TERA Focus Group Test 2 - Postmortem: Gameplay

The moment we shut down the FGT2 servers, En Masse Entertainment began the important task of reviewing the data to determine how it went. The 60-hour test generated more than 400 forum threads of valuable feedback. We posted official threads featuring relevant questions, which also resulted in a lot of great feedback.

We'd like to share the results of FGT2 with you in a series of postmortem articles. We've separated the feedback into three very broad categories: gameplay, Westernization, and technology. This first piece covers gameplay.

Gameplay

The overwhelming majority of players felt that levels 1 to 11 were well-balanced and provided a good introduction to TERA and its lore. However, feedback on levels 12 and onward was a lot more diverse. Some liked the pacing at those levels while others felt it needed improvement. We agree that there's room to improve in this area and plan to add new quests in more centralized hubs.

Feedback regarding progression fell into four categories: equipment, items, skills, and gold acquisition. We asked testers whether they felt they received real and tangible rewards for their efforts, and feedback followed many of the same trends for each of the three categories. Gear was a hot topic: moving forward, TERA will feature more equipment items per level, new visuals for these items, and a wider assortment of item statistics. Gold seemed to be just about right, although testers noted that it was hard to tell for sure without a live, in-game economy.

The focus test results revealed that classes will need additional balancing in order to create distinct roles in parties while allowing solo play. In this early version of TERA, the most popular classes were warriors and sorcerers. Favorite races on the other hand varied widely, with the most popular being Aman, Castanic, High Elf, and Popori. The FGT2 game client limited the number of available race and class combinations, and testers indicated that they wanted more variety in this area. In future builds of TERA, your characters will enjoy more customization options, including additional race and class combinations.

Party play comments fell into three categories: incentives, bonuses, and finding a party. In one poll, 92% of testers experienced party play. Testers agreed that grouping and its social aspect are important elements of massively multiplayer online games. The focus test also confirmed that party play needs work; we'll be making a number of improvements to the grouping system to make grouping more beneficial for players.

Focus Group Test 2 was pivotal to the ongoing development of TERA. As we mentioned on our social network channels last week, the Development Team from Bluehole Studio visited En Masse Entertainment in Seattle specifically to discuss the results of TERA's latest focus group test at length. Tester feedback was collated and used to help make specific recommendations to the developers and writers. All parties agreed that the testers' findings were on target and that their experiences and feedback will be invaluable in helping us Westernize and generally improve TERA.