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What is TERA?
I get curious of almost every mmorpg that can be taken seriously on at least some level the closer they get to the launch, and it's TERA this time, and while I have basic idea about it, the combat seems kinda fun and fresh, but what is TERA overall?
How does it work in practical level, I mean, is it a game where you pick quests and grind them untill max level and that's all there is to it? Or does it have something else? Crafting? Does the world serve only leveling purpose or does it have some interesting mechanics to it? Do I just run around killing stuff or do I occasionally find something different out there (I'm not talking about different coloured mobs and pinetrees changing to flowers)?
Just a short overall look at the game and what it has to really offer, thanks 
(No I wont look on the official site and so forth as you never get a real picture of a game on the site, or even fan sites usually, just half arsed selling points and screenshots.)
Comments
You complete quests on TERA to get easy gear and some experience. I, personally, only did quests if they were in my hunting area. If you spy a quest monster on your journey, you'll easily notice it because it'll be marked with a "!" next to the name.
If you want to really enjoy TERA, go aggro an elite monster and kill it with 1-2 friends. You'll level after killing a few of these monsters--considering you're around the same level. The elite monsters are incredibly fun to kill, since you have to dodge and run and fight these things for 10 minutes. Each elite is like a boss unto itself, and the experience you get from them definitely feels like an accomplishment (The grind of TERA is westernized. You level quickly.)
Hmmm, well it's pretty quest grind until max level. Unless you want to grind the elites(monsters with extremely complex AIs and a lot of hitpoints starting from level 20 onward) whic are really fun to fight.
The combat makes the quest grind slightly less boring but it's not all that different, however the world is very immersive and feels alive most of the time. Moreso in later zones tbh.
Endgame has some sandbox elements with the PvP system and politics aspects and whatnot, the whole guild vs guild and control of territories stuff. Dynamic rift events coming aswell this month, basically large scale PvE monster invasions(requires 20 people to close the rift).
They plan to implement server vs server vs server in the future which would actually be really amazing. Hope it actually happens.
To sum it up WoW with PvP endgame?
No, the combat is entirely different, especially with melee and healers, ranged dps not so much besides the aiming part. The graphic design is totally different and elite monsters are actually extremely difficult and have more complex AIs than any instance boss in WoW...
That being said, questing is similar if that's what you mean, and it's mostly themepark besides the sandbox political aspects.
Imagine Vindictus and Aion had a baby, that's this game.
I would not call elite AI "complex". The one I saw has a few special moves and that's about it.
This last weekend’s beta test was capped at level 22 and not to discount anything the other posters have told you in this thread so far as most of them are correct in their current assessment but, as with any online game you can't really take the beginning levels and understand how the game will truly play out.
Most of what is said here is from the level range 1-22. With that said level 1-22 is very easy and from what has been stated is meant to be easy as a way to get people acclimated with the game and it's combat system. A lot of complaints are in the early levels a caster can stand toe-to-toe with a mob and let it beat on him/her while you DPS and not fear of being killed. This is true for the early levels but at least in the Korean version this is not possible to do. As far as if this is true in the NA version we do not know yet and hopefully will have a better grasp next week as to what to expect in terms of difficulty.
Questing is very very simplistic. I sometimes ask myself what could I come up with better in terms of making questing "different" then what it is in today’s MMO's. You have games like DAoC, EQ, WoW, SWTOR, etc and although some tell their "story" better than others the core of questing is the same. Kill x, deliver y, or craft z. Now with most gamers having played most of the AAA games this is extremely boring but since I can't come up with a better system I am not going to let that stop me from playing a game. I will say in my honest opinion if you are looking for a great story in this game as of right now I personally don't feel like there is one again it's my opinion and others may feel different but just like when you read a book or see a movie people have their differences in taste. I played SWTOR and I haven't seen any of the movies nor was I a diehard Star Wars fan but I will tell you out of all the games I've played I did enjoy the way they told their story.
Combat: I really love the combat in this game yes it isn't perfect the fact that most abilities even if they are instant you still have to stop and cast really isn't a great system but at later levels you will be able to utilize "glyphs" that will allow you to use some abilities while moving. I don't know why they did it this way but it's a part of the game and I cannot see it being changed. For me it is silly but not game breaking for others it really kills the immersion of the game for them since as a action combat mmo it is expect to be fast paced.
Crafting: I personally have not messed around with too much. I have only seen negative reviews on it but I cannot formulate an opinion until I have actually tried it which I hope next beta I will be able to. It does seem expensive to craft the items at lower levels but at higher levels it is not uncommon to kill an epic monster that drops 20-30k in gold.
