Tabula Rasa dies after less than 18 months

metalangel · **Posted:** Tue Dec 23, 2008 21:01

February 28, 2009 - kablooie. Free to play until then!

http://www.rgtr.com/news/latest_news/me ... asa_t.html

Quote:

ast November we launched what we hoped would be a ground breaking sci-fi MMO. In many ways, we think we've achieved that goal. Tabula Rasa has some unique features that make it fun and very different from every other MMO out there. Unfortunately, the fact is that the game hasn't performed as expected. The development team has worked hard to improve the game since launch, but the game never achieved the player population we hoped for.

So it is with regret that we must announce that Tabula Rasa will end live service on February 28, 2009.

Before we end the service, we'll make Tabula Rasa servers free to play starting on January 10, 2009.

We can assure you that through the next couple of months we'll be doing some really fun things in Tabula Rasa, and we plan to make staying on a little longer worth your while.

This as Mines of Moria and Wrath of the Lich King come out.

I was mildly intrigued by the game (it seemed a bit like Planetside but with more RPG aspects and less shitty combat; it also allowed you to alter your skills relatively painlessly so you could effectively reroll without starting from level 1) but what I've read is that the game was poorly supported, laggy, buggy, and generally unfinished.

However, for something so high profile to die so abruptly is rather surprising. Garriott doesn't care, having escaped the planet several months ago.

Dimrill · **Posted:** Tue Dec 23, 2008 21:03

Writing was on the wall when Garriot jumped ship, methinks. Seems like quite a crowded market out there in MMOville.

Sheepeh · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 2320

Played the beta, got bored, never bought the game.

Planetside was way better.

AceAceBaby · **Posted:** Tue Dec 23, 2008 23:47

I'd still like a good sci-fi MMO, but it's not a popular genre.

Dimrill · **Posted:** Tue Dec 23, 2008 23:50

AceAceBaby wrote:

I'd still like a good MMO, but it's a popular genre.

FeeX

AceAceBaby · **Posted:** Wed Dec 24, 2008 0:17

I like World of Warcraft. It's like knitting, but more colorful.

Pundabaya · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 5016

Dimrill... WoW has achievements now... (Mwah hahahaha)

Dimrill · **Posted:** Wed Dec 24, 2008 1:11

You are a bad man Evil Ian Donkey.

metalangel · **Posted:** Wed Dec 24, 2008 2:00

Yeah, I'm rather depressed that practically all the really successful MMOs are all beards and swords Tolkien rip-offs. Even before WoW this was the case. Neocron was decidedly niche (which was surprising, given it had FPS-style combat when most MMOs even today still have you clicking orders and then watching your avatar have all the fun) and Anarchy Online was buggy at first and then... er... had beards and swords added to it, diluting the sci-fi-ness.

Which leaves EvE and City of Heroes. Because every other futuristic or otherwise MMO (Matrix Online, anyone?) has been arse. SWG, for example, is great if you fantasize about being a space economist.

Sheepeh · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 2320

SnowAngel wrote:

Yeah, I'm rather depressed that practically all the really successful MMOs are all beards and swords Tolkien rip-offs. Even before WoW this was the case. Neocron was decidedly niche (which was surprising, given it had FPS-style combat when most MMOs even today still have you clicking orders and then watching your avatar have all the fun) and Anarchy Online was buggy at first and then... er... had beards and swords added to it, diluting the sci-fi-ness.

Which leaves EvE and City of Heroes. Because every other futuristic or otherwise MMO (Matrix Online, anyone?) has been arse. SWG, for example, is great if you fantasize about being a space economist.

Aye. I usually play the non-trad ones, but I have accounts on pretty much every mmo going to be honest. PlanetSide was probably my favourite but that was because I couldn't get left behind in levels, and a level 1 can take out a level 20 if he's skillful enough. That and it amused me greatly being a pilot for my clan's DropShip and unleashing mighty power, buggering off quietly and fixing my shit, then coming back to save the day and rescue everyone. Also when repairing dropping a few mines and turrets on the next chokepoint and watching the XP roll in.

Rodafowa · **Posted:** Wed Dec 24, 2008 10:10

I'm still quite excited about the prospect of Champions Online. Because I'm an idiot.

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49252

SnowAngel wrote:

Neocron was decidedly niche (which was surprising, given it had FPS-style combat when most MMOs even today still have you clicking orders and then watching your avatar have all the fun).

That frankly was what made it a little frustrating. Real-time FPS combat! Only you're shooting at a whacking great hitbox, and even when you saw your bullets hit you most likely missed. Especially if you were playing the great 'dancing round each other in circles' game.

kalmar · **Posted:** Wed Dec 24, 2008 10:50

Beards, Swords and Dancing round in circles.

MMO = something to do with Morris dancing, right?

myp · **Posted:** Wed Dec 24, 2008 11:04

They definitely share the same level of cool factor.

Derek The Halls · **Joined:** 31st Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 3742

City of Heroes is the only one which I've found with a good community. Playing the game is a bit boring at times unless you're with a bunch of people who play for fun and chat a lot.

I also liked the setting of the game. Much more variety than World of Browncraft. And you can fly in it.

