A Week with TERA - Day 2

Well, it turns out I have finally gotten the cold that has been making the rounds throughout my family this past month. I'm not too happy about it since I'm on vacation, but I guess it's as they say... Shit happens.

At least I'm in good company, and have this little project here to work on while I recover.

We start where we left off yesterday.

Chumley has just landed on the Isle of Dawn as one of the many recruits brought to search for Elleon. (If only I got to keep the flying stallion I flew in on...)

And the graphics just continue to please.

The next few quests are just like the previous ones... talk to this guy, who blabs about Elleon, your bravery for returning to the Isle, go talk to this other guy about Elleon.

Chumley talks with his hands... a lot.

As I was walking from NPC to NPC and checking out my surroundings, my attention was drawn to the chat box. Area-wide chat was blowing up with chatter... and unfortunately not the kind of chatter I like to see.

Lower case, horrible misspellings, and people correcting each other's misspellings with more misspellings. (They were literally correcting the spelling of "eletest" with "elitest" rather than "elitist"... I hate to be an elitist and complain about spelling, but my gawd.) Not to mention abundant use of this face: ^.^

Then somebody brought up how happy they were that this game had a different combat system from other MMOs, and all the intelligent people crawled out from under the rocks and joined in the discussion. Phew, for a moment there I thought the whole game world was inhabited by kids and adults who still think that anime smileys are "cute"...

Anyway, onto the game itself.

Hominahominahomina

Is there really any more I can say about the incredible environment here? There are trees, flowers, a goddarn rainbow, waterfalls, towers, rocks, birds, everything you'd expect in a realistic environment. I remember finding many games devoid of such simple little things. Everything seems meticulously placed, and I really can't help but be floored by the beauty of it all.

After admiring the landscape, I finally got my first combat quest. I had to kill some tree-thingies, and a handy little tutorial bubble popped up to tell me how to track enemies on my mini-map. After following the demonstration it gave, I started to track them. The mobs show up as little orange dots on the mini-map. This will be quite useful.

And so, I set off with no abilities except for my standard attack and dodge, and attacked my first... tree thing!

BAM, POW, HACK N' SLASH! LEVEL UP!

I gotta say, I am loving this combat system. Even without any abilities, I was having a blast. Facing the enemy is crucial. You can attack facing the completely wrong way, but you won't hit the enemy. You also have to be paying attention to the enemy itself. They give off certain cues that they are about to attack, such as raising their arms for a huge smash attack, or preparing to charge. That's when the dodge comes in handy... Chumley, for instance, uses his badass sword as pole to literally vault over the enemy. Learning these cues was easy, and soon I was killing things without taking any damage. I leveled twice, which is celebrated with a burst of white wings and a crown.

I'm surprised that he can pull off these kind of acrobatics with a tummy like that...

Items were dropped frequently. Rather than coming up in a menu, they are dropped directly onto the ground and can be picked up with the F key. 

Another cool thing about the enemies is they can get enraged. If something on an enemy flashes red (in the deer-thing's case, it's his forehead) they gain increased attack and speed, but also are more vulnerable to counter-attacks and knockdowns. This looks like it will really add to the depth of later fights.
I soon got my first ability, Whirlwind. Abilities are actually very useful, and once again, need to be aimed and timed. Each hit of Whirlwind does about 4 times my average hit, so it's a very satisfying ability. I think me and the combat system will get along just fine.
As I was questing and gathering evidence that the monsters in the area are being controlled by something and being made hostile, I got a quest that actually gave me a cutscene.

OH NOES! This tree is killing PIGLINGS!

Even though he wasn't a BAM, he was one tough cookie. One body slam from him took a third of my hitpoints, so dodging was crucial. I was glad that even this early on, challenges were being thrown in my direction.

I HATE... BEES!

After a string of go-and-kill-this type quests, I was relieved to be given a different mission... To go to Tower Base, which really isn't a tower at all. It's more like a giant, fragmented tree.

See what I mean?

