MMORPG titles first hit the gaming scene in a big way eight years ago with the help of Asheron’s Call and Everquest, and since then, things have changed drastically. Back then, all titles were unique… there just wasn’t that much competition at the time. Nowadays it’s a different story. There seems to be a new MMO game released every other day and because of that, it’s difficult to grab the attention of gamers.
One of the main reasons is obviously World of Warcraft, which now has well over 9 million subscribers. How can a company compete with that? By being completely unique and creating a game with killer gameplay, two things that Tabula Rasa doesn’t seem to include. I’ve not played the game, because I’ve seen it go through so many changes, I’ve just lost interest. Not surprisingly, sales have been somewhat lackluster, which Richard Garriott blames on the games long beta process. Long beta or not, I think any MMO game is going to have a rough time selling until WoW begins to lose it’s appeal.
|
“By having an open beta, anyone who cares about MMOs will have already played it,” continues Gillen. “And when they compare their experience to a reviewer, they tap the side of the head knowingly. Because they’ve played it, and it was a bit nob.” “But Tabula Rasa turned out pretty neat and now it’s got a large number of people who’ve played the game who’ll roll their eyes at its existence if mentioned,” he concludes.
Source: Shacknews