Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Tera Online: Release in 2012 (official statement)

As you can read on official Tera Online Website, the release has officially being moved to 2012. This is nothing new, as I already posted in a previous post, that “Tera Online release delayed – No Tera Online in 2011?” from an inside leak from within the Frogster Offices.
For everyone else, flaming in the above posts comments: Haha, sucks for you fanboys.
Here the whole post:
August 3, 2011
Hello TERA faithful! My name is Chris "Chager" Hager, and I'm the North American producer for TERA. I've got some exciting news to share today about what we've been up to this year so far, as well as what we'll be doing for the rest of 2011 and 2012.
TERA has had a busy 2011, and the year's barely half over! After successful showings at CES and GDC, we unveiled the game's political system at E3, where we received several awards and even more nominations.
The big news I'll be sharing today is our launch timing! That's right folks, we are ramping up for a spring 2012 launch date. Our focus has always been on launching TERA when it's ready, so you can take heart knowing that we feel we're getting close enough to announce our launch window. Let me explain, in further detail, what we'll be doing between now and spring 2012.
Later this year we will begin our alpha testing. For those who aren't yet familiar with this term, alpha testing is essentially small-scale testing with people outside the company, with the goal of collecting feedback on specific game features. An alpha test has the added benefit of allowing our internal teams to practice running a game in a "live" environment, so when the beta phase starts in early 2012, TERA will be operating like a well-oiled machine.
During our alpha, we'll test PvP server settings, overall progression, quest feedback, BAM (big-ass monster) fights, our brand new platform (account management), and a lot of other things that we'll talk about in greater detail later this year. In addition to testing new systems and Western features, we'll also fine-tune existing systems with our players in mind. Once all of these systems are in place, it's important to us that we get user feedback prior to our beta phase.
"Wait, did you say beta in early 2012?" Why yes, yes I did. Once we complete the alpha phase, we'll incorporate that feedback into the client, polish any new content, and then start beta testing early next year. Most of y'all are familiar with betas and how they work; for us, their main purpose is to expose greater numbers of players to TERA so they can experience the incredible action combat system, group up with some friends to take down a BAM or two, and in general enjoy a slice of TERA. We'll announce specific dates and times for our beta testing when we get a little closer, but the culmination of those beta events will be a launch for TERA in the spring of 2012!
So what does all of this mean for you? We'll be allowing a few select players to enter our alpha test later this year, and we'll open the door even wider in early 2012 with our beta testing. For details on both of these initiatives, as well as more about the features we'll be implementing and testing, stop by www.TERA-Online.com. As we've been discussing the details behind the alpha plan here at En Masse this past week, the excitement has grown palpable! We feel we're on the right path to deliver a truly epic game to our players and fans.
Thanks!
—Chager







Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Tera Online – New Infomation from E3 Interview

Terafans published a new interview from E3, with some interesting questions who proves my previous post right. The highlighted part below, proves that EnMasse haven’t even started making the changes to the PvP system and that they will start very very late with the Beta. If you take into account that a good Beta lasts 3-6 months, even the slowest people and biggest Pro-EME/Frogster Fanboys will realize, that it would be impossible to release the game this year!

Thanks for being patient all! Here are answers to some of the questions ya'll asked on the E3 Interview forum topic. Please note I didn't get to all of the questions you asked, but covered a good amount of them.

Q: Why does it look like TERA has aim-assist skills for certain spells? (Some mystic/archer skills seem to curve as the target moves.)

A: Early in TERA’s dev cycle, attacks didn’t have aim-assist. Once people started playing, we noticed there were a lot of people who couldn’t hit the target with the basic attacks because the control and targeting became very difficult. Because of this, we changed a few skills to instant timing, which is why some skills look like they curve. For these few skills the ‘hit’ is based on the reticle & target at the time of cast. We adjusted the lock-on for some skills and are happy with the results; it doesn’t spoil the non-targeting feel of TERA.

Q: Will mystics get more control over their pets?

