Today, TG and I were questing in Taris on Empire characters for the first time. We’ve seen Taris several times on the Republic side, but these are our highest level Empire characters to date. We’ve even, finally, passed our Imperial Agents that we’d had so much fun with.

Anyway, while working on some quest or another, we were sent to sabotage some sort of vehicle that had a rather less-than-obvious thing to click on to spawn the elite we needed to kill. TG took a cursory glance at the ship and failed to see the clicky thing. Unfortunately, he turned around. And, of course, this is what he saw:

You see that lovely blue glow? Well, while I was busy clicking on the sabotage point to kill some quest mob, TG thought that this would be a lovely time to investigate the death of this Mysterious Jedi.

It was a pretty exciting moment when TG came running over to pull the elite off my poor Andronikos once I noticed the huge worm he was dragging behind him.

As it turns out, the worm was The Ancient One, a Heroic World Boss. A Heroic World Boss clearly designed for more than two people to take on.

My companion, Andronikos, was frightened into submission for the duration of battle. Strangely, it seemed that his twin, Andronikos, that TG happened to meet in the same place that I met my Andronikos, was also a little wigged out by the Worm of Doom.

They were no help.

“Well, that’s not so mysterious now.”

Oh, TG. You’re so silly.

In relevant but more personal news, I got an email from Amazon this morning saying that the Razer Hex mouse we ordered for me could arrive as early as the 24th. It would be wonderful to have it early enough to use it for this beta test, but I’m just looking forward to updating my mouse a bit. Once I’ve had a chance to really test it out, I’ll hopefully be able to post about how much I adore it. Though, I think I might just be thrilled to tears just by having more than one thumb button to make use of, so it might be more of a squee than a review. But, I guess that’s really not atypical for this blog, right?

Also, TG and I are actually having an enjoyable time doing alt PvE things. We’re still holding on to you for now, SWTOR, but I’m on to you.

You see, we spent last night trying to enjoy a few SWTOR warzones on our lowbie Commando/Sage combo, and after the second game we sat in queue for nearly 30 minutes before finally giving up and logging off. This was smack in the middle of prime time, mind you.

After we were unable to come to any sort of choice regarding our gaming future, TG put some anime on Hulu, and I played The Sims 2 while listening to an audiobook. Oh, and I did try puttering around on Neopets too for a while. Now that’s bored.

Tonight we’ll be playing some lowbie PvE with our friends on our server. Maybe that will be a nice change of pace. I’ll have to try to remember to take screenshots.

But this distraction doesn’t change the fact that we’re coming to a point of forced decision; our billing cycle for SWTOR will be up again soon. Do we subscribe another month? The fact that we’re asking this obviously means the answer should be no, but what do we do instead if we cancel?

I can’t handle any confrontation or criticism (implied or directly stated), even when I’m just hearing something aimed at other people. These kinds of things leave me shaking and fighting back tears. Even a too-strongly-worded “wrong way” to the Huttball ball carrier can leave me near to hyperventilation.

Sometimes I even have to log off and cry, but that’s usually when the perceived attack is aimed at me. Other things can set me off too, like an enemy taunting me (even chaining /laugh at me really triggers me). A few days ago, an Empire character said to TG’s Vanguard “Your screams of agony are delicious [misspelled character name]” which really bothered me.

Because of all this, I was a little wary about posting my most recent post about how I’m just kind of over SWTOR. I knew that a surplus of fans would be at the ready to champion their game, just as I mentioned in my post. Fortunately I’m not very popular, so it’s not like thousands of forum-goers were going to show up and argue me back into the game.

So, I really wasn’t surprised when I got called out on Twitter by one person. I did delight a little in the fact that, even though I posted that I felt it was ridiculous to be expected to wait around for the game to get good, I was being prompted to just give it time. But, overall? It really stressed me out.

