I was also in the beta, and while I didn't think it was awful, I didn't think it was worth a monthly fee. It was fun, had a pretty decent backstory, but parts of it were definitely broken/not as advertised. I stopped playing right before they actually added the crafting system, but even if they added a spectacular crafting system, I still wouldn't pay to play.

My biggest complaint was that there was no reason to group outside of some of the instances, unless you completely ignored the side missions, most everywhere you went was a cakewalk. The XP system was also pretty broken, although they did take steps to fix that before I left. It used to be that whoever did the most damage to an enemy got the credit for the kill. If you were the first person to aggro it, or did 49% of the damage, you got squat. A little before I left, they fixed it so that the top three damagers of a creature got the xp and loot rights to a creature. And if you were involved in killing something you needed something off of for a quest, it would drop for you, even if you weren't one of the top three. Most people on the Beta forum agreed that the ideal xp system for this type of game (you're a member of an army, fighting to save your species) would be to have shared xp, with everyone involved in killing a creature got at least some reward for their effort. It was pretty disheartening to empty an entire minigun clip into something, and end up getting no xp because someone with a rocket launcher took it out with two shots.
Another thing that was very broken was the chat system. The chat log was pretty well hidden, and very easy to miss.
Combat was fun though, and it was very satisfying to blow away enemies with a shotgun and watch them go flying. I only played as an offensive character, but from what I heard/read in the beta forum, if you were a support class, you were screwed unless you were in a group when it came to getting credit for kills. It didn't help things that there were very few reasons an offensive character would need to group with a support character. The developers did promise to fix this by release, but I don't know if they actually did. I also liked the different damage types the guns could have and how some enemies were more vulnerable to some, while immune to others, i.e. cyborgs and machines were extremely vulnerable to energy and electrical damage, but immune to sonic damage.
A minor annoyance was the quest rewards, most of the time; they were junk, inconsequential or items that would have been very handy 5 character levels ago. It would have been much better if the quest rewards were just tons of ammo, as most of the guns ate ammo like there was no tomorrow, and if you used them, almost all of you money went towards more ammo.

I'd like to see what it's like in a couple of month, but I wouldn't buy it until you try it on a guest pass (if they have them). It has the potential to be a great game with several fixes, but I doubt they've fixed things enough to be worth $xx a month

Strekos, tell us how you really feel! J/K -- you've actually cemented my decision not to buy this game.

I tried it for a couple of days in the last week of beta. I enjoyed it. I played up to the second area (Divide), around level 10, and it felt really polished. The gameplay is refreshingly dynamic for a MMORPG, they really hit the sweet spot between traditional RPG and FPS gameplay. Although I can see how FPSers would complain about a lack of twitch. The dynamic world and constant bane attacks feel realistic.

The landscape art is beautiful, and the world and storyline are engaging. The interface is crisp and clean. The game is easy to pick up at early levels, and you can solo much of it. Once you hit the 30s, it apparently becomes a lot more tactical, and group play is encouraged.

At least I hope so - in the early game, it was really hard to find other people. Low level players look almost indistinguishable from NPCs, and due to the fast-paced nature of combat and gameplay, you usually don't notice potential players to group up with until they're past and gone.

On the downside, there are many things which just don't seem finished. Crafting is unsatisfactory, and apparently the current system is only a placeholder. Developers also have been very close-mouthed when it comes to what plans are for the end-game.

I'm not convinced by the NCSoft class model, and how it fits in with cloning. Cloning is a great idea in theory (instant high-level alts, with shared storage space), but I wish they hadn't made cloning also the alternative for respecs. There are no respecs as of now. When you clone, you only get to reallocate skills (weapons, logos abilities and crafting skills) when you clone, not attributes. Cloning is therefore a neat way to explore other classes, but with your main, you are kind of stuck with whatever choices you make, as clone credits are rare commodities. If you would like to e.g. create a demolitionist (recruit>specialist>sapper>demolitionist) from a guardian (recruit>soldier>commando>guardian), you'll have to go back all the way to the first career brach clone at level 5, and relevel to 50.

Additionally, class balancing is far from complete (but then, is it ever?).

People complained about having to buy ammo, but then again, I never really felt cash-constrained. Money comes in fast, and there really isn't that much to spend it on.

I really want to like this game, partly because Richard Garriot has given me many hours of first class entertainment he's provided me with in the past, and partly because the Sci Fi setting is just a refreshing new setting from the old elves and orcs fantasy malarkey which I have grown quite tired of.

The basic game feels polished and has potential, I just can't help feeling it's just not quite done yet. In its current state, it's easy to pick up and romp around in for a couple of hours, then go do something else. But I wonder how long the excitement of taking that Bane outpost over the hill for the umpteenth time can last before it becomes just anothe kind of repetitive grind?

And is it worth the monthly subscription then? This will be a game you pick up on and off, and play when you feel like it. Tabula Rasa won't be the next WoW, but it will probably be able to carve its own niche, and attract a small but loyal playerbase.

Will this be enough to keep funding ongoing development costs? Maybe. But I'd much prefer if they went the Guild Wars route of financing, with expansions funding development.

I'm cautiously keeping this on my radar for now.

Hellgate?

heh.

Heh, buggy as HGL is, at least I can run it reasonably reliably, unlike the unplayable (and unpatched) mess that Titan Quest has been since I got the expansion.

yeah.. at this point your sorta on a mission.

O.o

Anyone pick it up? For my money it's the best worst game out there at the moment. So many problems yet it's different enough (as far as MMO's go) that I find myself enjoying the time I spend playing it.

As with anything is much more fun with a group of people. So far I've only found one buddy of mine who had the (mis)fortune of dropping his cash on this, if anyone else out there did the same look me up on Peagasus (Rye Whiskey my buddy is Harlock Morrow) we have a clan spot open for any GWJer.

And if you don't want to admit you're playing this in public feel free to drop me a PM with your thoughts, or find me in game : )

Best!

I seem to have the common opinion. I played the beta. I had high hopes for it, but the game was just bad in so many ways. It would need to have heavily demonstrated improvement on a wealth of facets for me to ever think of picking it up. That's about all I have to say about that.

I feel the same way about HGL - bad in some ways, but stuff blows up reeeaaaallll good.

Amazon UK is selling it for less than half the original price. Seems like a good deal for those that might want to try it.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0009WXQJG

I'll try understanding it. Picked up a heavily discounted collector's ed box and will install soon. What server are you on? Pegasus?