It seems opinions on this game are widely spread. After the Vanguard beta and still a subscriber, I do agree that you cant play a game only on its potential. That alone will leave a bad taste in your mouth that takes a long time to wash out.
On my statement about F2P it may not apply to some but it does apply to a lot. These are the days of instant gratification on and off the battlefield. I really dont see any game coming down the pike that will totally fulfill everyones opinion on what a game should be or not be.
As for what betas should be, I think most people forget that a beta is for testing. Thier are very few true testers left out thier anymore and that only leaves us with the majority. The ones who are chasing the dream of the next great place to induldge thier lives in a fantasy world. 8-12 months of a beta will see the majority burned out before the release. Most games become tedious and boring after the 1st year anyways.
Me, I will give this product a go. Maybe I will be there a month and maybe I will be there 6. I do not know. If I have fun for the amount of time I am there then it was worth it to me.
Well, for me it's easily worth the monthly fee. Call me a fanboi... whatever you want to call me is fine. For me it's about having fun and I am having a blast. There's been nothing so far that has felt unfinished about this game to me. Vanguard felt unfinished in beta. ShadowBane felt unfinished in beta. AO felt unfinished in beta. AA felt unfinished in beta. TR feels very polished to me and did so in late beta.
But most of all, the game is a complete blast. Like I said... I have played all but 1 mainstream and not-so mainstream mmorpgs to date and this by far the most fun I have had in a mmorpg. I group nightly, we have a blast, I solo when I have to and I have a blast then too. The storyline rocks to me, I feel very immersed in the game world. The game feels alive and the "cause" feels justified and warranted.
The good news is that the instances are packed with people and last night there were almost too many people in the different instances of each zone (Wilderness had 9 instances on Pegasus last night and each was busy), which made it all that much better and more fun.
It's obviously not what a lot of you were looking for, and that's cool... it's certainly a great game for many of us and I am definitely not someone who will just settle for anything... I am very picky about which games I play long term and I don;t have a ton of fun in many of them (although I try them all and play for a at least a few months before making up my mind). With TR, the fun is there, the game runs awesome for me on high detail even with over 100 players on my screen battling it out for a control point, and 50 + Bane on the same screen, I was getting mad framerates and not so much as a stutter. No lag, no crashes for me, just smooth fun gameplay.
Just ran the loader and downloaded a patch of minimal size too bad I'll check back in 6 months when the game's finished have fun with pay-to-play open beta
so the patch size decides for you if youll play or not - you know your stuff then! (not)
with the amount of people who are happy with the game and already enjoying it just accept that fact and move on, no need to try and troll the forums in the meantime - you sure wont be missed eitherway!
"when the game's finished" - another quote that shows you dont really have a clue
This game is short term fun for people that are unable to play an FPS without autoaim or aimbot, it's a console style single player game that you have to pay a monthly fee for.
Ichijo, you took the words right out of my mouth. And as for your comment above: Heed my words, there is a console version of TR in the works as we speak.
so the patch size decides for you if youll play or not - you know your stuff then! (not)
actually, having participated in closed beta since may, it got very easy to tell just how much fun had been sucked out of the game simply by reading the patch notes and noting the size of the download.
the last patch was minimal, did not bring anything new into the game at all, and was simply a bit more bugfixes and optimized code, nothing more, nothing less - it certainly didn't deliver the WOW factor I was hoping for (note, WOW!, not WoW)
it left me with the same overall feeling of 'meh' that I have had regarding the game for the last few months
I was hoping to be pleasently surprised, but was left underwhelmed and dissapointed
I have heard this sales pitch before, in that thrilling epic "Auto Assault". Turns out a horde of beta testers a market does not make.
Well, if you were expecting somebody who was clueless about these things, prepare to be disappointed. I've played Auto Assault. I've also played Earth and Beyond and Asheron's Call 2. Three games that went the day of the dodo. I was in all three of those game's betas as well. I can say with confidence that Tabula Rasa is a different story.
The trouble with AA, E&B, and AC2 was that the games largely didn't 'click', they lacked some fundamental aspect of gameplay. In my experience, the score went something like this:
With AA, it was just monotonous action of very little significance, further pushed by giving players no reason or means to conveniently play together.
With Earth and Beyond, they tried to do EverQuest in space, and that didn't work because everybody was pretty much bored of EverQuest.
With Asheron's Call 2, the balance was badly fudged to the point where you had to grind for weeks to get the abilities you want and every abilitity in the game was so weak that you had a hard time telling if it made any difference over your auto-attack.
