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TERA Producer Chris Hager leaves En Masse
TERA Producer Chris Hager has left the fields of action combat and big-ass monsters, according to the studio. A PR rep released the following statement to Massively: "Yes, we can confirm Chris Hager is no longer with En Masse Entertainment. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors." Bluehole Studios' Harns Kim first made mention of Hager's departure on his Twitter feed. It is unclear whether Hager left of his own volition or was let go. Prior to working for En Masse, Hager was with NCsoft, developing titles like Guild Wars, Lineage II, and Aion. [Thanks to Maniac for the tip!]
One Shots: Where the demons dwell
In ancient times, hundreds of years before the dawn of history, lived a strange race of people, the Druids. No one knows who they were or what they were doing. That is, except for One Shots contributor Brokenwing, who sends us this gorgeous shot of Stonehenge after he completed a mission in The Secret World. "In all Halloween missions in TSW, cats are involved," Brokenwing writes, "and you need to defeat an Incognito -- the cat god himself. In Stonehenge! At night! It's so much fun and it looks beautiful." Welcome to a very One Shots Halloween, sponsored by The Great Pumpkin, Inc.!
TERA revs up Masquerade Mayhem event
Creepy and kooky, mysterious and ooky, that's TERA's Masquerade Mayhem in a nutshell. The game's first Halloween event kicks off today with a huge assortment of activities, events, and prizes to behold. Players will be treated to free gifts just for logging in, although it'll take some blood, sweat, and fears to earn the special costumes and mount during this event. A giant pumpkin ghost named Gourdo is haunting the various towns, and players can earn goodies by slinging pies at him. How do you get pies? From killing pie-toting mobs, of course. En Masse also has a themed dungeon for players to investigate, but don't forget to take a break on the 30th to partake in the Masquerade Ball. You can get a pie-full of Masquerade Mayhem event in the official video after the break!
One Shots: Don't go chasing waterfalls
The wisdom of TLC flows down through the ages in many forms, but perhaps the group's greatest lesson was this: Don't go chasing waterfalls; please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to. In other words, if you go exploring in MMOs, you're only inviting destruction to rain down on your head, so just stay home. Wait a minute, that's not a good lesson at all. Forget it. Right now. Welcome back to One Shots, the column that you brought back and is now extremely lonely because only faithful reader Eric sent us in something from this past week! Admire Eric's pursuit of Guild Wars 2 waterfalls after the break, and be more like Eric by sending us in your favorite MMO screenshots with descriptions.
TERA aims to scare the pants off you with new Halloween event
TERA is joining the MMO Halloween tradition this year with its own event that promises a loot-fest of giveaways for characters level 40 to 60. Dubbed the Spirit Rally, this festival will run from 3 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, October 16th, to 3 p.m. EDT on Monday, October 22nd, and promises not tricks but treats in the form of high-level charms, crystals, potions, and more. This event is launching on the heels of a new content patch that adds a hard mode for Manaya's Core, a special achievement for level 60 characters, oodles of skill changes for the Berserker class, and more. Check out the complete patch notes for more details.
One Shots: Beautiful balloon
Massively logically selects for readers who aren't necessarily playing World of Warcraft -- if you were, you'd probably be reading our sister site WoW Insider, not this column. But I am still a WoW fan, as is this week's One Shots submitter, William. He sent in a freshly snapped pic from Mists of Pandaria with this note: This screenshot is a little bit of a spoiler, so I won't actually say much about what's in it, but needless to say, this is one of my favourite scenes from the Pandaren starting area. The art design is fantastic in Blizzard's new expansion! Also, panda in a balloon! William's color image is tucked after the break along with a few more of your One Shots-worthy images.
One Shots: Wings
Resident Massively Aion columnist MJ Guthrie could sum up the best reason to play her favorite MMO in just one word: wings! That's something reader Leandra plainly echoes in today's featured One Shots submission. She sent us this image of her character soaring through Aion along with this note: I've been toying around with Aion a bit and took my baby Chanter, Elanyne, for her first flight through the Abyss. I kept an eye out for Elyos, but thankfully (though somewhat disappointingly), I was able to quest in peace. I guess I'll have to level up more and then go looking to pick some fights! You red, you dead -- that's what I always say! Leandra's flight and a few other reader screenies are tucked beyond the break.
The Daily Grind: Are live events due for a revival?
