Barton

Twelve years ago, several brave adventurers took their first steps into the world of EverQuest and helped to shape the MMO genre. Now, Sony Online Entertainment is gearing up to celebrate all the myriad achievements between that first day and now -- and the company is kicking everything off with a huge giveaway just perfect for dedicated Norrathians! Earlier today SOE announced a Facebook contest that will hook a dozen lucky winners up with a full year of EverQuest game time. However, much like the game it honors, this giveaway quest is only for those adventurers who savor a challenge.
Starting today, the Rift Gold community team will post a daily image on Facebook that has a trivia question on it. All you have to do is drop by the EverQuest Facebook page, look at the image, and mail your answer in to the company’s contest email address. From there, one winner will be picked from all the correct answers received each day until all 12 days’ worth of giveaways are done. So, if you’re up on your Norrathian trivia and would like to land some free game time, then point your browser at the Rift Gold Facebook page and check out all the details!
And we’re not just talking about your skimpy outfits, oh no. Your political system, your endgame, your Westernized (whatever that means) makeover... all of these have conspired to leave us breathless with anticipation.
Fortunately, we were able to take TERA for a spin at this week’s Rift Gold 2011. Along with help from a PUG comprised of En Masse Entertainment staffers, we ventured deep inside the game’s Smuggler’s Hideout, battling BAMS (En Masse shorthand for big-ass monsters) and checking out the title’s streamlined UI and spiffy combat mechanics. Join us after the cut for a brief recap of the demo as well as an interview with producer Brian Knox during which we (politely) demanded a definition for the much-discussed concept of Westernization.
This wasn’t our first rodeo when it comes to hands-on time with TERA, and while we’ll stop short of proclaiming ourselves experts, it does bear mentioning that the game’s combat is at once familiar and undeniably fun. Cheap Rift Gold avatar was a Berserker, and those of you who’ve played already know that the class is a heavy DPS variant that had us building up our blue mana bar with abandon (which allows the firing of specials and is charged by the use of a left-click attack). En Masse’s demo crew made sure to educate us on TERA’s whip-smart AI and the way mobs can become enraged, the way they hint that they’re about to unleash a larger-than-normal can of whoop-ass, and how they split up into roles much like players do (some mobs will tank, others will Cheap Rift Gold heal, etc.).