Tabula Rasa Interview

NCsoft will release the long in development Tabula Rasa later this year, so we caught up with the game’s producer Starr Long to get an update on the Sci-Fi MMO. Long is a bit of an industry legend, having worked with fellow luminary Richard Garriott on Ultimate Online, who he is collaborating with on Tabula Rasa.

Pro-G: How did the Tabula Rasa development team juggle both action and MMORPG elements? Can you enlighten us as to how the two were combined?

Starr Long: We really wanted to make combat in Tabula Rasa feel different than the “whack-a-mole” combat of most online games. We wanted to combine the character progression of an RPG with the pace of an action game without making it based on reflexes. We mix real time elements like crouching (increases damage done) and cover (reduces damage taken) with RPG elements like special powers (lightning, crab mines, etc.). Tactical decisions happen on many levels from unique AI (like shield drones who protect enemies) to damage types (EMP weapons take down shields, virulent weapons don’t work on mechanicals, etc.). On top of all this NPCs are constantly fighting each other (Bane vs. AFS, predators vs. prey, etc.) instead of just standing around waiting for you to kill them. We also try to make the AI as challenging as possible. Run behind cover to get away from being shot and that Thrax soldier you messed with may just run around the corner and kick you in the face. Not your typical MMO by any means.

Pro-G: Beside the more traditional online gaming elements, what completely new/revolutionary concepts does Tabula Rasa bring to gaming?

SL: There are several elements in Tabula Rasa that represent true evolution of online gaming. The most revolutionary is our Character Cloning System. At any moment during the game you can create a clone of your current character. That clone is a copy of your character and has all the powers and completed missions of the original. This gives the player a variety of game play options never seen in an MMO. Because our character development is a branching tree this means players can explore all the different classes in the game without starting over every time. It also means that players can create multiple variations of each class to explore what it would be like to spend that certain ability point this way versus another way. Another unique element in TR is the concept of control points. These critical pieces of territory can change ownership in the game between the AFS and the Bane. This ownership in turn affects many elements of that area of the map. Available missions, NPCs to talk to, shopkeepers, waypoint teleporters, hospital resurrection points, etc. are all linked to control point ownership. So if the AFS lose a control point you might not be able to get that next mission you need until you can organize an army to take the control point back.

Pro-G: Can you tell us a little bit about emotes, and your decision to invite players to contribute to the game via the emote competition? What’s the progress on this?

SL: Emotes are animations that allow players to express themselves or communicate things in the game that are not driven by the combat system. They include waving, saluting, dancing, push-ups, blowing kisses, pointing, etc. We decided that since they are animations that the players use that it made perfect sense to have them contribute to exactly what kind of emotes we had in the game. The results have been great but we can always use more suggestions and the contest is still running so keep sending us your ideas!

Pro-G: Just how in depth is the ‘Logos’ language? In theory could I hold a whole conversation speaking purely in ‘Logos’, as for example, I could in Klingon?

SL: The goal is to have Logos be a complete language. At this point we have over 300 Logos symbols created. They are enough to express all the ideas we currently have in the game and as we need to expand the language to represent different ideas we add symbols. You can already have a conversation if you wanted but only via text. Logos is not meant to be a spoken language.

Pro-G: In places the game does share a similar visual style to Halo and its sci-fi/fantasy clones. How would you respond to this observation?

SL: Well since Halo is one of the best selling games of all time we take any comparison to that game as a compliment. However I would point out that science fiction has been around for over 100 years and calling anything a clone is kind of silly. The story of much science fiction includes futuristic soldiers fighting aliens and finding the “original” is rather pointless. That is like saying every detective movie is a clone of every other detective movie. I think if the story is compelling and the game is fun why should it matter if it may appear similar to other products.

Pro-G: Tabula Rasa translates into ‘blank slate’, suggesting emptiness. This seems an unusual choice for a game name. Does it allude to how much you can develop your experience and character, or something else?

SL: Actually the name alludes to the fact that Earth has been invaded and all but destroyed by the Bane. Humanity has to start over with a blank slate on other planets.

Pro-G: There’s an opinion that the MMO market only really has room for a couple of successful games. With World of Warcraft leading the way and Lord of Rings Online having just launched, how will Tabula Rasa carve out a strong player base?

SL: That opinion has been around since back when we were making Ultima Online in the late 90s (I was the original Project Director). It is as wrong now as it was then. Since that time all the data shows that each successful product expands the market without taking a significant number of customers from the preceding products. How else could UO still have similar numbers to when we launched it? How else could City of Heroes still have the same numbers of subscribers before and after other competitive products launched?

Pro-G: The long development time and numerous changes have been a rocky road for Tabula Rasa to travel. How has this impacted on the final product?

SL: You are correct that TR has had a very long development cycle. We are committed to only releasing a game we believe will be great. When we started the project we tried to make a game that would appeal to the East and the West equally. Unfortunately we created something that appealed to neither. So after a few years we rebooted the project and went in a more obvious science fiction direction while retaining some of the key storyline elements and the symbolic language. We also decided to concentrate on making a fun game versus trying to please different markets simultaneously. The decision to take this extra time is a testament to NCsoft’s commitment to quality.

Pro-G: Is there any news on the release date and pricing structure as of yet?

SL: We will be releasing Tabula Rasa this autumn. We will sell the client in retail stores and via our online store for download. There will also be a monthly subscription fee.

Pro-G: Do you have any plans to bring the game to consoles?

SL: We consider consoles a potentially very exciting market. Tabula Rasa however will only be shipping as a PC title.

Pro-G: Finally, is there any other brand new information you have for us on Tabular Rasa?

SL: Closed Beta started recently in both the US and Europe and it is going very well. We are getting a great balance of positive feedback (people are having fun) and critical feedback (this part needs more polish, bugs, etc.).

Pro-G: Thanks for your time.