Just thought I'd should share this with you, if it has already i'm sorry.



Qouted from:
www.EnMasse.com
www,TeraFans.com
www.terafans.com/topic/468-en-masse-entertainment-announced-tera-fans-honored-with-one-of-their-first-interviews/


'En masse Entertainment'
"En masse" pronunciation is on its french: \?n mas'\

MMO Veterans Gather to Form En Masse Entertainment
February 24, 2010

Game industry veterans from around the world have gathered together in Seattle to create their vision of the perfect game publishing organization. Working with Korean development partner Bluehole Studio, En Masse Entertainment is preparing to unveil next-generation MMORPG TERA™ to Western audiences next month in San Francisco at the 2010 Game Developers Conference.

Not only is En Masse adapting TERA for gamers in Europe and North America, but the company also oversees every aspect of game publishing, including marketing, localization, community relations, testing, customer support, and game security.

"From day one at En Masse," says Brian Knox, Senior Producer, "there's been this palpable excitement about TERA. After our first Focus Group Test, I saw firsthand how that excitement is spreading. Combine a passionate dev team with an eager community, and I think you've got the recipe for something special in TERA."

About En Masse Entertainment
En Masse is a game publisher dedicated to bringing players the best massively multiplayer online games in the world. Get acquainted with En Masse at About Us.

About TERA
TERA™ is a next-generation massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) set in a richly imagined fantasy universe. TERA ushers in a ground-breaking interactive combat system that allows you to respond instantly to real-time combat conditions. Unlike faction-based games, TERA unites players everywhere against truly dangerous foes: rampaging monsters, insidious demons, and the many horrors of a world torn apart by the gods

http://www.enmasse.com

Their Executive Team:

Dr. Jae-Heon Yang – CEO

Dr. Yang’s mission as CEO of En Masse Entertainment is to build a company with integrity; one that will strive to bring only the very best games to the Western market. A gamer at heart, he plays TERA every day, and views the company’s efforts to launch the game in North America as nothing less than a labor of love. Dr. Yang has contributed to games as a computer science academic, a gaming executive, and an online gaming visionary.

Dr. Yang holds a Ph.D in Computer Science from the University of Maryland at College Park, and taught computer science at KAIST. He transitioned into private industry to help game creators to fulfill their visions without getting in the way of the creative process. From 2005 to 2007 Dr. Yang was CTO of NCsoft. Today he leads the close-knit team at En Masse Entertainment.

Patrick Wyatt – COO

Widely respected as an industry leader, Patrick Wyatt has 19 years in the games industry. Starting as a creator of Blizzard’s legendary Warcraft and Starcraft franchises and writing Diablo’s multiplayer code, he went on to co-found ArenaNet, launch Guild Wars, and become CTO of NCsoft West. As a programmer, producer, and executive, Wyatt has had key roles in some of the gaming industry’s most vaunted franchises. As a developer, he has successfully helped build small companies into big ones, led the development efforts of best-selling game franchises, programmed virtually every aspect of game development, and specialized in developing state-of-the-art technologies required for AAA games.

As COO of En Masse Entertainment, Wyatt is responsible for the technical backbone and expertise that underlies all its properties including TERA, En Masse’s inaugural MMO project. He brings not only bountiful technical expertise to the role, but also well-earned business leadership gleaned from executive roles in three leading companies in the interactive industry.

Chris Lee – Publishing VP

Chris Lee is a respected games industry veteran of more than ten years who successfully managed the marketing for packaged goods and MMO franchises including Halo, Need for Speed, Age of Empires, and Aion at companies including Electronic Arts, Microsoft, and NCsoft before joining En Masse Entertainment in 2009. As Publishing VP, Lee is responsible for overseeing all facets of publishing, business development, and marketing. He is an integral part of the senior executive team and reports to En Masse CEO, Dr. Yang.

Throughout his career, Lee has been involved with the launch efforts of a series of hit franchises, and he brings savvy decision-making, great team leadership, the ability to create effective processes, and a wealth of experience developing very successful marketing campaigns that he will bring to bear on TERA, En Masse’s inaugural MMO project that will launch in North America and Europe in 2010.

