I've said a lot of stuff about Tera in the past. I'm a pretty huge advocate of the action-MMO which requires a lot of skill to play successfully. The combat for melee characters feels like a really hard hack-n-slash, and like a third-person-shooter for ranged characters. But as it turns out, playing Tera skillfully requires more than just fast reactions...
Not long ago I showed you Cultist's Refuge, an area in Bluehole's upcoming action-MMORPG Tera that was filled with skeletons, double-ended monsters and spiked floors. It was an instance designed for a team of players to tackle in an hour or two.
Today I bring you Pirate's Grotto, a dungeon which...
Atari is happy enough about its MMO revenues to go shopping for another one. Publisher En Masse Entertainment announced that Atari will distribute its action MMO, Tera, to retail in North America. The game, which attempts to combine MMO trappings with a timing-based, action-game-style combat system, is expected to be available in America through the new partnership this year.
En Masse's Chris Lee cited Atari's "strong distribution network" and "culturally iconic brand" as reasons Atari was a good fit as distributor; we're guessing it's mostly that first thing.
on the Priest:
Healing in your standard MMO is usually described as a game of whack-a-mole. You're looking at a bunch of health bars and clicking on the lowest one, pressing a button, and watching it fill. In the decade or so since MMOs have become popular, the role of the healer has stayed rela...
#gameface
As Korean MMORPG "The Exiled Realm of Arborea" nears its release, a fancy gaming rig is rolled out for the press, complete with six LCD monitors and fishnet stockings. As seen on Game Watch Impress. More »
While you're waiting anxiously for the eventual Western release of Korean MMO Tera, En Masse Entertainment is busy hiring up developers with high profile credentials by the handful. From Aaron LeMay (former resource manager and producer at Bungie and Volition), to David Noonan (worked on D&D 4th Edition), to ex-BioWare PR man Matt Atwood, it seems that En Masse is really, really interested in getting the attention of game industry vets.
According to En Masse's announcement, the man credited with creating the Xbox Live Operations Center, Marcus Schweig, has also been hired on to head up network operations. "As we build toward the launch of Tera, we are adding veteran strength to all facets of the company to ensure a topnotch Action MMO experience for our customers," CEO Dr. Jae-Heon Yang says of the acquisitions. Hey guys, you know that Ron Gilbert's up for grabs these days, right? Your move.
A piping-hot press release from Korean MMO developer Bluehole Studio has announced a new subsidiary for the company named En Masse Entertainment. Based in Seattle, En Masse will focus on "selecting high quality online games and adapting, refining, and positioning them so they are perfectly suited for audiences in Western markets." In other words, slightly reducing the size of everyone's swords. You know, just to the point where it looks reasonable that they could lift them off the ground.
According to the presser, the En Masse team features talent from other big players in the MMOverse, including Blizzard, EA, ArenaNet and NCsoft. It sounds like the studio's got a pretty experienced roster; whether or not they'll be able to get us excited about their first project -- a Westernized version of a Korean MMORPG called TERA -- remains to be seen.
