A dynamic twist in TERA's story in the western world unfolded today as Bluehole Interactive changed its official name to "En Masse Entertainment" and revealed most of it's executive team (all of whom at one time worked for NCsoft West, oddly enough). You may recognize some of these faces, as I do, so I'd advise to keep your hopes up. Perhaps "En Masse Entertainment" will actually bring TERA to America and Europe with all the attention and care it will need to succeed...

Anyhow, here's some snippets from the press release that went out early this morning. Remember, read everything in a press release with a grain of salt. It is, after all, a press release, not actual reporting! ;)

En Masse Entertainment, a new breed of game publisher specializing in bringing globally renowned online properties to Western audiences, today announced its company formation. En Masse, a wholly owned subsidiary of leading Korean MMO company Bluehole Studio, Inc., is focused on selecting high quality online games and adapting, refining, and positioning them so they are perfectly suited for audiences in Western markets. Formed in 2009, En Masse is comprised of talented veterans whose collective portfolio reflects the most recognized and celebrated IPs from leading companies including Blizzard Entertainment, Microsoft Corp., Electronic Arts Inc., ArenaNet and NCsoft. The first official En Masse title scheduled for release in North America and Europe will be the highly anticipated MMORPG PC title, TERA™.

"We've brought together 'best of breed' experts in the fields of technology, online gaming, branding and localization who have a shared vision for global MMO games that deliver on the highest levels of quality and cultural relevance," said Dr Jae-Heon Yang, CEO of En Masse Entertainment. "Our inaugural project, TERA, is one that we feel deeply passionate about and will reflect our approach and commitment to the Western gaming community."

The senior management team at En Masse is comprised of the following members:

CEO Dr. Jae-Heon Yang

Dr. Yang is a computer science academic, gaming executive and visionary leader within the Korean online gaming industry. After transitioning from academia, he decided to develop games by helping great creators fulfill their visions without getting in the way of the creative process. In 2000, he co-founded IMAZIC Co. Ltd., an innovator in online gaming that developed one of Asia's first 3D MMOs, Sephiroth, which reached hundreds of thousands of players in Korea, Taiwan and China. In 2005, Dr. Yang became CTO for NCsoft, a role he held until 2007 when he returned to academic circles as a visiting scholar at the University of California, Irvine.

COO Patrick Wyatt

Patrick Wyatt has 19 years of experience with hit franchises, starting as a creator of Blizzard Entertainment's legendary Warcraft and Starcraft  franchises, writing Diablo's  multiplayer code, scaling up battle.net™, founding ArenaNet, developing Guild Wars and serving as CTO of NCsoft.

Publishing VP Chris Lee

Chris Lee successfully managed the marketing campaigns for blockbuster franchises including Halo, Need for Speed™, Age of Empires and Aion at leading companies including Electronic Arts, Microsoft and NCsoft before joining En Masse Entertainment.

Senior Producer Brian Knox

Brian Knox, who is overseeing Western development for TERA, is an NCsoft MMO veteran who worked his way up from the trenches before assuming Producer responsibilities for Aion.

TERA is an innovative MMORPG with rich graphics and animations where players fully control their characters through the game's dynamic battle system. Player actions in TERA can change the balance of power in a world where six races try to work together for the common good. The game, which is currently in development for PC, will launch in Korea this year and in Western markets thereafter.

En Masse will host meetings at GDC 2010 in San Francisco from March 9-13 at booth #1134 in Expo - please contact Lauren Dillon ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to arrange an appointment).

Now for some questions and answers from that other TERA fansite, which somehow got an interview with En Masse Entertainment while we were summarily ignored. Whoops, favoritism already? :D

-Interviewee Questions-

• Q: What is En Masse Entertainment?
  A: En Masse is a recently formed publishing company dedicated to bringing players the best massively multiplayer online games in the world. Our first title will be TERA which is being developed by Bluehole Studio in South Korea.
• Q: Who are you and what do you do at En Masse?
  A: My name is Brian Knox, and I'm the senior producer at En Masse Entertainment. I oversee the Westernization and localization process, QA, writing, and overall product quality for TERA, as well as future En Masse products.
• Q: What did you do before working on Tera Online?
  A: I've worked at two MMO companies previously; most recently I served as producer on the MMORPG Aion.