Brian Knox – Senior Producer

Brian Knox’s MMO career has run the gamut from QA tester to game producer. Today he dedicates himself to bringing Korean games to western markets by employing the highest standards of quality in localization and testing. As Producer of Aion at NCsoft, Knox led the team that published the company's first true Western title, which became 2009’s largest and most anticipated MMO launch and secured dozens of industry awards and critical accolades.

As Senior Producer at En Masse Entertainment, Knox is responsible for production, project management, localization, and testing for all titles starting with the company’s inaugural MMO project, TERA. As En Masse ramps up, he looks forward to applying his passion and commitment to bringing TERA to the eager western audience. His goal is to put as much time and effort into localization and publishing as the talented team at Bluehole Studio has put into developing TERA.


-Interviewee Questions-

* Q: What is En Masse Entertainment?
A: En Masse is a recently formed publishing company dedicated to bringing players the best massively multiplayer online games in the world. Our first title will be TERA which is being developed by Bluehole Studio in South Korea.

* Q: Who are you and what do you do at En Masse?
A: My name is Brian Knox, and I'm the senior producer at En Masse Entertainment. I oversee the Westernization and localization process, QA, writing, and overall product quality for TERA, as well as future En Masse products.

* Q: What did you do before working on Tera Online?
A: I've worked at two MMO companies previously; most recently I served as producer on the MMORPG Aion.

-Character Customization-

* Q: What sort of character/class customization features (like talent points or skill points) will be available to players as they progress through the game?
A: We are working on ways to distinguish classes, such as skill trees, gear variety, and so on. In addition, with TERA’s unique combat system, I believe players themselves will help distinguish their characters by how they move and react in battle.

* Q: Is player housing planned for TERA's release?
A: Yes, we plan to have guild housing with perks for guild members such as teleporting, special buffs, and a space for community activities.

* Q: Will there be anything other than looks to distinguish races from one another?
A: As part of the Westernization process, we're developing unique racial backgrounds and distinctive "voices" for each race. You will definitely see racial differentiation in the game text and how characters interact with one another. We want users to choose their race based on personal preferences, not because one is better than the other. It's never fun to be forced to play a certain race because it is considered "superior" to other races.

-Gameplay-

* Q: Can you tell us more about the planned PvP system for TERA? Will it be entirely free-for-all in most areas? will there be safe areas?
TERA includes a system that allows players to declare PvP on other players. This system should allow players the freedom they desire in-game, while at the same time eliminating the ganking that can occur with open PvP.

* Q: Will there be any instanced PvP areas?
A: TERA has consensual PvP areas called "battlegrounds." You can form battle groups and fight for political gains, guild prestige, and loot, and you'll earn points that can be used for various guild improvements and political gains. Battlegrounds will also span multiple servers to increase participation and competition.

* Q: Does the company plan to support servers where PvP is everywhere (PvP servers) as well as servers where you have to flag yourself to be part of PvP (PvE servers)?
A: Yes. We expect to have both PvE and PvP servers. PvE servers will still have consensual PvP content such as battlegrounds and duels.

* Q: Will TERA have more open elite areas or more instanced elite areas?
A: There will be non-instanced dungeons, such as the Enchanted Castle, and instanced dungeons as well. We hope to provide a variety of both, because they'll each offer unique gameplay experiences.

* Q: What is the planned level cap for TERA?
A: Currently, the planned level cap is set at 60.

* Q Will players have the option to reach max level by both soloing and grouping?
A: The development team's main goal is to provide the most enjoyable and rewarding experience possible. That means we're focused on ensuring that the content that is the most rewarding is also the most enjoyable. Right now, we're concentrating on group play and balance, but we do understand that you can’t always find a group that suits you. To address that, we're working hard to ensure that you'll have the ability to solo and still make substantial leveling progress. Grouping will be the fastest way to advance in TERA, and we're looking at ways to make it easy for players to find groups that fit their preferences.

* Q: Will players be able to quest all the way to max level?
Yes. Players will have group and solo quests to play throughout the entire game.

