UPDATE: New Steam/Gameforge population data concerning TERA following their merger/new publisher/live service. Not nearly as grim as it looked before, but not exactly successful either. (700 average players). Thank you for the catch detectives, my apologies :).
https://steamcharts.com/app/212740
Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/nerdslayer-merch
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nerdslayer
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/?tag=nerdslayerg-20
Humble Bundle:https://www.humblebundle.com/monthly?partner=nerdslayer
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/nerdslayerrr
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/nerdslayerg
Discord: https://discord.gg/nerdslayer
#DOAG . Death of a Game is a series dedicated to uncovering the mysteries surrounding the death of a game or company. nerdSlayer defines the term "death" in the context of the show as either... 1. Literally dead. 2. Had a mass exodus of players and never recovered (expectations etc). 3. The company ceased to exist. We follow a timeline of events, to uncover clues concerning why a game or company doesn't do well, and attempt to put it all together at the end for a deduction explaining how or why the game failed based on the evidence gathered.
Sources:
https://steamcharts.com/app/323370
https://gameforge.com/en-GB/play/tera
https://massivelyop.com/2020/07/30/tera-announces-team-based-battle-mode-called-tera-battle-arena-launching-in-2020/
https://gameforge.com/en-GB/play/tera/news/280c785c-72f5-43bb-9fe0-2604f9b9ef74
https://board.tera.gameforge.com/index.php?thread/80733-patch-notes-100-fiery-airship/
https://massivelyop.com/2020/08/08/tera-battle-arena-walks-you-through-how-this-moba-works/
https://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/tera
https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/tera
https://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-one/tera
https://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/25/tera-review
https://www.polygon.com/2013/1/24/3560572/tera-review-big-monsters-small-ambitions
https://www.pcgamer.com/tera-review/
http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/tera-the-exiled-realm-of-arborea/1224574p1.html
http://tsi.brooklaw.edu/sites/tsi.brooklaw.edu/files/filings/ncsoft-corporation-et-al-v-bluehole-studio-inc-et-al/20120109ncsoft-corporation-et-al-v-bluehole-studio-inc-et-alcomplaint.pdf
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-01-26-ncsoft-says-bluehole-studio-stole-assets-for-tera
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-04-17-tera-developers-guilty-of-stealing-lineage-iii-assets
https://www.engadget.com/2012-01-25-ncsoft-files-tera-related-lawsuit-against-bluehole-and-en-masse.html
https://www.engadget.com/2012-01-25-ncsoft-files-tera-related-lawsuit-against-bluehole-and-en-masse.html
https://www.techinasia.com/tera-review-the-trump-card-of-bluehole-studio
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-03-20-tera-crosses-1-4-million-after-f2p-switch
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130103005284/en/En-Masse-Entertainment-Boosts-Executive-Team-with-Naming-of-Veteran-Chris-Lee-as-CEO-and-Hiring-of-COO-Soo-Min-Park
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-08-18-tera-publisher-en-masse-entertainment-shutting-down#:~:text=En%20Masse%20Entertainment%20is%20shutting,it%20was%20responsible%20for%20publishing.
https://www.destructoid.com/stories/tera-rising-breaks-one-million-player-mark-after-f2p-249177.phtml
https://www.destructoid.com/stories/tera-is-going-free-to-play-in-february-242063.phtml
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-12-27-tera-goes-free-to-play-in-japan-and-korea
https://bleedingcool.com/games/gameforge-takes-over-publishing-rights-to-tera-in-the-americas/#comments-section
https://www.gamasutra.com/view/pressreleases/364431/En_Masse_Entertainment_Announces_Launch_Date_For_New_Awakening_Update_For_TERA_On_Xbox_One_And_PlayStation_4.php
https://www.engadget.com/2011-06-01-rumor-tera-korean-servers-merging.html
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20191111000704
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3069766
https://www.gamereactor.eu/tera-to-launch-next-spring/
https://venturebeat.com/2012/04/30/after-insane-development-cycle-online-game-TERA-finally-poised-for-launch/
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-05-14-from-panties-to-shorties-why-the-young-anime-girls-of-tera-were-censored
https://komyou.tumblr.com/post/160137405860/part-2-techno-mumbo-jumbo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceWGq1BtrDk&ab_channel=SorcsAndSabers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ytd_TPjlic&ab_channel=EnMasse