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Tabula Rasa Revisited: Impressed
fungistratus
Member Posts: 437
I upgraded my machine to SLi. And decided to resub to see if there was any imporvements since launch.
To me this is an entirely different game. The graphics are immersive, the community is friendly (and plenty of it I play on Pegasus), and the game has HUGE imporvements. Its also fantastic because crafting is actually a big deal. I can also honestly say that Control Point Battles: INSANE, most fun I ahve had in any game in a long time. Also a thing to note: Voice Comm is working like it should 100 percent.
Also all the skills have been completely redone, this is probably the biggest difference.
If you bought TR before and didn't like it because of bugs/ gameplay imbalance than you should definatley give it a second try. Also this weekend everyone was saying how the server populations were all medium and most were saying they had never seen that before. Maybe this game deserves a second chance, I'm glad I gave it one.
Comments
Glad to see you give it a second try. I grabbed this game at launch and still playing almost every day. Even today another large patch went out and the new arena is well funny. Buy your boxing shorts, gloves and boots and pound away! Patches come out semi regular (4-6 weeks) and they tend to be broken down like this:
1/3 new content
1/3 tweaking
1/3 fixes
The community in TR is what has kept me in the game even when I got a little tired with it and the GM's are the best I have seen. In the last 2 weeks I petioned twice. 1st time they private messaged me and fixed my problem immediately. 2nd time it was my fault but the GM said that they saw I had a mission that can cause issues so they fixed that even though I didn't even start it. Also very friendly and kept asking if I needed any further help. Very strange and in fact its the first time in many years I have had a GM actually talk to me.
If you think defending CP's now is fun wait until you get to some of the maps like 'Incline' and 'Mires' (30ish level) some of the bases are hit so hard by enemies its completely insane!! Its rare for me to laugh during an MMO but I constantly do in TR. Today when I got totally pwned by a level 50 in the boxing ring and when I was defending the CP Badlands and I managed to fry about 20 bane with my flame thrower. Pure joy! Crafting is ok when you understand it and its worth buffing your weapons especially later on. The game isn't the king of MMO's but it has a core following and servers are pretty full most of the time. I just love the fact that I can jump in for 30 minutes and I get 30 minutes of fast action fun. Most MMO's 30 minutes and you are still gearing up...
Gonna play AoC for the RPG factor but TR is staying on my PC for a long time I feel....cant give up that flamethrower
I'm looking for ward to getting this game in the mail. In fact I read up on it every single day. Any servers with good population that I should be aware of?
Earth
My PC can't handle it. I'd be playing it otherwise lol.
I play on EU and its 90% on medium the whole time so plenty of people around from starter to mid 40's (where I am) the other server I tend to see on medium a lot is the very bottom one (only 4) Don't remember the name. However the other 3 are all USA so I see them on Medium during the weekend but I would be login on at low times for them... in fact about to jump in now
Bwuahahahahahahaha, 1/3 of all resources spent on new content? Hmmm, the last time TR saw "new content" besides craptacular Fed Ex missions was like January 25th when they released Sanctus Grotto.
For those who don't know much about TR the actual development resources are allocated like this:
1/3 spent on changing stuff people didn't mind into something that sucks
1/3 spent on adding worthless "quality of life" changes
1/3 spent buffing, nerfing, rebuffing, renerfing spy and sniper because those are the only two classes they've touched in SEVEN FREAKING MONTHS besides random nerfs on things no one ever complained out.
Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention. Here we are, seven months after launch, and the game still doesn't have a single damn thing to do once you hit top level. Not one thing. I wish I could say that was hyperbole and that I was exaggerating but I'm not. The game seriously doesn't have a single repeatable thing to do at high level. Not one.
TR = crap, and this is coming from the guild leader of Cassiopeia's formerly largest guild, the 47th AFSEF. If anyone knows how much this game sucks it would be me. No one tried harder to like it than I did.
Bwuahahahahahahaha, 1/3 of all resources spent on new content? Hmmm, the last time TR saw "new content" besides craptacular Fed Ex missions was like January 25th when they released Sanctus Grotto.