It was there that I went through a short gathering tutorial, which involved... pressing F! Gathering in TERA is extremely rewarding, even if you aren't into crafting. Every time you gather up a resource, you get a useful combat or gathering buff. Best of all, these buffs can stack!

I won't bore you with the details of every quest that I did past this point, but basically I killed a lot more monsters for many more NPCs. Quests certainly aren't the strong point of this game thusfar, but I'm hoping that once I get off of this island I'll be moving on to more exciting ventures...

I did some gathering as well, though I still have no idea what I'm supposed to do with these materials. All in due time, I assume.

Gathering some crystals... they're pretty, but other than that, I have NO IDEA WHAT THEY DO!

The monsters in the game continue to impress me. My favorite so far have been these two:

A big-beaked, helmeted bird-thing...

...and this double-headed wolf-thing. Less cuddly than Chumley, that's for sure.

After a lot of exploration and killing, I finally met up with Elleon's brother, and well... he's looking for Elleon. Go figure. Yada yada, more quests, more people not believing that Elleon is still alive, so on so forth. Plotline still isn't grabbing my attention.

I did find this guy though. Scratch what I said earlier, THIS monster is my favorite.

Looks like things are going to get ugly at some point, because I found an area that was dead and surrounded by a dark aura. I'm excited to see some new environments, especially some dark ones... I've been in happy land for so long.

And what is this? EVIL? IN THIS PARADISE?

Guess I'll have to find out tomorrow!

Current Impressions

Graphics: They continue to amaze me. I really am enjoying the environments, and the monsters are animated superbly. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing another zone.

Plot: I still haven't seen the light, so to speak. The only new aspects of the plotline that have been uncovered  in my questing is that Elleon's brother is a scholar, this new island might be the "child" of the titans, and that most people think Elleon is dead as dead can be. I still have no idea why Elleon is so important anyway...

Combat: I have to say, I'm thoroughly enjoying the combat system. Now that I'm learning skills one at a time, I can adjust my combat strategies as I learn each one. I love the dodging, the aiming, everything. You really have to pay attention to what's going on rather than just button mash.

Questing: Still not anything new or innovative, and a bit disappointing. With all of the amazing visuals and the action-packed combat system, you think they would try to make the quests just as appealing. The only thing that truly stood out to me was the narrated cutscene I got when I was told to go defeat the pig-stomping tree-man. If I get more of those, I could forgive the staleness of the other quests.

Crafting and Gathering: Still no idea on crafting, but gathering is fun and useful. I'm a lot more motivated to stop killing things and go pick up a plant that I was in World of Warcraft, for instance. In WoW you know you'll be able to make something or make some coin... but here I get BUFFS. Yes, beautiful stacking BUFFS! I feel so pampered.

And so the adventure halts for sleep...

A Week with TERA: Day 1

After a lengthy patch download through the TERA launcher, I finally have TERA installed on my computer and ready to play.
I was hesitant to start up the game, as I've been feeling very ill this morning. Would I really want to spoil my first experience with a game by feeling like... well... crap, as I'm playing it?
I decided to just check out the character creation, and then take a much needed nap.

I have to say, the character creation impressed me. Being the animal person that I am, it didn't take much thought to choose the Popori race.
(The Popori are basically animals that have been granted an extra spark of life, making them sentient and humanoid beings.)
I was then told to choose my class. Every class is described for you concisely, and the game even offers a rating on the difficulty of playing each class. I went with the Slayer, which had a 3/5 star difficulty rating. (Plus, it sounded fun... light armor, quick dodging, and a big-ass weapons.)
The customization for my character included different types of animals, facial structure, fur patterns, tails, color tint, ear size, and markings. Though nowhere near Skyrim's customization, it's way beyond what World of Warcraft offers.
I was drawn towards making a dog Popori, and his stout, chubby frame just screamed, "NAME ME SOMETHING FAT."
I thought Chumley was a fitting name for an overweight, yet adorable dog-man with a giant sword.

Put down that sword! You're a dog. You can't even hold it.

Tempted as I was to start my adventure, I shut off the game and took a nap.

