[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

New Player Thoughts

MiskaMiska
in TERA PC - General Discussion
I am not maxed level yet, just got to 60 and I figured I think it is time I posted some of my thoughts about TERA, and yes I will be bouncing everywhere and may even repeat a few things over and over again, but just bear with it...

First off, the beginning story is interesting and got my hooked almost immediately. Seeing the 5 Children and meeting Anya and playing with her Teddy Bear. And the Traitor which I thought was an interesting idea and I kind of had it narrowed down to Samael but wasn't all too sure until it was closer to revealed. But I will return to the story in a bit...

Leveling, the leveling is decent for a MMO, just feel like all those "Collect X Item" should of probably of been "Go Kill X Monster this many times" but I guess seeing how a great portion of MMO's are doing that for quests just doesn't work for me. My biggest complaint is how fast you level for what you get done. I had a hard time trying to stay up with my story quests to keep them in line with dungeons, and I was eventually just doing the Red Question marks just to keep up with the instances (I hate soloing in a MMO but had to do that several times for when the story met up with the instance) And that will lead into another complaint here soon. Instances were fun and interesting but I felt that the story between them and in the zones felt very jumbled and not keeping with the flow.

And return to the story, I was just getting inthralled in Killian and the God buried in the rock, and Kaia, and when I hit 60 after doing the Labyrinth of Terror, seems like I can't do the other instances to finish off that story. Which is now touching again on Leveling. Holy jeeze..... I hate missing a lot of the story just because I outleveled it. They are congratulating me on defeating Thulsa, which I haven't even done yet and can't go back to join the matchmaking for those instances. Which leads me to ask... Why should I keep playing? I am a big story person and play games for the story mostly. Something that has really drawn me off of this game in only a few minutes now that I can't even go to finish the story and see the conclusion of Thulsa and Killian and Kelsaik, its off to the the 60-65 realm now. I somehow feel like that is going to leave the same sour taste in my mouth.

Now some of you might ask "Why you complaining about leveling so fast? Real game is at End Game!" Well no. The real game is not End Game. Its why they call it End Game. Its what you do over and over again until new content. But Now that I am missing what feels like a huge part of the story just makes me not want to continue with my Brawler. So that leads me to leveling a new character? Well, pretty much the same will happen again. I will out level the story and still not get the conclusion I am looking for.

With how quick i was able to level, getting all these EXP boosts is not required? I am just discarding them because I have no problems leveling. Even if I had to do a good portion of the yellow quests I probably wouldn't have to use the EXP Boost. Too much EXP for doing so Little in the Game. You might as well have everyone start at 65 with all cinematics unlocked and a giant story for them to read through like a book. But that isn't very immersive. It's why you tell your story through the red quests and dungeons.

But Also while on Story, during the first time you are in Allemantheia, it feels like a HUGE section of the story is missing. You bring some item to some guy, another dude appears and says "hey I know someone who can find out where those rocks come from" and suddenly you are fighting that guy? How did I get from him telling me where those rocks are to killing him and Thulsa appearing? Feels like I missed a good 3-5 chapters of story, But then I notice all those yellow quests I skipped just to get my red quests up to my level and instances. Maybe everything is explained in those quests? Which again, leads to this huge gaping hole in the story and a sour taste in my mouth. I really don't understand what is going on in the game anymore.

Now onto some of the things I have noticed...

The Maps... The compass Map, I am used to seeing terrain (even just a rough draft or contour map) for the compass and the mini map which... can it be resized? Not sure I haven't figured it out, and the Mini Map takes a HUGE portion of my screen and I can't scale it down. I can make it 100% transparent so I won't see it but then my compass doesn't show the way, just monsters and things to gather, and quests. Not very helpful. Also for the Mini Map, is it possible to get the the Zone you are in Centered in the mini map? I constantly have to drag the thing around just so I can see the whole zone or the section I am looking at. I can zoom sure but having it centered regardless of the zone/dungeon I go into would be helpful beyond what I can thank you do.

Almost DONE!!!!

Crafting........... Where to begin?

