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TERA's Chinese publisher has a deal for VR headsets
Good news for the VR enthusiasts today, or at least the VR enthusiasts who live in China and have a deep-seated desire to hack at some monsters in TERA. The game's Chinese publisher, Kunlun, revealed an agreement being made between the company and Sony to bring the game to the latter's virtual reality headset. The idea is that the headset will allow players to step into the game with what amounts to a full IMAX experience, only with significantly more giant monsters. Nothing has been said on whether or not this option will be available for players in North America. The Chinese version of the game is planning on its first large-scale open test in August, and there will be unique content for the region, but hopefully that won't include the ability to play the game with a headset strapped over your eyes.
Here's some odd art from Bluehole's TERA sequel
The TERA sequel is still a thing, as Bluehole Studio served up the game's first publicly revealed artwork at the Nexon Developers Conference 2014. MMO Culture has the image, and is that the white hand of Saruman on that dude's trenchcoat?
TERA's remodeling system removal causing player unrest
Avatar customization is a big deal in MMOs, especially ones as gorgeous as TERA. It's such a big deal, in fact, that changes to TERA's system brought on by the recent Reaper patch have resulted in a titanic forum protest thread that's well over 30 pages long as of this writing. In a nutshell, TERA's dearly departed remodeling system allowed players to alter the look of individual gear pieces. It was similar to World of Warcraft's transmogrification mechanics, but it has now been replaced by a system that necessitates grinding for tickets that may be exchanged for whole armor sets. [Thanks everyone who tipped us!]
TERA brings out the Reaper
Today's patch for TERA is bringing a brand-new class in a pint-sized package: the Reaper. Patch 26.04's star attraction is the new Reaper class, which only becomes available once a player hits level 40 with at least one character (And yes, there's an achievement to be the very first Reaper on any given server. Make us proud, Massively readers!). The Reaper is a leather-wearing, Elin-exclusive class that does mid-range damage with a scythe. It utilizes chains and combos extensively to do its DPS work. The patch also contains the new Reaper starting area of Ashen Hope, a big revamp to the crafting system, a production system, and an update to glyphs and the skills UI. It's a two gig patch, so you'll want to familiarize yourself with all of the ins and outs of the patch notes before you log in.
TERA's Reaper class heads to NA servers on May 13th [Updated]
The official Facebook page for TERA has posted an official North American release date for the Reaper class, already live in Japan and Korea, and that date is May 13th. According to fansite TeraToday, the Reaper is a free class available to players who already have a character over level 40; they're shadowy fighters who excel in close- and mid-range combat. We've included the Reaper trailer below. Pew pew slash slash and all that. [Update: The studio has just posted an official website for the new class.]
TERA's having a birthday party and you're invited
TERA celebrates its second birthday this weekend, and for reasons that make sense only to MMORPGs and hobbits, that means it's giving its players a bunch of presents. En Masse will be handing out 20 prizes per server per day from today to May 1st, with a special jackpot chance for those who play over the weekend. The prizes include party packs, special mounts, skins, and the all-important 2013 swimsuit bundle. Everyone who logs in will be showered in daily federation bills, and this Saturday the team plans to bring in "special guests" who come bearing -- you guessed it -- more loot. The studio produced a trailer to punch up the festivities and demonstrate just how far the game has come since launch; we've included it below. Happy birthday, TERA!
TERA's federation bills let you buy discontinued cash shop items
En Masse has added a new wrinkle to its TERA cash shop. The next time you log into the free-to-play fantasy brawler, you'll receive a pack of five federation bills for your trouble. You'll get five more on each subsequent login "for a limited time," and En Masse will be "introducing more and more ways to get them" in the future. The bills aren't tradeable, but you can share them across all the characters on your account. They're used at exclusive merchants in towns spread throughout Arborea to purchase "some of those rare items no longer available anywhere else" as well as "plenty of other goodies and treats." [Thanks Dengar!]
