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NA Tera is Bleeding
FireRunner
Member Posts: 6
I followed Tera for two years during development. I played all the betas and up until the third week after launch Tera was the most fun I've had in about 8 years of MMOs. But, sadly this game is dying and it's bleeding players.
I'm on one of the low/med population servers and we have lost whole guilds to either D3 or Dragonfall server transfers (highest pop server). My server used to have 8-9 very active guilds, we are down to 2-3. I loved this game, but the developers did not create a game that would sustain players between expansions. While I'm still logging in to run end game instances, I won't be for long and it's very sad because I loved this game. My wife and I even bought new machines just to play this game. Here are the reasons Tera screwed up and will be dead in less than six months.
1. Lack of basic guild features. Guilds have no officer chat and that makes it hard for officers to communiate and coordinate. You can't do everything in vent or via a message board. Also, there is only one person who can kick or makes real changes to a guild and that was one guild master. There needs to be the ability for a GM to appoint other officers with power.
2. Little end game content. Right now when you hit 60 your job is to get your T12 gear set by running Fane and BT instances over and over again...OR you can buy the gear off the broker (see point 3). With that you do daily tasks in several zones to gain reputation in those zones for items. But, this gets old - fast.
3. End game can be bought. If you don't feel like running instances 100 times to get your full T12 gear set you can simply BUY IT off the broker. One of the worse things Tera did was allow end game gear to be BOE and sellable. Many players would rather farm gold (which is very easy) and buy their T12 set. This destroys the focus of a level 60 to run instances. This is why players in WoW run end game over and over and over again - to get their gear!
4. Lack of PvP and Battlegrounds. Even on PvE servers people want to PvP. Battlegrounds are suppose to be introduced at the end of summer, but that will be too late because there won't be any players around to PvP against. MMOs need to realize they must have certain content already implemented prior to launch.
5. Tera is too easy. I was able to reach the level cap within three weeks, and that's not playing every day. Leveling to max level should take at least 2-3 months, not 2-3 weeks. Players (even with their complaining) need a challenge to stay interested. Tera was so easy players left after hitting level 60.
Overall, I wish this game was more successful. But, I would honesetly warm anyone who is thinking about trying this game out. There is only one PvE server with any population (Dragonfall) and only two PvP servers worth playing on. I was hoping this game would be more successful...but in the end....it failed to retain players and that's a major flaw. My eyes are on GW2 now, it looks well developed and love the "no class requirement" idea.
MMOing since 2000
Comments
I was giving this game at least one more year.
but really the "new" combat was pretty boring for me and too damn easy, soloing bams is not cool you know.
The only reason TERA is failing in my opinion is because of its pricing model. It asks full price + a subscription fee in a time where multiple triple-A MMOs are free to play or buy to play, when it cannot hold a candle to their quality. Your complaints are all valid, but they all become invalid when the game is free to play.
I'm pretty sure they know they released a product that won't hold peoples interest that long. I'd say they're just cashing out on the true fans, keep an eye on when those subscriptions start falling off and then go free to play.
It's just not good enough to justify the cost.
Yeah I could see before hand that is game was going to tank. Bought the game based on how much fun I had with the beta. I quickly saw however that the classes became quickly boring once you figured out the combat. Then what are you left with. Not much else to be honest. I did like the concept of fighting the big monsters but soloing one could take up to 10m and for not that much xp it wasn't worth it. The initial thrill of the hunt wasn't there any longer.
Some good ideas combat and the monsters mostly. Everything else however just brought up a red flag. Oh the graphics were nice as well, but you can only notice graphics for so long if they are not glaringly messed up. So that leaves you with other things to focus on.
So yes I agree I'm not sure about 6months but I don't think this will be the same game say 1year from its NA release date. It's hemorraging to many subs. To many better options are out there or are on the horizon, so no Tera will I'm assuming go F2P before it's fall and i'm sure that might keep it afloat for some time to come.
You know I think that perhaps they knew this was going to happen and decided to just piggy back off of us knowing that it was going to flop.
If they would have released buy 2 play I would have picked it up. But now even if they drop the sub fee I don't feel like I'll have the time to play it.
My theme song.
This for sure ^^^^
I think that the majority of MMOs coming out will have the same problem if they try to go for the subscription. Everyone is sick of subs
I wasnt aware of this. A game thats 18 months old at this point without officer chat? Even SWTOR launched with officer chat, didnt it?
There are several great ideas in this game, the targeting system is more fun than the "tabbing" option. But, overall it's easy to control once you get used to it. PvP is a little more fun with targeting though. The graphics are amazing, but people are right...after a few weeks you don't even notice the graphics anymore (and gameplay is more important).
Overall, it's sad to see a game that had potential bleed players so quickly after only two months. I can also see the game trying to cash in now, if you check out the Cash Shop they are selling pointless options for cash. They even sell a mount for $25 that has a slower speed than the fastest ingame mount! It's crazy.
MMOing since 2000
I'm not disagreeing with the OP but in regards to point 5.
Has there been any MMO in recent years that took someone 2-3 months to hit the level cap? I can't think of any. It seems to be a common failing in MMO's over the last 4 or 5 years that 2-3 weeks to max level is standard. I know not everyone agrees with this point of view and like getting to max level quickly but I think it's sad that all anyone thinks of these days is "endgame".
Not so coincidentally, how many MMOs in the last 4 or 5 years havent had a massive sub drop off during their first year? I can't think of any....
