guess he should have a pretty good idea. The only problem is, that he's got some pink sunglasses that makes everything seem better than it is. Including TR.
I don't understand why they can't just allow people to respec? I know in games like WoW you can respec your skills but not your class, couldn't TR just extend the respec to classes also...
Cloning sounds like a complicated solution to allowing people to go back on decisions they made about their avatar.
Well, it's a developers, so I guess he should have a pretty good idea. The only problem is, that he's got some pink sunglasses that makes everything seem better than it is. Including TR.
You can still be a developer and not really play through a portion of a game throughly. You are correct about the pink sunglasses. Someone is diffidently towing the company line in this review.
Another strike against this game. Can't imagine they don't understand what a disaster the DAoC initiative of letting vets start at 20 was.
The more I read about this game the more I want to completely avoid it.
The cloning system is actually a great system. If you clone correctly you can have one of each type of character and do it in half the time. The ONLY problem with the cloning system is that the first character that you build won't be able to reslot points, which doesn't really matter. You can always end up reslotting later with a clone if need be. Personally I don't see how this is a problem, and if this is a reason to completely avoid this game. If THIS is the reason? Then theres something wrong here. I wish I could do this in every game, I'm sick of running through the same beginner level and doing the same starter missions over just because I wanna know what a class is like to play. Now I can try them all and level up the one I like the most.
Cloning is pretty redundant with the complete lack of character diversity. Oh and if you wanna swap the main trees you have to go back to the L5 clone saving all of 30 minutes. Not sure why I am posting here guess its cause TR was on my watch list. Sadly having played it falls way way short.
It's OK as a shooter (but unlikely to satisfy die hard counterstrikers) and is way short in the depth departmend for the RPG part of "Action RPG". Guess I'll take a look in a year or so see if they have upped the ante in the gameplay department.