This Week In MMO: When Bees Attack!

7BitBrian

AS much as I like TSW I really don’t think it could sustain it’s own show. Honestly I think that about a lot of games that I play often and really like. I’d say it’d be better to do a mini series type of extra long hits. Like maybe a 30 min hit on the updates of a game(Rift, TSW, etc…) and air them once or twice a month.

Would be awesome if you ask me.

http://twitter.com/MrMarcusBailey Marcus Bailey

I think this is the correct way to approach TSW show.

Keigh

I would hold off on the TSW show for now until we see what happens further down the line.

Krzysztof Kotarba

make a show on GBTV with Trials Evo

mcfoyle

so much projection by gary about that trailer. if you know nothing about TSW, that trailer, while cool, doesnt let a person know anything about the secret societies, conspiracies, investigating to be done, etc. knowing nothing, i would assume its a survival horror game, or a zombie/supernatural shooter of some sort. funny how they killed TESO trailer as ‘generic’ not ‘mysterious’

mcfoyle

sorry, i dont get a sense of mystery from that trailer, seeing it i assume its a survival horror/zombie shooter. says nothing about the real nature of the game.

http://www.facebook.com/toph1980 Christopher Fischer

Great show guys, Gary in such a great mood and Schaffnit finally admitting he likes a trailer!

http://twitter.com/Maffo_ Robert Rydell

Please don’t waste time on a TSW show. The 10 people watching will be happy but you can use that time for something else.

http://twitter.com/Crimendorsement Jeffrey Eisenberg

Just watched The Secret World part. Got some ad revenue out of me. It was very uncomfortable agreeing with EVERYTHING that Gary said in the segment. He really summed up how I feel about the game.

http://twitter.com/Agimat08 Solo Miranda

Yes, Please for TSW Show I promise to watch every episode!!

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

Yeah. I wouldn’t do a TSW show.

http://www.facebook.com/GetHighSupply D.j. Toon

lol why google what you need what happen’d to look for hrs till you find it dont watch a video how to kill a boss take your friends die 10000 times till you get it much more fun and get so much more out of games no matter what game you play

Old Ben

oh my god i had no idea mankind had run out of uppercase letters and punctuation when did that happen someone call the emergency services quick we must tap into the national reserve
- Imtabca
  
  I’m afraid I can’t avoid bringing up Stephen Fry’s rant against grammar pedantry at this point
  http://www.youtube. com/watch?v=Ovi7uQbtKas
  - MMO_Doubter
    
    Interesting video, and I am a big fan of Stephen’s, but he is dead wrong on this issue.
    
    Languages have rules for good reason.
  - Old Ben
    
    I’m pretty sure you could have avoided it.
    
    Fry’s article isn’t about grammar. In fact, he doesn’t even use the word “grammar” in it (the only place where it appears is the title – given by the YouTube user, not by Fry or by the video’s author). And it’s not about punctuation, either (which was the subject of my post).
    
    Fry’s article is about language, and language’s role (which is to transmit meaning), and how that role should take precedence over tradition or convention.
    
    Maybe the post I replied to above gives you “sensual and sensuous pleasure”, but I just find it unnecessarily hard to understand, and I think it shows a certain lack of respect for the other users of this message board. If you’re going to post something publicly, the least you can do is make sure that it’s comprehensible, and that people won’t have to keep going back to figure out what your sentences mean (or even where they start – hence the reference to uppercase letters and punctuation, which are the conventional ways in which we separate different statements).
    
    By the way, to be a semantics pedant, Fry’s example of “less” vs. “fewer” is incorrect. The use of “less” to describe lower countable quantities dates back over a thousand years, while the notion that “fewer” should be used instead only appears in the late 18th century.
    - Revanhavoc
      
      (Right…But it doesn’t change the commonly held opinion that you are that guy at the party who randomly corrects someone’s usage of the English language in the middle of a story being told to a group of people sitting around a table. This is followed by everyone at the table collectively looking over at you in non-verbal communication that translates to: “Dude, shut up.”)
    - Old Ben
      
      If a guy managed to tell a whole story without making a single pause between words or sentences, I wouldn’t be “correcting” him, I’d be signing him up for talent shows.
  - http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Boiwka/1167985586 Mike Boiwka
    
    Awesome. You’re my hero for today. And I have to confess that I chuckled when he doubled down on pedantry in response.

QSatu

Is it just me or did Mike S. become cynical while Mike B. and Gary are like: Omg look at that awesome new trailer!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=706513777 Luis A. Perez

Gary, if you are passionate about it and find some others who are passionate about the Secret World. Doo it!!! I’m on a budget so I tend not to go spending money until you guys give me the goods and bads about some games.

Jado Cast

A TSW show will end up file 13 just like the Rift show, which has more sustainability imho. Probably wouldn’t last that long.

http://www.facebook.com/Frakez Frans Sjöblom

I have to say that i had no idea what the secret world is about, but the trailer really made me want to try it. It told nothing about the actual game, but it was so bizarre that i think i have to find out how everything in the trailer fits together.

Old Ben

> It told nothing about the actual game

In other words, good advertising.

7BitBrian

Launch trailers aren’t made to teach you about a game, they are made to either peak interest so you want to learn about a game, or get you excited if you already know about the game, and this trailer delivered on that in spades.

Honestly, when have launch trailers ever told you what the game is about? Do any of these launch trailers tell you what the game is about?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYK_Gqyf48Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0kHiEME0Vk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqBpRJ7qgaM

Launch Trailers aren’t meant for people who have no idea to get informed, their’ tjust meant for hype and catching interest.

http://twitter.com/Oopey20 alex brown

The problem with SOE is they didnt create EQ, once SOE took over is when the game started to go downhill, adn then they made EQ2 while the bulk of their base was still playing EQ. They even came out with a bunch of expansions for EQ1 after EQ2 launched. GW2 is going to be succesful because it is the next phase in the GW world, GW1 isnt going to be a direct competitor.

Eggers

If TSW trailer would of left out the EA logo it would of make me want to play it, and LOL they put Cthulhu in they didn’t even try hid it either. And why was Green Scale in it? But really I’d try this game if EA didn’t have their name on it. NO TSW show bring the Sanctum back damnit! FTP still equals crap, buy to play (GW2) and the sub model are still the best. And WOW, Rift, SWTOR (if they go FTP their stupid), and ever Tera are doing fine with the sub model, and all those game are 700K subs or more. Even Eve is doing fine with a sub. LoL isn’t a MMO by the way it is a MoBA. LOL SOE hasn’t gotten a MMO right since EQ, and they did go to far away from the EQ model with EQ2 which sucked balls. Why is MikeS such a big Troll?

http://profile.yahoo.com/Z36GPOU3Q2QIQYBIDVNQAVGNGE Raul

+1 to TSW show, wth GG hostng/defendng
Mike B trying not to laugh at Him,
Ed for PVP and Q for actual facts.

