I wouldnt be against TERA removing all quests ( or 99% ) and just be about monster killing. The quests just seem out of place.
The combat for me is a little slow too.
Unfortunately combat speed never really picks up. For me it's to clunky and slow and I was hoping that since so many told me it picked up later on that it would... sadly they were wrong lol. If they could match the pace of GW2's combat and increase the combat speed of most of the mobs they may have something. Until then though it's another of those "Good Idea, bad implementation" deals.
It has potential lol... but the pace doesn't really pick up like some will claim.
That's a lie, it certainly does pick up... even the same BAM types at higher levels continue to get faster and hit harder, you also continue to get more attack speed on weapons and through glyphs as well as more in combat movement speed and more skills.
Run dungeons as a melee DPS at high levels see how many times those "slow" mobs kill you, or heck, try to solo 45-60 BAMs. I've played the game for 10 months and am one of the better players and i'll still die a lot while soloing BAMs while leveling up, some are just too fast and too hard. Level 50 arachnens for example or swift lizards, impossibibble.
You've fought the level 22 kumas clearly, well heres the level 43 ones.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyJt7svpR6U#t=30s Faster and a move you don't recognize right? The level 58 ones are a little more faster than that, they also have another move I believe thats more annoying, its a random ground AoE. When high level BAMs are enraged, which they do more frequently than low level ones, they are quite fast. Not to mention, say I don't block that first buttslam, it will knock me down and 30% health, then second will re-knock me down for another 30% then it will clap me for 30% and i'll have a poison dot that takes 30%...so one mistake and i'm dead.
Also that guy in the video...makes it slow by not being very skilled, a skilled player makes the combat fast by using their great knowledge of the games skills to get skills off in between BAMs attacks, even within parts of multi-hit attacks. Not to mention he's 5 levels higher than the BAM and a lancer so it doesnt hit him very hard, takes away the risk.
I wouldnt be against TERA removing all quests ( or 99% ) and just be about monster killing. The quests just seem out of place.
The combat for me is a little slow too.
Unfortunately combat speed never really picks up. For me it's to clunky and slow and I was hoping that since so many told me it picked up later on that it would... sadly they were wrong lol. If they could match the pace of GW2's combat and increase the combat speed of most of the mobs they may have something. Until then though it's another of those "Good Idea, bad implementation" deals.
It has potential lol... but the pace doesn't really pick up like some will claim.
That's a lie, it certainly does pick up... even the same BAM types at higher levels continue to get faster and hit harder, you also continue to get more attack speed on weapons and through glyphs as well as more in combat movement speed and more skills.
Run dungeons as a melee DPS at high levels see how many times those "slow" mobs kill you, or heck, try to solo 45-60 BAMs. I've played the game for 10 months and am one of the better players and i'll still die a lot while soloing BAMs while leveling up, some are just too fast and too hard. Level 50 arachnens for example or swift lizards, impossibibble.
You've fought the level 22 kumas clearly, well heres the level 43 ones.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyJt7svpR6U#t=30s Faster and a move you don't recognize right? The level 58 ones are a little more faster than that, they also have another move I believe thats more annoying, its a random ground AoE. When high level BAMs are enraged, which they do more frequently than low level ones, they are quite fast. Not to mention, say I don't block that first buttslam, it will knock me down and 30% health, then second will re-knock me down for another 30% then it will clap me for 30% and i'll have a poison dot that takes 30%...so one mistake and i'm dead.
Also that guy in the video...makes it slow by not being very skilled, a skilled player makes the combat fast by using their great knowledge of the games skills to get skills off in between BAMs attacks, even within parts of multi-hit attacks. Not to mention he's 5 levels higher than the BAM and a lancer so it doesnt hit him very hard, takes away the risk.
Thanks for the post, I was looking for a video with the higher level bams to show off how slow the combat is at higher levels.
As you can see even at almost level cap the combat never really picks up. Things are still telegraphed way to long before a strike happens and you still end up with fairly slow combat. It would be nice it the speed picked up, but with the overall design of the combat system its hard for it to really do so.
Originally posted by tet666 Combat speed is totally fine and its faster then most other mmos, it doesnt need to be arcade fast not everyone is a 12 yo old with super reflexes.
Different people will have different taste. I think I just expected more since it's "Action Oriented" combat. By the way I have grandchildren so I don't think I meet the "12 year old with super reflexes" criteria you tried to present.