32-team TERA PvP tourney starts Saturday, March 9
TERA fans, you've now got some weekend plans -- assuming you didn't already have weekend plans, of course. En Masse is hosting a three-vs.-three PvP tournament in Champions' Skyring starting on Saturday, March 9th. This will be a single-elimination event composed of 32 teams, with 3,000 En Masse cash shop points going to the winners alongside a premium ninja costume bundle. The second place team gets the costume bundle and a thousand EMP, while third and fourth place finishers will take home the costumes. All participants will receive an afro head slot accessory. If you're not much for PvPing, you can view the shenanigans via En Masse's Twitch channel. The event runs from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST on Saturday and 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday. Click past the cut for the full press release. [Source: En Masse press release]
The Soapbox: My hypersexualization conundrum
Every now and then here at Massively, we receive an email that isn't super nice. I know this may come as a shock to many of you -- the internet is, after all, a place of tolerance and constructive debate -- but sometimes the Massively inbox is no place any sane person would want to be. One reader recently took the opportunity to offer some choice thoughts on Massively staffers. And amidst the jumble of insults and generalizations, the reader levied the ever-powerful "hypocrisy" charge at us for claiming to care about hypersexualized designs of female characters in MMOs while simultaneously playing as those very hypersexualized characters. How could we possibly purport to care about the presentation of women in games if we're all running around in chainmail bikinis? Generally speaking, I prefer to not have my habits and behavior challenged via ad hominem attacks and false comparisons. But I have to admit that this one particular charge piqued my curiosity. Why is it that the majority of my characters are female? Am I, as a person who looks down on hypersexualized designs in games, committing an act of hypocrisy every time I create a female character? Let's sort it out. And before we begin, remember that the Soapbox, like most of our editorials, is just one person's opinion and doesn't represent the thoughts of Massively as a whole.
Massively's Valentine's Day roundup
When a mob hits your eye with a big sharpened spike... that's not really amore! In fact, it's downright painful. But it's February -- a time when love is in the air, hearts are aflutter everywhere, and pink and red festoon your favorite MMOs. So in the spirit of the season, go ahead and give that mob an extra-hard love tap, right from... er, to the heart! And don't forget to collect whatever treasures it had for you because we all know Valentine's Day isn't all about the love; no, it's about the loot! Want to know where to get your hands on something special for this holiday? There are plenty of celebrations throughout the MMOverse offering a plethora of events and goodies. Check out some of the various Valentine's events and specials going on now.
The Soapbox: Novel content trumps novel mechanics
Action combat. Interactive conversations. Public quests. Voxel worlds. There are many game mechanics that developers of massively multiplayer online games crow about when promoting their games because these are the things that make their games stand out from the pack. Even if they're not the first to do it, they'll proclaim that they're doing it bigger and better than their predecessors. I don't have a problem with any of this. It's when the developers and their ardent fans gloss over the importance of the actual content these mechanics are applied to that I get annoyed. Mechanics are just a skeleton, and they can't do anything at all without some meat on the bones. Content matters, and good, fresh content will keep players interested long after the novelty of unusual mechanics has worn off.
The Soapbox: Stop ganking, you ganking gankers
For me, player vs. player interaction is a necessary component of any online game. The urge to engage with skilled human opponents is the reason I spent countless hours defending flags in World of Warcraft and likely the main motivating factor in my slide away from traditional MMOs and toward MOBAs like Dota 2 and Blizzard Entertainment's upcoming Heroes of the Storm. Simply put, I like a good fight. I especially like a good fight when it occurs unscripted and out in the wilds of the world. If you catch me unaware while I'm grinding out one of TERA's BAMs or plucking gold from an ore vein in Aion, I'll be more than happy to cross swords (or trade frostbolts) with you. Winning or losing isn't important to me; the constant threat of attack heightens my enjoyment of and connection to the game's universe. Unfortunately, open world PvP doesn't attract exclusively those people interested in fair fights. And in the games that make it possible, a certain small segment of players is working hard to ruin everyone else's good time. I speak, of course, of gankers.
One Shots: Sweaty navels
As we all well know, the navel -- or "belly button" in layman's parlance -- is the sweatiest organ of the body. So much so, in fact, that the navel must either be exposed to air at all time or be equipped with a specialized "tummy diaper." Here we see reader ThorHal getting it right with his character in TERA. "I was one to complain when One Shots vanished a while back, now here to contribute!" ThorHal exclaimed. "I was traveling along the roads, exploring and helping the local populace. Transitioning into this beautiful place called Heartwood left me stunned. This game keeps impressing me with its art, be it dry deserts, lush forests, or this magical place." Despite what you might assume, this week's collection of player-submitted screenshots isn't just about our "tickle dimples." It's a treat for the eyes and a balm for the soul, all after the jump!