Poor Mike B….
When Gary is talking about how cool TSW is,
Mike B looks like he is trying to think of something really really sad
to keep from laughng.

it’s okay Mike, you can laugh.

i say Darnell, in sloe moe, standng in fire.
soundtrack by Johnny Cash singing NiN’s “Hurt”

Old Ben

I’d go with “Gloomy Sunday” for the soundtrack, and end with a shot of Darnell jumping off a cliff.

http://twitter.com/just_izumi Izumi

I would just wait and see how TSW goes and how many people are interested in it. The show would also need co-hosts that are interested in the game too. Not as fun to watch/listen if the co-hosts aren’t as interested in it as the host!

http://www.facebook.com/people/Kyle-Brigman/1046964174 Kyle Brigman

Despite the EA logo on the game, I think TSW is a great game. To me, the combat is your standard hotkey MMO combat, which I enjoy, so I adapted to it easy. The questing is different, but really fun. It has a good mix of “go here, do this” questing with the investigating, so you aren’t bogged down with either one. It works. The investigation quests aren’t too hard, with an exception here and there (the “Dead Air” morse code quest, for example). The setting itself is amazing. Everyone’s kinda still in the “exploration” phase. It feels like you’re finding something new around every corner. Nothing really feels stale yet.

The game itself is different for an MMO, but it works really well.

My one issue with the game is that I’m not sure how the endgame will pan out. I haven’t done PvP yet, but endgame PvE is basically the continuous grind of unlocking every skill, as well as running the dungeons on the hardest difficulty to get better gear. While that works for some players, I think it will get stale after a few weeks of that type of endgame. All we really know about future updates is that Funcom plans on adding 10man raids. I don’t think the current endgame will be enough to keep players. We need to see what’s coming down the pipeline soon.

TSW Show? I’d be all over that!

Old Ben

> The game itself is different for an MMO, but it works really well.

I think it would work a lot better if it was a single-player game. You rarely feel the need to group up (except for instances, but those are really like separate mini-games), and players in the beta were already behaving like they do in WoW (competing for quest objectives instead of helping each other).If it was a single-player game it would probably be a lot easier for the developers to make the game world more interactive. For example, make parts of the world change as a result of player actions, make NPCs move around into new areas as the player completes certain missions, let players interact with all the objects that are lying around (ride bikes, use flashlights, etc.).

Of course, then they wouldn’t be able to charge a monthly subscription, but they could probably make more money with DLC, in the long run.

http://twitter.com/AmythieI Kamil

TSW will die within a month, doing a dedicated show for it is a total waste.

http://twitter.com/kirzanSix Michael Coulombe

Not sure if trolling; Could just be ignorant.
- http://profile.yahoo.com/ITHF7XKYGVXFAPCDMDJTKHLBBU Lian Wan
  
  I think there is a requirement somewhere that says *someone* has to say this about every game.

http://www.facebook.com/Draskinn Jason Villamil

I will totally watch a TSW show, loving the game so far. It’s evil every time I log in I end up staying on longer then I intended it sucks you in.

H S

I liked the game, played in beta. Loved some of the riddle quests. However, still nothing could make me buy the game with a monthly sub. The quests in this game require time and thought(some of them) and with a monthly fee attached, it’s counter intuitive to take your time on what is the games best features. If the game was B2P, with a cash shop, it would have been my number one game to play. Sad really, but don’t expect this game to keep any momentum going unless it goes f2p soon. Then a show may be justified.

http://profile.yahoo.com/ITHF7XKYGVXFAPCDMDJTKHLBBU Lian Wan

I am an altaholic but strict classes in that game is there any reason for anyone to have more than one character besides for RP?
- http://twitter.com/RodaSmash Hannah
  
  The three factions have their own special missions that pop up, and they’re really quite entertaining. But they’re not as common as the regular quests, of course.
- http://twitter.com/kirzanSix Michael Coulombe
  
  To see the Faction specific story line. The first points you spend define what your character’s gonna do for quite a while. There are no respecs, but you can farm all abilities and skills (eventually). It just depends on what you want to get first/faster.

Randall_Wolfcry

I think the trailer was very interesting. I don’t know much about TSW but I went and looked up more info on it just from watching that trailer.

However TSW is mysterious enough that I’ve spent 15 minutes and still can’t find information about what the subscription fee for the US will be…. All I know is there was the article here about European prices.

What’s the pricing for USA?????

http://twitter.com/RodaSmash Hannah

Standard 15 a month.
- Randall_Wolfcry
  
  I don’t see that anywhere on their website though. And usually there is the price break-down where it’s cheaper if you buy more months. Is there a link to that on their website because I don’t find it following the links I see.
Old Ben

> However TSW is mysterious enough that I’ve spent 15 minutes and still
> can’t find information about what the subscription fee for the US will be…

That reminded me of Monty Python’s Llap-Goch pamphlet:

“WHAT Does it Cost? This, like LLAP-GOCH, is a SECRET but you will find out sooner or later, don’t worry.”

http://twitter.com/nemui_89 Nemui

monthly subscriptions have been a giant scam in the past 7 years, if not even earlier… i deeply regret having given blizzard my money for nothing in return. server maintenance costs my ass.

http://twitter.com/kirzanSix Michael Coulombe

Who makes the decision of buying an MMO based purely on the launch trailer? No one. The question seems more tailored to a Console Third-Person Shooter. As you already know exactly what to expect, you need very little information to seal the deal.

What makes TSW better than a lot of recent stuff and other subpar MMOs cannot be shown in a cinematic trailer. It has to be shown in a dev walkthrough. Like the ability wheel, the character progression, the mission progression. All nifty ideas that were forgotten from WoW and so on, are present in this game. Sandbox, man!

As for the TSW show, go for it! The game has so much more to offer than most ignorant blind people care to look for. Educate the noobs! Show them that a true MMO doesn’t force shit down your throat and allows choice.

Old Ben

> Sandbox, man!

“I wouldn’t describe the game as a sandbox but rather as a themepark where you pick whichever rides you like whenever you like.” – Joel Bylos (TSW lead content designer)

> Who makes the decision of buying an MMO based purely
> on the launch trailer? No one.

The trailer doesn’t even mention the fact that the game is an MMO. Trailers these days are just generic ads, they don’t actually try to explain anything about gameplay.
MMO_Doubter

TSW is not a sand box.

http://profile.yahoo.com/YSVAPKVBUPTX6YS3W2DLPOBNN4 AlokP

While I love TSW, what would a show about TSW be about? Spoiling investigation quests? Gushing over the thematic areas? While I’m sure I could talk about all the Stephen King references in Kingsmouth (the place is an homage to him, imo) for a couple of hours, what do you do then? Talk about storylines? Surely you don’t show off the combat (and I agree with Gary, totally don’t care about the combat because of the atmosphere).

I really don’t see where the content for a show would come from. Maybe a non-deck build show, but those seem like a series of hits, not a weekly show.

