The Conundrum of Free To Play

An announcement today made me think on the subject of Free To Play.

"Dungeons & Dragons Online Reaches One Million Players"


(EDIT: Seems the correct wording should be "NEW" players...surpassing 1 million actually. Check the press release here...SOURCE)


Since switching to the Free play model, DDO has had a major increase in the number of players who log in, and are playing. But, how many actually shell out cash for either a sub or the various pay items? According to this news...the money sounds good.

"Dungeons & Dragons Online Revenues Up 500 Percent"

Most of all though; does it matter?

Think on this. Each person logged in is a potential customer; is that not true? When advertisers choose to show a promo for a product on certain TV shows, are they not just basing their theory on getting the most eyes to see the product in the hopes to sell more?

Same here for DDO. More eyes in the game equals more potential customers.

Now, lets look at some of the failing games (or games with smaller sub rates than I assume the company would like to see...) and how would they look with this model?
How about Warhammer Online, Age of Conan.. Would they have more subs or at least players with a potential to sell more? What about Hellgate: London or Tabula Rasa. Would they have survived under this setup.

Overall, could certain games benefit from this model?

Funcom is no newb to this type of setup for an MMO with Anarchy Online being a free to play...but with adverts (a little more bizarre, but still in that realm). Look how long they have been running now? Age of Conan is draining the revenues and finances of Funcom like a sieve.  So, maybe for Funcom to succeed they may have to walk that fine line again and figure out a new way to make cash.

A lot of Free to play's are not looked upon very well. Games like Runes of Magic or Perfect World, etc, all have quality issues. The games are not as well made as the financial powerhouses like AoC or WAR. Thus, could these commercial flops pull away from those lower quality games by going free? Maybe even pull players from those games. Last I heard, a million people have logged in to Perfect World at some point.

Could you imagine one million eyes in Warhammer...and how that could change the overall structure of that game?

I think we need to see how other "commercial" style MMO's that are not doing well in the sub arena would fare under a Cash Shop model...no matter how much people hate it. I personally feel that if a game starts to flounder, then it is time to see how you can change your model to the free to play scheme, and see if you succeed.

Guild Wars 2 is set to be a buy once, free for life with special "purchases" later deal to pad costs. Even Star Wars The Old Republic has mentioned this method (though the audience is pushing for the monthly deal, which I still think is a detriment. SWToR poll on payment).

This much I can say. DDO has proven it can work, and quite well.

2009 for MMO's in Image

I think this pretty much shows the outcome for the 2009 MMO season! And yes, that IS a trash can!

No MMO on my play list

Today I officially removed Tabula Rasa from my playing list. I looked at the icon this morning, and just decided a big NO to clicking it.
I just do not feel compelled. I wonder if it is the thought of it shutting down? Or was it the same over and over combat mechanics that killed it for me?

I miss Fantasy though, and that may be the issue.

Luckily I have Deadspace filling the Sci-Fi itch I get once in a great while (and of note..Deadspace is truly an AWESOME game, and I am duly impressed with the sound and controls...but more on that at another time)

So, back to the MMO issue.

I am debating starting up my DDO account I have waiting for me. I think the Hirelings are live now, and this was one of the items I wanted in effect when I played.
I also have a 10 dollar discount to Amazon, and I am debating getting a 60 day card for Age of Conan again.
I think I will wait on Conan to get DX10 first. I have a huge guild waiting on me, so getting players there for grouping is not an issue, but I really want to see the effects in their full glory. Several videos are about showing the sun rays effects and real time shadowing with blur for combat...very cool stuff.

But, I could also just not play any MMO for now, and continue on the wonderful Xbox 360 games I have. There is a ton of those..
Deadspace, Infinite Undiscovery, Prince of Persia and Star Wars: Force Unleashed.

With 2009 looking drab for the MMO genre, luckily there are several MMO's left to occupy my time. So maybe I should not rush starting a new one yet?

Anyways, back to the work grind...and if I miss it...Happy New Year.

Weekend gaming wrapup

And a quick hello.
I have returned from some time off, and boy, lots of cool stuff going on.

First off, for Christmas, I got the very fun Infinite Undiscovery for the 360. While not being a killer title for critics, it did have some overall good reviews.
It has some issues like really bad voice acting, yet it DOES have a good story for playthrough. And as combat and mechanics go, it is an excellent RPG with fast paced realtime sword and magic play (you cannot even pause for health, etc.), and a minor crafting system that gets the job done.
Puzzles require some thinking, and overall visually it looks great and the controls are spot on.
Not bad for Square Enix first major exclusive 360 outing.

Also, since Christmas vacation started, Silent Hill finally came to an end. With a VERY frustrating end boss (thanks Danshir, you were not kidding) and getting the crappy ending (I think there were a total of 5 different endings...), I was not pleased at the outcome.
Lets just say, be a good person within the game and keep a moral center...prepare for a not too happy ending. I do not get that, and overall was ticked off. I took it back over holidays to sell. Figure thanks to the youtube generation, I feel no need to play though again for my endings, and instead watched the videos online.

