TERA (NA) - Log - 8/11

On the Saturday of August 11th, a player named Arrafina and members of the Empyrean Divine hosted a summer festival, and along with it, a dueling competition. (It was limited to LV60 players with T12 gear only)
I didn't think I would make it very far, but low and behold, I managed to win first place!

Picture from Kayuki's Art Book 

There was a good amount of variety in classes that were competing, including priests, zerkers and lancers. There was one lancer in particular that I was worried for, manly due to to the lancer's high defense and reflect damage, and I was hoping that my re-enigma'd Nexus gear would be enough.What I got when I re-engima'd was an  extra 8% attack speed and 3% player damage reduction (though I was shooting for reflect damage myself, but that was good enough.)

Along with that, my friends decided to lend me some PvP zyrk crystals to use (More player damage reduction.) When it was time to compete, I had up to 52% player damage reduction on my character.

My first match against a priest really put me on edge, because I didn't realize that the priest also had reflect damage on them. First round I managed to defeat the priest with some health to spare, but the second round ended in a tie due to getting defeated by reflect damage. Third round I ended up losing and thought that it was over, but a friend pointed out that it left us both with two wins each. Final round: My new plan was to simply shut the priest down as soon as possible before the priest could heal back up again. I managed to dodge most of the incoming fiery escapes and pulled off multiple knockdowns in a row. Defeated the priest and moved on to the next round.

That battle sure taught me that priests are just as much of a pain to deal with as lancers.

The next couple of matches weren't as difficult as battling the priest, though. I had to compete against a warrior and an archer. The warrior I fought was damn fast, but my attack speed was just as good. The archer was kind of a push over, even though they managed to land most of their shots.

I quickly became the fan favorite at that competition. Having so many people cheer for me was a great feeling. And I managed to gain a creepy elin admirer.

Last I heard: That elin changed her animal form from a rabbit to a squirrel because she couldn't bare the memory of me rejecting her... Such a crazy Elin... wanting to be with me for the sake of genetics... HA. (I'M SORRY FOR MAKING YOU CHANGE. FORGIVE ME ;_;)

Moving on... It came down to me and another priest with reflect damage. Just like the last priest I fought, I wanted to shut the player down as soon as possible. I also switched out my defense cruxs with HP regeneration cruxs to keep me going. I managed to win both matches flawlessly. So I won the competition and my reward: Armor Templates! (Not a very good prize, I know, but I was still grateful that I got it.)

Overall, the whole thing was a lot of fun. Some people are wondering if there will be a WinterFest competition... If it happens, I'll definitely show up.

TERA (NA) - Log - 8/2 to 8/8

OK! So in the past few weeks, a lot of crazy stuff happened to me in the world of TERA, with some expected and not so expected mishaps. First off, I went on another road trip with the travelers of Broken Compass to climb the mountains near Tulufan.

Why did we decide to go on a mountain climb? I'm not really sure, but I think one of them muttered something about trying to capture "whale magic" or something. So we went out, traveled up the mountain and it was all pretty boring at first, but once we reached the top we got to see some sky whales, up close and personal.

TERA (NA) - Log - 7/14 to 7/21

I know that I haven't done one of these logs in awhile, but there has been a couple of events and activities that I participated in recently that I would really like to share with everyone! The month of July was filled with so much adventure and excitement that I'm hoping to have more of these experiences like these soon (before my subscription runs out, that is.)

On Saturday July 14th, Fiora Laurent of the High Elves Council held a fashion show in the Velika Outskirts dueling ring. I personally thought it was a weird place to host a fashion show, and figured it would have been better to have it hosted at the podium in one of the Velika Plazas, but whatever, I said. It was their event after all...

The contest was a bit long winded, as contestants were asked to bring two outfits: One formal and one other outfit of their choosing. Contestants were also required to ask questions regarding why they choice their outfits and what their favorite hobby was... I could understand asking the contestants about why they decided to go with the outfits they brought, but a question about your favorite hobby? I thought it was supposed to be a fashion contest, rather than some kind of beauty pageant...

Anyway, I wore my usual outfit as my formal one: The open chest cuirass with the rope binding in the middle, along with my new favorite outfit: The aviator suit!

I didn't have anything special to say about the suit, other than I wanted to make use of a gift (the aviator cap) that I got from working with Invasico for months.