Cyclops07

Couple of things: TSW show? umm…no, its not that good a game. Only do it if you want to have a short term show that will last 6-8 episodes where most the people watching don’t even play the game. Secondly, I was intrigued by what you said about you doing a review for TSW. I had never thought about it but Gamebreaker has in fact never done a review of a game before. Then as I thought about it further it made sense. Why review any of these games you talk about? You run the risk of alienating your viewers. You know the deal. If you read any video game review there are people that are pissed cause the score is too high and think you were paid off by the developer and there are those that think its too low. If you proceed with reviewing games be careful as once you put a number on a game its going to pigeonhole how you can talk about the game on your shows. Otherwise another good show guys.

MMO_Doubter

Yeah. GBTV has already had Rift and FFXIV shows that failed. No need to do the same with TSW.

Old Ben

Regarding the trailer, “fitting the theme of the game” and “actually giving people an idea of how the game plays” are completely different things. Nothing in Cataclysm’s trailer tells me that I will be forming parties, looking at my character from a floating camera, casting spells, accepting quests, etc..

Same for TSW’s trailer. If I saw that trailer I’d think “contemporary setting, monsters invading the Earth, exploring ancient tombs, probably single player, probably linear story, probably a cross between Tomb Raider and Resident Evil”. Nothing there says “MMO”, “minecraft-style weapon crafting”, “loads of ‘kill 10 zombies’ quests”, or anything else about the actual gameplay.

That’s not the role of a modern trailer, of course (it’s mainly meant to make you buy the thing – and showing too many details tends to work against that), but Schaffnit is totally right when he says that people who don’t know the game won’t be any wiser after watching it. They’ll probably want to find out more, but they won’t really feel like “jumping into the game”, because they’ll have no idea what the game actually is.

Odeezee

eh, CGIs can go DIAF! CGIs are a lie and show nothing of actual graphics or gameplay. yuck!

and about a TSW show, do it only if you guys are feeling it and you actually have interesting topics to discuss otherwise it has the potential of being the show with the lowest viewership. i personally think that TSW has waaaaaay more problems that just combat but maybe people are willing to overlook that much more readily than i am.
- Old Ben
  
  Well, all computer game graphics are “CGI”, even if they’re gameplay footage.

Old Ben

Funcom’s financial projections point to 490k subscribers. Based on the current state of the game and the amount (and variety) of content, that seems too optimistic to me. One million box sales, maybe. One million subscribers, not really.

The only missions I had any fun doing were the investigation ones, and they have zero replay value (once you know the answer you won’t forget it, and being forced to go through the intermediate steps will just feel like a chore).

Most of the other missions revolve around visiting waypoints, clicking highlighted objects and killing (lots and lot and lots) of zombies. Walking and clicking are never much fun, and the combat in TSW (which is also the basis for PvP) feels robotic and floaty, so I don’t see those things holding people for very long, and I doubt they’ll be able to add investigation missions fast enough to keep people interested.

Sharuko

Did you guys rant when the main guy behind GW2′s art team left recently? Or when the core GW2 team left in 2010 to make Undead Labs? Do you know that Funcom’s stock is up 72% year-over-year (Jun ’11 to Jun ’12)? I guess it is cool to highlight all the bad news and ignore the good news.

As I said in the other news thread, I thought TSW would be horrible based on what GBTV (except a couple of videos from Quintlyn) and Massively have been saying. I saw Towelliee stream it recently and he said he likes it better than GW2 and he also said the more he plays TSW the less he likes GW2 so I thought I would give it a shot based on that.

I played it and to my surprise not only did it have all the features of GW2 that GBTV, Massively and Arenanet hyped. It actually does all of it better than GW2. Every single “unique” feature of GW2, TSW has and launched 2 months before GW2.

Not only that but the game is not a PvP centric game with no PvE content like GW2. It will have 10-man raids and tons of PvE content including solo dungeons. It doesn’t take the easy way out and remove trinity but it has unique healers specs and tanks never seen in other MMOs.

Without bias and a person that is playing Tera I can tell you TSW combat is better than GW2. GW2 combat is clunky and unresponsive. There is 0% chance GW2 is ever a eSport because of its bad combat. It feels “heavy” and clunky and laggy. TSW combat is as responsive as WoW.

TSW is not 100% polished, the animations are bad, and the cash shop is horrible. GBTV dropped the ball on not covering TSW enough and are now trying to playing catch up because Gary realizes the game is good and he is right. The GW2 hype has faded from Gary after he played the game. And next time MikeB calls the game niche he has to explain why it is niche.

MMO_Doubter

”TSW combat is as responsive as WoW.”

NO WAY IN HELL. Period.
- http://profile.yahoo.com/ITHF7XKYGVXFAPCDMDJTKHLBBU Lian Wan
  
  Which of those two sentences is supposed to be a good thing and which is supposed to be a bad thing?
iamthemikeb

Oh hey look! Sharuko is back to defend another niche game!

Fight the good fight, my friend.
saluk

You lost a lot of credibility when you said GW2 combat is clunky and unresponsive. I’m glad you are pimping TSW, I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time. It needs more pimping. But you are obviously not “without bias”. I don’t see what is so easy about removing the trinity for instance. It seems like sticking to what works and what’s been done before is a lot easier than trying to blaze a trail. I guess you overlooked the fact that that is one of several unique features of gw2 that TSW doesn’t do better.
- Spammerbam
  
  He lost credibility when we all realized that his characters in GW2 beta is no higher than level 3 with 0% map completion.
  
  Hmm, makes us all wonder.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Ian-Smith/100000531128393 Ian Smith

This can’t be healthy. I think you need help, serious mental health help. It’s just not normal to hate a non-living thing this much. As for everyone else, report and ignore. The worst thing you can do for someone like this is to respond, whether it’s positive or negative, and thereby give them validation for such bad behavior.
- Sharuko
  
  Is there any argument other than name calling? ”Works for En Masse” “Need Mental Help” “Tera fanboy” “WoW fanboy” anything else? My arguments are always based on the game and not personal attacks.
Spammerbam

‘”Not only that but the game is not a PvP centric game with no PvE content like GW2.”‘

—- You know.. last thing I remember from your own screenshot, you were level 3 with 0% map completion. Shows how much you really experienced PvE..

‘”GW2 combat is clunky and unresponsive. There is 0% chance GW2 is ever a
eSport because of its bad combat. It feels “heavy” and clunky and
laggy.”‘
—- I don’t remember GW2 being out right now either. Having lag during the betas is as expected, so your point is pretty much invalid. During the previous stress test, all my skills/abilities were responsive, so I don’t get where you’re coming from.

“‘Without bias and a person that is playing Tera I can tell you TSW combat is better than GW2.”‘
—- Haha, how can you say “without bias” when you truly hate GW2, and still talking/comparing GW2 with a hated passion, even on other game articles?

You know what game has the bare minimum PvE contents?
—- Tera. You have a straight forward storyline that doesn’t branch to anything, an empty and dead world environment that doesn’t even have day/night cycles, and monsters and NPCs treat each other like best friends. Sounds like fun.

