Though one of the few MMORPGs to add adequate "Game", mid-to-later content is plagued with bugs and lack of po
At the same time, however, Tabula Rasa is not the MMORPG you might be expecting. Despite the presence of experience bars and levels, it's not yet another EverQuest/World of Warcraft clone. Despite the fact that it was made under the executive direction of Richard Garriott (a.k.a. Lord British) this is not an Ultima Online clone. There's a good chance that, despite the similarities which make Tabula Rasa a MMORPG, this game does not play like any MMORPG you've ever played.
Tabula Rasa differs from most MMORPGs in that it is unusually actiony and visceral. There is no "auto-attack" here, and instead you equip up to five weapons that you switch between, put your crosshair over an enemy, and left-click to blaze away. There's sort of a quasi-FPS thing going on here, and you'll occasionally need to reload your weapon. Despite the visceral feeling, don't expect "Auto Assault" simplicity: Each type of weapon has a unique application, thus the need for 5 weapon slots to rapidly switch between. There also a variety of support items and abilities that are activated with the right mouse button from a series of 5 slot banks.
The depth of the combat comes mostly from how damage is resolved. If you have higher "accuracy" (by stopping, crouching and/or being in optimal range with your weapon) you'll do more damage. If you use cover against your enemy (for example by crouching behind a barricade) you'll much take less damage. The difference between using tactics or just firing away is the difference of whether you find the combat shallow or not.
At its best, you'll find yourself facing off against absolute hordes of Bane soldiers and their genetically modified creations, sometimes many levels above you. That you can get away with this is a pretty good indication that here is a game where player skill matters more than the time you've spent grinding away on getting levels. This kind of battle is most often encountered at control points. These are outposts that can either be held by the players or the Bane. While they're held by players they're staffed by friendly NPCs that often offer missions and services. It's quite an experience to witness the massive assaults against control points, and I think everybody should try that at least once.
Tabula Rasa has some other cool features such as cloning (saving your character as a separate character so you can come back and try a different thing later or respec your skills), kill streaks (up to 250% bonus experience for killing several foes in a row), and overall emphasis on worldliness in Tabula Rasa. This is quite the game and, while it may not be a completely "blank slate", it innovates enough to partly earn that title.
Despite this praise, Tabula Rasa isn't perfect. The game itself runs runs quite stably and, for the most part gameplay, feels bug-free. However, the deeper you get into the game, the more problems you will find: Some capture points (like in The Divide zone) aren't set up to be attacked by enough Bane, a few skills (like Crab Mines) do not operate as they should, and there's some general housekeeping issues like redundant waypoints steering players to the wrong place to recover a Logos icon. The higher you level, the more lack of polish you'll encounter, with Wilderness (levels 1-10) seeming like where the game should be and the Palisads (levels 20-30) seeming like the game was a month ago. At the time of this writing, some instanced dungeons are simply unable to be completed due to bugs.
In the end, I can only recommend this game for players who are patient. I'm still subscribed and planning on staying subscribed because I believe the problems with Tabula Rasa will eventually be fixed by the developers. If you want to wait 6 months first, without paying for it as I am, then that may not be a bad idea. Tabula Rasa could potentially be something great but, thanks primarily to the lack of polish in the mid-to-late game, it's not all the way there yet.