Defiance VS Tabula Rasa

[ianb4all]

Not comparing the two like for like but seeing as Both are Sci-fi 3rd person shooters/mmo's I thought I would try and compare where the two stand in today's market!

I know that Tabula rasa closed down due to "low" population which this game seems destined to follow as well.

Firstly a bit about Tabula rasa gameplay- The one thing that stood out for me with Tabula Rasa where the base sieges- when you had to defend or retake the forts from the aliens- those where seriously fun.

The environments where pretty amazing as well in it compared to some of the areas in Defiance- I was expecting more of an "alien" landscape due to the teraforming but you don't see much apart from some "twisted roots" and the odd looking big plant here and there.

One other thing that stood out for me with Tabula Rasa was the "logos" that you could find around the game maps- and figuring out the codes to unlock the rooms they where hidden in- that was a very cool feature!
Weapons -defiance weapons are OK but there's nothing to set you apart from other players like you had in tabula rasa - as well as the skill system which defined a players role.

The Caht in TR was superior to what Defiance has and it followed the "norm" when it came to mmo chat systems, why they never implemented the same chat system is beyond me and after waiting several months for a promise of a "MUCH" better chat system it actually was worse.

Now apart from finding a few notepads and such around Defiance to get ego points there isn't much else( once you done the missions- apart from the "side" game of doing a few driving maps which I consider a "sub-game" in defiance.

Now they closed down Tabula Rasa which to me on a scale of 1-10 when comparing the two I would say TR would get a 10 and Defiance a 5.

With the show not doing well in the ratings (go look it up yourselves if you want but they really are not good) it makes me think that the TV show will perhaps get another 10 episodes before they drop it which we have all seen over the last few years when TV shows don't fair well they drop it as they cant justify the expense on it.

So with the way this game has been run compared to what Tabula Rasa had (gameplay/chat/skills/abilities) it seems that Defiance has a very very long way to go to beat it which I doubt they will do by the time the show gets chopped.....so I can only see this game getting closed towards the end of next year.

This game is OK if you just want some mindless 3rd person shooting or a bit of a driving game.....But there are much better solo FPS games and driving games out there.

Anyways just my own personal view of this game..

[melkathi]

It's a real shame TR went the way of the Dodo. I pretty much got interested in Defiance as it seemed to fill a combined hole left by AutoAssault and Tabula Rasa. There are things the game could learn, especially from TR. The sieges were a good example.

[VicousBlood]

TR was fun but I think the more overall simplicity of Defiance will make it more appealing. But there needs to be a better beginning tutorial in the game rather than "pick up your stuff and start shooting" (sarcasm fails in typing). A better explanation of mods and synergies need to be included. Much more extended and branching storyline would be nice (However I've always wondered is it the way it is now, because it somewhat has to follow the show and vice versa; as far as the storyline goes).

[WARDUKE]

I bought Tabula Rasa. It sat on my desk for some time before installing it and playing it twice. It they went offline for good. lol

The only thing I remember about TR was that its hit mechanics were more like Fallout 3 if I recall.

[fgbrooks]

I absolutely loved the TR base sieges, especially the fact that you could actually lose the base if you did not have enough defenders. It has been suggested in other threads that we need something like that in Defiance. Absolutely!! How about a massive Volge attack on Iron Demon Ranch, for example, with combat music from the scene in "We Were Soldiers Once and Young" where the US troops were about to be overrun. That would sure get the adrenalin pumping, and breathe some life into this game.

[Tyger]

Right idea, done too soon. Loved that game. But it just wasn't the right time for sci-fi MMO's. Face it, if your mmo didn't have knife-eared elves and bog princesses that required 50 poof-wisps that allowed you entrance to her 'mystical grotto'.... your game was gonna' flop.

What??? Aliens and pewpew lazorz???! No thx pal, I play in the real world where fairies, orcs and haflings prance around with jagged polygons for faces >.>

guh. I wonder if ppl back then knew the dmg that WoW would cause the online community today.... Would they even bother signing up?

