TERA Online - General Information and Discussion (May 1, 2012)

[volcanicweather]

Like it or not, gear is what keeps the majority of MMO gamers playing, be it a casual gamer or a serial MMO addict. My big concern with TERA in the US is that given the popularity of RMT here and how supposedly very little gear is BOP that the RMT market will be huge and they will plague the game. I mean, what's easier, farming money for weeks on end to save up for something or hope an item drops... or just paying $50 real life cash to buy it and be done?

I'm not insinuating this is something I'd necessarily do but I'm not 21 anymore sitting in my dorm playing XI all day, I have a decent day job and my free time is more valuable now because I have less of it. I remember seeing a study by Nick Yee back in 2003 when I did MMO research myself in college that the average MMO gamer was 26. In a WoW study done last year (by Joystiq I think) the average age of WoW players was 30. I can only see this age continuing to increase over the years and in general the older you get the more responsibilities you have, thus the less time you can sit around running raids and killing internet dragons. So the fact that most gear is BOE and with gamer age / the RMT marketing growing the whole situation just worries me a little bit with this game.

[FriskUni]

going to agree this econ (atleast on our server) isn't as bad as people make out
FFXI econ was way worse imo, atleast here you can actually MAKE gold, they've also added more ways to kill your pocket and I'm pretty sure that fuss about inflation was back before the last update, now you can blow money on higher enchants/expensive powders, dying/reskinning
and since NA is already launching with all this stuff, it's possible that it might not even be the same as KR servers

and yea there's a ton of RMT bots here, hopefully they'll crack down on banning for our version

[Cloudius]

going to agree this econ (atleast on our server) isn't as bad as people make out
FFXI econ was way worse imo, atleast here you can actually MAKE gold, they've also added more ways to kill your pocket and I'm pretty sure that fuss about inflation was back before the last update, now you can blow money on higher enchants/expensive powders, dying/reskinning
and since NA is already launching with all this stuff, it's possible that it might not even be the same as KR servers

and yea there's a ton of RMT bots here, hopefully they'll crack down on banning for our version

^ This. I rather the average Joe making money by playing the game (killing stuff, running instances, doing quests, etc) over the shit that was XI.
Yes the prices are high, but they are stable. You don't have to pull some magic trick, or be dependent on a large group of people to make money. Just play the game and you'll get your shines sooner than later.

[Foxer]

Like it or not, gear is what keeps the majority of MMO gamers playing, be it a casual gamer or a serial MMO addict. My big concern with TERA in the US is that given the popularity of RMT here and how supposedly very little gear is BOP that the RMT market will be huge and they will plague the game. I mean, what's easier, farming money for weeks on end to save up for something or hope an item drops... or just paying $50 real life cash to buy it and be done?

I'm not insinuating this is something I'd necessarily do but I'm not 21 anymore sitting in my dorm playing XI all day, I have a decent day job and my free time is more valuable now because I have less of it. I remember seeing a study by Nick Yee back in 2003 when I did MMO research myself in college that the average MMO gamer was 26. In a WoW study done last year (by Joystiq I think) the average age of WoW players was 30. I can only see this age continuing to increase over the years and in general the older you get the more responsibilities you have, thus the less time you can sit around running raids and killing internet dragons. So the fact that most gear is BOE and with gamer age / the RMT marketing growing the whole situation just worries me a little bit with this game.

It seems like you're scared of not being able to get rewarded for little time spent. The fact that gear is BOE makes it better for the casual, not just the hardcore. It changes the economical game around, considering open world drops are in demand.

What I like about this game specifically is what the 2 posters above have already said. In TERA, you get what you work for. I come from a near 8 year FFXI history, so I can tell you pre-TOAU, this was not the case. There were more times than none where if you put in little time, you got nothing at all. Don't get me wrong, I loved every minute of XI, but it took something better to realize how a game should work, economical wise.

I can sit there and farm up golems for 1 hr, just 3-4 times a week, and make a decent amount of gold. I can sit there and plan out raid nights, and get a nice amount of money, without playing the game more than 3-4 times a week, 4-6 hrs a day.

Every game has bots and RMT. There's hardly a way around that anymore. The best thing we can do is make money accessible to casual players, so there is no need to buy gold, and I might sound like I'm whiteknighting this shit, but TERA has that. I actually don't give a shit about RMT at this point. They haven't bothered my farming once, since January.