A: In the latest build we have, the mystic pet has the ability to attack or follow by command. We plan to continue work on this, and it is quite high on our to-do list. The only issue is that adding a skill requires a lot of balancing¬ against itself and other class skills. We are always slammed for time in our dev cycles, so we can’t say exactly when we’ll complete this, but it is on our ‘high priority to-do’ list.

Q: When will there be guild housing?

A: This is something we are actively exploring. Initially, we had the plan to use the buildings in big cities as guild houses. Once we started looking more into this, we realized there was a conflict between what we could do with the existing buildings in the cities and what the player expectation was. Putting something unpolished in game can create incomplete content that satisfies no one (players or devs). We are currently looking at what we can do with guild housing so that it’s polished content and meets not only player expectations, but our own.

Q: Will there be player housing?

A: If we implement housing, then the order would be guild housing, then player housing. Right now it is difficult to say specifically if/when we will implement these. As I said above, we are actively investigating housing.

Q: Will the five-second PK rule be altered on PvP servers?

A: PK declaration time requires a very delicate balance that satisfies the majority of players. EME will begin our PvP server testing with a five-second PK rule, but will have external testing for these settings this fall and will adjust the final settings based on feedback and overall functionality.

Q: What do you plan on doing with damage scaling in PvP? PvP specific armor? Damage reduction in PK/BGs?

A: There is already a damage-scaling system in place, but the issue is balancing. There are PvP armor/weapon sets as well as PvP-specific skills and crystals. For now, we think the bigger issue is the balance between classes and the user’s skill in controlling a character rather than equipment. We are always listening to player opinions regarding balance, and as we go through external testing and CBTs, we will continue to monitor and implement feedback.

Q: Any news on updated racial skill balance?

A: There hasn’t been an instance where racial skill balance has been a big issue. We hear a lot more issues regarding class balance instead. Once the classes are more or less balanced, we think the next balance issue will be racial skills, and at that time we’ll start working on those.

Q: Any more/new options for character creation? ie hairstyles, faces, etc. (When will horns/ears be seperated from hairstyles?)

A: TERA’s current character creation has a lot of ways to make a character feel unique. Although it is better to have more character creation options, we don’t feel TERA’s at a loss here. As we come out with new content and updates, there will be a natural addition to character creation, but it won’t be something we add right away. We’ve got more content work to do first.

Q: Will there ever be any options to "physically" change your armor; rip off a sleeve, shorten the bottoms, etc.

A: Currently there is no plan to implement physical damage effects for armor. We reduced the customizable portions of a player’s armor/weapons so we could add more detail and polish to those pieces. If there is a high player demand for costume customization, it could be possible to add that feature into future development plans.

Q: Will there be any hair/face/skin-changing NPCs (hair salons, cosmotologists) which you could go to and pay in-game gold to change one of the desired features?

A: In the most recent update, we’ve added functionality so a user can change a character’s appearance.

Q: Will any substantial info be released on argons and their origins? Being the main antagonists, there isn't a lot of info about these metallic creatures from another dimension.

A: More information will come in time. We can’t reveal more about the story now because it would point towards our future content update plans, and we have to keep some things secret!

Q: Are barakas now constructs made from the giants, or are they a friendly clan of the giants? Lore is very wishy-washy; one says they are constructs, the other says they are relatives.

A: The barakas don’t have a home because we haven’t revealed it… yet. Their home is in a continent that we are planning on introducing in an upcoming content update, so stay tuned and learn more about baraka lore.

Q: Are there plans to enhance the guild leveling system?

A: We have a lot of ideas on ways to enhance guilds and the guild leveling system in TERA. Unfortunately we have a huge list of content we want to add or enhance, and all of it takes time, development, and testing cycles before it goes live. Please know we’re actively working on ways to enhance guilds, and you will see this in future updates.

Q: Will we get emotes for slow walking and sitting? If not, why? These little things support roleplay a lot.

A: We had a similar thought when we initially started working on TERA, and the development team shared that opinion, too. When we thought of implementing them, we came to the conclusion that those emotes would be cosmetic only, which goes against the HP recovery that sitting has in other current games. Because we want everything in TERA to have a reason that makes sense, we decided to leave these emotes out. We do recognize that emotes like this are a huge part in roleplaying, though, so these (and other) emotes have not been totally killed from a future dev list, they are just low priority compared to the other things we want to accomplish in the game first.