But, thanks to Silent Hill being done, we moved on to Deadspace. Some things of note.
The game is VERY fun. You gain more ways to take control of the situation with various sci-fi like items (for example, using a Stasis module to slow down time to kill off creatures is quite satisfying). Puzzles are good and again another visual treat here. EA really went all out to make a new IP, and this is very impressive.
But, with that comment, let me say...whoever keeps calling this the "Scariest" game, really does not know horror.
The creepy factor is top notch, but it is more like Doom, in that it goes for the cheap scares, droppping stuff on you, things coming to life in front of you and jumping in your face.
But, there is no doubt, that along with Resident Evil and Silent Hill, this new franchise goes on my list.
This only leaves Alone in the Dark, for horror games, so, it also goes on my list to buy soon.

This past weekend saw the launch of Fusionfall. For Christmas, my son got a PC for learning to type and what not...but, also we plan to play a few games together.
Basically the Cartoon Network universe is setup for an MMO.
Install was easy, character creation wortked quite well, and in no time, my son was in and rocking.
Visually, I was impressed that a browser based game could look this good. The animations were well done, and the use of various characters who were quite recognizable, equals a better MMO than most of the available titles in the genre.
I will probably join him to play this. We will be setting up Xfire on his system to do voice also. More on this as we progress.

As for Tabula Rasa, I am still on hiatus. But, I plan to get my son up to speed, and may start a new character there. But, I am unsure if I will continue my main. The game really does start to get more boring as you progress, and I have just not felt inclined to log in. And with so many great single player games, I may just say goodbye to TR.

Otherwise, the holiday has been "Movie Madness" here, with Hellboy 2, The Dark Knight, Resident Evil (the new CGI movie, which for what they have done, is not too shabby), Hancock and tons of Netflix to watch, truly some great stuff...I have enjoyed all of these so far..and more to come.
And of course, the Doctor Who Christmas Special broadcast this past week, and that is queued up to watch soon.

Anyways, I hope everyone had a good Holiday, and will be talking at you soon..

Cheers

Tabula Rasa - Post 20 blues

And so it came to pass....

Level 20 is here. And I am forlorn.

I am not compelled to login right now. I have a mission that I am working through (Tocastra Prison...something like that), and basically, it is brutal.
But, also, I hit that wall that always comes at level 20. The compelling need to go on starts to waver.

I start to think "Why should I even play?". The game will end in February. There is still not that many people on to form any friendships with or start any groups. I never have enough time to do these big dungeon runs like Tocastra.

And of course...the grind. It felt harsh for level 19, what will the next 10 levels be like? And if I do not finish the particular mission, I am pretty much stuck in progressing the story.

And why progress. There is not an outcome?

This makes me think of how Star Wars will be with it's Bioware'd story focus, Will the game end with chapters? Will it be like Guild Wars where there is a story with a beginning and end (which I love).

I have enjoyed Tabula Rasa though, but it is not the game to end all games for me. It never pulls you in fully. But, mechanically it is sound with some awesome crafting that I got excited to do all the time as I leveled. And the capability to progress solo even though the spawns were ridiculous..well, that was important.

I wonder how TR would have been with Henchmen?

Anyways. I am sure it is the lull before the holidays. I have quite a bit of work (when it rains it pours. Year end is my big money maker...even when the economy is down...how awesome is that?)...and I am not keeping regular hours, so morning game time will be small for a bit. Evenings are filled with Silent Hill, where I have progressed enough that I think I am almost at the end. And then I have Dead Space waiting for me (the wife is really excited over that one...), plus some movies will be making their way to me for Christmas..

Yea...gonna be crazy. Anyways, I will be off for a day or two for the Holidays..
Wish you and yours the best...

Cheers

Weekend gaming wrapup

Besides working my butt off transferring several websites to a new server, I also worked on some game time.

Right now, my main focus has been Tabula Rasa and Silent Hill.

Silent Hill has gotten even more difficult, and this is just on normal. The problem arises from the minimalistic approach to heals and ammo.
I have went into two boss fights now with no weapons to speak of but a crowbar and a knife....lol.
Frustration ensued. Yet, the compelling playstyle, and the ability to learn the methods of the boss attacks, well that has been a console game staple for years.
And it makes for some fun as you try to continue on...no matter how many controllers you break.
The story has started to come together, and I have left my sleepy town, and entered Silent Hill proper (and as anyone who has played the series knows, I have progressed to near the end, and the true meaning of what has happened is taking shape.)

Tabula Rasa has me almost level 20 (about 3/4 of the way in). Just this morning I went on a base takeover with several people...which to my surprise are starting to show up.
The game is offically free at this time. Anyone can sign up and play and download the game as well.
More info here.
I may reach my goal before the 26th, and that would be excellent, and the right step to getting to max level before closure.
More people on should help with the issues of mass spawns.
The funniest thing I have seen so far came up yesterday when everyone has decided that they will never play another NCSoft game.
There is no doubt that NCSoft is going to take it on the chin...hard.
But, that was not the funny part. The funny part is how many believe Darkfall will be the most innovative game to date, and that it will be the next MMO they play.
I am amazed at how many think DF's setup is a good idea.
Time will tell on that one...but, I know I would rather gouge my eyes out before touching that game.

