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I think I finally get what it is about TR...

fortuentefortuente Member Posts: 66
in Tabula Rasa

So I've never really understood what it is about TR that I find so crappy. The graphics are good, say what you want about the combat, but it is at least OK - there are of course numerous "problems" with the game that everyone has gone over a thousand times here and other forums - but there has always been some indefinable quality about the game that made me almost instantly go "bleh" when I started playing. Meaning that even if TR had none of its other problems I probably still would not have liked it that much.

But I finally figured it out: TR is a MMO clone of Halo.

I've never been a big Halo fan (though I don't dislike it either), so that is probably why I didn't make the connection until my girlfriend's son installed Halo 1 on the PC we got him this past weekend. As he was playing it, I was thinking to myself "hmmm this looks familiar to me beyond any Halo-related ads I've seen." Then it hit me - it looked just like TR.

So I'm glad I finally solved this little puzzle and it helps explain partly why TR failed and why the devs made some of the design decisions they did.

1. They probably thought this would be a WoW competitor simply because of the popularity of Halo - think about it, an MMO (the game industry's darling new genre) combined with one of the most successful FPS of all time. To them it must have seemed like a can't-miss.

But of course, if that is the case, they marketed it all wrong. I would wager that the lion's share of MMORPG players could care less about any FPS, let alone the patron saint FPS of ADHD pre-teens everywhere. They should have marketed this as a hook to get those kids into the MMO -sphere rather than simply try to get MMO players into a bastardized version of a game they wouldn't play anyway.

2. It also explains to me why the game was so shallow - MMO players - even the casuals (like myself) want deep and complex gameplay with a preponderance of minutiae to keep exploration alive (even after the world has been completely run-through) and to use as achievements to show off your mastery of the game to other players.

I would wager that for the most part Halo players don't care about those things - perhaps advertisable achievements, but I doubt they would be jazzed about any of the other typical components of an RPG let alone an MMORPG.

Well, that is my initial take on things based on an observation I had this weekend. I'm stopping it here and copying and expanding this thought on my site - which I also want to mention that I have three free TR codes left over, so if you go to the post:

http://fortuente.com/2008/12/free-tabula-rasa-codes/

and leave a comment I'll mail you a retail code - so make sure you use a valid e-mail on your comment (if you are familiar with Wordpress then you know an e-mail address must be left to comment on a post). As of this writing I have 3 codes left.

If you would like we can coordinate and play together on the same server - by waiting until Dec. 20 to register we will get to play for free until the servers close on Feb. 28.

Comments

  • fortuentefortuente Member Posts: 66

    Here is a pretty good (and fair) take on the fall of TR I just found:

    http://www.massivegamer.com/gamelist.php?game=183&section=features&view=46

  • WinterfreshWinterfresh Member Posts: 73

    Haha, I thought this myself. If they advertised it as a "If you like Halo, you'll like Tabula Rasa" game, I seriously think it would have done better.

  • tub0rgtub0rg Member Posts: 110

    halo is imho just a bad shooter. and TR was standart mmo gameplay to look like a shooter.

    if someone could break the hardware limitation and bring an R6 quality shooter to the mmo lvl, or even any "normal" shooter, it would be a sucess.

  • TyrranosaurTyrranosaur Member UncommonPosts: 284

    Apt observation....of course I liked TR, and I enjoyed Halo.....but like Halo, after a while I got tired of it and moved on, which is probably what happened to other Halo/TR fans who enjoyed both, as well. Maybe if TR offered easier mike support for the Halo kids to curse and swear at each other?  And more tea bag emotes?

    I thought Huxley was the next Big Thing to cross MMOs with FPSs, too...? Since they seem to be marketing that way (near as I can tell) it might show if a more direct connection between the FPS and MMO styles will grab the Halo boy appeal, I suppose.

    Current MMOs: Rift, GW2, Defiance
    Blog: http://realmsofchirak.blogspot.com (old school tabletop gaming and more)

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