The MassiveOnlineGaming Squad

So it's been some weeks since the E3 expo 
finished and I've been contemplating which of the MMOs I saw there that 
I'm most looking forward to and I've come to the conclusion that its 
TERA. I'll explain why I'm hyped by this title and try to figure out 
what race and career choices I will aim toward on its release date.

 

This is a process many of us go through for
 an online game: You start to imagine which role you see yourself in and
 how you will be the pinnacle of the server if you plan it all ahead. Of
 course you're delusional, as it rarely becomes a reality. Once the 
launch date comes round you end up picking a different career because of
 friends or because there are rumors from the beta that "x class" is the
 most overpowered.

Regardless, that won't stop me from getting overly worked up about a game that I have no hard information on yet.


So why should we look forward to TERA?
Fans of Action / Adventure games who want 
to step into the MMO world will find a home with "The First True Action 
MMO": If you are a Player vs Player addict or a fan of meaningful PvE 
then TERA promises to satisfy you like no other RPG you've played 
before. Yes, this is a bold claim.


If you're as vain as the majority of 
21st century gamers, including myself, then you can rejoice as the game 
is built on the Unreal 3 Engine, which you can be assured will provide 
impressive visuals: But the important thing is the game-play, yes?
Well, Bluehole Studios have utilized the 
Engine beyond its graphical prowess by creating a dynamic battle system:
 Your view perspective is similar to third person shooters like Gears of
 War; there is no tab targeting so you'll be aiming at your enemies 
manually; the position of your character and the timing of attacks; 
blocks; and dodges determine the outcome of each confrontation. As a 
result, combat is described as being more intuitive, exciting, and 
realistic.
It has also been mentioned that while you 
may play the game with a traditional mouse and keyboard setup it caters 
equally well to a controller. Those of you who have an Xbox 360 windows 
compatible controller will be able to take advantage here.
While this approach of combining action 
with an MMO isn't entirely revolutionary, it is still up for debate if 
it has been executed in a satisfying way. If TERA can do right with its 
claims, then its PvP experience could provide far more immersion and 
entertainment than we typically see.


(Left - Right) Aman, Popori, Casanies, Humans, High Elves, Baraka 

Playabla Races

There will be six playable races are available at launch: Aman; Baraka; Casanies; High Elves; Humans and Popori -
 Yes you saw correctly, Popori are small and bear-like in appearance! 
The class options are Archer (RDPS), Berserker (MDPS), Lancer (Tank), 
Mystic (Support), Priest (Support), Slayer (MDPS), Sorcerer (RDPS) and 
Warrior (MDPS). With 3 Melee DPS choices available it sends the 
impression that Player vs Player interaction may primarily revolve 
around frantic melee combat. As the game is titled an Action MMO this is
 probably correct. There are no specific factions for race so you'll be 
forging alliances to compete in the realm. Which means you and your 
friends will be able to make a choice of race and class freely.

As a long time PvP MMO veteran, the 
player-built alliance on alliance system instead of set racial factions 
will do wonders for the games lifespan. You typically see other Player 
vs Player MMO's built around racial factions drop off the radar more 
quickly when population balance starts to take a turn for the worse; 
this will be less of a problem for the guys at Bluehole Studios as there
 will always be the possibility for new alliances to rise up without the
 grind of having to level with an underdog team.


While it's widely known amongst my 
colleagues that I'm a huge fan of bears, the Popori almost look too cute
 even for me, with the screenshots shown so far I'll be playing an Aman 
or Casanie. As for class, this is where my wild imagination comes in. I 
usually adopt the more agile melee fighters, so Warrior would be my 
primary choice. This will likely change and I'll be sure to do a preview
 as soon as the opportunity arises. I'm going to go out on a limb and 
say you're seeing some similarities in the artwork to Lineage 2, if so 
then you wouldn't be surprised to hear that Bluehole Studios is 
comprised of many of the developers that worked on that title.

They established themselves in 2007 and 
began working on TERA immediately as a sole task. A short time ago, 
Bluehole Interactive, their U.S based office opened its doors and took 
on employees from Mythic Entertainment and NcSoft, two studios both 
extremely familiar with MMO design focusing on Player vs Player 
elements. TERA will ship in North America and Europe in 2011, so there 
is a while to wait and lots more information to come flying toward us 
before then!