AceAceBaby · **Posted:** Wed Dec 24, 2008 20:54

I found the opposite. Same old warehouse, same old mall, same old office, same old cave over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over.

Dimrill · **Posted:** Wed Dec 24, 2008 20:58

I got ole Bread Rapture up to level 33 on the CHampion server before getting catatonic with boredom. Lemmiwinks was my main villain, but I think I only did up to 20 with him. I liked the badges. Now xbox has achievementsso my focus is there now.

AceAceBaby · **Posted:** Wed Dec 24, 2008 21:01

WoW has lots of acheivements. Including ones for touching badgers.

Dimrill · **Posted:** Wed Dec 24, 2008 21:03

My machine barely ran the new gfx balls they attatched to CoH's issue 4 2 years agoo, so there;s no way it'd do anything now.

Sheepeh · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 2320

Dimrill wrote:

I got ole Bread Rapture up to level 33 on the CHampion server before getting catatonic with boredom. Lemmiwinks was my main villain, but I think I only did up to 20 with him. I liked the badges. Now xbox has achievementsso my focus is there now.

Liberty for me. I had a FireTanker when the game first came out, which was God Mode pretty much.

Someone mentioned the "bullets showing hitting but missing" thing due to the MMO numbercrunching. I think that's one reason I didn't like TR, you could shoot stuff and it didn't register, so the mechanics felt like every other MMO in existance. At least in PlanetSide if you shot someone, they took damage.

GazChap · **Posted:** Wed Dec 24, 2008 22:22

An MMO set in the Fallout universe would be rather spesh, methinks. Get to it Bethesda.

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32624

GazChap wrote:

An MMO set in the Fallout universe would be rather spesh, methinks. Get to it Bethesda.

Interplay are working on that now. They sold the licence for a single player Fallout game to Bethesda to fund it.

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49252

I thought that what Bethesda bought included an MMO license?

Ah - it appears that Interplay sold the whole lot to Bethesda, with part of the agreement being that Interplay were then granted rights to use that IP for an MMO.

AceAceBaby · **Posted:** Thu Dec 25, 2008 18:28

Dimrill wrote:

My machine barely ran the new gfx balls they attatched to CoH's issue 4 2 years agoo, so there;s no way it'd do anything now.

WoW runs on low spec computers. That's almost certainly a big reason for its popularity.

Sheepeh · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 2320

AceAceBaby wrote:

Dimrill wrote:

My machine barely ran the new gfx balls they attatched to CoH's issue 4 2 years agoo, so there;s no way it'd do anything now.

WoW runs on low spec computers. That's almost certainly a big reason for its popularity.

It used to. Anything after and including the expansion was programmed by a different team, and it really shows. It's much less effecient and runs like crap on older PCs.

AceAceBaby · **Posted:** Fri Dec 26, 2008 2:28

The newer bits chug a bit, it's true. I seem to spend most of my time riding around the old lands anyway.

metalangel · **Posted:** Sun Dec 28, 2008 19:31

Auld Lang Sheep wrote:

At least in PlanetSide if you shot someone, they were alerted to your presence and so could turn around and blast the crap out of you with their gun that actually hurt, while yours fired fucking blanks.

FeeX. I stuck to flying Galaxies and such when it became apparent how shit the infantry gunplay was.

Hearthly · **Joined:** 11th May, 2008 **Posts:** 13386

Auld Lang Sheep wrote:

AceAceBaby wrote:

Dimrill wrote:

My machine barely ran the new gfx balls they attatched to CoH's issue 4 2 years agoo, so there;s no way it'd do anything now.

WoW runs on low spec computers. That's almost certainly a big reason for its popularity.

It used to. Anything after and including the expansion was programmed by a different team, and it really shows. It's much less effecient and runs like crap on older PCs.

In all fairness the graphics engine was substantially tarted up for TBC, and even more so for WoTLK - if you nobble the graphics settings to make TBC look like ye olde worlde, you'll get pretty much the same framerates.

Moreover, WoW as a whole (up to and including the the latest expansion, WoTLK), runs impressively well on modest PCs, whilst offering those with beefier machines the opportunity to enjoy some proper graphical loveliness. (Something the original game areas never did.)

Achilles · **Joined:** 15th Nov, 2008 **Posts:** 484

I'm still Playing Entropia Universe 2.5 years on so it's not true all Sci Fi MMORPGS have died.

Entropia Universe is expanding, currently it only has one planet but 4 more are coming and soon will be using Cryengine 2 graphics.

http://mindark.se/planetroster/roster.html

No subscription, pay as you go or play for free.

AceAceBaby · **Posted:** Tue Dec 30, 2008 9:49

It's a pyramid scheme, though.

AceAceBaby · **Posted:** Tue Dec 30, 2008 9:56

Hooray for shady patent trolls!
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/29/ncsoft_sued_by_worlds/comments/
Funny how they didn't go straight for the bigger fish.

Be Excellent To Each Other

Tabula Rasa dies after less than 18 months
docking at Schadenfreude IV

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Be Excellent To Each Other

Tabula Rasa dies after less than 18 months docking at Schadenfreude IV

Who is online

Tabula Rasa dies after less than 18 months
docking at Schadenfreude IV