There are only some OLD topics for this so I figured I would start a new one since I wrote too much. Short background: Since CoH I've had short (but more than a month) stays playing CO, TSW, Black Desert.
Maybe Tera has improved or maybe I don't have the same criteria as other posters here on Titan. Either way I have to say my 2 weeks playing Tera has been a very nice experience. Here's good, bad and "meh" followed by specific details for those with longer attention spans.
The GOOD:
- Combat mechanic feel like a hybrid of FPS, fighting game and MMO.
- Large and beautiful maps.
- Nice cut scenes.
- Dungeons can be soloed if you are patient and tactical.
- Always available content/missions.
- Flying mounts.
- PVE-only servers.
- Teleports (via both scrolls and kiosks).
- Pretty fast leveling (at least from what I've done up to level 56).
- World Map, journal and mini-map for the attention-span and memory challenged (I'm both!)
- Gathering! I know that doesn't appeal to most but I am weird m'kay?
The BAD:
- Misogynistic characters and NPCs.
The MEH:
- Typical kill this / find that / go see him or her content and trite story lines.
- Lockboxes (but they can be ignored, and you get some free keys here and there unlike CO)
- Cash Shop (nothing really pay-to-win though, just underwear, faster travel, and typical costume weirdness).
- Automatic follow-ups assigned to the space bar/key so you cannot jump if that's popped up (very bizarre, but mostly ignorable -- just map jump to Z and you're over it).
- There seems to really be one long story arc that everyone goes through, with lots of side stories if you care.
- Most areas have very dense mobs spots that respawn very fast -- like 10 seconds after you kill the thing it reappears.
- Seems too easy for non-combat types to kill stuff. I'm not really complaining since I like killing stuff when it's only in a PVE context.
The Unknown:
- There is crafting, but I haven't bothered yet (I have stacks of materials in my bank)
So here are the noteworthy specifics of some of the above points:
COMBAT MECHANICS: The best thing about Tera is the combat mechanics. It takes getting used to having your primary attack on your left mouse click. The escape button toggles between this mode and "use the mouse to click on GUI elements like what you are used to). Doing things this way makes Tera play a little like a FPS -- you click on stuff to hit it or shoot at it. Combine this with the more typical 1-9 keys and F1-F9 keys, meaningful combos and follow-up hit bonuses and you get something that plays like a hybrid FPS/fighting game/MMO. It's also fast-paced and twitchy more than tab-targeted MMOs. The combat in Tera just FEELS satisfying. You blast away, jump around, hop away from telegraphed AoEs and it all "acts right". If you jump out of a telegraphed incoming melee attack, it will actually miss. Some of the ranged attacks do the "follow you around the corner" thing we all know from CoX though. The combat graphics look great too -- one movement glides into the next without the "back to standing straight up" posing in between.
DUNGEON SOLOING: The reason I list solo-able dungeons is that some games (TSW comes to mind) you ABSOLUTELY WILL FAIL unless you have 1 tank, 1 healer and 3 DPS, and all 5 have to be well trained and decently geared. This is great for the people who need that sort of elite near-impossibility, but for me it was too much like a job. In Tera I am playing a Mystic (jack of all trades but strictly classified as a healer). I have pets, one tank-like and one blaster-like. I have crowd controls (sleeps, slows, confuses). I have team buff toggles that cost endurance (think "leadership pool"). So I can take down a dungeon boss if I am careful about having the tanky pet out, having the blasty pet parked in the right spot to keep applying damage, and if I keep refreshing them without significant gaps, I can debuff and blast away at the boss and heal myself or jump away as needed. So, unlike many games, Tera allows me to solo ALL of the content, because there are those days when I just don't want to team.
ALWAYS SOMETHING TO DO: Tera has a window for "vanguard missions" that you can do. Most are "kill 10 of these guys over there". If you follow the main story arc (red question marks, asterisks and exclamations in your HUD and journal) you will level along enough to match the unfolding chain and probably even get ahead of it a little. If you follow the side missions (yellow exclamations), you will outlevel the main story for sure, but you can still go back and burn through it. In the very unlikely event you get behind, there are endless vanguard missions with XP rewards. There are even "teleport me there" buttons. It couldn't be more stupidly simple or ridiculously convenient.
FLYING MOUNTS: I spent $14 in the cash shop to get a flying mount. They have lots of "MAYBE" cash shop items, but I know how that game works with cash shop games. Tera at least gives one the option of just paying $14 to get exactly what you want instead of $5 twenty times. The flying horse I got works in MOST zones (there are some "no fly" open zones, and you cannot use any mount at all in dungeons). It seems like a reasonable price to fly again. It also allows you to see more of the gorgeous artwork and modeling in the game, and to fly over the very thick mobs.
PVE/PVP: The worst thing about BD was that after level 45 if you left a city/safe zone (which was maybe 2% of the world map), other players could kill you at will, and you'd lose things. It didn't happen as much as I expected, but it did happen enough to turn me off. Tera has PVE and PVP servers and even something where you only go PVP after the level cap (65 atm). Since I have zero desire for PVP, I appreciate having the option in Tera.
TELEPORTING: The second-worst thing about BD was that you had to ride from point A to point B, every time, period. Tera not only has kiosks that can teleport you, but area where you can grab a Pegasus or Dragon flight through a stargate to another part of the map. If you have gone somewhere on the map the hard way once, then you are "familiar" with it and can take a ride or teleport there in the future. And certain vendors will also sell you "teleport scrolls" which are single-use items to take you to any major city or dungeon entrance. Pretty darned convenient.
YOU CANNOT GET LOST: The mission window has links to the contact that bring up the world map (which can be zooned in or out several levels). ALL of your contacts for ALL of your active missions show up here as red question marks, exclamation points or asterisks (not sure what the differences are really). Your mission list and journal have links so contact names, cities, etc. bring up the map with the spot highlighted. If you are hunting 10 of whatever in the open world, the maps even show where they can be found, number coded to match what shows in your mission list. You really would have to be incredibly dumb to not be able to find things. The only exception I've found is that you can click a little "close it forever" X on items in the mission list, and I don't know of any way to make those re-appear. The key to getting those back on track is to zoom all the way out on the world map, and those red ? ! or * will still be there, so you can still find the contact and pick back up. Once you do that the NEXT STEP of the chain will actually appear in your mission window.
MISOGYNY: Too many female characters are scantily clad or semi-nude. I can see how someone could be offended. For me it's just an unwanted distraction, but a minor one.
DENSE MOBS: This can actually be annoying at times. When you are trying to grind, it's nice to not even have to FIND mobs. You can cycle between 3 or 4 spawn spots and just repeat indefinitely. But if you are trying to get somewhere, it's like being the wrong gang affiliation walking through the wrong part of south central. Flying mounts solve this problem for most cases -- you just fly over them.
IN CONCLUSION: I have no idea how long I will last in Tera, but after 2 weeks or so I got a non-combat class to level 56 and I have thoroughly enjoyed the journey without feeling ripped off, compelled to spend lots of money or disappointed in the content. There are a few other classes I can try, and I haven't even messed with crafting yet, so I think there is some staying power here.