The game's senior producer answers our hard-hitting questions that came to mind following PAX. Find out what he had to say about this action MMO!

ZAM: Are there any specific effects for hitting certain parts of your foes' bodies? For instance, shooter games with a similar control scheme may balance things like less damage for shooting arms or legs, more damage for shooting heads, etc. Can you discuss any interesting combat mechanics? 

Brian Knox: The short answer is no, but it is something we are evaluating for the future.  For now, we feel that a player’s (not character’s) skill is the most important factor in an action MMO like TERA. Whichever direction we ultimately go in, it will be with this in mind.  Many of our skills will chain off one another.  This is true from both within a party and within your own set of skills.

ZAM: For professional and experienced players, there's a bit of worrying that the PvE experience in TERA will be too easy or short for a level 60 cap. Free aiming games generally have a high skill ceiling that is pretty hard for everyone to reach. Do you think that the game may be too easy for some players who dodge for damage mitigation and fully use all their options in battle? 

Brian Knox: We’re evaluating a lot of options for 1–60 progressions, as well as for continued play at level 60. TERA’s players will ultimately find the best balance of skill and story for themselves — as designers our responsibility is to produce the best game possible with as many opportunities as possible for players do to so. 

ZAM: Will there be a scripting engine for macros? Or do you want to keep things tight and balanced without this function? 

Brian Knox: There will not be macroing for combat.  TERA is about the player's skill in combat, not in scripting.  Our goal for TERA is to provide a best-in-class game experience focused on action combat and an immersive story. The game we launch will be one that best exemplifies both these goals, and also incorporates feedback from our fans on what they want to see in a triple-A game title.

ZAM: It was mentioned that TERA will be letting characters instantly transfer between servers at the launch of the game. It definitely does sound like an effective way to limit the amount of queuing while also being able to track the actual number of players for which you need to have servers. How long do you plan to allow that to continue after launch, and any estimates on the cost of character transfers after that? 

Brian Knox: We plan to have character transfers available at launch and to support this feature going forward. As we get closer to launch, you can expect more information. 

ZAM: It's been many moons since the last time select people were allowed to experience the actual game outside of a publicity-fueled convention environment. Is the next test going to be a large closed beta, continued focus group testing, or something different? And more importantly, when is it? 

Brian Knox: Tera-Online.com is the best place to get all information about upcoming game features, opportunities for testing, and for our fans to interact both with us and with each other. To our readers today: get up there and get involved. TERA’s fan community is the one we turn to first for feedback and support and the ones who get the most out of sharing our game experience. 

ZAM: Finally, all the music I've heard in the trailers has been really impressive.  Are there any plans for the music to be published in Korea, Japan, and any western countries? Maybe online distribution or even a free download? 

Brian Knox: We’ve had a lot of positive response to TERA’s music and artwork, and agree that these aspects of the game are something we’d like to share as widely as possible. While we have no plans in place yet, we’ll most likely make some kind of announcement on Tera-Online.com as we get closer to launch.