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When you're at a games convention, it's pretty normal to hear bits of behind-the-scenes gossip about games. One game I didn't really expect to hear being discussed in such hushed tones, though, was NCSoft's recent sci-fi MMO Tabula Rasa. Sure enough, though, I happened to get in line behind a couple of guys talking about the new Richard Garriott-developed title at the Game Developers Conference a few weeks ago. Their words were not exactly kind. In fact, I'm fairly certain I heard "massive failure" whispered at least once.

With rumors flying wild that the game is in trouble, NCSoft producer Starr Long stepped up for a State of the Game article explaining what's going on to the fans. Long's tone for the piece was friendly but stern, adamant that while things may look down, they aren't actually all that bad.

"We have been putting new content into the game every few weeks, and we will continue doing just that," Long said, referencing the upcoming addition of personal mechs to the game specifically. He also confirmed that Richard Garriott is still working with the team, contacting them daily while he trains for his space mission.

Turning to a more serious topic, Long stated that rumors of massive layoffs from the Tabula Rasa team are incorrect, and that they are instead moving from a large development team to a large live service team -- a normal transition for MMOs. Long then commented on the rash of negative rumors surrounding Tabula Rasa -- like those I overheard at GDC -- as a whole:

"There has been a lot of talk about Tabula Rasa lately which doesn?t match the reality of the situation. I hope I?ve been able to shed some light on what is really going on. We have become a more flexible team and have put procedures in place in order to deliver more focused, timely content and fixes much faster than before. This has given us the ability to support our players in a much more timely fashion, which they seem to appreciate and we plan to continue."

Only time will tell if Long is being straight or just feeding us the PR line here, but one thing is certain: for now, at least, Tabula Rasa will continue as much more than a blank slate.