New TERA IP blocking policy contradicts previous En Masse tweets [Updated]
Yesterday we reported on En Masse Entertainment's policy when it comes to IP blocking and region-locks for its upcoming TERA MMORPG. While the company's decision to keep users from Asia, Africa, Russia, and the Middle East off its American servers isn't particularly unusual, it is curious in the wake of several previous statements to the contrary.
It turns out that En Masse said it wouldn't engage in foreign IP blocking four separate times via its TERA Twitter account before reversing course with its support post over the weekend.
Is the new policy going to prevent you from playing TERA? Tell us what you think!
[Thanks to Stilllove for the tip.]
[Update: En Masse has responded with an official explanation of the changes. We've included the full statement behind the break.]
We had to change our stance on IP restrictions due to licensing and security issues. While we can't go into the reasons in detail, we would like to say that although these restrictions are not a panacea for preventing hacking, they are highly effective, and produce more positive results than might be expected. Like many game companies, our studio has been under continuous, sustained assault as hackers anticipate the launch of TERA. Our goal is to provide the best experience for TERA players in North America, which necessitates the change. We hope players disappointed by the change understand our reasoning, and we hope to extend the regions in which TERA is accessible in the future.
