If you haven't heard of it, TERA, or The Exiled Realm of Arboera is a gorgeous MMORPG produced by En Masse Entertainment that received some considerable hype back in 2011 when it was released. Yet, less than two years after it released, it appears TERA is being forced into going free-to-play in order to try and stay afloat.
Perhaps though, it shouldn't be surprising after a behemoth like EA and BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic was forced to accept the hybrid free-to-play/subscription market in a world that is gradually embracing free to play over paying the standard $14.99 a month.
For TERA, the free to play process is coming much quicker than SWTOR's, starting in February with free to play accounts. According to Venturebeat, past and current players will receive a permanent founder status with exclusive privileges (much like SWTOR's preferred status) while new players taking advantage of the free to play system will have a standard status.
Unlike SWTOR, TERA is (probably intelligently) not adding any content restrictions or level caps, simply allowing only two free characters per server instead of the eight character slots that founders will have. Founders will also get access to four bank tabs, a title, an exclusive in-game mount and more that wasn't detailed yet.
For the usual $14.99, players can get an Elite status which will yield "extra dungeon rewards, 10 bonus quests per day, daily in-game items and boosts, an elite mount, store discounts, and more."
En Mass is planning to launch new game content to collaborate with the change. The content includes a new PvP battleground map and a wave-based dungeon.
With high quality games like TERA and SWTOR going free to play, all eyes are on games like Rift and especially World of Warcraft, to see just how long they can keep up the subscription based model.