I tried it and instantly fell in love with it. The combat mechanics are impressive and the controls are unparalleled by any other mmo to the date. And it plays -awesomely- with a keyboard. You know, the characters actually respond to your keystrokes, jump around, evade attacks and don't feel like constricted in a virtual world of severe physycs-limiting rules.
TERA is, however, a very skill-based game that requires a lot of involvement from the player into her character's performance. It's definitely not laid-back spam two button-bound skills your way to max level, so it's not a game for people that don't trust in their gaming skills and for people who enjoy playing a mmo passively.
For the rest, TERA is really great. It's getting very serious updates these days, including new 15v15 PvP battleground and 3v3 arena, as well as new dungeons and stuff. It's going Free to Play next week or so in Europe/US, too, so there's little reason to not give it a try.
My opinion is my own. I respect all other opinions and views equally, but keep in mind that my opinion will always be the best for me. That's why it's my opinion.
Tera's biggest downfall is poor first impressions.
The combat seems shit & slow because you only run with 1-2 skills and have no way of comboing them efficiently.
The quests are dull and you must follow the same quest path on every toon.
You need to run back 'n forth quite a bit which is really annoying as 99% of players don't read the story/quests.
However
If you manage to complete Island of Dawn and get to the first city Velika, the game starts to open up, you get a mount for faster traveling and the combat starts to get more exciting due to more skills and harder monsters appearing.
The game is still boring and same quest trail as in the beginner area.
This said
If you manage to get to level 22~ you'll see your first BAM fights, get glyphs opened up (build and strategy variations) and you'll encounter your first dungeon. Also you are given more places and choices where to level and what to do. That's where the game starts to shine and gives you promise for a lot more interesting game. Not to mention weapons/armor start looking more and more awesome as you progress. Monsters become more interesting and the surroundings seem a lot more inspiring.
I forced my friend to play the game, basically carrying him to level 22 and that's when he got hooked.
TLDR;
If you want to give Tera a fair chance, level up to level 22 and experience the first instance & BAM fights.
If you don't reach 22 and see the first instance & bams, take your trolling elsewhere because you know shit.
Thanks for the post, I was looking for a video with the higher level bams to show off how slow the combat is at higher levels.
As you can see even at almost level cap the combat never really picks up. Things are still telegraphed way to long before a strike happens and you still end up with fairly slow combat. It would be nice it the speed picked up, but with the overall design of the combat system its hard for it to really do so.
People always say this, then they play and they die.
If you could post a video of you solo'ing a swift lizard, dracoloth or Arachnen at level 50 I'd then believe you when you say it's slow but really that won't happen because you'll probably die.
People watch it, think it's easy, then when they try it they die. People who didn't play said Kelsaik didn't look that hard but back before the new gear it took 3 months before the first group managed to kill it.
I mean, i've been playing for 8 months and i'll still die to some of the level 50+ BAMs if I try soloing them while leveling up, because it just takes one poor choice to get you killed.
Thanks for the post, I was looking for a video with the higher level bams to show off how slow the combat is at higher levels.
As you can see even at almost level cap the combat never really picks up. Things are still telegraphed way to long before a strike happens and you still end up with fairly slow combat. It would be nice it the speed picked up, but with the overall design of the combat system its hard for it to really do so.
People always say this, then they play and they die.
If you could post a video of you solo'ing a swift lizard, dracoloth or Arachnen at level 50 I'd then believe you when you say it's slow but really that won't happen because you'll probably die.
People watch it, think it's easy, then when they try it they die. People who didn't play said Kelsaik didn't look that hard but back before the new gear it took 3 months before the first group managed to kill it.
I mean, i've been playing for 8 months and i'll still die to some of the level 50+ BAMs if I try soloing them while leveling up, because it just takes one poor choice to get you killed.
I could, but that would require me playing again and I just can't stomach the game. Just because I dislike the game or find the combat slow doesn't mean I'm saying its a bad game. It will appeal to some and it won't to others. The quality and polish is there so its a well done game, it's just not one I enjoy.
I only thought it was easy because I played it and found it easy. You shouldn't take offense to that, some will actually like the game for the slow pace.
If you want to give Tera a fair chance, level up to level 22 and experience the first instance & BAM fights.
If you don't reach 22 and see the first instance & bams, take your trolling elsewhere because you know shit.
This is exactly the point I'm making. The game's design has you suffer through to level 20+ before 'it gets good' seems to be what everyone's saying, and people seem okay with that.
