E3 Impressions

Page Two

Shiina quizes the Devs

I had the nice opportunity to speak with Michael Hutchison, Senior Designer of NCsoft. He was very friendly and answered the questions that I had for him, many of which stemmed from my experiences in the tour, and my curiosity about what I didn’t get to see. Although I was a bit out of it from having suffered from yet another night of no sleep, it went alright. Let’s go over what I was told now.

First, I wanted cover the bases and confirm my initial impressions. Tabula Rasa was indeed not a game to rely on twitch skills. And neither is the learning curve steep. Beginners won’t be scared away, and with a few more tweaks, the tutorial would practically hold someone’s hand through the training. In fact, the first experience that one has upon logging in is being a fresh recruit and going through all the necessary training—which upon completion would lead to being ready for the “real world.” The amount of dexterity required was not high, but yet an action/arcade feel was imparted. This is appropriate for their target market, which are specifically those whom are looking for a superior experience when it comes to the fusion of First Person Shooter and Role Playing elements. They have their niche set, and it’s apparent that they have something competitive in the works.

Second, I wanted to find out about player opportunities with both cooperation and competition which couldn’t be explored with only 2 people on a tour. The current format is focused on fast paced squad based teamwork in small numbers utilizing different complimentary roles. This is indeed like the trinity commonly seen in other MMOGs, the “healer, fighter, and nuker.” Other combinations can sometimes be possible, but there will be recommendations that will be given in advance to ensure that players won’t endure many hardships only to find out that they went in with no chance of victory. Will there be raid content to come in the future involving large scale cooperation? Unsure. But there are plans for multiple groups coming together into the same setting working separately for a common goal. How about PvP options? Consensual combat between players only. No griefing, no worries, no hassles. But there would be arena-like settings, and also areas in which opposing clans could battle against one another. Good to see that there’s going to be a variety to keep various types appeased.