Frogster's Letter to the Community

Hello TERA Community,

Before I start to talk about the topic of this letter, I would like to say “thank you” to every fan who is already active in this forum. Everybody here at Bluehole, Frogster and En Masse knows that the community is the heart of an MMO.

For TERA, En Masse will take care of the North-American community and Frogster will concentrate on Europe to prepare everything for a great gaming experience in an English, French and German version. Our combined goal is to support all TERA fans in the best possible way, because triple-A games deserve triple-A services, and that is what we all want to achieve.

After we finished reading all the new threads concerning the partnership between Bluehole and Frogster, we saw that there are many open questions, so we discussed everything within the last days and I would like to start answering some of the topics now and continue within the next days.

1. Free-to-Play or Pay-to-Play
We will publish TERA in Europe in a pay-to-play model. TERA is designed for a subscription model, so the game will be operated as a pay-to-play MMO all over the world. So no one needs to be concerned that TERA will be a free-to-play game in Europe.

2. Questions about possible censorship / PEGI +13 / USK 12+
It’s not our goal to cut or reduce the TERA experience in Germany or any other country where Frogster holds the rights to publish TERA. We won't censor something if we are allowed to keep it in. We love TERA just the way it is, just like you do. We don’t want to change a single pixel of this great game. But I am sure you can understand that we have to stick to the existing law in Germany and other European countries like any other publisher. We will keep you updated on this topic, but so far we believe that nothing has to be changed for Europe.

3. Questions about servers for TERA in Europe
We are working closely with the developers at Bluehole Studio on this matter. This includes specific details about the best possible server hardware for TERA in the EU. Both Bluehole and Frogster want to be sure to offer servers that deliver the best performance for the players in Europe, while En Masse is taking care of this in the US. As the combat system is based on manual evade and targeting, it is really important to choose high-end hardware in order to secure a fun and stable playtime for all customers of TERA in EU, US and the territories covered by the other partners of Bluehole. This is one of the most important parts of the contract between Bluehole and Frogster, so you don’t need to worry about receiving less powerful hardware than US players.

4. Questions about our Support Team for TERA
There will be a special 24/7 professional support team. This team will be in place just for TERA players and no other Frogster games. I really think that a triple-A title like TERA needs not only fantastic graphics and superior gameplay, it also needs the best possible Costumer Support and Community Management available. That is the reason why we will create a complete team separate from all other products in order to have many dedicated specialists available who work only on providing the best English, French and German support to TERA customers. To achieve this, we’ll continue to hire new and experienced staff.

5. Questions about Community Management and information to the players
We know that it is very common for some publishers to deliver information, patches and other stuff for each territory on different dates. Bluehole, En Masse and Frogster already agreed that we will post everything on the same day, providing all users with the same information and the same game versions.
So let me tell you, we are all looking forward to bringing you the best service possible for TERA. You’ll be supported by a team who will be responsible only for you, the TERA community in Europe.

Thank you again, and stay tuned for more information.

By the way, in August there is one of the largest gaming conventions in Europe, Gamescom, so we invite everyone to visit the TERA booth and talk with us if you still have open questions. We’re looking forward to showing TERA to the world and the European player base and answering all your questions.


Kind regards,

Daniel Ullrich
Director Product Management
Frogster Online Gaming


Update:
Second Part of Q&A: http://tera-online.com/forums/showpo...&postcount=396

Originally Posted by Danatros

Hello TERA Community,

Before I start to talk about the topic of this letter, I would like to say “thank you” to every fan who is already active in this forum. Everybody here at Bluehole, Frogster and En Masse knows that the community is the heart of an MMO.

For TERA, En Masse will take care of the North-American community and Frogster will concentrate on Europe to prepare everything for a great gaming experience in an English, French and German version. Our combined goal is to support all TERA fans in the best possible way, because triple-A games deserve triple-A services, and that is what we all want to achieve.

