MMORPG.com's Garrett Fuller takes a look at the way many MMOs are moving to a more action-based style of combat. Leading the way and touting this style as one of its major features is TERA, set to be published in North America by En Masse. Garrett takes a look at action combat and its impact on players. Check it out!

One of the major differences in MMOs vs. Action RPGs has always been combat. In MMOs we have the hot bar, in action RPGs we have skills, moves, and combos that work to bring down foes. Age of Conan started this trend with a unique combat system that players could use in fights, but it still used a hot bar system. The action combat added to MMOs is really starting to move in a stronger direction and TERA is heralding its approach. TERA’s combat system is a focus of the game design which gives players a lot of options when fighting opponents.

Read more TERA: Action Combat.

This game is only combat and nothing else.

No skill specialization and theres nothing unique except from combat.

I dont trust ncsoft nor ncsoft dev teams after aion's major fail.

Originally posted by reignjuste

This game is only combat and nothing else.

No skill specialization and theres nothing unique except from combat.

I dont trust ncsoft nor ncsoft dev teams after aion's major fail.

 

This game has no connections with NC... it's 'En Masse' and indeed, Aion failed major.. but still has enough players..

Imo this game will fail....its only combat..and not for everyones liking...

Among games like swtor and gw2 i see this game as just another asian game with a different combat...all looks no substance...Aion style.

Though FSS' Hellgate London went under, thus eventually loosing the IP license to the Korean company Hanbitsoft; however, one thing FSS got right was the marraige between action-fps/1st-3rd person combat w/ the rpg character progression.  You really did feel as though you were playing a true hybrid fps game with the progression of your character as you leveled and choose the skill/magic sets that suited your play style.

The question for Tera is will they be able to successfully marry the two genres as in Hellgate?  And more importantly, will they survive where FSS went under?

Perhaps only time will tell...

Originally posted by reignjuste

This game is only combat and nothing else.

No skill specialization and theres nothing unique except from combat.

I dont trust ncsoft nor ncsoft dev teams after aion's major fail.

How do you know?
It might be a good game, with lots of fun content.

I'm not trying to start a war here, and I'm not a fanboy, since I lean more towards "Rift: Planes of Telara"...

But I read somewhere that the westernization of this game is gonna be different from Aions, in that they are already, parallel to the development starting to make more quests, and I assume lessen the xp needed to lvl, and bump up the xp gained.

Aion is only just started to talk about giving Aion west a dev team of their own..

But noone knows, might be good, might be bad.

I don't think it's entirely fair to dismiss the game as "only combat and nothing else."  Sure, most of the marketed appeal is about the combat system, but it's a huge selling point for the game - and really the combat system is one of the biggest features of any mmo.

There's also other interesting features that don't get much press - such as the breadth/openness of the game world and the sheer amount of exploration you can do, or the political system.

It's probably not going to give us anything new in regards to the usual themepark questing system, but let's keep things in perspective.

Also, it's worth noting, like someone else mentioned, EnMasse is very different from NCSoft.  They are made up of former employees from Blizzard, Bungie, Xbox Live and more western companies - along with some former NCSoft employees.  They probably are quite familiar with what a western audience would expect.

I was on the fence about Tera. And then I saw the run animation for the female characters. Bent over with their asses in the air, and armor split open in the back so you can see their panties. lol

That is a red alert that the game doesn't have any substance, because if it was fun to play in the long term they wouldn't need to go that far into sexualizing female characters.

Ignorant people just baseing thier opinion on the fact that its a Korean MMO instead of on the game itself. Considering American MMOs track record as of late aren't any better then Koreans big titles, I don't see why people keep judging them so harshly without playing them. Saying TERA will fail cause Aion failed is like saying Rift will fail cause WAR failed. 

Originally posted by Normike

I was on the fence about Tera. And then I saw the run animation for the female characters. Bent over with their asses in the air, and armor split open in the back so you can see their panties. lol

 

That is a red alert that the game doesn't have any substance, because if it was fun to play in the long term they wouldn't need to go that far into sexualizing female characters.

 Lineage 2 was the same way, at least the Dark Elves was like that.

One major issue I have with the article is the implication that standard MMO combat is exciting and not repetitive but this combat would become very repetitive.

One of the things that has kept Asheron's Call interesting for so long is the fact that it is not the standard MMO combat. Just like TERA is doing, in AC you can move out of the way of spells/arrows and also put objects between the caster/archer and yourself which will absorb the projectiles. That is what keeps combat interesting, having to pay attention when you're involved in bigger battles (most of the PvE combat in AC is lots of creatures at once, and rarely is PvP 1v1 on Darktide).

I find standard MMO combat aka EQ/WoW/Clones style, to be the most boring combat ever invented in all of history. Sure there may be some "options" but you quickly figure out the exact order of number presses to win. You also rarely have to move much as spells/arrows/swings auto track and it is all a dice roll if you are hit or not. That means you just watch tv and keep hitting 2 3 2 4 2 2 2 6 over and over until you fall asleep from the boredom. I don't see how anyone can claim standard MMOs combat is anything but insanely boring.

You'd be surprised how fresh having to constantly move out of the way to avoid things can be, does swinging/casting the same spells get repetitive just like the standard MMOs? Yes of course, but the combat itself always stays more exciting.

I've gotten a chance to play PvE combat in TERA. It is fun but the level of mobs I was fighting were early levels so they were easy. If the AI/PvE combat stays that easy through out the game (which I would doubt), PvE would certainly get boring. But I am sure at higher levels it is more exciting and I would be shocked if group PvP battles weren't very exciting.

