Playing TR the entire weekend (an extended weekend, to be clear) was a lot of fun. I'm running a Ranger class character up the levels to be a Sniper -- a class that is pretty popular, unsurprisingly, but not as powerful as a Spy (the sister class). My wife is also playing a Ranger, but it works out very well. Two sets of carpet bombs are more fun than I should admit out loud.

I don't think this game is ever going to reach the popularity of the average MMO, but I think it has a lot to offer anyone that's looking to shoot aliens with their buddies in a persistent environment. Nothing I've ever done in an MMO compares to the sheer fun of defending a base against an alien assault force, with massive turrets raining down laser / mortar fire and friendly NPCs talking trash to the invaders or screaming for a medic, all while alien dropships unload piles of aliens of all shapes and sizes (like tiny sniper aliens and huge, meaty melee aliens) ... it can quickly escalate into mass chaos of the most impressive kind. Other players in the area will work together to defend or attack bases, even if they are soloing, and this experience alone makes it a must-do event for anyone like me that wants something different.

I'm now level 21; I feel like there's a lot left to do, although the general opinions of higher-level characters is that the content from 40-50 is pretty much nonexistent. I'm just hoping that, once I reach level 30 (and can then become a Sniper), there's still a lot of fun to be had.

Snipers right now are deemed the "patience" class of the game, which fits me fine. I like to think about the battle, find the biggest threat (which is usually a healer or a mission specific threat), and take it out as fast as possible from a high, safe vantage point. We'll see if that's how it works out.

But will it be fun at level 30? Level 35? 50? Or will it get old?

I love base assaults and base defense, but they need more purpose. Make everyone WANT to keep that base in friendly hands, then add some kind of WoW-style battlegrounds (maybe make Bane playable, like LOTRO and Monster Play, or just use the wargame concept to let humans fight humans) ... something chaotic that brings out the fun of massive battles between large groups. Ah well.

Oh, and this title has very little depth. Other than some quest storylines. Fun anyway.

Does anyone else think this formula is getting a little stale? The Holy Trinity used to be Tank, Heal, Crowd Control, but it's evolved (if you can call it true evolution) into Tank, Heal, DPS. Same thing only different? Why do I feel like I'm playing a spreadsheet sometimes? Inventory Management Simulation version 2.0. Watch those stats climb as you kill monsters!

MMORPGs drive me nuts. I enjoy them because my wife and I like gaming, and we've always found highly effective duos to make it a great experience -- but we need something new. LAN gaming together is fun for story-based games and a few mindless shooters, but that never lasts more than a week or two.

I'm especially excited to see how Tabula Rasa does in the next few months, since it offers some interesting ideas to the MMO mix. We tried EVE Online, which, while really cool in many ways, ended up being frustrating for her. Being killed by players with billions of ISK (money) and ships that can easily destroy you without you being able to scratch them in the least is annoying -- and staying in an NPC corporation is about as fun as playing Tetris without a controller.

Regardless, I'm ready for the next evolution in MMORPGs. Let people play support, let them play front line soldier, let them play long range sniper, but fix the mechanics to give them more versatility than that. Make people want a support guy on their team, but let them accomplish anything without him. Make everyone useful and desired without making them necessary. Make the content hard enough to encourage people to join forces against tough odds in instances / areas / against powerful critters, but allow room for everything else.

In other words, if you need to group up to kill a monster, every class should have a lot to add besides "meatshield," "heal meatshield," "damage monster lots."

And this concludes my absolutely non-constructive whine at 2:00 AM, hopped up on coffee and Colbert ice cream from Ben and Jerry's. You really can taste the freedom in every bite!