Things That Make The Secret World Different From Any Other MMO

Written by: (Twitter @QuintLyn - ) | June 29, 2012 4:20 pm
82 Comments

Early access has begun for Funcom‘s latest MMO The Secret World and players are already unraveling mysteries and fighting the against the coming darkness.

For anyone who might be on the fence about signing themselves over to one of the secret societies, I’d like to point out a few unique features of the game.

Set aside your differences.  There are three factions in The Secret World and joining one does make it difficult to be friends with members of the other two.  But that doesn’t mean that you can’t join forces with them when some huge monster is spawned from Hell and tries to eat everyone in town.

If you’re looking for someone to group with for some quests, you don’t have to worry about sticking to your own faction.  Just remember, they’re still your enemies, so you always need to watch your back.

One world, different dimensions. The Secret World exists on a single server divided up into different dimensions.  When you first log in, you will be asked to choose a dimension but this will not really separate you from players on other dimensions.

Players are allowed to move between dimensions almost freely — there are some restrictions, mostly related to Warzone PvP — and can even spend time on dimensions dedicated to friends on the other side of the Pond.

Even an ocean can’t keep us apart!

More abilities than you can shake a stick at. Actually. One of those abilities might have something to do with stick shaking. I haven’t looked at all of them yet.  But what I do know is that there are 525 of them divided into three main types — melee, magic and ranged.

Players are allowed to mix and match their abilities as they see fit — although Funcom does realize that might be overwhelming and they have set up a few “standard” fittings known as “decks” for people who want a little direction.

No elves here.  One of the things that really makes TSW stand out from other games is the setting.   You start out in London, New York or Seoul and explore everything from Egypt to El Dorado.  And you’ll fight everything from zombies to Hell-hounds to bizarre Lovecraftian type creatures.

Leave no stone un-turned.  There’s a lot to be discovered about The Secret World.  But it’s not all stuff that will just be handed to you in a string of quest dialog. Some things you will stumble across on your own while researching other things.  Whether or not these things are important always remains to be seen.

You never know what’s important when you’re dealing with a world full of conspiracies, hidden agendas and the darkness that most people only see in their dreams.

Now, these are just a few things that I can tell you about the game.  And they’re some of the features that really stand out and make me glad to be playing it.

In fact, as soon as I’m done writing this, I’m off to play the game.  Don’t expect to see me for a while!

Things That Make The Secret World Different From Any Other MMO
  • Old Ben

    > Leave no stone un-turned. There’s a lot to be discovered about The Secret World.
    > But it’s not all stuff that will just be handed to you in a string of quest dialog.
    > Some things you will stumble across on your own while researching other things.

    This was certainly not the case in the beta weekends. World objects would only become interactive if you were on a mission that used them (and, even then, only at the “right” stage), and most missions were extremely linear and required completing a fixed number of intermediate steps in a fixed order.

    Some missions do lead you to other missions, but there’s no way to “turn stones” (literally or figuratively – meaning interact with unmarked world objects) unless you’re on a mission step that specifically requires you to turn a specific stone (and in that case you’ll get an arrow pointing to the stone and said stone will have a bright outline so you know exactly which unturned stone you have to turn).

    The story and voice acting in TSW are quite good, but the gameplay is definitely “on rails”.

    • http://www.facebook.com/simppi90 Simon Sunabacka

       investigation missions does not have arrows
      theres loads of delivery quests lying around

      • Old Ben

        Sadly, investigation missions are about 10% of the total missions in the game. And they do highlight the objects you need to interact with (although sometimes they will highlight multiple objects and make you pick the “correct” one), and they still make you follow the steps 1 by 1, in a fixed order, before they will let you interact with things.

        You can’t “use” (or open, or examine) objects that are in the game world unless your current mission involves those objects.

        In fact, most of them become unusable again after you complete that mission step, which is kind of annoying. I remember finishing “The League of Monster Hunters” and being forced to close the window with the final note (because some monster was attacking me), and then I had no way to read the note again (although the object was still perfectly visible in the game world).