[Cavadus]

TR was a good game, Defiance is significantly better. In almost every way.

[Mourneblade]

Right idea, done too soon. Loved that game. But it just wasn't the right time for sci-fi MMO's. Face it, if your mmo didn't have knife-eared elves and bog princesses that required 50 poof-wisps that allowed you entrance to her 'mystical grotto'.... your game was gonna' flop.

What??? Aliens and pewpew lazorz???! No thx pal, I play in the real world where fairies, orcs and haflings prance around with jagged polygons for faces >.>

guh. I wonder if ppl back then knew the dmg that WoW would cause the online community today.... Would they even bother signing up?

LOL @ your assumption that World of Warcraft culture was the downfall of Tabula Rasa.

No, of COURSE it had NOTHING to do with incompetent management, or the fact that no one wanted to touch the Beta, or that issues in the Beta went completely ignored and the game was pushed out way too early, even after 7 years of development, much like ANOTHER Sci-fi MMO we all know!

This goes without saying that NCSoft employees did just enough on the project in order to keep their jobs, while others busted their knuckles trying to make their portion of the game the best it could be. Communication breakdowns, disputes internally over creative vision, oh and the fact that project had already basically failed TWICE before it actually BECAME TR didn't bode well for it either.

In summation, piss-poor management led to an awesome game's downfall. The similarities between what happened at NCSoft Austin and what is currently taking place at Trion are striking. Defiance might just be Tabula Rasa's reincarnation...but you know...not as good as Tabula Rasa. Still, blaming an industry giant and the people who play it for another game's upheaval is ridiculous and a waste of time. Sounds like whining to me.

[koldmiser]

I never tried TR, but I did play Auto Assault! It's funny it got mentioned here, I was just telling my son some of Defiance reminds me of Auto Assault.

[Notturno]

I subscribed to Tabula Rasa for the full year of operation. I was on Pegasus and played with Invictus, and was a fairly active member of PlanetTR. I was probably one of the few individuals who actually played Exobiologist in PvP - Decay/Lightning/Clone build, Hazmat armor, Forean hybrid with Mind stacking. I also had a number of other characters in their 40s, with a 50 Spy and Grenadier on top of my Exobiologist.

Point being, I played the hell out of that game.

Defiance, to me, is a spiritual successor to Tabula Rasa. It's better than its predecessor in every way - the combat experience is much more fluid and engaging, the arkfalls and sieges are much more compelling content than outposts, and the itemization is much better. I just feel that Defiance fills the void Tabula Rasa left, and does everything much better. While this game certainly has its flaws, I really do enjoy my time playing Defiance.

I do not miss Tabula Rasa at all now. What I do miss is the close-knit community, staff members (Kagasumi, Vagabond, CuppaJo, Critters), and the community events.

That aside, I think Defiance still has a few things it could learn from Tabula Rasa.

• The class system in Tabula Rasa was fantastic. Nothing felt restrictive, and each class had its own unique flavors of abilities. It forced weapon diversity through class restrictions, which I felt gave the game more personality and variation.
• Tabula Rasa had more min-maxing content available, particularly with hybrids that offered different stat distributions. You were also not able to unlock every ability. Good players were defined by their itemization, build, and skill. It went beyond a single cookie cutter setup.
• The class powers felt far more inventive and engaging. Cadaver Immolation, Controlled Fission, Self-Destruct, Explosive Nanites, Hortimonculus, Rushing Blow, and Fire Support were some of the most memorable abilities because of how fun I found them to be. Everything in Defiance is more on the... plain side - speed boost, damage boost, invisibility, clone. Nothing feels very unique with a lot of options for modification or inventive usage.

Overall, I think Defiance is on the right track to be successful in a year or so. However, I think adoption rate by that point may invalidate any work that goes into the game. I sincerely hope the game can thrive in the future, but I'm very worried by the adoption rate of the game and how long it can remain profitable.