Welcome to the 663rd Edition of Loading... Now with extra "ing..."
If you aren't reading this in your e-mail, you could be. Sign up.
Are you looking for the latest industry headlines? Look no further.
Lumio did the hard work. I did the simple work and in the end we have another new comic that is rolling along at a 4.8/5 rating. Your admiration for comics may only be eclipsed by your love of MMOGs. Four of the top 10 most viewed pages on the site yesterday were comics.
I had a chance to go back and peruse Jeff's "Three Questions For Tabula Rasa" article again. I had read it twice already, but then it was linked in a mailing list that I am a member of. Self I asked, "What did they see that I might have missed? I'd better read that piece again. "
In the last year I have chatted with the legend, Richard "General British" Garriott, the produce of the title, Starr Long and the Lead Designer, Paul Sage four, five, six times or more. I have as good a grasp on what this game is as is possible for a person of my mental capacity. Reading Jeff's article was proof that my insight was indeed limited by my infirm mind. Mr. Woleslagle had touched on a couple of design choices that I had noticed, but that were so perfectly meshed to the game that they hadn't triggered that moment of rapture that every gamer feels when they note perfection.
There is no auto-attack. I was a big first-person shooter (FPS) player and considered myself an above average player. Jumping into Tabula Rasa was second nature. I haven't played a FPS in quite a while, instead indulging my love for massively multiplayer online games, yet repeatedly pressing the mouse button was the intuitive way to attack the enemy. This mechanic is of course reinforced by the need to continually press a button to cast in most MMOGs, but nonetheless it worked and it was the way I expected it to work. It was perfectly crafted and it is the crux of gameplay.
Regen of armour, health and power is fast. There is little downtime. I was so busy mowing through the Bane that I didn't have time to worry about how far I was into my level or where the next mob to pull was. I was constantly playing rather than searching. Will this affect the social fabric of the game? Perhaps, but aren't the game experiences that you remember most the times where you were completely immersed, pondering if you would make it through the battle, enemies coming at you from all sides? You feel that way regularly in Tabula Rasa.
EVE Online on the other hand does not give me that feeling. I'm half-way through my "reintroduction" to EVE. I enjoy the game. I appreciate the training system and I am overwhelmed by the complexity. That said, I mine ore to make money in EVE while I play Tabula Rasa. EVE gives me a chance to either unwind by mining or to ramp up my adrenaline by partaking in PvP where my hard earned time and money could get flushed by a better player. You see, in EVE if they blow up your 100 million ISK ship, it's gone. It doesn't respawn in 15 seconds good as new. Your hard earned cash and time spent are flushed permanently. EVE offers me a more intense game experience than Tabula Rasa, but I'm not yet convinced that I enjoy the potent emotional reaction to EVE more than I do the exciting emotional reaction to Tabula Rasa. In fact, I know that I haven't yet found the balance of sheer terror vs lassitude in EVE that would make it my first choice as a MMOG. It's there, but I haven't found it and I'm not convinced that the game mechanic as it stands is going to coerce me in the right direction.
Jumping back to World of Warcraft last evening to play with my wife I found the pace simply too slow for my newly heightened tastes. Tabula Rasa has spoiled my WoW experience. I found myself turning to my wife and saying, "I wish WoW had XYZ like Tabula Rasa". Don't get me wrong, TR has its issues. The UI can't be moved around for one. This drives me crazy. I have always used a rather unorthodox UI setup, but I'm all over it like a hobo on a ham sandwich. I can't imagine that the UI won't become more flexible, but for now it is one of my minor gripes with TR's beta state.
Enough rambling and comparing.... it's Friday and you need to finish reading this, tell your boss that you're sick and get home. Enjoy your weekend.
Comments, questions or naughty pictures? Hit the blog or hit my mailbox. --Boomjack
2. New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today
- AGDC: Jumpgate Evolution - New Area Explored - Cody "Micajah" Bye
- Blog: One Man's AGDC Diary - Bill Pirkle
- Chronicles of Spellborn: New Video - Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle
- EverQuest 2: Mystic Achievement Ability Guide - Savanja
- Gods and Heroes: Exclusive Screenshot - Greg "Darkgolem" Stanley
- Gods and Heroes: Forum Etiquette Guide - Todd "Charabis" Davis
- Knight Online: New Expansion and Screenshots - Cody "Micajah" Bye
- Tabula Rasa: New Gameplay Video and Logos Event Images - Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle
- Tabula Rasa: UI Guide - Tony "RadarX" Jones
- World of Warcraft: Alliance Outland Leveling Guide Update - David "Xerin" Piner
- World of Warcraft: TTH Database Addon Update - David "Xerin" Piner
- World of Warcraft: Horde Leveling Guide Update - Byron "Messiah" Mudry
3. Hot Content - What our readers viewed the most yesterday! Did you miss anything?
- Comics: Listing
- Leipzig 2007 Awards
- Comics: Fae Bard
- Comics: Forum Troll
- World of Warcraft Overview
- Warhammer Online: Mark Jacobs Interview
- GDC 2007 - EVE Online Avatars Video
- AGDC: EVE Online - Interview With Nathan Richardsson
- Gallery: Games
- Comics: Matrix Meets LotRO
-
Man Steals Car To Turn Himself In [Thanks Martuk]
This stupid criminal story brought to you by Geneva, N.Y. -
Bank robber identifies self by writing holdup note on own check [Thanks Peter]
This stupid criminal story brought to you by Englewood, Colorado -
Web Service Gives Alibis To Adulterers
Brought to you by, who else...The French.
Thanks as always for visiting TenTonHammer.com
- John "Boomjack" Hoskin and the Ten Ton Hammer Team
