Tabula Rasa

Hey anyway, I did a trial and found TR to be pretty much the same game it was a year ago. Sure maybe it has some under the hood tweaks and improvements but overall its the same game.

Wah for me, right?

Well heres what I would have done if it was me in charge.

First I would have started off in a "basic training" area. What "war" theme adventure starts otherwise? We could have got R. Lee Erney to voice it over. He's done video games before so no issue there. A grueling tutorial with lots of yelling. Here would also set up the story line (you would be able to skip once you did it completed for alts)

Once you got done there. You would be transported to the central base of Human operations. A spacestation. (named liberty or something freedom related like that) This is your "core" social location. Here you could have your "housing" or barracks, shops (PX), social center, arms rooms whatever you could come with. Training cert areas. This is where you would also "deploy" from.

We would need a few different worlds first off since this is a level based game. Without a a total revamp of mechanics, you can't get around that. So lets say a tier for each 10 level range. World one for levels 1-10 then 11-20 ext...)

You climb into a dropship and head for the local "beachhead" on that world. Now if you head to the main base on the planet, no issues you basically just teleport there. HOWEVER if you had a pilot, you could drop where you want...here is the catch, you would need to run through bane ships to get to the surface maybe even being shot down in the process. (maybe eject and get dropped on the world in a random spot) Other players could provide fighter support as escorts (see how easy this is to tie everyone together?)

Once on the surface at the main base you have whatever vehicle / gear that is availible for that world / battle area at the base. That all would be based on RANK or (level) Maybe at the station you could train to become "certified" to use equipment that become available at the tier level. You could still do money (credits) for extras about or beyond basic items but currency could also be used in other ways on the station. Whoever thought it was a good idea for soldiers to be buying their ammo needs a smack in the head. If you run out of money in the current TR what is one to do? It seems unlikely that will happen so its a useless mechanic. Carrying capacity should be concern. I have no idea how my toon is lugging around 5000+ rounds of ammo.

So the world could still be split into the maps and you could still have your instanced mission (which are good for the overall storytelling) However you could just get rid of all this "kill 10 rats" they put in. Instead you literally need to just fight for control points on the world. New maps could always be added.

Also depending on the world, different vehicles could be available. Everything from heavy armor to watercraft on world with a lot of water, Power armor suits whatever would make sense for that world.

Dunno, there is so much they could have done with this along those lines. The military adventure theme is a good idea but the key is that you need to actually make it a military adventure, not EQ with guns.

Just some thoughts early Sunday morning....more coffee please.

Originally posted by Torak

Hey anyway, I did a trial and found TR to be pretty much the same game it was a year ago. Sure maybe it has some under the hood tweaks and improvements but overall its the same game.

Wah for me, right?

Well heres what I would have done if it was me in charge.

First I would have started off in a "basic training" area. What "war" theme adventure starts otherwise? We could have got R. Lee Erney to voice it over. He's done video games before so no issue there. A grueling tutorial with lots of yelling. Here would also set up the story line (you would be able to skip once you did it completed for alts)

Once you got done there. You would be transported to the central base of Human operations. A spacestation. (named liberty or something freedom related like that) This is your "core" social location. Here you could have your "housing" or barracks, shops (PX), social center, arms rooms whatever you could come with. Training cert areas. This is where you would also "deploy" from.

We would need a few different worlds first off since this is a level based game. Without a a total revamp of mechanics, you can't get around that. So lets say a tier for each 10 level range. World one for levels 1-10 then 11-20 ext...)

You climb into a dropship and head for the local "beachhead" on that world. Now if you head to the main base on the planet, no issues you basically just teleport there. HOWEVER if you had a pilot, you could drop where you want...here is the catch, you would need to run through bane ships to get to the surface maybe even being shot down in the process. (maybe eject and get dropped on the world in a random spot) Other players could provide fighter support as escorts (see how easy this is to tie everyone together?)

Once on the surface at the main base you have whatever vehicle / gear that is availible for that world / battle area at the base. That all would be based on RANK or (level) Maybe at the station you could train to become "certified" to use equipment that become available at the tier level. You could still do money (credits) for extras about or beyond basic items but currency could also be used in other ways on the station. Whoever thought it was a good idea for soldiers to be buying their ammo needs a smack in the head. If you run out of money in the current TR what is one to do? It seems unlikely that will happen so its a useless mechanic. Carrying capacity should be concern. I have no idea how my toon is lugging around 5000+ rounds of ammo.

So the world could still be split into the maps and you could still have your instanced mission (which are good for the overall storytelling) However you could just get rid of all this "kill 10 rats" they put in. Instead you literally need to just fight for control points on the world. New maps could always be added.

Also depending on the world, different vehicles could be available. Everything from heavy armor to watercraft on world with a lot of water, Power armor suits whatever would make sense for that world.

Dunno, there is so much they could have done with this along those lines. The military adventure theme is a good idea but the key is that you need to actually make it a military adventure, not EQ with guns.

Just some thoughts early Sunday morning....more coffee please.

 

 

You are worried about 5000 rounds of ammo? How about the fact you could carry a rocket launcher in each and every backback slot?