That's horrible design that will cost you a LOT of subscriptions. How anyone thinks this is okay is insane to me. With a market so saturated with competition, this simply won't do.
And your last line... 'If you don't reach level 22 you're a troll', basically, makes you look pretty silly. People won't play a lackluster experience to level 22 - especially not new adopters. Not sure how you can defend that kind of design and then call someone a troll for not trudging through it.
That being said... I've played some more and have gotten more used to the combat, however I still feel it's pretty clunky and not nearly as fast/engaging as I found Guild Wars 2 to be as I moved around a lot more in that game.
I'm also pretty disappointed that kill stealing seems to exist and if you're helping someone take down an enemy but you're not in a party, you don't get credit. Outdated design philosphy. A few times I had an archer steal a kill - thankfully there were plenty of other mobs to run to but it's still an old school annoyance. Especiallly when going after a named boss.
Because my lady enjoys the game... I might play even more, but overall I guess the game simply isn't for me. If it's for you, great, have fun.
Why do I write, create, fantasize, dream and daydream about other worlds? Because I hate what humanity does with this one.
I'm hearing the exact opposites of how the game is playing and doing.
You also provide no proof of anything said, sadly.
Its easy to "say" someone isnt proving anything when you are not refuting anything being said.
Every example he gave IS in game. How people are reacting to the examples IS different.
I hope we shall crush...in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." ~Thomes Jefferson
I haven't had a lot of playtime with it but as a game designer...
...The keyboard controls are all over the place and you have to access some skills with the F1-4 or whatever, PLUS the regular numbered keys... a little odd and combat is definitely not as fast paced or reactive as GW2's for instance... but...
Um... what? Your a game designer and you didn't know you can rebind keyboard controls?
...and you say GW2 is more reactive? What? In most cases either not dodging at all or spamming dodge (mesmer for instance) and pressing 1 or 2 keys is NOT very reactive combat at all, heck, games like Rift which don't involve action combat at all have more 'reactive' abilities as a whole if you take out macros. Gw2 has nothing that really requires combing or other advanced tactics (don't give me that 'field bonus' thing or what not, spamming skills is far better then waiting for a field to be set up, in most cases your going to use it without any bit of effort needed) using PENALTIES for attacks that can greatly cause you harm, something GW2 neglects in order to make it a lot more casual friendly (which in part plays against the games making the combat animations look clunky due to being able to easily interupt every ability with another ability).
Where the heck do you get that all from? Maybe Its just me but I almost sense your a fan of some other game we won't mention (though I think we all know what one it is from your review) and your just finding ways to bash a game and neglecting anything else or demeaning it in order to play favor to YOUR game rather then reviewing it truthfully. Not saying it has to be perfect but it just feels WAY to much like bias is playing a part in actually you giving a fair review of the game. Though you did say first impressions so we eh, we can all claim we are jaded against games we don't really thing are good but are giving them a shot, easy to bash and ignore praise.
If you want to give Tera a fair chance, level up to level 22 and experience the first instance & BAM fights.
If you don't reach 22 and see the first instance & bams, take your trolling elsewhere because you know shit.
This is exactly the point I'm making. The game's design has you suffer through to level 20+ before 'it gets good' seems to be what everyone's saying, and people seem okay with that.
That's horrible design that will cost you a LOT of subscriptions. How anyone thinks this is okay is insane to me. With a market so saturated with competition, this simply won't do.
And your last line... 'If you don't reach level 22 you're a troll', basically, makes you look pretty silly. People won't play a lackluster experience to level 22 - especially not new adopters. Not sure how you can defend that kind of design and then call someone a troll for not trudging through it.
That being said... I've played some more and have gotten more used to the combat, however I still feel it's pretty clunky and not nearly as fast/engaging as I found Guild Wars 2 to be as I moved around a lot more in that game.
I'm also pretty disappointed that kill stealing seems to exist and if you're helping someone take down an enemy but you're not in a party, you don't get credit. Outdated design philosphy. A few times I had an archer steal a kill - thankfully there were plenty of other mobs to run to but it's still an old school annoyance. Especiallly when going after a named boss.
Because my lady enjoys the game... I might play even more, but overall I guess the game simply isn't for me. If it's for you, great, have fun.