* Q How many zones (regions) will TERA release with?
TERA will have 55+ zones at launch, many of which will offer multiple types of content per level range. You'll be able to go back and replay these zones with alternate characters to see entirely different content. We really want to encourage players to create and level alts, and we have a few tricks up our sleeve for those who enjoy creating and playing multiple characters.

-Economy/Political System-

* Q: Will TERA have an auction house system, a broker system or just personal shops?
A: TERA has what we call a Homunculus--a personal pet accessible to all characters on the same account. Your Homunculus can be set to buy and sell in a personal shop, as well as perform a few other cool tasks. We also plan to implement a broker system.

* Q: What can you tell us about the crafting system?
A: Crafting is very important in TERA. You'll be able to gather materials from monsters you hunt, as well as from minerals and plants in the world. As you level in TERA, it is very important to equip gear equal to your level or you won’t be nearly as powerful as you could be. Crafting will play a major role in keeping players geared up and performing at their best!

* Q: What can you tell us about the political system?
A: Not much right now! :) We expect that it will create a dynamic community on each server, where players strive to be a part of what we call the Circle of Archons. We hope to start releasing more details on this system soon, but for now, I can say that we're really excited by it. We think it's a unique endgame feature that will bring a lot to the TERA experience.
 

Nice stuff there to get excited about.  From what I read here it sounds like a core mix between L2 and WoW.  Hopefully it is nothing like Aion at endgame though, which was very boring and unrewarding.  I am trying to keep my expectations low for this one, but it is getting hard to do so.

So TERA will not move the MMO genre forward. We have seen this before... instances, zones, levels, duels etc and WoW clones (as proven over and over) just DO NOT work.

Nothing new and nothing different, I just don't understand these game developers anymore. :(

 I just don't understand this part:

* Q: Can you tell us more about the planned PvP system for TERA? Will it be entirely free-for-all in most areas? will there be safe areas?

TERA includes a system that allows players to declare PvP on other players. This system should allow players the freedom they desire in-game, while at the same time eliminating the ganking that can occur with open PvP.

I think I can safely say that when a player ganks another player that they are most assuredly "declaring pvp" on that player.

Originally posted by Sovrath

 I just don't understand this part:

* Q: Can you tell us more about the planned PvP system for TERA? Will it be entirely free-for-all in most areas? will there be safe areas?

TERA includes a system that allows players to declare PvP on other players. This system should allow players the freedom they desire in-game, while at the same time eliminating the ganking that can occur with open PvP.

 

I think I can safely say that when a player ganks another player that they are most assuredly "declaring pvp" on that player.

I think they mean you have to ask someone for a duel/PVP match before you can PVP, like in LOTRO, WoW and the rest

Not really pvp imo O_o
 

Basically, you select that you want to attack someone, wait 5 seconds, and then you can attack them.  Once you've decided to "declare PvP" on someone, they get a warning message that is up for 5 seconds letting them know they're about to be attacked.

edit: SgtFrog, its not quite challenging someone to a duel, as they don't have the option to decline it.  Its just a system to give people a warning that they're about to be attacked. 

Originally posted by Vorruga

Basically, you select that you want to attack someone, wait 5 seconds, and then you can attack them.  Once you've decided to "declare PvP" on someone, they get a warning message that is up for 5 seconds letting them know they're about to be attacked.

 

edit: SgtFrog, its not quite declaring a duel, as they don't have the option to decline it.  Its just a system to give people a warning that they're about to be attacked. 

That actually makes sense so that there are no surprises.

However, I don't think that's going to work the way they want it to. Person A stands next to someone, declares pvp, Person B runs because they are much lower, Person A follows for 5 seconds and "whammo!"

Free port to town with all the dirt you can eat! 