        I think the game would be a lot more interesting if you could indeed “turn every stone” (as QuintLyn suggests) regardless of what your active mission step is. Unfortunately, that’s not the case with the vast majority of world objects / doors / etc., at least in the areas they showed in the beta weekends (Kingsmouth, The Savage Coast, and the starting cities)

        • http://www.facebook.com/simppi90 Simon Sunabacka

           ofc they make u do the steps 1 by 1, or would u rather do the last piece first and all the clues after?

          this is a teampark game, not a sandbox

          • Old Ben

            I would rather be given an objective and be allowed to pick my own path to accomplish it. For example, if I’m told to “locate 5 mass graves”, my mission should actually consist of _locating_ 5 mass graves (in whichever order I happened to find them), and not just visiting 5 waypoints that are given to me sequentially. 

            Not every ride in a theme park is on rails, and the ones that are generally don’t make you do the pedaling. 

            If some people like being given step-by-step instructions for everything (often without any logic behind the orders – no explanation of what their actions are supposed to accomplish), great for them. But I find that kind of gameplay boring and unrealistic in an RPG, so the only missions I enjoy in TSW are the investigation ones, and those are a very small minority.

            It’s a shame, really. The game has a lot of potential, but the world just lacks the interactivity it would need to make it feel realistic and to give players a sense of actually “being there”. Maybe the developers were planning to make the world more interactive but were pressured by EA to release too soon, or maybe they just wanted to appeal to more casual players by making each mission self-contained and perfectly linear.

            Either way, in its current state I don’t think the game is worth the box price or the subscription, let alone those two plus a cash shop. I’m sure some people will like it, but I can think of a lot of things I’d rather do with my time and my money.

          • http://www.facebook.com/simppi90 Simon Sunabacka

             i guess uve never played any big mmo in the last 10 years then, cus ur expectations is both high and wide above what any studio could deliver

          • Old Ben

            > wide above what any studio could deliver

            Not really. In most games you’re given given freedom to pick which order you want to complete the objectives in. 

            For example, WoW would just give you five objectives, like “locate northern grave”, “locate southern grave”, etc., and you would be able to complete them in any order. 

            It’s still not a “sandbox”, by any means, but you don’t feel like you’re just on a linear path.

            And newer games like GW2 take that even further and often let you perform completely different actions to complete the same quest.

            I think that giving players more freedom and making the world more interactive would have been completely within the grasp of TSW’s developers, if they had had more time.

            But, like I said, it’s perfectly possible that they decided to make the missions linear and self-contained just to make the game more accessible to casual players, so maybe EA gave them all the time they needed, and that was just a decision based on their target market.

          • http://www.facebook.com/simppi90 Simon Sunabacka

             well eve is a sandbox, and theres atleast some quests in tsw where they tell u to go and kill a, b, c, x, y and z and u can kill them in which order u want, or find page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 and u can find them in which ever order u want

          • Old Ben

            >  well eve is a sandbox

            Not the agent missions; they’re actually very similar to traditional questing. You can ignore them and just go mine / PvP / explore (same as in most MMOs), but when you accept an agent mission, it’s just like a quest.

            > in tsw where they tell u to
            > go and kill a, b, c, x, y and
            > z and u can kill them in
            > which order u want

            Indeed, there are a couple of quests like that. That’s what makes me think that maybe the developers were planning to give players more freedom, but had to rush the game (and go for a more linear approach) due to pressure from EA. It’s just speculation, though, I have no hard evidence of that.

            Anyway, the thing that really disappointed me about TSW (besides the robotic combat) was the fact that objects can only be used if you’re in the exact quest step where they need to be used. It just makes the missions too obvious, and spoils immersion. An object that was previously unusable suddenly has a bright outline – it’s obvious that you’re supposed to use it for the active mission.

            And I also hate the way they become unusable afterwards. For example, the door to Dr. Bannerman’s office. I went in, checked the computer, then walked out and realized that I hadn’t checked the upper floor, so I decided to go back in. But, since that quest step was “complete”, the door wouldn’t open again. What kind of sense does that make? Maybe there was nothing interesting in the top floor, but why doesn’t the game let me investigate? Why did the door suddenly become “locked” when I was able to open it 2 seconds before?

            That kind of thing just spoils immersion for me. I can see the simplistic code that the game is running, and it just breaks the illusion of a realistic world.

