When fighting against somebody, we sometimes think, mostly in jest: can't we all just get along? In the upcoming MMORPG from NCsoft, Tabula Rasa, that is not an option - considering the Bane invaded Earth first. In this new video, we see the just how massive scale Tabula Rasa's war is going to be.

Alien environments, alien... well, aliens, plus the power of the Logos are showcased in to video. We also get a preview of how the war is going to be in-game and by the looks of it, it's going to be massive. Anyway, check out the Tabula Rasa video below to see what we mean.

Since it'll a little over a month before we see Tabula Rasa hit the shelves, it would be best to see the video. It just might tide you over until release.

Gaming news website GameSpot recently scored an interview with Richard Garriott and Starr Long. The whole interview touches on the backstory and the enemies in NCSoft's upcoming MMORPGS Tabula Rasa.

According to Long, the game's producer, players will only be limited to playing human characters at launch. As the game continues to expand, players may be given more choices on what races they choose to play as, and "there may be options in the future for you to play one of the aliens who are our allies in the Allied Free Sentients."

Another cool feature that Long revealed is that players can freely check out the other variations of a character's class tree without having to create another new character. "What makes Tabula Rasa truly unique, though, is that at any point, you can create a clone of your character so you can explore all the variations of our class tree without starting over each time."

Combat will also be very fast-paced. As game designer Garriott revealed, apart from the humans fighting the bane, the game's whole environment is also up to its knees in action. "Non-player characters are constantly fighting each other (Bane versus AFS, predators versus prey, and so on) instead of just standing around waiting for you to kill them."

Tabula Rasa has just entered closed beta testing, and the developers are now focusing on new maps and missions, finishing all the Tier 4 abilities and weapons, crafting, and clan versus clan warfare. After that, finalizing content will be the main focus in order to meet the game's late 2007 release schedule. For the full interview, click on the "read" link below.

What in the world is Tabula Rasa and why should we bother checking out, or even trying out this MMO? Blizzard's Burning Crusade is coming out on January, there's Guild Wars Nightfall, why should I give a damn about Tabula Rasa?

Why should we care about this game? The storyline? So far, the backstory is your standard post-apocalyptic Sci-Fi fare. Nothing really new. Aliens go to earth, wipe things out, the world starts anew. Clean slate. Nothing new. Done and explored before. But what about the thicker-than-cream-soup betrayal plot? Nope. Knights of the Old Republic has explored the betrayal bit already. Not convinced.

What about the character design? Oh yeah, guys in suits fighting ugly-looking insect aliens. Nuh-uh nope. Beautiful as the screenshots may be, no. It isn't really exciting and new. It all looks like an ugly version of Halo mixed in with Star Wars.

What about the gameplay? What about the fact that in some planets, the gravity will be a bit different? What about the fact that the gameplay is a mix of MMORPG and Shooter? What about the huge choice of weaponry? What about those cool looking gameplay videos? What about the news that the development team is listening to cries in the Beta Test that people want Melee weapons, and the rumors that things like lightsabers will show up? Yawn. No not interested.

So what is it about Tabula Rasa that makes us want to play it?

Richard Garriot.

The guy responsible for Ultima. That's credibility right there.

Of course you guys can all accuse us of being a bit too snooty in the first four paragraphs, but there's reverse psychology for you.

The idea whether aliens are real or just a figment of man's imagination has been debated over and over in our history for a long time now. That is until Tabula Rasa. As far as the universe of the said MMORPG is concerned, the alien existence is very much true and they are capable of erasing humans from Earth with their advanced technologies. We are talking about the ruthless Bane that has suddenly appeared in Earth's territory and waged a war that can totally exterminate the human populace. While it seems that there is no hope for us to match their very advanced technology, light is within our reach.

For a quick history, the Bane used to be member of the alien race Eloh, but due to a series of events that lead to the betrayal by the Thrax, the Bane broke off from the Eloh and swore they will never be fooled again. In their quest to control all the planets and all living things within them, they came across the Blue Planet we know now as Earth.

Invasion ensues and chaos immediately spread all over the planet. But just as it seems that everything's gonna be Bane waste, the Earth's remaining inhabitants were able to discover advanced technology implanted by the Elohims centuries before and used them to create portals called wormholes to escape to other planets. Along with other alien planets who were also ravaged by the Bane, they formed an unusual alliance called Army of the Allied Free Sentients.

And now dear mortal, it is your duty to defeat these monsters and get rid of the universe, evil and greed. Hence the title Tabula Rasa which means clean slate. Yes, a new life is at hand, but only for those who dare raise arms against a race that is threatening to dominate the whole universe.