My point is that if people create these all-knowing-experienced-reviews of a MMORPG due to the first 2-4 hours it can't be considered as anything else but massive trolling. Also comparing TERA (January 2011) and GW2 (August 2012) in terms on design philosophy and calling it outdated is rather awkward.
Tera has a slower combat system that is action-oriented while still keeping the strategic approach to it. The combat system starts to make more sense as you progress because a single mistake will usually mean death on later levels. Giving you time to think doesn't make the game any easier, it just adds depth to it. Because you actually have a time to calculate the outs from situations.
GW2 isn't just action oriented in terms of combat, it's a complete mess. You spam abilities once they come off, smash dodge button to stay alive and if you happend to get "K.O'ed" you are simply revived by anyone running about. I played the game for quite awhile and was extremely bored with the zergfest that required zero attention.
Tera's combat isn't slow because of bad design, it's slow to have more depth.
The weakness of "slow start" with Tera was an issue as a B2P/P2P game because western gamers have really short attention spans. But with the F2P system people can freely check out the game from start to end and if they enjoy it they can subscribe to get more out of it.
Thanks for the post, I was looking for a video with the higher level bams to show off how slow the combat is at higher levels.
As you can see even at almost level cap the combat never really picks up. Things are still telegraphed way to long before a strike happens and you still end up with fairly slow combat. It would be nice it the speed picked up, but with the overall design of the combat system its hard for it to really do so.
People always say this, then they play and they die.
If you could post a video of you solo'ing a swift lizard, dracoloth or Arachnen at level 50 I'd then believe you when you say it's slow but really that won't happen because you'll probably die.
People watch it, think it's easy, then when they try it they die. People who didn't play said Kelsaik didn't look that hard but back before the new gear it took 3 months before the first group managed to kill it.
I mean, i've been playing for 8 months and i'll still die to some of the level 50+ BAMs if I try soloing them while leveling up, because it just takes one poor choice to get you killed.
I only thought it was easy because I played it and found it easy. You shouldn't take offense to that, some will actually like the game for the slow pace.
But it's not easy or slow paced at all... that's the assumption you're making based on videos/lower level personal experience.
Like I said, you wouldn't call it easy if I put you on a slayer and threw you into the HM dungeons, or on a warrior and told you to tank level 50+ BAMs, I guarantee you'd die repeatedly.
Not to mention you have mana and resolve to worry about while tanking, holding threat through skills that put you in a vulnerable position, resolve goes down quick, you can't hold block for very long without resolve, certain skills replenish resolve, mana goes down quick, certain skills replenish mana. Theres a lot of thought process in TERA, it's not WoW/Rift where you just macro 2-3 buttons to victory.
I'm not taking offence to it, because I know i'm not bad, I do far better in PvP and on my first tries in instances than most and even I don't find TERA to be an "easy" game by any means, far harder than WoW or Rift in my opinion, telling people this game is easy is not what I want, TERA doesn't need any more terrible players than it already has, using the instance matcher at this point thanks to all the new players is basically suicide. It's frustrating as hell already getting people who are downright garbage at the game always in parties on a regular basis, it doesn't need to become even more common.
Thanks for the post, I was looking for a video with the higher level bams to show off how slow the combat is at higher levels.
As you can see even at almost level cap the combat never really picks up. Things are still telegraphed way to long before a strike happens and you still end up with fairly slow combat. It would be nice it the speed picked up, but with the overall design of the combat system its hard for it to really do so.
People always say this, then they play and they die.
If you could post a video of you solo'ing a swift lizard, dracoloth or Arachnen at level 50 I'd then believe you when you say it's slow but really that won't happen because you'll probably die.
People watch it, think it's easy, then when they try it they die. People who didn't play said Kelsaik didn't look that hard but back before the new gear it took 3 months before the first group managed to kill it.
I mean, i've been playing for 8 months and i'll still die to some of the level 50+ BAMs if I try soloing them while leveling up, because it just takes one poor choice to get you killed.
I only thought it was easy because I played it and found it easy. You shouldn't take offense to that, some will actually like the game for the slow pace.
But it's not easy or slow paced at all... that's the assumption you're making based on your personal experience by playing to cap.
Fixed that for you. No worries, we all make mistakes. I had a friend that liked the game, the slower paced combat was better for her and a nice introduction to more action oriented combat. GW2's combat was a bit to much for her so I played Tera with her. Thankfully she's moved on from TERA.
I use other peoples videos because I was never inspired enough while playing to fraps anything.
