Tabula Rasa

I was apprehensive about this game - I love Garriott's previous work (see previous, re: UO) but he hasn't shipped a game since I graduated high school, and I was afraid he might have lost his touch. Or his mind - a sci-fi mock-shooter? I mean, really.

But I sucked it up, bought the (shiny, gorgeous) collector's edition, and... haven't been able to put it down. Let me make no bones about it - all marketing spin aside, it's an MMO. Quests, stats, skills, titles, instances - nothing has leapt out at me so far as being completely revolutionary. But there are a couple of things that make it worth a try, in my opinion:

- It's a different theme. Military sci-fi, rather than fantasy. Aliens rather than monsters. Guns rather than swords. As much as I dig fantasy, I am heartily tired of it, and this is a nice change. I played Auto Assault some (may it rest in peace!) and other than squishing pedestrians, the sci-fi theme was the good bit. TR's is even better done, plus it's prettier and runs better. The storyline itself is solid and fully-realized, from the dogtags and orders sheet in the CE, to the NPCs engaging the enemy and shouting orders, warnings, and "Oh shit!" just like real soldiers, to the interesting Supreme Hippie benevolent aliens that gave all the player characters spiffy powers.

- Combat is fast-paced and highly interactive - and fun! The only other MMO that felt as exciting as this was City of Heroes, which had extensive knockback mechanics that made combat feel much more real than the "hit button-watch particle effect-see floaty number" combat system that most other MMOs offer. TR's combat is mostly ranged at the low levels, but positioning and cover are really important, and I end up moving, retargeting, crouching, charging in for a critical kill (your opponent stands there, dazed, and if you run in you can kick its head off for double XP!) backing up, and whipping out the shotty for a couple of hits of click-BOOM, sometimes all in the same fight. I like interactive combat - it's why I prefer a backstab rogue, because I like having to think about positioning, and work at it to maximize my effectiveness. But WoW has NOTHING on TR for dynamic, fast-paced combat.

- The Cloning system. It's sort of a gimmick, but it's perfect for me. I like alts - a lot - but I don't love re-running the first ten levels half a dozen times to find out what the gameplay differences are at the high levels. The cloning system allows you to copy your character at all the class-branching decision points, and not backtrack nearly as much. I also like not having to pick a class straight off - I am pretty sure my main is going Spy, because hey, backstabbing! But if I change my mind, I can - at any point - and not lose ground.

- Garriott's signature "ethical parables." Branching quest chains, where the choices you make affect how different people and groups see you. I've only hit one so far, but it worked. They usually do, for me. I went with my gut on the actual decision, and then found myself feeling nervous as I went back to the original quest giver to tell him what I'd decided. It's a level of engagement that WoW has never managed (which I've bitched about before) and it does a great job of getting me invested in my character and the world.

- Exploration and badgewhoring: I'm a classic "Explorer"-type MMO player. I like to see things, collect things, and check things off a list. TR's "Targets of Opportunity" system is tailor-made for players like me. (Think CoH-style badges, but better organized.)

I haven't really played with the dynamic Control Point battles yet (self-scaling constant fighting around a base) but I've heard good things about them. I've also heard that the instances are lots of fun. I can't see myself getting sucked backed into WoW with patch 2.3, even though it buffs my rogue stupid high, so I'll probably be reporting on my adventures in TR for a while.

(Edited to add, thanks for the link, TR team! :) )