Ok, so I've been eyeing this game for some time now. It seems to offer a different type of experience. Something more fast paced, and a departure from the fantasy genre.

While I was checking out the site, it turns out you can buy the pre-order without actually buying the order. (I do intend on buying this game.)

For $5 US I immediately got my beta key and started playing last night.

All I can say is, so far, so VERY good! :)

For a game in beta, it's working very well. No hangs, no glitches, no crashes. Runs smooth, little to no lag and just like they said, much faster paced.

The interface is minimal and is designed to in such a way that you very rarely have to use any other keys other than the ones immediately surrounding the WASD keys. It took a little bit to get used to, but once you do, getting around becomes really easy and fluid.

Unlike games such as WoW, where they reward you exp (rested exp) for logging out, these guys actually reward you for playing more and staying in combat longer. Neat concept, I'll see how it works out.

One day in and I'm impressed, but will play more to see how it goes.

Check it out for yerself! ;)

http://www.mmorpg.com/gc-germany.cfm/section/videos/id/1104

I wouldnt pay $5 for a beta key, but it does look good, and very different.

I've been in beta for many months and have seen this game progress allot. It is going to be a good game with some neat concepts. Actually when they started letting the preorder people in it got to be unplayable in the newb areas. They've been addressing this; it's getting better. There will also soon be a character wipe.

Sadly, as much as I like it I'm still very attached to WoW. I do play it with friends from time to time and am helping one friend who runs a fansite for it (well it will be when it goes live).

If WoW ever grows on me I will probably switch to this game just b/c it's cool and different. :)

About the interface... they just implemented a more MMO friendly one that you can choose through the options menu you might try it if you don't like the default one. The UI has definitely been my biggest complaint of the game but then I'm not really an FPS person. Since the game was designed to be a hybrid I guess there are some parts you just have to accept.

Ok, I've been playing this game like crazy for the past three or four days. All I can say is Wow!

NCSoft generally have some good games (Guild Wars and City of Heroes/City of Villians have done relatively well), but this one stands to become their crown jewel.

Keep in mind that this game won't be for everyone, but at the same time what game is?

In beta, this game has yet to offer up very little in the way of bugs. In fact I'd say it's really showing it's polish, yet they continue to work on it more.

In my personal opinion, it's what Star Wars Galaxies should have been. It also reminds me of Fallout 2 for some reason. It must be a combination of the variety of weapons and armor and keeping count of your ammo (hardly a bad thing as ammo is relatively cheap and money decently easy to come by).

The character skill tree is very well thought out, offering awesome character customization. But that's not the best of it.

As you progress, once a certain level is about to be reached you must make a decision. For example, at the start you are a recruit. Before being allowed to ding lvl 5, you choose between either the Soldier path or the Specialist path. Before making the decision though, you go back to the character select screen and you'll notice you have a clone available to you.

You can clone your current character. They can look completely different, they can even be the opposite sex. The first name changes, but the last name remains the same, showing that the characters are from the same genetic stock.

This allows you to go off on either of the branches and try them out. If you're not happy playing a soldier, simply jump on the clone and try the specialist path. VERY innovative idea and it saves time.

They've also taken the whole Griffin/Manticore waypoint idea and taken it a step further. Instead of sitting and waiting for the ride to be over, you simply port between the waypoints that you've already been to. This helps keep pace with the fast paced action that is Tabula Rasa.

All I can say is try it if you're interested. If you buy the pre-order, you get into the beta automatically, plus you get bonus stuff should you decide to buy the game (the pre-order is a seperate product and is no commitment to buy the game like other pre-orders I've done).

All in all, I'm very happy with this and have even put Warhammer Online on the shelf for the time being.

If I find any other neat things (or even not so neat things) I'll post em here! :)

they lift the NDA? LOL :)

They've also taken the whole Griffin/Manticore waypoint idea and taken it a step further. Instead of sitting and waiting for the ride to be over, you simply port between the waypoints that you've already been to. This helps keep pace with the fast paced action that is Tabula Rasa.
Sweet mother of mammaries, you can TELEPORT??? :eek::eek:
Where do I sign??






Sorry, just being mean, if Greystone was the Death Magnet, you are the Fanboi! ;)

The game looks good,, Kinds of got that Matrix Online meets Halo look to it

To me it's a souped up Planetside and made the way Planetside should have been made. However, I do not know about whether PvP will be in the game at launch. I haven't played in a few days b/c it was AV weekend in WoW :D

BTW TTH (TenTonHammer) just launched their TR forums. http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=380 website soon to follow. :)

I've had a beta invite in my email for a couple weeks now, I guess I better put it to use and see how this game feels.

Some of the demo videos that were on the IGN site reminds me of the movie Star Ship Trooper, and also that CG cartoon of it they had.

