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TERA: Review in Progress Part Four
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
This marks the fourth episode in our continuing journey through En Masse Entertainment's TERA. In this installment, we take a look at questing, gear, the epic action and more. Read on and then leave us your thoughts in the comments.
This will likely be the last installment of our TERA Review in Progress before our final score is handed out and we let you all argue over whether I’m right or wrong in the comments (hint: it’s subjective). It’s been a grand few weeks of TERA, really. As you’ve seen from the first review in progress, all the way up until now, I’ve found myself pleasantly surprised by what Arborea has to offer, despite what roadblocks there were at first glance with the game’s beta. I’m now level 30, I’ve done my fair share of questing, dungeons, and sought after the BAMs of the world like a pro with my guild at my back. This week, anxious guilds are vying for position in the game’s political Vanarch system, and next week we all start voting for the first group of territory rulers. In short, I’m still enthralled with TERA. But there are some cracks in the veneer.
Read more of Bill Murphy's TERA: Review in Progress Part Four.
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Comments
Awesome screenshot.
I recently tried playing D3 per a few friend's requests, but after playing TERA, D3 feels like I'm playing Mega Man.
Joined - July 2004
No I will not reassure you. I quit Tera after reaching 47. The pacing slowed to a CRAWL, the boring quest design reared its final ugly head (because now I had to kill MORE of them and it took LONGER to kill and gave you SAME xp when you needed overall WAY MORE xp to level up now).
Nice read! thanks.
One thing to mention is, TERA is punishing when it comes to quest gear. You will outlevel most quests, and by doing them you don't do yourself any favour. You will be heavy undergeared.
While this is no issue in itself, it is an isue when you try to run your level appropiate dungeons. Especially as Lancer / Berserker who rely on Block damage absorb.
Besides you are slowed down extremly when trying to do every quest, because the rewards do not scale well in comparsion to "on level" quests which you could do at your level.
Dropping every quest which is below your current level lead me personally to advance at double speed. (If fast leveling is what you are looking for)
This is a fair part to your reviews, though I would have preferred if you reached 60 and experienced what the endgame has to offer, but I'll understand if you can't make it.
Remember... all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more.
I wonder, If Tera had Tab Targeting like you see in most games if anyonew would play?
If SWTOR had questing like in most games would anyone play? It works both ways Eddie.
Anyways, I will tell you leveling is rather interesting later on in that certain quests start rewarding less xp and others give you more, it's quite random how they go about it. But when you get to the second continent environments start changing for the better which is really nice. I just love so many of them on that continent.
I will also say this, you don't have to do those kill 10x deer quests, not even one of them. Just find parties for BAM quests and dungeons as well as following the storyline quest. Those alone should be enough to level you through zones, you shouldn't ever have to fight a normal boring mob besides a few of them in the story quest. Maybe throw in a little PvP on the side to spice it up a little.
People assume because they give you 4500 quests you should do 4500 quests...i've cleared my quest log at least 4-5 times from level 1-45.
One thing that people don't get while playing Tera is that .. after lvl 40+ killing mobs solo takes time but u guys need to understand that when you group up with at least one person .. u will get group bonuses for every kill plus mobs die faster
so keep in mind ... after lvl 40+ GROUP UP WITH PEOPLE = Goup bonuses + faster leveling and easy to kill mobs.
duh
Just buy your gear from players.
I am usually running with gold gear and I have never gotten a usable lancer piece of equipment from a dungeon.