            I like the overall setting, and I hope more developers make MMORPGs set in the present, but the gameplay itself just feels outdated.

          • http://twitter.com/Agimat08 Solo Miranda

            TL;DR bla bla this game is niche so it is not meant to please the masses which Funcom purposely did. If you don’t like it cool Hope you find the game you’re looking and for us TSW fans we <3 it. teehee!!  

          • Old Ben

            It’s funny how you start by saying you didn’t read, but still felt the need to reply…

          • zippo27

             we get it big u dont like tsw

          • http://www.facebook.com/simppi90 Simon Sunabacka

             i on the other hand think the combat is the only viable combat in an mmo, stuff like teras action combat thing is like putting ketchup on pizza.
            also questing isnt a major part of mmos to me, maybe cus i never played any of the old mmos where questing was the only thing u could do. so its not a big deal to me :P

          • Old Ben

            > [TSW's] combat
            > is the only viable
            > combat in an mmo
            > [...]
            > questing isnt a
            > major part of
            > mmos to me

            Then what are you going to be doing in TSW? PvP? Crafting? Just instances? Pretty much _all_ the open-world gameplay in TSW is “questing” (doing missions).

            Or are you just going to walk around killing zombies and not accepting any missions?

            I can totally understand that TSW appeals to some people; in fact, I find the story and voice acting quite good, too.

            But I never thought I’d see someone say that they’ll play TSW for the combat and not the quests.

          • http://www.facebook.com/simppi90 Simon Sunabacka

             i will b doin mostly pvp and some raiding aswell. the main prob ive been having with mmos lately is that u MUST get to x lvl b4 u can start doin any of that, which isnt the case in tsw and its helps that they have interesting npcs and quests

          • Old Ben

            You still need to raise your levels in TSW. There’s still experience and you need to gain AP and SP to be able  to equip better gear and use more powerful abilities. Instead of a single “level” it has separate “levels” for each type of weapon and armor, but you won’t be able to jump into the hardest parts right at the start, you’ll still have to gain experience (and gaining experience without doing missions is going to take you a long time).

          • http://www.facebook.com/simppi90 Simon Sunabacka

            no, u can just have sum craft u the best gear and u can do fine in the hardest dungeons

          • Old Ben

            You can’t equip high-quality gear before you raise your skill levels. For example, you can’t use a QL4 sword before you have spent the necessary skill points to raise your sword level (and the same for other weapons and armor slots).

          • Alphamax

             ”For example, WoW or Rift would just give you five objectives, like
            “locate northern grave”, “locate southern grave”, etc., and you would be
            able to complete them in any order.”

            That’s a low level type of questing and TSW has a few of those. Plenty of quests where you’re looking for things or people where it doesn’t matter what order you find them in.

            If you’re doing a quest that’s supposed to take you through a set of clues in order to reach a logical conclusion, then yeah, it’s going to be in a certain order.

            It’s an akward complaint. TSW does questing better than any other game out there, and it’s not good enough? >.<

          • Old Ben

            > Plenty of quests where you’re
            > looking for things or people
            > where it doesn’t matter what
            > order you find them in

            Sadly (at least in the areas available in the beta), there are plenty more where it does.

            > TSW does questing better
            > than any other game out there

            For your taste, maybe. I found that it gave me too many instructions and not enough motivation. It was basically like being remote-controlled.

            Half the time I was told to “follow the arrow” or “kill 10 zombies of that type” but I was not told what that was supposed to achieve. Was I helping someone in particular? Was I looking for some item that the zombies might have? Why 10? Why that specific kind of zombies? Why in that area? It just felt too arbitrary, too artificial, not immersive or realistic enough. Half the time it didn’t even seem related to the conversation that had started that mission. It was just generic padding.

            The only thing that kept me going was the main storylines of each area, but the actual playing felt like a boring list of chores that I had to go through, one at a time, just to have access to the next bit of story. Walk towards the arrow, kill zombies, walk towards next arrow, click the highlighted object, walk towards the next arrow, kill more zombies. Repeat.

            If you actually enjoy TSW’s gameplay (not the story; the actual _gameplay_), great for you. I wish I did. But I don’t. 

