Did anyone else get into the Beta?
I actually paid to get in, they have an option on their site to pay 5 euro to get access to all of the betas, both open and closed, early character customisation (for claiming names), and a one week head start. The catch is that you've still gotta buy the game for retail price to continue past the head start period, although they're kind with it and the 5 euro you spend on this demo gets deducted from the game if you buy from their site. As an off-note, I think is a really good option more companies should incorporate, especially for MMOs. A lot of the time I don't know if a game is gonna be good, or if it'll even run smoothly. I wouldn't mind paying a small price to at least test it out.
As for the actual game, it's interesting and fun, but it does has a lot of those "why the fuck is this even in the game" features that are often found in Korean MMOs. There is a lot of RNG, time sinks and grind for example, although the grind isn't that bad because of unique mob mechanics and the combat system. It does some things to lessen the burden too, the quests come in large quantities and even if you complete them all there are plenty of repeatables that automatically get put in your quest log again upon completion. I'm fairly certain in fact you can have a repeatable to kill 10 hyenas, but instead chose to kill 20, and that'll allow you to hand in 2 repeatables even though you're yet to even hand in the first or receive the second. There aren't many money sinks fortunately, a lot of things require gold but you get plenty of it just from questing. I especially like the ability to pick up other people's loot that they leave on the ground, I imagine at least half of my total gold has come from that. In terms of RNG and time sinks, the enchanting system is retarded, mineral gathering is depressing because you can fail to harvest a node ten times in a row or get it first try. I'm also starting to think you can get a critical hit of a critical hit, I crit 2000+ randomly every now and then, despite my regular crit doing 950 or so. There's a lot of waiting around for health to come back too, I can guess why with the combat system; you're not supposed to be getting hit, but sitting at a fireplace slowly watching your HP go back up after dying, duelling, or just generally getting worn down to <1000 whilst questing? Nooooooooooo. There's like one merchant per zone too. No teleport or scroll? RUN BACK, *****.
In terms of combat, it's really fun. If you don't know, combat on TERA is done by aiming and using skills on your skillbar, unlike MMOs like (huehue) WoW where you press a button and it'll have a % chance to hit. Generally, it works more like a hack and slash or even a fighting game. I was sceptical when I first began playing because everything hits in a cleave as melee and the hitboxes on enemies are pretty big, after levelling further however I found that it's actually pretty difficult in PvP where you're both trying to dodge and land attacks on each other, not to mention the low cooldowns on abilities which helps keeps things fast paced. Timing seems to be the most important thing, dodging someone's attack and landing your own is the best way of dealing damage and staying alive, both for PvE and PvP. The wide variety of skills is also impressive, looking at the skill list you might think "meh, they all sound the same", but in-game you'll find that each attack is different, one may have a quicker recovery time after the animation has ended, or a shorter animation with a longer recovery, or hit 4 different times to do a total amount of damage, or have a mini charge attached to it etc. The wide variety of animations that change per race adds even more depth. For example, I have an Aman Warrior and when I duelled an Elf Warrior I had no idea what he was doing because his animations were totally different, he does front flips where I roll, or spins around during attacks where I cleave.
The aiming system for the attack projectiles currently is weird, it doesn't seem to work on a hitbox system, instead you've gotta press the attack when your cursor is over them and it will track the target, so for PvP it's more beneficial running in a tight zig-zag pattern that goes in and out of your opponents cursor than doing long strafes. I've found that for spell projecticles it works on a hitbox system, but for things like the Mystic and Sorcerer basic attack it works on this retarded aim assist system that goes against the aiming required for the other spells.
Graphically, it's unsurprisingly pretty. It uses what they call an "enriched lighting" effect to make the greens, blues etc really stand out and the lighting generally seems to glow. It adds a depth of field effect too that I like, I don't like seeing unrendered landscape in the background, I'd much rather have it blur a bit out of focus to create a greater sense of immersion. It worked really well on Just Cause 2.
The NPCs are awesomely designed also and I really like how the developers are not afraid to use larger scale enemies; it's a lot like Monster Hunter in that regard. Elite mobs and BAMS on TERA are fucking huge in scale, being a tiny guy hacking away at some guys thigh is always more badass than hitting some normal sized dude in the face repeatedly; the enemies size explains their large health pool, it always annoys me when games don't do that or otherwise don't explain it. They don't just stand around either, in combat they will leap, cleave, charge, stomp etc. The combat system works really well with the massive enemies, fighting an elite or BAM is like playing a better version of Monster Hunter (imo).
At first I was kinda disappointed with TERA, but it has grown on me over the weekend. I'm still not sure if I'll buy it, the earlier periods of MMOs are always much more enjoyable and right now I'm happy just playing Guild Wars 1. I have some concerns about TERA too, like if the PK system will be altered and if the PvP will be balanced or gear-centric end game. My greatest concern is with how much grind will be required to reach max level, if it's anything like Aion I won't play it. I don't want to spend months grinding the same mobs to reach max level, and I have a problem with MMOs that concern themselves with the destination and not the journey, especially when everything prior to max level is a grindfest. A little bit of grind I don't mind, especially with this game's combat, but months of it? Nah, in fact I imagine myself wishing for simpler combat mechanics if it does turn into a grindfest at higher levels; who the fuck wants to pay attention when grinding? At the moment it's looking good though, whether or not it all continues further into the game I don't know.
Have any Escapists played it? If so, what did you think? If not, are you looking forward to TERA?