You know what game is lazy, having the trinity with a slapped on (but fail) action-combat?
—- Tera. The combat has no dynamics in it at all, and even as a modern MMO, you’re stuck with not only one weapon, but also one role for the rest of your character gameplay.
People make the excuse of saying you need skills to play — Well truth is, as long as you have your crosshair on the enemy and press fire, your attacks will hit, even if you see your target dodging your projectiles. No customizable builds? I don’t see any strategic skills in that.

Even Vindictus does a better job at action-combat than Tera.

Of course, there’s no need for you to defend Tera anymore because that game already failed. Now you’re jumping onto another game and comparing it to GW2.
Now it’s TSW vs GW2? Seriously? They’re in the same genre, but on totally different themes and style; both entirely different games.
- H S
  
  not to mention his term team, somehow an artist decides to change his career and leaves arena net on good terms, maybe to even freelance for them, and somehow that’s a whole Art Team leaving. LOL! He is just so funny sometimes.
  - Sharuko
    
    I love it is just “someone” when it was the main guy behind GW2′s art. Also, I guess when a co-founder (Jeff Strain), the lead designer of GW1 and GW2(James Phinney) and other core figures in GW2 leave it is no big deal?
    
    Funny how they are jumping ship from a “great” game huh?
  - Old Ben
    
    GW2′s art director is Daniel Dociu, and he’s still very much at NCsoft / Arena Net.
    
    BTW, fun fact about Dociu: His face was the model for “Father Grigori” (the zombie-killing monk) in Half-Life 2.
Jay

” I guess it is cool to highlight all the bad news and ignore the good news.”

Isn’t that what you do with GW2 every chance you get?..

Cmon Sharuko… Cmon… :3
Revanhavoc

I have respect for the position of contrarian you hold on this site, but I played TSW and the combat sucked. I have not played GW2, but if the combat is as similar as you say then GW2 is going to be a big letdown for me.

Judging from trailers alone GW2 appears to have more contact with individual attacks, more ‘realistic’ looking interaction between movement and attacks and results.

I’d be interested to hear your opinion.

http://www.facebook.com/WonderfulPlague Matthew Beaty

If you plan to do a secret world show, then bring back the Rift show. Seriously.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Robert-Caliolo/100003765889295 Robert Caliolo

Don’t need a show, Just Breaks for updates

Games don’t need to go FTP. Just charge less, $5 a month is fine these days

MMO_Doubter

Just make an MMO that is WORTH $15 a month.
- Old Ben
  
  Because “worth” is an absolute value…
Old Ben

In some ways (for some people), the difference between paying $5 a month and not having a monthly fee is much bigger than the difference between $5 and $15.

It’s not about the money itself, it’s about the fact that you’re paying just to have access to things that are already “yours”. It’s like a tax to avoid losing access to your characters and to the items and achievements that you’ve already “earned”.

It’s easier to get those people to pay the same total amount of money if you associate that payment with something new. For example, add a new dungeon every 3 months and charge $15 for it. You’re still getting an average of $5 a month (because 90% of your player base will buy all dungeons), but players don’t feel pressured to commit, and they know they’ll still be able to access everything they had at any moment (they just won’t be able to go into the new dungeon).

It doesn’t even have to be new content, it can be consumables, but players have to feel that they’re paying to _get_ something, and not just to _avoid_losing_ something.
- Jay
  
  Yup, a lot of it has to do with the commitment… When you buy a sub MMO, you’re basically saying I want to keep paying for this game just to play it. I agree completely with what you just said; for me personally, I’m tired of having to rent my characters.

H S

To paraphrase the show Firefly :
A man walks down the street in that SHIRT, people know he’s not afraid of anything.

scottsummer

Jezz…Mike S is always criticizing other games not name GW2 or WoW (or any major triple A MMO with massive hype train)

btw, I wouldn’t play EQ3 if it’s F2P, SOE F2P model of EQ2 and Vanguard are absolutely trash.
Don’t shit on Vanguard, it is by far the best and most sophisticated PVE MMO in the market and its housing system is far more interesting than water down MMO like WoW or SWTOR. Not that i expect Mike S & B has played Vanguard before.

Cyclops07

I swore I would never play another SOE game after the way they screwed up SWG with the CU, which to this day is still the best mmo I personally have ever played.
http://twitter.com/dularr Dularr

What the heck happened to Vanguard.

The game initially sold around 242,000 copies, initial sub around 130,000 and then dropped to 40,000.

DDO is looking good, up to 120,000. But who knows, that may be the TB hype train.

http://www.facebook.com/amy.dooley.50 Amy Dooley

Considering how much Ancient Aliens Gary watches, I’m not shocked he’s so into Secret World XD
Also want to say that I love that Wildstar has the trinity. I <3 GW2 but I'm really depressed I can't be the cliche girl gamer healer ! So I might actually play Wildstar

Jay

You can just follow my Thief in GW2 spamming healing springs from an Elementalist… I won’t mind.
- http://twitter.com/dularr Dularr
  
  Healing in GW2 is not epic gameplay. When I’m bored with a PVE zerg event, I switch to water abilities, spam my water attacks and heal the melee with a little splash damage.

Joey Biggs

Mike B, the perfect game is called Guild Wars 2…. come on man

http://twitter.com/dularr Dularr

lol, GW2 is fine, but its PVE is so carebear niche. After six months all that will be left is hardcore PVP and a majority playerbase that is still under level 30.

Joey Biggs

No for the show

Noxdus

I don’t think it would be worth doing a Secret World show. I just don’t see very many people watching it. I think TSW details should just stay in TWIMMO.

mcfoyle

watching again, a small problem. gary himself says ‘if the game occupies me for a month its worth it’. he admits the game most likely has short term appeal.. what happens when gary is bored of the game? or no one on the ‘hp lovecast’ plays anymore? canceled after 2 months?

the game has good points, but as others have said, what would a show be about? too many spoilers would piss people off. gary is in the honeymoon phase, the new game smell is heavy in his nostrils. likely wont last.

integerx

I cross my fingers for Everquest Next, but they need to come up with a good f2p model because the EQ and EQ2 models are horrible. I am hoping more Planetside 2 and less everything else SOE.

There’s nothing really wrong with roles, but the trinity is just watered down original Everquest. There is a lot more possibilities than just tank, healer, and damge. It’s disappointing Wildstar won’t move in a different direction than World of Warcraft.

http://twitter.com/viion Josh Freeman

No to the show, it will end up like XIV/Rift and be dropped. Please stick to Guildcast and others.

Saurabh Singh

Yes, please do the show for The Secret World.