            I think game designers (especially MMO designers) have become lazy, and players (especially MMO players) have become too lenient. MMOs have the resources to be far more interesting and varied than single-player games, and yet most of them are incredibly dull by comparison.

            I’ve really had enough of this kind of gameplay (where I’m expected to endure boring and repetitive gameplay in exchange for some “reward” at the end). In WoW the reward is new gear, in TSW it’s a bit more story.

            That’s not entertainment; that’s a job.

          • Alphamax

            Like I said, you obviously have issues with TSW and I’m convinced that it’s not a game for you. There’s nothing wrong with that, TSW is uncompromising enough that there’s always going to be people put off by it. Some are going to love it, others wont see the point of it all.

            However, in trying to rationalize this dislike you’re not making sense.

            It’s fine to dislike something ‘just because’, but your personal peeves don’t make up the template for good game design. In some cases rather the opposite.

            Edit – And in reading a few of your other posts I now realize that I wont be able to confront you with reason, your persona here is fuelled by something else entirely. Happy trails =)

          • MMO_Doubter

             Turnabout is fair play, I guess. Old Ben. How do YOU like it?

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Boiwka/1167985586 Mike Boiwka

            Amen.  I tried to reason with him in another comment thread, which was a complete mistake.  It simply isn’t possible.

          • Old Ben

            No, Mike, you told me that a specific mission I’d mentioned as having arbitrary steps (unrelated to the initial cutscene or to the final objective) “made perfect sense”, and accused me of “not paying attention”. So I asked you, three times, to explain the logic behind those steps, and you didn’t.

            It’s perfectly possible to _reason_ with me. It’s just not possible to make me into a fanboy through ad hominem attacks.

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Boiwka/1167985586 Mike Boiwka

            I could and did explain it, twice.  You’ve just refused to accept my explanation and continue to obsess over the number of mobs killed for the mission (which I also explained).  So if you refuse to hear and respond what I’m saying (aside from simply restating your original complaint) then reason isn’t a viable route with you. 
            Also, I never attempted to make you into a fanboy or even someone who appreciates TSW.  You were just stating some things that were objectively untrue and I wanted to address those.  I know you won’t ever like TSW because it’s not your kind of game.  And that’s ok.  I do think your expectations as miscalibrated though and I’d predict you’re going to be horribly disappointed by GW2 as well.
            As for “ad hominem”, you may want to look up what that actually means.  Saying you hadn’t paid enough attention to the missions is not ad hominem because it’s not irrelevant to the validity of your claim, it’s the precise reason it was wrong.  If I had said, “Old Ben is old and cranky, therefore his claims about TSW are wrong” *that* would have been ad hominem.
            But yeah, as Alphamax said, happy trails! :)

          • Old Ben

            > I could and did explain it, twice. 

            I must have missed that. So, if you’d be so kind, could you please explain:

            1. What is the _purpose_ of killing zombies in the first step of that mission (i.e., why is this step required, what does it achieve)? The NPC who starts the missions (Sam Krieg) does not ask me to kill any zombies, so why does the mission tracker make me kill 10 zombies before moving on? The issue is not the number of zombies (as I made perfectly clear before, despite your attempt to dodge the issue); it could be 5 or 500 zombies, and the issue would remain: What is the _purpose_ of this step?

            2. What is the _connection_ between completing  that step (kill 10 zombies of a specific kind) and the next step (being told to “find a rusty boat”)? Wasn’t the boat there before I killed the zombies? Why couldn’t I have gone straight for the boat?

            3. Why do I get an exact waypoint to the rusty boat? Where did the knowledge of its location come from? It wasn’t mentioned by Krieg or in his book in the lighthouse.

            4. What is the _connection_ between reading the book near the boat and the step after that (kill 15 more zombies, of a slightly different kind)? The book does not suggest (or even mention) killing zombies.

            Since you said “every step in that mission makes perfect sense, you just weren’t paying attention”, I assume _you_ were paying attention and will have no trouble explaining. So far all you managed to say was “this is a theme park” and “Krieg’s books mention zombies, so you kill zombies”. That’s not “making perfect sense”, that just pointing out the obvious fact that the overall theme of the starting areas is “zombies”.

