Tera Online News

That’s right, six hours with hardly a bathroom break. While hanging out with the guys at En Masse to talk about the latest news they had recently announced about their highly anticipated true-action MMO TERA, I was alerted to the fact that these two guys had been playing the game non-stop all day. As the convention was coming to a close, they refused to leave the terminal, so naturally, I interviewed them!!

From this point on, the guy in the blue shall be referred to as Nerd 1, and the guy in black as Nerd 2. While conducting this interview, these guys did not stop playing the game for one second, or even take their eyes off the screen . . . even the guy who wasn’t playing.

DO: Somone told me that there’s been two guys on this console all day, is that you!?

Nerd2: Haha well, we we’re playing together but they made me move so this kid could get on, so now I’m just watching him play.

Nerd1: But yah, we’ve been here since like 11am

DO: Wow, that’s hardcore . . . so what MMOs have you played before and why are you so into TERA right now?

Nerd1: Well, I played World of Warcraft for years, thats pretty much the only one, and I’m into TERA right now because for PvP and PvE it’s more skill based.

DO: So you mean its not just pressing buttons in a rotation and waiting for cooldowns?

Nerd1: Yah, in WoW I’m basically my friends personal healer. I heal by pressing a button and spinning in a pretty circle. Here, I actually have to aim my heals and dodge attacks and get into the battle.

DO: Interesting, How else is it better than WoW? I played WoW for almost five years, and only now is it starting to feel old

Nerd1: I still like WoW, but these graphics are amazing, the environment, all the races and classes too, its very well balanced

Nerd 2: Its beautiful, its perfectly rendered


Nerd1: I also like how the PvE monsters follow your every move. They actually will watch you jump, they try to encircle and flank you, the AI is no joke. Also, this game takes skill, you can almost solo a boss by yourself if your that good

DO: So the AI is actually proper? They don’t just path and go through the motions?

Nerd1: Exactly, TERA is skill based while WoW is all about gear and rotation and group comp. In TERA theres no need for a gearscore and having to get geared. There’s no way to get carrried by pressing 2 buttons here, you have to get involved and be skillful. You actually have to get in there, it feels real, your not just going through the motions

DO: Absolutely, I can see you’re really into it (I LoL to myself)

Nerd1: Hell yea, the collision detection is awesome, everything is just awesome, I can’t wait for it to come out

Awesome indeed. So awesome that I even filmed these guys playing TERA for a few minutes, enjoy.



So, do you agree? Is TERA the future of MMO’s while games like WoW are the past? Only time will tell, but no matter what you think, it looks like TERA is the real deal.

In short, we tried to make the game as balanced as possible while still maintaining the individual flavor of each class. Therefore, hitboxes and attack ranges have been configured in such a way that they are similar without being gamebreaking, but are not exactly the same size.

If there are major differences in hitboxes so that those of a physically smaller race have a smaller hitbox and therefore are harder to hit, this would be an advantage. Conversely, because these races have shorter limbs compared to larger races, it is more difficult to attack enemies, and this would be a disadvantage. These elements would have a big impact on game balance, and certain races would then be preferred or avoided, and those who wanted to play the disadvantageous races would become frustrated with TERA.

However, simply ignoring the visual differences between races would create a potentially worse problem: lack of authenticity and immersion. This has been a large point of conversation and debate among TERA’s developers. In the end, we decided to make the hitboxes and attack ranges as close to the same size as possible across the races, although not completely equal, so that players would not get frustrated while playing the game.

For example, Barakas and Amani have slightly smaller hitboxes for their size, while the hitbox for the Popori is slightly larger than their size. There is still a difference, but it isn’t as major as the physical size of the model would lead one to believe.

The attack range went through a similar balancing process. The attack animation for the Popori is indicative of their slightly longer attack range, while Amani and Barakas hardly move forward. When they attack, the ranges for races have been appropriately modified and balanced to match their animations.

In short, we tried to make the game as balanced as possible while still maintaining the individual flavor of each class. Therefore, hitboxes and attack ranges have been configured in such a way that they are similar without being gamebreaking, but are not exactly the same size.

Hopefully, that explanation helps clarify what we’re trying to achieve with TERA’s racial differences while keeping the game balanced!