Nothing mean was said in the least. Even just that little of what I perceived to be an attack made me weak in the knees. I know many people would just suggest that I get a thicker skin before going online, but, really? Would you suggest someone with depression just be a little happier before trying to life?

I have mental health issues that affect all social interactions that I take part in. For crying out loud, I’m terrified of the checker at the grocery store telling me I slid my card through the reader incorrectly. TG has to do most of the shopping because of this.

I’m not trying to ask the Internet to treat me with kid gloves, but I think it would be nice for everyone to try to remember that there’s a human on the other side of that character who might be terrified to tears when you start trash talking.

But what games do? These game companies make grandiose promises that they eventually can’t stand by (siege vehicles promised on the cover of vanilla WoW, for example), and we’re just expected to smile and accept the letdowns.

When these shortcomings get brought up, there are countless fans at the ready to champion their game. After all, everyone knows that an MMO needs six months after launch before it’s ready, before it’s fair to cast criticisms.

And, anyone who dislikes a new title is just doing it wrong, obviously. You either rushed to max level, or you’re trying to solo in a multiplayer game, or maybe your character is just too tall. Either way, it’s obviously your fault, not the game’s.

So, I am obviously at fault for being unhappy with SWTOR. And, you know what? I find that ridiculous. If its possible to rush to 50 and wind up bored, isn’t that a fault of the game? If server populations are so lacking that I can’t get a warzone match to go in a reasonable amount of time outside of prime time, isn’t that a sign that maybe something is wrong?

But, okay, maybe I am being too critical, or my expectations are ridiculously high. But I just wasn’t anticipating not being a casual enough player for this game. I’m really not into leveling alts for the rest of eternity, and it looks like that’s the majority of this game (which, I admit, I should have realized since that’s what everyone kept saying).

I knew I wasn’t going to raid. I knew I wasn’t going to do dungeons after trying out a few in the beta. I thought I would enjoy PvP, but Ilum turned out to be a complete snore, and I can’t believe how grating the warzones have become. So, of course, that leaves leveling new characters. In a story-based MMO, that should be a total blast. But, unfortunately, BioWare copped out and forces everyone to do the same side missions alongside the unique class story quests.

And, while we’re at it, if they’re so adamant about Advanced Classes being completely separate classes, why do they share the same story? Why is TG’s Commando playing the exact same game that his Vanguard did? I used to be a big time proponent of disallowing the switch between Advanced Classes, but after seeing what I’ve seen, I’d be fine with one or two switches, so you could see what you were missing out on. How are you supposed to understand the inner-workings of your class choice at level 10? You’d never know you made a mistake until far enough along that re-rolling would be painful.

Is there some reason that each class couldn’t have completely unique content? They invested so much into this game with the voice acting, and it seems like such a waste. You could still funnel players along the same planets and areas so they could group or work together, but it wouldn’t have to be so redundant to roll a new alt. And, seriously, BioWare? You stuck all of the lowbie dungeons on the Fleets? I get the convenience of them being there, but how are lowbies supposed to get a group? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to have entrances to them out in the planets? “Oh, look, I’ve mostly wrapped up Tatooine, now all I have are these optional dungeon quests for Awesome Dungeon of Tatooine-ness. Cool! And, look, people are shouting out here in Tatooine that they’re looking for one more. How perfect is that?”

Yup.

I hate my Scoundrel. But only because she’s 50. If she were playable, it might be different. I just don’t want to stand around all night hoping for a warzone to pop.

I’m not sure what could fix SWTOR for me at this point. I fear that populations on our server might get even lower with the news of character transfers soon-to-be-available for Asia-Pacific markets, and I’ve already expressed my fears over the Ranked Warzone implementation.

And, their customer service sure isn’t helping things.

My collector’s edition didn’t even come with a security key.

I’m just mad. I really don’t think I should be paying $15 a month for a game I have grown to hate ($30 if you count TG’s subscription). That’s why we quit WoW all those times really. And, honestly, we both agree that we’d rather be playing battlegrounds in WoW than standing around the Fleet hoping for a SWTOR warzone. They’re more or less the same anyway, right? At least I enjoy more of the WoW battlegrounds.