I know! ALCHEMY

I usually do alchemy, but after a few minutes of asking questions and looking at the crafter and the designs..... What a......bare bone system? Heck, can't even call it bare bones. More like a single tiny foot or hand bone. Just battle solutions? Sure I can make runes for other crafts but.... no potions? No Mana Potions, Health Potions, Stat Potions, Elixirs/Flasks (just to pull from another game) Or other Alchemy stuff.... Just Battle Solutions that I get just for doing Vanguard quests and at the very least, i can go any BUY them from a Freaking Merchant...... Sadly too many games have been making Alchemy extremely useless. I want something, no a LOT more Something with Alchemy. It is in such a bad state that I feel like it would be better to remove it until you guys come up with something. Its that BAD

Armorsmithing! If not Alchemy I usually take Armorsmithing on my tank. Why? Armor and Tank just seems to go together. Now...... To level Armorsmithing, I just go farm 200 ore, buy 200 kits and boom, next stage for Crafting. Wait... Seriously? How.... Bland. How.... uninspired. And looking at the items I need to make a piece of armor, holy batman, what a waste of gold (not like gold is hard to acquire but still) no use to craft at low levels because in only 15-20 minutes you will be so grossly outleveled that armor that it is worhtless.

Haven't tried Weaponsmithing or Etching, and doubtful that I will as I don't see myself playing Tera for much longer. Just too much in the span of a few minutes has left a sour taste in my mouth, and the leveling speed is.... absurd.

To help the whole story issue, maybe make it so I can queue for the lower instances provided I still have story/yellow quests for it, or find a way to move all the story out of the dungeons so we can experience the hard work your writers did to make the story.

Otherwise, interesting game, I am enjoying the mechanics and the free targeting (ESO has helped with my Free Targeting) but still, enjoying that. But, again, probably won't be playing much longer as I feel I missed out and lost a lot of story, just by getting that 1 level.
«13

Comments

  • KarmaTheAlligatorKarmaTheAlligator ✭✭✭✭✭
    You totally can go and see the end of Thulsa and Kelsaik, and all the other story dungeons, just go to the entrance of their respective dungeons. At level 60 you shouldn't need a party to clear them (or at worse, just ask in the LFG or Area chat if anyone would want to help), especially if you do some of the level 60 Vanguard story quests that reward you with much better gear than you'd get from the previous dungeons.

    Most yellow quests are the fetch X items or kill X monsters types, and while they do give a bit more insight on the area/monsters/lore, it's not much.

    You just arrived after the whole alchemy aspect was reduced to barely anything. It used to have plenty of health and mana potions, and many other things, like scrolls to help craft/gather faster or give different combat boosts, but all that got removed (or rather, streamlined into those battle restoratives) with the Spellbound update.

    Etching is about the only one that's useful, IMO.

    As for levelling speed... It seems the majority just want to get to the End Game as fast as possible, so people like us who want to enjoy the writing need to go out of our way to do so.
  • aeee98aeee98 ✭✭✭✭
    If you were here a year and a half ago or even more you will find that the quests alone will not be enough to permanently keep you in the story. You would still do yellow quests and battlegrounds (back then there was no Kuma's Royale, but actual Corsair's Stronghold with not that much xp compared to current BG xp providenece) to keep up in terms of exp. While it is much longer, I found that levelling process more fufilling.

    The major reason why you can't keep up with story quests is because one of the story quests is now [intentionally filtered] Kuma's Royale, coupled with the vanguard request that can gives you 2-3 levels PLUS TWO DAYS of 100% XP boost.

    I agree with you, xp boost is very detrimental in the ability to fully enjoy the game. (If you did quests on the triple xp weekend lately that will be even worse)

    Minimap can be resized and panned, look for the scroller on the right side of the minimap.

    Crafting has been watered down as heck. you used to make end-game armors/weapons for armorsmith/weaponsmith. Now the craft is useless except for oil and brooch crafting and the endgame gear recipes require 0 levels in either craft, which makes me mad back in Lucid days. Alchemy is even worse, where you get absolutely nothing out of it now after spellbound where you don't even get to make potions. That was one of the things that made Tera the game it was and while it is a whole lot easier for a complete newbie to go through the game, the fun of experiencing everything is gone.