After my nap, and some Pepto-Bismol, (curse you, frail body!) I finally began to play TERA for real.
The game starts on the Isle of Dawn, a new island that literally sprang out of the ocean. You are a part of the expedition, and things well... are a complete disaster. Bodies litter the shore, medics are kneeling down trying to do what they can, and ravens are picking on the dead.

Mmm, delicious!

But let's take a step back here, and talk about the graphics.

I'm extremely pleased with them, that's about all I can say. The atmosphere is dark and ominous, there's attention to detail, and things are impressive so far.

I have noticed that there is no music, but hopefully that's only because this is the tutorial, and it's supposed to be somber. (I mean, there's death everywhere!)

After doing the first quest, which involves talking to medics across the beach and delivering waterlogged supplies to them, I took a little bit of time to explore.

Something.... something smells like bodies.

I was a bit disappointed to find that there are travel boundaries, those annoying invisible walls that limit your exploration. I swam out to some boats I saw in the ocean, but found myself colliding with one. Despite this, I am incredibly impressed with the environment. The cliffs, plants, everything is superbly rendered and placed, something that World of Warcraft really lacks. (World of Hill-and-Plateaucraft, anyone?) The environment reminds me more of Final Fantasy XI than anything. Things look realistic, but with a dramatic flair. If the rest of the game can be as eye-pleasing as this, I sure think I'm going to like this game.

Look, I'm finally geared up! AND in ridiculous purple!

The next quest was simple, just talking to some Centurions on the beach and getting equipment from them. I'm honestly confused as hell about all the mumbo-jumbo on the items. Crystal socket? Balance? What's that? I sure hope the tutorial will cover this later on...
A few more talk-and-run quests, and I reached an ominous portal that would teleport me to the cliffs...

Well, this sure looks ominous.

...only to meet the rumbling of a bridge collapsing. Looks like I'm going to have to swim, the tutorial popup tells me. Alright then.

It looks like in this game we won't be swimming underwater, just at the surface. I'm fine with that. I was then faced with my first.... drumroll please.... LADDER! Something WoW players have often expressed frustration about not having. (Honestly, why put a ladder in a game if you CAN'T CLIMB IT?)

 It's a long way down for a little doggie...

And hey! Here's the music! Sounds good so far.
When I climbed to the top of the cliff, I encountered my first enemy. I have to say, I was utterly confused about what I was supposed to do. The tutorial basically just told me to look at my abilities, and so I did. I still couldn't figure out how to use them strategically in battle, so I pretty much just spammed left click and pressed spacebar to do a combo when it told me to. I did experiment with the charge ability, and I ended up doing some kind of double combo. I couldn't really figure out how to do it again, but afterall, the tutorial automatically puts you at level 20. I guess you're not really supposed to know what the hell to do.
The combat truly does feel more exciting than most MMOs. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it, and end up appreciating it more. I'm just glad I don't have to auto-attack and watch my character do stuff. (I'm looking at you, FFXI.)

After a lot of hack and slashing, I found Elleon, the expedition leader. It was shortly after finding him that I encountered... THE FIRST BAM. (BAM, being BIG ASS MONSTER.)

This CAN'T be good.

Well, it wasn't good at all. I got my ass handed to me twice, but thankfully the prologue let you ressurect right where you had died. After defeating this big blubbery demon, I had to fight another... but in the middle of the fight a cutscene popped up. Apparently we all got killed, and Elleon was missing in action.

The prologue ends with Elleon's loyal brother bringing new recruits to the Isle of Dawn to train and eventually seek answers about Elleon's whereabouts, or final resting place if the outcome was grim.

And DANG, does the island look different now that it isn't storming anymore!

Graphics like this in an MMO don't come often.

And so, upon landing on the island my fat, level 1 doggie self decided to take a break to play some Team Fortress 2 with Jon. 

Thus ended my first day with this promising and so far intriguing MMO.

Current Impressions

Graphics: The graphics have absolutely not disappointed me. In fact, they're almost better than the screenshots showed. Seeing the graphics in 3D and moving is spectacular, and the environments so far are breathtaking. I'm very excited to see more of the ingame world.

