The brothers Garriott talk Tabula Rasa and taking on WoW
It seems like every day, the brothers Garriott have something new to say about their prized MMO, Tabula Rasa. Recently, they were interviewed by The Mercury News’ Dean Takashi and the Garriotts talked about Tabula Rasa, MMOs, and how Tabula Rasa could just be the World of Warcraft–slayer.
Well, they divulged that it’s been five-six years since they started developing Tabula Rasa. When asked where they are in terms of developing the MMO, Richard said:
WeÂ’re very close to the end now. We opened it up to public beta testers just before Christmas. WeÂ’ve been letting hundreds more in every few weeks. Next build is due in a week and a half (interview was done Feb. 8). WeÂ’ll start inviting thousands at a time. Within a couple of months, weÂ’ll be in the closed beta phase with numerous thousands. Then after that weÂ’ll drop the NDAs and have tens of thousands and then release. We arenÂ’t public with an exact date yet but itÂ’s measured in months.
When asked how different they’re MMO is from all the others out there, Richard said that:
Tabula Rasa is a real-time tactics game. For example, if you and I were fighting, the game is full of sand bags. If you and I were fighting, we would do equal damage to each other. If I were to step behind a sand bag, I would take a lot less damage. If I squat down, I can get an easier bead and I am taking considerably less damage. The monsters know that too. If youÂ’re in a tactically superior position, they will come around and kick you to the ground because they know while you are squatting you are a much more vulnerable hand to hand target. ItÂ’s all still done with die rolls like an RPG. ItÂ’s still my equipment and my characterÂ’s attributes that affect the calculation on damage. So instead of looking at my user interface, I have to watch the behavior of the creatures.
Ok, we dig that, stop enticing us! When is the game coming out, Lord British?!?
WeÂ’ll ship the game when itÂ’s done without regard to the coming and going of consoles and Vista. We wonÂ’t hold the game for a particular window…
Now it’s the older Garriott’s turn to speak up. When asked if he thinks that the eight-million strong WoW population would play the game, Robert said:
I think the market is far from saturated. The best example is Korea. There, we have five million people who regularly play Lineage I. We have about 5 million people who regularly play Lineage II. With Lineage I, about three years ago, and we launched Lineage II, people said it was saturated.
Of course, a little optimism could never hurt. To check out the word-per-word account of the interview, click on our read link below.
It seems like every day, the brothers Garriott have something new to say about their prized MMO, Tabula Rasa. Recently, they were interviewed by The Mercury News’ Dean Takashi and the Garriotts talked about Tabula Rasa, MMOs, and how Tabula Rasa could just be the World of Warcraft–slayer.
Well, they divulged that it’s been five-six years since they started developing Tabula Rasa. When asked where they are in terms of developing the MMO, Richard said:
WeÂ’re very close to the end now. We opened it up to public beta testers just before Christmas. WeÂ’ve been letting hundreds more in every few weeks. Next build is due in a week and a half (interview was done Feb. 8). WeÂ’ll start inviting thousands at a time. Within a couple of months, weÂ’ll be in the closed beta phase with numerous thousands. Then after that weÂ’ll drop the NDAs and have tens of thousands and then release. We arenÂ’t public with an exact date yet but itÂ’s measured in months.
When asked how different they’re MMO is from all the others out there, Richard said that:
Tabula Rasa is a real-time tactics game. For example, if you and I were fighting, the game is full of sand bags. If you and I were fighting, we would do equal damage to each other. If I were to step behind a sand bag, I would take a lot less damage. If I squat down, I can get an easier bead and I am taking considerably less damage. The monsters know that too. If youÂ’re in a tactically superior position, they will come around and kick you to the ground because they know while you are squatting you are a much more vulnerable hand to hand target. ItÂ’s all still done with die rolls like an RPG. ItÂ’s still my equipment and my characterÂ’s attributes that affect the calculation on damage. So instead of looking at my user interface, I have to watch the behavior of the creatures.
Ok, we dig that, stop enticing us! When is the game coming out, Lord British?!?
WeÂ’ll ship the game when itÂ’s done without regard to the coming and going of consoles and Vista. We wonÂ’t hold the game for a particular window…
Now it’s the older Garriott’s turn to speak up. When asked if he thinks that the eight-million strong WoW population would play the game, Robert said:
I think the market is far from saturated. The best example is Korea. There, we have five million people who regularly play Lineage I. We have about 5 million people who regularly play Lineage II. With Lineage I, about three years ago, and we launched Lineage II, people said it was saturated.
Of course, a little optimism could never hurt. To check out the word-per-word account of the interview, click on our read link below.
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