I understand that those questions are very valid and many people would love for them to be answered in depth, however the subject of the interview was the westernization of TERA, as such we had to stick to questions that were strictly centered on that. Yes some of the questions may seem like reiterations of previous questions but we were hoping for each answer to give us a new detail regarding their plans for the NA/EU version of the game.
As for asking questions that people will want to know the answers to, I have some answers to your questions already, as the information has been out there in one form or another. Perhaps they are not the most fulfilling answers but they are what En Masse is willing to release at this date.
1. The political system is in effect still being built. Even though TERA has been released in Korean they are still missing the political system altogether up to this date. The prospective political system will allow players to be elected via public election or by earning the position through PvP battle, depending on city. Powers of the politicians have been rarely discussed but things such as controlling taxes and spawn rates in zones have been mentioned at least once.
2. The targeting system is a core feature of TERA and it will be far different than standard MMO's. There are some spells that will be based on collision, that is where the projectile that was fired must make contact with the hit box that it was fired at in order to take effect. Meanwhile there are other spells that use the targeting system where if you were pointing at your target when you initiated the spell it will automatically hit. The difference between melee and ranged is going to be based mainly on the players skill levels. Each class has abilities to close the distance, or increase the distance between threats and proper use of these skills comes down to the player. They have gone out of their way to balance both melee and ranged classes.
3. There is a sort of flight path between cities and some larger quest hubs. At level 20 you will be able to obtain your first mount. Players of different races will all start off in the same zone so no travel is necessary to group up with friends.
4. The player rewards that we are aware of come through standard MMO mechanics. That is to say you will see some from quests, some from monster drops, and some from PvP. In this fashion TERA has gone with a tried and true system for loot. Since the FG2 test TERA has vastly increased the amount of loot that players find in the game and that is available at any point in the game, thanks to player feedback. This sort of thought will most certainly continue as we progress towards beta testing and K-TERA matures.
I hope this helps with some of your questions. Also remember the NA/EU version of the game isn't even in beta testing and much of this could change before release.
Edited, Feb 2nd 2011 12:31pm by Miric
ZAM Discusses TERA Westernization with Brian Knox
We sat down with TERA's senior producer to get some details on the process behind bringing the game to a Western audience.
ZAM: Considering Eastern countries typically have better client-to-server communication, will the Western version have safeguards built in to level the playing field between high and low latency players?
Knox: TERA was designed at a technical level for all markets. We expect it to perform at a high standard for anyone on a broadband connection. I’m currently playing on the Korean servers and not experiencing any issues, so I expect players in the West to have a fantastic experience as well. We have a very talented and experienced operations team who've been building out multiple data centers to host the game. They’re doing a fantastic job setting up the TERA servers, with a focus on ensuring that latency will not be an issue for anyone in North America.
ZAM: Will the Western version of the game have essentially the same offered quests as the Eastern version, simply translated? Or will quests be rewritten entirely to fit the Western version?
Knox: Our writing team has been involved in plot and quest design for all versions of TERA for more than a year now, so it’s more about collaboration than replacing the Eastern version. There will be a significant amount of rewriting, however—Western sensibilities, humor, and expectations are a crucial part of delivering a great experience to our players. We want them to feel emotionally invested in the story of TERA and care about the world around them and their role in it. A lot of our rewriting efforts center on giving players emotional rewards through storytelling.
ZAM: Will the core attributes of each character (health, mana, crit percentage, etc.) remain the same for both versions of the game, or can we expect some variances in the math or even the attributes themselves?
Knox: We have made some subtle changes in those areas that will nonetheless have a dramatic impact on player perceptions. A lot of our changes were good for all players, and so ended up being in both versions of the game.
ZAM: As far as monster encounters are concerned, will the Western version have any of these reworked to vary from the Eastern version? Could we expect monsters to have different abilities or AI?
Knox: We’re still evaluating this, but the AI is good now, and tampering with a good thing just for the sake of making it different isn’t wise. I don’t want to delve into specific changes right now, but we’ll have more details as we start to finalize the balance of the Western version.
ZAM: Will the world of TERA change geographically in the Western version, as in new zones, new dungeons or changed landscape? Could we expect to see some Western-only dungeons or battlegrounds in future released content?
Knox: Because of our extensive collaboration with the development team, you’re going to see a game that’s global in nature. You’ll see Western ideas in all aspects of the game. A good example of this is that our writing team has collaborated with BHS and helped develop TERA’s story and plot, which has had a direct influence on the game world.
ZAM: One of the unique and still mysterious aspects of TERA is the political system. Will the method for obtaining office, an office's abilities, tenure or any other aspect of the political system be altered during the Westernization process?
Knox: Right now, my expectations are that it will be similar if not the same.
ZAM: Can we expect to see items in the Western version of the game vary from their Eastern counterparts?
Knox: All of the items in the game are going to be available to all territories. As part of our development efforts, we’ve worked to ensure that items fit globally within the context of the game.
ZAM: Thank you so much for your time, but before we go is there anything else you would like to tell us about TERA and the Westernization process?
Knox: Our Westernization approach is not to create a whole new game, but to focus on altering those pieces of the game that don’t appeal to Western players. TERA has a strong core of action combat, exciting solo and group play, an intriguing story, a dynamic community, and a vast world. Players around the globe will be able to participate and enjoy all of these aspects of the game.