Plot: Hate to say it, but so far the plot is relatively weak. I'm not particularly intrigued by anything so far. Not a lot of background information about Elleon was given, for instance. He's some kind of leader, but why is he so important? Sure his brother wants to find him, but who exactly is his brother? The game really hasn't given me enough background information, but I guess I'll discover more as I play.

Combat: I have to say, it's confusing, yet strangely satisfying. I guess it's good that I was struggling in the prologue/tutorial level, it means that you truly do have to have skill and master your tactics in order to play correctly. I'm excited to start at level 1 and truly learn my class the proper way rather than just being thrown into the game. The fact that I get to click to attack rather than just endlessly auto attack is refreshing.

Questing: So far questing has been stale. Same old typical MMO quests... talk to this person, get your gear, deliver this. Hopefully there will be better quests as I progress into the world.

Crafting and Gathering: Haven't done anything involving these yet.

Until tomorrow!

A Week With TERA: Prologue

As I'm typing this blog post, I am downloading the newest MMO to hit North American markets... TERA, also known as The Exiled Realm of Arborea.
The release date for TERA was May 1st, 2012, meaning that it has only been out for 13 days.
I've been following the development of this game for over a year, so when it came out I was dying to get my hands on it. Now I finally do have the game... but will it be worth it?

Reading reviews is usually how I judge whether or not to get a game. I see what the big gaming websites think, I see what the average players think. If the game intrigues me enough and the reviews seem to be favorable, you know what, I'll bite.
Despite reading lots of rave reviews, however, I do feel like my purchase was a bit impulsive. Maybe I watched way too many snazzy trailers.

Honestly, it's near impossible to resist a trailer like this.

Problem is, every review I've read has been written by somebody who has been paid to write a review. I know that being paid doesn't mean that your review will be biased, but it very well could be.

So, I have decided, for the good of every person squirming in their seats, trying to decide whether or not to purchase TERA... I will write up a review of my own.

A whole week with TERA, with all of my first impressions, experiences, and frustrations.

I'm not being paid to do this. I have no affiliation with any companies. I'm just a PC gamer with nothing better to do.

Before I begin this journey, I will let you know a bit about my MMO history.

I am an MMO veteran, you could say... I've played them to death.

I've played:

Ragnarok Online on and off since 2002.

Final Fantasy XI on and off since 2004.

World of Warcraft on and off since 2006.

Other games I have played were:

ROSE Online

Vanguard: Saga of Heroes (I played at launch, it was horrible.)

FlyFF: Fly For Fun

Toontown Online (I played this for a while, but haven't touched it since around 2008)
Guild Wars (I played for about a week before I decided I just didn't like the game.)
RIFT Free Trial (Got to level 7 before I decided I wasn't interested.)

As you can see, I've played various styles of MMOs. I've pretty much seen it all.

To begin my week with TERA, I'll outline my current impressions of the game, and see if they evolve while I actually play the game.

Current Impressions

Graphics: From screenshots, videos, and reviews, the graphics seem to be the best of any current day MMO. I've been really impressed by the graphical style. I hope the graphics will live up to what I've seen.

Plot: As far as I know, the whole plotline is focused around two slumbering titans, which form the two continents. Some force is trying to wake them up or something, which would be horrible because all of life as the inhabitants of TERA know it is one big dream of the titans. Sounds like trouble.

Combat: From what I've read, combat is fun and kind of like Skyrim's hack and slash gameplay. There's a lot of dodging and strategy, which I'm excited about. I'm sick of auto attacking.

Questing: Reviews have stated that the quests are no different that what you'd see in WoW... Ah well, you can't have your cake and eat it too. Though not eating a cake seems like a waste...

Crafting and Gathering: Crafting and gathering is supposed to be a lot more useful in TERA than in other games. Crossing my fingers that this is true.

And so, my adventure in TERA begins...

