http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_168/5273-Me-Myself-and-Multiplayer
Makes me wonder, what strategies can be used to encourage cooperative play?
Friday, September 26, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Random Thoughts on Tabula Rasa
I started playing Tabula Rasa. My first thought is: This game is not very well made.
Basic reason 1: The main appeal of the game seems to be simple action. This was made clear during the combat part of Bootcamp (the tutorial). However, once I entered the Wilderness, it seemed there was little action to be had. Most of the game was running around when doing quests, or waiting for the next wave if defending a capture point. It wasn't until I got to Divide that things started to get interesting again.
Basic reason 2: The abilities seem to have been designed without a clear concept of how the controls for them were going to work. There are more abilities and items you need easy access to, than the control scheme can make easy to access. The game is not designed for ease of use.
Initially, I was impressed with the combat section of the tutorial. It was full of action with enemies everywhere, especially on the battlefield section. I found the carnage quite enjoyable and it raised my expectations. These expectations were then shattered by what came next.
In the Wilderness, I encountered a lot of quests to run around, and found the areas rather lacking in enemy density. The few fights I encountered were entertaining, but there weren't nearly enough of them. It seemed like I spent all my time running around bored trying to complete the endless supply of quests.
Even though I tried to bear the boredom, it seemed pointless. Instead of getting directed to more entertaining areas, I just ended up with quests that took me to areas I couldn't handle. This left me very frustrated, and I eventually quit trying to complete those quests. Instead I tried to do some Capture Point defense.
Assaulting a Capture Point solo seemed near impossible. The number of enemies was far too great to handle alone. My first attempt I was lucky, and was with some other people who were attacking at the same time I was.
Defending the Capture Point is the part I found most entertaining, but in the Wilderness, I felt like I spent more time waiting around than I did anything else. This lead to boredom and disinterest. I was getting very close to giving up on the game, but there was still one thing I hadn't tried yet: entering Divide.
My first trip into Divide proved fruitful. There were monsters to fight along the paths I took, and when I tried to defend a capture point, I found there was much less time spent waiting. Even though I was much too low in level to do much, the frequent action, and long fights kept my interest.
Basic reason 1: The main appeal of the game seems to be simple action. This was made clear during the combat part of Bootcamp (the tutorial). However, once I entered the Wilderness, it seemed there was little action to be had. Most of the game was running around when doing quests, or waiting for the next wave if defending a capture point. It wasn't until I got to Divide that things started to get interesting again.
Basic reason 2: The abilities seem to have been designed without a clear concept of how the controls for them were going to work. There are more abilities and items you need easy access to, than the control scheme can make easy to access. The game is not designed for ease of use.
Initially, I was impressed with the combat section of the tutorial. It was full of action with enemies everywhere, especially on the battlefield section. I found the carnage quite enjoyable and it raised my expectations. These expectations were then shattered by what came next.
In the Wilderness, I encountered a lot of quests to run around, and found the areas rather lacking in enemy density. The few fights I encountered were entertaining, but there weren't nearly enough of them. It seemed like I spent all my time running around bored trying to complete the endless supply of quests.
Even though I tried to bear the boredom, it seemed pointless. Instead of getting directed to more entertaining areas, I just ended up with quests that took me to areas I couldn't handle. This left me very frustrated, and I eventually quit trying to complete those quests. Instead I tried to do some Capture Point defense.
Assaulting a Capture Point solo seemed near impossible. The number of enemies was far too great to handle alone. My first attempt I was lucky, and was with some other people who were attacking at the same time I was.
Defending the Capture Point is the part I found most entertaining, but in the Wilderness, I felt like I spent more time waiting around than I did anything else. This lead to boredom and disinterest. I was getting very close to giving up on the game, but there was still one thing I hadn't tried yet: entering Divide.
My first trip into Divide proved fruitful. There were monsters to fight along the paths I took, and when I tried to defend a capture point, I found there was much less time spent waiting. Even though I was much too low in level to do much, the frequent action, and long fights kept my interest.
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