[Editor’s Note: I highly recommend reading Part 2 before you read part 3]
I’ve mentioned before on Twitter and in discussions that I support a combination of a localized auction house and player owned shops that can be spread over the countryside. Granted, my business tactics come from a time where I could set up my shop NPC outside of a large raid dungeon and stock it with health/mana potions, buff potions, resurrection scrolls, etc, but that is a story for a different time.
For the beta, I want to say that it is working like a wonder. My Popori archer made it to level 16 this weekend without experiencing any bugs. There was one server outage this time around, but otherwise the connection in my server went along fine even at peak hours. Zones were once again overcrowded at all times of the day, however, but that is to be expected with only a few servers running and should space out at release.
First thing’s first: I was able to preview crafting and all I can say is that it is generic, but useful, and incredibly expensive. Buying the materials from the Weaponcraft materials vendor for my first weaponcraft quest cost me thirty thousand gold, of which I received one hundred back as payment for completing the quest. I did manage to get some real armor crafted, and considering the extremely slow rate at which looting mobs has been providing me with armor and weapons, crafting is looking to become a very useful asset.
Otherwise crafting is a simple method of gathering materials, buying stuff you can’t find on the field from vendors, and watching a progress bar load. And then once you no longer have use for a specific material, dump it on one of the ten thousand vendors carrying work orders for it. Crafting materials are in extremely high demand, and I hope that the outrageous prices that players are willing to throw for them in beta rolls over to the live game.
Leveling is still a rather mind-numbing grind of quests asking me to kill X-mobs, but I’ve noticed the inclusion of a new quest type: Guild quests. There are also special “suppression order” (repeatable) quests, and they were my number one annoyance this weekend. As far as I know, this is an intended “feature,” that in each quest you are generally required to obtain “proof” of a kill, meaning a drop. For myself, the drop rate on “proof” is so low that I managed to kill somewhere around forty centaur before the quest ticker moved up by one.
Again, I complain but TERA offers some of the most fun I’ve had in a recently released MMO. The action-combat is still the highlight, and in case the pictures don’t say it, the game still looks absolutely gorgeous. There are two closed beta tests left, with one open beta in April. I will see you then!
I received a few complaints last time for not talking about the lawsuit between NCSoft and Bluehole Studios, some people saying I shouldn’t be promoting TERA until the outcome of the trial is determined. One important factor you should know with the lawsuit against TERA is that even though NCSoft won in Korea, the game was still able to launch. I have very little doubt that even if NCSoft were to gain victory in the states that the court would actually shut down or prevent TERA from releasing.
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