I am so willing to give this game a shot, might be nice to have something that is *different* for change

It feels allot like Starship Troopers to me; I'd agree with that. When NDA lifts I'll have allot to say :D

It should do well for itself, especially for people that are looking for something different. Me thinks it might be my next main MMO. I'm still eyeing Age of Conan, but no beta test = no buy for me, simply due to the fun I'm already having with Tabula Rasa hehe. ;)

Also would like to add, is from what I seen on the vid on IGN.. the class / skill tree looks and operates some what like the on from MatrixOnline. There you also started off all as the same basic class and can prick which path you want to go.. and had the ability to back track and pick a different one at any time.

The only thing that kind of bugs me is the whole **Clone yourself** thing. that may just flood the games of alts left and right

The clone thing is actually really kind of cool but you only have the option to do so at tier milestones so the worry about too many alts is probably nothing to worry about.

The clone gives people the choice that at each tier milestone they can clone themselves and go both ways. Like at level 5 when you choose soldier or specialist, etc. Again, when the NDA lifts I'll talk more! :D It might look like other games but to me it's also very different. Once you choose your path there's no turning back so cloning is a good way to test waters in both sections.

:)

http://www.rgtr.com/community/community_news/tentonhammer_joins_the_afs.html

Attention Recruits! TenTonHammer has just opened a new intel portal you should check out. Their new Tabula Rasa Fansite (http://www.tentonhammer.com/tr), which launched today, has lots of great stuff to keep every AFS recruit in the know, including news, game guides, interviews with the TR dev team, and more!

This game looked really interesting to me but I'm just hearing tons of people saying they are getting bored after the first couple of days. Any impressions on this?

It really depends on what you like. I'm not bored yet but I'm also not playing the game tons (I still play WoW more).

The game is very fast paced with lots of action. Imagine yourself a soldier running through an alien land looking for logos and to finish quests when out of no where a drop ship lands and it's full of enemy NPCs. This theme is relavent through out the whole game and in each zone... there are scripted battles that you can either take part in or run from. The bases for each faction are able to be converted to the opposing faction. So when an invasion on a base happens you will see allot of peple run to either help overthrow or defend it.

The class structure is very interesting with allot of options. The armor looks exactly the same on everyone else but you can dye it at least. Also they've added crafting so people can make bombs or med kits or dyes or tons of other stuff... I don't really craft so I'm not sure I just see the recipes drop from the mobs.

The game has voice chat built in; so that when you join a party all you have to do is type "v" to talk.

It feels very much like an FPS but there is also tons of quests and lore as you discover what logos are who the bane are and who the Foreans are. It's not just equipping the biggest gun and going crazy different guns have different functions and some mobs are completely immune to certain types so you have to recognize this and take the appropriate action.

Last night there was an event in one of the zones where the bane invaded full force it was wave after wave of all kinds of high level mobs invading various posts through out the map. It was a stress test but it was damn cool!

Of course you can easily just pay $5 and get access to learn all this yourself too :D

Here is a preview that RadarX at TTH wrote up. I'd say it describes the game prety well :)


http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/11879

Reading that, it does sound as shallow as CoH. CoH was *GREAT* but it just got really damn repetitive really fast.

IMO this game is nothing like CoH :)

Its gameplay isn't ... but it is online, and made by NCSoft. They have great games that are fun to play for the first few levels then repetitive beyond that - exactly what Ainwein said he was hearing about it. What is there to do when you hit level 50? Nothing.

It is my understanding that rather than focus on making an end game prior to the actual release of the game they will instead wait for it to be released. It's a novel concept huh?

This isn't a game for everyone. It's doesn't have elves or ocs; it's UI is very different and you don't "pull" or sit and discuss strategy or even sit and "regen". From the moment you log in until you log out it's fast paced; very fast paced, probably too fast paced for some people.

Do I think it's perfect? No. Do I think it's a WoW killer? No. Do I think it's fun and different? Hell yes.

There's no auto-attack button and killing mobs is not just cut and dry. You have different types of weapons that affect the different mob types differently. So the combat is not just about pushing buttons yay! This game is an all out assault on everything that moves and people all over the zone can join in. Bases are not static; they are dynamic and the enemy (Bane) are always trying to take a base and vice versa. When a base goes bye-bye so does your quest NPCs, vendors, crafting stations etc. So in reality it's like a zone-wide raid every time you log in. I would like to see some kind of organized raid/attack on some huge bane boss though; that would be really cool. :D

Oh and actually... while NCSoft is attached to it; this is Richard Garriot's brainchild. This is not a CoH; I hated CoH. This game is unlike any MMO I've played but is like every MMO I've played. I don't know how to explain it really =\

Anyone still playing this, and want to chime in with an opinion of the game? I'm finding myself bored between titles right now, I'm curious how this has come along and what some of you vets think of it.

Boring. Play EQ2 =P

It's an ok game, some of my friends swear by it but I got bored. Of course I tend to get bored with most games these days. Only EQ2 and WoW have held my attention for longer than a month.

Yeah, the game is a lot of fun up front, but I have to admit, I found it repetitive shortly after getting into my 20's.

I went back to Vanguard hehe. Believe it or not, it's come a long way, and continues to be fixed. If anyone is playing, I'm Binuven on the Xeth server.