Sorry for modding shit. You're not the first. I'm just not used to the mod button being there.

[Rulke]

Just going to throw this out there, and I know everyone plays games how they want, but: enjoy Tera for the entire playthrough, not just end game, or crafting, or what have you. From the sparce playing Ive done, the vast combination of combat, zones, gear, story, etc is what makes Tera a quality package. I plan to craft but big deal if I don't get rich off it, its more for me and my groups benefits anyway. I love end game events too, but enjoy the ride there people.

[Rulke]

Hardcore has always meant hard content to me. Hardcore has never meant farming since... well.. anybody can do that and fuck.. you can buy gold to get items faster. Am i hardcore just because I buy all my gold and can get that item you farmed for a week in 1hr? I guess I may look hardcore to everyone who looks at my gear, by I surely won't be hardcore by those standards.

But, now, wearing that elite item thats from a super hard instance, now thats hardcore

P.S: I'm throwing out examples

I just wanted to comment on this, no attacking or anything. I find the concept of 'hardcore' is thrown loosly around these days in the MMO community. Certain groups/people want or crave "hardcore" gaming experience but how many of them really want that or even know how to handle it once its there?

One example that always cracked me up was the AA intance in FFXI. If you brougt in a mixed alliance of 18, like "SE intended" then the battle was pretty hardcore. You hand to kite certain AAs, rush others, outlast one etc. That battle was not only fun, hardcore, but rewarding: you got a choice of a good piece of gear (earring).

However, how many people actually did AA this way? Once some dude figured out you could one shot just about all of them with like 16/18 of the party being BLMS, out went the "hardcore" way, in came the "lets get this shit done so we can have a good piece of gear" way.

Since MMOs have to appeal to a wide audiance to stay successful, I think the player can really contribute, in some ways, to how "hard" it is. Don't have that 5th person you need? Shit, try that dungeon out with 4/5 people. Choose Warrior and learn to evasion tank, rather than just go lancer because "its easier/preferred". So on and so forth.

Of course you have some people that think hardcore is how long you farmed gil to afford that 13mil Scorpion Harness. And good for you if you did, I sure as hell wasn't. Did camping Ose make me hardcore to get that fugly Assault Jerkin? Maybe? But compared to what my friend and I usually did, it seemed that way.

Anyway, now I ramble. Tera is a really fun game and has a lot of challanging aspects, but to each his own.

[Foxer]

Just a heads up on today's weekly patch. All final bosses up to Tyrant(Golden Lab) will drop 1x gold guaranteed. Helps with any possible low-mid level inflation if there ever wan any. Dungeon gear is the best PVE gear in the game.

Difficulty on mobs in Golden Lab and Akasha's Lair has been adjusted as well. They're not endgame dungeons anymore so they messed with the levels and HP on the mobs.

[stewie]

Is PvP open world based on your race or is there some allegiance thing? Can't find any info on it.

[Foxer]

For NA, it's completely open PK after island of Dawn, so LV11+. There's a flagging system though.

[vrumpt]

Like it or not, gear is what keeps the majority of MMO gamers playing, be it a casual gamer or a serial MMO addict. My big concern with TERA in the US is that given the popularity of RMT here and how supposedly very little gear is BOP that the RMT market will be huge and they will plague the game. I mean, what's easier, farming money for weeks on end to save up for something or hope an item drops... or just paying $50 real life cash to buy it and be done?

I'm not insinuating this is something I'd necessarily do but I'm not 21 anymore sitting in my dorm playing XI all day, I have a decent day job and my free time is more valuable now because I have less of it. I remember seeing a study by Nick Yee back in 2003 when I did MMO research myself in college that the average MMO gamer was 26. In a WoW study done last year (by Joystiq I think) the average age of WoW players was 30. I can only see this age continuing to increase over the years and in general the older you get the more responsibilities you have, thus the less time you can sit around running raids and killing internet dragons. So the fact that most gear is BOE and with gamer age / the RMT marketing growing the whole situation just worries me a little bit with this game.

This. I don't disagree with getting out what you put into a game, thats fair, so long as you don't have to play 12 hours a day to be able to keep up with the community standards. If RMT are running rampart controlling the economy there isn't any point to playing then. It just sounds really bad on paper having almost everything BoE.

[Foxer]

I understand. But that's not how the game works, so that's compleeeeeeeetly inapplicable to TERA.

