:: Nightside :: - Tera US - EnMasse Interview about PVP by TeraPVP

Tera US - EnMasse Interview about PVP by TeraPVP

Details: Published on Wednesday, 08 June 2011 10:36; Written by Riddell

En Masse Entertainment offered TeraPVP the opportunity to discuss their upcoming blockbuster TERA Online in a Pre-E3 interview. Most of the questions were taken from your own forum posts and comments.

I spoke with Evan "Scapes" Berman, Senior Community Manager for En Masse, regarding the Tera PVP system and why the Tera Westernization process is necessary. As this is our first interview, we would love to hear any feedback from our readers.

TeraPVP: How are things going in the world of Tera? Are you guys ready to offer some great PVP action?

Scapes: We've been ramping up for our presence at E3 2011 this week and PvP is one of the topics we'll be revealing more about at conventions this year.

TeraPVP: Over the past months there has been a lot of interest in En Masse's Westernization process. Can you share a bit more on why a Westernization process is necessary? Why can't the original TERA content be taken "as-is", translated then released?

Scapes: En Masse Entertainment wants TERA to be the best it can be here in the West, and all over for that matter. Translation is only a small part of the task. Our Writing team has been localizing classes, skills, and items, and has also had a large hand in TERA's overarching story. Working in conjunction with Bluehole Studio (which involves frequent flights to and from their headquarters in South Korea), En Masse is working to make TERA the best MMO it can be. Be sure to check out our TERA Blog for more insight into the work we're doing.

TeraPVP: Western players are sensitive to the changes being made from the Korean version of the game. Korean's are viewed as hard-core gamers and the concern is the game is being softened up so Westerners can handle it. Is there anything you can share to alleviate those concerns?

Scapes: We are always evaluating TERA in terms of what is best for our players. To that end, we have dedicated staff here at En Masse who perform constant game analysis on TERA builds to ensure a balance between what TERA is and what our players want

TeraPVP: One of the most talked about aspects of the Westernization process is the creation of PVP and PVE servers. I recall Brian Knox sharing in his blog that Korea only has one set of servers. What led to the final decision of having two sets of servers (PvP & PvE) for the US and European markets?

Scapes: Choice of gameplay style is important, and offering servers with different rulesets affords TERA gamers that choice. Also, it should be noted that En Masse Entertainment is publishing TERA in North America, not Europe.

TeraPVP: Do you anticipate any obstacles for players transferring between PVE and PVP servers? The concern would be players farming levels and gear on a PVE server, then transferring to a PVP server with a character that didn't have to face the same challenges as other toons from the PVP server.

Scapes: Whenever you have PvE and PvP server sets combined with character transfers, you will run into balance issues. As we evaluate these two server types, we'll monitor progression and potential concerns with character transfers. While other MMOs have recently dropped restrictions on character transfers between servers of different rulesets, this is something we'll have to evaluate for TERA.

TeraPVP: Will there be any olympiad or similar experience to recognize the best player from each race/class combination?

Scapes: While there isn't a game feature to gauge this yet, this is a type of tournament event we'd like to hold in the future.

TeraPVP: What are the consequences to losing at pvp (i.e. dying). Is there any permanent loss in terms of XP or item damage? Or do players simply die - rez - die - rez without any permanent negative effect?

Scapes: Penalties for death due to PvP are largely the same as PvE death penalties. No experience is lost and items in TERA do not have a durability mechanic. The character's stamina bottoms out, reducing HP and MP totals, and there is a chance that socketed crystals might be destroyed. This crystal loss may be something we limit to PvE deaths due to the frequency of deaths during PvP.

TeraPVP: During mass PVP will players from either side be affected from "friendly" aoe attacks?

Scapes: No, there is no friendly fire in TERA's PvP combat.

TeraPVP: Do you perform any rituals before a major pvp event? Stock up on Mountain Dew? Crack your knuckles? Barakan moon chant?

Scapes: We've had a few PvP sessions while capturing footage of the battlegrounds that generated some pretty good smack talk afterward. As for preparation rituals, I personally donned spiked shoulder armor as we opened the server for the Community Play Event.