    I have that feeling it is an effect from Nexon KR, the publishers for the first server (KTera), where they wanted to make it easier for newer players to get into the game, but ending up making the levelling process a braindead one.

    I personally would say this, if I want to get to end game asap, I would just rush dungeons, the quests shouldn't be giving too much exp.
  • YamazukiYamazuki ✭✭✭✭✭
    Even if you can't IMS the instance you can still enter it alone, or with a premade group. BHS hasn't really been able to balance exp with quests all that well, and even then, they mostly changed it to meet the complaints people had on leveling (made it faster). I suppose what they could have done is what some games do and either allow you to drop down in levels to IMS any instance and you use a set of balanced gear for the level (which they had before just very poorly done...) or give you the option to still gain experience and not automatically level unless you click to do so.

    Crafting on Tera has also always been problematic along with gathering and has been getting worse as time goes on.

    The UI can also be resized in the UI settings and some of it hidden.
  • ShikineShikine ✭✭✭✭
    It is true leveling become easier over the years (in the old times you had to do every yellow quest too just to get a normal amount of exp).
    But lets face the reality here, most of the players do not have time for this, they do not care about leveling.
    It is admireable that you do and I encourage you to not jump to the newest quests you get as you level up, but go in the order you find them in your quest journal.

    There is a Lore community here under the role-play, etc. category and you can find people like @Aulon who can help you with lore related sites, communitites, etc.

    The mini map can be adjusted under Options? i think, but scrolling with you mouse does the scaling trick too temporarily.

    Crafting used to be much more interesting, but in the name of simplification they removed every aspect of it. In the future they will introduce retooling, but as of now there is no crafting in this game except etching, which I do not recommend for a newer player like you. Only when you get to know end-game a little bit.
  • MiskaMiska ✭
    edited November 2016
    blah.... is all I can say
  • AulonAulon ✭✭✭✭
    edited November 2016
    I do share you opinion that about how the real game isn't end game, there is a whole community that do not play for the end game but the story, the quest, the craft, the friends, the interactions and all the side content. Recently I find myself done with end game in two weeks and wondering around trying to put pieces of the puzzle together, such as the God Bahaar. Trying to redo old quest lines to see if they have past or still living, what role do they have in the story, how do other personalities interact with them, trying to capture a bit of the soul left in the game. Maybe I am one of those helpless romantics that hopes in the day focus will stop being so much about End Game and turn back to what drew in the energy that was once here.
  • BonbonnieBonbonnie ✭✭✭
    edited November 2016
    Honestly, I miss how you had to do all the quests to get good EXP and how relaxed things used to be, but ya know, older players? Pfft who cares about those guys? :silenced:
  • aeee98aeee98 ✭✭✭✭
    Bonbonnie wrote: »
    Honestly, I miss how you had to do all the quests to get good EXP and how relaxed things used to be, but ya know, older players? Pfft who cares about those guys? :silenced:

    Well I am on my 18th character (13th character seeing Anya die for the player) and trust me I got sick of the story.

    But for those who just entered for the first time, it is really unfair for them.
  • allofspaceandtimeallofspaceandtime ✭✭✭✭✭
    that's one of the reasons people want a vanilla server. I would like to see the storyline revamped a bit, and at least bring back original island of dawn. I also hate how they stopped having drops from bams and mobs. they keep removing stuff from the game and then wonder why the game is losing people.
  • MiskaMiska ✭
    edited November 2016
    Bonbonnie wrote: »
    Honestly, I miss how you had to do all the quests to get good EXP and how relaxed things used to be, but ya know, older players? Pfft who cares about those guys? :silenced:

    not sure if you are serious or what?

    And to allofspaceandtime, you can also add new players who come, dont spend money and leave after a few weeks and don't spend money because they either cant enjoy the story, broken crafting. Seems all I have to look forward to is the end game and soloing the instances I still need for my story. which I am not really motivated to do in a sense. Still though, I have hopes for this game and hopefully they fix the crafting and get it good again, and yes revamp the story a bit. Once what broker listings I have sell/expire I probably won't log back in for some time.