In my web travels, I stepped into Tobolds Sunday Thread real quick to read topics. And it still seems that some believe Age of Conan will close within the year.
If a company can run a game free for several years, how is AoC not a success in even pulling in 100k for them?
If a company like Turbine can continue to run DDO, or SOE can continue to run...well, all their games, how is it that AoC is a target for fail?
Some things that fascinate me are
1. They just announced a D20 PnP RPG for AoC
2. As well, a strategy RTS styled boardgame is being released
3. A movie is still on track for 2010. I think the game will be finished by then as well.
4. Development still exists (however small) for an Xbox release.
Finally, the consensus has been that the game has done a complete 180 since launch for stability and content...with more coming by the end of December, early January.
The game is available through Steam, Direct 2 Drive, and on sale in various Brick and Mortars (a note of 9.99 was stated at Target).
Finally, the European audience seems to be much larger for Conan than the US.
The hatred seems to be inline for Funcom just like an NGE type of attitude, and it confuses me.
People scream "A game needs 6 months to get it's footing", but no one is willing to give the game that time.
I am still of the mind that AoC has more potential than some of the wannabe's out there.
But, I guess time will tell.
With comics, book reprints, board and PnP games, movies, and the game constantly bveing worked on, I am not of the mind to write it off like a Tabula Rasa or Auto Assault or even an AC2.

Well, back to the grind. Holidays are around the corner, and uh...I am NOT done shopping...argh! (long story)...but, I did get the house gift (which the wife and I do every year). This year, we have replaced the Refrigerator...woot. Nice sleek black model coming tomorrow.
Anyways, cheers to you and yours, as we all enjoy the season..

Later!

Tabula Rasa - Deployment: Earth

The arrival of deployment 15 went out today (was probably yesterday, but when I logged in this morning, I got a nice update).
Some changes to visual icons and what not, including the FPS mode (which for some reason does not work like I saw on PTS and not like I thought it would) were in this patch.

Of course the biggie is the chance to go back to Earth.

I have not investigated this very much, and it is a high level feature, so I may never see Earth. But, for the longest time they have teased on the login screen with a cool post-apocalyptic style screenshot of Earth. Devastated, with various blue lights shooting up into the sky.

As more data comes out, I will post about it. The fact so many were playing this morning with no clue about the features for Dep. 15, it is really sad.

Anyways, I hit level 19, and am on my way to my goal of level 20 before the 26th.

If I have a chance, I will post some screenies later...and as always, good gaming.

PS3, Silent Hill and Tabula Rasa

So, in case anyone has missed this little bit.

The Playstation 3 is dead. The games available (major exclusives like Little Big Planet and Valkyrie Profile) are selling dismally.
Sony as a whole does not understand it's market by promoting Video Downloads instead of the Blu-Ray player.
The Home network, while a cool concept, is just Second Life, except it has been hacked already while live.
I think we can at this point declare the Wii the winner of the casual market and Xbox 360 the winner of the hardcore gamer.
Seems the PS3 does not fit any "niche" or cannot find it's footing...

I almost bought a PS3. I am glad I did not, and decided to wait.

Patience is a virtue indeed.

Silent Hill: Homecoming - OMG, how hard is this game?
The combat is very unforgiving, and, as has been noted, westernized.
Meaning (besides development being given to a western company) you have full control of the main character. The strange camera angles are gone, and you have full visual acuity around you.
Yet at the same time, the AI is more brutal. Situations more dangerous.
Each creature has a special guard like ability or attack. You must learn these moves, or else suffer horribly.
First aid drinks and heal kits are few and far between. And the boss fights are next to impossible to avoid damage.
Weapons are always limited so far. Guns are a "Only use if you must" item, due to ammo situations. Some creatures are even somewhat immune to bullets.
The first time you are attacked by any creature you have never seen, be prepared to reload your save. They attack swiftly, and smartly.
Speaking of saves, ARGH, too few to speak of.
Yet, the creepy factor is high, the story intriguing and combat is fun, though fraught with controller throwing moments. I have not felt like this since Ninja Gaiden on xbox.
I beat that sucker though and felt the wave of victory wash over me, so I must persist here as well.

Tabula Rasa has become my morning game. Perfect, since no one is on at any time, but hopefully that will change.
For now I can just run around, try to complete quests or missions, and finish the zone.
My calculation is to be level 20 by the time the 26th comes around. Then my next focus will be to get to level 40 by the end of January. But, if I reach 35, I should still be ok to try and hit 50 by the end of February.
I am not worried if I do not, but it would be cool to max just one character in any MMO besides Guild Wars.
Not much to report here, except that I continue to find ways to complete missions even though the spawn rates are nasty. The Divide is still quite the pain. I can only imagine what the next area will bring.

