Top 5 Important MMOs of 2012: TERA
We're midway through our Top Five Important MMOs of 2012, and today the spotlight falls on what could be the last action hero of MMORPGs: TERA.
Check out ZAM's other Top Five Most Important MMOs of 2012:
If 2011 was the year of blockbuster RPGs and FPSs, then 2012 will certainly be the year of MMORPGs and online games. With almost a dozen highly anticipated titles confirmed to launch in 2012, there can be no doubt that this year will be a revolutionary one for MMO gaming. That being said, not all of you will have the time to check out all of these big releases, so ZAM has compiled a list of what we consider to be the Top Five Important MMOs of 2012. In this top five series, we'll be looking at some of the most innovative titles of 2012 and why you should keep a close eye on them. Today ZAM Staff Writer Patrick "BakersMan" Do will talk about.... TERA!
Action MMOs are a big thing in Asia right now - we're talking life-sized Gundam big; and TERA has thoroughly embedded itself into the narrative as one of the best entries the genre has to offer. Stateside, however, the idea of the action MMO has yet to capture the collective imagination of the North American public. Short for The Exiled Realm of Arborea, TERA is an online action MMORPG developed by Bluehole Studio and published in America by En Masse Entertainment. The game was released in South Korea last January and is slated for a spring 2012 release in North America and Europe. When it finally does arrive on our shores, a minefield of tribulation awaits it. The most interesting aspect of TERA will not be the game itself, but rather how the game is received.
If you know nothing about TERA, there is a surplus of reasons to get excited for it. First, the game is centered on an intriguing and deep player-centric political system. Through various political methods players and their guilds will be able to run for a leadership position known as a 'Vanarch': it is possible to attain power through democratic process as well as overwhelming military force. Campaigning is something that hasn't yet been seen in an MMO and its implementation and execution could be an innovative twist in the genre. Once in power, the Vanarch will have the power to control taxation - whether his or her actions are just or avaricious is completely at the discretion of the player.
We caught up with Chris Hager, the producer of TERA at En Masse Entertainment, to talk a little bit about the political system in the game, and he notes that, "TERA has endgame content that appeals to all types of players. For those who enjoy player-driven endgame, we have a deep political system that gives players the ability to ascend to the position of Vanarch through election or PvP battlegrounds. From here, they will reign over one of 18 provinces in the world of TERA and directly influence the lives of players by managing NPC trainers, teleporters, specialty item shops, and tax rates in their territory."
We've seen the morality system implemented in many popular games, most recently in the highly acclaimed Star Wars: The Old Republic; but the choice system used in TERA feels markedly less contrived than those of its predecessors because it gives players just that: real choice. Choosing between right and wrong presents itself in every decision made by the ruling body and will actually have real-time ramifications in a way that is organic and germane to the game. Players in each province can rebel against the political hegemon if they feel unfairly treated, overly taxed or if they just want a change in leadership.
With all the political intrigue surrounding this game, it can be easy to forget that TERA is, first and foremost, an action title. According to Hager, TERA's focus remains squarely on combat and the game's unique combat system. "Our players aren't confined to tab-targeting anymore. They have to dodge, roll, and block to survive the battlefield. Combat feels visceral, and you have to constantly be moving and aware of your surroundings. The UI complements the action with needed information but still lets players focus on the center of their screen, exactly where the action is."
Players will encounter what Hager and the crew at En Masse fondly refer to as BAMs or, for the uninitiated, Big Ass Monsters (classy, I know). These party sweepers can be found throughout the world in the same way dragons roam the world of Skyrim. "These aren't your everyday hack-and-slash mobs," added Hager, "these guys are seriously hard to take down. It will take a group of players functioning at 100% to tackle them. Healers will have to constantly maneuver, ducking into combat to make close-range heals, then leaping back before they pull agro."
The mercurial and insipid nature of the relationship between America and the action-MMO genre comes as a surprise to me. Generally speaking, without qualification, we love action games: from Assassin's Creed, to Skyrim, to Uncharted, to insert-noun of War, we consume action with the ravenous appetite of a puppy at a Kibble Convention. The action MMO, however, has not really caught on in mainstream North America; at least in the way many had hoped.
There are a couple of reasons for this trend - or lack thereof. First, the infrastructure may not be completely in place for most of America to even play these games: hit detection goes out the window when your ping (or latency) isn't close to zero. Lag is already a huge issue for tens of thousands of players around the world and games that require pin point precision and split second timing will be crippled by the lag commonly occurring in busy MMO servers. All eyes will be on this game when it goes live: TERA represents the last, best hope for its genre, and if it fails, it could be the last we see of the action MMO for some time.
Even if TERA can overcome these mountainous technical issues, there's still a large sea of competition to cross before it can be called a successful voyage. 2012 looks to be shaping up as the year of SWTOR, Guild Wars 2, The Secret World, Diablo 3, World of Warcraft's Mists of Pandaria expansion, and half a dozen other sleeper contenders. Should TERA make the climb to the top of MMORPG mountain, I hope Bluehole Studios and En Masse Entertainment realize just how precarious that position will be.
Still, Chris Hager and the team behind TERA remain optimistic. "Like most new genre types, there are challenges developing and publishing any AAA MMORPG, no matter where you are. What makes working on TERA so great (and what gives us the ability to navigate those challenges) are the people working on it." He adds that, "we are a company of passionate gamers that first and foremost want to make a kick-ass game that is fun to play. Decisions we make are all based on that, and because of that mentality, I am proud of the game TERA is and the level and quality of service we will be able to bring to our players when we launch."
TERA offers players something that game developers have been striving toward since day one - agency. Agency is what sets the video game apart from film, television, and just about any other medium in existence. While other MMOs simulate agency, offering players cheap simulacra comprised of point and click combat and multiple-choice morality, TERA gives players the freedom to make meaningful choices with full articulation of their avatars. Plainly, TERA gets it; and its success will only auger well for the future of online gaming. Let's hope that when TERA is finally released to the North American public, we get it too.
Patrick "BakersMan" Do, Staff Writer.