Pfft.

Look at that.

I’m actually justifying playing WoW again.

That’s just sick.

TG and I were able to get to the level cap this weekend (level 22), even after spending a good deal of time messing around on the different classes and races on Friday. We were able to take on our first BAMs (which, hilariously, actually stands for Big-Ass Monster) which really brought the game to a whole new plateau of awesome. A more competent blogger might have thought to get a screenshot or seventy at some point over the course of those fights, but, alas, competent I am not. The fight probably looked a little something like this YouTube trailer though.

But before we get too involved in really big things that hit ridiculously hard, I have been trying to look at Tera incredibly critically. After feeling like I’ve been hoodwinked by SWTOR, I’m really not sure I want to fall for another game only to have it let me down with a lack of content that I find fun. But, hearing that originally endgame content for Tera revolved around just the BAM content, we’re thinking that shouldn’t be a problem. So, TG and I both dug deep to find every flaw we could. We don’t want to glorify something (once again) that we shouldn’t.

I already mentioned the channel-changing-while-zoning issue in my previous post, which is really a small issue; fortunately, changing channels is really easy. Some players will be put off by the very basic quests available or the linearity of questing, and I’ve heard complaints of the lore lacking in depth. Some players might actually find combat off-putting for its difficulty later in the game, even though they complain about it being easymode on the starter island, because many seem to still be playing the rush-in-and-tank-because-the-healer’s-got-me game that Tera isn’t and most other MMOs are.

But, really, the biggest and only issue that we’ve got with Tera right now is the fact that we have to wait until the end of April for this game to be playable for more than just every other weekend. It’s like this weekend was one big tease.

Tera’s combat feels delightfully natural. It’s the kind of scheme that feels intuitive and comfortable under your fingers. People who haven’t gotten beyond level 20 won’t have experienced the full extent of the game’s combat system though. Once the game gets passed its opening tutorial difficulty level and opens up to BAMs, the first dungeon, and even just harder quest monsters, actively dodging and evading attacks becomes a need rather than a lark. Suddenly, the choices you make really matter, and it’s a really cool experience.

Because of this, the game isn’t gear focused. At 22, we’re still wearing white jewelry and have only started getting green gear quest rewards recently. Upgrading gear will improve your damage output, of course, but an extra 2 Defense isn’t going to help you dodge that last charge. This is something that we, as non-raiding, non-grouping “casuals”, love. We don’t have to feel unable to complete content just because we can’t get the Great Big Shield of Win or the Boots of Kick Ass. TG and I will be able to, even in our lousy, whatever-we-could-scrape-together gear, wander around and put the beat down on some BAMs, as long as TG can react and time his defenses well. That is a major selling point for us. And, better still, content can get harder for those who choose to group or raid just by adding in additional mechanics like you’d expect of such content.

While the quests do remain bland, stock quests, the environments are what really shine and breathe life into the game, and enemy character models fit the theme of their area. The art in this game is over-the-top, and I can’t stop looking at it. The trees and landscapes are definitely worth stopping to admire in each new area. New gear upgrades range from simple recolors of what you’re already wearing to a complete overhaul of your character’s outfit. I find myself envying characters in the game for their wardrobes. Fierce red heels with strappy buckle detail? Yellow ankle boots with fishnet stockings? Gorgeous! Okay, so I’m a shoe girl, what can I say?

Tera also has a few smaller features that are nice additions worth mentioning. The in-game quest tracker doesn’t show you on the map where the quest objective (enemies or things to loot off the ground) can be found unless you specifically click on that objectives name in the quest log. We love this since it helps avoid that Blindly Following the Map Syndrome that typical quest trackers spark.

