WarCry: What's MMOG development like in a post-WoW world?
TP: I think there is a false perception about current MMOs that if a project can't compete head to head with WoW it can't be successful, which just isn't true (look at City of Heroes, for instance, they're doing great). I really admire companies who are dedicated to iteration and polish. But in all fairness that requires a lot of resources which is probably out of the reach of many studios. I think we'll see a lot more games providing an alternative to WoW, hoping to capture players that are either not interested in fantasy games or have burned out. That's not to say there won't be a WoW-killer in the future, but the timing of that release will be key. Although some labeled us this way, our goal was never to be a WoW-killer. We're actually interested in a different sort of player.
Tabula Rasa is fortunate in that the design has always been different from the standard MMO design. We chose to be more action oriented where there is more combat than downtime. But the Catch-22 is that while players may be seeking an alternative to a standard MMO like WoW, they still expect to see those standard features since they are extremely familiar with them. Now I'm not saying all players, but enough to make a difference. Deviate too far from those standards and you have to spend precious time basically deprogramming people and explaining how your features work. Then that starts the whole "accessibility" quandary that sci-fi MMOs have in general since fantasy is so ingrained in people's minds.
WarCry: How does the average TR player spend his time?
TP: I'd wager a lot of players spend a significant chunk of time fighting around control points. Often I go to a CP to get/finish a mission, a Bane invasion begins, and the next thing I know I've been there an hour blasting Bane over several waves of assaults. And it's funny, during assaults I see a lot of players running by on some mission presumably and they make a sudden detour to join in on the mayhem. It's really hard to ignore the complete chaos of the control point battles so they tend to aggregate players on every map.
WarCry: Where do you hope the game will be in the next six months? A year from now?
TP: It's always difficult looking too far out for an MMO project because community feedback is crucial for determining the course of production. The team might have expectations about how a certain feature is going to be received by the community, but sometimes players throw you a real curveball. For that reason alone it's critical to maintain flexibility so that you can course correct when necessary.
But with that said, in the next 6 to 12 months players will be enjoying a very different TR. By then clan-owned control points will be a mature feature and will have evolved considerably based on player feedback. Players will also be blasting Bane in their PAUs. For those that aren't familiar, PAUs are giant mechs piloted by players! This feature could really change the way people look at the game. As we add more compelling features over the next few months we hope to continue to increase the number of players. We hope to increase our growing online community while making the game better and better with time. I'm excited about the enhancements coming down the road very soon for the game, and I'm happy to be able to take a lead role in getting them out to our players.