            Or maybe (just maybe) I was actually the one paying attention and noticing that there was no logical connection between that mission’s steps (or the steps of several other “combat” missions), while you just went through them in a zombie-like trance (ha-ha, I made a zombie reference), following the instructions you were given, without stopping to think about the game world’s consistency or about your role in it.

        • http://quintlyn.com/ QuintLyn Bowers

          Perhaps I could have phrased that as “pay attention to your surroundings”.  Even playing the beta, I discovered things that were not part of the missions — and albeit not very important to the main part of the game — that I would not have found if I wasn’t keeping an eye open.  

          These are not things you need to complete quests or anything. Just stuff that makes the world that much more interesting and alive.

          I’m not going to say what they were here, as the discovery is part of the fun.  But they’re there if you look for them.

          • Old Ben

            I did find a lot of (potentially) interesting things, but in 99% of the cases I was unable to use or even examine them until I got a mission that specifically involved them. 

            Oh well, maybe they’ll make things more interactive in TSW2…

  • http://www.facebook.com/simppi90 Simon Sunabacka

    1 word: awesome

  • http://www.facebook.com/simppi90 Simon Sunabacka

    investigation missions does not have arrows
    theres loads of delivery quests lying around

  • jon Tang

    personally not my type of mmo, combat needs work and i rush, skip all the cut scenes when in beta.

  • BigH001

    I’ll play it when it goes f2p.

    A box fee, plus a sub fee, plus an in-game store? Yeah, no thanks.

    • http://www.facebook.com/simppi90 Simon Sunabacka

       u dont have to buy anything from the store

      • MMO_Doubter

         Like every other cash shop game, it will be designed to ‘encourage’ players to buy stuff.

        The game will go freemium within a year – after they have hooked the majority of box and LTS buyers.

        • http://www.facebook.com/simppi90 Simon Sunabacka

           well i dont think so, but if it does i will stop playing then

        • http://www.video-game.tv/ Jaxxy

          I have to disagree. I went back and forth on if I should cancel our pre-orders or let them stand. Having been in closed beta for awhile I have watched TSW have some huge improvements. However, there were still some issues in closed beta that made me think the game was not ready for launch.

          Having played several hours yesterday in the Early Access I can say that Funcom was holding out on us closed beta testers. Just before going live they released a 1.6GB patch. When I went into Early Access most of the bugs that I felt were holding the game back were GONE!!!

          Now I still think that the combat feels “clunky” and “disconnected” but I also think it is way better then when I started closed beta. So they are improving it. The CC still sucks but we are being told it is also being worked on.

          If you are into Modern Myths and Conspiracy Theories this game has allot to offer. The writing and voice acting are phenomenal. The graphics are good and constantly improving. Add to that this is the first MMO using single server technology and I think you have a winner that is going to be around for some time. 

          They have also sold enough “lifetime” memberships that I don’t think they would survive going F2P in a year. The GM packs are $200 so they have to stay subscription based for at least 14 months to give the Lifetimes their monies worth.

          Jaxxy

          • MMO_Doubter

             When I first heard about TSW, I was very interested. It seemed like a cross between the X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer – in an MMO.

            I feel that FunCom (with EA’s encouragement) has gotten greedy with the business model.

            I could probably tolerate ‘clunky’ combat – my first gaming computer was a TRS-80, but I will not tolerate the P2W shenanigans that always infect a cash shop.

            I only play games with a level playing field.

            Too bad. I might have loved this game.

          • http://www.facebook.com/simppi90 Simon Sunabacka

            there are no items whatsoever in the shop with stats on them

        • Derp Derping

          Wrong, actually.  I mean honestly other than “Man that looks really sweet” how could they ‘encourage’ you to buy purely cosmetic clothing/pets/titles?

    • 7BitBrian

       Ever heard of WoW?

      • Old Ben

        TSW is launching under completely different circumstances from WoW. 

  • Jediwolf

    When joining a dimension that has a predominant language like a German dimension for example the chat will translate the players text into the language of your home dimension during the time that your with them. This is what  QuintLyn  meant when she said you dont even have to worry about the language barrier when you join friends across the pond

  • http://www.facebook.com/matthew.ulmen Matthew ‘Raving Rendal’ Ulmen

    I’m going to play ass long as my radeon 4200 will let me. then time to upgrade.

