We had a chance to sit down and talk to our friends over at TeraWorld about their experiences with the TERA Korean stress test.  They agreed to answer a few of our questions and help shine some light on what kind of gaming experience TERA has to offer. Of course, just as a reminder, the Korean version of the game will differ slightly from the westernized version for North American and European players. Keep reading after the jump for all the details!

ZAM:  What kind of latency did you experience? How did this affect your ability to effectively play both PvE and PvP?

TeraWorld:  Here in Spain we don't have the fastest connections in the world and playing on a Korean server, the ping can be annoying. In PvE this is not a big problem; you can still play almost normally, but you lose your speed attack (and it shows a lot in fast classes). But in PvP, where you need to be much more accurate, it can actually become a problem. It was very difficult to duel Koreans. You were at a disadvantage.

A chill breeze was in the air as the Far Seas caravan set up their wares for the New Halas City Festival. Chris Weathers stocked his inventory with three new local specialties: the Coldain torch, Halas display case and simple Coldain door. The city festival will end on Tuesday, December 7th at 11:59pm PST.

The season of giving is upon us and soon Santa Glug will be coming to town! One of the most anticipated live events, Frostfell, features two new quests, a new tier of Icy Keep token rewards and a total of 37 more holiday items to craft. Prove what a fanatic you are when the Magic Closets to the Frostfell Wonderland Village appear later this week. The event is slated to run from December 9th through January 6th.

Later in the month the denizens of the enchanted grottos will welcome assistance from those who seek them out. Players can search for those elusive pieces to their Moonlight collections and earn tokens toward purchasing house items or mounts. Moonlight Enchantments will begin on December 20th at 12:01am PST and conclude on December 21st at 11:59pm PST.

The prelude lore event for the Destiny of Velious expansion is still available to those who speak to the Duality in the city of Paineel. Progressing through the series will unearth the mystery behind what happened to the continent of Velious as well as how the Age's End prophecy may play into the upcoming expansion. Completing all of the quests will reward players not only with a new title and house item, but also the opportunity to meet a species never seen before in EverQuest II.

Like many folks I recently cleaned all the currency and tokens out of my bags and put it in the new Currency Tab in my Character Window.  I was amazed how much speciality currency I had lying around.  Where did all this stuff come from?  What's it for?  Should I hoard it, or is it junk now?

We try to answer all those questions in our shiny new Currency Guide!

In preparation for the launch of the first Rift closed beta event tomorrow, Dec. 3, Trion Worlds has released a lengthy "Enter the Rift" trailer that touches on every aspect of the game, from dynamic content to the soul system. It even contains commentary from the fans who toured Trion's Redwood City, CA office as part of the recent Gamer Day event. Be sure to watch the trailer after the jump for all sorts of details on the fantasy MMO.

Do you want to participate in Rift's closed beta? We're still giving away VIP beta keys to players who contribute in our Rift forums, so keep posting in our forums and on our articles for a chance to win entry into every upcoming Rift closed beta event!

If a tree falls in the woods, but nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

The answer to this question may be relevant to Final Fantasy XIV, which underwent a significant overhaul during last week’s all-worlds maintenance. The version update was the first of two life-saving surgeries for the ailing MMO, which was roundly blasted by fan sites and the gaming media soon after launch day. The next major version update, which will focus on adding new content, is planned for December.

For two months, dissatisfied and angered gamers flooded the fan sites to voice their displeasure with the game. Other players simply left; some moved to the fence line, while others cancelled their subscriptions. Many said they would return once the game was improved.

Well, the improvements happened – but where is everyone?

Discuss this in the ZAM forums!

PvP is a big part of TERA, and as such it deserves its own spotlight.  These following videos from the Korean Stress test give us a good idea of the core skills we, as players, will need to develop to become master duelists.

Pay attention to how the targeting works, or doesn’t work, in these videos.  TERA PvP is going to require intense focus and the ability to telegraph our opponents' moves.  Learning to trap the opponent into moving a certain direction or committing them to an attack that we can predict can determine the outcome of a battle.  Each class specializes in certain styles of attacking. For instance the Slayer from the first video uses overhead attacks that only strike targets directly in front of her.  Mastering your class' use of directional and AoE attacks will be equally important as learning when, where, and how you are the most vulnerable to each opposing class.

Welcome to the second installment of our exclusive Rift dev blog series! In the inaugural entry, Trion Worlds CCO and Rift Executive Producer Scott Hartsman answered the question, "Why make a fantasy MMO?" For the second issue, Senior Design Director Simon "Dead Simon" Ffinch ran with the fantasy element to take a creative look at a day in the life of a Rift developer. Keep reading after the jump to find out exactly why Ffinch is known as "Dead Simon."

Also, this is the perfect time to remind you that Rift's first closed beta event will be held this weekend from Dec. 3-6. We're still giving away VIP keys that will grant you entry into every Rift beta event, and all you need to do is contribute in our Rift forums. Winners are selected based on their activity on our new Rift site, so keep posting in our forums and commenting on our articles!

Earlier this week, Blue Hole Studios conducted a stress test of the Korean version of TERA.  The TERA community has seen a large influx of user videos and released content during this time, and we expect this influx to continue as the Korean open beta testing will begin in the near future. 

What we here at ZAM would like to showcase is the large number of videos that were released that focus on dungeon boss encounters.  The videos that follow will showcase a few select classes and their role in party encounters.  Some of these encounters last an extremely long time, but please remember that gearing and experience during these tests were at a minimum, so the length of these fights will be exaggerated.

SPOILER ALERT – These videos contain boss encounters and even in-game cinematics that contain spoilers.

Trion Worlds just released a description and screenshots for King's Breach, a new instance in Rift. Creatures from the Death Rift and beings from the jungles that make up the Life Rift have converged at King's Breach, so you know the instance will feature some epic battles. You should definitely check out the impressive King's Breach screenshots in our gallery, and keep reading the lore behind the instance after the jump.

Are you excited for the first Rift closed beta event this weekend? We're still giving away VIP beta keys to players who contribute in our Rift forums, so keep posting for a chance to win your golden ticket!

Welll folks, it's finally upon us.  The first of the two part major content patches promised by Square Enix.  Many players have been actively voicing their frustrations and concerns with FFXIV, and SE looks to have done an excellent job in taking in feedback and making the necessary adjustments.

As mentioned, this is the first of the two part content update.  The next is slated to be released in mid-December; just weeks away!  This patch has been heavily promoted by SE lately, who have already revealed much of it's details.  However, there are also lots of adjustments that we didn't know about!

Discuss this on the ZAM Forums!

Link to the Lodestone's update details.