Live MMO events have long since fallen by the development wayside in the pursuit of scripted "dynamic" events. It used to be that game studios would send paid GMs into the game to roleplay with players in a tabletop-like scenario, conducting large-scale storytelling events and spawning enemies, locations, and items. Ultima Online, which celebrates its 15th birthday this week, is particularly well-known for these sorts of events, but they've seldom been replicated in later generations of triple-A MMOs. TERA, apparently, hopes to change that with the implementation of Flash events, "spontaneous events focused on small groups of users and run by staff." They might seem a little out of place in TERA, but they could be a niche worth resurrecting. Live, impromptu events might have the disadvantage of involving only small groups of people and not the entire population, but that's exactly what makes them so intriguing for the players who happen to be in the right zone at the right time when one of these events starts. What do you think? Do you wish more studios would get over their crush on pseudo-dynamic events and return to live events? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
TERA offering group loot bonuses, instance reset scrolls
En Masse is running a new "Instance Gratification" promotion for TERA over the next two weekends. The game's official website says that the goal is community building. Given the recent server merges and the upheaval generally associated with such, we think that's probably a solid idea. If you're level 59 or under, you'll get 50% more loot drops than normal when you group up and tackle the game's dungeon content. Players of all levels get an instance reset scroll every day as long as they log in. The bonus weekends run from September 21st through the 24th and September 28th through October 1st.
TERA's Chris Hager explains server merges and game health
Like a lot of MMOs released in recent years, TERA launched with a bang and then dwindled, forcing En Masse to first lay off staff back in August and then lay off servers in preparation for yesterday's realm merges. And yet the studio seems determined to keep the game alive in the West, promising content updates and small-group, impromptu flash events run by event staff, the likes of which MMO players rarely see outside of old-school games like Ultima Online. Curious about what all these news bytes portend for the game's future, we sat down with En Masse Entertainment Producer Chris Hager to discuss the reasoning behind the server merges, the effect of the layoffs on the game, and whether TERA might just be the next title to go free-to-play.
TERA's staff planning on more events and more content updates
TERA has consolidated to three servers today, but the latest dispatch from producer Chris Hager doesn't dwell on that. No, this dispatch is all about what the game has in the pipeline, starting with more events for players to enjoy. Hager lays out plans the team has made for the fall, like new small-scale events run by the staff on a more regular basis alongside weekend events targeting larger groups of players. The update doesn't mention dates, but it does give several ideas of event types (random races or scavenger hunts as flash events, increased dungeon rewards for weekend events). Hager also stresses that the game is rolling out further content updates starting with the return of crafting quests and a large-scale Berserker update. There's another large patch due out this fall as well as significant changes to Enchanting, and there are undisclosed further projects being developed jointly by En Masse Entertainment and Bluehole Studios. Players looking for more details can glean a few from the official letter.
TERA on sale again, merge details revealed
Yo dawg, Amazon heard you might like TERA, so it's giving you TERA when you buy TERA so you'll have two copies of TERA. Bizarre though it might sound, it's the truth. Purchase a digital download version of TERA on Amazon right now for $9.99 and you'll receive a second key for the game as well at no additional charge. It's worth noting that this deal is valid for only the downloaded version; the retail version does not have the same price discount or special offer. The deal doesn't technically reward you with an immediate copy, instead providing a $9.99 promotional credit that can be redeemed only on a second copy of TERA. This credit is valid until October 15th, but the promotion ends on September 22nd. If you and a friend have been tempted to give TERA a shot, now is obviously the time to jump in, although you may want to wait for a day as the game is merging down to three servers tomorrow. In fact, En Masse has just officially announced the names of the new servers and revealed additional details about the merges on the TERA website. [Thanks to potatochobit for the tip!]
One Shots: Go directly to jail
You have to love a culture that thinks jail should be a breathtaking experience for the prisoner... literally! Today's One Shots from reader Lovander (Tarnished Coast represent!) shows how Guild Wars 2's Sylvari race mixes glowing sparkles with deadly detention cells. Lovander wrote, I came upon this jail in the Sylvari capital, The Grove. Every cell is a Venus Fly Trap. Loved the design! Follow on for the color screenie plus a few more One Shots beyond the break.
TERA is merging down to three servers
The latest letter from TERA's producer is out, and while it includes some interesting statistics, the most important bit of information is that the game will be trimming down its server list. On September 18th, the game will be shrinking to three servers: an unnamed PvE server, an unnamed PvP server, and the existing RP server called Celestial Hills. The letter is quick to state that this is a net positive for players looking for a larger and more active population within a given server. Customer service has already assembled a set of answers for obvious questions. Any players with more than eight characters in total will be locked out of playing until some of those characters are deleted, so if you've got characters on several PvE or PvP servers, you might want to delete some. Players can also expect banks to be merged (with an overflow tab if you need to withdraw some items) and all vanarch statuses to be reset, with refunds to active candidates. The full producer's letter has some other things for players to look forward to during September and beyond. [Thanks to Marisa for the tip!]