Given the volatility in the MMO market, I think it’s fine for you to start a show for popoular MMOs and close them when they die. e.g. SWTOR’s show is unnecessary now (or soon will be).

http://profile.yahoo.com/SNC33ANBPJ6ET7JWS7DHFWLLVI Leon

Yes to the show please. It could replace the swtor show, or maybe alternate with it every other week

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1260066056 Steven Diaz

No to TSW show. I don’t think it’s going to be worth the show. Not enough fans and it doesn’t seem like too many people on GB are going to be there for the long run.

http://twitter.com/RavingRendal Matthew Ulmen

First, Love Gary’s shirt =) I’d love a TSW show, if for no other reason we had a good one for Rift for a while. It would be nice to have something specific to a show that wasn’t GW2, SWToR or WoW. I wanted a DCUO one bad but no go =/.

http://dev.gamebreaker.tv garygannon

Yea I think the thing is its OK if some shows come and go…TV shows dont stick around forever…maybe we only do 30-40 episodes…I think thats ok!

http://profile.yahoo.com/YSVAPKVBUPTX6YS3W2DLPOBNN4 AlokP

but again, what would it be about? I’d hate it to spoil quests. Non-standard builds? Well, technically an exorbitant amount exist, but probably not an interesting-ish show past the first few viable, non-deck builds. News? How much news will there be on a weekly basis?
- http://twitter.com/dularr Dularr
  
  Patchs, Q&A, PVP and can Funcom pull of Raids. The real challenge for GamerbreakerTV is can they keep the hosts playing TSW The specific MMO shows look good, Republic, Guildcast, Buildcast (still trying to imagine how that show ends up) and Ledgendary looks. Doesnt look like the hosts are going to stop playing them anytime soon.
scottsummer

Gary it’s your show, do as you like and if it failed to attract enough viewers then stop the show (like XIV), there’s no wrong in trying it.
I personally would watch a TSW show although right now i am not completely sold on TSW YET.
For spoilers, well SWTOR is story focus , that doesn’t cripple the show at all.
Give it a try Gary.
Cyclops07

It’s your website do as you see fit Gary, but as I said below the show will mostly have viewers that don’t even play the game, that will tune in cause there is nothing better on and hang out in chat talking about GW2, etc. I watch every show you do cause of the entertainment value except for Legendary( can’t stand WoW) but I don’t play any of them.

schbusd

you guys need to become a lot more professional.

this show has way too much stuttering, “UUUUUUUUUUUUHHH”-ing and talking about nothing important going on. come up with topics and questions before you do the show that are interesting and that give your co-hosts a chance to say meaningful things and not look like they’re frantically trying to say SOMETHING just because it’s their turn (and then get ridiculed by their own, grats MikeB for being an ass).

http://www.facebook.com/lord.ashar Lord Steve ‘Ashar’ Spain

I was actually hoping for a meaningful discussion on The Secret World, guess I got my hopes up too high. I find it ironic that GG stated that things had to be good within the first hour of a game – how about applying that to your own show? The questions were poor, the discussion went nowhere, and how could it, two of the presenters haven’t even bothered to play. It’s not that they haven’t had time to prepare a good presentation. I’ll come back in a month and see if you guys have ironed out the bugs in your show
QSatu

Surprisingly I have to agree a little with you. I like this site but they definitely have space for improvements.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jose-Fuentes/695461432 Jose Fuentes

TSW show should be like this: Starring Gary Gannon, with Gary Gannon, and special guest host Gary Gannon

http://twitter.com/carlosgaa Carlos Aragon

do a planetside 2 show instead

RBHgamer

I don’t think a TSW show is a good idea. It would be ok for a few episodes but i bet you would cancel it by episode 10. The game is likely to lose players once all the mysterious bits are figured out and uncovered because there seems little left after that is gone. One thing I will say is that fixing combat should be a lot easier than fixing the story. Maybe they can fix the combat eventually but I’m wondering if it can be done before the eventual boredom at having played it through with not enough else to keep the average gamer interested. Star Trek Online in a similar way was bad at the ground missions at launch but I have heard that it is now greatly improved. However the damage was done and while STO is still going, its a very niche game.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Willi-Enderle/1668850948 Willi Enderle

hm, not interested enough for a TWS-show

robotadventures

i only know about this game exists from you guys. but i dont know anything about it. i get the feeling it is the xfiles meets biohazard.

German Lopez

Whether a The Secret World show is a good idea or not entirely depends on how fast Funcom releases content and news. The leveling content and sense of immersion are phenomenal, but I think a solid endgame would be needed to sustain a show. This game could easily turn into another SWTOR, which has lackluster endgame content but solid leveling content, and that would not be good for the game’s lifespan or a show related to the game.

I also don’t understand why the game’s combat gets so much criticism relative to Guild Wars 2. The combat feels exactly like Guild Wars 2. It has limited buttons, it has rolling to dodge attacks, and everything can be used while moving. Guild Wars 2 didn’t feel any more visceral either. (Just to put this in context, I am almost surely going to stop playing The Secret World for Guild Wars 2, so it’s not that I’m a The Secret World fanboy bashing Guild Wars 2; I just don’t see how Guild Wars 2 is better in this regard.)

Then again, I’m definitely over 20 hours in, so I have a lot of great synergy between my abilities now, which greatly enhances the combat. I probably wouldn’t be saying the same thing if I was recalling my low-level experience.

Odeezee

“I also don’t understand why the game’s combat gets so much criticism relative to Guild Wars 2. The combat feels exactly like Guild Wars 2. It has limited buttons, it has rolling to dodge attacks, and everything can be used while moving. Guild Wars 2 didn’t feel any more visceral either. (Just to put this in context, I am almost surely going to stop playing The Secret World for Guild Wars 2, so it’s not that I’m a The Secret World fanboy bashing Guild Wars 2; I just don’t see how Guild Wars 2 is better in this regard.)”

then i guess we have been playing 2 completely different games. having a limited skill bar does not make the feel of combat similar in any way shape of form otherwise GW2 would feel a lot like GW1.

yes TSW has dodge rolling which was added 3 weeks prior to launch and has no function in the game other than being a gap closer/widener in mainly PvP because in PvE it is even more utterly useless as the mobs move so fast that by the time you are done they have already caught up with you. there also is not immunity for the duration of the animation and which few mobs actually telegraphing abilities it really shows just how “tacked” on it really is. oh and no skills active or passive augment it. it should not have even been included and just seems like a addition to the game just so they can say, hey look we have a “dodge” too. /shudder.

as far a visceral combat goes, for me personally, they are night and day. combat in TSW really feels spammy and there is no sense of actual contact even with the melee weapons. like playing with a Katana the mobs felt like they were just running into my sword swings as opposed to me actually and deliberately trying to hit them and make contact. contrast that with a Hammer warrior beating someone’s face into the ground. comparing the Elementalist to Elementalism is even worse as the melee and physical ranged weapons are better in TSW. the animations really want to make me cry even more as they look so unnatural, like i cast and think to myself, “who would even think of casting like this it is awkward as f*ck??!!!” hello Blood Magic anyone?

it’s cool if you don’t think the GW2 combat system is all that, but to say it is no different from TSW breaks my mind. that is such a disservice to GW2.
Sharuko

I agree the combat in GW2 and TSW is almost alike, somehow the false notion of “action” combat has been tacked on the GW2 when even the devs never stated it. The game is a tab target game with a aimbot mechanic. To me the combat systems are similar but TSW is more responsive.
- Jay
  