Anyways, looks like I have my hands busy, and will hopefully be able to get to my Xfire charts by the end of the week (that is proving to be fun to watch...especially with the RMT announcement for EQ2...seems some drop is occuring. Will this be a trend? Some sure are miffed about it...)

Tabula Rasa - Playable Until *Feb 28, 2009*

That's right.
Seems my account was reactivated after canceling, and has become full play.
It has been rumored that anyone that had a "paid" account in the past has already been given the free time early.
Someone noted this in game the other day, so I decided to check it out this morning, and sure enough...I can play until the end of days ("I'll be back" /end Schwarzenegger references....).

As to my game time, after my complete and utter fail at several missions due to spawn rates, I still thought to myself that I could possibly do instances or kill mobs to level to hopefully become more powerful and try again with the failures. I figured I had (originally) until the 26th of this month still.
Persevering, I ended up having to cross the great Divide to reach my one goal (this is what the zone is named after...a HUGE valley that rips through the landscape that has proven to be difficult due to spawn issues)..and saw the one Boss I kept dying on.
Packing in my armor recharge and setting my heals to a quick button, I decided to charge in again.
Using EMP I drained his armor. As soon as this was eliminated, I used my LOGOs lightning skill, and a Sonic shotgun to keep him off his toes. I switched to Chaingun to rail some major damage.
I kept on top of this, while healing, and had him in a spot that I was semi hidden from the wandering Bane.

Down he went...

A big ole smile hit my face and I even yelped out loud (luckily my son was in GoW2 killing some nasties...hehe).
That was exicitng.

And then I realized what my goal was.

I was totally enjoying the game, and I was going to find a way to keep going even though players are limited for groups.

This makes me think of how many games like this that were failures at first, that people just got so upset at, and decided to never give it another chance?
It is ok if the game was not to their liking, but I am having a war of issues on one forum regarding the AoC hate.
The constant bickering between the fans and the haters roars on.
What's amusing is each time the hater always states an issue they hated, that does not exist anymore.
From ganking due to no consequences (even though they could have played PvE instead of whining, and now the Consequence system is in) to no content (when multiple new dungeons and quests and even one new zone has been added) to performance (major strides have been made to eliminate all crashes and performance in FPS has jumped tremendously).
All problems that are not a problem now.
There is no doubt that the change in gameplay after the 1-20 hike is jarring. Yet, this gameplay is the EXACT same gameplay in any other MMO, which again becomes amusing. Then to top it off, the game does offer some unique mechanics with the combat system for melee, and the questing does stray a bit, especially in certain zones.

Same with Tabula Rasa. I think if people would have just let go their hate (just like the SOE hate...that still is mind boggling over the NGE), they may have found that a lot of their issues have been resolved in TR.
Again, if you did not like the game overall, there is no hope.
But, like myself, if the main issues you had with a game has not been fixed in all the time it has been out (LOTRO still to this day has not fixed some major complaints that were discussed all the way back in Closed Beta), then you have every right to rail on it...especially if you kept giving them chances.
But, to not go back due to a bad launch, and think that the same issues exist after six months or even a year, is ridiculous.

I will mourn TR.
But, for now, I get full play time, and I will make every minute count toward my goal of maxing out!

Tabula Rasa - I need a Group Hug

Well, it was to eventually happen. I have hit a snag in the fun of Tabula Rasa. It deals with something that has been discussed before...

Spawn rates.

Now that I have entered the Divide, the mobs are not only more powerful, there is more of a variety. Due to various invulnerabilities, I must continue to switch weapons to attack, stay on heals, and run around like an idiot basically.
And not more than a few moments after you have cleared out that mob?

Here they come again!

So, where does this leave a game that the population is almost non-existent? Well, leaves me in a heap o' mess! No one is around in these zones. OUCH!

I am unsure of why the spawn rates continue to be set for a larger population. As well, this may have been the issue with the game when the servers were fuller. No mobs for missions, equals disgruntled players due to low spawn rates.

This game had really progressed though in fun and stability. But, this is what happens when a game is just a niche. Populations dwindle or are too small to deal with certain quests. Areas empty out, and players who start are left wondering why they even play.

This was argued in a previous post, as someone stated in comments "What is wrong with niche?"

This is what is wrong with niche....

Look at WAR, thanks to it's RvR bent, has empty zones, issues with getting groups for specific PQ's, etc. LOTRO with it's focus on forced grouping for specific storyline quests forces the player to find a guild...or else (and I have seen posts by players whose guild of course is too high level, and not wanting to go back to help the player). AoC thanks to it's high entry system needs leaves a large population not even willing to TRY the game due to worries of performance..DDO languishes with no grouping for earlier areas thanks to low populations.

This is why my argument still stands that 2009 may not be the best of years for MMO's thanks to such a large group of niche titles. They will be fun at first when everyone tries the game...then the game loses that luster. The new shiny if you will, will become dull. Literally.

I guess for now, TR needs to be put away (or I can just continue to grind small mobs...how fun is THAT?) until the January free play. I really can't wait to see this game full of people.

But, I sure do dread 2009 for this genre....