There were a few players who could get into these games -- there always are. However, the vast majority reached the end of beta feeling downright bored and depressed. These games were not worth a monthly subscription fee - they lacked that fundamental drive to continue playing for months. They felt incomplete, insignificant, going through the motions without having any real idea how to succeed. I didn't see that some kind of depression at the end of Tabula Rasa's beta - why do you suppose that is?
Tabula Rasa is a game that was revisioned from the ground up, because they realized a better focus, and so you know they've put together their game plan. They have some features that are actually significant enough to pay a monthly subscription fee for. Unlike AA, players do play together and the actions carry significance. Unlike Earth and Beyond, this is no EverQuest clone trying to redress itself. Unlike Asheron's Call 2, the gameplay mechanics allow the players to feel satisfiably involved.
The MMORPG field is one filled with many lemons, and World of Warcraft is sucking up the casual playerbase like some kind of overzealous leech. So maybe Tabula Rasa simply won't catch on. Maybe it will fail because the players simply didn't make the time for it. But I don't think it'll be a fault of the game - it's pretty damn solid and promising. That's why I've been going out of my way to point these things out, I'd hate to see the fate of lemons happen to an actual worthwhile game.
If only they'd have left it visioned on the ground...
MMO + FPS = No thank you.
The sleeper awakes...and rides his dirtbike to the mall.
If only they'd have left it visioned on the ground...
MMO + FPS = No thank you.
If that is what people are looking for, they should try Hellgate.... It's light in the MMO department, being instanced a lot like guild wars, but it is real FPS action combined with character progression and decent itemization.
If only they'd have left it visioned on the ground...
MMO + FPS = No thank you.
If that is what people are looking for, they should try Hellgate.... It's light in the MMO department, being instanced a lot like guild wars, but it is real FPS action combined with character progression and decent itemization.
I agree...I thought Hellgate played better, gave me more to do for my money...and if I want, I can still play online and not pay one red cent...
It wasnt so much performance, or visuals...just TR was dull...and unless they upped that game factor...well, last I played with the patch to change mobs so they were harder...it just became no fun...as cover still did not work well...and the UI was less than adequate..no cool skills, weapons started to feel the same...
My vote went to Hellgate on this one...no matter how monotonous it may be...I am not paying a monthly fee at least
If only they'd have left it visioned on the ground...
MMO + FPS = No thank you.
If that is what people are looking for, they should try Hellgate.... It's light in the MMO department, being instanced a lot like guild wars, but it is real FPS action combined with character progression and decent itemization.
I agree...I thought Hellgate played better, gave me more to do for my money...and if I want, I can still play online and not pay one red cent...
It wasnt so much performance, or visuals...just TR was dull...and unless they upped that game factor...well, last I played with the patch to change mobs so they were harder...it just became no fun...as cover still did not work well...and the UI was less than adequate..no cool skills, weapons started to feel the same...
My vote went to Hellgate on this one...no matter how monotonous it may be...I am not paying a monthly fee at least
Cheers!
I got both Both kick serious ass in my opinion. It's a blissful time for me as far as games go
I hear that. Between Hellgate and Tabula Rasa, we're sitting pretty his holiday season.
However, the important thing to remember is that Hellgate and Tabula Rasa are very different games. Comparing them would be like comparing Diablo and EverQuest. (I hesistate to use EverQuest in that analogy because TR is not yet-another-EQ-clone despite resemblances here and there.) My point is that while both Diablo and EverQuest were great games, you don't play them for nearly the same reasons, so they're not really in direct competition with eachother because they go after different (only partly overlapping) player niches.
I hear that. Between Hellgate and Tabula Rasa, we're sitting pretty his holiday season. However, the important thing to remember is that Hellgate and Tabula Rasa are very different games. Comparing them would be like comparing Diablo and EverQuest. (I hesistate to use EverQuest in that analogy because TR is not yet-another-EQ-clone despite resemblances here and there.) My point is that while both Diablo and EverQuest were great games, you don't play them for nearly the same reasons, so they're not really in direct competition with eachother because they go after different (only partly overlapping) player niches.
Oh yeah, I totally agree with you! I get two entirely different experiences from each game (HG:L and TR) and love both for vastly different reasons
I'm having a bit more fun in TR at the moment, but thankfully both are terrific games and I think both are going to do extremely well.
Having beta'd both, I am more than happy with them at release
Now how to get more hours in the day so that i can truly sink into both of them?
