I want to talk a bit about TERA's class and race combinations, something that's been a hot topic in our community and was recently discussed in Sam Kim's interview on Ten Ton Hammer and then again on TERACast. In the past we've said that we plan to have all classes available to all races, and this is certainly still our goal. However, like plans gone awry for a relaxing vacation, sometimes real life interferes with your ideal plans.
There are three forces at work here:
. Game Balance. Above all, we want to ensure that TERA provides a balanced experience, something I discussed in my post about classes and hitboxes. What's more balanced than allowing every race to play every class?
. Race Differentiation. The flip side of the coin is what makes each race unique. Size, hitboxes, and animations provide some uniqueness, but so too does allowing each race its own individual set of classes it can play.
. Aesthetics. We want to give players as many options as possible, but there are story and lore reasons why a certain race may not be appropriate for a particular class. This is partially based on our continuing development of TERA's rich narrative backstory, partially because some combinations simply don't make sense, and partially because the actual combinations (such as weapons and armor for some races) are very technically challenging to pull off in a convincing way. If you're going to look at a character for hundreds of hours, we don't want you thinking how goofy that character looks holding a massive sword.
We're trying to find a way to make sure the game is balanced, the races feel distinctly different, and everything remains aesthetically pleasing. That might mean that not every race will be able to select every class in the final version of the game, but then again, it might. The fact of the matter is, we just don't know yet. We'll keep everyone posted on how this shapes up, but for now we'll have to stick with a firm "maybe," and we certainly appreciate everyone's patience as we move closer to TERA's launch.
