The amount of comments talking smack about the post because of its author is really astounding. The article is an okay read, why not judge it based on its own merits?
I don't find it enjoyable at al, but I would say it is ironic that back then it was liberals preaching for free speech and conservatives wanting to censor all things (television, video-games, porn, etc). Power seems to quickly change one's ideals.
I don't buy it. For better or worse Japanese studios have proved time and time again to not really care about the west. Just look at how expensive and hard it is to import their (usually not localized) stuff.
Japan lives in its own isolation bubble and western values are of no concern to most Japanese people.
I live alone and work from home, sometimes the lack of others makes me feel a bit down, one usual antidote is listening to podcasts, but I also find them to be distracting. What I like to do in these situations is listen to Japanese radio shows, they are upbeat and since I understand very little Japanese they are not too distracting (at least in low volumes).
I quite enjoy the show named たまむすび (tama musubi), this youtube channel posts new episodes (is this the right term?) as frequently as they come out: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo6OJrar-0P2rqLqMVomQNw , hope it can help some of you.
I wish I shared in your optimism.
From where I am standing I see more and more young people trying to get into our field, and I don't feel there is much of an and entry barrier at all.
>The combat system (still haven't seen anything like it, the initial devs were brilliant), the scenery (Seeliewoods was fantastic), the decently balanced, prolonged PVP at the time, all the crafting stuff and absolutely free market, plus the early playerbase made the game great even if it did have a repetitive endgame. Oh and there was no region lock so people from all over the world could play, like Guild Wars.
I couldn't agree more if I wanted to, TERA's combat system and ambiance was unmatchable.
You spoke of Seeliewoods; me and my boyfriend at the time got "married" in the Seeliewoods chapel, it was a blast.
I have such fond memories of the place, it always saddens me knowing that I can't go back.
>I lost my account when Enmasse migrated them to Gameforge or something, I just didn't bother. They're shutting it down for good next month.
Same here, at the time of the migration the game already felt like a shadow of its former self. And even though, just like you, I had spent a sizable amount of money on it, I didn't really bother migrating.
I deeply wish to be able to have a similar experience again. I have tried so many MMOs since TERA and none have ever offered what it did.
Your experience with TERA is akin to mine. Not only the game was innovative, skill based and overall fun to play, the interaction with other players was like none I had ever experienced.
BTW, did you ever made it to exarch[1] in the alliance? I only made it as far as commander during my time.
Well, I am not sure such a thing would work for me, at least not in the long run. But like you said, it could be useful if you are alone and need a voice (even if a synthetic one) to remind you that there are reasons to keep going.
I hope you can find yourself proper counseling though, I didn't know things were so dismal in Germany (I am assuming you are in Germany based on the contents of you comment).
Disregard people who are easily offended, your work is pertinent on hacker news, and your SFW imagery is not against any rules.