Tera has gone free to play

[Huw the Poo]

Or it's going free to play...I think it depends on whether you play on US or EU servers.

Anyway.  This is the action-oriented fantasy MMORPG from Asia that had the misfortune to launch at roughly the same time as Guild Wars 2.  Presumably it didn't do too well if it's going free to play already - less than a year after launch - but after trying it I can't imagine it's much to do with competition.

After downloading more than 20GB of patch (yes really) which took ages even with my phat pipe (17Mbps and maxed out most of the time) I finally got in only to be immediately disappointed.  I suppose I should've watched some Youtube footage first, but Tera isn't my cup of tea at all.

Its action leanings are evident immediately; WASD still controls your character but your cursor - a crosshair - is permanently fixed in the centre of the screen like a shooter, unless you hit alt to activate "UI mode".  You have to do this to read about the various skills and abilities on your hotbars, a necessity since the in-game tutorial is absolute bollocks.  It consists of the occasional message flashing up on the screen giving you information completely irrelevant to what you're actually doing.  Despite being one of the simplest MMORPGs I've played, I've never been more confused at the beginning of one.  It's difficult to interact with the NPC or object that you want without triggering something else instead.

Granted, I only played for half an hour or so and I'll play again before making up my mind, but what I've seen so far is amateurish and horrid.

Oh, and there's the character creation.  Any differences between races besides aesthetic ones were not apparent to me.  The creation options at your disposal are woefully lacking and just not good enough for the modern MMO.  No matter what you do, you're going to look like the stereotypical Asian MMO elf carrying a laughably enormous weapon around.  The customisation is so bad that you can't even colour your hair; each style comes with its own colour.  I could be wrong and I'll check again, but it's still awful compared to something like Rift.

(By the way, this is the game that was notorious for its Elin race, and I can see why.  I like a hot young lady (call me old-fashioned) but the Elin are ridiculous.  They look like eight-year-old girls, running around in barely any clothing at all.  Bleurgh)

Graphics are crap; cartoony but not in a good way.  The scenery is bearable but the character models are terrible and not varied enough, combat animation is poor and projectiles (my character is an archer) look bloody stupid and clip scenery often.

I'll give it one more try tonight but I'm not holding my breath.  I don't see any reason to play this game at all; if you simply must play an Asian MMORPG I would suggest Aion which is also free (although with much heavier restrictions on free accounts than Tera has).  Otherwise, for a MMORPG centred around action you can't go far wrong with Guild Wars 2.  For the best fantasy MMOPRG of any kind, I still say Rift is the best.

[Tpek]

I played it some time ago, it was okay but nothing too special.

How does the Free 2 Play model works now anyway?

[Huw the Poo]

Here's the comparison chart, although things may be different for the US.  Not too bad for free account restrictions at all in my opinion.  SWTOR is a great example of how not to do it.

[Tpek]

Maybe I should try it out again then :)

[Nefaro]

Asian MMOs... terrible.  I don't even bother trying with those anymore.

The art styles are almost always terrible, and creepy in a statutory rape kinda way. 

[Huw the Poo]

Asian MMOs... terrible.  I don't even bother trying with those anymore.

Yeah I usually avoid them too, but this one was initially quite well received even in the West so I thought I may as well try it.  I think I'm done with Asian MMORPGs altogether now.

The art styles are almost always terrible, and creepy in a statutory rape kinda way. 

I generally like the "young girls with big tits" aesthetic but Tera goes too far with the Elin race.  They're children - maybe not in the lore but certainly in appearance.  You can't even create male Elin...

[Tpek]

Asian MMOs... terrible.  I don't even bother trying with those anymore.

Yeah I usually avoid them too, but this one was initially quite well received even in the West so I thought I may as well try it.  I think I'm done with Asian MMORPGs altogether now.

The art styles are almost always terrible, and creepy in a statutory rape kinda way. 

I generally like the "young girls with big tits" aesthetic but Tera goes too far with the Elin race.  They're children - maybe not in the lore but certainly in appearance.  You can't even create male Elin...

That's what you have the Racoon race for :P