  How would you know what the devs have stated? You don’t do any real research… Maybe the reason you missed it is because, unlike Tera, action combat is just one of many stand-out features. I suppose with the Cross profession combos, positioning and weapon switching, “dynamic” combat would be a more appropriate term for GW2′s combat.
  - Sharuko
    
    Find me one source in which GW2 devs has stated the game has action combat. There is nothing action about GW2′s combat, it is tab target with a aimbot mechanic and thats it.
    - Jay
      
      Find it yourself… I did my own research. =)
      
      ArenaNet has put out a lot of info… Blogs, Reddit, Facebook, Trade Shows…
    - Sharuko
      
      It is impossible to find something that doesn’t exist. The “action” combat was solely a fan creation.
    - Jay
      
      Impossible to find? Maybe if you never look for it…
    - Odeezee
      
      Dude S T F U about the combat, you know next to NOTHING about it and oh, here’s a clue TSW has aimbot it’s called “tab-targetting”, TERA has aimbot it’s called “lock-on” and GW2 has aimbot it’s called “tab-targetting” difference is in GW2 it’s an OPTION! get your facts straight before you go around forums spouting crap like that.
    - Sharuko
      
      Still waiting for a source from Devs that says GW2 has any sort of “action combat”, it was a lie repeated by fans over and over again that became a “truth”.

1970Hendrix1970

I watched several playthroughs online of the secret world and the story really grabbed me whether it will hold up after the main story is beaten or the game will end up being a swtor thing where the game falls appart after you go through on one character is really up to the developer and their content release scheduel. I bought the game based on the story segments I watched and the intriguing horror elements and setting which seem very interesting. A show based on this makes sense as long as you can get some good players on it that are entertaining to watch in a show…..maybe you can slip Mike B and Taugrum something in their koolaide or do some of that MKUltra mind control on them and get them to do a weekly show I’d watch….

Jay

No, for the TSW show… I enjoyed the TSW trailer though. Looks like a nice single player game I would like to play. SWTOR was the first and last single player MMO I’ll ever be buying though.

MMO_Doubter

Well said. I wish I had been as wise.

The biggest issue for me is that the cool ‘mysterious’ stuff IS solo content. Not what I want in a supposedly multiplayer game.
- http://profile.yahoo.com/3JO75BNS43WDETCNCO7F7XS6Q4 jo
  
  exactly. i know you’re all wise and skeptical and a tough guy, but my friend you’d best quit mmo’s because the whole try hard to take a stand against GW2 shit is gonna crumble once every other 2012 release is out. literally two other mmo’s are looking to be as good. none of which will draw a huge overlap with GW2′s audience.
  
  TSW is so inferior that you can’t even jump on the bandwagon with guys like Sharuko in this debate.
Sharuko

Really? How is TSW a “single player MMO” when GW2 isn’t? I mean TSW will have 10-man raids when GW2 won’t. In TSW there is massive PvP in which you are fighting players instead of doors. In structured PvP in TSW it is 10v10v10 compared to GW2′s 5v5.

Personal story in GW2 is single player. If anything TSW is more multiplayer than GW2.

I just counted and 90% of people against the TSW show are GW2 fans, what a great (toxic) community you guys have.
- Jay
  
  What you also fail to mention is 90% of the TSW fans are GW2 fans as well… :3
  
  GW2 open world PVE is about fighting together as a group, it’s built around the whole idea… You don’t even need to stop and invite people, you can just play together. You can port to any starting area to group with friends, while helping them complete personal stories as a group. In WvW, you know, when it’s out of beta… More people will have money for siege weapons, like ArenaNet intended, and if you actually did research, you’d realize doors can be dropped in under 15 seconds. Or you can do Dynamic Events, or Jumping Puzzles, or capture camps/keeps/towers… All while in a PVP setting.
  
  I wouldn’t expect you know all this stuff though, seeing as how you never even reached level 10 in GW2. I find it interesting that you call the community here “toxic”, yet you continue to come back spewing your own fallacious poison.
  
  Don’t get me wrong, I welcome your commentary. I don’t mind correcting you…
  - Sharuko
    
    Right so one aspect is the difference between what you consider “single player MMO” which is dynamic events. So if I take one aspect like Raids which GW2 doesn’t have and judge it a single player MMO based on that would it make any sense?
    
    The problem that a lot of people mentioned in GW2 is that no one talked to each other. Because the computer did everything for you including putting people in groups. You didn’t talk to people in your groups, you just went around like robots killing things by yourself and people happened to be there. No one is working as a group there, especially with no healers and tanks. It is every man for himself. The other players fell like NPCs.
    
    My point here is don’t throw rocks when you are living in a glass house. GW2 feels a lot like SWTOR in the single player aspect.
    - Jay
      
      Okay Sharuko, let’s break this down…
      
      One aspect? I named several, so just read it again.
      
      As far as “raids” go… WOW didn’t create raids, so if you’re using that as your only definition of raiding, then we won’t see eye to eye. Anything that takes a large group effort and coordination is considered a raid to me… Shadow Behemoth is an example of a “raid” boss. Since you never got high enough level though, you didn’t even get a chance to see the Shadow Behemoth.
      
      ArenaNet added local chat in the last beta. If you played in the last beta, you should know this. The computer also doesn’t setup a group for you… Except for structured PVP.
      
      No one is working together? Yet people are together doing work to accomplish a goal… I fail to see your logic. I think you mean, people aren’t relying on each other, like they do in the “trinity” format.
      
      Problem is, you see GW2 as a glass house, but you fail to see it’s made out of Gorilla Glass.
      
      Take a deeper look…
    - http://twitter.com/dularr Dularr
      
      hmm, Shadow Behemoth looks amazing. But the gameplay seems to be all pew, pew, dodge, pew pew, dodge.
      
      Seems see Shadow Behemoth, kill a Shadow Behemoth, all done.
    - Jay
      
      Things are a lot more than they “seem”… If you fight in the areas after the starter zones, you’ll notice Dynamic Event bosses take a lot more group effort. If you prefer PVP, that’s fine, but don’t sell GW2 PVE short… ANet added a lot of depth for those who choose to access it.
      
      The whole swamp area where the Shadow Behemoth spawns his its own story, if you care to look for it. He also has a lot of raid mechanics such as different phases where he uses different types and sizes of AOE, as well as summoning portals where additional enemies emerge from. Not to mention Fear spells for those who get too close, and his poison clouds. You’d be surprised at all the communication that was going on during the fight… People yelling which portal to focus on, and which adds to take down first. It’s something you have to experience to understand.
    - http://twitter.com/dularr Dularr
      
      Thanks Jay. I do find the dynamic events seem more challenging and compelling with a smaller number of players. When you get too many players (good question how many is to many) you spend most of your time rezzing other players. (I’m an old school MMO healer, so I really enjoy the downed player mechanic. But when it becomes non-stop rezzing its to many players.)
      
      I also find, it becomes automatic to switch from melee to range attack for the larger dynamic events. Melee is at a clear disadvantage.
      