For those who don't know much about TR the actual development resources are allocated like this:
1/3 spent on changing stuff people didn't mind into something that sucks
1/3 spent on adding worthless "quality of life" changes
1/3 spent buffing, nerfing, rebuffing, renerfing spy and sniper because those are the only two classes they've touched in SEVEN FREAKING MONTHS besides random nerfs on things no one ever complained out.
Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention. Here we are, seven months after launch, and the game still doesn't have a single damn thing to do once you hit top level. Not one thing. I wish I could say that was hyperbole and that I was exaggerating but I'm not. The game seriously doesn't have a single repeatable thing to do at high level. Not one.
TR = crap, and this is coming from the guild leader of Cassiopeia's formerly largest guild, the 47th AFSEF. If anyone knows how much this game sucks it would be me. No one tried harder to like it than I did.
Well that was a helpful post...
It also depends what you are looking for in a game. I know TR is light on end content but unlike a lot of people I saw leveling to level 50 in 1 week by playing 24/7 every freakin day! I am leveling 3 characters all around level 36 now and taking my time to enjoy the missions, maps and general lore (6 months now). If I max out all 3 characters in 2-3 months time and there isn't enough to keep me going (Although they are bringing in PAU's, player owned bases etc etc) then I can tell you that I will just have some time off and return to the game when they have added more instances and content. Yesterday I read again that the developers are working hard on new planets and have already overhauled a level 46 instance etc.
I have always said that if you are looking for an alternative life with a large clan to spend countless hours building an empire then TR isn't the game and personally I don't think they target that market at all. AoC, EVE, even Vanguard are much more about lifestyle and are great for players that want to spend 8hrs a day Role Playing and crafting etc.
I have been playing TR 90% of the time in the last 6 months and it has taken most of my gaming time away from EVE and 2 other MMO's I play. I find it to be replayable as each class plays quite differently to the other so I enjoy the different ways to kill critters. For a professional who works long hours its a game I know I can enjoy for 1-2 hours without having to log on to TS/VENT, maintain a calendar for guild missions, log on and be hassled to cut fking trees or mine ore for the guild's new fking lampost or whatever crap. I have played games going back 25 years to the Apple II plus and I know a 'crap' game when I see one. TR isn't for everyone and no game is but it is a solid game, runs really well without lag, has minimal loading screens (only massive instances), its fluid, fast paced, there are always updates coming out and above all combat is fun.
The game isn't crap and if you really think it is then you are fool for running 'formally largest guild' and maxing out your character because to play a 'crap' game for such a long time is pretty daft!
Chryses: I know it's not saying a lot, but that is the single best post I've ever read on mmorpg.com
Thank you Sir, for restoring some of my faith in humanity.
I agree. If that game is so crap, how did you survive until end-game? To me it sounds more like a case of playing the game so much you exhaust yourself on it.
I have recently in the past 3 weeks worn myself out from WoW (end game raiding is no fun to me... sigh Archimonde wipes 4 hours a day 3 days a week...)
So I gave FFXI a try and honestly loved the game to death, however it was very difficult for me to advance when I hit the teens as it was pretty frustrating sitting around for 1.5-2.5 hours trying to convince people to take me into a group. Even if I started a group it would take me at the least an hour to get the right components for a sucessful grinding group.
You sir, Chryses, have convinced me to give this a try (along with my 3rd retrial of EvE online... for some reason I cannot stick to this game...).
I too enjoy this game as it doesn't require 25+ hours a week to get into and I am able to level up and complete instances, storyline with my bud.
Sure I do enjoy grouping from time to time, but I deeply appreciate the fact that I don't HAVE to in order to fully enjoy a game I pay each month.
Other MMO like CoH allow people to complete storyline/instances with smaller group.
Now, I'm not a hater of the game, I just wish there was more to it. It feels shallow to me. I do love the lore and its a BEAUTIFUL game, but I get bored w/ the repetitness of the mobs.
Also, I never felt involved in the community. I always felt like the game is made to solo, w/ a bunch of people around. I could neer find people to jsut group up and complete missions. CPs? sure. Instances? Ok, until they completed the one quest they had left in there, then they drop. I've always frlt that I pay $15 to be involved in the game with others. I can play an FPS and get the same level of excitment. Where's the incentive to team?
The element of being better w/ others isn't there. You play exactly the same w/ an Exo then you do solo. A Spy benifits -some- from having an Engie around, but he can do anything w/ the engie that he can do w/out.