Originally posted by Normike

I was on the fence about Tera. And then I saw the run animation for the female characters. Bent over with their asses in the air, and armor split open in the back so you can see their panties. lol

That is a red alert that the game doesn't have any substance, because if it was fun to play in the long term they wouldn't need to go that far into sexualizing female characters.

 

Wow, a company that has something that makes females look sexy ... how dare they! *sarcasm off* What kind of man would have a problem with this? Well, I guess you are from San Francisco.

there are 2 ways this game could go:

1. unique blend of character specific moves that are well integreated into a fluid combat system that makes every class different, and deep and customizable, and yet still fluid and fun.

2. every character has different animations, but overall everyone is doing  the same thing: clicking left mouse button repeatedly to "attack" while their opponent dodges and rolls around making it hard to hit them.

my problem with this no-targeting combat system is that it lets the devs think it's a fighting game and not an RPG game. fighting games allow you to punch and kick in 20 different ways. spready across a bunch of different character classes and everyone gets a max of what...2 or 3 unique moves?

Originally posted by splad

there are 2 ways this game could go:

1. unique blend of character specific moves that are well integreated into a fluid combat system that makes every class different, and deep and customizable, and yet still fluid and fun.

2. every character has different animations, but overall everyone is doing  the same thing: clicking left mouse button repeatedly to "attack" while their opponent dodges and rolls around making it hard to hit them.

my problem with this no-targeting combat system is that it lets the devs think it's a fighting game and not an RPG game. fighting games allow you to punch and kick in 20 different ways. spready across a bunch of different character classes and everyone gets a max of what...2 or 3 unique moves?

 

Well, only 2 classes can dodge. Also, each class in unique in how they attack over all and the skills are also unique to the classes.

Originally posted by Otakun

*snip*

Wow, a company that has something that makes females look sexy ... how dare they! *sarcasm off* What kind of man would have a problem with this? Well, I guess you are from San Francisco.

I get where you are coming from, but did you see the video?  If you play a female character, you WILL have nasty whore-like panties in your face 24/7.  It's the difference between looking sexy and putting a sign on your ass "Will blowjob for food."

Originally posted by reignjuste

This game is only combat and nothing else.

No skill specialization and theres nothing unique except from combat.

I dont trust ncsoft nor ncsoft dev teams after aion's major fail.

 

Sorry to disappoint you but Tera is an mmo, and will have everything you see in other title's like crafting, Lore, Quest, political system, guild housing, group play.

skill specialization in tera has more to do with your ability to dodge, move and position your char and less to do about selecting skills from a skill tree or adding points to your char stats.

Yea I really don't trust NCsoft either, that is why I am leary of GW2.  Luckly Tera has En masse as a publisher.

Originally posted by bansan

Originally posted by Otakun

*snip*

Wow, a company that has something that makes females look sexy ... how dare they! *sarcasm off* What kind of man would have a problem with this? Well, I guess you are from San Francisco.

I get where you are coming from, but did you see the video?  If you play a female character, you WILL have nasty whore-like panties in your face 24/7.  It's the difference between looking sexy and putting a sign on your ass "Will blowjob for food."

If I play a castonic female cause its only that race sex combination that looks like that for one thing, I will be choosing that with that in mind. Also, it only shows like that if your wearing cloth armor. So If I decide to play a castonic female spellcaster then I am pretty sure I would be aware of that fact. Though calling them "whore-like panties" just shows how sexist you really are, a woman cannot dress sexy without being called a whore? It's a game, if you don't like it then play a different race or sex.

Their running animation is a sign that Bluehole put effort into making the races different in more ways then just texture and colors but most of the closed minded people on here wouldn't think that far, would you? No, you wouldn't, cause like most people alls you can think of is porn and sex and its all you focus on. TERA shows how immature the american audience is with anything remotely sexual. I would just like that one person who reads this takes it to heart instead of being offended. What some people take as "whore-like" I take as being different. Maybe some of you people who find this such a big deal should hunt down the people who have there unclothed night elves dancing in stormwind. It don't matter the game, people will find a way to make it sexual, just deal with it.

A lot of MMORPG's are actually "MMO-combat-quests".

If these games about 60% of gametime is COMBAT, then it should be better quality and about time.

I like this development, playing with loads of ppl where the combat is great could be a great experience.

But I'd like for new MMO titles to have more interactive options in addition to combat, next.

I get where you are coming from, but did you see the video?  If you play a female character, you WILL have nasty whore-like panties in your face 24/7.  It's the difference between looking sexy and putting a sign on your ass "Will blowjob for food."

 

Thats ONE race. The High Elves dont run like that, the Humans dont run like that, the Amani dont run like that and the popori dont run like that either. Castanics are Succubi. They are SUPPOSED to be demonic whores. Your point? If you dont like it, play a different race. Or, hell, just dont play female castanics.

Originally posted by Otakun

Originally posted by Normike

I was on the fence about Tera. And then I saw the run animation for the female characters. Bent over with their asses in the air, and armor split open in the back so you can see their panties. lol

That is a red alert that the game doesn't have any substance, because if it was fun to play in the long term they wouldn't need to go that far into sexualizing female characters.

 

Wow, a company that has something that makes females look sexy ... how dare they! *sarcasm off* What kind of man would have a problem with this? Well, I guess you are from San Francisco.

Edit: So it's just one race that runs like that? Something to keep in mind I guess.

Although having a different standard of dress for females in combat and calling it sexy is... weird. If it's a racial thing and both genders of that race dress in a similar way then yeah sure.  But when you put the males in big tough threatening armor and put the females in next to nothing and say "yea that's sexy"... uhh, it's kinda more sexist than sexy.