Too bad i've played GW2 to cap and TERA to cap and GW2 is far more easier. I beat Arah which was the hardest dungeon first day at 80, what a joke of a game.
It took the first group in all of TERA 3 months to beat the hardest dungeon, nevermind myself.
GW2 I beat all the content they had within the first two days of being 80, could have been one day, but there were a lot of dungeons with a lot of paths, time was certainly an issue. TERA i'm level 60, 8 months later and there's content I still haven't been able to complete due to multiple reasons.
I am sorry OP but nothing simply beats a keyboard and mouse...The response you get from them are second to none...Controllers are ok for CONSOLE games but not for PC games...IMHO...Unless you are playing some sort of simulator game like Flight or something along those lines....
Too bad i've played GW2 to cap and TERA to cap and GW2 is far more easier. I beat Arah which was the hardest dungeon first day at 80, what a joke of a game.
It took the first group in all of TERA 3 months to beat the hardest dungeon, nevermind myself.
GW2 I beat all the content they had within the first two days of being 80, could have been one day, but there were a lot of dungeons with a lot of paths, time was certainly an issue. TERA i'm level 60, 8 months later and there's content I still haven't been able to complete due to multiple reasons.
lol, don't take my comments that way. I think TERA's combat system is above the traditional combat systems, it's just to slow and clunky for my personal tastes. The combat system definitely wasn't the down fall of the game though.
Too bad i've played GW2 to cap and TERA to cap and GW2 is far more easier. I beat Arah which was the hardest dungeon first day at 80, what a joke of a game.
It took the first group in all of TERA 3 months to beat the hardest dungeon, nevermind myself.
GW2 I beat all the content they had within the first two days of being 80, could have been one day, but there were a lot of dungeons with a lot of paths, time was certainly an issue. TERA i'm level 60, 8 months later and there's content I still haven't been able to complete due to multiple reasons.
lol, don't take my comments that way. I think TERA's combat system is above the traditional combat systems, it's just to slow and clunky for my personal tastes. The combat system definitely wasn't the down fall of the game though.
Well, it entirely depends on the class and the player. Through skill and knowledge, weapon speed increase and glyphs any class can stop feeling clunky, even the slow ones like berserker and some can get a little too fast. Like warriors for example.
And nah, combat is the shining light keeping myself and all my friends playing, the downfall is the RNG and horrible questing.
Too bad i've played GW2 to cap and TERA to cap and GW2 is far more easier. I beat Arah which was the hardest dungeon first day at 80, what a joke of a game.
It took the first group in all of TERA 3 months to beat the hardest dungeon, nevermind myself.
GW2 I beat all the content they had within the first two days of being 80, could have been one day, but there were a lot of dungeons with a lot of paths, time was certainly an issue. TERA i'm level 60, 8 months later and there's content I still haven't been able to complete due to multiple reasons.
lol, don't take my comments that way. I think TERA's combat system is above the traditional combat systems, it's just to slow and clunky for my personal tastes. The combat system definitely wasn't the down fall of the game though.
the downfall is the RNG and horrible questing.
And that is at least something we can all agree on.
I keep seeing the word "clunky". What do some of you mean? Clunky as in:
you can't move all the time while casting/attacking?
the top and bottom halves of your character are in sync graphically and it doesn't create strange twists and motions?
you can't strafe in circles around someone while flailing a weapon?
animation locks which prevents spammy combat and unbalanced melee vs ranged tradeoffs?
lack of a clusterfuck of particles etc.?
there isn't constant movement combat where it is more about mobility and using skills reactionary to the situation which is very reminiscent of an FPS like Unreal Tournament?
when you hit things in TERA they flinch, they get bowled over, you get a satisfying sound effect that changes according to your weapon/attack and blood sprays in every direction?
there's active player collisions enabled meaning stronger attacks can physically force your opponent backwards even if they block with their shield?
You can put the outfit in the apperance slot can't you? Sounds like you didn't play it for very long. Combat is fine, takes a bit of getting used to but it's good. Some minor delays in the animation is the only complaint I could have but that could be because of things on my end.
