Big news comes in from TERA this week just two weeks after the launch in both North America and Europe. First up? The Political system starts up this week as candidates from across Arborea put their money where their mouth is to vie for 1 of 15 territories in each server.

Political System

Now not anyone can run for office. You'll need to be level 50+ (60 preferred if you don't want to get punked by your opponents in a pre-election duel), with a level 3 guild that houses more than 20 members. To throw your ring in the election hat you'll have to fork over 3,000 gold and 100 Catharnach awards so think carefully of your chances of victory before committing the hard earned resources of you and your guild to the race. The deadline is fast approaching though on both versions so decide now what you want to do.

Once you've selected your continent and territory you'll have to start campaigning. Players are only able to cast one vote per continent per account so you've got to fight against not only those campaigning directly against you, but also those campaigning in adjacent regions for votes. The voting character must also be level 20 so don't waste too much time showing off on the Island of Dawn. How you earn your votes is entirely up to you, so we should see quite a show come out of this.

One week later (June 1st on NA servers), the winning candidates will ascend to office, receiving special mounts and the privilege to change policies for ruling their region. Of course to do so you'll have to earn policy points so start making your members praise your faction now, and get ready to tackle some seriously powerful BAMs to earn more points the hard way. Vanarchs rule for 3 weeks and can control the following:

Tax Rates on Merchants

Open/Close Specialty Shops

Create Skill Trainers in Remote Locations

Upgrade Stamina Restore Clerics with New Abilities

Enable Access to Trade Brokers

Turn Open World PvP On/Off (PvP servers only)

Premium Shop

The other surprising update to come from TERA this week is the reveal of the premium shop. This is an area outside of the standard subscription fee in which players can buy name change scrolls, cosmetic changes, weapon skins, and even race/gender alterations. Prices seem on par with what most F2P titles charge for these conveniences, but opening premium shops in a P2P game is bound to cause controversy. One plus is the premium items are non-tradable so you can't just buy them in bulk and sell them for power. Feel free to let us know what you think in our TERA discussion thread at OnRPG forums!

Big news comes in from TERA this week just two weeks after the launch in both North America and Europe. First up? The Political system starts up this week as candidates from across Arborea put their money where their mouth is to vie for 1 of 15 territories in each server.

Political System

Now not anyone can run for office. You'll need to be level 50+ (60 preferred if you don't want to get punked by your opponents in a pre-election duel), with a level 3 guild that houses more than 20 members. To throw your ring in the election hat you'll have to fork over 3,000 gold and 100 Catharnach awards so think carefully of your chances of victory before committing the hard earned resources of you and your guild to the race. The deadline is fast approaching though on both versions so decide now what you want to do.

Once you've selected your continent and territory you'll have to start campaigning. Players are only able to cast one vote per continent per account so you've got to fight against not only those campaigning directly against you, but also those campaigning in adjacent regions for votes. The voting character must also be level 20 so don't waste too much time showing off on the Island of Dawn. How you earn your votes is entirely up to you, so we should see quite a show come out of this.

One week later (June 1st on NA servers), the winning candidates will ascend to office, receiving special mounts and the privilege to change policies for ruling their region. Of course to do so you'll have to earn policy points so start making your members praise your faction now, and get ready to tackle some seriously powerful BAMs to earn more points the hard way. Vanarchs rule for 3 weeks and can control the following:

Tax Rates on Merchants

Open/Close Specialty Shops

Create Skill Trainers in Remote Locations

Upgrade Stamina Restore Clerics with New Abilities

Enable Access to Trade Brokers

Turn Open World PvP On/Off (PvP servers only)

Premium Shop

The other surprising update to come from TERA this week is the reveal of the premium shop. This is an area outside of the standard subscription fee in which players can buy name change scrolls, cosmetic changes, weapon skins, and even race/gender alterations. Prices seem on par with what most F2P titles charge for these conveniences, but opening premium shops in a P2P game is bound to cause controversy. One plus is the premium items are non-tradable so you can't just buy them in bulk and sell them for power. Feel free to let us know what you think in our TERA discussion thread at OnRPG forums!