Tabula Rasa producer admits to slow start

By Oli Welsh Published 6 March, 2008

But studio layoffs are standard ramp down.

Starr Long, producer of science fiction MMO Tabula Rasa, has responded to recent speculation about the game's performance on the NCsoft website. Long admitted that "the game has not taken off as quickly as we had hoped", although he reassured players the company is committed to supporting it with new content.

Tabula Rasa was the subject of a controversial article in the Korea Times two weeks ago. The report claimed it had been a "financial disaster" for NCsoft, leading to layoffs at the company's Austin development studio.

Although NCsoft discredited the article at the time, Long's comments represent the first official indication that the company is disappointed with the game's performance. "We also launched in an insanely competitive time frame, with several well-known intellectual properties launching follow up products at the same time," he observed.

However, Long went on to explain that the downsizing of the development team is a "standard" ramp down from crunch development in the run-up to release. "The fact of the matter is that we are transitioning from a pre-launch crunch-mode development team to a live service team," he said.

"This is standard in our industry - you ramp up to launch a game and then ramp down once it's live. This is what we are doing over the next several weeks, and it only affects the Tabula Rasa team. Once all is said and done, we will still have a substantial live team for industry standards."

According to Long, "NCsoft has committed a lot of money and resources into continuing post-launch development of Tabula Rasa." He offered details on a number of new features and content updates in the works, including dynamic mission flashpoints, the ability to command squads of upgradeable AI soldiers and Personal Armour Units (mechs and mini-vehicles that players can use).

He also said that creator Richard Garriott remains involved in development on a daily basis, in between training to become the world's first second-generation astronaut [and redoing his plait - Dep Ed]. Garriott, the son of scientist and astronaut Owen K. Garriott, will fly to the International Space Station with the Space Adventures space tourism firm in October this year.

Expect extensive Tabula Rasa coverage when Eurogamer's MMO channel launches in the coming weeks.

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About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (17) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • asphaltcowboy #1 4 years ago

    It would be much better if his name had been Long Starr!

  • Whizzo #2 4 years ago

    The question is whether it'll outlast Auto Assault before being cancelled.

  • hula hoops #3 4 years ago

    I remember that some people in EG believed that this game would take off. I pretty much doubted it then and this news just confirmed it.

    I don't know what was going on on the head of these developers. Don't they do market research first before they committed so much money into developing a game?

  • kangarootoo #4 4 years ago

    "This is standard in our industry - you ramp up to launch a game and then ramp down once it's live."

    Word games and mind tricks are afoot here. Lets get some truth into the mix.

    Yes game production ramps up and down, but that doesn't mean layoffs are part of the deal.

    Ramp up - You hire a core team who are present throughout and when you need extra people you get in contractors or outsource, or in a large studio take people from other areas.

    Ramp down - Outsourcing stops AS PLANNED, contractors move on to other work AS PLANNED, internal employees move on to other projects AS PLANNED.

    The term "layoffs" in my mind sounds like it is referring to permanent staff, who fully expected to stay in employment, losing their jobs. This is NOT normal and not "industry standard" in a properly planned and commercially successful project.

    If that sort of thing is happening is because either things have fucked up due to commercial failure, or because the planning sucked ass, or because the person in charge is some kind of evil shit.

    I don't believe the latter is the case here, and I think their planning was probably ok, so I shall go with the former (which is born out by other evidence suggesting Tabula Rasa is performing badly in the market place).

    Now some might suggest that good forcasting of sales is part of good planning as well as the day to day scheduling of the project. In any event it is borderline rudeness to suggest that making staff redundant (if indeed that is what layoffs refers to here) is a normal part of business. It is not.
    Edited by 1 at 06/03/08 @ 13:26

  • hulahoops #5 4 years ago

    @Kangarotoo

    Absolutely undoubtably. But then, I put myself in his shoes, and wonder if I wouldn't be saying the same thing. After all, what's the alternative? Either "yeah, we made those guys redundant because they couldn't cut it", hence pissing on their reputations, or "yeah, we made those guys redundant because the game's an abject failure so far, and we frankly can't justify their wages any more", hencing causing even more people to cancel their subscription.

    I share your disdain for spin, but what other choice do they have?

  • CaptainScarlet #6 4 years ago

    Although it shouldn't be this has become industry standard and is exactly the kind of problem rife in the industry. Developers seem to think that they can just ramp up staff and stuff them once their done. This is bad for the developer, bad for the employee and bad for the industry as a whole.

    As someone who works in the industry I can tell you that at no point do you ever feel that you can claim your job is safe and its not getting any better. :)

  • anomagnus #7 4 years ago

    The problem now, is that people will think this is going to tank, they don't subscribe, and the cycle gets worse.

    I considered played it, but in the end there wasn't enough there to draw me in.

    Its a shame, because it'll just push people to copy WoW.

  • kestral #8 4 years ago

    #Tabula Rasa producer admits to slow start [7]
    #Tabula Rasa beta a "mistake" [19]
    #Tabula Rasa gets delayed [7]
    #Tabula Rasa in October [11]

    Looks like it didn't get enough good press.. :)

  • orakio #9 4 years ago

    The MMO channel yarr!

