Pumping Irony

I ordered Tabula Rasa from Amazon last week at the bargain price of $0.96 + S&H. I was in the beta last year and was heartbroken by what I saw. It’s been a year now and “heartbroken” is still the only word I can think of to describe the difference between the hype and what we’d been told the game would be versus what I actually saw in beta. Plus I couldn’t escape the niggling thoughts in the back of my mind that the art style looked awful similar to SiN. Sure, I was fighting Bane on alien worlds, but I kept expecting messages from JC and wondering when the sultry villainess Elexis Sinclair would reveal her plans as well as her cleavage.

The box arrived yesterday but I plan on waiting until December 1 or thereabouts to install and give the game a shot now that it’s been out for a year. I’ve been reading encouraging things about TR lately, and the next Deployment patch will be finally adding a first-person camera to the game. That was also something I didn’t jive with last year; I’ve said before that I just don’t understand why console development studios can nail third-person shooters but PC studios seem unable to. I am unable to play Hellgate: London in third-person either, it’s just doesn’t feel right.

Ironically, now that I’m finally willing to look Richard Garriott in the eye again after the beta ruthlessly raped my long-held regard for the man (serves me right for becoming what I blast others for: a fanboy built on hype alone), his creative vision and the game it spawned, Richard Garriott today announces he is leaving NCsoft.

Fellow Soldiers of the AFS,

I am happy to finally be able to write the players and community of Tabula Rasa. We’ve been on quite a journey together. First in creating a game unlike any other on the MMO market, then growing a loyal community and finally launching the game and its players into space with Operation Immortality. It has been quite an unforgettable journey, one that I will treasure for the rest of my life.

I am very grateful to you loyal players for sticking around through what I think we can all honestly say was a rough launch. I thank the development team for pushing hard to get polish, updates and new content out every month since launch…a feat that I think is unusual in MMO development. They have a lot to be proud of.

Many of you probably wonder what my plans are, now that I have achieved the lifelong dream of going to space. Well, that unforgettable experience has sparked some new interests that I would like to devote my time and resources to. As such, I am leaving NCsoft to pursue those interests.

This news is difficult for me to deliver. I am honored to have worked with the team I’ve had and I’m grateful to the community who makes this game so unique and fun.

Thank you and farewell.

Richard “General British” Garriott

I’m sure I won’t be the first to question the authenticity behind his departure.

Yes, it’s true he’s always been fascinated with space flight. His father was an astronaut. Perhaps his journey did indeed inspire him to pursue other interests, much like id’s John Carmack also puts a lot of effort into Armadillo Aerospace. Garriott could easily take his clout and personal finances into the aerospace industry or even as a philanthropist donating work and money to aerospace-focused business, schools and programs.

However, it’s also true that Tabula Rasa was way over-budget and the product under-sold. NCsoft’s bottom line was affected by Tabula Rasa. Going into space isn’t cheap either, and many would consider Operation Immortality to be simply a promotional excuse to get NCsoft to foot the bill for his personal dream. Little to no promotion for the game ever resulted from Operation Immortality.

Now Garriott is back on Terra Firma, his orbital vacation come to its end, and we find him departing the company who invested so much into his vision. Cynical as we bloggers tend to be, I hope he’s being sincere with his reasons and it’s not a termination in disguise. I also hope NCsoft keeps the game alive and doesn’t pull the plug ala Auto Assault. Tabula Rasa isn’t as fundamentally flawed as Auto Assault was and its problems can be overcome, but I’m still a believer that MMO’s are still only given one real chance to gain their audience. Players who tried and canceled might come back for a visit, like I’m doing soon, but I never hear of them staying. They already have their “main” game for dinner but from time to time they’ll peruse some of the light desserts on the menu.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 11th, 2008 at 5:24 pm and is filed under MMO Gaming. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.