Tera Online News

My name is Marti, and I'm a game addict.

My first video game was standup Pong. I was ten, and I was instantly hooked. A few years later it was Space Invaders, Centipede, Galaga, and Pac Man that kept me standing in front of that devil machine feeding quarters I didn't have into its hungry maw. If you'd told me then that my addiction would lead to a 20-year (and counting) career in the game industry, well, I probably wouldn't have heard you over the waka-wakas. But I wouldn't have believed you if I had.

In 1988 or so I took a job at a little game company in a small mountain town. The company was Sierra Online, and in the dead of winter I arose before the sun and stood at an assembly line in a freezing warehouse placing floppy disks in boxes with gloved fingers. The games had titles like King's Quest, Police Quest, and Space Quest, and they looked way cooler than anything I’d played before. Before long I worked my way up to a customer service desk job, where I had the opportunity to play all those games end-to-end and answer questions for customers lucky enough to make it through the phone queue. Others wrote angry letters, and my humorous replies earned me a gig writing the monthly customer service article for the Sierra Newsmagazine (which went out to 500K+ players and was later renamed Interaction). From there it was only a quick trip across the hall to marketing, and I was a full-time professional games writer, along with my mom, Bridget McKenna. Together we wrote nearly every word that came out of that company from 1989 to 1991.

Next stop, Electronic Arts, where I spent four years writing and managing writers as we generated dozens and dozens of manuals and hundreds of thousands of words of marketing, public relations, and in-game text for EA games.

When I left EA it was to try the freelance life. I spent ten years as a freelancer working on game projects for Sony, Microsoft Game Studio, and a number of small developers, and during that time I discovered my true addiction: MMOs.

It was Asheron's Call that first sucked me in. My mom had worked on the game at MGS and had a free account for life. Between the two of us, it was not unusual to be in game 16 hours at a time, and the one who wasn't playing was watching.

Yes, it's true, Mom: I learned it from watching you.

I broke the habit for a while. I managed to avoid Everquest, and even World of Warcraft, for many years. Then ArenaNet hired me to work on Guild Wars and I fell off the wagon once again. That was my gateway to EQ and WoW, and really, there has never been a way out for me since then.

Recently I spent just under a year at NCsoft managing 17 writers rewriting 2.2 million translated words in Aion. When that project ended, I wondered what could possibly top that experience. Then I saw TERA, and the setup almost seemed too perfect. I jumped at the chance to manage the writing team at En Masse.

Because we’ve got more time, we’ve got a smaller team this time around, but it’s a good one. We’ve got a much better idea of how best to Westernize a Korean MMO, and we’re already working to revamp the existing TERA story with Westerners in mind. This means renaming many characters, items, and features as well as rewriting every word of dialog and quest text, breathing life back into characters whose lines--having been translated from one language to another--have lost their vital spark.

It also means creating a whole lot of content for you to enjoy as we continue working toward the launch of TERA. We’ve got some really fun stuff planned for you, including some experimental storytelling we’ll announce in the next newsletter. Watch this space for updates, and be sure to let us know what you’d most like to hear about when it comes to TERA lore.

See you in the world!

Marti McKenna
Creative Writing Manager
En Masse Entertainment

Good day, this is Mr. Blue.

I always want to talk to all of you about everything, but when it comes to writing a letter, I'm not sure how to begin.

It's been about a week since the third closed beta ended. With the help of all of the participants we managed to pull off the test in 10 days. This test has left us with more valuable information and lessons than any test we've previously held.

As we're speaking, the Bluehole family is going through your responses to our surveys which tens of thousands of people participated in.

We're going through everything from major issues to small issues as we don't want to overlook any of your advice. We're very sorry to say that even though we wanted to announce the results right now we need to study them a bit more first.

In retrospect, it seems like the beta period was a bit too short for us to objectively observe how much progress we as a development team had made. However, we still believe that we reached a turning point.

We're very grateful for all of your suggestions and complaints. The development team is looking back at our original vision and working harder than ever before. It will take a bit longer, but don't despair. We will be back with the game we're envisioning TERA to become.

Thanks to your support TERA is moving forward. We hope you'll stay with us until the day we can invite everyone to play TERA.


Mr. Blue

FGT2 and You!

Q: Is an FGT a Beta test?
A: The FGT is not a traditional Beta test. As the name implies, it is similar to a focus study group – we’re looking for specific feedback about specific areas of the game to help with the Westernization process. Therefore, players may not be able to explore the entire game, and we’re looking not so much for technical feedback about bugs as we are feedback about gameplay and content.

Q: How long will the FGT run?
A: FGT2 will run at specific hours for approximately a week.

Q: Will you have future FGTs?
A: Yes. We will also be pulling people from the application pool and asking for small-scale testing for specific things moving forward. For example, we may need 25 people to test a specific quest or location, or 1000 people to test other gameplay elements. These sorts of tests may occur on an ad-hoc basis and therefore may have very little warning, if any.