Some of your ideas for the game would have made it feel a lot more like a fight for survival, instead of a questing game with a war background.  The quests in this game needed to be more war based and have some impact. Instead you had to find Private Cant Find My Way and give him a message, no wonder the AFS can not effectively fight back.

I understood part of the buying the ammo, the AFS has limited resources so please do not waste them. Then they added more PVP which is a complete waste of the so called limited resources. Nothing they did stuck with the stories they created. It was like they created them to explain things and then forgot why they did it.

Originally posted by Rokurgepta

 

You are worried about 5000 rounds of ammo? How about the fact you could carry a rocket launcher in each and every backback slot?

Some of your ideas for the game would have made it feel a lot more like a fight for survival, instead of a questing game with a war background.  The quests in this game needed to be more war based and have some impact. Instead you had to find Private Cant Find My Way and give him a message, no wonder the AFS can not effectively fight back.

I understood part of the buying the ammo, the AFS has limited resources so please do not waste them. Then they added more PVP which is a complete waste of the so called limited resources. Nothing they did stuck with the stories they created. It was like they created them to explain things and then forgot why they did it.

For quite a while now I've thought you either make a game based on PvP or you make a game based on PvE.  Whichever way you go.. that's what you build for and support.

I honestly never thought that PvP made sense in TR.. given the story.  Unless you were going to be able to play Bane.  Your race is almost wiped out and you are still getting the crap kicked out of you daily.. but you are going to kill each other in between to ease through the dull moments?

On the most basic level TR had one of the best foundations of any MMO I ever played.  The problem was almost nothing was built on that foundation.  I'll borrow a phrase from WAR... the first tier you play through is amazingly fun.

Then you go to T2 and it really doesn't go anywhere and starts to feel unfun.

I mean it was great fun... running down a hill... jump... roll and pop up with a mini gun blasting.

Eventually you figure out ^^ that is about the entire game (well the first month I played.. when it came out).  It always made me think of.. Auto Assault.. without the car.   Right down to finding paint as loot and in AA your car would do the same forward roll after a jump... or at least some of them did.

I quit AA for the same reason... no real content.

The other things you mentioned were certainly issues.. long term.  However, almost total lack of content even with a great foundation... is a sure way to not have long term subscribers.

By foundation.. I mean all the core systems/mechanics were very solid.  Oddly this is probably the weakest point of most MMO's.

Originally posted by Rokurgepta 

You are worried about 5000 rounds of ammo? How about the fact you could carry a rocket launcher in each and every backback slot?

Some of your ideas for the game would have made it feel a lot more like a fight for survival, instead of a questing game with a war background.  The quests in this game needed to be more war based and have some impact. Instead you had to find Private Cant Find My Way and give him a message, no wonder the AFS can not effectively fight back.

I understood part of the buying the ammo, the AFS has limited resources so please do not waste them. Then they added more PVP which is a complete waste of the so called limited resources. Nothing they did stuck with the stories they created. It was like they created them to explain things and then forgot why they did it.

Then limit available ammo. For example in BF2, you only have so many rounds available then you need to start picking up off the ground or getting with a support guy. Same in PS. (PS actually had a very nice loadout system before you went out)

As far as PvP goes its a waste in a game like this. It is up against games like Quake Wars and BF2142 which frankly "do it better" and are free to play. Not that this game has a peer game. There isn't anything wrong with  a PvE focus if the PvE portion is any good. You need to be careful who's turf you step into. Look at PS, totally outmatched by just about any modern shooter. Shooters evolve way to fast for MMO's to keep up with and they are completely handicapped against them because of the fee.

Anyway, I agree the quest portion is pretty pointless, they should have focused on diverse battle areas and world control with scripted missions for a story aspect / rewards. Better individual customization (skills and such) a better / more fleshed out Logos system (they should have gone with something like a Psi-Corp) AND a full Space portion.

You get the best of both worlds like this. Players can control where and how they go eliminating the linear and repetitive feeling and those that wish can still dig into a mission which would have impact in terms of unit recognition.

Rather then guilds (clans) they should have enulated military structure (duh) and set up squads or Platoons. You could have designed a complete unit citation system around it.  The higher ranking the unit the more mission and specialized equipment it could have unlocked. Ranks, hey theres an idea. Why isn't there a rank structure at all? I just don't get where TR was coming from with this.

You could still do a lot with the game but it needs to emulate a military WAR not EQ.

If they had R. Lee Erney voice over a nasty DI, the game wouldn't have failed.

Oh well, I guess its good for a few days of fun and at .98 cents at Amazon, you can't really argue with that even if you just liked the game alittle. Hell I might buy one just because. (seriously 0.98 cents...WTF?) Its not that bad of a game anyway. Its not like AoC or anytrhing, it just a "bit ho-hum saw that coming". I did a few of the missions and they are pretty good. I'm not sure I would flat out recomend this game but I wouldn't discourage anyone either. No Elves or Dwarves so it makes for a nice break from that anyway.

Originally posted by Torak

Originally posted by Rokurgepta 

You are worried about 5000 rounds of ammo? How about the fact you could carry a rocket launcher in each and every backback slot?