I keep seeing the word "clunky". What do some of you mean? Clunky as in:
you can't move all the time while casting/attacking?
the top and bottom halves of your character are in sync graphically and it doesn't create strange twists and motions?
you can't strafe in circles around someone while flailing a weapon?
animation locks which prevents spammy combat and unbalanced melee vs ranged tradeoffs?
lack of a clusterfuck of particles etc.?
there isn't constant movement combat, instead it is more about mobility and using skills reactionary to the situation which is very reminiscent of an FPS like Unreal Tournament?
when you hit things in TERA they flinch, they get bowled over, you get a satisfying sound effect that changes according to your weapon/attack and blood sprays in every direction?
there's active player collisions enabled meaning stronger attacks can physically force your opponent backwards even if they block with their shield?
ALL OF THE ABOVE!
Honestly I won't lie, it's clunky in the lower levels but anyone who thinks it's clunky at 60 either sucks and doesn't use proper combo chains or isn't actually 60 and just says they played to 60.
I keep seeing the word "clunky". What do some of you mean? Clunky as in:
you can't move all the time while casting/attacking?
the top and bottom halves of your character are in sync graphically and it doesn't create strange twists and motions?
you can't strafe in circles around someone while flailing a weapon?
animation locks which prevents spammy combat and unbalanced melee vs ranged tradeoffs?
lack of a clusterfuck of particles etc.?
there isn't constant movement combat where it is more about mobility and using skills reactionary to the situation which is very reminiscent of an FPS like Unreal Tournament?
when you hit things in TERA they flinch, they get bowled over, you get a satisfying sound effect that changes according to your weapon/attack and blood sprays in every direction?
there's active player collisions enabled meaning stronger attacks can physically force your opponent backwards even if they block with their shield?
Can't move all the time while casting/attacking and the animations lacking polish would be my main reasons for it feeling clunky. It's just not fluid.
Comments
That's a lie, it certainly does pick up... even the same BAM types at higher levels continue to get faster and hit harder, you also continue to get more attack speed on weapons and through glyphs as well as more in combat movement speed and more skills.
Run dungeons as a melee DPS at high levels see how many times those "slow" mobs kill you, or heck, try to solo 45-60 BAMs. I've played the game for 10 months and am one of the better players and i'll still die a lot while soloing BAMs while leveling up, some are just too fast and too hard. Level 50 arachnens for example or swift lizards, impossibibble.
You've fought the level 22 kumas clearly, well heres the level 43 ones.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyJt7svpR6U#t=30s Faster and a move you don't recognize right? The level 58 ones are a little more faster than that, they also have another move I believe thats more annoying, its a random ground AoE. When high level BAMs are enraged, which they do more frequently than low level ones, they are quite fast. Not to mention, say I don't block that first buttslam, it will knock me down and 30% health, then second will re-knock me down for another 30% then it will clap me for 30% and i'll have a poison dot that takes 30%...so one mistake and i'm dead.
Also that guy in the video...makes it slow by not being very skilled, a skilled player makes the combat fast by using their great knowledge of the games skills to get skills off in between BAMs attacks, even within parts of multi-hit attacks. Not to mention he's 5 levels higher than the BAM and a lancer so it doesnt hit him very hard, takes away the risk.
Thanks for the post, I was looking for a video with the higher level bams to show off how slow the combat is at higher levels.
As you can see even at almost level cap the combat never really picks up. Things are still telegraphed way to long before a strike happens and you still end up with fairly slow combat. It would be nice it the speed picked up, but with the overall design of the combat system its hard for it to really do so.
Different people will have different taste. I think I just expected more since it's "Action Oriented" combat. By the way I have grandchildren so I don't think I meet the "12 year old with super reflexes" criteria you tried to present.
Couldn't disagree more with the OP.
I tried it and instantly fell in love with it. The combat mechanics are impressive and the controls are unparalleled by any other mmo to the date. And it plays -awesomely- with a keyboard. You know, the characters actually respond to your keystrokes, jump around, evade attacks and don't feel like constricted in a virtual world of severe physycs-limiting rules.
TERA is, however, a very skill-based game that requires a lot of involvement from the player into her character's performance. It's definitely not laid-back spam two button-bound skills your way to max level, so it's not a game for people that don't trust in their gaming skills and for people who enjoy playing a mmo passively.
For the rest, TERA is really great. It's getting very serious updates these days, including new 15v15 PvP battleground and 3v3 arena, as well as new dungeons and stuff. It's going Free to Play next week or so in Europe/US, too, so there's little reason to not give it a try.
My opinion is my own. I respect all other opinions and views equally, but keep in mind that my opinion will always be the best for me. That's why it's my opinion.
I think thats about the only thing we can all agree on.