  • 7BitBrian

    Good to see this game getting some positive attention, to many are to quick to write it off. One thing I like about @gamebreakertv:twitter , diversity. I still wish it was B2P though….

  • Tom Hayward

    Been playing all day. Simply a fantastic game. Don’t let the haters put you off from giving it a try.

  • http://www.video-game.tv/ Jaxxy

    I can’t belive you guys on Legendary spend so much time begging for open/cross server play. You get so excited cause Blizard announced it would have cross server in Mist of Pandaria. But, when TSW launches with completely open server (single server) technology it goes 100% overlooked.

    When QuintLyn was talking about the open server concept all Mike B could say was “next up”. I don’t understand why GameBreaker is so under playing TSW. I know Gary has said other then the combat he liked the game so that is not it. Seems everyone is looking for the “Next Generation MMO” but when it launches it is completely overlooked.

    I know TSW has some glaring faults. It is overall linear nature, combat, and a horrid CC to name a few. But it also is breaking out of the everyday MMO with a great unique story, An entirly new genera, and Open/Single Server technology.

    Jaxxy
    Templar on Arcadia Dimension

    • http://www.facebook.com/simppi90 Simon Sunabacka

       and i dont understand whats wrong with the combat in tsw

      • jon Tang

         Its really clunky that’s the problem

        • http://www.facebook.com/simppi90 Simon Sunabacka

           i dont feel that :P

          • landshark666

            The combat in this game is stellar, as long as you learn how to play it properly, lol.

    • Old Ben

      First, it’s important to understand the difference between “server” and “shard”. A “server” can mean a lot of different things. It can refer to the physical machine the game runs on, it can refer to the machine that stores player data (which is not necessarily the one that runs the game world), or it can refer to a logical partition (a “world instance”) within those servers. 

      The latter is more accurately described as a “shard”, and this is what TSW’s “dimensions” are. Depending on software architecture, you might have a single shard running on multiple machines or vice-versa.

      What they mean by “single server” is not that all players are on the same shard, and that you can meet everyone simply by walking around. The only major MMO where that happens is Eve Online. What they mean is that player data is stored in a single location (a single database – probably running on multiple physical servers, just for reliability and load balancing reasons), and not restricted to specific geographic zones (unlike WoW, for example).

      And what they mean by “open server” is that you can visit other shards whenever you want (i.e. that the game lets you make very fast “server transfers” for free). You click the “meet up” button and the game handles the server transfer for you. You stop seeying anyone who was on your previous dimension, and see the people on the dimension of the player you decided to meet. This is basically equivalent to GW2′s “visit world” feature (but TSW did launch first, so it has some bragging rights).

      While this is a cool feature, it’s not really all that revolutionary, and doesn’t define a “next generation MMO”. TSW’s gameplay still revolves around accepting explicit missions and following specific steps to complete them. GW2′s dynamic event system is far more revolutionary in terms of MMORPG gameplay (although it’s also not a new invention; single-player RPGs have had similar features for over two decades).

      Overall, I think TSW’s greatest contribution to MMORPGs will be forcing future designers to at least consider a contemporary setting for their MMOs, instead of going for the usual medieval fantasy setting.

      • http://twitter.com/dularr Dularr

        Lets hope so on the contemporary setting.  Conspiracy theory should give a rich environment of stories.

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1103680651 Dave Jeannotte

         I agree.  The biggest thing TSW has going for it is its contemporary setting.  The biggest issue I’ve heard about the game is it’s graphics/combat seem VERY dated.  Just imagine if this game looked/played more like GW2.  THAT is something I’d be very interested in.

  • jgelling

    So I’ve heard the story is good, the graphics are OK, and the combat is terrible.

    Beyond all that though, when I went to browse the game I saw EA listed as the distributor, and pulled my hand backed like I’d been scorched by a hot stove. What kind of relationship does the developer have with EA, exactly?

    Sorry, I saw how SWTOR played out. Granted BW is owned by EA, but how could I trust an MMO that has anything to do with that company ever again?

    • http://quintlyn.com/ QuintLyn Bowers

      They’re co-publishers.  EA is essentially doing 3rd party publishing here.  