TERA (NA) - Night at the Doomcrypt

So I attended the Val Elenium Dance Party, hosted by the High Elves Council on Saturday. I wasn't really looking to dance or socialize, so decided to work the place as a guard & bouncer. I made a pretty nice haul working the floor as a guard and bouncer. It was a very dangerous place for a dance party for those that are under LV50. There was spawning monsters all over the dance floor, so I wanted to keep them from killing anyone...

I ended up dancing anyway, got distracted and someone got knocked out. I felt bad about that... In fact, multiple people died and had to be revived that night. I should consider myself lucky they didn't demand grievance pay, and it was a good thing that I wasn't the only one working the floor as a bouncer, so it's not ALL my fault.

Besides, I think some of the guys that got knocked out were all too high or drunk to care, anyway.

Still, it was an interesting place to have a party, what with the real working disco ball and everything. I'm not so sure that "The Doomcrypt" is an appealing name for a dance club, though.

Overall: Made 100g from the event planner and 40+g in tips.
I think should do more odd jobs like this...

TERA (NA) - Artham, Hot-Headed Popori

Updated (3/25/2012) - Removed some small details in his introduction bullet points.

Since I decided to roll on the RP server, I figured it would be nice to give my character a little backstory to go with him. I've never played on an RP server in any MMO before, nor have I ever done any roleplaying at all, so this is my first time.

The bio I have created for my character was supposed to be short and simple, but I ended up writing a whooping 3,000+ word backstory. I think it's a bit cliche in most places, but at the same time I think it just works. as creative writing has never been my strong point, I am looking to improve my writing no matter what, so please feel free to critique if you wish.

[This character profile is written in a 1st person perspective along with 3rd person flashback sequences ]
---

OK... So... Hello everyone.

Before I introduce myself, I want to make a few things clear:

• I don’t do “cute”.
• Please don’t make fun of my ears.
• No, you can't touch them, either.
• Take me seriously, or else.
• No, I don’t want a carrot.
• DON’T PET ME.

Ahem... Right… Now that that’s out of the way…

(Artwork by Blindrat . Thank you!)

My name is Artham, the hardest working Popori you'll ever meet.

Born in Pora Elinu, raised with many friends in Popolion.
My weapon of choice: The slayer sword.
And with this sword in my two hands, I plan to take on the world.

Play Log - TERA (NA) - CBT5 Weekend

So this is it... The last CBT for TERA before we go live. This weekend was also pretty enjoyable compared to the last one, especially near the end of the CBT where players all over had parties over just about every corner of the world. More on this later.

Weekend started off with me finishing up the Sinestial Manor. As it turns out: last time while I was trying to record footage during the run, my recorder crapped out on me and took the TERA client down with it. When logged back in, I was still inside the dungeon, but the story quest status got completely negated and I had to do the run all over again. Luckily I was able to find another group and we cleaned house pretty quickly.

Play Log - TERA (NA) - CBT4 Weekend

(For those that want to get into the CBT for TERA (NA) this weekend, take a peek into this post and grab one! Just do me a small favor and post a comment stating which key you've used. First come, first serve.) All keys used up!

It's time for another one of my oh-so-exciting play logs for TERA (Now with slightly less tl;dr and more ACTION!)

I recently downloaded Bandicam to record in-game footage since I wasn't too fond of using FRAPS and how it fills up my HDD when recording raw footage. I just loved how Bandicam cant take Hi-Res footage while keeping the file sizes down to a minimum, so I'm never going back to FRAPS again! Now with the inclusion of videos, I hope this will make my logs more enjoyable for you readers (yes, all five of you.)

I also got Sony Vegas from my college bookstore for cheap to do some video editing, but I'm currently having trouble rendering my current videos, although I have no problem rendering videos using Windows Live Movie Maker and it seems to work well enough for what I need, so I'm sticking with that for now until figure out how to use Sony Vegas properly.

Now then... This CBT weekend was my favorite one so far. En Masse hosted an event where players could find treasure chests spread across the game world, and inside those chests: Clothing Dyes!

Play Log - TERA (NA) - CBT3 Weekend

With another closed beta test for TERA coming up, I fell like putting up another one of my super amazing play logs for you all to gander at. During CBT3: I joined up with a nice, little social guild called Amity. This guild emphasizes casual play and just enjoying the ride rather than racing towards the level cap. I usually don't join guilds due to the heavy amounts of e-drama that they seem to attract, but I made an exception for this group.

Our guild is currently on Serpent's Isle server. We may be switching over to the RP server during Open Beta, though (even though none of us intend to do some legitimate roleplaying, but most of us would really like the atmosphere.)