X-Fire review - trending popularity

If we were to take the scales from the X-Fire charts, we can get a pretty good idea of popularity of the various Western based MMO's, and actually create a chart.

Like, for example, we all know WoW is #1 in sales and players. But, can we guesstimate how popular the other games are using this methodolgy?

Lets take a look.

#2 - WAR - Easily the second most popular MMO.
We have heard rumors of customers leaving, yet the latest patch added in two of the missing classes, and the times being played correspond to it's place in our chart. It's popularity still places high on the list, and makes WAR the #2 most popular MMO.


#3 - LOTRO - No matter how much I do not want to admit it, based on the X-Fire chart, and thanks to a new expansion, LOTRO gets in at #3 for popularity. The return of customers who originally bought the game, and lifetimers overall add to time played.
Well done Turbine.


#4 - Age of Conan - Still charting, and being consistent, this is pretty good. There have been new issues with the merges, and some slow response on the next patch. But, there is no doubt that there is a group of people who want their game to be a little different. I still have confidence in them. Now, if they would just speed things up ..


#5 - Everquest 2 - Well, thanks to some brisk sales of their latest expansion, they have made some huge leaps on the X-Fire charts...actually up 20 spots from when I last looked upon them..
This easily drops them into the top 5 Western MMO's


Note, we did not include Guild Wars here, due to one issue. They are not subscriber based, and that is what we are looking at. If we were to include them, they are by far the second largest MMO. But, we also question the MMO connotation, so for our purposes, we will note that WoW and GW are the two most popular fantasy online games. Here is hoping Guild Wars 2 proves to be a powerhouse like it's predecessor.

Now, this makes for our top 5. I do want to include a couple here that I have discussed in the past, and wanted to follow up on.

Dungeons and Dragons Online - The game has seen an upswing, which may be due to the new module that was released. I also have noted in the past that new technologies drive players to some games. With the addition of DX10, I think this also drives new players in.
So, with the upcoming henchmen system (hirelings) and the continued support of the DX system, who knows...maybe this game could do a turnabout (I also want to note that since release, all new content and updates have been FREE, with no expansions or costs associated with this...nice move to help drive new business)


Tabula Rasa - So, what happens when you announce the closure of your game? Bye Bye customers (even though the game is not scheduled to end for another 3 months...OUCH!)



Thats it for now. I am hoping to see a couple of more titles here soon. I may look at the Asian Market and check on games like Cabal, Shin Megami and later Spellborn.

Cheers

Weekend gaming wrapup

Weekend took an interesting turn as I put some major hours into Tabula Rasa, hit level 15 and set off for the Divide.
I put in more time into Shin Megami, yet, due to lag and disconnects, I started to feel a bit of grind and boredom there. I still have it loaded, and will watch to make sure that when they patch up, I get back in.
Also, I finally put Lost Odyssey on the "Sell it" list. I think for myself, turn based games have become a thing of nostalgia, and really do not hold up well in today's fast based gaming world.

Tabula Rasa grabbed me totally when I went into the Crater Instance. The instances are set to scale according to players and levels. And it was a winner. I did about an hour run there, finished my Wilderness Targets of Opportunity, which completes the first zone for missions.
I now set off for the Divide, a more war torn zone, with some wildlife that is a major pain.
I did cancel my game (which ends on the 26 of December), and noted my disappointment the game is going away. I also asked why they felt the need to cancel instead of lowering the price, or offering a Guild Wars buy and play system. Even micro-transactions would be awesome.
Anyways, I plan to return when the free time kicks in again though. The game has been great fun, and I will try to get as far as I can in my time alloted.

That was it for the weekend. This week on Dec. 10th is the new DLC for Fable 2 and the patch to fix a few errors. That will get me back to that game.
Excited.
Who knows, maybe Acclaim and TCoS will become less "in the dark" this week, pull their heads out of their asses and get the CB out for Spellborn!

Maybe?

Tabula Rasa - So, how is it going?

I have been having a blast actually.

I am level 13 and halfway to 14 now. I play about 2-3 hours a day and so far enjoy the various missions and the crafting, which has become an addiction.
Sitting and picking modules to remove from one set of armor to place in another set has been awesome fun.
Upgrading weapons is also a treat.

Another thought occurs to me though, that in knowing the game will close gives me that impression the story will "end". This has been one pet peeve for MMO's for me, and maybe this makes it feel like I have a goal. I am progressing to end game, but not to raid or have PvP battles, etc.

Just to reach...the end.

The Deployment 15 patch has reached the PTS, and this includes both FPS mode and Earth as a playfield. I tested the FPS mode, and it is spot on, and works well. I did not know if there was a way to get to max to see Earth, but then I decided not to do this. Lets leave it a surprise.

Maybe this has been what is missing, as most MMO's have so much information on the game and how to complete quests, or do this or that task on a wiki or website...that the mystery is gone.
I think my break really helped me focus down to what is "fun" in an MMO, and hopefully I can ride this out when I go back to any other Fantasy MMO.

Too bad this game will be gone, but maybe it is for the best.
Hopefully, NCSoft's Aion is a hit, or else, we may see the beginning of the end now for this company!