      • jgelling

        Well I’d feel more comfortable if EA was doing infinity party publishing there – as in, not having anything to do with the game.

        It already sounds like a terribly bad premise for an MMO – the real world with moar zombie. That already sounds like an RPG. Then there’s a cash shop. Then there’s EA again, which fits in well wih the game’s theme of moar zombie.

        I’m not anti-zombie, unless those zombies are EA.

        • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Boiwka/1167985586 Mike Boiwka

          It’s a pretty good thing that the premise isn’t actually “the real world with moar zombie” then, huh?

        • http://quintlyn.com/ QuintLyn Bowers

          While there are zombies in the game and it is based in the “real world”, the premise is based around conspiracies, secret societies, occult/paranormal events and things we may or may not know.  

          • Old Ben

            There are a bit too many zombies in the starting areas, though. The original premise and the final execution remind me a bit of the difference between “Alien” and “Aliens”.

            “Alien” manages to create a tense atmosphere while practically never showing you the monster. “Aliens” has so many of the damn things that it starts to get silly.

            Of course, James’ Cameron’s strength is directing action sequences, not having consistent plots, so I guess it’s understandable, but most people seem to agree that combat is the _weakest_ part of TSW, while story is the strongest. So it’s beyond me why they decided to populate the game world with more baddies than Serious Sam, and why so many of the missions boil down to killing dozens of them (either as the actual mission objective or on the way to the mission waypoints), instead of actually figuring out conspiracies, which was the original premise.

            Maybe the game becomes less combat-orientated at higher levels (in areas that weren’t in the beta), but I doubt it, since practically all the AP and SP are spent on combat-related abilities.

    • http://twitter.com/dularr Dularr

      Funcom became a publicly listed company on the Oslo Stock Exchange in 2005.

  • Old Ben

    (duplicate)

  • Old Ben

    >  trying to rationalize this dislike you’re not making sense.

    Just because someone happens to dislike something that you like, that doesn’t mean that person “must be irrational”. I think I made it pretty clear what I like and what I don’t like about TSW.

    Story, setting, art direction, voice acting, investigation missions: Good.

    Combat, hand-holding, linearity, lack of world interactivity: Bad.

    And I gave specific and objective examples of all those things. Obviously, if someone loves the combat and doesn’t care about the missions (like Simon), he’ll love the game. Just as someone who doesn’t want to explore and prefers to be given an arrow to follow will consider linearity and hand-holding a plus.

    I’m sure a lot of people will love TSW, just as a lot of people love to play WoW, watch Dr. Phil or eat at McDonald’s. I don’t (and it’s not “just because”; I am able to list exactly what I like and what I don’t like about each of those things; the things I don’t like just happen to outweigh the ones I do).

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Alex-Mac/777995513 Alex Mac

    I’ve had plenty of hands on time with TSW. It’s not great. It’ll be *very* niche, I feel. Maybe time will prove me wrong but there was very little about it that I would engaging.

  • landshark666

    This is a game for hard-core mmoers, period.  No other game like in, on many levels.

  • http://www.kaiketsu.enjin.com/ Corey Jenkins

    This game looks like it would be pretty fun, but I just can’t see a reason to justify the 15 bucks a month mark. Maybe if the combat was more solid. If it was buy to play, then I would def pick it up at some point.

  • Dixhallpike

    I just want to say that I was really sceptic about this game. I got it as a present so I felt that I had to atleast try it out. Now Im completly drawn to this game. Yes it has a couple of short comings like the CC. Iam however amazed how the developers listens to their community. Now they are working on the character creator because of feedback from the community.

    What Im trying to say is that dont listen too much to haters. It is really a good game especially if you are up for a challenge.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=536473636 Amanda Iaria

      I think the haters just want a game that gives them everything … oh wait there are. That’s was I like about TSW, you actually have to work a bit to get the answer.