After we finished reading all the new threads concerning the partnership between Bluehole and Frogster, we saw that there are many open questions, so we discussed everything within the last days and I would like to start answering some of the topics now and continue within the next days.

1. Free-to-Play or Pay-to-Play
We will publish TERA in Europe in a pay-to-play model. TERA is designed for a subscription model, so the game will be operated as a pay-to-play MMO all over the world. So no one needs to be concerned that TERA will be a free-to-play game in Europe.

2. Questions about possible censorship / PEGI +13 / USK 12+
It’s not our goal to cut or reduce the TERA experience in Germany or any other country where Frogster holds the rights to publish TERA. We won't censor something if we are allowed to keep it in. We love TERA just the way it is, just like you do. We don’t want to change a single pixel of this great game. But I am sure you can understand that we have to stick to the existing law in Germany and other European countries like any other publisher. We will keep you updated on this topic, but so far we believe that nothing has to be changed for Europe.

3. Questions about servers for TERA in Europe
We are working closely with the developers at Bluehole Studio on this matter. This includes specific details about the best possible server hardware for TERA in the EU. Both Bluehole and Frogster want to be sure to offer servers that deliver the best performance for the players in Europe, while En Masse is taking care of this in the US. As the combat system is based on manual evade and targeting, it is really important to choose high-end hardware in order to secure a fun and stable playtime for all customers of TERA in EU, US and the territories covered by the other partners of Bluehole. This is one of the most important parts of the contract between Bluehole and Frogster, so you don’t need to worry about receiving less powerful hardware than US players.

4. Questions about our Support Team for TERA
There will be a special 24/7 professional support team. This team will be in place just for TERA players and no other Frogster games. I really think that a triple-A title like TERA needs not only fantastic graphics and superior gameplay, it also needs the best possible Costumer Support and Community Management available. That is the reason why we will create a complete team separate from all other products in order to have many dedicated specialists available who work only on providing the best English, French and German support to TERA customers. To achieve this, we’ll continue to hire new and experienced staff.

5. Questions about Community Management and information to the players
We know that it is very common for some publishers to deliver information, patches and other stuff for each territory on different dates. Bluehole, En Masse and Frogster already agreed that we will post everything on the same day, providing all users with the same information and the same game versions.
So let me tell you, we are all looking forward to bringing you the best service possible for TERA. You’ll be supported by a team who will be responsible only for you, the TERA community in Europe.

Thank you again, and stay tuned for more information.

By the way, in August there is one of the largest gaming conventions in Europe, Gamescom, so we invite everyone to visit the TERA booth and talk with us if you still have open questions. We’re looking forward to showing TERA to the world and the European player base and answering all your questions.


Kind regards,

Daniel Ullrich
Director Product Management
Frogster Online Gaming

Thank you for taking the time to update the community Daniel, best of luck with your preparations.

I'm not sure if you're planning on answering questions in this thread or not, but will you be offering EU-specific beta testing prior to the launch of the game?

IP block, is it planned?

Hi Urusei,

We will provide you with additional information concerning this topic within the next days.

Regards,
Daniel Ullrich

What about the censordhip on your forums?

I had expierience with one of your games and it was really bad.

Any criticism was deleted, player banned etc.


As you can see EnMasse is doing a great job on their forums. I want the same tolerance as EnMasse gives us!

sounds good so far

If you now will censor something due to law in Germany - will it affect all players from every country or only the german players?


Will you have the same prices as the NA version?

Hi Daniel, when you plan to run a tera-europe.com and will offer some new information about the game? Thank you for your reply.

Welcome to the forums, Daniel

I really wish that you guys perfectly succeed with publishing TERA in Europe. Many people are worried due to previous game experiences with your company, but this is a new game and personally, i am willing to give you a chance, because i want to play this game and in European servers.

We are looking forward to the release of TERA, and i believe that you won't dissapoint us. This thread is a good start.

See? How hard was that to type up?

Interesting profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/danielullrich

Good luck!