  • makememoo #10 4 years ago

    We also launched in an insanely competitive time frame

    no it didnt, it launched in a time frame after everyone realised that lotro was crap and while everyone is sick and tired waiting for new wow content and for conan and warhammer to finally stop being delayed and start showing some money shots.
    Edited by 1 at 06/03/08 @ 14:10

  • Kami #11 4 years ago

    Tabula Rasa's problem primarily, after some time with it myself, is that it is too much of it's own ideals. It tries to replace a grind of quests or PvP with a defend-the-base system, which unfortunately gets old very fast. And when you get bored of this - by the mid-30's and early 40's it gets old very fast - there're just not enough missions or things to do to hold the attention span.

    I still believe Tabula Rasa has solid foundations, the idea is tight, the backstory is funky and some of what they've added like hybrids is very interesting, but they're going to have to start realising eventually that if Tabula Rasa is going to survive, it needs conten t for the dead-zones and needs to provide the CHOICE to just grind missions and level that way. Right now the game really doesn't provide choice, and the instancing system is flawed with some being so poorly designed I longed for something resemblinbg a WoW instance because you miss them being so well designed (Except for Uldaman but hey, one turd isn't a bad thing).

    Tabula Rasa needs to realise that replacing one grind with another isn't going to make your game better. Providing players with a choice, however, may go a long way to helping out.

    Oh, and softening some of the trash difficulty may help, the knockback system in Tabula Rasa just plain sucks and that's the end of it.

  • Nithron #12 4 years ago

    After the shitty beta, i decided i'd give it another shot just now as i can't stand fantasy settings but i'd like to try an MMO. One that has guns in it.

    Turns out i can't, because there's no free trial.

    Maybe that's your problem right there?

  • Gurgeh #13 4 years ago

    "Expect extensive Tabula Rasa coverage when Eurogamer's MMO channel launches in the coming weeks"

    Why bother?

    It's a bit like Match of the Day saying "expect extensive coverage of the Black and Decker Southern League Division 2 in the coming weeks".

  • hulahoops #14 4 years ago

    @CaptainScarlet

    I kind of agree, but as someone who's worked in the industry for 7 years myself, I think a lot of people in the industry don't realize just how rife working life is per se with the same problems our industry faces. The difference is that we get to make games with other people who are cut from the same cloth (I find I make far more friends and enjoy the company of far more people in the games industry than in previous industries I've worked in), and they get to work in insurance and wear a tie.

    It seems like the only way to ensure job security is to work in the public sector, but when we're talking about 50% of my waking day, I want to spend it doing something I care about.

    Case in point, my friend was just given the heave ho from her company, her job out sourced. She'd worked there for about 8 years, and they managed to find a loop hole which allowed them to not pay her redundancy cash (I'm not sure of the ins and outs). The same thing happened to her whole department. They're seeking legal representation now.

    It's a common story in both our industry and hers, the difference being that she spent those 8 years ticking boxes on loan application forms.
    Edited by 1 at 06/03/08 @ 16:28

  • kangarootoo #15 4 years ago

    @BlankOBlank!

    Oh I agree on all counts, and I'm not sure what I would suggest as an alternative. Something less specific perhaps, that didn't refer to layoffs. Or perhaps focussing more honestly on the "it didn't take off as quickly as we had hoped" stuff that they already admitted to.

    I just think that saying something like "we have had to reassess the pace of the project and the investment we are able to make right now" feels better than pretending this is business as normal. Its bad for the industry and those that work in it that layoffs are viewed in any way as normal behaviour, however slight the implication.

    If I had his job, f*ck knows what I would say. As little as possible I suspect ;)


    @CaptainScarlet and BlankOBlank!

    I'm personally a big fan of contracting certain roles out. I used to feel the same way many people do, that a permanent job is better than a contract, as it gave a sense of security.

    But on the flip side, a contract gives you a clearer sense of what is coming down the road, and it also pays a wage that includes the idea of down time between paid work. It really depends on the exact circumstances of each case, but my point is that knowing your contract is coming to an end can be a much better situation to be in that sudden unexpected redundancy.

    "She'd worked there for about 8 years, and they managed to find a loop hole which allowed them to not pay her redundancy cash (I'm not sure of the ins and outs). The same thing happened to her whole department. They're seeking legal representation now."

    That sounds extremely fishy to me. If your friend was a PAYE employee for more than 2 years the law is pretty black and white on these things. Did the company in question liquidate and reform under a different name? That is one way around paying redundancy money. Quite often when people say a company found a loophole, they actually mean they found a convincing (if not legal) excuse so no-one bothered to follow it up.

    I'm glad your friend is seeking legal advice. Its a quick step, that need not cost anything, and at leats lets you know what to do next with all the info at hand.

  • hulahoops #16 4 years ago

    @Kangarootoo

    Gotcha. I 100% agree that he's setting a bad precedent by bandying about that redundancies could ever be plan A.

    As for the redundancy cash, I may have misunderstood her. It was something about them offering them a new position in another office around 70 miles away, which basically led to her not getting anything like what she's supposed to be getting.

  • UncleLou #17 4 years ago

    "We also launched in an insanely competitive time frame, with several well-known intellectual properties launching follow up products at the same time," he observed.

    ...

    Clever. Of course they had no chance whatsoever to see this one coming.