Tag Archives: destination games

According to this Tabula Rasa dev update, the MMO is going to get an FPS view.

It doesn’t say when the feature’s going to be added, but there are some screens there to prove it’s real. Astonishing. Take a look.

Thanks, MaxConsole.

Talking to Eurogamer, NCSoft has rebutted recent talk that Richard Garriot’s MMO Tabula Rasa is in dire straights.

“Tabula Rasa has a dedicated player base, which is growing month on month,” said NCsoft Europe’s David Blundell.

“Tabula Rasa offers players a different kind of MMO experience, enhancing our portfolio of game titles. The game play mechanics are very different to that of a typical MMO – those who have experienced the game have recognised these innovative features and applauded them.

“A recent European trial promotion was met with great demand; we will be doing a similar promotion later in the year.”

The comments come after the game was seen to barely feature in a Q1 financial report.

Lots more through the link.

According to this, Korean journalist Cho Jin-seo has published a piece in the Korean Times about Tabula Rasa, saying that “some downsizing in Austin is inevitable” after the game has “has proven to be a financial disaster”.

“NCsoft CFO Lee Jae-ho did state that some downsizing in Austin is inevitable. But he also indicated in the conference call that he has hope that TR will improve its revenue stream over time.

NCsoft has committed to putting several million dollars more into further developing TR.

TR is launching in Japan later this year. Considering that Richard Garriott’s games have done well in Japan, this will only help to bolster the game’s population.

There will be some reduction at the Austin Studio, but only on the TR team. This isn’t shocking by the way. MMOs normally ramp up their staff during development and leading up to launch, then reduce it after. Fact is, some of the TR team has already transitioned over to other internal dev teams.”

Tabula Rasa was shown in recent financials to have taken over $5 million in revenue since it launched last autumn.

The next major content update for Tabula Rasa is to include “eagerly awaited” features for the MMO’s spy class, lead designer Paul Sage has told VG247.

“The team is working on many varied projects; our release schedule for new content is at about every three weeks right now,” said Sage. “I would say the team’s next major update is going to include some eagerly awaited changes to the spy class, and we have some changes in the works to make sure all summoned or controlled AIs respond to battle better, which will help a lot of our classes, not the least of which is the exo-biologist.”

Sage fell short of detailing the exact additions the the class’s functionality.

He also revealed that the team is in very early stages of working on new faces and costumes for the game’s female characters.

“We do have very early plans right now to work on getting some new outfits and faces for our female characters,” said Sage. “Especially with the Hybrids, we want to make sure there are options players find attractive.”

Hybrids are alien-human crosses just released into the game.

Tabula Rasa is Richard “Spaceman” Garriot’s latest game, an action-heavy sci-fi MMO from developer Destination Games and NCSoft. Sage said that the game’s userbase has now stabilised after a surge of players during the launch period last year, but wouldn’t be drawn on an exact number of current players.

“The community had a massive influx of players around game launch and now has settled itself, forming a strong, dedicated base,” he said. “The recent 1.4 update has encouraged new players to give Tabula Rasa a try, so we are seeing a good number willing to fight for humanities survival.”

More info on the game here. Read all of Paul’s answers to our questions after the link below.

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Look. There they are. The latest update for Richard Garriot’s sci-fi MMO was announced a few days ago, but we didn’t report it because we couldn’t get this stupid video to work. But now we can. According to the press release:

“There are three human-alien hybrids; taking the best characteristics of the Forean, Brann, Thrax and merging them with humanity. For a player to obtain a hybrid character they must follow and complete a mission chain; each race has their own distinct chain to complete. Hybrid characters have increased attribute points in certain key areas, like Mind, Body or Spirit over a normal human. These are dependent on the alien race merged with, for example a Thrax-Human has increased physical attributes (Body), which allows them to absorb more total damage. There are of course weaknesses to the joining.

“This is the first stage of development for the inclusion of Hybrid’s into Tabula Rasa. In the future, the development team will be adding hybrid-specific weaponry and armour and may also be adding hybrid specific missions.”

Watch away.