Lastly, I'm not trying to be a jerk, but the crafting is abhorrid. For it to be truley viable, they need to strip the mods on all blues and purps and allow the players to customize them. And not at such a high cost of potentialy breaking the item.
I wouldn't even be that generous
1/3d bugfxes
2/3rds nerfs
with the occasional addition of content every 3rd patch
but with loads of promises about stuff that is coming some numinous time in the future (yeah - right)
Gee whiz, maybe because there is enough linear non-repeatable content to get you there? How the *&^! do you think?
Gee whiz, maybe because there is enough linear non-repeatable content to get you there? How the *&^! do you think?
So let me get this straight...despite it being common knowledge the game is lacking in end-game content, you still embarked on your "epic" journey through the "linear non-repeatable content" to get there? The way you've worded that is as if you could barely stand playing through that content in the first place on top of it all
Gee whiz, maybe because there is enough linear non-repeatable content to get you there? How the *&^! do you think?
So let me get this straight...despite it being common knowledge the game is lacking in end-game content, you still embarked on your "epic" journey through the "linear non-repeatable content" to get there? The way you've worded that is as if you could barely stand playing through that content in the first place on top of it all
I think he mentioned that he had been a player from the begining. There was a slew of dedicated players that loved what TR was supposed to bring to the table. Only to have their faith in the dev team broken time & time again. Playing through the game for several months, hoping that the promices of new additions will be forthcoming sooner then 7 months, is easy. It's after several months w/ nothing to do at high levels, nothing being added, more empty promices, and a dwindling player base that made a lot of players feel jaded and leave.
When there's 'no end game' at launch, it's expected and forgiven. After 1/2 a year of the player base asking for end game content (or at least something to motivate logging high level characters in) and all you see is a focus on two tier 4 classes, it's pretty frustrating.
Fungistratus: Thank you for your post. It is a breath of fresh air to read of someone who played the game in an earlier incarnation noticing and appreciating the improvements to the game since launch.
Chryses: I concur with others here who found your post most encouraging and well done, and I welcome your being a realist who takes a game and enjoys it for what it has. Myself I rushed my main character to 50, per se (3 months), but I say rushed because I did not do ToOs to get there and instead leveled almost entirely on CP from 20-50.
End game at this point is helping others. I usually go help someone with an instance as that's just a good natured thing to do in supporting Tabula Rasa and encouraging good community. I love the game though it has changed in drastic ways that I do not find encouraging to my playstyle (so I am having to adapt ^^) and to me the developers need to separate bug fixes from the class changes so we do not wait so long for the bug fixes.
Ikavadas: Soldier I need to know how you can do what you are doing to Tabula Rasa when you know this will not help gaming overall. In fact I find it absolutely appauling that you and many other betas find a need to disparage any game you are bored or otherwise disappointed with. Hear me out this is constructive criticism.
Betas get an opportunity to play before most others and they also tend to be a clique, many coming into the beta circle need referral from another beta player which forms a commradery, a bond. So I am asking, please do not abuse that privilege, any of you.
At this point betas you participated and gave input, you did your job. The company made promises on that basis of course, but promises do not always pan out and your history as beta players yields this as true game after game.
What it appears many of you betas have forgotten is that you are a gamer first not an employee, even if only by appearance or how the entire situation characterized via the legal agreements and the way the developers appeared to regard you (and how that all played out in your head). The reason for the beta, and even alpha, privilege is so the company can get firsthand reaction from a gamer. You are one of us and as one of us we hope you'll encourage gaming from the many possible ways that people game and not from a linear idea of what games must have or need as though all gaming revolves around the beta's ideas in a vacuum. I say this because your disappointment is more regarding suggestions made and appearing to have fallen on deaf ears than on promises broken since that's the normal course of every game as it evolves passed the beta players and you as a beta player know this.
Ikavads there is accuracy to what you've said however this accuracy doesn't mean the developers or anyone else at NCSoft made an error, nor that Tabula Rasa is "crap." However it does mean they, like so many other games, are likely not "bending over" (for lack of a better phrase) for the betas or the rest of the player base, as no other game has either (UO, SWG, AO, even EQ has this gripe from some part of the ex-player base).