Play Log - TERA (NA) - 2/12 (cont.)

Check it: Here's the second half of my TERA online play log for 2/12/2012 is here! My time spent here was really winding down, as I only had a couple more hours to try out the game. Things were starting to get dull after the fairy quest in Fey Forest and the Vortex Shard quest in Scarwood, but things quickly turned around later when reached the Valley of Titans. You'll find out in a little bit, but first: here's a few shots I took in the Scarwood area. I sort of forgot what the quest here was about... Something about purifying the area or something, but whatever...

Play Log - TERA (NA) - 2/12

So another day was spent on TERA during the 1st closed beta. I headed for the outskirts of Velika to get my first mount, but not before completing a generic fetch quest! Didn't take too long for me to complete it, though.

Play Log - TERA (NA) - 2/11

Well the first weekend closed beta test for TERA is over. I managed to get my Popori Slayer to LV20 during the weekend; two levels shy of the level cap (22). On Saturday, my character was only around LV10 and I was still stuck on the Tainted Gorge of the beginner island.

I was just about ready to get off the island, though. I just had to complete a few kill quests and finish the tutorial dungeon.

I totally hated wearing this outfit... It made my character look so fat (well... extra fat.) I'm usually one that prefers style or stats, but I didn't want anything to get in my way, so I made an exception...

TERA (NA) - "Dress Rehearsal" Impressions

En Masse decided to host a little "Dress Rehearsal " for TERA before this weekend. It started at 5 PM PST (8 PM EST) and lasted for three hours. With my client all ready to go: I jumped in and played from start to finish. I created a Popori Slayer and leveled my way up to eight.

To be brief: My whole experience from start to finish was a complete, definite "meh". Again, these are just my impressions and not a final opinion since the game is still being "worked on."

My hype list

2011 so far is turning out to be a great year for gaming, with tons of well known and unexpected games popping out here and there. For me. my gaming hype is going to skyrocket within the next couple of months, so I thought it would be nice just to jot down which games are on my hype list:

TERA (PC)

Everyone should know about this one: This game is like a sexy mix between Lineage II and Monster Hunter. It's the first true action MMORPG where combat relies on proper aim and attack spaces (unlike NCSoft's Blade & Soul where combat is based on contextual inputs) and is truly an open world experience unlike games such as Vindictus, plus the visuals in TERA are gorgeous and there's fan service everywhere!

SSX: Deadly Descents (PS3, Xbox 360)

At first, I was skeptical over this one because of the grimdark atmosphere that they showed in their debut trailer, but apparently that was only to emphasis the whole "survive it" aspect they're introducing into the game. The new SSX looks like it will be as colorful and wacky as the series has only been. Of course, I'm waiting to see some real gameplay footage, but as long as the new SSX will let me be able to pull 1440 degree spins while catching my snowboard in mid-air with my teeth, I think I'll be good.

Plan B (PC)

This game is pretty much what would happen if Team Fortress 2 was turned into an action beat 'em up. Sporting a similar visual style to TF2, Plan B lets two teams of up to four players beat the living crap out of each other as Football players, Baseball sluggers, Boxer champs, Heroic Firefighters and Rock Stars. I played in a preview test many months back and the gameplay was pretty simple, but the simplicity is also what made the game so much fun, plus it's the only game I know that lets you beat up little kids, beauty queens and fat people, all in one neat package.

Anarchy Reigns (PS3, Xbox 360)

Here's a game that convinced me that I SHOULD have a damn gaming console by now. Made by the same people behind Bayonetta, Vanquish and God Hand, this game is a ridiculously over the top fighting game featuring characters from the MadWorld universe. Not only does the action look great, but the real anarchy part of the game comes from the insane death traps that will spawn in from time to time, like huge freaking saw blades and massive tsunamis, so it's basically like Power Stone with blood and boobs. Also to add: The soundtrack sounds pretty awesome.

Brink (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

This one is one the top of my hype list because it comes out in only a couple days! This one sounds like a real ambitious title, because it supposedly takes all the crap that makes multiplayer shooters suck ass and turns into a balanced and enjoyable experience for all. The game also as a parkour mechanic ala Mirror's Edge that lets you jump, vault, mantle and slide around the battlefield. The game is also set up in a way that team cooperation is required at all times. After watching tons of gameplay videos, I think I can safely say that this game was made for me.