Some of your ideas for the game would have made it feel a lot more like a fight for survival, instead of a questing game with a war background.  The quests in this game needed to be more war based and have some impact. Instead you had to find Private Cant Find My Way and give him a message, no wonder the AFS can not effectively fight back.

I understood part of the buying the ammo, the AFS has limited resources so please do not waste them. Then they added more PVP which is a complete waste of the so called limited resources. Nothing they did stuck with the stories they created. It was like they created them to explain things and then forgot why they did it.

 

Then limit available ammo. For example in BF2, you only have so many rounds available then you need to start picking up off the ground or getting with a support guy. Same in PS. (PS actually had a very nice loadout system before you went out)

As far as PvP goes its a waste in a game like this. It is up against games like Quake Wars and BF2142 which frankly "do it better" and are free to play. Not that this game has a peer game. There isn't anything wrong with  a PvE focus if the PvE portion is any good. You need to be careful who's turf you step into. Look at PS, totally outmatched by just about any modern shooter. Shooters evolve way to fast for MMO's to keep up with and they are completely handicapped against them because of the fee.

Anyway, I agree the quest portion is pretty pointless, they should have focused on diverse battle areas and world control with scripted missions for a story aspect / rewards. Better individual customization (skills and such) a better / more fleshed out Logos system (they should have gone with something like a Psi-Corp) AND a full Space portion.

You get the best of both worlds like this. Players can control where and how they go eliminating the linear and repetitive feeling and those that wish can still dig into a mission which would have impact in terms of unit recognition.

Rather then guilds (clans) they should have enulated military structure (duh) and set up squads or Platoons. You could have designed a complete unit citation system around it.  The higher ranking the unit the more mission and specialized equipment it could have unlocked. Ranks, hey theres an idea. Why isn't there a rank structure at all? I just don't get where TR was coming from with this.

You could still do a lot with the game but it needs to emulate a military WAR not EQ.

If they had R. Lee Erney voice over a nasty DI, the game wouldn't have failed.

Oh well, I guess its good for a few days of fun and at .98 cents at Amazon, you can't really argue with that even if you just liked the game alittle. Hell I might buy one just because. (seriously 0.98 cents...WTF?) Its not that bad of a game anyway. Its not like AoC or anytrhing, it just a "bit ho-hum saw that coming". I did a few of the missions and they are pretty good. I'm not sure I would flat out recomend this game but I wouldn't discourage anyone either. No Elves or Dwarves so it makes for a nice break from that anyway.

 

 

I wish TR had no PVP. The game was supposed to be mankind fighting for existance and the PVP should never have even been introduced. To me it hurt the game a lot more than it helped but it was the Devs simple solution to zero end game content.

While PS is outmatched by other shooters it did allow for many more people to have epic battles than your normal shooter has done. PS had some tactics and skills that I had hoped TR would include in its so called war world, but TR never really feels like I am fighting to save mankind. I felt like Rambo out there alone killing them all with ammo to spare.

Originally posted by Antarious

Originally posted by Rokurgepta

 

You are worried about 5000 rounds of ammo? How about the fact you could carry a rocket launcher in each and every backback slot?

Some of your ideas for the game would have made it feel a lot more like a fight for survival, instead of a questing game with a war background.  The quests in this game needed to be more war based and have some impact. Instead you had to find Private Cant Find My Way and give him a message, no wonder the AFS can not effectively fight back.

I understood part of the buying the ammo, the AFS has limited resources so please do not waste them. Then they added more PVP which is a complete waste of the so called limited resources. Nothing they did stuck with the stories they created. It was like they created them to explain things and then forgot why they did it.

 

For quite a while now I've thought you either make a game based on PvP or you make a game based on PvE.  Whichever way you go.. that's what you build for and support.

I honestly never thought that PvP made sense in TR.. given the story.  Unless you were going to be able to play Bane.  Your race is almost wiped out and you are still getting the crap kicked out of you daily.. but you are going to kill each other in between to ease through the dull moments?

On the most basic level TR had one of the best foundations of any MMO I ever played.  The problem was almost nothing was built on that foundation.  I'll borrow a phrase from WAR... the first tier you play through is amazingly fun.

Then you go to T2 and it really doesn't go anywhere and starts to feel unfun.

I mean it was great fun... running down a hill... jump... roll and pop up with a mini gun blasting.

Eventually you figure out ^^ that is about the entire game (well the first month I played.. when it came out).  It always made me think of.. Auto Assault.. without the car.   Right down to finding paint as loot and in AA your car would do the same forward roll after a jump... or at least some of them did.

I quit AA for the same reason... no real content.

The other things you mentioned were certainly issues.. long term.  However, almost total lack of content even with a great foundation... is a sure way to not have long term subscribers.

By foundation.. I mean all the core systems/mechanics were very solid.  Oddly this is probably the weakest point of most MMO's.

My beliefe is TR was handcuffed because of the direction change and the money wasted. As release day came close the money men said get it out there and add on the fly. The foundation was solid, the game played well and the combat was great. It was all the little things that make an MMO fun that to me were missing. Crafting was horrible and is now upgraded but not what I would have hoped