TERA – Korea and Japan servers announce F2P conversion
Major announcement from Asia, as NHN, the publisher of both TERA Korea and Japan, announced earlier today the full conversion to Free-to-Play mode early next year with no content restrictions. TERA Korea will officially enter F2P come 10th January, while TERA Japan in mid-February. And yes, there will be a cash shop, including materials to boost equipment upgrades.
If I read correctly, the Japan server has already gone Free-to-Play today, although the full conversion (with item shop) will only end in mid-February. Listed below are some of the differences, but do note that there are many other changes not listed below. Subscribers will get many more benefits in terms of utility features.
Korea server
Free-to-Play date: 10th January 2013
Free character slots: 3
Storage: 72 slots (1 page)
Dungeon cool-down: Twice the normal time
Japan server
Free-to-Play date: Mid-February (players can play free now, although there is no cash shop yet)
Free character slots: 4
Storage: 72 slots (1 page)
Dungeon cool-down: ?
The conversion for both servers will also see a new "Federation" update, with the core focus on enhancing guild, political and PvP features (along with new equipment, dungeons, maps etc). It is reported that the "experience server" for TERA Korea saw an increment of 25% in players, hence NHN decided to roll out this full conversion.