Tabula Rasa - Crafting that I like

How odd.

I messed around with the crafting system yesterday. I just wanted to note that what we have here is actually a fun and simple crafting game.

You have several steps to working with crafting.

You either can break down junk equipment for items called mimeomechs.
You can rip modules off weapons to reuse (example, higher damage mods or modifiers for attributes)
You can re-add modules to weapons and armor.

You need the mimeomechs to rip the modules or add them again. Each weapon and armor piece has a possible 4 slots for upgrades. You can pull one upgrade and add a new one in it's place, etc.
If an item has 2 slots filled, you can add 2 more modules.

Total control over how you wish your items to be.

So, if I am focused say on more armor and regen of health...no prob. I can rip what I need off lower grade equipment and add it to new equipment.

This is all I know so far. According to the TR wiki I can also eventually fabricate items.

I do not need to spend money on points for crafting or get my skill up, etc. It just works right out of the box. Reminds me of being very Diablo in the sense of adding and removing items.

I would like to see another game use this craft system.

Quite fun, and easy without taking my game time away. Finally a craft system I like, and it is going away...

So sad.

Tabula Rasa - The end is actually quite sad

So, as I stated, this past week for Thanksgiving (and between games of course) I decided to fire up the TR account early.
I got the game for .96 cents, so really any playtime does not hurt the pocket book.

I started with an initial character that was to be played between myself and my son. Our goal at this point is to get a character to max.

At level 5 we cloned the main for the new class selection. We made the main a Soldier, which my son spent quite a bit of time with.
Then he deiced to try the clone and made a Specialist.

I noted my son kept asking questions about crafting and clans. I enjoyed that he wanted to discuss the game.

At one point I checked on him, and found him in a group. This of course did not end well (he may be gifted, but typing is still a 5 word per minute affair...lol, good thing he is getting his own PC for Christmas to practice on...woot), but he also shows this interest in grouping mechanics.

Myself, I took over the soldier and have played here and there. I have noted that the missions are well laid out, sensible, well written. I think the most fascinating mission is actually something they call a "Window of Opportunity".
Basically they took a whole lot of various quests of kill this many, discover this much, etc. They have made this a "Prestige" line that assigns you titles as you complete them besides XP.
Kill 100 Thrax, get a title and XP, Investigate so many caves on the planet, get a title and XP.

I have not crafted yet, and may even avoid that, as it really has not grabbed me in past games. But, otherwise, I am shocked that I am having a bit of fun.

I think taking a break from the MMO genre helped some here. I am fresh going back, and willing to not "rush" to level. I am also open to some grouping.

Time will tell.

It will be sad to see another MMO bite the dust. So, at this point, I do want to have everyone check out this site...

Save Tabula Rasa is a project to help save Tabula Rasa from demise.

The author states...

"-A means to gain 75% of the "Tabula Rasa" property.

-Leaving 25% in the hands of NCSoft.

See what money we can figure out, if we can that is, is for a marketing campaign using various components of the game.

-Marketing the music element.

-Possibly using the internet and creating an "affiliate program"

-And if these begin paying off, more broad base media.

The goal to me is to try to set up a system to get a good 100,000 subscribers a week after a maximum time frame of 3 months."

I am unsure of the success this website may have, but I do want to point it out in hopes people will sign up, and get involved if you enjoyed the game.

Hope everyone had a good weekend....cheers.

Warhammer Online - Priced to go, and a hint of TR

Brendan from MMOlogy pointed out that WAR is now selling for a nice 10.95 retail. Free shipping with Prime also. Woot.

Will this help bring in more players during this holiday season? Or is this a last ditch effort on the part of a game that is good for a few PvP/RvR fights, and then go back to WoW, type of player?

What is interesting is WAR still holds the coveted #15 spot on X-Fire which still makes it the #2 most popular subscription based, Western developed MMO.

Can those numbers hold?

Speaking of those X-Fire numbers, I do see LOTRO is already starting to decline though...but, that is another story.

Finally for my weekend, just a quick post. Myself, and my son are having a good time in Tabula Rasa. I took over the main character and that character is almost level 10. My son took a clone of the main, and made an alternate class of Specialist which deals more with equipment, healing, etc.
Almost level 7.

I will post more on this later.

But, I will say, truly sad to see this game go.

Have a good weekend.

The Witcher ends, Tabula Rasa begins

So, for a Thanksgiving treat, I completed the Witchers end game.
What a great way to end with even a nice cliff hanger.
As well, if I wish I can go back as there are downloadable adventures created by users and the main staff with stories about alternate characters from the game or Geralt again. One includes Dandelion, a friend who was in the short stories I read, and figured in my main story several times. A great bard as well.
One was also made that does a small continuation of Geralts story that was included on the EE set I bought, after he finishes his main quest.

But, we decided to take the plunge (my son and I) to start up Tabula Rasa.

I include my son here, as he has shown more of an interest in playing something besides his FPS. He is quite talented in that respect. His mind is a little ahead of most children his age (he belongs to a special program for gifted children at school), and he played through Fable 2 multiple times, and has even played several RTS's.

