Guess it was only a matter of time, huh, Tera? En Masse Entertainment's online fantasy game joins Star Wars: The Old Republic and DC Universe Online on the roster of big-deal MMO titles that are ditching subscriptions. Starting in February, subscriptions will no longer be required to play Tera.

New players who join after the free-to-play switch—which is being called Tera: Rising—will be getting the full game, but paying users will be granted elite status. Rather than restricting free players and giving paid players the full game, everyone gets the full game and paid players get extra goodies. Here's a breakdown from today's press release:

Standard players will have full access to TERA's wealth of in-game content with two free characters per server. They are not subject to level caps and will experience no restrictions to content, time, or level. In recognition of their early adoption to the game, players who purchased TERA will gain founder benefits, including eight character slots, four bank tabs, a "Founder" title, the exclusive Terminus mount, and much more.

Available in 30-day increments for $14.99, elite status grants players extra dungeon rewards, 10 bonus quests per day, a daily delivery of items and boosts, an elite mount, in-game store discounts, waived brokerage registration taxes, and more. Elite players will find that their status pays for itself through free items and discounts, let alone in-game perks.

While non-elite players will not benefit from the same perks as their Elite counterparts, they will experience game content, character growth, holding political office, and other in-game determinations of status and power exactly the same way all players have since the game launched. They can also choose to buy most items available to elite status players on an a la carte basis from the in-game store or trade broker.

The exact date of the changeover hasn't been revealed yet but Tera players interested in more details can learn more here.

True story—during my time playing En Masse Entertainment's MMO Tera, my guild and I were attempting to recreate the trailer for the film 300 in-game for some silly reason. When it came time to capture video for the Oracle scene, we went with a series of sultry and mildly demonic Castanic females dancing by a fountain to take the place of the writhing young naked girl from the movie. Each looked much like this statue from E2046's Gathering line, strips of metallic armor barely covering their delicate skin—pretty naked, but not quite naked enough.

We asked them to try taking off their armor, wearing only the base underwear for the character model. Turns out a naked Castanic female is actually more dressed than a fully armored one. Thanks, Korean MMO graphic designers!

So while it might look like the Gathering Castanic ($149.99 pre-painted, $60 if you want to try painting it yourself) is another exploitative female statue with anime sensibilities, she's really just a really accurate representation of another exploitative female game character with anime tendencies.

Glad we could clear that up!

Wielding her massive axe and making me miss my Berserker character something fierce, the Gathering Castanic is a piece that captures a great deal of action in a still form. Her ivory hair flows, her axe poised to strike with the sudden brutality of the profession she represents. Her... what do I call that? I guess it's a butt cape. Her butt cape flutters in the wind.

Butt cape is probably not the right term. *checks with the wife* Nope, she says butt cape is probably right.

Note the green glow coming from her feet. The statue ships with a lovely swirling translucent green base complete with name plate, which someone may have forgotten to photograph while he had it available. You can see it on the product page, if you'd like. It's rather nice.

Fleshy bits aside, what armor the Castanic is wearing is nicely detailed, a dark wash making etched surfaces really pop. The axe in particular is a gorgeous representation of the Berserker's signature weapon, to the point where I might have swung it about in my fingers making wooshing noises before placing it in the character's hands. The folks at E204 have done a fine job of painting the statue, all things considered. There are portions to the string-thin armor where flesh-color encroaches on bits that should be metal, but these are small and barely noticeable unless you bring your face inappropriately close.

The only real flaw with the sculpt is in the delicate shoulder pieces the figure wears (because you need to make sure those shoulders are well-armored, by-golly. Upon opening the box and unpacking the various parts, I discovered the spiky bits from the character's right shoulder sitting in the bottom of the plastic bag, having snapped at some point during the shipping process. The E204 folks are very careful in packing their delicate wares for cross-continental journeys, so broken bits came as quite a surprise. Nothing a little glue couldn't fix, but disappointing nonetheless.

Standing nearly 13 inches tall (not counting the axe), the E204 Gathering Castanic is an unyielding force of sexy Berserker fury, even if she's slightly chipped and mostly naked. A fine way to show your Tera pride and much less embarrassing than the Elin Elementalist.

Halloween is still a week from today, so you'll have to wait until next Wednesday if you want to go trick-or-treating in the real world. (Or at least, if you want to do it without getting the cops called.)

But if you'd like to dash around a virtual world in costume, gathering treats and performing tricks, you're in luck. MMOs far and wide have Halloween events going on for a week or two. So if you're ready to dive into the spookier side of things, here are some places you can get your ghost and goblin fix.

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Guild Wars 2
"Shadow of the Mad King"
October 22 - November 1

"Shadow of the Mad King" follows on the heels of the annual Halloween event from the original Guild Wars. The full set of events is unfolding over four acts over the next two weeks but right now, there are Halloween-themed goodies for sale on the Black Lion Trading Company, and decorations in Lion's Arch and elsewhere.

Mysterious (totally not spooky at all, nope) portals have also begun to appear around Tyria. Where do they lead? Well, finding the Mad King at the end certainly does seem likely. Our own Kirk Hamilton wrote his impressions of a hands on experience with Guild Wars 2's seasonal fare.

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The Secret World
"The Cat God"
October 18 - November 1

The undead are kind of par for the course in The Secret World, really. A day with zombies, ghosts, and ghouls in its world isn't "Halloween," it's, "Tuesday."

The Secret World's third content update issue, then, takes players into something more than just a jaunt with run-of-the-mill eldritch horrors. It stars... the cat god. (Anyone who doesn't think a cat god can be scary has clearly never been awakened by the gleaming eyes of a fuzzy hellion at three in the morning.)

Events begin in Kingsmouth—where a previous Halloween, evil came over the sea—and end in a PvE version of Stonehenge. Where better to see what Samhain brings?

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Tera
"Masquerade Mayhem"
October 23 - November 5

Tera promises an array of tricks and treats to its denizens, starting today. Cake and candy are appearing all over the world—who can say no to sweets?

The dungeons, quests, and treat-gathering all, of course look delicious. But the highlight of Tera's Halloween festivities is no doubt going to be the Masquerade Ball and costume contest, on October 30. Players can enter in the categories of funniest, scariest, best single, and best group. (See the rules.)

If the Masquerade Ball is anything like the Halloween dances I vaguely remember from high school, a truly perplexing number of people will show up dressed as characters from Grease.

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World of Warcraft
"Hallow's End"
October 18 - 31

World of Warcraft has Hallow's End down to a science at this point. The world is transformed: every hamlet, village, town, and city seems to be celebrating. Every jack-o-lantern tempts travellers with treats.

And of course, what's Halloween without a chance to play tricks on your rivals? The Horde and Alliance are at each other's throats again, this time with stink bombs and with bonfire sabotage. Of course, since the world is populated with the sort of charitable do-gooders that will stop and perform a quest for every farmer on the continent, there are ways to make an orphan's day. With candy. Because candy is awesome.

And naturally, because WoW is WoW, there are seasonal mounts to buy. Personally, I'm a fan of that broomstick.

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