Q: What if I’m not selected for FGT2?
A: Good news! Your application is in the pool and we’re aware of your interest in TERA. Everyone who applied will go into a database, and may be selected for some of the smaller-scale tests above. If you don’t make it into FGT2 or future FGTs, don’t worry – there will be plenty of other opportunities to offer feedback, including a more traditional Beta testing cycle later in the year.

Q: How many people will be selected?
A: It depends on how many people can actively play the game for the duration of the test. We’re taking into account that some selected applications may choose not to play, or not be able to play during the time allotted for FGT2.

Q: How are you selecting people for FGT2?
A: We’re selecting people based on a number of factors. The most important thing is the quality of the feedback we expect to receive. Other factors will include location, type of computer, MMO and other gaming experience, and the kinds of things we’re specifically going to be testing in this FGT.

Q: Are you only selecting community members?
A: FGT1 testers are automatically selected. Additionally, participating fansites have been allotted a certain number of slots for their members. After that, we’ll examine applicants based on the criteria above. Preference will be given to community members who we expect to give quality feedback.

Please continue to post questions to the FGT thread here: http://www.tera-online.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1911

Gameplay

1. Are there any plans to add more equipment slots, like capes or helmets?

We're taking feedback from the FGTs and Beta tests into consideration, and this is something that people have repeatedly requested. Watch for more information about this in the near future!

2. Will there be any way for players to customize the look of their armor?

Again, we've seen a good deal of feedback about this from tests. We'll be adding additional armor with more variety, and we'll get more specific about this in the future.

3. What can you tell us about the mount system?

The mount system is still under development, but we want to make it a milestone in your characters' progression. We want the mount to be fast and exciting for players, and we're working on the exact balance and speed increase right now.

4. What can you tell us about the political system?

The political system will shape each server's community in a new and unique way. We'll discuss this more as we approach launch.

5. Are pets (both combat and non-combat) being developed for TERA?

We can't really talk about pets yet, but we've got several options on the table.

6. Will there be large scale siege warfare in TERA? If so, what is the plan to optimize this content in terms of avoiding lag?

Right now our focus is on PvE content and character balance. We have battlegrounds for users to participate in PvP combat—and, of course, on the PvP servers, players will be able to participate in large-scale conflicts between opposing guilds.

7. Players were concerned by the strength of knockbacks in TERA. Are there any plans to make it so that players can get themselves out of a knockback status?

We've already added skills that jump players out of a knockback status. For example, warriors can spin up from being knocked down and cause damage to all enemies surrounding them as they do so!

8. Will quests follow a dynamic and interesting storyline? What can you tell us about the story of TERA?

TERA's main storyline is revealed as your character progresses through the game. As you take on quests and interact with NPCs, you learn more about the world's lore and experience deeper and deeper layers of the story. We'll discuss lore in more detail in the coming weeks, so keep an eye on our website!

9. When leveling, will players be able to choose between several different zones with quests and mobs for their level range?

Yes. This helps give players a choice in content, and also adds a high level of replay value.

10. Will there be flying mounts included at any time? (Not including the taxi service, flying mounts that players control!)

There are no plans for flying mounts at this time.

11. What can players expect from TERA's end-game content?

Tera's endgame will involve the full spectrum of things you expect from an MMO, including battling in dungeons with PvE instances; taking to the battlegrounds to fight for honor; working the economy with crafting, enchanting, and playing the market. In addition, players will be able to influence the history of each server by participating in the in-game political system. TERA also understands the importance of alternate characters, so you will see some goodies for the altaholics out there!

Misc.

1. Will TERA receive global updates? Will there be a delay across different versions of the game?

It is every developer's dream to have a global simultaneous release, which minimizes a ton of work in supporting different branches of code, but there's also the reality of localization time. We will work to minimize this delta as much as possible, because it benefits everyone.

2. Will TERA support add-ons?

Right now our focus is not on UI but on the action in the middle of the screen. We're looking into ways of supporting fan contributions to TERA, but we haven't decided on anything concrete yet.

3. What measures will En Masse Entertainment take against players using third-party programs and buying/selling in-game currency?

We believe that security is an essential aspect of any successful game, and equally as important as game balance or the combat system.
We have a ton of things planned to help us stay ahead of the criminals looking to ruin the game experience, but we recognize that it will be an ongoing fight.

4. Are there any plans to include a specifically-tagged roleplaying server at launch?

A roleplaying server is something we'll consider, but hopefully players will take it upon themselves to roleplay their characters, regardless. 

5. Will TERA launch with an Oceanic server?

This is something we'll consider closer to launch.

6. Will the NA and EU servers be released at the same time?
This is our current plan, yes.

7. Will TERA release with 24-7 in-game customer support?

We will have customer service staff available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

8. How many betas are planned for the West? How will beta keys be made available?

There will be a few rounds of Beta tests planned for the West on various scales. We'll let the community know about availability of Beta keys when we're a little closer to starting them. Our fans will definitely be the first people we think of when we're handing out our Beta keys!

9. Can you explain what the exact difference between PvP and PvE servers will be in TERA?

PvP servers will allow for open world PvP; when you're out in the field, you're at risk. PvE servers limit that risk to consensual activities like duels, battlegrounds, and some other neat features we're working on. (Those consensual activities are available on PvP servers, too.)