Point being Ikavadas that if you and the rest of the betas who've spoken up at a variety of sites feel so strongly about Tabula Rasa and/or any other game developers not being responsive to the gaming market time and time again then disparaging those games on fansites will not change this situation in the slightest and only hurts gaming as a whole.
I'd strongly suggest you and your friends consider why the companies treat people in this manner and I believe your collective minds will come up with a solution that you can instead seek to promote using your beta resume as a credential, something that benefits the entire online subscription consumer market.
Otherwise please, just enjoy whatever game you've moved on to, the rest of us would like to appreciate what we do about whatever game we play for whatever reasons we choose since our interest is gaming and these actions of ours promote that interest which benefits all gamers and gaming more than any griping about any game ever will.
Ikavadas I do hope you consider what I have said for its candor, that you understand and appreciate that gaming as an industry suffers every time a member of the beta tester "cartel" speaks out negatively of any game on a fansite. I do wish you luck with whatever you are playing today.
Cheers.
P.S. I am not suggesting a ultrapositive position or to ignore issues with the game, however escalating them to the point I have seen from betas of a more personal emotional lashing out at the game helps no one, no matter what game it is. I do know you guys wouldn't be this effected by it if not for your expectations and emotional immersion in the game at the time you honestly loved it.
I agree the game is much better now.
I beta tested this game and i was a little dissapointed at the time, so i decided not to buy the game.
A few days ago i decided to try a new MMO because i needed a little break from WoW and decided to give it a second try with the trial offer and see if things had changed.
I have to say that the game is much more fun now and i really enjoy playing so i bought the game yesterday since my trial is over and have decided to subscribe.
I think that this game is going in the right direction, and i am glad that a gave it a second chance.
you'll be leavng again by July
Beta tester? Ummm, I had beta access, logged in once, and then waited for the game to launch. Stop making retarded assumptions, mmmkay? I never once said anywhere in this thread, or any thread on this board, that was I beta tester. This is the point where you feel like an idiot for predicating your entire post on something you completely made up and/or lied about.
I want to make this very clear: I was with this game at launch 100%. I fully supported it. I started up a guild on Cassiopeia which quickly became the largest guild on the entire server. I played until April and then I quit.
Why? Because this game has nothing to do once you hit level 50. I didn't race there. I didn't play this game for six hours at a time six days a week. I knew full well there wasn't jack to do once you hit 50 because my guild had the first 50 on the entire server (Occidio Sch). He warned me, and the rest of the guild, time and again to take it as slowly as possible.
And I did, but after three months I inevitably hit level 50. This was in January. For the next three months there were three things in the game left for me:
1. Planning public server events with GM support (which I did every single month from December until April and my XO did May's);
2. PvP, though anyone who is familiar with TR's PvP system knows it's a complete joke; and
3. Farm striders in Howling Maw for prototypes which was basically 99% of my online time.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The last piece of high end content that was added to TR was the Sanctus Grotto instance which went live on 25 JAN 2008. As of this post it is now 26 MAY 2008.
Tabula Rasa has been live four months without a single piece of high end content added.
On top of that the dev team simply obsesses over two professions, sniper and spy, by dedicating nearly all of the profession retooling to them for the past four patches and two entire Feedback Fridays.
Sorry, but as a grenadier I had been waiting my turn to be nothing more than a crippled guardian for months and months. I sat there and watched as the Alpha Wolves program's recommendation were passed over and over until the attrition rate of profession representatives was so high that the dev team simply abandoned the program altogether and shut it down.
And let's not forget to mention the oodles of development time wasted on revamping systems which had previous been revamped like two patches prior (like the prestige system replacing the universal token system/vendors which replaced the local tokens and unique vendors or the three TorqueShell Rifle revamps or the two revamps of the spy and ranger class skills).
This game had no high level content at launch and it has none now. Features which were promised to being worked on in November still hadn't been started in April.
This game deserves every bit of bad press it gets and if just one person reads my posts and decides that TR is a waste of time and money then mission accomplished as far as I'm concerned.
I was also in beta , and the game was fun so i preordered it , and I am still having a blast playing it. I think ti is even better now then it was . yes I have a few 50's with a lack of content at 50 to do , But i dont really care I like playing differrent class's and you can always CP defend ( which I think is the best part of the game) So people like differnt things in a game why not let them try it out and deside it for them self instead of just telling them " the game is complete crap" which is not true at all.