You are given a mount shortly after the starter planet, which is a delightful bonus that makes traveling and questing that much easier. There are two excellent things about mounting in Tera. Females ride mounts side saddle (and with a grace and poise that is just full of charm, might I add) which I find awesome, and mounts appear to be instant cast. You don’t actually need to stop in any way shape or form to get on or get off your mount. This is big for me, as I’m the kind of girl who will run around on foot for quite long distances simply because I find stopping to mount to be a needless pain.

Load times are nearly non-existent on our middle-of-the-road machines, which I was pleasantly surprised by. If we’re in a very populated city or quest hub, it can take a few seconds for all the character models to pop into view. Often NPCs will show up as gray silhouettes until they’ve had a chance to load as well in those situations. This can actually prove helpful if you’re trying to pick out a quest NPC amongst a ton of questers in a major city.

Right now, Tera is flooring me every step of the way. We come to a new area and I’m either mystified by the scenery or the enemies or just the entertainment value of the game as a whole. I’m having fun with the game in ways that I haven’t in a long time. Yes, SWTOR is fun. Yes, WoW can be fun. Yes, Lego Harry Potter is fun, but Tera feels like something new and different instead of a new volume of the same old story. I can’t wait to see where Tera takes us, and I hope it’s able to maintain its current momentum.

TG and I spent pretty most all of yesterday playing the first few levels of Tera. We tried different class combinations and basically started over and over and over, just to experience the different combat mechanisms and get a basic feel for each class.

Tera has broken their closed beta down into five weekends, and this first weekend’s is level capped at 22. There are two available servers with a limit of one character slot per server. A ton of people playing led to a very sizable queue (about an hour long) midday when we let ourselves get logged off the server for inactivity while I made lunch. It also didn’t help that one of the servers crashed and needed replacing for some technical reason.

The first thing that has to be said about actually playing Tera is that it is unbelievably gorgeous. This weekend’s test doesn’t even include their high-res textures, and my jaw hits the floor every time we come across another “OMG look at that!” moment. The character equipment even has detail and texture that actually makes it look like fabric or metal. I can’t wait to see how the high-res textures affect the overall game.

Tera’s biggest selling point, the thing that makes them different than all those other MMOs, is the combat. Finally, we are not locked in to tab targeting and mindless hotkey presses. Tera expects you to strategize your attacks in order to maintain defense through actively dodging or blocking attacks. More importantly, Tera expects you to aim your attacks more like an action RPG or FPS.

Two control schemes are available: using your mouse to aim and use abilities while you move with the keyboard or using a gamepad. The keyboard is mapped for you to move around using a modified WASD, where A and D are strafe keys, rather than turning keys like most MMOs, and D 180s you around rather than backs you up. Basically they’ve set up the keyboard to behave more like you were mouse running.

TG and I had worried that this system might be too hard for me. I’m not very comfortable with analog sticks, so the gamepad was most likely out, and I’ve never played anything that required mouse aiming. Then you add on trying to avoid attacks while doing all these new things, and I was concerned to say the least. Fortunately Tera doesn’t start with a steep learning curve. The entry level enemies are hardly dangerous. Failing to dodge their attacks wouldn’t be the end of the world. Though, it would probably teach you some awful habits.

But, prior to trying out combat, you’ve got to create a character. Gazimoff over at Mana Obscura has a great gallery of character creation screenshots to check out. What I love most about this system is that every race can be every class. I knew I’d make an Elin or Castanic, depending on the Elin’s customization options, so I definitely didn’t anticipate falling in love with the female human model.

I did try some of the other races, but the Elin was out due to her bushy squirrel tail clipping my Berserker’s axe handle, the Humans appealed to me more than the Castanics with their bent over run animation, and the less said about the massive assets of the High Elves, the better.

Between the two of us, we tried each class to level 7 or so (except, possibly the Mystic) but finally settled on going back to the very first classes we tried, a Warrior for TG and a Priest for me. None of the classes in this game are designed to sit back and rain down death from afar. Even the Sorcerer and Archer are designed so that they do less damage from farther away, and their abilities’ range is quite small at around 19 meters.

