Tera Blog by VP of Publishing Chris Lee

stayontarget

Quote:

Action = Skill = Fun

11/23/2010 05:33pm by Chris Lee TERA will forever change your MMO expectations. Sure, by now you have heard about the action combat, but until you play it—I mean actually get your hands on the keyboard (or controller) and start exploring the world—you don't know what you are missing. For way too long the MMO genre has leaned on the crutch of "fake" combat where a roll of the dice and gear statistics determined what happens. It's 2010 folks, and at some point we have to embrace the network technology improvements that have occurred over the past 10 years. People are not dialing up their internet connections on modems anymore, they’re streaming live video on their cell phones. Likewise, you shouldn't be settling for the stale gameplay that has lingered in the MMO genre since those dial-up days. You really deserve better.  "But Chris," you say, "I'm used to this approach—changing it will force me to change and I'm not comfortable with that." Right, and at one point people were used writing letters by hand, flipping through the phone book to "search," playing sprite-based side-scrollers, and playing single-player-only games. Sure, you might occasionally go back and try the old way for nostalgic value, but you won't want to permanently revert.



Sometimes change is good. And action combat is a positive change because it incorporates skill into the fight. It is much more gratifying to win at anything you do when you directly influence the outcome. It's rewarding to play and improve and progress beyond your avatar's attribute points. It’s a thrill to go up against a foe and know that your every move can improve your odds of coming out on top. It's why we love the video game medium over other, more passive forms of entertainment. Because it puts us in control and lets us engage with the environment. To control and engage means much more than just clicking on icons and reading results.



Go back and play your current MMO and consciously think about how much time you spend looking at the UI vs. what’s happening in the center of your screen. Gameplay should be fun. Are you having fun playing your current MMO? Now imagine what you love about your current MMO and add skill-based action combat with a level of engagement and control that is fun. That’s what gaming is all about, and that’s what TERA is all about.

http://www.tera-online.com/forums/showthread.php?p=262210#post262210