If only they'd have left it visioned on the ground...
MMO + FPS = No thank you.
If that is what people are looking for, they should try Hellgate.... It's light in the MMO department, being instanced a lot like guild wars, but it is real FPS action combined with character progression and decent itemization.
I agree...I thought Hellgate played better, gave me more to do for my money...and if I want, I can still play online and not pay one red cent...
It wasnt so much performance, or visuals...just TR was dull...and unless they upped that game factor...well, last I played with the patch to change mobs so they were harder...it just became no fun...as cover still did not work well...and the UI was less than adequate..no cool skills, weapons started to feel the same...
My vote went to Hellgate on this one...no matter how monotonous it may be...I am not paying a monthly fee at least
Cheers!
I got both Both kick serious ass in my opinion. It's a blissful time for me as far as games go
I wish TR ran better for me. I heard so many people with the same issues that i assumed it ran that bad for most people. I was pretty interested in it before I tried it out... it just chugged around and ran too choppy. I guess it ran good enough to be a standard RPG... but not good enough for a fast paced action game. Hellgate doesn't seem as ambitious or as deep as TR is supposed to be, but at max settings it looks great and still runs smooth as glass.
Even running good, I think if people are looking for real FPS gameplay coupled with character progression, rather than the sticky targeting, pseudo-FPS/RPG style combat of TR. If they are looking for a bigger, persistent world with more of the non-combat features we expect in an MMO, and assuming they can get it to run right on their machine, then TR is the better choice. Both is pretty good option for people who want all those things, and don't mind them being in two different games.
I wish TR ran better for me. I heard so many people with the same issues that i assumed it ran that bad for most people. I was pretty interested in it before I tried it out... it just chugged around and ran too choppy. I guess it ran good enough to be a standard RPG... but not good enough for a fast paced action game. Hellgate doesn't seem as ambitious or as deep as TR is supposed to be, but at max settings it looks great and still runs smooth as glass. Even running good, I think if people are looking for real FPS gameplay coupled with character progression, rather than the sticky targeting, pseudo-FPS/RPG style combat of TR. If they are looking for a bigger, persistent world with more of the non-combat features we expect in an MMO, and assuming they can get it to run right on their machine, then TR is the better choice. Both is pretty good option for people who want all those things, and don't mind them being in two different games.
And of course...if you want to pay a monthly fee for the same content, get TR, if you want free online, but pay for extra's...get Hellgate
That...I think is the big difference..I can logon to HG, meet some friends...kill stuff for an hour, call it a day, and pay ZERO...
TR is...logon...meet some friends..(gotta get to the same zone), kill stuff for an hour, call it a day AND pay 15 bucks...hmmm
I wish TR ran better for me. I heard so many people with the same issues that i assumed it ran that bad for most people. I was pretty interested in it before I tried it out... it just chugged around and ran too choppy. I guess it ran good enough to be a standard RPG... but not good enough for a fast paced action game. Hellgate doesn't seem as ambitious or as deep as TR is supposed to be, but at max settings it looks great and still runs smooth as glass. Even running good, I think if people are looking for real FPS gameplay coupled with character progression, rather than the sticky targeting, pseudo-FPS/RPG style combat of TR. If they are looking for a bigger, persistent world with more of the non-combat features we expect in an MMO, and assuming they can get it to run right on their machine, then TR is the better choice. Both is pretty good option for people who want all those things, and don't mind them being in two different games.
And of course...if you want to pay a monthly fee for the same content, get TR, if you want free online, but pay for extra's...get Hellgate
That...I think is the big difference..I can logon to HG, meet some friends...kill stuff for an hour, call it a day, and pay ZERO...
TR is...logon...meet some friends..(gotta get to the same zone), kill stuff for an hour, call it a day AND pay 15 bucks...hmmm
My choice is kinda clear here!
The way I understand it, you pretty much have to pay the monthly fee in Hellgate if you don't want to play the really gimpy version of it.
Comments
It seems opinions on this game are widely spread. After the Vanguard beta and still a subscriber, I do agree that you cant play a game only on its potential. That alone will leave a bad taste in your mouth that takes a long time to wash out.
On my statement about F2P it may not apply to some but it does apply to a lot. These are the days of instant gratification on and off the battlefield. I really dont see any game coming down the pike that will totally fulfill everyones opinion on what a game should be or not be.