    Just feel really down now that all the npc's think I killed a god I haven't yet just because that labyrinth put me to 60 and lost the other dungeons and things to go do. 61 now, but bored because it feels like I missed a good portion of the story and tried to solo the next dungeon but couldn't get past the first boss. Got the lvl 60 items from the quests to go to northern arun but alas, still got smited pretty good from the first boss.
  • counterpointcounterpoint mod
    edited November 2016
    Honestly, this is not really a story-centric game. I mean, there is lore and story to it, but it's only really to the extent necessary to create some sense of cohesion in the world and a bit of reason to go from A to B to C. But the game has always been such that you could over-level the story and jump ahead to the next quest line regardless of the plotholes this might create. If that's really super-important to you, then it's hard to recommend this game. There are other MMOs that are very story-centric (to the degree that not completing the story will lock you out of further content), but this isn't one of them.

    I can't really share the nostalgia some have for the old days when it took forever to level. Even though I like leveling alts a lot, the game at launch had a really significant wall by the time you hit the mid-40s and up. I suspect a ton of players just never made it over that wall and quit. I do tend to think the way it is now is a bit overkill, but at least there's always something you can do that earns XP at a good clip (dungeon, battleground, main story, etc.). I'd like them to spend more time continuing to refine and improve the leveling process (since it's definitely out of balance at the moment), but I also understand why their focus is on end-game.

    In the end, I feel like the game's two main selling points are the same as they have been forever: the world/art style and the combat system. If you start going through all the various game systems there are tons of deficiencies and problems, even compared to the competition. But I feel like those two key aspects alone can a fair number of flaws, if they're important to you. I've never played another MMO that has the same kind of solid, responsive, engaging feeling in combat, and since you spend a lot of time in combat in an MMO, for me it's a big plus.
  • StaceyFinStaceyFin ✭
    Shikine wrote: »
    It is true leveling become easier over the years (in the old times you had to do every yellow quest too just to get a normal amount of exp).
    But lets face the reality here, most of the players do not have time for this, they do not care about leveling.
    It is admireable that you do and I encourage you to not jump to the newest quests you get as you level up, but go in the order you find them in your quest journal.

    There is a Lore community here under the role-play, etc. category and you can find people like @Aulon who can help you with lore related sites, communitites, etc.

    The mini map can be adjusted under Options? i think, but scrolling with you mouse does the scaling trick too temporarily.

    Crafting used to be much more interesting, but in the name of simplification they removed every aspect of it. In the future they will introduce retooling, but as of now there is no crafting in this game except etching, which I do not recommend for a newer player like you. Only when you get to know end-game a little bit.

    in the day of the old ones, we had to select specific yellows with the reds to maintain lvling speed and consistency. quickest you could do it was 6hrs
  • BorsucBorsuc ✭✭✭
    Miska wrote: »
    you can also add new players who come, dont spend money and leave after a few weeks and don't spend money because they either cant enjoy the story, broken crafting.
    Spend on what? XP boosts? Elite? So you can level even faster? Or skip the majority of it outright from the shop? Don't kid yourself, people like you spend absolutely zero and they know it.

    Why are you even playing a game like this? All MMOs are horrible in respect to stories and player interaction with the story (choices you know), plus bad overall immersion, period. There's so many good quality games focused on stories (real RPGs and adventure games etc), I'm baffled why you even expect something from a MMO's story when it has zero choices and not even voice acting or more to do with immersion these days.

    Unless you only play it cause you're too poor to afford a real story-driven game and play this cause it's f2p, but then you shot yourself in the foot with the paying argument, so yeah.
  • ExClipExClip ✭
    Well leveling is fast because once you're done with 1 character, leveling a new character can be a pain in the butt and no one wants to go through a slow leveling process again and generally people who are serious about Tera play more than 1 character.

    Yes you're missing out on story as you level, but you can always go back to it either by forming your own party or just soloing it. The way I see it, we have best of both worlds with how fast the leveling is now.
Sign In or Register to comment.