Take a little look at TERA's newest class
The newest class in TERA is live on the Korean servers right now, and even if you don't normally play an Elin, you might be curious to see what it's all about. That's a little more problematic if you don't speak Korean, but lucky for you there's a whole preview of the upcoming class available now on Steparu. It should give you a good idea of what to expect when this update comes out stateside. Dark Elin start at level 55 and have a variety of new skills and abilities for players to use. Embedded past the break is a preview of a Dark Elin fighting one of the game's signature BAMs, showing off the class mechanics in brief and giving an idea of what it's like to play one. Check out the video past the break, and take a look at the full preview for a more in-depth look at the class.
TERA is creating a flying scythe-user class
TERA's taking terror and pre-adolescent creepiness to the skies with an upcoming class, tentatively called the Flying Scythe-user. Details about the new class are a little spotty due to the translation from Korean (so don't take that class name as gospel), but it looks as though the Elin-only class will be a ranged character that harnesses dark magic and flings scythes and chains across the battlefield. The Flying Scythe-user will be unlocked once a player hits level 40 on another character, emerging into the light as a level 50 toon. Some of this class' skills include chain attacks, a dark explosion, an AoE whip, spinning blades, and a dark shield. The class will be very nimble, with abilities to ignore attacks, quickly dodge, and swap places with the enemy. The class will be first available in Korea, with a presumable jump to other regions thereafter. [Thanks to Vunak for the tip!]
The Stream Team: Questing through TERA's dead zone
Massively's Mike Foster prefers to level by running dungeons. Unfortunately for him, TERA has several dead zones in which characters are too high to queue for one dungeon but too low to queue for the next. This means that Mike must step into that thing he dreads so much: lore. Tune in tonight at 8:30 p.m. EST as Mike begrudgingly quests through TERA's storyline, gathering XP and items all the while. Game: TERA Host: Mike Foster Date: Friday, December 27, 2013 Time: 8:30 p.m. EST Enjoy our Steam Team video below.
En Masse recaps TERA's 2013, looks to 2014
TERA's website has been updated with an end-of-the-year post that's both a look back and a look ahead. En Masse recaps some of its 2013 highlights -- including the F2P conversion, new dungeons, raids, and battlegrounds, and a month-long anniversary celebration. The company also teases TERA's 2014 docket. In January, players will be able to transform themselves into "big-ass monsters" via the new Kumasylum battleground. Even more new dungeons and raids are in the works, as is the Rootstock festival and some elite status member benefit upgrades.
Massively's winter holidays MMO roundup
The holidays are here! That means the hustle and bustle of the season is in full swing, with gifts to get, treats to taste, deals to nab, and plenty of festivities to partake in -- and that's just in the MMOverse! Yes folks, there's a plethora of holiday celebrations out there -- so many, in fact, that it can be hard to keep track of them all, let alone participate to them! If you're trying to catch everything in your favorite games, we're here to help. We've got a round up of the various winter celebrations across the gaming sphere all bundled together right here for you. If something catches your eye, hop in and join in the festivities!
TERA starts snowball war and prepares to invade China
There's snow mercy with TERA's winter update this year, as the free-to-play title started a massive snowball fight this week as a way to celebrate the holiday season. The Wintera Snowfield is a new 10v10 battlefield where players will line up to take potshots at each other (in love, we assume). Since everyone's health will be equalized and all of the abilities will be the same, victory will be determined by player skill and resource acquisition. Both winners and losers will receive tokens to spend on rewards, although the former will receive quite a bit more. The event ends January 2nd. TERA is also going to be taking its first steps into the Chinese market with a test starting on January 9th, 2014.
The Soapbox: Seriously, we have enough fantasy MMOs
Let's play a game. I'm thinking of an MMO that features magic, monsters, humans, and a vast fantasy world full of steamy swamps, grassy plains, and deep, dark dungeons -- can you tell me which MMO it is? If you answered RIFT, you're right. You're also right if you answered TERA. Or World of Warcraft. Or Guild Wars 2. Or Neverwinter. Or... you get the idea. We're people who play MMOs. Our hard drives are practically bulging with games featuring wizards and warriors. We've plunged our swords into millions of orcs and gnolls. We've looted more imaginary copper pieces than anyone could possible imagine. We've even slain so many dragons that you have to wonder why dragons even bother showing up anymore. It's not the gameplay but the setting that can make the whole exercise so soul-crushingly boring.
