Hey, TERA Fans! PAX 2010 ended yesterday and in the wake of the storm, I have the results of TERA Fan's interview with Senior Producer, Brian Knox! Thanks so much for
contributing questions guys :D While there's not a whole lot of new information, I think some of his comments leave open at least lots of room for speculation.
So check out the interview below and enjoy! You can find all our TERA PAX coverage
here.
Amira: So hey, Brian! Once again, all the questions are straight from TERA Fans. We had lots of questions for you and we picked out a few. So for one, what in-game events are being planned for players to participate in?
Brian: That's a good question! So right now, our focus for in-game events is going to be mostly on trying to find those spots where people hit a wall because we're really focused on the journey to level 60. So, once the game's out, sometimes players find areas that are hard to get through and we want to focus our events around that. How we're going to do that I don't know. But we do plan on having them!
Amira: And will there also be holiday-type events?
Brian: Yeah, we are trying to have an events system. It's one of those things that's like every feature takes away development time. We want to have these but we may not have them available right at launch.
Amira: Will there be any non-combat, or combat pets in-game?
Brian: So, we have the Homonculus which is kind of a pet. It doesn't quite follow you right now but we're looking into ways to expand that as well.
Amira: And the Mystic pets; will those really be pets?
Brian: Well they're summons: they come out and last for only a short amount of time to help out. There's a healing one, there's a dps one, and there's like a tank one. But I wouldn't call Mystics a pet class. It's hard to explain-- they're a little bit different than you're used to, so you'll see.
Amira: Sam Kim once mentioned that the development team was considering adding more armor slots. Is there any information on that?
Brian: Yeah, we've added two more slots and we'll see them soon.
Amira: Are there plans to allow players to customize the look of their gear or spells at this point?
Brian: Not at this point but we're looking heavily into both the dying system and the ability to change gear models as well. So I'm not sure if any of that would make it in by launch, but it's definitely on our list of ideas.
Amira: Some guildmasters are very concerned about recruiting more guildmates than the maximum guild size in TERA will allow for. Is there any information on about how large guilds will be able to get at launch?
Brian: Y'know, that's a good question. Right now, I can't answer that but I would really like to get back to you on it because I think that's an important one.
UPDATE: Brian Knox let me know that the current guild size is 300 members by default. This is always subject to change.
Amira: On the topic of guilds, is there any more information on how extensive the overall guild system will be?
Brian: Well the guild system will really play into the battleground system, which we're not talking a lot about just yet. I think that's where you'll see the guild system really work. Since we're not faction based, guilds will become allies or rivals as well.
Amira: Some players are very concerned about westernization. Can you talk about what aspects of gameplay are being westernized?
Brian: All aspects are being evaluated. In our last focus group test, we had everybody answer a 120 point survey which was a lot of questions. What it did was allow us to hold up a transparency and compare where results are similar and different among players in the West and players in the East. We're able to identify those areas. There's a lot of stuff that lined up and in the feedback, there were a lot of things, particularly surrounding solo play and the leveling curve. And so, those were the two areas that players felt different about. Also, specific features have been added as well. The achievement system and the controller support are things that kind of originated in the west.
Amira: How will the lore of TERA be explained to players beyond quest text? Will there be cut-scenes at all?
Brian: Yeah, actually we have been adding cut-scenes. Hopefully they'll help tell the story in a little bit more of an epic fashion.
Amira: Are there any plans to have a designated Oceanic server available at launch?
Brian: Not at this time. But we're looking at the territory. We want to make sure that if we do it, we do it right.
Amira: Is there any information available on mounts at all?
Brian: There are mounts, and we're tweaking them. We're trying to make sure they're the right speeds right now. At this time, there will not be combat mounts.
Amira: Are there any plans to allow third party addons in-game?
Brian: Not at this time. We're actually doing what we can to minimize the UI as much as possible.
Amira: Finally: are you still re-evaluating the idea of allowing all races to be able to be all classes?
Brian: Right now, it looks like that's what going to happen but I can't really say for sure. That is what we're aiming for, though. In the version that we're playing off right now, actually, we're balancing the Human male, so that way we can balance that off the other races. It's a lot less development time to balance one and get it all right-- in terms of all the numbers-- and then we can balance things around that.
Archer
columnist, Caelixian, as he brings the Archer class to life through creative narrative. Also featured at the bottom of this week's Cala Chronicles is a discussion of the new Archer footage released by Frogster this week.
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