I actually paid to get in, they have an option on their site to pay 5 euro to get access to all of the betas, both open and closed, early character customisation (for claiming names), and a one week head start. The catch is that you've still gotta buy the game for retail price to continue past the head start period, although they're kind with it and the 5 euro you spend on this demo gets deducted from the game if you buy from their site. As an off-note, I think is a really good option more companies should incorporate, especially for MMOs. A lot of the time I don't know if a game is gonna be good, or if it'll even run smoothly. I wouldn't mind paying a small price to at least test it out.
As for the actual game, it's interesting and fun, but it does has a lot of those "why the fuck is this even in the game" features that are often found in Korean MMOs. There is a lot of RNG, time sinks and grind for example, although the grind isn't that bad because of unique mob mechanics and the combat system. It does some things to lessen the burden too, the quests come in large quantities and even if you complete them all there are plenty of repeatables that automatically get put in your quest log again upon completion. I'm fairly certain in fact you can have a repeatable to kill 10 hyenas, but instead chose to kill 20, and that'll allow you to hand in 2 repeatables even though you're yet to even hand in the first or receive the second. There aren't many money sinks fortunately, a lot of things require gold but you get plenty of it just from questing. I especially like the ability to pick up other people's loot that they leave on the ground, I imagine at least half of my total gold has come from that. In terms of RNG and time sinks, the enchanting system is retarded, mineral gathering is depressing because you can fail to harvest a node ten times in a row or get it first try. I'm also starting to think you can get a critical hit of a critical hit, I crit 2000+ randomly every now and then, despite my regular crit doing 950 or so. There's a lot of waiting around for health to come back too, I can guess why with the combat system; you're not supposed to be getting hit, but sitting at a fireplace slowly watching your HP go back up after dying, duelling, or just generally getting worn down to <1000 whilst questing? Nooooooooooo. There's like one merchant per zone too. No teleport or scroll? RUN BACK, *****.
In terms of combat, it's really fun. If you don't know, combat on TERA is done by aiming and using skills on your skillbar, unlike MMOs like (huehue) WoW where you press a button and it'll have a % chance to hit. Generally, it works more like a hack and slash or even a fighting game. I was sceptical when I first began playing because everything hits in a cleave as melee and the hitboxes on enemies are pretty big, after levelling further however I found that it's actually pretty difficult in PvP where you're both trying to dodge and land attacks on each other, not to mention the low cooldowns on abilities which helps keeps things fast paced. Timing seems to be the most important thing, dodging someone's attack and landing your own is the best way of dealing damage and staying alive, both for PvE and PvP. The wide variety of skills is also impressive, looking at the skill list you might think "meh, they all sound the same", but in-game you'll find that each attack is different, one may have a quicker recovery time after the animation has ended, or a shorter animation with a longer recovery, or hit 4 different times to do a total amount of damage, or have a mini charge attached to it etc. The wide variety of animations that change per race adds even more depth. For example, I have an Aman Warrior and when I duelled an Elf Warrior I had no idea what he was doing because his animations were totally different, he does front flips where I roll, or spins around during attacks where I cleave.
The aiming system for the attack projectiles currently is weird, it doesn't seem to work on a hitbox system, instead you've gotta press the attack when your cursor is over them and it will track the target, so for PvP it's more beneficial running in a tight zig-zag pattern that goes in and out of your opponents cursor than doing long strafes. I've found that for spell projecticles it works on a hitbox system, but for things like the Mystic and Sorcerer basic attack it works on this retarded aim assist system that goes against the aiming required for the other spells.
Graphically, it's unsurprisingly pretty. It uses what they call an "enriched lighting" effect to make the greens, blues etc really stand out and the lighting generally seems to glow. It adds a depth of field effect too that I like, I don't like seeing unrendered landscape in the background, I'd much rather have it blur a bit out of focus to create a greater sense of immersion. It worked really well on Just Cause 2.
The NPCs are awesomely designed also and I really like how the developers are not afraid to use larger scale enemies; it's a lot like Monster Hunter in that regard. Elite mobs and BAMS on TERA are fucking huge in scale, being a tiny guy hacking away at some guys thigh is always more badass than hitting some normal sized dude in the face repeatedly; the enemies size explains their large health pool, it always annoys me when games don't do that or otherwise don't explain it. They don't just stand around either, in combat they will leap, cleave, charge, stomp etc. The combat system works really well with the massive enemies, fighting an elite or BAM is like playing a better version of Monster Hunter (imo).
At first I was kinda disappointed with TERA, but it has grown on me over the weekend. I'm still not sure if I'll buy it, the earlier periods of MMOs are always much more enjoyable and right now I'm happy just playing Guild Wars 1. I have some concerns about TERA too, like if the PK system will be altered and if the PvP will be balanced or gear-centric end game. My greatest concern is with how much grind will be required to reach max level, if it's anything like Aion I won't play it. I don't want to spend months grinding the same mobs to reach max level, and I have a problem with MMOs that concern themselves with the destination and not the journey, especially when everything prior to max level is a grindfest. A little bit of grind I don't mind, especially with this game's combat, but months of it? Nah, in fact I imagine myself wishing for simpler combat mechanics if it does turn into a grindfest at higher levels; who the fuck wants to pay attention when grinding? At the moment it's looking good though, whether or not it all continues further into the game I don't know.
Have any Escapists played it? If so, what did you think? If not, are you looking forward to TERA?