As for what betas should be, I think most people forget that a beta is for testing. Thier are very few true testers left out thier anymore and that only leaves us with the majority. The ones who are chasing the dream of the next great place to induldge thier lives in a fantasy world. 8-12 months of a beta will see the majority burned out before the release. Most games become tedious and boring after the 1st year anyways.
Me, I will give this product a go. Maybe I will be there a month and maybe I will be there 6. I do not know. If I have fun for the amount of time I am there then it was worth it to me.
Well, for me it's easily worth the monthly fee. Call me a fanboi... whatever you want to call me is fine. For me it's about having fun and I am having a blast. There's been nothing so far that has felt unfinished about this game to me. Vanguard felt unfinished in beta. ShadowBane felt unfinished in beta. AO felt unfinished in beta. AA felt unfinished in beta. TR feels very polished to me and did so in late beta.
But most of all, the game is a complete blast. Like I said... I have played all but 1 mainstream and not-so mainstream mmorpgs to date and this by far the most fun I have had in a mmorpg. I group nightly, we have a blast, I solo when I have to and I have a blast then too. The storyline rocks to me, I feel very immersed in the game world. The game feels alive and the "cause" feels justified and warranted.
The good news is that the instances are packed with people and last night there were almost too many people in the different instances of each zone (Wilderness had 9 instances on Pegasus last night and each was busy), which made it all that much better and more fun.
It's obviously not what a lot of you were looking for, and that's cool... it's certainly a great game for many of us and I am definitely not someone who will just settle for anything... I am very picky about which games I play long term and I don;t have a ton of fun in many of them (although I try them all and play for a at least a few months before making up my mind). With TR, the fun is there, the game runs awesome for me on high detail even with over 100 players on my screen battling it out for a control point, and 50 + Bane on the same screen, I was getting mad framerates and not so much as a stutter. No lag, no crashes for me, just smooth fun gameplay.
with the amount of people who are happy with the game and already enjoying it just accept that fact and move on, no need to try and troll the forums in the meantime - you sure wont be missed eitherway!
"when the game's finished" - another quote that shows you dont really have a clue
Ichijo, you took the words right out of my mouth. And as for your comment above: Heed my words, there is a console version of TR in the works as we speak.
actually, having participated in closed beta since may, it got very easy to tell just how much fun had been sucked out of the game simply by reading the patch notes and noting the size of the download.
the last patch was minimal, did not bring anything new into the game at all, and was simply a bit more bugfixes and optimized code, nothing more, nothing less - it certainly didn't deliver the WOW factor I was hoping for (note, WOW!, not WoW)
it left me with the same overall feeling of 'meh' that I have had regarding the game for the last few months
I was hoping to be pleasently surprised, but was left underwhelmed and dissapointed
Well, if you were expecting somebody who was clueless about these things, prepare to be disappointed. I've played Auto Assault. I've also played Earth and Beyond and Asheron's Call 2. Three games that went the day of the dodo. I was in all three of those game's betas as well. I can say with confidence that Tabula Rasa is a different story.
The trouble with AA, E&B, and AC2 was that the games largely didn't 'click', they lacked some fundamental aspect of gameplay. In my experience, the score went something like this:
There were a few players who could get into these games -- there always are. However, the vast majority reached the end of beta feeling downright bored and depressed. These games were not worth a monthly subscription fee - they lacked that fundamental drive to continue playing for months. They felt incomplete, insignificant, going through the motions without having any real idea how to succeed. I didn't see that some kind of depression at the end of Tabula Rasa's beta - why do you suppose that is?
Tabula Rasa is a game that was revisioned from the ground up, because they realized a better focus, and so you know they've put together their game plan. They have some features that are actually significant enough to pay a monthly subscription fee for. Unlike AA, players do play together and the actions carry significance. Unlike Earth and Beyond, this is no EverQuest clone trying to redress itself. Unlike Asheron's Call 2, the gameplay mechanics allow the players to feel satisfiably involved.
The MMORPG field is one filled with many lemons, and World of Warcraft is sucking up the casual playerbase like some kind of overzealous leech. So maybe Tabula Rasa simply won't catch on. Maybe it will fail because the players simply didn't make the time for it. But I don't think it'll be a fault of the game - it's pretty damn solid and promising. That's why I've been going out of my way to point these things out, I'd hate to see the fate of lemons happen to an actual worthwhile game.
If only they'd have left it visioned on the ground...MMO + FPS = No thank you.
The sleeper awakes...and rides his dirtbike to the mall.
