Richard Garriott On Tabula Rasa 14
Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to a RPGDot interview with Richard Garriott on his forthcoming MMO title Tabula Rasa. You may know Garriott from his creation of the Ultima series, but he's now hooked up with Korean MMO behemoth NCSoft, and the interview discusses how Tabula Rasa may differ from expectations: "Tabula Rasa is not a 'virtual world' like Ultima Online or Everquest. TR is a compact social hub of activity but game play focuses on instantiated adventures for a party of players. In those instances, scripted quests a la solo-player Ultimas will be the norm."
Re:Scripted Quests (Score:2)
For that matter - isn't this somewhat similar to Anarchy Online's quest system?
So... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:So... (Score:5, Interesting)
There are a couple of Online RPGs that have tried something similar to this so far. The one that immediately comes to mind is Earth and Beyond. Where the players were there to assist each other through various quests, there was a single story tying them all together. When looking at this on a per-player basis, each individual viewed this from the perspective similar to a single player game. Each player delt with core plot situations that were scripted and customized to them, despite the fact that all players had the same scenarios, it made each player feel like a massive part of the world on an individual level, and offered a greater experience on the whole.
I hope Tabula Rasa is the same.
Perhaps... (Score:2, Interesting)
All that said, the main problem would
Re:Perhaps... (Score:2)
Content of such a nature would almost certainly be almost bug free from the getgo.
Interesting, I hope they can pull it off... (Score:5, Interesting)
This game would develop instances of the game world in which things are new, which no one has seen before. AO already tried this, but the variety was superficial. This looks more like a big-budget version of Underlight, where the other players came up with quests for you, but with AI replacing the other players.
A lot of questions remain. What about the solo player, for example?
Re:Interesting, I hope they can pull it off... (Score:1)
Re:Interesting, I hope they can pull it off... (Score:2, Interesting)
I disagree. Most existing MMORPGs were designed to be computer versions of the 9-to-5 rat race: give players just enough incentive to keep them working on a repetetive treadmill for hours and hours, while cultivating as many feelings of social attachment and personal investment in the avatars
Another Neverwinter Nights? (Score:4, Interesting)
It seems like what these folk are trying to do is combine the 'best' traits of single-player and multi-player games into something that would be akin to a new genre - something that combines the intimacy of the former with the social interaction of the latter. It also reminds me of Neverwinter Nights in a way, but I suspect that Tabula Rosa may be more static, world-wise, whilst enjoy true world evolution (ie. things will change over time). I'm unsure of what he means by 'hubs' though - perhaps he's referring to some sort of multiple-dimension world? Or perhaps these hubs are just geographic areas?
I still have a lot of faith in Lord British and I'm looking forward to this release. I just hope that when Nose said '3rd person', he was referring to the availability of a top-down/isometric-esque view (I'm not a fan of behind-the-shoulder cameras).
Re:Another Neverwinter Nights? (Score:1)
Re:Another Neverwinter Nights? (Score:3, Insightful)
However I am slightly disturbed by his comment regarding PVP. It is more successful in the
pso (Score:1, Informative)
To get to the real game, you join a team of up to 4 players. You aren't forced to play the same area as
Ultima Online Charter Edition (Score:1)
You can get this copy of the Ultima Online Charter Edition [ebay.com]!