TERA: The Closed Beta Preview

SBFord

Over the past weekend, we had the opportunity to put TERA through its paces during one of the closed beta events. We've got a comprehensive preview of what we think about TERA. Check it out for yourself and then let us know what you think in the comments.

It seems like the whole world’s been playing TERA while we at MMORPG.com were waiting for our chance to dive into this year’s first big AAA MMORPG.  Pokket’s been there, I’ve dabbled a bit, but this was the first weekend that we were all let in as staff at the site and not just by sheer luck of obtaining a key.  I played around with a few of the classes, mainly the Warrior and the Archer.  What I came away with this weekend was that TERA may have some truly traditional MMORPG trappings in its early stages, but the combat and potential for PVP and Politics leave me craving more as we near the official May 1^st release date.

Read more of Bill Murphy's TERA: The Closed Beta Preview.

derek39

I think this was a great article. I stress to you to get to those BAM fights, because (as a lancer) It's a TON of fun to learn how to fight each one. Thats where Tera shined for me. Especially being a Monster Hunter fan. Can't wait to see you ingame =]

Moodsor

Yep, if you overlook the starting experience of TERA, the game has alot to offer, I hope they get around to revamping the first 20 levels at some point, cause its a shame if that is the reason why people decide not to pick it up.

Ozmodan

Well the point being it is a subscription game that does not have a lot of content.  So while it may have great mechanics, it does not have much longevity in my book.  Probably why I won't bother with it.

RemyVorender

TERA won me over during this beta weekend, after spending about 8 hours with it. The combat gets really fun after you level up a bit and get used to it and the graphics are amazing. Sure, aside from that, it seems very themeparky, but it looks to be a great 3 month time killer before GW2 arrives and sweeps me off my feet.

marcust

I got to level 14 on an archer also and 100% concur with this article.

I've preordered and can't wait to play more.

Kaez

Overall I enjoyed this but I admit it became repetitive pretty quickly. It was certainly better once I received a few more skills and I'm sure it will continue to get better as I level. I'm with the writer though; I haven't been able to experience pvp (let alone the Vanarch system) which is really why I wanted to play so we'll see!!

Moodsor

Originally posted by Ozmodan

Well the point being it is a subscription game that does not have a lot of content.  So while it may have great mechanics, it does not have much longevity in my book.  Probably why I won't bother with it.

 

Yeah this is simply not true, TERA has plenty of content, it doesnt offer traditional raiding content , but there is plenty of other stuff, the whole debate about content in TERA was true when it launched in Korea, but lots have happend since then, and for a game launching in the west today, its got more content than most other games thats launched in the last few years.

Hestia

It's great to see several staffs of MMORPG sites such as this one to be able to actually play and get the gist on how TERA Online is like.

WinnTech

I guess I am the opposite. While I did love the visuals of the game, I was not overly impressed with the combat. I do have a lot of hope in the game, but it just did not capture me enough. I was enthralled enough to play through one day of my beta, but not enough to play through the second day of it.

Coming off of playing RAGE and Borderlands didn't help. I got used to FPS, being mobile and shooting with a combination of cover and melee. But, then I jumped into TERA and was expecting a bit more than what was offered. While it is a great game, I just couldn't feel myself embracing the story or becoming lost in it. To me it was just pretty shineies.

Before I played the beta I scoffed at the people that were saying the same, but now I see where they were coming from. I seriously hope this game does well though. But it is just, to me, another 90% game, where I am looking for another 99%. After a while, I won't feel like combat...then what? What after that? What is there to hold me beyond pretty images and action based combat? Sadly, not much. But then again, I am very picky. I applaud the devs for making a beautiful game though. It does raise the bar.

Ethan623

Well i was lucky enough to get a key to last weekends beta. ill agree with pretty much everything youve said. However due to general lack of effort and time i couldnt play it for very long. i will say for me the starter zone was boring and the combat alone could only fight that feeling off for so long. I certainly hope the questing gets better once u leave the starter area.

I wont be picking it up as i didnt enjoy the starter area. However dont let this turn you away its just my thoughts of the first 8 odd levels a very small part of the game no doubt.

Posted ftom mobile sorry for errors.

Samhael

I played in the last beta. Well, I played Friday night in the last beta. I tried to play it Saturday again but just couldn't take sessions longer than about 10 minutes. The races are more interesting than the classes. The quests were about 90% kill X. The remaining 10% were "go talk to guy in next quest hub." The graphics were fair -- I got a combination of a WoW-feeling and that it was designed for tweens.  It's got pandas! (sort of) and some sort of Asian schoolgirl race.  I was not overall impressed with the graphics and the gameplay didn't bring me anything better. I advised my group that it was something we should pass on.  It was not an entirely negative experience however -- one of our folks was enamored with the combat. But that was pretty much it. Uninstalled and moved on.

kevjards

i pre ordered..i loved my mystic(popori).the article is spot on..i dont fancy doin the starter zone again..maybe do an option where you can bypass like conan.i love the chains although still learning about them.all in all thoroughly enjoyable apart from the killx amount.