Some people may not like it, but its necessary in the game.  Since TERA doesn't have a targeting system, a lot of the abilities that you see have an area of effect (ie, when a Slayer swings his big ol' 2-hand sword, it'll hit everyone in his swing arc, not just the person right in front of him).  There's a lot of opportunity to accidentally hit people running by while you're fighting if you didn't have to intentionally say HEY, I'MMA KILL YOU NOW

Originally posted by Vorruga

Some people may not like it, but its necessary in the game.  Since TERA doesn't have a targeting system, a lot of the abilities that you see have an area of effect (ie, when a Slayer swings his big ol' 2-hand sword, it'll hit everyone in his swing arc, not just the person right in front of him).  There's a lot of opportunity to accidentally hit people running by while you're fighting if you didn't have to intentionally say HEY, I'MMA KILL YOU NOW

That's a very good point!

Didn't think of that.

There is one very big flaw with a publishing company.They claim to run customer support,i have seen this customer support before from publishers,it is a large fail.The reason is that no matter what they want,the owner of the game Bluehole makes ALL decisions.If you have any problems,it is their job to decide if it warrants being sent on to Bluehole.From my past experience in many games like this,MOST do not get past on,it takes a large proportion of the players to have the same issues before they act.

Another thing you can expect is that Publishers usually sign some form of Event contract,however they will only meet the fact that they actually run an event,the actual event will be something that takes 5 minutes to prepare and be as fun as going to the dentist.It really is a bad picture i am painting but i have been in all these types of games and this is based on F2P where the Publisher might have some incentive to keep customers happy.This will be a P2P game,so the publisher will do only the minimum their contract calls for.They will run a forum,expect tons of bans,they will operate a support ticket,but never follow up on tickets,except to send an automated confirmation to your email,and the boring events,expect lots of frustrated players trying to deal with a publisher.

I really am looking forward to this game,but if and when we find problems,don't expect any changes or fixes.

Originally posted by Vorruga

Basically, you select that you want to attack someone, wait 5 seconds, and then you can attack them.  Once you've decided to "declare PvP" on someone, they get a warning message that is up for 5 seconds letting them know they're about to be attacked.

 

edit: SgtFrog, its not quite challenging someone to a duel, as they don't have the option to decline it.  Its just a system to give people a warning that they're about to be attacked. 

ah, thanks for clearing that up ^^

Originally posted by Vorruga

 

edit: SgtFrog, its not quite challenging someone to a duel, as they don't have the option to decline it.  Its just a system to give people a warning that they're about to be attacked. 

Hmmm, sort of like when I was younger and my mother would announce that because we were misbehavin' she was going to come in and give us a beatin'.

I couldn't decline it but it would give my brother and I enough time to stick magazines down the back of our pants.

I'm really looking forward to this game. I hope it's out before 2011, but to say that is mostly just me dreaming. Characters look great, the world looks gorgeous, and there seem to be lots of customization for both characters and skills. My only complaint? The group focus of the game. It is my opinion that group focus games generally don't do so well from Korean games as they tend to decline in numbers after a while, making it difficult to find groups unless some form of system is in place that allows high levels to "Shrink" levels to party with low levels.

I hope they decide to allow for a full advancement via single player while allowing people who group faster leveling. That would keep both people happy.

~Miles "Tails" Prower out! Catch me if you can!

Originally posted by drumchannell

So TERA will not move the MMO genre forward. We have seen this before... instances, zones, levels, duels etc and WoW clones (as proven over and over) just DO NOT work.

Nothing new and nothing different, I just don't understand these game developers anymore. :(

Nobody cares about moving the genre forward. All we want is a polished mmo thats full of content and fun to play.

---

Originally posted by Miles-Prower

I'm really looking forward to this game. I hope it's out before 2011, but to say that is mostly just me dreaming. Characters look great, the world looks gorgeous, and there seem to be lots of customization for both characters and skills. My only complaint? The group focus of the game. It is my opinion that group focus games generally don't do so well from Korean games as they tend to decline in numbers after a while, making it difficult to find groups unless some form of system is in place that allows high levels to "Shrink" levels to party with low levels.

I hope they decide to allow for a full advancement via single player while allowing people who group faster leveling. That would keep both people happy.

~Miles "Tails" Prower out! Catch me if you can!

