Unraveling The Mystery Of Tabula Rasa?

Thanks to an anonymous reader for suggesting abstruse information on Ultima creator Richard Garriott's mysterious new MMORPG, Tabula Rasa, as referenced in a recent Slashdot Games post dealing with Korean MMO behemoth NCSoft, who purchased the nascent game for "$33.4 million in stock and cash" back in 2001. An online chat transcript from early 2003 noted that "many people that worked on [cancelled MMO Ultima Online 2] are now with NCsoft working on Tabula Rasa", and more recently, a Richard Garriott lecture at the Austin Game Conference mentioned that the game "will most likely utilize a massively multiplayer metaworld for player matching and instantiated spaces for smaller groups of matched players", but almost nothing about the game has yet been revealed. The clearest indication yet comes from several recently-posted pieces of concept art, as noted earlier this week, showing an alien planet called Eera as the main setting, and mentioning such oddities as "Eeran Wastelanders [which] will beguile you with psychic hallucinations."

Comments

Wont be much of a game once Microsoft Sues

[Bruha]

This instanced versions of worlds sound almost exactly like Mythica technology. Course nobody at MS had even thought of Mythica in 2001 either. This will be interesting to watch.

Re:Wont be much of a game once Microsoft Sues

[Bryant]

Quite a few upcoming MMORPGs are using instances, including Everquest II. In fact, the technology exists in Lost Dungeons of Norrath, the latest EQ expansion. Despite popular rumors, Microsoft doesn't sue everyone.

Instancing isn't new to Mythica

[gasaraki]

The more advanced MUDs have been doing area instancing for years. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean MS won't sue, but if they do it should mean they don't win.

aka "Multiple Servers"

[Quarters]

will most likely utilize a massively multiplayer metaworld for player matching and instantiated spaces for smaller groups of matched players"

This is just a way of saying, "We'll have one over-stressed chat/login server and multiple game servers to choose from. Just like everyone else does."