Postmortem: Westernization
Last week, we began posting a series of postmortem articles from Tera's second Focus Group Test. We received a lot of valuable feedback from the FGT2, and we want to share some of it, and our thoughts and responses, with you. The first installment covered the testers' gameplay experience, while this second installment focuses on the Westernization of Tera, the comprehensive localization effort being applied to the game. The third and final article, which will be posted next week, will touch on the technology of the game(tera gold).
Westernization
Perhaps the hottest topic of the FGT2 forum, the Westernization feedback category covered the gamut of story, dialogue, naming, game flow, and quests. Overall, testers commented positively on Tera's Westernization and felt it was a strong indication of our goal for the final product. It's important to note that our Westernization efforts are nowhere near complete; asTera proceeds through development, its Westernization will continue to be improved upon.
Testers found the core story intriguing and were excited to enter the world presented at the start of the game. Feeling involved in advancing the narrative through interaction with NPCs and engaging dialogue was important to the majority of participants: they wanted to feel that their character was pivotal to the game's plot. Additionally, players wanted to experience more immersion through the exotic naming of items, skills, and other in-game elements to more closely match the colorful fantasy world of Tera.