Dauzqul

I enjoyed the Tera during the first few beta weekends. However, I'm already burnt out on the same old quest hub to quest hub progression.

On a side note, they really need to do something with the PvP servers. Ultimately, it's going to be the same old bs battlegrounds with items rewards. This is the biggest turnoff. Their World PvP is nothing more than a gank fest without reason, e.g., max level beta characters 1-shotting all the lowbies in Lumbertown etc. Pretty lame.

ZagatoMKR

I didn't notice if anyone already mentioned this... Some charge-up skills (like Berserker's meat-spin skill) at later skill levels will allow you to move around while charging! I wanted to point that out because I've heard so many people that tried Tera say the combat is boring because you need to stop to use skills and basically to be in one place. I recommend checking krTera vids for highlvl gameplay. You will notice that players DO NOT stand in one place and in fact are moving around a lot.

Cheers.

Caskio

I've done the starter zone some 8 or 9 times.  I'm still not bored of it.  Maybe that's why more grindy games appeal to me.

I plan on playing Archer at launch as well.  I just love the combat in this game.  The grind nature of the quests doesn't bother me as it has been the same for me in just about every MMO I've played no matter how much they try to hide it.

Falcomith

I played through the tutorial area, and while I loved the combat, the same kill # of X mobs for quests really got to me. The lack of good introduction to the lore also put a sour taste in my mouth.

Once I got into the city ang got my mount after the tutorial zone and did a few craft quests, I decided to leave the city and go exploring and was only disappointed that I ran into much of nothing in this huge  zone. It had a few farm houses, but thats it.  After I traveled 15 minutes to get to the next zone I was surrounded by level 30 mobs and I was way below that. I cant remember what level I was but not even close. I then tried the surrounding zones that were around this one empty zone I mentioned earlier and again I ran into 25 and higher level mobs.

Maybe the game doesnt promote exploring, but I would assume that there would have been some kind of quest hub or content right outside the city that would be at least near my level. 

Maybe further into beta they will add more to that empty zone, or maybe I just went out the wrong gate of the city or maybe its was just poor implementation of where I should be going.

Maybe if I get into another beta I will give it another go and see maybe where I should have gone.

Xasapis

I think you can pretty much ignore all quests if you wish to just do combat or explore, but the main quest line is a good indication of where you can go in a logical fashion.

Elminzter

is there a level limit for the normal quest, i.e. if u are above a certain level u can't take that quest?

Laughing-man

The story quests tell you where to go, and there are hints and tips that constantly float across the bottom of your screen giving you advice (which you can turn off) so I'm confused as to how anyone got lost...

The game was very clear on where to when and at what level based solely off the story quests, it was laid out in a very logical way.

onelesslight

I also tried CBT4 this past weekend and loved everything about the game except how easy it was. Mind you, I only got to lvl 12 or so too. I look forward to it getting harder and more engaging, I just wish it did so from the beginning.

nuttob

The combat is what sets this game apart from the rest, and I really enjoyed it.  Not sure what kind of quests the complainers are looking for.  It's an MMO.  The world looks absolutely huge!  Liked the graphics as well.

Harryhood

Just the same old themepark mmo.  Right off the bat I noticed the servers were all instanced into "channels" like SWTOR, that's enough for me not to buy the game.  If you have to instance an MMO then the world is too small.  I managed to level to 14 and was very bored by that time,  quests ate mostly kill X this many times then at some point you'll get another quest that sends you to the next quest hub.  Wasn't a fan of the cartoony graphics either.  While the combat was different it just seemed like a cheap Korean knock off of WoW.

Sovrath

Originally posted by Vindicta

I also tried CBT4 this past weekend and loved everything about the game except how easy it was. Mind you, I only got to lvl 12 or so too. I look forward to it getting harder and more engaging, I just wish it did so from the beginning.

There are harder mobs in the game but in the end I've never played an mmo where the mobs were a huge challenge. Mobs are made to be killed. they are essentially powerfups. At least for most games.

The BAM's can be a huge challenge. Especially when one doesn't know what one is, you come across this huge monster lumbering around and you attack it without being prepared.

They can be soloed but they can also take out a huge amount of HP if you aren't careful.

 

Sovrath

Originally posted by Harryhood

 Wasn't a fan of the cartoony graphics either.  While the combat was different it just seemed like a cheap Korean knock off of WoW.

er, I can go on and on about the things that I think aren't good but this is nowhere like WoW. If you are referring to kill x quests then those were never solely the domain of WoW.

And if you play on a pvp server the differences become even more apparent.

Diasvur

I see very much difficulties in random PvP as you are able to flame your opponend for killing you. I saw it... I kinda did it, too...

It's hard to avoid, even if you are coming from a big ass PvP game and are not yet used to it.