I hope these answers gives you all some good info and maybe a few more discussion points to talk about here on the forums. We're always reading and listening to feedback so please keep it coming!

Thanks,
-Chager

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

TERA Online release delayed – No Tera Online in 2011?

According to internal information who got leaked out of the Tera Online offices, the westernization process is not going pretty well, neither are the Beta servers working very well.

But seeing their activity on the forums, this was no surprise. They already avoided any kind of information/questions which was about the  Beta, Westernization or the long announced changes of the PvP system and only distracted the dumb players with some boring screenshots and general information which don’t tell anything about the game or it’s mechanics itself (i.e. screenshots of dungeons, monsters or NPCs), but not a single information about PvP mechanics, Details on how Politic system or crafting works in detail or the other real interesting information.

It’s very sad to see, how they treat their future customers… like shit!

Frogster/EnMasse: How long are you going to fool around your future customers?!

Update 2011-08-03:

EnMass officially announced the delay to 2012. There won’t even be a Beta this year, just a alpha for very few selected players and Beta in early 2012. This means, no Tera until at least February or March 2012. Good Game EnMasse. You’re unable to release a game in time which has been out in Korea more than 6 months.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Tera: Frogster = Nazi? Censorship on official forums

I’ve been reading the TERA European Forums for quite a while, but recently I’ve seen many posts and even whole threads being deleted or closed.

Most of the points contained somewhat critical attitude towards TERA, questioning it’s success or pointing out huge weaknesses. What is Frogster trying to hide here? I really started to feel like the Nazi regime was reborn again and everything that doesn’t doesn’t praise TERA and Frogster gets either closed and deleted.

What do you think? Do you have similar experiences? If so, let others know in the comments.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Tera Online Closed Beta Client Download

Today I want to give you some Links to the Tera Online Closed Beta Client. It’s hosted directly on the Frogster servers. So for everyone who’s waiting for the Closed Beta Test and already wants to download the client, has now the chance to do so. You can also download it to unpack it with Unreal Model Viewer.
Whoever downloads the client and prepares himself for the Tera Online Closed Beta Test, should also take a look at our Tera Online Closed Beta Keys Giveaway Event and participate, if you don’t already have a key or are in a big and active Tera Online Guild.
Tera Online Client Files Download:
http://download.frogster.de/FOG/tera/tera_eu_14.10.03/TERASetup.exe
http://download.frogster.de/FOG/tera/tera_eu_14.10.03/TERASetup-1.bin
http://download.frogster.de/FOG/tera/tera_eu_14.10.03/TERASetup-2.bin
http://download.frogster.de/FOG/tera/tera_eu_14.10.03/TERASetup-3.bin
http://download.frogster.de/FOG/tera/tera_eu_14.10.03/TERASetup-4.bin
http://download.frogster.de/FOG/tera/tera_eu_14.10.03/TERASetup-5.bin
http://download.frogster.de/FOG/tera/tera_eu_14.10.03/TERASetup-6.bin
http://download.frogster.de/FOG/tera/tera_eu_14.10.03/TERASetup-7.bin
http://download.frogster.de/FOG/tera/tera_eu_14.10.03/TERASetup-8.bin
http://download.frogster.de/FOG/tera/tera_eu_14.10.03/TERASetup-9.bin
http://download.frogster.de/FOG/tera/tera_eu_14.10.03/TERASetup-10.bin
http://download.frogster.de/FOG/tera/tera_eu_14.10.03/TERASetup-11.bin
http://download.frogster.de/FOG/tera/tera_eu_14.10.03/TERASetup-12.bin
http://download.frogster.de/FOG/tera/tera_eu_14.10.03/TERASetup-13.bin
http://download.frogster.de/FOG/tera/tera_eu_14.10.03/TERASetup-14.bin
http://download.frogster.de/FOG/tera/tera_eu_14.10.03/TERASetup-15.bin

Edit 2013-04-07: Comments closed due to excessive spam.