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This game would have been better if you started on Earth...
kaldier
Member Posts: 75
While I enjoyed the tutorial and felt that it did a decent job of teaching you the basics, it failed at really getting me excited and sucked into the game. I felt like there was something missing.
First off, where was I? How did I come to be here on this distant planet? Its not really explained that well in the beginning and I think the game suffers because of it.
It would have been better if we started out on Earth with civilization teatering on the edge of extinction. We would find our selfs in a post apocolyptic urban setting running from what ever the hell these alien creatures are until the AFS picks us up and teaches us how to shoot a rifle. Of course it would be too late to save Earth but the AFS would teach us the basics then lead us to a nearby wormhole where we could escape before Earth is destroyed.
I just think it would have been a hell of a lot more immersive if it had started in that way. It would have given our struggle more meaning. Plus, it would fit better with the back story. The Eloh were said to have left knowledge and technology behind on Earth that allowed those who have the ability to use the powers to escape. Except we dont really learn of our ability to use this power until we are on another planet. Shouldnt we have first learned this on earth?
There also could have been two starting zones on different planets. Possibly of two different factions that we could have chosen between. This would have given the foundation for pvp.
RIP SWG
Kaldin Brine - Master Armorsmith
Kaldier Brine - Master Rifleman
Comments
Hello mate, i dont wish to give u any spoiler if any at this moment, but all of ur question and suggestions are rather clear in the game manual and the intro video and are carried on on the whys and hows in the story be it missions, random guys telling u stuff or as you see thinks in the world or... worlds
.
Said that i think u either, are trying the game via trial or havent read the story of the manual wich is rather fun reading and i wont comment on that futher cuz it worthwhile reading most of it. So once u can do that ull see why it is that way. Enjoy
There looking at making Earth part of an expansion later on.
I agree with you actually. That would've been a cooler intro. Maybe they'll add their own version of "caverns of time" where you can go back in time and fight during the invasion of Earth.
To the OP: What you suggested is dangerously close to the setting of HGL, end of the world, dying humans. Very funny suggestion. Too bad HGL is a just shooter game and not a persistent world.
The other members are right, TR did give a short discussion of the background story with the animation at start. Not really very convincing to me, and there is no immediate imminent sense of "danger" when you load up. The tutorial does not convey any sense of human facing extinction.
Action in TR does heat up after tutorial, but the sense of total human extinction never creeps in. Come to think of it, I never have this sense of doomsday since Diablo, maybe I am getting too old to feel the immersion. Lotro give me a brief moment of immersion, but not VG, not EQ2, not even WoW. Something is lacking in this department, in most of the current games.
Can't talk about the new games under beta NDA, but there is some kind of hopes there. For me at least.
Personally, I think the cinematic sumed it perfectly! Got me really sucked into the fight for the planet we all lost. (Don't call that a spoiler, it's told before you even log in..)
Yeah, I saw the intro video which I thought was really good and it got me pumped to play. But it only gives you a general background that doesnt necessarily relate directly to your character. Having the tutorial be your escape from earth would allow you to take part in what you saw in the intro cinematic. I think that would be more immersive than starting out training on a separate planet.
RIP SWG
Kaldin Brine - Master Armorsmith
Kaldier Brine - Master Rifleman
nice name for the expansion..
TABULA RASA: Armageddon
Lets have some battlegrounds in Washington DC, Las Vegas or better yet, why not New York City. Okay, I am being sarcastic, sort of. But any battleground on EARTH will suffice. Maybe in EGYPT, Paris or better yet how about Argentina or Iraq <hehe>
The background story of Tabula Rasa is ... well ... a long story, and to know it helps to understand many things in the game. You may learn the story through the game itself, but you may also read it here.
We thought we were alone. We felt secure in our future. Little did we know that we would end up being plunged into an intergalactic war that has been raging for millennia.
With every great story, there must be a beginning. As with every great discovery, there must be a first. Our story begins thousands of years in the distant past with the Eloh, an ancient and highly advanced alien culture. The Eloh civilization chose to devote their time and energy to peaceful pursuits of study and introspection. Over thousands of years they finally realized the key to a powerful science that unified all known theories of physics. With this knowledge they developed Logos, through which they gained the mystical ability to manipulate matter, energy, and force in unique and powerful ways.
[...] As the Eloh begin to use their knowledge of Logos to travel the universe, they forge the beginnings of an intergalactic culture where they openly share their knowledge with all the races they discover that are advanced enough to understand it.
Upon many planets, the races they discovered were in their infancy and too primitive to share in the Eloh's knowledge. The Earth was one such planet. But the Eloh are an altruistic people and wanted to someday return to these primitive worlds. They left seeds of knowledge for these races to discover, including the language of the Logos so that one day, when these cultures were ready to understand, a relationship could be established with them.
Other races that were advanced enough for the Eloh to make contact with accepted the gifts of their knowledge and their cultures thrived as a result of their interaction with the Eloh. But not all worlds would be content to embrace the Eloh as their benefactors. The Eloh had never encountered such a race; that was until they traveled to the planet Thraxis.
[The] Thrax [are] a warlike, xenophobic species, and when they encountered the Eloh, their logical reaction, of course, would be a mixture of fear, anger, envy, and distrust.
