[Spoiler Alert] http://tera.nexon.com/news/devnote/view.aspx?n4ArticleSN=375 [Spoiler Alert]
The new story (or at least the beginning parts of it) which the TERA development team outlined last year is being released on the Korean servers on December 20th along with a level cap increase to 70. Fate of Arun (released in Korea back on December 16, 2014) was the first and only major expansion to the game (increasing the level cap from 60 to 65 and adding the entire Northern Arun continent). For this update, a six part story quest (Break of Nightmare) will guide players through the leveling. Additionally, the story line continues from the Velik’s Banquet quest (from the class awakening) meaning that a character has to first be awakened in order to proceed. Actual new zones, areas/dungeons, and associated story lines aren’t mentioned as part of this update.
Thus my prior note regarding Bluehole not seeming to have interest in investing work in TERA (under the new KRAFTON Game Union) is potentially no longer relevant since previously, it was not expected for the level cap to increase with the new zones and story that had been previewed last year. Increasing the cap provides for the ability to do some resets (offering a transition period which Bluehole seems to be doing by not fully rolling out the entire expansion during this initial phase). Since prior developments did come to a sudden halt/change though, I’m taking a wait and see approach on this.
As part of the expansion, several existing zones are being re-configured taking into account player feedback regarding the under utilization of the game world. For example, the Fountain of Life area in Essenia is being changed to have level 65 mobs while Sienna Canyon will have level 67 mobs (there will be other zones with mobs for each level up to 70). Accompanying these field mobs will be daily quests associated with them (since these missions will also be part of the new level up process from 65-70 and used to guide players to these areas).
Additionally, while prior BAM’s had their loot tables nerfed due to botting, the team acknowledges the end result of them not dropping anything meaningful and thus players were not able to experience any fun participating in field hunting. The new team has taken a different perspective on this and are adding useful enchanting materials including item drops back to these open world monsters in order to improve the level up and end game experience. These open world BAM’s were previously also heavily nerfed in terms of their health pools and damage but are being increased again (to go along with the increased drop rate).
New more powerful open world field bosses are also being introduced (spawning at random times in random locations but only in channel 1; a system wide announcement will take place though) and will be noticeable since they will have a different effect and look. These new bosses will also utilize a mechanic that several other Korean MMO’s have where it will not display a health bar (Guardian Raid bosses in LOST ARK have this same mechanic). These will not require any specific item level or partying (though being in a raid group might make it easier to take part in the drops depending on how contribution plays into the overall drop rates and distribution.
The reward system seems to incorporate the “last hit mechanic” since only the last person to kill the boss will receive the rewards while having their character name and guild announced server wide. There is a specific box dropped for this person which other players can see but cannot loot. This singular reward aspect may work well in Korea (since it has been a norm in several Korean MMO’s) but may require changes for the western version. It also remains to be seen if this invigorates much larger open world participation or if pre-made parties/guilds still try to monopolize these open world bosses.
Finally, the development team acknowledges that prior content updates were concentrated mainly on dungeons (and thus leaving the rest of the game world underutilized). Thus part of the reconfiguration and update of existing areas as well as changes to their rewards system, is meant to again make that open world relevant (something which I had personally been lobbying for). What I am personally looking forward to are the actual new zones, areas, and associated story (yes, I am one of those who actually reads the text the first time through) that will come after this initial expansion including what is in store for level 70 gear.
I am pretty sure current players who invested a lot of time (and probably money in order to convert virtual currency to in-game gold) are going to be fairly vocal about what will happen to their current gear (since prior development teams were adamant that TERA would not be getting a level cap increase). It will be interesting if there is any conversion system to bring current level 65 gear up to 70 and more so, if there will be changes made to the current equipment growth system which is IMHO, out of control with the amount of gold and materials required. I actually think a full reset (along with a more thoughout system) would be the best route but also providing an option for players to convert their items such that they don’t lose all of their prior progress.
