The first official episode of The Free Agent takes on TERA Rising

Welcome to Episode 1 of The Free Agent. If you’re just joining me and wondering what this new bi-weekly ZAM column is all about, I'd encourage you to have a read through Episode Zero. My mission, as always, is to answer the question, "Can gaming really be free?"

With that, let’s jump right into the first free-to-play title to be featured on The Free Agent, TERA Rising. Developed by Blue Hole Studios and published by En Masse Entertainment, this action/RPG hybrid MMO did away with subscription fees and went free-to-play after only 9 months on the North American market.

Like many other people I was curious about what TERA had to offer and watched it from the side lines throughout its development cycle. But, as the release date came and went, amid so many others, I found that I simply didn't have room in my life for another subscription based MMO. Sadly TERA slipped through the cracks of my gaming repertoire.

However, with the free-to-play rebranding as TERA Rising, my interest was re-ignited and I set out to explore an MMO that I had previously passed over. Was their switch to free-to-play a shallow marketing ploy to get gamers like me interested in the title again? Or does this MMO possess a depth that proves all the free-to-play critics wrong?

To find out read on, as The Free Agent takes on TERA Rising.

Before I go any further I should probably mention, the opinions expressed in this article are my own, and are based my first impressions of TERA Rising, going only as far as completing the tutorial prologue, playing through the Island of Dawn (aka noob island) and finding my way to the capital city of Velika. So if I say something you don't agree with please keep that in mind.  I fully realize I have explored only a fraction of what TERA Rising has to offer. Also keep in mind that I did not play TERA prior to it going free-to-play, so in most respects I am writing from the stand point of playing though a brand new free-to-play title.

Okay, the disclaimer is out of the way, so let me begin.

Character Creation and Tutorial

For a free-to-play game I was immediately impressed with its character creation options. There was a wide assortment of interesting race and class combinations, visually impressive character models and more slider bars than I even knew what to do with. First impressions are important and character creation is the gamer’s gateway into any MMO. On this count I felt that TERA Rising nailed it, performing  as well as, if not better than, most of its subscription based counterparts.

I spent almost two hours just in the character creation menus alone, and only after creating six unique characters was I finally ready to move on. The only minor disappointment in the whole process was being restricted to 2 characters per server. But overall the experience was enjoyable and left me very excited to see what TERA had in store for me next.

With high hopes I dove into the tutorial prologue, but I quickly found myself in a bewildered state. It was surprisingly difficult to understand what sort of story I had just walked into and my initial quests were totally uninspiring. By the time I finally got into combat (which took FAR too long), I felt as though I had not accomplished much of anything besides learning how to interact with NPCs and equip items. But I suppose it was intended to be a tutorial so I was willing to over look how painful it had been thus far.

Sadly combat did nothing to improve things. I went from learning the absolute basics of point and click gaming to suddenly being thrust into an unfamiliar combat style and given far too many abilities at one time to be able to make any sense of what I was doing, realizing only after the fact, that you play the prologue as a level 20 character. I stumbled my way through the remainder of the prologue, found the NPC I was supposed to be looking for, fought a large boss-like creature, was interrupted by a cut scene, which was then interrupted by what I can only assume was a bug, because before I knew what was happening the prologue came to an abrupt end, with no sense of closure what-so-ever.

Looking back on it, the tutorial prologue was a hazy and confusing hour of my life that I have chosen to forget. Unwilling to let it stain my opinion of TERA Rising, I decided to go back to the character creation menus to cheer myself up, and cheer me up they did. Armed with my new Castanic Slayer, I said goodbye to the dreary tutorial prologue and jumped head first into the Island of Dawn.

An Island for Noobs

Upon setting foot on the Island of Dawn I fell in love, almost instantly, with the art style, rich colors and stunning vistas that TERA Rising had to offer. Just like that the dreadful tutorial prologue was a distant memory and I charged off into the Island of Dawn with my over-sexualized ridiculously-large sword wielding avatar.

