Rewriting more MMO rules in Tabula Rasa

When you start with a clean slate, sometimes you’re tempted to rewrite the rules. NCSoft‘s Tabula Rasa‘s already trying to do so by combining aspects of tactical shooters and RPG’s into the gameplay. Now, as stated in a GameAmp post, it’s got a few other wipe-the-slate-clean ideas of its own, currently on the board and being tested.

Travel time = zero. Because in many MMORPG’s as much time is spent actually getting to a place as doing anything in that place, travel time is one thing the game developers are attempting to eliminate. So, players will have the inherent ability to teleport friends over to where they are, right from the start. It’s not a power to be gained, it’s something that’s there from the start.

Equipment and clothing = pimp your own style. Face it: if equipment can alter your appearance, and everyone wants the best set of equipment, it’s almost unavoidable that everyone’s gonna wear the same threads, right? Tabula Rasa seeks to eliminate that by making player clothes sport “modules” to which protective upgrades can be attached.

Losses from death? Never! Gains from death? Not much either. Death is as avoided in the game as, well, death itself, because of the experience or item penalties of biting the big one. Well, dying in Tabula Rasa isn’t painless, either, but the pain lies elsewhere. Instead of losing anything, players can choose to start over from the beginning OR continuing from where they left off, but losing 10% of the experience reward. Yes, a player can die enough times to eliminate any experience reward, but that’s another way of saying “You’re not ready for this one yet, bub.”

So there you have it, three more ways the blank slate blanks the MMORPG slate. Creativity is a trait most welcome and most cultivated in an industry as dynamic as the gaming industry, so we’ll see how far and where else Tabula Rasa can redefine what we know about MMORPGaming.

Pre-order: [Tabula Rasa]

When you start with a clean slate, sometimes you’re tempted to rewrite the rules. NCSoft‘s Tabula Rasa‘s already trying to do so by combining aspects of tactical shooters and RPG’s into the gameplay. Now, as stated in a GameAmp post, it’s got a few other wipe-the-slate-clean ideas of its own, currently on the board and being tested.

Travel time = zero. Because in many MMORPG’s as much time is spent actually getting to a place as doing anything in that place, travel time is one thing the game developers are attempting to eliminate. So, players will have the inherent ability to teleport friends over to where they are, right from the start. It’s not a power to be gained, it’s something that’s there from the start.

Equipment and clothing = pimp your own style. Face it: if equipment can alter your appearance, and everyone wants the best set of equipment, it’s almost unavoidable that everyone’s gonna wear the same threads, right? Tabula Rasa seeks to eliminate that by making player clothes sport “modules” to which protective upgrades can be attached.

Losses from death? Never! Gains from death? Not much either. Death is as avoided in the game as, well, death itself, because of the experience or item penalties of biting the big one. Well, dying in Tabula Rasa isn’t painless, either, but the pain lies elsewhere. Instead of losing anything, players can choose to start over from the beginning OR continuing from where they left off, but losing 10% of the experience reward. Yes, a player can die enough times to eliminate any experience reward, but that’s another way of saying “You’re not ready for this one yet, bub.”

So there you have it, three more ways the blank slate blanks the MMORPG slate. Creativity is a trait most welcome and most cultivated in an industry as dynamic as the gaming industry, so we’ll see how far and where else Tabula Rasa can redefine what we know about MMORPGaming.

Pre-order: [Tabula Rasa]