Has potential to be a great game, but ...

User Rating: 7 | Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa PC
This based on beta play, but I got the impression that player participation or lack there of, made a difference to the ground that became available for players to explore. On the surface this makes it appealing, because it forces the players to work as a grand team to clear large areas of land and forces players to stick around in order to keep it.

But what turned me off was the lack of substance beyond this key "ground acquisition" concept. This is a science-fiction game ... which made me want to have grand space battles to blow up those mother ships circling the planet we're attacking. What's the point in having ground battles if there isn't a larger orbital battle going on as well. The beta never gave me the sense that this kind of interaction was possible, so the game would be relegated to a ground-based assault. Why have endless ground battles, why not attack the source?

Which brought me to the conclusion that the game expansion is nothing more than more planets to conquer; we'd never actually ever win the war we are supposed to be fighting. It would be an ever growing number of worlds, with no real end.

This doesn't mean the game is bad. Far from it. It was fun to play and it gives you a sense that your activities, though small on the grand scheme makes a difference. The problem for me, is for me to shelve out a monthly fee, the game has to have a deeper concept. I want to be able to win, or participate in a world where winning is a possibility ... along with losing too. I just didn't get the impression Tabula Rasa would give me that kind of satisfaction or disappointment.