From an ex-TERA player to En Masse

TERA and I have had a rocky relationship, in part due to spurts of proverbial content deserts and a lack of general support from the folks over at En Masse Entertainment during the game’s sort-of-short subscription period. TERA used to be a very different game, with much less to do.

I laughed, cried, quit, and eventually came back. I had fun, lost interest, and quit again. I am likely to repeat this cycle soon enough.

Despite TERA’s unique combat, the game’s lack of content overall – especially at endgame – was what chased me off in my previous stints with the game. It was all fun and games until I sat back and wondered why I was going through the typical MMO motions in a game touted for its combat system and “skill-based” PvP. Uninspired quests, the no-fun endgame gear grind, and the huge gear disparity between tiers at 60 brought my entertainment to a halt on more than one occasion.

To make the above worse, En Masse was relatively silent during my time with TERA under subscription and in the early months of Rising. Treeshark patrolled the forums and Vassago would hang out on the Lumbertown bridge and gank lowbies, but outside of those instances EME and the entire GM team were relatively silent. Content updates were slow and not very impressive, and the tiny pieces of new content weren’t enough to hold interest.

I say all of this, because the way TERA is being handled seems to be very different now.

The above is not to say that the dead boring quest grinding to 60 is gone – nor is the gear disparity at 60 – but over the past two or three months En Masse has been doing a very good job of keeping players updated, adding new content, and providing fun events to shake things up a bit.

The only event I really remember from TERA when it was pay to play was the original Dracoloth event. The content updates pre-Rising were barely even worth mentioning.

Over the past month several new cosmetics have been added to the Valkyon Outfitters, the game has received a major content update (including equalized battlegrounds), and there are sales and events abound. En Masse has been at the top of their game and I really have to give them credit.

It’s with this change that I feel a tinge of regret for turning my back on the world of Arborea and its inhabitants, more than once. It’s difficult to blame someone for quitting a game due to a lack of content, but it’s even more difficult to look at the way a game you’ve quit has progressed over a period of time and say, “Well that went much better than expected!”

None of this is to say that TERA is the MMO on the market to play, but it is to say that EME has done a great job these past few months supporting the sole game under their publishing wing. I am honestly surprised and even a little delighted that things have turned out this way. As a soon-to-be returning player, I just want to say thank you.