Numerical scores are like so last decade ago. So, breaking free from the supposed "one-size-fits-all" checklists of items to add up to a game's "score", we're going to be implementing a new five-star review system. See, we're trying to avoid having to quantify video games into arbitrary numbers. After all, many of us feel that a game isn't just the sum of all its parts (as in a checklist), but rather, the totality of the gaming experience itself! In the full article, we've come up with a handy FAQ to introduce this brand spanking new system to all of you QJ.NET readers. And yes, there're no half-stars about it! Rawr!

Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa end of beta event had players find and kill General British. But why? How? Who the hell is General British anyways? (Hint: Richard Garriott = General British) Well, April Burba (AKA CuppaJo) discussed about the end of beta event and how it came about. Veteran MMORPG players will know this bit of gaming lore for sure.

For those who aren't aware, this event has some historical roots from all the way back in Ultima Online. When the game launched back then, Richard Garriott (the game's creator) he addressed the crowd in-game and... well, died. Apparently, upon giving the other players the challenge to kill him, he had forgotten to make his character invincible. So, right as he jumped into the fray of battle... well, you can probably figure out the rest.

Now in Tabula Rasa, they've recreated the event from ten years ago, with a few tweaks though. For one, Garriott wasn't invulnerable. What made him seem so were the clones of himself causing chaos in the battlefield. As CuppaJo explained before the event:

A lot of the developers will be in the game, dressed in the General British armor, and although they will look identical, they will have names like General Br1t1sh or General Irish. Only Richard Garriott himself will have the correct name, General British. As the players encounter these clones, they will have to eliminate them so that they can find the right one and take him down.

Here's a fresh load of screenshots for Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa. They show us one of the first instances that you might come across in the game: The Caves of Donn. The story here is that the local Foreans are trying to defend their area from the Bane forces.

See, in this instance, the invading Bane army wants to get its grubby hands on the Logos contained deep within the Caves of Donn. Your job requires you to lend a helping hand to the Foreans and reclaim the lost Eloh technology for safekeeping. From the screenshots here, you can be assured that this isn't any walk in the park. There's lots of traps set up by the Bane too, so you better make sure to keep your eyes peeled for those.

   

More Tabula Rasa screenshots in the Full Article link below!

It's more action for Tabula Rasa as seen in this batch of screens. Don't be fooled by those guys covered in a golden bubble shield - that's not Master Chief, silly. One of the more interesting screens also show what seems to be a PvP area pitting together some 20-odd players in the field. Look at them lasers fly! These screens show more of the environment too, with varying locations in each of them.

For those who were wondering about the different classes that were revealed a month back, maybe you'd want to play a bit of a guessing game here. Which ones are Engineers and Exobiologists? What about those Demolitionists (BOOM!, as Isaac C. put it)? The release of this MMORPG is drawing nearer than ever, but for now, these screens can keep us company.

More screens behind the Full Article link below!

 

In line with continuing interviews with WarCry, April Burba (AKA CuppaJo) spilled some beans on another aspect of Tabula Rasa that some of you "make love, not war" gamers might find interesting. TR's also got other activities that you can involve yourself in, more specifically social systems that allow you to spice up your gaming experience.

WarCry: We know there is lots of fighting in Tabula Rasa, can you tell us a bit about what else you can do in the game, for example what type of social skills are available in game?

April Burba: Besides fighting we have a crafting system, the hunt for Logos (collection), taverns (social RnR), and a Clan system (Guilds). These are just the first steps in these areas and I expect more social systems to show up in some of our major content releases. // The worlds themselves are also great for explorers who enjoy wandering. (Not all that wander are lost.) Unlike some MMOs where you can walk for an hour and see only some dried grass and a lion or two, the worlds of TR are large, but dense with points of interest.

Also in the interview, CuppaJo talks of how they were able to balance FPS aspects in an MMO. It's not only about FPS aiming, because more than that, you also have to consider factors such as which body part would do more damage when hit or even down to how "sticky" you want your reticle to latch onto your target.

More on instancing, Banes, and progress on the beta right behind the Read link below.

Over at CVG, Starr Long of Destination Games had quite a lengthy interview about Tabula Rasa. And while pretty much everything they've discussed has probably already been covered before in our numerous TR updates, one of the more interesting points during the sit-down was when they were talking about how big the game was.

After all, the game allows you to explore different planets (Starr says we'll be starting out with two planets upon shipment of the game), so how expansive is the MMORPG, really?