Happy Staffy

Thought I'd share a drawing I made a few weeks ago!
I got a big set of 50 markers for $10 when I last visited Jon in Delaware, and was dying to try them out... and what better way to take them for a test run than to draw a Staffy?
For those not in the know, Staffordshire Bull Terriers are the UK's pitbull. Most dogs in shelters there are Staffys, and they tend to be demonized by the media. Though both the Staffy and pitbull share a common ancestor, the Staffy doesn't grow to be more than 35lbs and can sometimes be half the size of a pitbull.
I met my first Staffy at my dog-washer job, and it was love at first sight. His name was Earl, and he was one of the friendliest dogs at the facility. He loved people, was best friends with a female mini dachshund less than a third his size, and wouldn't hurt a fly. If the doxie took a toy from him and was guarding it, he'd bark at her, and then at us rather than lunge and take it away. It was as if he knew his strength and wanted us to help him out rather than risk hurting her. Even more incredible, when he was in the play area he was confronted by a pitbull pup... rather than start a fight, he walked to the corner and sat. He ended up being peed on, but he took it rather than resorting to violence. I was touched by his self-control and love for people.
Ever since leaving my job I've been missing that goofy pup, and musing about getting a Staffy of my own. How I'll go about getting one is up in the air, possibly literally... One of my current options is to fly to the UK and adopt one from a shelter, then fly him back to the US. If that'll even work is a mystery to me, but one can hope.
I also have to move out of my parent's place first... at least that'll be happening in less than two years.
Cheers!

Our Commitment to Handmade and more

I admit it.
I've been incredibly lazy.
I could make a million excuses, but that just wouldn't be rational.

Here is the current news in the world of Maddie...

1. I have changed the gawd-awful layout at last. It's not a huge improvement, but it should be easier on the eyes. I am still debating whether or not to put a background image or not, but I like things rather plain... after all, it's the text on the blog that makes the blog, not the pretty embellishments.

2. I -do- have some new post-style earrings available, but they haven't been put up in my Etsy shop yet. To be completely honest, Etsy has really gotten me down lately. If you aren't a follower of Regretsy, you definitely should be now. Recently, April Winchell, the author of the satirical blog and leader of the "fat jealous losers" (it's an old joke that I'm sure only Regretsy veterans will understand) that make up the Regretsy community, released a bombshell... That the Etsy featured seller, Ecologica Malibu, whom they interviewed and wrote a cupcakey little article about, was in fact a dreaded reseller. For those unfamiliar with the term, they are people who buy factory-made items, tag them as handmade, and sell them for a profit. In this case the seller was buying Balinese boat furniture wholesale and selling them as handmade pieces that she claimed she had made herself. This goes completely against Etsy rules and guidelines, but they have initiated a great cover-up and cover-ass by saying that Ecologica Malibu is a "collective" and that doesn't break any rules.
This may not seem like the biggest deal ever, but Etsy is a -handmade- marketplace. When resellers join the picture, it's just a fancier version of our good friend eBay. Handmade is extremely important to me. It was the whole idea of a handmade market place that made me say "Hey, I can do this!" and attempt to work with clay in the first place. Making sales and knowing that somewhere out there, somebody else will be holding and enjoying something I created... It's an amazing feeling and incredibly rewarding. Now that Etsy has begun to lose its integrity as a handmade marketplace, I've found it much more difficult to make sales and my listing fees are greater than my profits again. I also don't feel like I want to be a part of a website that doesn't care about its own sellers.
I'm considering making the switch to a WePay store if things don't improve with Etsy's handmade policies. Of course, that means a huge decrease in viewership. So...

3. ...I'm considering expanding Hello Interloper. Right now there's the blog and there's the shop, but if I do end up having to make a move to WePay I'll be buying my own domain and building a website. Hopefully that will give Hello Interloper more of an audience, or at least a better sense of legitimacy. I'd most likely have to put up ads to support site costs though... or, you could just all click an ad here on this blog, it makes me a quarter, haha.

Well, that's about it. Hopefully I'll stop being such a lazyass and update more often. Now that classes are drawing to a close, there's a good chance I'll be able to update weekly.