Tabula Rasa means a clean start, literally a cleaned tablet, a point to start afresh. It’s not only a game title, but an expression of what Richard Garriot wanted to do with this new game. Richard Garriot’s Blank Slate. Subtitle: “Stop judging me by Ultima”.

  I’ve played a lot of MMOs over the years. I played Ultima Online before it had any expansion packs at all, I played EverQuest, Earth & Beyond, EvE, World of Warcraft, Asheron’s Call, EverQuest 2, Dungeon Runners, Guild Wars and Hellgate:London, of course, my running habit, City of Heroes. I’ve currently got running subscriptions to Lord of the Rings Online, City of Heroes and, courtesy of Eurogamer’s Free Trial, 3 days of Tabula Rasa.

  I played Tabula Rasa in beta, but didn’t get far beyond the tutorial, due to lack of time, a series of busy weekends when the servers were up, and the servers not being up when I did have time to play. I found the interface clunky and annoying, and there wasn’t enough explanation of how it was supposed to work. This was, apparently, something they listen to feedback on and have done better with, and I had fewer problems with the interface this time.