Tera's biggest downfall is poor first impressions.
The combat seems shit & slow because you only run with 1-2 skills and have no way of comboing them efficiently.
The quests are dull and you must follow the same quest path on every toon.
You need to run back 'n forth quite a bit which is really annoying as 99% of players don't read the story/quests.
However
If you manage to complete Island of Dawn and get to the first city Velika, the game starts to open up, you get a mount for faster traveling and the combat starts to get more exciting due to more skills and harder monsters appearing.
The game is still boring and same quest trail as in the beginner area.
This said
If you manage to get to level 22~ you'll see your first BAM fights, get glyphs opened up (build and strategy variations) and you'll encounter your first dungeon. Also you are given more places and choices where to level and what to do. That's where the game starts to shine and gives you promise for a lot more interesting game. Not to mention weapons/armor start looking more and more awesome as you progress. Monsters become more interesting and the surroundings seem a lot more inspiring.
I forced my friend to play the game, basically carrying him to level 22 and that's when he got hooked.
TLDR;
If you want to give Tera a fair chance, level up to level 22 and experience the first instance & BAM fights.
If you don't reach 22 and see the first instance & bams, take your trolling elsewhere because you know shit.
People always say this, then they play and they die.
If you could post a video of you solo'ing a swift lizard, dracoloth or Arachnen at level 50 I'd then believe you when you say it's slow but really that won't happen because you'll probably die.
People watch it, think it's easy, then when they try it they die. People who didn't play said Kelsaik didn't look that hard but back before the new gear it took 3 months before the first group managed to kill it.
I mean, i've been playing for 8 months and i'll still die to some of the level 50+ BAMs if I try soloing them while leveling up, because it just takes one poor choice to get you killed.
I could, but that would require me playing again and I just can't stomach the game. Just because I dislike the game or find the combat slow doesn't mean I'm saying its a bad game. It will appeal to some and it won't to others. The quality and polish is there so its a well done game, it's just not one I enjoy.
I only thought it was easy because I played it and found it easy. You shouldn't take offense to that, some will actually like the game for the slow pace.
This is exactly the point I'm making. The game's design has you suffer through to level 20+ before 'it gets good' seems to be what everyone's saying, and people seem okay with that.
That's horrible design that will cost you a LOT of subscriptions. How anyone thinks this is okay is insane to me. With a market so saturated with competition, this simply won't do.
And your last line... 'If you don't reach level 22 you're a troll', basically, makes you look pretty silly. People won't play a lackluster experience to level 22 - especially not new adopters. Not sure how you can defend that kind of design and then call someone a troll for not trudging through it.
That being said... I've played some more and have gotten more used to the combat, however I still feel it's pretty clunky and not nearly as fast/engaging as I found Guild Wars 2 to be as I moved around a lot more in that game.
I'm also pretty disappointed that kill stealing seems to exist and if you're helping someone take down an enemy but you're not in a party, you don't get credit. Outdated design philosphy. A few times I had an archer steal a kill - thankfully there were plenty of other mobs to run to but it's still an old school annoyance. Especiallly when going after a named boss.
Because my lady enjoys the game... I might play even more, but overall I guess the game simply isn't for me. If it's for you, great, have fun.
BOYCOTTING EA / ORIGIN going forward.
Its easy to "say" someone isnt proving anything when you are not refuting anything being said.
Every example he gave IS in game. How people are reacting to the examples IS different.
I hope we shall crush...in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." ~Thomes Jefferson
Um... what? Your a game designer and you didn't know you can rebind keyboard controls?
...and you say GW2 is more reactive? What? In most cases either not dodging at all or spamming dodge (mesmer for instance) and pressing 1 or 2 keys is NOT very reactive combat at all, heck, games like Rift which don't involve action combat at all have more 'reactive' abilities as a whole if you take out macros. Gw2 has nothing that really requires combing or other advanced tactics (don't give me that 'field bonus' thing or what not, spamming skills is far better then waiting for a field to be set up, in most cases your going to use it without any bit of effort needed) using PENALTIES for attacks that can greatly cause you harm, something GW2 neglects in order to make it a lot more casual friendly (which in part plays against the games making the combat animations look clunky due to being able to easily interupt every ability with another ability).