But, this is of note as well, because I could have another opinion of the game from someone who has NEVER played an MMO. Not just that, but someone who loves shooters. He loves Sci-Fi, and as an added bonus, will use an alternate means to control this MMO.

I am discussing the 360 controller.

As I game on the PC I attempt to see what games work well with the Xbox 360 controller.
A while back I suffered some mild carpal tunnel. I used the controller which helped me alleviate the mousing issues. When you have been behind a mouse for 20+ years, then it starts to rub on you. Keyboards seem to not affect me as much in this manner.
So, when a game has a pretty straight forward interface like TR, I can setup the main controls to adapt in this manner.

Anyways, I was able to come up with a scheme through X-Padder to work most of the controls for TR.

So far so good.

We played a bit. I noted right off the bat that they had a new tutorial area, which is more streamlined and gets you to the real world setting much quicker.
You learn all of the systems quickly and are put into action.

At this point I had created the full scheme for the 360 controller, and let my son take over. This was about level 4.

He is now level 8 as I write today. I plan to question him a bit more on his thoughts and see what he likes, dislikes...

I will point out one major issue. The game is major empty. We saw maybe 2 or 3 people the whole time since playing. But, the global chat was pretty full of chatter.

As my son played, I did hear "This is awesome" quite a few times. Right now he is questioning different things like starting a Clan or joining one and wants to know about crafting.

This should be an interesting experiment.

Tabula Rasa - Tobold discusses the end of shooters

Recently Tobold discussed how the fact that with the loss of Hellgate earlier this year and now Tabula Rasa, is it possible that the "Shooter" based MMO is at it's end.

Tobold states :

"It is totally possible that there is a large demand for good shooter MMOs, but neither Hellgate nor Tabula Rasa were good enough. But then, I kind of liked Tabula Rasa, especially the instances, and wouldn't say it was a terrible game. Is it a statistical fluke that over the last 10 years games with swords sold better than games with guns, or is there a fundamental incompatibility of MMORPG gameplay and shooting?"

This is possible. I have argued about the other aspect of this known as "avatar" based Sci-Fi. This would explain the success of EvE for example.

He goes on to say :

"The reason why that question could be important is future games. The Agency will be a shooter MMO. Star Wars: The Old Republic will have both (light) swords and (laser) guns. Are these future games going to take a hit just because of the weapons they use, or will we see a game break the curse of the shooter MMO? What do you think?"

I notice he did not mention Stargate Worlds. Even though I am smelling a fail there myself.
My only argument for it's success is the magical like nature of the Asgard or the Jaffa, even though it really is science. Also, the Renaissance or Egyptian like settings at times, which meld Sci-Fi and Fantasy lend an air of mystery.

Of course, Hellgate and Tabula Rasa did this. No luck there.

The simple reason, and what I keep stating is overall, avatar based Sci-Fi MMO's always seem to fail. Matrix, Star Wars, TR, Hellgate, etc, etc, you name it. Science Fiction as a genre really does not have as large of a following as Fantasy in the MMO field.
But, why is this?

Lets try this...

What would happen if the MMO was a "real" shooter instead.

Look at Huxley (still vaporware mind you), which was to be a full blown shooter, and not calculated dice rolls.
Would it's Halo/Gears of War like shooter mechanics have been a better fit...an MMOFPS if you will?
The Agency for example has been noted to be real time shooting combat. And maybe this was the problem with Tabula Rasa. It used dice rolls to calculate the damages.

But, then Hellgate was real time. I think overall Hellgate's issues stemmed from content being so random and yet, the same. Dungeons used the same tile systems over and over.
And lets not forget bugginess that persisted even longer than Age of Conan's issues.

Who knows?

For Tabula Rasa, I am in the same camp with Tobold in that I do not think it sucked actually. It did not deserve a monthly fee though, and this is where it dropped the ball. A lower price point or micro-transaction could have been the winner to keep TR alive.

So far ..Fantasy lends itself to the "We are legion" type of gaming, and this may be the other issue with Sci-Fi MMO's.
Think of all the FPS type games where it is "kill or be killed". Not much in the way of "team" based combat or mechanics.
More people play Deathmatches than the co-op features of most of these games.
The only difference is say the Horror genre, like Left 4 Dead which is showing that co-op counts to survive in shooters.
(And that begs the question of why no one has made a Horror MMO...even though Funcom is working on one with the Secret World, but, we know how everyone feels about Funcom lately.)

The only final argument that has not been brought up is the female gamer aspect. We do know the female gamer is becoming more prominent in the shooter arena, with Halo, etc.
But, for the most part, females look for a more casual type of gameplay according to various studies. Also, a Fantasy setting seems to attract gamer women. I can attest to this as all of my previous gamer girlfriends, as well as my current wife either do not like or abhor Science Fiction compared to Fantasy. All we need to do is look at the sale of Sims 2 and the overall female population there to note how this affects the genre.
When Tabula Rasa came up, even though I felt the setting screamed Stargate, and the wife enjoys SG, she just did not want to shoot guns...period. Even though I showed her you gained "magic like" powers with the Logos system, it was a no sale, thanks to guns (of course, she loves Horror games like Silent Hill or Resident Evil, and guns are not an issue there.)