-Character Customization-

• Q: What sort of character/class customization features (like talent points or skill points) will be available to players as they progress through the game?
  A: We are working on ways to distinguish classes, such as skill trees, gear variety, and so on. In addition, with TERA’s unique combat system, I believe players themselves will help distinguish their characters by how they move and react in battle.
• Q: Is player housing planned for TERA's release?
  A: Yes, we plan to have guild housing with perks for guild members such as teleporting, special buffs, and a space for community activities.
• Q: Will there be anything other than looks to distinguish races from one another?
  A: As part of the Westernization process, we're developing unique racial backgrounds and distinctive "voices" for each race. You will definitely see racial differentiation in the game text and how characters interact with one another. We want users to choose their race based on personal preferences, not because one is better than the other. It's never fun to be forced to play a certain race because it is considered "superior" to other races.

-Gameplay-

• Q: Can you tell us more about the planned PvP system for TERA? Will it be entirely free-for-all in most areas? will there be safe areas?
  TERA includes a system that allows players to declare PvP on other players. This system should allow players the freedom they desire in-game, while at the same time eliminating the ganking that can occur with open PvP.
• Q: Will there be any instanced PvP areas?
  A: TERA has consensual PvP areas called "battlegrounds." You can form battle groups and fight for political gains, guild prestige, and loot, and you'll earn points that can be used for various guild improvements and political gains. Battlegrounds will also span multiple servers to increase participation and competition.
• Q: Does the company plan to support servers where PvP is everywhere (PvP servers) as well as servers where you have to flag yourself to be part of PvP (PvE servers)?
  A: Yes. We expect to have both PvE and PvP servers. PvE servers will still have consensual PvP content such as battlegrounds and duels.
• Q: Will TERA have more open elite areas or more instanced elite areas?
  A: There will be non-instanced dungeons, such as the Enchanted Castle, and instanced dungeons as well. We hope to provide a variety of both, because they'll each offer unique gameplay experiences.
• Q: What is the planned level cap for TERA?
  A: Currently, the planned level cap is set at 60.
• Q Will players have the option to reach max level by both soloing and grouping?[/b]
  A: The development team's main goal is to provide the most enjoyable and rewarding experience possible. That means we're focused on ensuring that the content that is the most rewarding is also the most enjoyable. Right now, we're concentrating on group play and balance, but we do understand that you can’t always find a group that suits you.*To address that, we're working hard to ensure that you'll have the ability to solo and still make substantial leveling progress.*Grouping will be the fastest way to advance in*TERA,*and we're looking at ways to make it easy for players to find groups that fit their preferences.
  *
• Q: Will players be able to quest all the way to max level?[/b]
  Yes. Players will have group and solo quests to play throughout the entire game.*
• Q: How many zones (regions) will TERA release with?[/b]
  TERA*will have 55+ zones at launch, many of which will offer multiple types of content per level range.*You'll be able to go back and replay these zones with alternate characters to see entirely different content.*We really want to encourage players to create and level alts, and we have a few tricks up our sleeve for those who enjoy creating and playing multiple characters.

-Economy/Political System-

• Q: Will TERA have an auction house system, a broker system or just personal shops?
  A: TERA*has what we call a Homunculus--a personal pet accessible to all characters on the same account. Your Homunculus can be set to buy and sell in a personal shop, as well as perform a few other cool tasks.*We also plan to implement a broker system.
• Q: What can you tell us about the crafting system?
  A: Crafting is very important in*TERA.*You'll be able to gather materials from monsters you hunt, as well as from minerals and plants in the world.*As you level in*TERA,*it is very important to equip gear equal to your level or you won’t be nearly as powerful as you could be. Crafting will play a major role in keeping players geared up and performing at their best!
• Q: What can you tell us about the political system?
  A: Not much right now!*:)*We expect that it will create a dynamic community on each server, where players strive to be a part of what we call the Circle of Archons.*We hope to start releasing more details on this system soon, but for now, I can say that we're really excited by it. We think it's a unique endgame feature that will bring a lot to the TERA experience.

Original article link here, for those interested.