Where the heck do you get that all from? Maybe Its just me but I almost sense your a fan of some other game we won't mention (though I think we all know what one it is from your review) and your just finding ways to bash a game and neglecting anything else or demeaning it in order to play favor to YOUR game rather then reviewing it truthfully. Not saying it has to be perfect but it just feels WAY to much like bias is playing a part in actually you giving a fair review of the game. Though you did say first impressions so we eh, we can all claim we are jaded against games we don't really thing are good but are giving them a shot, easy to bash and ignore praise.
Wannabe game designer giving overly critical review of the game as far as I'm concerned.
Get a larger attention span.
Hi
My point is that if people create these all-knowing-experienced-reviews of a MMORPG due to the first 2-4 hours it can't be considered as anything else but massive trolling. Also comparing TERA (January 2011) and GW2 (August 2012) in terms on design philosophy and calling it outdated is rather awkward.
Tera has a slower combat system that is action-oriented while still keeping the strategic approach to it. The combat system starts to make more sense as you progress because a single mistake will usually mean death on later levels. Giving you time to think doesn't make the game any easier, it just adds depth to it. Because you actually have a time to calculate the outs from situations.
GW2 isn't just action oriented in terms of combat, it's a complete mess. You spam abilities once they come off, smash dodge button to stay alive and if you happend to get "K.O'ed" you are simply revived by anyone running about. I played the game for quite awhile and was extremely bored with the zergfest that required zero attention.
Tera's combat isn't slow because of bad design, it's slow to have more depth.
The weakness of "slow start" with Tera was an issue as a B2P/P2P game because western gamers have really short attention spans. But with the F2P system people can freely check out the game from start to end and if they enjoy it they can subscribe to get more out of it.
But it's not easy or slow paced at all... that's the assumption you're making based on videos/lower level personal experience.
Like I said, you wouldn't call it easy if I put you on a slayer and threw you into the HM dungeons, or on a warrior and told you to tank level 50+ BAMs, I guarantee you'd die repeatedly.
Not to mention you have mana and resolve to worry about while tanking, holding threat through skills that put you in a vulnerable position, resolve goes down quick, you can't hold block for very long without resolve, certain skills replenish resolve, mana goes down quick, certain skills replenish mana. Theres a lot of thought process in TERA, it's not WoW/Rift where you just macro 2-3 buttons to victory.
I'm not taking offence to it, because I know i'm not bad, I do far better in PvP and on my first tries in instances than most and even I don't find TERA to be an "easy" game by any means, far harder than WoW or Rift in my opinion, telling people this game is easy is not what I want, TERA doesn't need any more terrible players than it already has, using the instance matcher at this point thanks to all the new players is basically suicide. It's frustrating as hell already getting people who are downright garbage at the game always in parties on a regular basis, it doesn't need to become even more common.
Fixed that for you. No worries, we all make mistakes. I had a friend that liked the game, the slower paced combat was better for her and a nice introduction to more action oriented combat. GW2's combat was a bit to much for her so I played Tera with her. Thankfully she's moved on from TERA.
I use other peoples videos because I was never inspired enough while playing to fraps anything.
Too bad i've played GW2 to cap and TERA to cap and GW2 is far more easier. I beat Arah which was the hardest dungeon first day at 80, what a joke of a game.
It took the first group in all of TERA 3 months to beat the hardest dungeon, nevermind myself.
GW2 I beat all the content they had within the first two days of being 80, could have been one day, but there were a lot of dungeons with a lot of paths, time was certainly an issue. TERA i'm level 60, 8 months later and there's content I still haven't been able to complete due to multiple reasons.
lol, don't take my comments that way. I think TERA's combat system is above the traditional combat systems, it's just to slow and clunky for my personal tastes. The combat system definitely wasn't the down fall of the game though.
Well, it entirely depends on the class and the player. Through skill and knowledge, weapon speed increase and glyphs any class can stop feeling clunky, even the slow ones like berserker and some can get a little too fast. Like warriors for example.
And nah, combat is the shining light keeping myself and all my friends playing, the downfall is the RNG and horrible questing.
And that is at least something we can all agree on.
I keep seeing the word "clunky". What do some of you mean? Clunky as in:
This isn't a signature, you just think it is.
ALL OF THE ABOVE!
Honestly I won't lie, it's clunky in the lower levels but anyone who thinks it's clunky at 60 either sucks and doesn't use proper combo chains or isn't actually 60 and just says they played to 60.
Can't move all the time while casting/attacking and the animations lacking polish would be my main reasons for it feeling clunky. It's just not fluid.