If that is what people are looking for, they should try Hellgate.... It's light in the MMO department, being instanced a lot like guild wars, but it is real FPS action combined with character progression and decent itemization.
-----Zero Punctuation Eve Online Review-----
If that is what people are looking for, they should try Hellgate.... It's light in the MMO department, being instanced a lot like guild wars, but it is real FPS action combined with character progression and decent itemization.
I agree...I thought Hellgate played better, gave me more to do for my money...and if I want, I can still play online and not pay one red cent...It wasnt so much performance, or visuals...just TR was dull...and unless they upped that game factor...well, last I played with the patch to change mobs so they were harder...it just became no fun...as cover still did not work well...and the UI was less than adequate..no cool skills, weapons started to feel the same...
My vote went to Hellgate on this one...no matter how monotonous it may be...I am not paying a monthly fee at least
Cheers!
If that is what people are looking for, they should try Hellgate.... It's light in the MMO department, being instanced a lot like guild wars, but it is real FPS action combined with character progression and decent itemization.
I agree...I thought Hellgate played better, gave me more to do for my money...and if I want, I can still play online and not pay one red cent...It wasnt so much performance, or visuals...just TR was dull...and unless they upped that game factor...well, last I played with the patch to change mobs so they were harder...it just became no fun...as cover still did not work well...and the UI was less than adequate..no cool skills, weapons started to feel the same...
My vote went to Hellgate on this one...no matter how monotonous it may be...I am not paying a monthly fee at least
Cheers!
I got both
Both kick serious ass in my opinion. It's a blissful time for me as far as games go 
I hear that. Between Hellgate and Tabula Rasa, we're sitting pretty his holiday season.
However, the important thing to remember is that Hellgate and Tabula Rasa are very different games. Comparing them would be like comparing Diablo and EverQuest. (I hesistate to use EverQuest in that analogy because TR is not yet-another-EQ-clone despite resemblances here and there.) My point is that while both Diablo and EverQuest were great games, you don't play them for nearly the same reasons, so they're not really in direct competition with eachother because they go after different (only partly overlapping) player niches.
I'm having a bit more fun in TR at the moment, but thankfully both are terrific games and I think both are going to do extremely well.
Having beta'd both, I am more than happy with them at release
Now how to get more hours in the day so that i can truly sink into both of them?
If that is what people are looking for, they should try Hellgate.... It's light in the MMO department, being instanced a lot like guild wars, but it is real FPS action combined with character progression and decent itemization.
I agree...I thought Hellgate played better, gave me more to do for my money...and if I want, I can still play online and not pay one red cent...It wasnt so much performance, or visuals...just TR was dull...and unless they upped that game factor...well, last I played with the patch to change mobs so they were harder...it just became no fun...as cover still did not work well...and the UI was less than adequate..no cool skills, weapons started to feel the same...
My vote went to Hellgate on this one...no matter how monotonous it may be...I am not paying a monthly fee at least
Cheers!
I got both
Both kick serious ass in my opinion. It's a blissful time for me as far as games go 
I wish TR ran better for me. I heard so many people with the same issues that i assumed it ran that bad for most people. I was pretty interested in it before I tried it out... it just chugged around and ran too choppy. I guess it ran good enough to be a standard RPG... but not good enough for a fast paced action game. Hellgate doesn't seem as ambitious or as deep as TR is supposed to be, but at max settings it looks great and still runs smooth as glass.
Even running good, I think if people are looking for real FPS gameplay coupled with character progression, rather than the sticky targeting, pseudo-FPS/RPG style combat of TR. If they are looking for a bigger, persistent world with more of the non-combat features we expect in an MMO, and assuming they can get it to run right on their machine, then TR is the better choice. Both is pretty good option for people who want all those things, and don't mind them being in two different games.
-----Zero Punctuation Eve Online Review-----
That...I think is the big difference..I can logon to HG, meet some friends...kill stuff for an hour, call it a day, and pay ZERO...
TR is...logon...meet some friends..(gotta get to the same zone), kill stuff for an hour, call it a day AND pay 15 bucks...hmmm
My choice is kinda clear here!
That...I think is the big difference..I can logon to HG, meet some friends...kill stuff for an hour, call it a day, and pay ZERO...
TR is...logon...meet some friends..(gotta get to the same zone), kill stuff for an hour, call it a day AND pay 15 bucks...hmmm
My choice is kinda clear here!
The way I understand it, you pretty much have to pay the monthly fee in Hellgate if you don't want to play the really gimpy version of it.