Tabula Rasa at Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMOG Gamers to the Next Level!

After a grand total of fifteen months in live service, Richard Garriot's Tabula Rasa will join the long list of massively multiplayer online games to go to the great Zapper in the sky. When (and if) you happen to hear about some no-name F2P failing in the market - just like you did out of your college Calculus class - it's no big deal. It still sucks because there were people that poured their hearts and souls into the game, but in the overall scheme of things, it's about as surprising as getting a sweater from your grandmother on Christmas - you had a pretty good idea it was going to happen.

While this won't be the first game NCsoft published that failed (*cough* Auto Assault *cough*), Tabula Rasa isn't just a “typical” MMOG; this was Richard “Lord British” Garriott’s baby. Richard Garriot is like the Chuck Norris of the gaming industry - whether you like him or not, you know who he is. He's been around the industry forever. Hailed as one of the gods of gaming development, Richard introduced the world to one of the greatest game franchises of all time: Ultima. With the creation of Ultima Online he became one of the founding fathers of today's MMOG's, and who can forget how fast the news spread when we heard that Lord British had been killed during a live event? Those are the stories that make legends, and without a doubt, Richard stands proudly among those legendary figureheads of gaming.

Get some!

Gamers and industry insiders alike are always talking about how the game industry is quickly closing on (or surpassing) Hollywood in terms of popularity and cold hard cash. Overall, I'm one who obviously agrees, but this past week has highlighted one extreme difference. A movie only needs to have a strong opening weekend or two to make its money back and nab a couple extra dollars to spare. If a studio surrounds a movie with some mystery, has an editor piece together a kickass trailer and pulls in a big name actor, it's virtually guaranteed to reap the rewards, even if the movie itself blows chunks like a four year old on the Tilt o' Whirl.

Online games can't afford to take this flash in the pan approach. Even after the game is released to the public, there are ongoing hardware and personnel costs behind the scenes to keep the game going and the community happy. Keeping the hardware up and content is nothing compared to the horrible raging mob a game community can become at the drop of the hat.

Unlike their movie counterparts, the developers and community representatives in the gaming world can't just turn their backs and say "It's out, so I'm done. Have fun!” Personally, I bet over half the people working in today's gaming industry would love to be able tell the community to take this job and shove it nearly once a day. The MMO player community tends to have the social grace of a badger in heat; if you open your mouth the wrong way, you're going to get your face ripped off.

Sadly, this isn't the first time we've seen this particular drama unfold and I'm sure it won't be the last. While the circumstances surrounding the trials and tribulations of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes are different in many ways, one thing they had in common with Tabula Rasa was that big name lurking behind the scenes, watching the show.

Come closer, my pretty...

To the average gamer, Brad McQuaid was a relative unknown, but to the masses that spent years of their lives playing the original Everquest, he was a name among names and one of the developers responsible for the best expansion (in player's minds) in the game's long history, Scars of Velious. So when word got out that he was going his own way and creating a game that was essentially Everquest 2.0 in spirit, players were giddier than a six year old at a circus.

Unfortunately for us, a circus is just what he was running and the game suffered horribly for it. Sony Online Entertainment saved the game from inevitable death by picking it up, giving it some massive doses of love, and have attached it to the life sustaining goodness of its Station Access program.

Could Tabula Rasa be the next game to find a home at SOE or at least enjoy a similar sort of situation at NCsoft? A game with such innovation deserves a better fate than being terminated before its time. NCsoft now has enough titles under its belt to give the idea of offering access to all their games for one price some serious credence. At the same time, SOE desperately needs a good sci-fi game to flesh out their lineup (Sue me - Star Wars Galaxies doesn't count). There may not have been enough geeks in the world willing to support Tabula Rasa by itself, but give us access to it in a bundle of gaming goodness and they may be surprised with just how many people decide it's time to lock and load.

---

Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Ten Ton Hammer network or staff.

---