      Who was yelling during the fight? I do notice when an encounter starts going badly (melee starts getting one shotted) players start yelling at each other.
      
      When I watched when a game streamer started complaining that the content was getting repetitive or boring, the veiwers would suggest the swamp boss. Is the Shadow Behemoth the same thing as the swamp boss?
      
      I’ll have to add the Shadow Behemoth to my checklist of content to experience. After a couple of BWE, I keep running across the same dynamic events over and over. I almost need a guide telling me where the best dynamic events are located.
      
      I am trying to look up the story for the Shadow Behemoth, that’s why I asked. I do find it hard to follow a story in GW2 if you get late to a dynamic event and with the repeating events, the story seems to get our of order. The story is really hard to follow inside the game.
      
      Did some research, here’s all I found on the Shadow Behemoth.
      
      The swamp lies dormant.
      Underworld forces have been spotted outside the swamp.
      - Drive back Underworld creatures by destroying portals in Phinney Ridge.
      - Drive back Underworld creatures by destroying portals in the Eldvin Monastery.
      - Drive back Underworld creatures by destroying portals in Taminn Foothills.
      
      There is a disturbance in the heart of Godslost Swamp.
      - Drive back Underworld creatures by destroying portals in the swamp.
      
      The beast has been awakened!
      - Defeat the shadow behemoth.
    - Jay
      
      You bring up some good points, especially about the melee being at a disadvantage. Since I’m almost always melee in video games, it’s something I really hope they work on. I do believe the swamp boss they were speaking of was in fact the Shadow Behemoth. Even though there are a few mini bosses that spawn there as well.
      
      To find out the story of the swamp you would have to talk to the NPCs or locals, kinda like you would have to do in real life. One of them even spawns a boss through a portal that you’ll only get to see if you talk to that particular NPC. ArenaNet doesn’t force the story on you out in the open world, like SWTOR for example. However, it does reward those willing to dig deeper and immerse themselves in the world they created.
      
      Maybe next beta you’ll do a bit more exploring and find some hidden details in the world. Remember you’ll only see dynamic events if you’re near the area while it’s happening, so be sure to check the far reaches for something interesting!
      
      Fun fact: ArenaNet only added the Renowned Heart (quests) because people weren’t used to exploring freely in MMORPGs.
      
      I guess we could blame WOW and a few others for that…
  - Old Ben
    
    Even in the beta, people were behaving in TSW as they do in WoW: Competing for mission objectives, letting other players die so they could “pick up” a weakened zombie, never healing anyone outside their party, etc..
    
    It’s fine to design a game to be competitive instead of cooperative, but in most areas you couldn’t attack the other players, so it wasn’t even proper PvP. It was basically like a single-player game where the other players are there just to slow you down.
    
    Even the story-related instances are single-player (i.e., even if you group up, they make you play through them on your own).
    
    But, because it’s “an MMO”, and because they don’t have support for WoW’s phasing technology or GW2′s world events, the game world is static. If they had made it as a single-player game, it would have been much easier to let players interact with objects (ex., break shop windows, ride bicycles, pile up crates to gain access to higher areas, etc.) without worrying about the effect of those actions on other players, or to make the world change as a result of your actions (ex., clear the zombies from Kingsmouth and see the city starting to recover, or see some NPCs relocate to new areas after you finish some mission).
  - http://twitter.com/dularr Dularr
    
    GW2 PVE is about fighting together as a group, no way. GW2 PVE is almost a single player game with other people around. Everyone might be doing the same objective, but there is nothing coordinated about it. Only time I see player interaction is when someone dies and fellow players rez a fallen comrade. Dungeons, have no idea, I don’t do pug content and have no illusions I will find a regular 5 man dungeon team.
    
    Now, GW2 WvW, now that’s team play. Grouping up to take objectives, building siege engines, defending supply and towers. All very entertaining when competitive.

http://www.facebook.com/gravy.daman Gravy DaMan

Do it, DO it the show

http://www.facebook.com/TheOneKilner Jamie Kilner

only resson gamers like free to play is 80% of them are just lazy people without a job and just sit on ther ass all day and carnt afford to pay for anything or support a company

and these people are killing the mmo market they want free to play they want everything in the game withing the first week so teh game is mega mega easy YOU ARE KILLING THE MMO

JJversion1

It’d be funny if it were true, fact is that all ppl like F2P games regardless of whether or not they have a job. If it’s free then ppl will grab it, that’s just common human behavior. It has little, if anything, to do with ppl having a job. That being said, I suppose that it’s all just perspective as to whether or not it’s killing the industry. Although I highly doubt it.
- jayremy
  
  Making a game free to start playing by grabbing them in their attentions I would say is merely for getting people exposed to your game. I often see people who have played existing MMOs and say ” I will not play unless F2P”. You figure they would replace play with “try” but honestly they have probably played already and aren’t interested in it.
  
  I can see game having quite generous trial or free time systems for new/returning players or even be free initially. To me the most intimidating thing is the box price, $50-60 for 0 hours of entertainment is quite a risk to take. Games can be made with subs, but “free to play” technically, it wouldn’t be “free to buy” because ‘free’ and ‘buy’ don’t mix.
  - JJversion1
    
    The point of my statement is that a person having a job or not is not a great determining factor of whether or not there are alot of F2P games out there or that more MMOs are going F2P (as per my response to the original poster). It’s only common human behavior to want something for nothing and having a job or a lack there of is not a determining factor of said behavior as the original poster is indicating. It was not only an incorrect statement, but a very biased and prejudicial comment and I was merely pointing out how erroneous it was. As for me I don’t have any issues with the “Premium” approach. I can see paying for the game and maybe paying for any “extras,” however I don’t see any real issues with the sub method either. To me it all depends on the company, their product, and the consumer and what either of them want to do.
http://twitter.com/Crimendorsement Jeffrey Eisenberg

…although not worded EXACTLY the way I’d say it….I believe there is a fundamental truth in the above text. Personally, I see the entire industry dying in less than 10 year…with the shift going back into single player games. SPECIFICALLY because gamers will REFUSE to put money into the system…and yet demand so much out of it.

It’s a strip-mining process and frankly, there are too many developers currently HEAVILY invested in the industry to out and out bail…but I am SURE they are already developing long term strategy to abandon the mmorpg market which is now firmly rooted in very little return on investment.
- JJversion1
  
  I don’t see any evidence that F2P is killing the MMO industry, from what I can tell it’s the fact that ppl are cancelling their subscriptions that’s causing many MMOs to go to F2P. Of course this is my own personal interpretation. I’m taking into account other factors into my interpretation, such as gameplay, replay value, the economy (RL not gaming), etc. These things factor into the MMO industry moreso than whether or not the game is F2P. It could very well be so, I’m not saying that it necessarily isn’t, however what I am saying is that I just don’t really see it being as big a factor as you might suspect.
Old Ben

Yeah! Poor people are killing the MMO market, just like people without money to afford space trips are killing the space industry!