The Thrax had advanced technology and were highly intelligent. They recognized an opportunity and learned as much as they could from the Eloh, always with the intention of one day using the Eloh's gifts to their advantage. Ultimately, the Thrax turned on the Eloh, catching them off guard and landing a devastating blow to the Eloh culture. The Eloh's understanding of Logo's [sic] was superior, and they were able to, in the end, overcome the Thrax and emerge victorious. But the damage that had been done to the fundamental beliefs of the Eloh people would ultimately lead to their downfall.
On one side, many Eloh felt that, although they might need to exercise more care in the future, their encounter with the Thrax was atypical and their goal should be to continue as before, sharing their knowledge with others for the betterment of both those races and their own people. Another group of Eloh, which eventually became known as the Neph, felt that the cost of sharing the knowledge and advancements they had spent thousands of years achieving was far too great. They believed that less advanced cultures were not worthy to bestow this knowledge upon, and instead, these races should be given "guidance" from the Eloh to ensure that the Eloh always retained their rightful place as a superior race.
[...] As the schism grew wider and more fractured, the Neph joined forces with the remaining Thrax, and with the use of Thrax weapons and tactical knowledge, quickly overthrew the Eloh home world destroying any Eloh that opposed them. The surviving Eloh fled to the far reaches of the Universe, finding refuge and anonymity on many of the worlds they had visited. Without the Eloh presence to stand in their way, the Neph began aggressively implementing their plan for the Universe.
[...] Hundreds of years later, a small blue planet that the Eloh had visited thousands of years prior began to make rapid advancements in their civilization. They began broadcasting radio waves, building large cities, testing nuclear devices, and launching spacecraft into the cosmos. It was in this way that the Earth finally captured the attention of the Bane.
To clarify something, Bane is the term used to describe all of the forces fighting under the Neph army and includes the Thrax and many other races and genetically engineered creatures that fight for the Neph.
Once the Bane forces became aware of the Earth, they invaded the planet to acquire its resources, both natural and biological, just as they had done so many times before on other worlds. Their method was precise and swift, and in a mere 5 days, the Earth was completely over run, and humans became firmly entrenched in a celestial war that had already lasted for hundreds of years.
But the Eloh had not forgotten the fledgling races they had visited. They left knowledge and technology behind that allowed a select group of humans, chosen for their ability to learn and use the power of Logos, to escape. These refugees escaped to a handful of alien worlds where they could then be trained to fight the Bane. On these worlds they found allies, other sentient creatures fighting for their survival against the ruthless Bane. And so, the Army of the Allied Free Sentients was born. That is the story of Tabula Rasa. What happens next is up to you. The future is yours to write. A blank slate.
http://tabularasa.wikia.com/wiki/Background_story
I know about the back story, I pretty much quoted from it in my post. Especially this part that I am quoting above. I think it would have been better if this part was the tutorial, so that we could experience in game what it is talking about. Plus, it would make more sense to me because we would learn of our ability to use the Logos before leaving Earth as it says in the backstory. I dont know, maybe I am the only one who thinks that being recruited by the AFS and escaping Earth before it is overrun would have been a cool and immersive way to start the game. Anyone can go to the web site and read the backstory, but actually taking part in it at the beginning of the game would have been better, in my opinion at least.
RIP SWG
Kaldin Brine - Master Armorsmith
Kaldier Brine - Master Rifleman
Well as much as it would have been fun, it would have been nothing more than watching an in depth movie really. Think about it, at the time on Earth, you the human, would have been the regular Joe who knew absolutely nothing about combat. So what you'd end up with is a video showing you how the AFS saved your sorry ass from being consumed by the Bane, and led you away to the wormhole.
There would have been no combat or fighting like you have it after the tutorial, because you simply lacked the combat knowledge, let alone wouldn't have had the weaponry to repel the Bane attack. Perhaps a little more indepth explaination of how one would be considered a receptive of the logo's power, but overall, starting on Earth, unless you were a trained AFS solider prior the attacked, would have not fit with the story.
I know about the back story, I pretty much quoted from it in my post. Especially this part that I am quoting above. I think it would have been better if this part was the tutorial, so that we could experience in game what it is talking about. Plus, it would make more sense to me because we would learn of our ability to use the Logos before leaving Earth as it says in the backstory. I dont know, maybe I am the only one who thinks that being recruited by the AFS and escaping Earth before it is overrun would have been a cool and immersive way to start the game. Anyone can go to the web site and read the backstory, but actually taking part in it at the beginning of the game would have been better, in my opinion at least.
While the back story is cool and does help a lot. I have to agree with Kaldier that starting out on Earth as the tutorial would have made a bit more sense and helped get you imersed at a very early stage of the game. Don't get me wrong I do fully enjoy the game that would have just made the game all the more better! Just my two cents too!
I don't really like the idea of a Shardship perpetually heading towards earth but never making it there.
Not to meantion, why would anyone risk training avg.joe#174 on a planet completely overrun by enemy forces when there's a wormhole 20 yards away that'l take them to a half safe area?
Even moreso, why would you go to another planet after you're trained when your own is under attack? Possibly because of a California sized ship on a collision course with said planet?
Lets not forget that we /were/ winning the battle on Earth, until the Bane said "F' this" and shoved a disease infested pineapplecone up our planets arse.
Now don't get me wrong, OP's idea is nice and all, but it just don't fit with history.
Cheers.