In this video, I discuss how combat works in the MMORPG TERA, including:
- how to attack and land blows on targets based on the animation for each attack
- the secondary effects of successfully landing blows on targets, including stun and knockdown effects
- how the animation for an attack impacts the player’s ability to move the character and fire off subsequent attacks
- how the “hitbox” for each target influences collision detection and how easy it is to hit the target
As discussed in the video, combat in TERA is more similar to console games such as Tekken and Street Fighter than traditional MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft.
TERA entered Closed Beta for NA in February 2012 but keep in mind this game went live in Korea back in January 2011, so the game was over a year old at the time this video was made.
For more information on the classes, races / racial abilities, and hitbox considerations, check out the following excellent guide:
http://www.terapvp.com/threads/a-guide-to-choosing-your-class-and-race-in-tera.3964/
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Thanks for this Ed! I really like that it is more skill based and action oriented. DCUO was one of my most favored PVP games for this reason. If the developers can figure out a good balance of hitbox size with pros and cons I can see this being very fun. People can’t cry about ranged being missile spammers etc when it requires true aim. I am actually very glad a MMO is trying to break the mold that unfortunately is successful like WOW’s.
Unfortunately it looks like another fantasy setting which I am rather bored of so I may pass on this.
The game has been live over in Korea for over a year, so I doubt the hitbox mechanics will change for the NA version.
The hitbox thing is a little mindboggling, i wonder why developers still do that stuff. Its almost gamebreaking for me, especially after looking into how the ranged classes in this game work.
For the self root while attacking, i think it is necessary for the combat system to work at all. If you could strafe around the opponent all the time while attacking, the whole “you get hit when the animation hits you” system would fail. You could easily avoid everything while burning down the enemy, so they would have to speed up the attack patterns so that you would get hit while strafing, at which point strafing becomes useless because standing still would have the same effect. As is, you can strafe around the enemies attacks if you choose to for defense purposes, but you cannot do so while being offensive. I like that, actually.
Agree re: the hitbox.
FWIW, Archers are apparently very popular in Korean TERA. They own in PVP given their range and ability to control gaps.
I find it odd that people make assumptions about what would or wouldn’t work, given that we have plenty of live examples of things to *do* work well even with no animation root and with fast animations.
If what you’re saying were true, then one of the following would be true for every MMO that has a backstab mechanic but doesn’t have an animation root and where the backstab is effectively instantaneous:
1. it would be impossible to prevent the backstab, because it would be too easy to land the attack, or
2. it would be impossible to land the backstab, because it would be too easy to avoid the attack via strafing
However, in practice, backstab works in every major MMO, e.g. WoW, RIFT, SWTOR. To extent to which you are able to land a backstab depends on your ability to control positioning relative to your opponent.
And that is exactly how it should be.
Sadly enough this game, from what I’ve seen from streams and such, reminds me a lot of Aion and I don’t mean that in a good way. Not to mention I feel like latency can really ruin this game since it relies heavily on positioning and such for combat to work.
I am interested in seeing PvP in this game, but will have to wait until it is actually put into one of the beta events. Unfortunately I don’t think I would like PvP in this game though, from what I’ve seen of the combat and the racial abilities so far.
I could be totally wrong in my impressions of the game, but I would much rather to wait and see the game after a month or two after launch before deciding if it would be worth playing.
That’s the same thing that other people have said (e.g. Mike B):
The potential impact of latency is higher in this game compared to other games.
I’m going to post a video showing examples of how latency can affect combat.
[…] TERA PVP: Where Latency and Hitbox Size Drive Outcomes 2012 February 13 taugrim Leave a comment Go to comments I’ve been reading the dozens of comments for my first TERA video on YouTube. […]
Hey Ed,
I pre-ordered this, and played the Sneak Peak last weekend, played a Mystic. I’ll let you know what I think of it, albeit if I think I have enough to say I’ll do a post over @ Hydramist.tv
Keep it up pal.
