The year went quickly as development milestones flew by and we moved from goal to goal. We opened 2011 with the most important event of the year—TERA‘s Korean launch in January. At that point, we had paying customers to whom we were accountable. For En Masse and Bluehole, this was a critical step toward becoming a global product, because our teams had to learn to balance the needs of multiple territories. It took us time to hit our stride, but we are now in sync and pushing forward, both creating new content and polishing current content. The game that launched in Korea and the game that will launch in North America are staggeringly different—we’ve made significant changes. Everything from game balance to all-new game features to critical security needs have finally come together. Hardcore fans like you, who’ve been with us since our first focus group test, will truly appreciate how far we’ve come—and how much your feedback has affected the game—when you get your hands on it in 2012. We’ve listened to you, and you’ll see a finished product ready for you to play!
As the year progressed, we spread word of TERA through community and trade shows. We had a blast at each show—meeting with our fans and showing off the game to the press is always rewarding. At each and every event, we believe we created a memorable demo experience that captured the heart of what TERA is—not an easy thing to do for a vast MMO in 20 minutes. We even walked away with awards, including Game Informer’s Best PC Game at E3. More importantly, though, we walked away with people talking about what a game-changer TERA really is in the MMO market.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one of the less sexy but more critical things we accomplished over the last year. Our platform team has built something from nothing to meet the support needs of our customers. So many tools are taken for granted. The launcher, the installer, the forums, the account management system, the customer support tools, the data center build-out, security measures and serial code generation—these are the tools or systems that never get any love if they’re working, but get all the blame once something goes wrong. It can be thankless work, but it’s critical to the success of En Masse and TERA.
As the game, marketing, and platform come together, we believe we’ve created something special—a product that will raise expectations in the industry for game and service experience. It may sound cliché, but this is just the beginning. We are already focusing on what’s next for TERA after launch. What content are we developing? What events should we run? How can we improve our service even further? Launch itself is critical, but preparing for those first 30, 60, and 90 days afterward is just as important.
The final leg of our journey starts today, and soon the world of TERA will open up to all who are willing to brave it. We are excited to go on this journey with each and every one of you and look forward to seeing you for the launch of TERA—and more importantly, the adventures beyond…
TERA‘s beta tests, originally called preview events, will start with closed phases requiring invitations to each session and will end with an open beta test just before TERA launches. To add yourself as a potential TERA beta tester for the closed beta tests, you’ll need to sign up.
Signing up is easy: just enter your email address in the text box below. We’ll also send you important TERA news from En Masse Entertainment. Do you already receive our TERA newsletter, or have you completed our TERA alpha test application survey? Your email address is already signed up—no need to re-enter it!
A few things to note:
• TERA‘s closed beta tests each require a unique invitation. Each invitation will indicate which closed beta test it is valid for. Submitting your email address more than once won’t increase your chances of receiving an invitation.
• Invitations to TERA‘s closed beta test will be distributed before each event based on random selection.
• Invitations to TERA‘s open beta test will be distributed to everyone who signs up to be a TERA beta tester.
• If you participated in TERA‘s alpha test, Community Play Event, or any Focus Group Test, or if you won one of our past contests, you will be invited to all TERA beta tests.
• We will introduce additional methods of securing an invitation to TERA‘s closed beta tests such as official contests and giveaways.