[TERA PC & Console] En Masse is closing, but TERA lives on! We will continue to support TERA PC (NA) and TERA Console until service is transferred. Stay tuned for more information.
[TERA Console] The Grotto of Lost Souls update (v85) is now live! Read the patch notes here: https://bit.ly/TERACon_v85
[TERA PC] The 64-bit update (v97) is now live. Check out all the changes delivered on August 11 here: https://bit.ly/tera64_patchnotes
[TERA PC & CONSOLE] Summerfest Part 2: The Beach Bash is on from August 11 until September 1! Participate in event activities to earn tokens redeemable for costumes, consumables, mounts, and more! Details: https://bit.ly/tera_sf20
Comments
I suspect that'd be basically impossible for BHS to pull off with the way they made this game.
How so?
Because of the way the pieces interact. You'd need to have separate client, server, launcher, account server, instance servers, store server, and keep everything in sync with the old builds in sequence (including the backend integration changes they developed along the way). Otherwise you'd have to customize new builds that are deviations of the old builds but reintegrate some customizations. It'd be a nightmare to pull off, and the costs would be enormous while they still have the active build to maintain. (Plus there's a question of how to monetize it; I'm not sure people would buy costumes and stuff on a progression server whose whole point is to be in fast-forward. And once they hit the end, then what? There aren't so many years of content to fast-forward through.)
I would guess the old files still exist within the game, but were overwritten with new ones in the process of patches. As for cosmetics, I do think people would continue to buy them as they did before, considering a lot of older costumes are now discontinued, which would bring back demand for them. If a new client needs to be made, I think people who genuinely love the game as much as I do in it's older state would still download it. Nostalrius is a big example of why this DID work for WoW players, albeit not a cent was spent since the server was free. Well, until Blizzard stepped in, of course.
Many people will tell you they enjoyed old TERA. A LOT. PvP was ALIVE and thriving, which a lot of players are very upset over right now. PvE was actually somewhat challenging. The game didn't push you through and let you go at your own pace and didn't egg on a stale endgame. The story was still intact and interesting, even if it was quite linear, it's still a story for lore fans to enjoy.
It depends on how your "progression server" works. If it's like the Everquest ones where it's just speeding you through updates, that's one thing. But it sounds like you're looking more for a server that's permanently stuck in the past (and doesn't keep "progressing" rapidly to the point where you stop liking the diretion it went). Even continuing to introduce old costumes in a frozen environment could be tricky in some cases due to incompatibilities.
End-users having to download a separate client isn't the biggest issue, really. I mean, having to maintain the second branch is a problem, but it's the integrations that are more difficult.
But even if you turned the clock back, it will get stale too. And people also forget that there were lots of complaints about the old end-game too (including PvP, which has had problems throughout the whole life of this product), and inconveniences that actually were improved. The original game was designed for a subscription environment, and by the time they went down the free-to-play route they started introducing the changes people say they don't like. So trying to find this magical point where the game was at its supposed best, while still making it active and able to be monetized (so it's feasible to do) is not going to be easy. TERA does not nearly the playerbase as WoW where they can get a few hundred thousand out of a playerbase of millions to justify it.
I understand why people are nostalgic for the old days, and this is not trying to say that it's an entirely bad idea, I just don't think it's realistically feasible. I would rather try to make targeted suggestions at specific things they could try to bring back; that's also a long-shot, but I think less so.