Jason Starr answers CVG with the following:

We're shipping with two planets, and each of those planets has two main continents, with many instanced spaces on each of the continents. You'll have to play to find out the exact size of these planets. But the game is pretty large, and very in-depth, with a lot of beautiful crafting of the spaces by our world builders and artists. For example our Logos elements; some are easy to find and some are very well hidden and you will have to explore these places to find out. I don't event know where all of them are, which is good. I don't want to know. I want to play the game to find out.

So not only does it sound massive, but more importantly, Starr convincingly (for this writer at least) says how immersive it is - saying how the only way to really find out is to play the game.

For those who want to read the full transcript of the interview, you can click the Read link below.

The WarCry network was able to have a quick Q&A with none other than CuppaJo herself regarding NCSoft's Tabula Rasa. One of the first topics they discussed was the format of raids. If WoW has their own system, how exactly will it go for TR? Besides, Garriott previously stated that WoW did them a great service in the MMO arena. So how different would raids be in this game?

WarCry: Raids! Some people love them, others hate them. Will there be raids in TR and how will they be handled? What do you plan to be the average size group in TR?

CuppaJo: So we have large instanced areas - but the max group size will be the same as all other groupings - 6. As for stuff to do with large groups of people, there are large enemy controlled bases which if players wanted to take them over would require working together in large groups. More like castle sieges.

Castle sieges? Right. Castle here being some sprawling base that's part metal and part laser security systems, populated with Banes and Thrax soldiers left and right. But more on these instances, an intriguing question popped up towards the end of the interview:

WarCry: You have said that Tabula Rasa will use Instancing. Could you explain how often we will see instancing, and what kind of things we can look forward to seeing in the instances?

CuppaJo: Instancing runs about 40% of the game at the start and then moves to about 60% towards the end. Instances are more like single player games - lots of story, lots of amazing things going on. Instances in TR blow me away. There is more thinking going on in instances with cameras, alarms, and interacting with your environment and it's just cool as hell.

You can click the Read link below to see the full interview.

New contest for the Tabula Rasa enthusiasts! If you've given up on decoding the tablet of the Benefactor Project, then maybe you're looking for some other avenues in which you can earn other prizes - i.e. a beta key and a special forum title, to be exact. Think you're pretty talented when it comes to artwork and design, huh? Listen up then.

NCSoft is sponsoring this contest wherein all you have to do is design your very own Bane. Make sure that the depiction of your ultimate killing machine perfectly fits the profile of Tabula Rasa's vile scavengers responsible for creating abominations in their dark labs.

You can submit multiple entries, and can be of whatever format - from simple pencil sketches to more advanced computer-generated artwork. Winning entries shall be judged with the following criteria:

• Creativity
• The use of multiple body parts from a variety of sources
• Originality (you can use parts from the Bane already created for Tabula Rasa, but they must be significantly altered.  No revamped, retouched Bane from the existing concept art please)
• Attention to detail

The contest is open for entries until May 18, midnight, CST. For further details and contest mechanics, click our Read link below.

And behind big, red, laser-door Number One... Oh wait. Ominous as the guy standing behind the door itself is, let's take a look at what's in front of it instead. Screenshot of the week for Tabula Rasa features one of the universe's most vile creatures: the Thrax. It's guarding a security door in the Bane base, just like it's supposed to. But is that just all there is to it?

Nope. These guys are deadly. Way deadlier than those cuddly pets up for grabs in WoW's Children's Week. Soldierly grunts as the Thrax might be, their lack of intelligence is what makes them the lethal bio-engineered weapons that they are. Good luck with the security doors, y'hear?

Two new Logos have been deciphered this week to help you further crack NCSoft's Benefactor Project message for Tabula Rasa. And as the current Da Vinci Code crackdown continues, we stress yet again that not all Logos found in the Benefactor Project message would be revealed. You'd have to connect the given Logos and try to decode some of them for yourself.

 

The first Logos is "Right." Not in the sense of right-correct, but right-right. The arrow makes it obvious that the Logos connotes direction. Just fire off a few brain neurons, and you'll easily be able to assume what the Logos for "Left" would look like.

The second Logos is "When." The interesting thing here is that on the right side of the Logos is what looks like an hourglass, which most likely represents the time aspect. So what's this bracket on the right side? Flash back to the previously translated "Who" Logos, and you'll find the answer. The brackets actually mean "What". And so, "what person" would be "Who," while today's "what time" gives us "When."