Love you lots, Nath
I think we’re so used to MMO’s and the way they are now, that Tera being almost everything an MMO has (expect everything Ed pointed out with what makes Tera different) our brains are not yet attached to how it can be beneficial to a player. I played in BETA and also know somethings are not all 100% perfect and will be addressed.
I think we’re so used to WoW, Rift, SWTOR style of MMO’s fighting mechanics that it’s hard to switch to Tera.
I myself am switching to Tera, I honestly find it much more skill based, and being able to dodge almost a lot of the attacks which make fighting seem longer in ways, but can be a much more skilled based game compared to spamming abilities.
The Self-root things is kinda common sense, I mean in this video, your swinging a sword like 2x your size, I doubt it’s light as a pencil, but I see what direction they mean and what you were saying Ed in your video. For example, the archer class is self-root also (main skill ability) which kinda does suck cause even a standard person can run/shoot w/o being rooted, but you can still technically run/shoot, but you have to sit there for like a millisecond to fire and then you can move freely again (compared to some melee classes where you have to sit there for 2-3 secs sometimes waiting for the animation to finish before you can move again).
My overall opinion I think the fighting mechanics is completely new for an MMO style game, and from what I experienced in beta I enjoyed it.
Open world PvP (also no factions) wasn’t available in beta yet (excluding duels…etc), so still have to see how thats gonna turn out, but according to the korean version, it didn’t look to bad. With no factions, I’m wondering really how its gonna workout when everyone is everywhere. I was reading that their will be a STRONG penalty system for killing someone else without the other person engaging.
Will this game succeed in NA & EU, who knows, from everything I saw, I think the game will do great for a year an a 1/2 (depending on updates/patches…etc). I dont know about 1m subs, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see that within the first 3 months, the game moves great, graphics are best of the best for an MMO. Like any newly hyped MMO, they all do good the first couple months then it fades to the dedicated players.
You do realize TERA went live in Korea in January 2011, right? Over a year ago.
Developers tend to localize games with text / voiceovers / XP / content availability, not via changing core game mechanics.
I know it went live in korea, I based 50/50 on this beta and watching korea’s version as well. This version isnt technically 100% the same as korea’s with only a translation change.
I’m mainly talking about a non-tab MMO style of fighting, how you put it was Tekken, which I agree.
I wasn’t not agreeing to anything you said, I’m totally on your side with it, I just think it might be a little bit more intensive for certain aspects (latency, hitbox…etc), vs your standard normal MMO style mechanics. Since I guess I didnt have any problems, I enjoy Tera a lot, and highly probably gonna make it a top 3 games to play (swtor, LoL, tera) for me.
I didnt have any problems with beta, honestly it’s still really early to tell anything officially, but It’s just a random thoughts from playing from this one beta, who knows, I might have a horrible experience in the next beta. It happened to me in SWTOR, 3 beta’s were flawless beta’s, the last beta was a complete mess, bugs galore, latency hardcore..etc.
It’s what it is, I was a hardcore aion player for 13+ months. I like fighting styles like Aion and Tera.
So Ed! This is “fail” from anyone who just enjoys competitive PVP in mmo’s?
Latency will change the outcome of all games where PVP is involved. This is not news, people. Name me one game that doesn’t take a good/bad ping into account besides online Chess? I played the NA Beta and had zero issues. The hitbox thing makes sense, however.
As for AION, this game has an Asian art style with the characters. The world on the other hand is just stunning and beautiful. It isn’t AION, and the moment you get your character in there and start playing you’ll see it doesn’t ‘feel’ like it either. It’s a very good game, and I’m quite excited about it being released mostly because I had a blast with PVP in it despite what some of these people are saying (which I just don’t understsand!?)
When position matters 100% in terms of landing attacks and defending against them, it is more important compared to other games.
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Tera is an alright MMO. It’s definitely gotten better since it went F2P. The number of players has gone up as well and theyve added a lot more content.