As we celebrate the New Year, it seems like a good opportunity to reflect on an amazing 2010 and look forward to even more amazing 2011. So here we go!
There isn’t any other way to say it: 2010 was a huge year for TERA. We debuted the game at GDC and kept that momentum rolling through E3 and PAX, all while releasing tidbits of new information and assets from our internal teams. We were all psyched to see the great responses from our efforts, which made us even more pumped and invested in continuing to realize our dreams and vision for a new kind of MMO game experience. This is a testament to the dedicated team here at En Masse Entertainment and our fantastic development partner Bluehole Studio. More importantly we were able to spend our time focusing on you, the fans of TERA: meeting you all at events, working with the TERA fan sites, interacting on our forums, and most importantly playing TERA with you in our Focus Group Tests.
Our 2010 Focus Group Tests were critical in helping learn what players wanted to see in TERA. We have talked a lot about Westernizing TERA here at En Masse, but our focus group tests went above expectations to improve TERA for the west; they actually helped improve the game for all markets. For those who participated, you’ll start to see the benefits of your feedback implementations as early as the Korean launch. Small things--such as tweaking run speed, improved UI--to complete system implementations like the achievement system, controller implementation, swimming, and the glyph system all resulted from the feedback cycle, and you were instrumental in that process.
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But we aren’t satisfied--and won’t be--until the game can live up to the hype we have given it this past year. TERA is one of the most hotly anticipated PC titles of 2011, and with this anticipation comes the pressure to deliver. I’m happy to say that it’s not just the external pressure that drives us, but also an internal belief in the game as well as sense of pride that thrives here at En Masse--we are working our butts off to create a game and service that will deliver. I can honestly say that I am seriously amped up about 2011 because this is when it all comes together--as the game releases this year and the whole world sees TERA for themselves.
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2011 sounds crazy to me, it sounds so...futuristic! If you look around at how we go about our lives it may seem normal, but think back to your daily routine just five years ago and you’ll see how ‘future’ we’ve become. (That said, I still don’t have my flying car.) 2011 will be a year of justifying gadgets for my daughter--she needs the iPad 2 right? I mean what will the other two-year-olds say? One big event I can’t wait for is the conclusion to the Harry Potter movies. Even now I am trying to figure out a way to hide my tears during the movie (spoiler alert...or is it?). Game-wise, I’m pumped to check out the next Uncharted and to see what interesting concepts game developers can come up with for the Kinect. The last decade in games has been more exciting each year, and I doubt 2011 will disappoint.
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Without giving too much away, let me just say that there’ll be lots more exciting news and opportunities for players to anticipate this year. With that, I want to wrap up and say, once again, thank you everyone for a great first year. We have a lot to look forward to in 2011, and for all those looking forward to TERA, I assure you we are working hard to deliver a game we can all be proud of.