So, we come full circle. Why is it that Sci-Fi fails in the MMO genre, compared to so many Fantasy MMO's coming out of our ears.

What do you feel is the main issue?

And the next MMO is.....

Tabula Rasa...

Haha..

Thanks to this little doozy

So, on Dec. 10th, I will register my key from my .96 cent box, and enjoy my 30 days...which will turn into 60 days instead. What a hoot.

Nice.

Of course I better verify I can do that, or suffer the Hellgate fate, where anyone that bought a box after the announcement of death could not sign up for online access.

2 Months...about as much as I can stay in an MMO nowadays anyways.
Perfect amount of time.

Goodbye TR. And with that, the death of another Sci-Fi MMO.

Elves and Dwarves FTW!!!

Plans change...Do you know where your MMO is?

UGh...and Double UGH!

Thanks to Tipa, "The bearer of bad tidings" (that is an achievement badge I believe in World of Warcraft), it seems my moratorium ending MMO has tanked until January.
This is not to say that I could be one of the lucky few who get in Closed Beta scheduled to start next week...but I will not hold my breath.

So, the time has come to make sure I choose correctly for my next MMO schedule. I will go through a list of the MMO's I have an interest in, debate the pro's and con's for me, and hopefully you guys will really pipe in with some opinion....

My first choices are recent purchases, and were made for specific reasons.

Dungeons and Dragons Online - Thanks to the DX10 update, new tutorial area and hirelings (upcoming), I decided to swing for the box, which I bought for 5 bucks.

The reason I have held off though is due to hirelings not being fully implemented.
Should I at least get in, make my character and start the tutorial area to get a feel for the new update? Or wait to make sure I get to trial the hirelings?
I have not read a release date yet on these. Plus, the 30 days has to really count, so if I miss something due to taking it on too early, then I will only have myself to blame.

The main reasons I bought the game is I have sort of liked each time I played. I have had issues with animations (a trademark Turbine issue...30FPS animations in a 60FPS world is how I describe their jerky movements), but visually I like the game better than LOTRO, and has a more action style feel.

But, when I read about hirelings, I was hooked.

I feel I need to give it longer than a 7 day trial.

Tabula Rasa - This of course was purchased due to one reason...96 cents....duh.
I have given this one 30 days, but it was the end of beta.

I entered Closed Beta about two weeks before the end. I rather enjoyed myself at that time.
Then Open Beta came and they made changes to how it worked. Balance was thrown off, performance suffered, and it became...non-fun!

But, the game has had time to mature. As well, I read of a change to the game to make it FPS viewable, and that Earth was being added to the mix. I liked the idea of going back to Earth in the story.

My main cons are...Sci-Fi and....Sci-Fi. I have yet to find any Sci-Fi game to really keep me...short of an Action game or FPS (Gears of War, Halo, etc..).
But, Tabula was fun with the LOGOS system, and made it feel slightly fantasy based. The alien drop ship spawns were cool, and weapon upgrades were neat.

Visually the game is nice to look at. Performance is good also since launch (went back once for a trial). I never tried the crafting (well, a little, but it sucked), so I am up in the air.

Do I wait for Earth and FPS mode first? Or take the plunge....

Everquest 2 - Ah, good ole EQ2. I really enjoyed myself for 8 months. This game is also the only game that I played to a higher level than most.. (I think I left at level 54...have to double check).

But, things started to go awry.

The performance was really conducive to not having fun (poor shoddy gameplay on high end equipment was not cool). The constant travel to various zones with long load screens was blah.
The world felt non-cohesive (one zone would look awesome, then the next would suck).

Luckily I really enjoyed the SOGA models. Combat was actually fun. And now with the changes to performance (Dual Core support), this one could work.

The XP raise for leveling I have heard is a boon, and this could possibly make the game go by quicker. This was another argument that the drag on levels and questing just made it go slow.

Of course, I will solo a lot, maybe join some PuG's, but I just want a game that will be fun no matter how I play.

Will EQ2 keep me occupied again?

Guild Wars - Going back is always an option here thanks to the no cost start up fee, and no cost monthly...

I still have a ton of content to complete, and recently a new patch added ways to track achievements for other missions in the game.

But, I do not want to burn out on an MMO immediately, and Guild Wars was played extensively a while back. It is still fresh, and I am unsure if I want to start back up just yet.

Either an older game (EQ2 has been almost a year) or a NEW game would be better suited..

Yet, GW ALWAYS satisfies...
__________________________

These are my choices for now. Nothing else really interests me at this point.
LOTRO will never touch my hard drive again, WAR was just not any fun, Vanguard....ah, if I need to be put to sleep maybe...and a slew of many others also (WoW is also a NEVER thanks to their idiocy. Trying to charge me for game time I never played is NOT cool.)

Any input here? Fire away...

Cheers