This is where I discovered the strange dichotomy that so far sums up my experiences with TERA Rising. The action based combat is highly entertaining compared to traditional TAB targeting MMO combat. Even the most mundane battles seemed more entertaining as my slayer sliced and spun her way through the foe. With new abilities trickling in as I leveled I began to understand the synergies and flow of my class’s combat style. Each new battle found me trying to perfect my skills, challenging myself to kill faster, dodge more and perfect my skills over all. I particularity enjoyed leaping over top of my foes and striking them unawares.

However, despite how much I truly enjoyed this refreshing style of combat, at the same time I found myself doing something I NEVER do when I play an MMO. I actually stopped reading quest text. For those who know me, you will understand just how earth shattering that is for me. I am unashamed to admit that I a total lore nerd, and always enjoy exploring the storyline of a game through whatever means are provided. In TERA Rising I quickly found myself ignoring the NPCs heartfelt plea for me to go to the next zone over and talk to another NPC who would in turn encourage me to go to the next zone over and talk to an NPC, who would in turn... well, you get the idea.

It seemed to me that, for the most part, these early quests in TERA Rising existed largely as a simple and uncreative means of moving the player through the Island of Dawn. Throw in a few "kill 10 rats" style quests (which I'll admit were more enjoyable than most "kill 10 rats" quests due to the action based combat) and mix in some odd grammar to boot. All in all, quests = lame, combat = awesome.

As I closed in on finishing off the Island of Dawn I got a tiny glimpse of some sort of larger over-arching story, but mostly just got to engage a large fiendish boss-like creature in combat. Once again I have nothing but good things to say about the visual experience of this fight, and the mechanics were enjoyable as well. It was a great way to finish off my adventure and graduate from noob to neophyte.

From there I hopped on a Pegasus and said goodbye to the Island of Dawn. My flight to the capital city of Velika and my brief tour of the city of wheels once again reminded me how enjoyable and beautifully rendered the world of TERA truly is.

Free-to-Play?

Now to the heart of the matter; I can honestly say that, for the most part, I enjoyed my free adventure in TERA. On only two occasions did I have a quick glance at the Valkyon Outfitters store, mostly out of curiosity ('hey what's this button do?') So far this in-game store is the only place I saw that really tempts players to spend real money.

One of the high points I would think for many players is the visual experience of TERA, so it's only logical to offer ways to improve that experience with fun outfits, collectibles and the like. But for myself, I can safely say I was not tempted to spend any real money, so my credit card is safe for the moment.

The only other glaring motivation to spend money was that some players on the Island of Dawn started out with a mount where as The Free Agent had to settle for wandering around on foot. Of course my cheapness was rewarded when I found my way to the capital at level 12, where I received an entry level mount for free.

Looking ahead I can see myself being tempted to spend real money on the XP boosts offered at the Valkyon Outfitters in-game store, as well as some of the perks offered by Elite Status (essentially replacing subscription fees with premium fees). But it would appear that for the moment decent gaming can be free. I did not feel at any point that by playing for free I was missing out on anything. Any of the less than savory experiences in TERA had absolutely nothing to do with free versus paid content.

As a whole, the unique game play mechanics, lively action-based combat and stunning visuals in TERA Rising definitely made up for lackluster questing and less than impressive storyline in this free-to-play title.

However, it is abundantly clear to me that I have only just scratched the surface of TERA Rising. My secret fear based on what I have seen thus far is that, despite the high points I've mentioned, there may not be enough meat in the questing/storyline side of things to keep me interested long term. To be sure, the action-based combat will keep me going on the grind far longer than if I was forced to go with tradition TAB targeting, but at the end of the day the grind is still, well, a grind.

On the Next Episode of The Free Agent

It would be unfair and wholly inadequate to judge an MMO based on the first dozen or so levels and as such The Free Agent may very well revisit this title at a later date. But for now it's on to my next mission, the fast paced 3rd person MOBA and battle ground of the gods, SMITE.

As always, if you have suggestions for other free-to-play titles for me to investigate, or if you want to discuss any of the games covered in previous episodes, please, by all means, post a comment below or contact me on twitter.

See you next time, on The Free Agent.

Robert "Caergan" Gray