I think as with all RPG games the world serves its story (which you may or may not like) and serves the purpose of leveling. Each zone will eventually be cause for a voting system (or I believe dueling in 2 areas as well) in which you will be able to pick who will be the vanguard of that zone (think the king of the area). So there are other things that occur in the world other than just leveling up and moving on but depending on how you play will really determine what that is. If you're a solo player then there won't be much there for you. You will find BAM (Big Ass Monsters) throughout the world that will give you more xp and better loot and be challenging to kill even as a solo player it should give you something fun to do most of these won't show up until level 20+ though.
That's about all I have for now. I am going to link you 2 other links for you to read with more detailed specifics around the game (they are not links to the original site). One is a review of a gamer who did not like the game from the current NA beta the other is of someone who played the Korean version to level 50 (at the time of his review that was cap, currently cap in Korea is level 58). I think it's good to understand what people like and dislike about the game instead of just seeing one person praising or bashing the game.
Bad review: http://www.mushroom-mayhem.com/index.php/component/k2/item/11-tera-review
Good review: http://steparu.com/latest-news/594-tera-online-review
I hope I helped you get an idea of what to expect ultimately everyone will have different opinions and I would recommend giving at least the open beta a try. The combat is different enough where you may truly enjoy the game and turn a blind eye to what you don't like or it may just be another MMO that just couldn't cut it for you.
The previous posts describe the content well, it is a full mmo with standard questing, etc, and the best graphics I’ve ever seen, (I ignore the “story” in the text and let the environments speak for themselves). But the difference from most WoW style mmos, which has been pointed out before here is that you don't quest or combat to lvl to endgame, you do the quests so you can combat. If you like the crafting, exploring, politics, social stuff, that's a bonus.
Whether or not you should try the game can be boiled down to whether you can lose yourself to the combat. If you give it a chance, get into the habit of collecting multiple mobs early on to fully exploit your AOEs you may find its more fun than combat in any other open world mmo. After that the shortcomings cease to be a big deal, you have a focus for your time in the game. I would recommend either paying the £5 pre-order for the betas or just waiting for open beta.
Of course our long term enjoyment of the game depends on them putting in all those things for endgame and pvp that are needed.
5-10 moves for each one and an enrage mode that changes appearance, attack speed and attack power is pretty complex for level 20-24 monsters that can be found all over the place. Maybe I haven't played enough MMOs.
If people can predict and learn its move in less than 5 tries, it is not that complex. My friend played a mystic and he was soloing one of those baslisk or whatever elite mob. He learned the move on his first try and after that its just slowly dot the mob to death. Complex? not really.
For me a complex AI would be rather smart and hard to predict the next move.
Maybe we just define complex very differently.
This is a good description, I tend to give that one too
While you have skills to use like in Aion you also have to move around yourself, position yourself, manually dodge/block and evade like in Vindictus. It's a good mix in my opinion, but your taste may differ.
If you are in the EU you can get get access to all betas by putting down 5€ which you can get deducted from the final price if you buy it, good chance to see for yourself
Interesting, how?
I guess it depends on the mob, but really, Basilisks are probably the easiest of them all, really slow attacks and pretty predictable, the only thing that might ever catch you off guard is the 180 turn.
Regardless, in WoW instance bosses don't provide anything more complex than even a Basilisk imo. You just stand still and fire away the whole time until it dies.
Thanks for the replies. So it's basically a standard mmorpg with all the standard features with action combat + some special endgame features for "the elite" players. Hmm, I'll propably give it a try at some point with expectations slightly tuned above average on combat department only
It does move a bit more from the one I saw but not too complex. I do have pre-order key and I will play through all closed beta to decide if I will make the final purchase. For now, I think the combat is ok but the rest is standard. I can't comment on crafting since its too expensive for me to even test it out. ( Do they even have plan to let people test out that part at all ? )
As mentioned on the other thread, story is too silly/cheesy at the moment for me to even care to read the text. I have no problem with that since its just standard grab 10 quests and go kill those mobs. Though it is funny to see mobs have "!" on their head to tell you which one to kill for quest.
I am reserving my view on the game since its only up to 22 and people say there are more to come. Guess I will find out in two weeks.
Oh and I really really hope the community will be better next round. This CB1 is just HORRIBLE. I only have general chat open for 30 sec. I switched to party chat afterward.
Yeah, the Basilisks were the first BAM I solo'd. They're big and violent, but not too hard to get out of the way of. The BAM's in the southern plains (Celestia Plains, I think?) are a little trickier to dance with.
One of the biggest improvements I noticed was that the tendency for many of the big monsters/bosses to randomly just go on a stomp/jump rage while they reposition themselves, which pretty much makes any static party formation useless. Everyone in the party has to be prepared to get out of the way at any time. Very promising, considering that this is just the early areas/first dungeon.
A Modest Proposal for MMORPGs:
That the means of progression would not be mutually exclusive from the means of enjoyment.