Tabula Rasa launch postponed

It was too good to be true for Richard Garriott's faithful, all of whom are eager to end the six-year-plus tease that has been Tabula Rasa. Despite announcing that the massively multiplayer online sci-fi epic had gone gold early last month, producer Starr Long has posted to the game's Web site that Tabula Rasa will remain a blank slate until November 2, with preorders gaining access on October 30.

Explaining the reason for the company's aborted October 19 launch date, Starr said, "This short but critical amount of time will give us time to address several issues including stability and balance as well as allowing our players to test the continent of Ligo (L38+) and our major changes to crafting for a few weeks rather than a few days."

Tabula Rasa's standard edition will retail for $49.99. A collector's edition of the game that includes several in-game extras, as well as a special message from Garriott, bonus maps and survival guides, Tabula Rasa dog tags, a commemorative coin, a poster, and a making-of DVD, will be available for $69.99. Both editions include the first month of play free. Afterward, the game requires a recurring monthly subscription fee of $14.99.