Since I'm not the type of person to repeast dungeons ad nauseum until I get one I just save my money and buy it from plaeyrs. An additional note is I don't craft or gather. I sell whatever drops I can on the AH and those Idon't sell I sell to vendor. I"m not rich by any means but at lvl 48 I am decked in gold gear. not enchanted mind you but at the moment that isn't too large an issue. I'll work on enchanting at lvl cap as I think it's a waste of money to do it at lower levels.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Don't forget it's an MMO arm0s, you can talk to them as well and maybe make some friends.
lol to any supposition of a grind -- it is NOTHING compared to previous games originating from similar eastern developers. L2 takes teh cake, Aion was worse, Rift was far too easy and westernized, SWTOR took a while because of the cutscenes. Granted, mobs in some areas DO get a ton more HP (thinking area south of Alementhia, ~54-57 area), but it's nothing that isn't manageable, and if this were a game where I hit max level in a month :cough: swtor/rift :cough: then I'd be disappointed anyway.
What's the point of rushing to max level so you can repeat dailies ever-on-end? Most of the end-game for TERA has yet to come, so don't feel "rushed" to get to 60 (there's no point). I hear once you're 60, things become a lot duller (so plan around the patch, lawl)
I'm a 54 castanic archer on Jagged Coast, btw (wewt)
Past [MMO] Games: Lineage 2 (quit c5), Aion, RIFT, SWTOR
Current[MMO] Game(s): TERA
Future [MMO] Game(s): ArcheAge, Blade/Soul
It's...tooo....boorrriiinnggg........
I prefer SW:TOR's questing to any MMO's questing right now. And here's hoping future games copy this from them, because text-box quests...yeah, not gonna do it ever again I'd just rather not play a game if it has that sh*t in still.
You know what's boring/annoying? Having to smash your spacebar to play the game you want to play.
SWTOR ruined the star wars franchise, ruined what once was KOTOR, and is a shameful example of what happens when yuo overmonetize the development of a game. Too much hype, not enough substance.
One word: Ilum
LOL
Past [MMO] Games: Lineage 2 (quit c5), Aion, RIFT, SWTOR
Current[MMO] Game(s): TERA
Future [MMO] Game(s): ArcheAge, Blade/Soul
SInce the PvP is level balanced 60 is a good reason to rush to? Specially if you play for the PvP, because to me the rest of the game was pretty dull, but hearing that it could get worse is a worry :S and for casuals like me getting to 60 will feel like an eternity
Remember... all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more.
Then you'd enjoy The Secret World as it has similar type of questing. No walls of text. Actually Guild Wars 2 also has similar questing.
It all just sorta depends on how you define the term "grind"
If you get to max level and still have to grind out dailies for rep points, that counts as a grind; and personally, not my preferred type.
I prefer a "max level" to be relatively unobtainable and for the scale of leveling to take on a more logarithmic form. That way, your character is always progressing in experience, and the "daily traps" are either not there or a much less apparent part of the "teh grindz0rz"
Past [MMO] Games: Lineage 2 (quit c5), Aion, RIFT, SWTOR
Current[MMO] Game(s): TERA
Future [MMO] Game(s): ArcheAge, Blade/Soul
I just couldn't play it anymore, too much of the Old and the Same again and again, Diablo 3 has blown me away so far, im sticking with Diablo 3 (Amazing game)
I have heard that at 50+ maybe 52 it gets rediculously hard. I am levelling a few toons and won't subscribe till they sort that out.
If there's one thing I hope they improve (realistically speaking) it's this. The loot in this game could be so much more fun, if they'd just add some diversity. I hope the weapon skins they added to the cash shop are just the beginning...
When I want a single-player story, I'll play a single-player game. When I play an MMO, I want a massively multiplayer world.
Level 58 here.
Questing and leveling only seem to slow down if you are not in the right quest hubs. Alot of people I spoke to were attempting do to all the quest of a certain zone before moving on. This is bad, as the rewards are designed around a person who is probably much lower. If your quest is grey, move out of the area. Just an example, Quest level 57 has you kill 10 mobs, and gives 1,000,000 xp. Quest level 58 in the next area has you kill 10 level 58 mobs, and gives you 8,500,000. Needed to level up: 104,000,000. If you were to do the quests in the 55-57 quest zone, then your leveling would drastically slow down (8 fold).