    • http://quintlyn.com/ QuintLyn Bowers

      Not every game is for every one.  It’s a fair assessment for people who don’t like it.  What it all comes down to is, can you figure out if you like it for yourself.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/FPXO267IVAHL3MK4HRRNRQPNDA Bush Swanson, The American Dre

    This game would be fun if it had more about cats in it. IMO cats are the real secret world. ^o[]o^

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/4QJ4LLCCFL7NCXSJLLYY74YPYU Jorian Sortor

    Itll be better when its free to play

  • http://twitter.com/macmason2k7 Mac Mason

    i would pay monthly but no way am i paying 39.99 for 30 days and download we all know will be free in 6 months for free trial

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=536473636 Amanda Iaria

    Dragon FTW :D

    • http://quintlyn.com/ QuintLyn Bowers

      I’ve played all three factions and out of all of them I just love Dragon’s attitude the best.  It’s very zen… In a systematic sort of way.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Boiwka/1167985586 Mike Boiwka

        I do like that they got chaos theory more right with the Dragon than most games do.  The part about chaos not being the same as randomness anyway.  The Dragon seem to think they can still predict events with their models though, but maybe I can chalk that up to their models being supernatural and secret-worldy.  ;)   It feels nice that a writer at least read a wiki or whatnot.  (Oh, and a chaos magic ability called Strange Attractor?  They get bonus nerd points!)

        • http://quintlyn.com/ QuintLyn Bowers

          Hahaha.. Yeah… At one point in the Dragon intro I felt like I should be re-watching Pi.

  • http://www.facebook.com/Bunndogg Brian Hogan

    This game is insane,  it’s Great and exactly how she described.  If you like Wow you might hate this game because you have to pay attention, think, figure stuff out, remember, take note.  It is not your usual mindless linear kill mobs and level mmo.  Don’t even think there are levels in this game.  Ever play Portal?  Ya had to solve puzzles, think?  Well prepare to do more then think.  TSW you recieve missions that can be frustrating yes but plenty of help in community and built in game browser to look anything up.  I have a feeling the game will be too frustrating for most but hope a following sticks with it.  Lots of balls putting an mmorpg out like this,  completely breaking all boundries of any and all mmo worlds ever released.   In a nutshell….  It Is Different haha.  Have fun. 

    • http://quintlyn.com/ QuintLyn Bowers

      OMG.. Yes on the take note thing.  It actually reminds me of early RPG gaming where I had to write things down in order to use them for later.  And some of the puzzles are insanely hard to figure out.  I also love the amount of time Funcom spent on things like the websites they’ve made for the investigation missions in the game.

    • Old Ben

      > Don’t even think there are levels in this game.

      TSW’s leveling is basically the same as Eve Online’s. You don’t have a single number which is your “level”, but you have multiple skills that you need to level up before you can use better gear and survive against stronger enemies.

      As the lead designer (Martin Bruusgaard) said:

      “As the players progress through the game, they will put points into one or both roles of the weapon. These points will increase the player’s skill in that weapon, and they also work as an equip requirement.”

      You can’t equip a QL4 sword until you’ve reached level 4 in swords, you can’t equip a QL3 head talisman until you’ve reached level 3 in head talismans, and so on. You increase each of those skills by gaining experience and then spending your skill points to level them up. To reach “level 4″ in swords, for example, you need to spend a minimum of 10 skill points on swords (or up to 16 points, if you want to level up both damage and survivability).

      > you can pick up any skill for any weapon/power building
      > the custom character you want

      Both abilities and skills are tiered. To pick up a certain ability, you need to get all the previous abilities in that branch. 

      You can find more details if you search for “Martin Bruusgaard explains character development” on Google.

  • http://www.twitter.com/_Laughter Laughter

    Yay thank you for writing something positive about the game. <3 *runs off to play*

  • Derp Derping

    You’re being incredibly silly with this, there is a god damned level playing field.  Nothing about the cash shop has anything whatsoever to do with gameplay.

    Oh and guess what! When it comes to PvP? Everyone chooses between predefined sets of gear that are either tanky/dps/healy so there’s no way to go “hurhur P2W lul”

  • Sharuko

    This game is definitely good, I went in expecting nothing but played for a long time.  The world is great, the class system is amazing and the quests are fun.  The only two things I don’t like thus far is lack of character customization and the cash shop.

    It lacks some polish but I can overlook that since so far it has been fun.

    • jgelling

      But what’s the plan to keep it from being like SWTOR? I’ve heard there are like 3 zones – once you unlock the secret of The Secret World, how do they keep players interested?

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