I thought Tera action combat was fun. Till I tried smite. Smite has the BEST targetting system ever! O.O
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actually many haven't had MASSIVE drops after the first year.. biggest drops would be AOC and WAR and probably SWTOR if they would actually get some current numbers on that.. looks like LOTRO did fine for its first few years.. others have stayed pretty steady as well
I angered the clerk in a clothing shop today. She asked me what size I was and I said actual, because I am not to scale. I like vending machines 'cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at a store, oftentimes, I will drop it... so that it achieves its maximum flavor potential. --Mitch Hedberg
how many other MMOS released right before 3 over hyped titles?
I was thinking LOTRO was 2005 for some reason, brain fart...but technically its over 5 years ago at this point anyway.
but notice all the ones after it: WAR, AoC, Rift and even though its not pictured, SWTOR. All had clear major drop offs.
yea all these games will have dropoffs especially with how many of them are getting released and how similar so many are... just depends how big the drop off is.. you can see on that graph just how massive the AoC and WAR dropoffs were compared to other games.
I angered the clerk in a clothing shop today. She asked me what size I was and I said actual, because I am not to scale. I like vending machines 'cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at a store, oftentimes, I will drop it... so that it achieves its maximum flavor potential. --Mitch Hedberg
I'd hardly say everyone is sick of subscription based models. I actually find subscription based models cheaper than F2P games that nickle and dime you to death. I think what people are sick of is a game charging full box price, plus a full subsription price, as well as a cash shop for MMO's that are not fully complete at launch or simply lack content.
If publishers/developers lowered their box price to say $35, charged $8-$10 for a monthly subscription and had only cosmetic type items in the cash shop I believe gamers would be considerably more agreeable. People will subscribe to a game if they feel it is worth the asking price and offers good value for their money.
Pve endgame in general is a waste of time, I really don't know why people waste their time, the gear serves no more purpose once your at cap in these themepark mmo's.. Yet people are stupid enough to keep their subs open to waste their time and money to try to get gear that has no more use. Now if you can pvp with said gear thats fine. But most themeparks go one step further down the stupid tube and make pvp gear have "special" stats that doesn't appear on pve gear, making the pve earned endgame stuff even less of value.
Being a pessimist is a win-win pattern of thinking. If you're a pessimist (I'll admit that I am!) you're either:
A. Proven right (if something bad happens)
or
B. Pleasantly surprised (if something good happens)
Either way, you can't lose! Try it out sometime!
Exactly. When MMOs began all the games were marathons: Ultima Online, EverQest and Asheron's Call. Those games took YEARS to play and they truly pulled you into the game and into your guild. You can toss in DAOC in that list (though a little later after the games listed)
If you notice the only the games that are difficult, have strong content or very community based do well (recently). EVE, WoW and several years ago DAOC. These days MMOs are too easy and thus players are running through content and losing interest. I assumed with this game already launched overseas that conent would be plentiful.
MMOing since 2000
Aion a few years ago took a long time to hit level 50, i remember it taking me about 2 months to hit 50, after level 45 it took me pretty much a week to gain a level. How did that help the game? the answer is, it did not the sub dropped significantly. The point being, very few people enjoy grinding to level up, because most MMORPG are set up in such a way that pretty much make leveling a race to endgame. WoW created a MMO population were ENDGAME is the point of the game and until that attitude is removed from players, slowing leveling will always be perceived as bad. Anothing thing to add is tht in most games there really isn't any incentive to not rush to the end, because everything punishes you for staying as a low level.
Rift is really the interesting one. AoC and WAR its easy to attribute their dropoffs due to poor quality. But Rift was high quality. While its dropoff isnt as severe as AoC and WAR, it currently has only 6 active (and 10 permanent low population) servers in the NA, down from 58 at launch.
I think a lot has to do with the 'game starts at endgame' mentatilty Trion has with it (which they have publicly stated thats how they feel). People dont get sucked in along the way and lose the attachment. Its also a non-immersive experience. The way an atmosphere can suck you into a game is very underrated. Its one of the reasons why TSW is refreshing, the atmosphere is amazing.
In that case TSW and TOR are both doomed.
Rift is a great game but just too similar overall to all the other themepark clones put out in the past. Once you have done the basic gear grind raiding or PVP warzone gear grind once before it gets stale unless the game really has some fresh ideas to add into the mix.
I angered the clerk in a clothing shop today. She asked me what size I was and I said actual, because I am not to scale. I like vending machines 'cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at a store, oftentimes, I will drop it... so that it achieves its maximum flavor potential. --Mitch Hedberg
few months ago i made a post about this game... and all ppl were bashing me! Now you see the results and it will get worse with the GW2 release...
Excuse me...Who are you? Oh, one of a hundred people who have made a post about TERA? Ok...What's your point?
If I listed the top 10 things I liked about Vanilla WoW, I dont think there would be more than 1 or 2 of them that made it into Rift. Rift seemed to build there game around the WOTLK endgame model of WoW as a starting point and tweaked it from there. Basing endgame around gear treadmill is a bad concept, as is strict raid tiering.
Trions actual coders though, they do fantastic work. I would prepay on the spot if they announed a Trion MMORPG with someone like Raph Koster in charge.
Yep, because GW2 will defenatly not have huge drop offs a few months later /sarcasm
OP, i'm not playing TERA, but this is to be expected. It alwasy happens with any game. I myself wonder what can be done to stop it, if there is even a solution at all.