Final Moments Of Tabula Rasa Captured On Video
The final curtain has fallen on video montage [http://www.playtr.com] detailing the game's final moments.
I've never played the game so I'm not 100 percent certain what's happening in the video (aside from a big huge fight) but it seems that the Allied Free Sentient forces ultimately pulled back to Earth for the final battle [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/89783-Tabula-Rasa-Going-Out-In-A-Blaze-Of-Glory] with the Bane and the Neph, an all-out cataclysmic showdown in the bombed-out ruins of New York City. And in a bit of a surprise twist, despite the dire warnings about the possible end of the world the AFS forces actually managed to win the fight. And then the world ended anyway.
It's a bit sad to see any game fail but at least Tabula Rasa managed to do what many MMOGs can't: Provide a proper ending. Regardless of how satisfactory it felt, the Tabula Rasa team put together a final, for-real ending to the game, gave it to the players and then flicked the switch. There are no threads left hanging, no tease of a sequel, no talk from upper management about franchising the game; it's over.
Ben Kuchera at Ars Technica [http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/03/does-a-game-have-to-fail-to-have-an-ending-tabula-rasa.ars] made an interesting point about the irony of getting a definite and satisfactory conclusion from a failed MMOG. Successful games spawn follow-ups and provide potentially endless gameplay but no satisfaction of drawing the story to a close; only the failures, with the motivating power of the executioner's axe, have the opportunity to go out, for good or bad, on their own distinct terms.
Is it possible for a successful MMOG to tell a story from start to finish? Or when it comes to turning that final page and closing the book, is failure the only option?
Permalink
The final curtain has fallen on video montage [http://www.playtr.com] detailing the game's final moments.
I've never played the game so I'm not 100 percent certain what's happening in the video (aside from a big huge fight) but it seems that the Allied Free Sentient forces ultimately pulled back to Earth for the final battle [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/89783-Tabula-Rasa-Going-Out-In-A-Blaze-Of-Glory] with the Bane and the Neph, an all-out cataclysmic showdown in the bombed-out ruins of New York City. And in a bit of a surprise twist, despite the dire warnings about the possible end of the world the AFS forces actually managed to win the fight. And then the world ended anyway.
It's a bit sad to see any game fail but at least Tabula Rasa managed to do what many MMOGs can't: Provide a proper ending. Regardless of how satisfactory it felt, the Tabula Rasa team put together a final, for-real ending to the game, gave it to the players and then flicked the switch. There are no threads left hanging, no tease of a sequel, no talk from upper management about franchising the game; it's over.
Ben Kuchera at Ars Technica [http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/03/does-a-game-have-to-fail-to-have-an-ending-tabula-rasa.ars] made an interesting point about the irony of getting a definite and satisfactory conclusion from a failed MMOG. Successful games spawn follow-ups and provide potentially endless gameplay but no satisfaction of drawing the story to a close; only the failures, with the motivating power of the executioner's axe, have the opportunity to go out, for good or bad, on their own distinct terms.
Is it possible for a successful MMOG to tell a story from start to finish? Or when it comes to turning that final page and closing the book, is failure the only option?
Permalink