So my suggestion if you think it is slowing down: move on to the next quest hub. Unless of course, you were lying about hating the questing and actually want to do all the quests of a zone.
The other advantage is the you get better gear in the next hubs.
Finally, about appearance, Quest rewards have an appearance, Dropped item have a different appearance, and crafted armor has a different appearance. On top of this, you can dye it any color you want. And I mean ANY color. If you have harvested the dye ingredients, the game allows you to make Murdex dye, which has RGB slider. You can change your gear from white to black and every color imaginable, as intense as you want, as pale as you want ect...
It lasts 7 in game days (168 playable hours.), so depending on your playstyle, a single dying can last you weeks to months.
The reason everyone looks the same, is because most people are cheap, and will wear the quested rewards, and not dye it. Even though a basic dye is just 50 silver, gives you 4 color choices, and lasts 24 hours of game time.
To me an RPG, even an MMO one, is supposed to be about the journey and not the destination. So the only thing I need to read was that people are already approaching the level cap in TERA to turn me off. I may may give it a shot as something to goof around with, but meh.
However, I REALLY like the art directin in the game. I think the design team and artists did a great job with the art.
And I wish more MMO's would start using action combat mechanics; not just throwing in a dodge or block feature while retaining the typical hotbar/ tab targeting mechanics.
I would give Tera a thumbs down due to their Cosmetic/CashShop they are charging people for the key features of the game aka you have to pay to change a haircolor,etc.
the level scaling sounds like it ramps up mid level, that is good! it should be an accomplisment to reach high levels. I sure never appreciated the intense grind of mid levels in EQ, but felt WOW and all clones are way too easy. So in TERA I'm sure some people with on unemployment, or lots of vacation time, lack of a social life, whatever the reason - will outgrind you to max level within several days of playing...who cares? if your jealous someone beat d3 already or is 50 in tera after a few weeks, don't be.
it is about the journey not the end level. but for most people who've been playing MMO's for years (i've been playing EQ since 1999 and WoW since vanilla) - the end game social raid and co-op is what they truely desire out of the game in general. I for one don't really care about some grinding or some boring mid level quests, it's group co-operation in enthralling content that makes any game worth playing for me.
I've been playing project1999 free everquest from EQemu for the last several months while publishers get this amazing 2012 lineup of blockbuster mmo titles launched to decide what to invest time in - I've been very very leary about subscription based MMO's, since SOE destroyed the game I loved most after 6 years of being a paid subscriber (EQ) and then blizzard released burning crusade and rapidly inflated gear and levels (greens come close or replace 40-man purples? i think not) to the point that there was zero reason's for me to be playing WoW ....and up untill learning of TERA I did not think some of the core elements that make EQ such a great game would be available again.
so I'm gathering in TERA speedy leveling hits a wall? awesome.
it also seems from posters here that as far as questing/exping - you need to analyze and figure out what is the most effeicent way of exping and not just follow the path you're used to from WoW/clones? awesome.
real action combat? hell yes. this turns the game into a heavily player-skill based game and not a level of skills/spells based game.
I do not want to enter the world of tera, GW2 or whatever the game is, and go, ok, I played EQ for 6 years and WoW for 2 -this will be cake walk to max level.
we've been asking for something refreshing for years, and as this author and others have clearly stated - the mechanics in combat are very refreshing. That's all I need to really know to want to play this game. altho like many others, I'm still one who is waiting a few more months to decide as other titles come out, and for games like TERA to be patched a few times.
Here's this giant enemy crab, attack it's weak point for massive damage.
Of course skins are going to be boring in game, they want you to buy the cool looking skins in their cash shop.... Enjoy throwing money away....
The skins in this game are beyond amazing, especially at higher levels, the ones in the cash shop are just gimmicky and look retarded.
Crafted, dropped and quest reward items all have different appearences and like someone mentioned above you can dye armor any colour you want using red/green/blue sliders with a white to black shade slider as well.
So I can have armor any colour from neon pink to black to swamp green.