---

A: The development team's main goal is to provide the most enjoyable and rewarding experience possible. That means we're focused on ensuring that the content that is the most rewarding is also the most enjoyable. Right now, we're concentrating on group play and balance, but we do understand that you can’t always find a group that suits you. To address that, we're working hard to ensure that you'll have the ability to solo and still make substantial leveling progress. Grouping will be the fastest way to advance in TERA, and we're looking at ways to make it easy for players to find groups that fit their preferences."
 
Find the full interview HERE

Originally posted by Vorruga

 

---

Originally posted by Miles-Prower

 

I'm really looking forward to this game. I hope it's out before 2011, but to say that is mostly just me dreaming. Characters look great, the world looks gorgeous, and there seem to be lots of customization for both characters and skills. My only complaint? The group focus of the game. It is my opinion that group focus games generally don't do so well from Korean games as they tend to decline in numbers after a while, making it difficult to find groups unless some form of system is in place that allows high levels to "Shrink" levels to party with low levels.

I hope they decide to allow for a full advancement via single player while allowing people who group faster leveling. That would keep both people happy.

 

~Miles "Tails" Prower out! Catch me if you can!

---

 
This was taken from a recent interview done by TeraFans.com with En Masse:
 "Q Will players have the option to reach max level by both soloing and grouping?

 

A: The development team's main goal is to provide the most enjoyable and rewarding experience possible. That means we're focused on ensuring that the content that is the most rewarding is also the most enjoyable. Right now, we're concentrating on group play and balance, but we do understand that you can’t always find a group that suits you. To address that, we're working hard to ensure that you'll have the ability to solo and still make substantial leveling progress. Grouping will be the fastest way to advance in TERA, and we're looking at ways to make it easy for players to find groups that fit their preferences."
 
Find the full interview HERE

Or.....

You could read the first page of the thread. Could work, I don't know..

Originally posted by Mannish

Originally posted by drumchannell

So TERA will not move the MMO genre forward. We have seen this before... instances, zones, levels, duels etc and WoW clones (as proven over and over) just DO NOT work.

Nothing new and nothing different, I just don't understand these game developers anymore. :(

 

Nobody cares about moving the genre forward. All we want is a polished mmo thats full of content and fun to play.

I agree!!! I don't need to have some earthmoving monumental new take on the genre.

Originally posted by Sawlstone

Originally posted by Mannish

Originally posted by drumchannell

So TERA will not move the MMO genre forward. We have seen this before... instances, zones, levels, duels etc and WoW clones (as proven over and over) just DO NOT work.

Nothing new and nothing different, I just don't understand these game developers anymore. :(

 

Nobody cares about moving the genre forward. All we want is a polished mmo thats full of content and fun to play.

 

I agree!!! I don't need to have some earthmoving monumental new take on the genre.

Exactly!

Things improve incrementally, with very occasional bursts of innovation.

The combustion engine has remained fundamentally the same for the last hundred years, yet no-one looks at a Bugatti Veyron and says "Nothing new and nothing different, I just don't understand these car manufacturers anymore".

If you need something totally different to entertain you, you probably need to look elsewhere entirely.

Aryas

I have to disagree a bit with the whole engine analogy. Alot of manufacturers have been trying to make alternate engines to run their cars today because of the fact the the combustion engine isnt all that great. So there are a mass of people out there saying, "What are those car companies thinking, making the same thing again?"

The mmo genre has be trying to improve just as cars have been trying to improve. Some people are just afraid of the change and say i just want to play the same game over again. While others say they want something new.

For me, I am looking for something to move the genre foward toward a bit more of a action mmo something like Phanasy Star Universe or Monster Hunter but a bit more open as this game seems to be. The whole Everquest/WoW thing is getting to be a bit boring. But that is just for me, I cant speak for others.

Hopefully this game delivers! =)

Tera is going to be more of an action type game. Alot of games are comming that are more action type but all of these games are Asian which I love but most people hate. I dont like Western mmos. I have tried them all and just dont see how people play these go fetch x go kill x type games but then again I know alot of people dont see how somebody like me can play Lineage II for 5 years which is a grind type game.

If you looking for more action look up Mabinogi Heroes, Continent Of The Ninth ( AKA C9 ), Blade & Soul, Berkanix and Dragon Nest. These are the games I am looking forward to because I too am looking for some action.