[XalienLevi]

Quite frankly shocked at the guaranteed gold dropping from final boss in ANY asian MMO. But definitely a great decision. Wish they had done this in Aion before inflation caught up to the NA servers but alas... can't wait for TERA to drop.

[Linfy]

I don't really feel that RMT is going to be a problem in TERA, gear at endgame can only be gotten from hard bosses, 99% of those items prob will not even go for a gold price on AH but instead just be traded. Yeah, spend 50$, get some leveling gear, what ever. If you feel that's its unfair, well nothing is ever fair is it?

Instead I think BOP is a horrible idea, you know what BOP do? All it dose is create greediness and drama (the zzz boring rage kind). I jumped between 4-5 raiding wow guild with my friends, really never had an worse MMO experience, everyone was bitching on gear, and even me when I needed something for my main spec just to be out rolled by an guy cuz he wanted it for his alt spec. While in BOE, it wouldn't be rare to see clan mates handing each other free gear when others need them, and when you receive an act of kindness, you want to do the same. You tell me which is better.

Also TERA end game inst about farming raids and getting "new" gear every time a patch comes out, you can play that way, but endgame in this game is more focus on pvp and a more social setting, where your constantly needing more muscles from new players and gearing them up so they can compete and all your activities even end game dungeons is based around pvp.

Korean mmos has always been about the social, not do and concur new instances every few months. So I think really what will keep people playing is not the gear, but the rich pvp and guild content at endgame

[Cloudius]

This. I don't disagree with getting out what you put into a game, thats fair, so long as you don't have to play 12 hours a day to be able to keep up with the community standards. If RMT are running rampart controlling the economy there isn't any point to playing then. It just sounds really bad on paper having almost everything BoE.

Only that you don't have to play 12hrs a day to keep up with anything. And how is BOE bad? People always sell both BOE and BOP items. BOE is just easier and lower price.
It just gives you 2 reasonable options to getting the item you want; Spam the instance till you get it to drop, or accumulate enough money to buy it.

[Kipling]

Does BoE mean Bind On Equip? What about BoP?

[FriskUni]

I don't think people realize how easy it is to pickup and put down TERA, regardless if you're on for an hour or less, you can always gain ground during the time you're on
coming from FFXI where you would have to wait hours to get a group just to XP coz solo xp was utter shit, or my personal favorite the impossible to get mission parties

and generally isn't every MMO the same, you put in more time you get more from the game
telling you now though, TERA is an extremely easy game to advance in, even if you only login for short periods you'll still have something to do without having to wait hours


BoP = bind on pickup, ie EX items

[Cloudius]

Does BoE mean Bind On Equip? What about BoP?

Bound on Pickup, like Rar/Ex stuff in XI. People end up selling loot rights to them (defeats the purpose), which makes buying it harder and more expansive than BoE + fraud and drama.

[Trocian]

Instead I think BOP is a horrible idea, you know what BOP do? All it dose is create greediness and drama (the zzz boring rage kind). I jumped between 4-5 raiding wow guild with my friends, really never had an worse MMO experience, everyone was bitching on gear, and even me when I needed something for my main spec just to be out rolled by an guy cuz he wanted it for his alt spec. While in BOE, it wouldn't be rare to see clan mates handing each other free gear when others need them, and when you receive an act of kindness, you want to do the same. You tell me which is better.

What?

How exactly does items being BoE stop dicks from being dicks and bitching about gear? Just because the general community in WoW is a joke, you can't blame it on items being BoP.

[Skai]

For NA, it's completely open PK after island of Dawn, so LV11+. There's a flagging system though.

Can you elaborate on that? By flagging do you mean you can turn the option for PvP off so nobody can PK you unless you turn it back on and vice versa?

[Cloudius]

What?

How exactly does items being BoE stop dicks from being dicks and bitching about gear? Just because the general community in WoW is a joke, you can't blame it on items being BoP.

^ Exactly. It doesn't matter if the item is BOE or BOP, that never stops peoiple from being aholes/ninjas. It's all about the lot system/settings, and I like Tera's settings. It's simple and fully automated.

spoiler for big

Spoiler: show

^ with these settings, if for example a leather armor drops and some1 picks it off he floor every1 that can use leather will automatically roll on it and the winner will automatically get it.
If a bow drops all archers in the group will auto roll/get it. If no1 can use every1 will roll and winner gets. As long as the party leader is straight there is no room for ninjas or community made loot rules.