The Priest, which I took to level 11 yesterday, does her best damage at melee range but must be careful not to get walloped by attacks. Fairly early the Priest gets a damage dealing jump back ability that also slows the targets movement speed. That’s what this game is all about: reactive (and proactive) positioning.

The game isn’t designed to be a typical tank and spank in which the healer just heals all the damage the tank is soaking up. Even the tank needs to be actively avoiding incoming damage, and it makes for a really neat play experience.

As a healer who is leveling explicitly with a tank, I’ve healed very little. TG’s warrior bounds around the mobs, doing aerial flips to get behind just before they swing, while I dance around the sides throwing damage and leaping back out of harms way as needed. It sounds lithe and fluid, and once you get into the groove of things, it is in a strange way, but I’m shocked to hear people are disliking Tera’s gameplay. I’m hearing that it’s just a repackaging of Aion. Well, if that’s true, how did I miss that game?

People are upset that you have to physically stop to cast everything, even instant casts. That’s part of the finality of strategy though. If you make the choice to attack your foe at this moment, you’re choosing attack over defense, so, ideally, you’ve thought through your options and decided this was a safe moment to push. You aren’t going to be running around swinging your swords with no abandon in this game. If you get too caught up in spamming your attack combo and the mob swings, you’re going to take a hit. If you choose to dodge, and accidentally flip right into an incoming enemy’s attack, you’re stuck with the consequences of that choice. You can’t just flip right back out.

The problem, however, is that the game supposedly changes a fair bit as you level. Classes become more unique and differentiated. Gameplay gets a little more challenging and then enormously so with the endgame PvE and PvP. For example, the Berserker doesn’t even get their most useful PvP spell until the level cap at 58. People are leveling to 7, looking for an action title, and getting frustrated over not finding the game fast-paced enough. I think the Action MMO label is being misinterpreted. The “action” bit refers to actively taking actions rather than passively choosing a spell. All attacks and spells must be aimed in order to land, and you must account for movement and travel time.

Because of all this, as I said, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to do it. I picked up the Priest fairly well though. I was uncomfortable with the tank classes when I tried them, because I’d get so caught up in damage that I would neglect to evade/block. It seems more natural to try to evade on something you know is too squishy to be smacked by that huge monster.

Quests are pretty standard fare, nothing groundbreaking by any means, but we’re both enjoying them more than SWTOR’s quests which were the same uninspired quests that we were forced to listen to.

Even with the huge population on the two servers, we’re able to complete our quests, thanks largely to the Channel system. Too many people in your area? Just jump to Channel 3! For some strange reason, it doesn’t put groupmates back together in the same channel after zoning, but it’s an easy fix at least. We were also glad to see no cooldown on the use of this feature.

We haven’t run into any bugs or graphical glitches whatsoever. That’s not too surprising, since the game has been out for so long in other areas, but it’s refreshing nonetheless.

Overall, the community is the worst kind of cesspool that you only find in the dredges of open betas. Everyone and their Popori are talking about WoW, SWTOR, Tera’s obvious failings, or how manly they look. It’s kind of terrifying, but the easiest solution is to turn off the public chat channels.

Overall, I’m really enjoying Tera. I’ll be interested to see if that holds up to level 22 and beyond.

TG wants to check out the viability of playing a warrior on the gamepad today while I check out the merits of his Naga mouse, so we’ll be starting over once again. Characters will not be wiped between closed beta weekends, so we’ll have two identical pairs to choose from to further progress with when the next weekend rolls around, depending on our desired hardware setup next time.

Update: Now that the weekend is over, check out my Tera Beta Review post in which I talk about Tera through level 22.

It took us 10 hours to download to both computers.

Well, it took all day and sucked all our web browsing ability down to practically-dial-up speeds, but we can officially play Tera tomorrow!