TERA: Rising loses the fee, goes free-to-play next month

MMORPG fans will have another free-to-play option to toy around with later this year, as En Masse Entertainment has announced that The Exiled Realm of Arborea (or TERA, for short) will be relaunched as a free-to-play game called TERA: Rising next month.

First launched in North America in May of 2012, TERA finds players thrown into a world of seven playable races, from humanoids to demons, as they work to destroy an evil race from the underworld: the Argons. This magical fantasy world contains most of the elements you'd expect from a modern MMORPG, as players can spend their time completing quests, battling against other players, and crafting items for further use. While current subscribers can still choose to pay to play the game after its transition to a F2P format next month, those looking to get their game on for free will have plenty of content in front of them as well.

Once TERA: Rising opens to the masses, players will have three account options to choose from. Current subscribers that choose to continue subscribing can purchase "Elite" game time in chunks of 30 days for $14.99. Former subscribers that choose to cancel their paid subscription after the switch will become Founders, and will receive an exclusive Terminus Mount as a thank you for their previous support of the game. Completely free players will have many more limitations, will receive no special mounts, and will only be able to create two characters per server.

This isn't the first time that we've seen a pay-to-play MMO transition to a free-to-play model, and it likely won't be the last. Even the big names like World of Warcraft now support a free-to-play option, proving that free-to-play is definitely here to stay. What's more, this could prove to be a positive transition for TERA, as new players will be given a chance to experience a world that may have dwindled into nothing otherwise. For more information about the three levels of subscriptions in TERA: Rising, check out the game's official website.

Do you like trying free-to-play MMOs, or do you still fully support games that charge a subscription for any access? Are you excited or disappointed to hear that TERA is going free-to-play? Sound off in the comments!