Jukebox Heroes Extra: An interview with Inon Zur
Did you grow up watching Power Rangers? I didn't, but then again, I was slightly over the age demographic there. But it tickles me pink (ranger) that the guy who got his start doing background music for one of the cheesiest shows of all time ended up scoring many of the greatest video games of all time. Israeli-born Inon Zur was hard at work in the film, TV, and video game industry in the '90s, but it wasn't until 2002's Icewind Dale II that his music and fame started to climb to a whole different level. Zur started winning awards left and right for his work on Dragon Age, Fallout 3, Prince of Persia, and Men of Valor, among other titles. MMO players might not know it, Zur's deft hand is all over the place. He's composed several EverQuest and EverQuest II expansions, the now-defunct Exteel, last year's RIFT and most recently, TERA. As a driving force behind MMO music, Inon Zur has a unique perspective on what makes for a great audio experience. Want to hear more? Us too. We have a great interview with Zur as well as a few select pieces of his works after the jump.
TERA digital download clients 60% off through August 28th
If you've been holding out to purchase TERA, you might be happy to know that En Masse has just put the digital download copies up for sale. You can grab the standard version of the game for $14.99, while the digital collector's edition will set you back a measly $19.99 (that's a whopping 60% off if you're counting at home). Both bundles include 30 days of free gameplay, while CE purchases also net you a Frostlion mount and a couple of stat-enhancing necklaces. The sale runs through August 28th. [Thanks to potato for the tip!]
TERA launches The Argon Queen patch, complete with events
Are you ready to face new challenges in TERA? Challenges like the new battlegrounds, new raids, and new max-level dungeons? Then you'll be happy to know that the game's latest patch, titled The Argon Queen, has brought all of these to the table. Players can now queue for instanced PvP at the level cap, square off against dangerous foes in raid groups, and test their mettle against three new top-tier instances. This coincides nicely with the addition of new tanking skills and mechanics for Warriors and Lancers. Of course, players will need to be in full fighting trim to face off against the eponymous Argon Queen, and that means everyone needs to be up to the level cap. To facilitate this, all characters will be receiving special buff items via item claim to increase experience earned and damage dealt for an hour. These rewards will go out once per day until the Argon Queen arrives on the scene. Instance drop rates are also improved for random group matchups, encouraging players to get out and gear up... you know, if the trailer for the update just past the cut didn't get you in that mood anyway.
One Shots: Counting blessings
Massively reader Ralph "The Wonder Llama" (don't look at me!) delivered this spectacular TERA image to headline this week's One Shots. He wrote in: This is my Amani Berzerker, Sequoia. She's seen here showing off her brand-new crafted level 40 plate armor (proving once again that you don't have to show a lot of skin to look totally hot!). We took some time out from our busy schedule of monster slaying in TERA to admire the scenery in Blessing Basin, a beautiful forested zone full of strange and exotic creatures, most of whom want to kill you. This particular shot was taken at the Fountain of Shara, where Mystel, the goddess of fate, determines whether intrepid adventurers are are worthy of her assistance. I'm pleased to report that Sequoia passed the test with flying colors! Ralph's screenshots and a few others worthy of highlighting are tucked beyond the break.
TERA Argon Queen date and PvP details revealed
It's almost time to come face-to-face with the argon queen herself. On August 22nd, the Argon Queen update will hit TERA, bringing in new dungeons, skills, and PvP battlegrounds, as well as a 20-person raid. The new battlegrounds will allow teams of 15 to face off from across servers in a vicious fight for dominance. There are three bases to control, and in the midst of killing off other players and staking a claim, players will also have to keep an eye out for BAMs and normal mobs that have been thrown into the mix of things. Weekly rankings and sweet, sweet loot await the brave warriors who dare step into the battlegrounds. Seeing is believing, or something, so skip below the cut to check out a new and action-packed video. [Source: En Masse Entertainment press release]
TERA lawsuit settled, En Masse maintains innocence [Updated]
According to a statement issued to Massively by En Masse Entertainment last night, TERA publisher En Masse and NCsoft have finally resolved their long-standing feud and settled their lawsuit. The lawsuit centered around claims that TERA's Korean developer, Bluehole Studio, stole assets from the in-production Lineage III to create TERA. While Korean courts found some ex-NCsoft employees at Bluehole guilty in the original criminal trial, En Masse stood by its claim of innocence through the culmination of this civil lawsuit. Recent layoffs at the studio nevertheless worry players. We've posted En Masse's statement in its entirety behind the break.