Beta tester? Ummm, I had beta access, logged in once, and then waited for the game to launch. Stop making retarded assumptions, mmmkay? I never once said anywhere in this thread, or any thread on this board, that was I beta tester. This is the point where you feel like an idiot for predicating your entire post on something you completely made up and/or lied about.
I want to make this very clear: I was with this game at launch 100%. I fully supported it. I started up a guild on Cassiopeia which quickly became the largest guild on the entire server. I played until April and then I quit.
Why? Because this game has nothing to do once you hit level 50. I didn't race there. I didn't play this game for six hours at a time six days a week. I knew full well there wasn't jack to do once you hit 50 because my guild had the first 50 on the entire server (Occidio Sch). He warned me, and the rest of the guild, time and again to take it as slowly as possible.
And I did, but after three months I inevitably hit level 50. This was in January. For the next three months there were three things in the game left for me:
1. Planning public server events with GM support (which I did every single month from December until April and my XO did May's);
2. PvP, though anyone who is familiar with TR's PvP system knows it's a complete joke; and
3. Farm striders in Howling Maw for prototypes which was basically 99% of my online time.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The last piece of high end content that was added to TR was the Sanctus Grotto instance which went live on 25 JAN 2008. As of this post it is now 26 MAY 2008.
Tabula Rasa has been live four months without a single piece of high end content added.
On top of that the dev team simply obsesses over two professions, sniper and spy, by dedicating nearly all of the profession retooling to them for the past four patches and two entire Feedback Fridays.
Sorry, but as a grenadier I had been waiting my turn to be nothing more than a crippled guardian for months and months. I sat there and watched as the Alpha Wolves program's recommendation were passed over and over until the attrition rate of profession representatives was so high that the dev team simply abandoned the program altogether and shut it down.
And let's not forget to mention the oodles of development time wasted on revamping systems which had previous been revamped like two patches prior (like the prestige system replacing the universal token system/vendors which replaced the local tokens and unique vendors or the three TorqueShell Rifle revamps or the two revamps of the spy and ranger class skills).
This game had no high level content at launch and it has none now. Features which were promised to being worked on in November still hadn't been started in April.
This game deserves every bit of bad press it gets and if just one person reads my posts and decides that TR is a waste of time and money then mission accomplished as far as I'm concerned.
Taking out the anger, he makes an exclent point. Lots of people posting their enjoyment of the game are either recent players or casual. And that's wonderful for them. Point is, for people that involve themselves heavily in the community and all around leaders in guilds, PVP, and forums, this game leaves little to offer.
If it's intention of the devs was to be that type of game, I'd have never touched it. I'd have also not felt mislead. Fact is: post 50, There just isn't anything to do. Essentially, you "beat" it. This isn't GTA, it's an MMO. Most offer some level of advancement that carrys on forever. The only thing to improve in TR is your bank account. Even that is only done by farming Striders. AKA - Sandboxplz.
The game has no substance and very little content. I got my medic to 47 before I threw in the towel in utter disappointment. For those of you that are happy without endgame, goodie for you!, not all of us feel as you do. Some of us like some type of progression, I enjoy the progress in a game as well as the community/guild. I also love crafting, and TR's crafting was abysmal. In my observation, TR is a shallow game for casuals that dont like high end raiders (gear-envy). The game is lackluster and all my friends that tried it left after the 1st month. Have fun with that dull, boring pos.
Cheers!
Current Games: WOW, EVE Online
So far i enjoy this game very much, i find the quests fun and i love the lore and take my time reading every single quest, the instances are so much fun i am having a blast.
I am still far from the endgame content as i am only level 20, so i cant comment on this, but hopefully by the time i hit 50 there will be much to do.
I dont care for PvP so this is not an issue for me, but i understand that most of you want that but from what i understand with the Clan CP this will be resolved.
Maybe when i hit 50 i will be bored like some of you are, but for now i enjoy this game very much and from what i hear it is only going to get better as they add more content.
Tabula has some much potential and i am sure that it will only get better with time, everything is possible, SOE did it with Vanguard the game was bad when they realeased it and it is now a very good game.
My 2 cents