Tabula Rasa Preview

The guys at MMORPG.com have gotten around to posting their GDC preview of NCsoft's Tabula Rasa.
Even though it plays a valuable role in TR, or any MMO for that matter, combat is not the be all and end all of this game. Things like missions and character growth also take a front seat in the game's design. As players collect missions, they can and will be given more missions from different factions in the game that conflict with one another. We are told that players will be forced to make specific and difficult decisions about which path they will take. The detail continues as side-missions can be undertaken within the larger scope of a main mission that will have consequences on the overall arc. The example that we saw required that players destroy an enormous machine. In one of the side missions, the player learns that the machine has a weak-point, thus aiding him / her in his /her final objective.