WE MUST KILL ALL POOR PEOPLE!!
jgelling

How can poor people influence a profit-driven company one way or the other? It’s not like they’re going to change their game to satisfy people that aren’t spending money.

Companies are going free to play more because the economy sucks, and they can earn just as much by selling more boxes to more people with the promise of F2P plus the additional cash revenue from the small percentage that spend big on vanity items.

It’s actually the middle of the market that’s driving free to play – not “lazy” poor people.
jayremy

The way I see it on top of not being able to afford it is that if you like the game you WILL pay for it. If you want a game to be free for you to play you either want pay to win or pay to be “awesome” (visually or a special snowflake) or you don’t like the game enough to pay for it.

Why would developers want players using up their server resources who have no intentions of paying for the game or just flat out lack interest in what the game is designed to be about.

We can make assumptions about being broke or kids/teens who don’t have money (and have to borrow mommies credit card) though it may false assuming stereotype for all people it likely is true for some.
- Jay
  
  I don’t think people want free to play as much as they want buy to play… Most people have no problem buying the box, and paying for a game they want to play. It’s almost like if you buy a car and had the choice of just paying for gas you want, or having to pay monthly even when you don’t want to use the car.
  
  The problem comes from having to keep paying just to play a game you already bought.
  - jayremy
    
    Paying $50-60 upfront is pretty steep for a game you may be unsure about. The thing is speaking about MMO games, is one buy price may not be sufficient, looking at GW2 for example they rely both on micro-transactions as they do the box price. The box price alone would cause ArenaNet to flop on the game because expenses of maintaining the game and playerbase (with updates) would build up. The next and only other alternative is paid DLCs (expansions or patches).
    - Jay
      
      In my analogy the gas for your car = cash shop/expansions. You still own your car even if you don’t buy gas. Better yet, the cash shop is like buying rims and speakers for your car. Not everyone buys them, but A LOT of people do.
      
      Remember GW1 sold nearly 7 million boxes, so that’s plenty of money to keep a game afloat. Add in the cosmetic cash shop items, which you’ll notice a lot of people buy, simply because they have no sub to worry about; you’ll soon see how effective Buy 2 Play can be.
      
      You have to pay $50-60 upfront for all AAA console games, so it’s not nearly as daunting as committing to a subscription for a game you’re unsure about.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Bruce-Fauble/1466377126 Bruce Fauble

I would watch a TSW show

MMO_Doubter

How is it a ‘modern’ setting – when you can’t:

ride a bicycle
drive a car
use a FLASHLIGHT?

How old is Fallen Earth? You could MAKE your own car/motorcycle and use flashlights,

http://profile.yahoo.com/3JO75BNS43WDETCNCO7F7XS6Q4 jo

not to mention a character creator on par with a 2001 fantasy MMO(hell, not even) instead of something as Robust as APB’s character creation.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Filip-Buhov/1379207683 Filip Buhov

the worst time this game could’ve lauched was 2012 , tera, mop, gw2 ,ftp market explosions … just not the right time

http://profile.yahoo.com/EUGKRFCTDAHRUCSGKY5RZP6YVQ chris

you should make some pilot episodes for secret world show, then hide them on the site. Give subtle hints for 2-3 weeks on legendary twimmo and guildcast that after you combine them all you can find the url.

jgelling

They won’t need to hide a show on The Secret World. After a few weeks no one’s going to find their way to the VoDs anyhow

http://www.facebook.com/people/Noam-Doten/578063540 Noam Doten

i don’t want to see a Secret World show

http://twitter.com/dularr Dularr

Gary wants to add new content, go Gary, go.
Old Ben

I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t _have_ to see it.

I doubt they can find enough material to do a regular show about it without spoiling the investigation quests / story, but if they want to do one, hey, it’s their time.

To be fair, a lot of episodes of Legendary, Guildcast, etc., have very little information about actual game content, so maybe it can be done.

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

tsw show go!

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_R35J5EUERGS3E6JRIQMBCDTRRY Nathan I

I agree with Mike S about Wildstar/Carbine and I think they also did that because they took notes from what Arenanet did with GW2 and what SOE did with PS2. Be blunt upront about what your game will/won’t have and there will a lot less backlash from disappointed customers. I mean trolls will always be there, but the more reasonable people who may not like the features of your game will have forewarning and won’t buy it in the first place. So they won’t feel cheated afterwards and start complaining.

jgelling

I can’t imagine a Secret World show being sustainable. The game was outsold by GW2 on Amazon even right around its launch day.

And what are they going to talk about? Spoiling secrets? It doesn’t look like PvP is ever going to be the game’s thing. Or that there’s going to be constant news now that the game’s launched.

They’d be better off having another show on WoW or GW2 or heck, bringing back the Starcraft 2 show ahead of HoTS than covering such a small niche game.

AkumaShogun259

Please make a secret world show with the republic pannel!

http://twitter.com/OnlyInSaudiArab \.. Wa5eer ..//

TSW show ???

lol noway this game is going to be the worst one came out this year
even flash games are batter

http://www.facebook.com/people/Ivan-Noa/100000016129555 Ivan Noa

I really wasn’t looking at TSW before, but now I catch myself watching more and more gameplay videos. I’m liking it and my pick it up.

http://twitter.com/zerconi Samuli Rauatmaa

I want to see a Secret World show!

http://twitter.com/Ratbacon Andrew

I’d love a secret world show but can’t help but think it would suffer the same fate as the Rift one (which I still miss damn you)

http://twitter.com/dularr Dularr

If they can keep the views and keep the hosts playing, it should be fine.

Fluffenstuffen

TSW probably will be less successful than Rift (which is one of my favorite mmos on the market). There won’t be a whole lot to cover either. I’m not saying TSW is a bad game because I honestly haven’t payed much attention to it but I don’t think it’s worth a show.

http://twitter.com/BigMac37s Brandon m

People have a misconception of what FTP is and what they want FTP to be. People in the community think FTP and want FTP to mean you just play the full game and you can only have 1 or 2 characters or some BS like that or people that buy XP pots will completely fund the game. In reality FTP according to the main company doing it, SOE, means if you don’t pay the sub fee, you can’t really even play the game. AKA Vanguard, you don’t pay a sub you can’t use anything above green level loot. Or Everquest FTP which is laughable.

scottsummer

People have a huge misconception that anykind of f2p will generate massive new players base and revenue, which is not true at all.
Most f2p model for these former triple A title such as EQ2, Vanguard, AoC even Lotro to certain extent have laughable system.
MMO_Doubter

Correct. F2P is almost always a scam. LoL is the only F2P game I have seen that might not be a scam. Haven’t played it enough to be sure.

http://www.facebook.com/johnny.wall.372 Johnny Wall

the secret world is an amazing game! TSW is better than Swtor. Cancel your swtor show and make The Secret World show!

http://www.facebook.com/people/Shawna-Daniels/1135007726 Shawna Daniels

Saying a game is better than SWTOR isn’t exactly a glowing compliment

http://twitter.com/Aaronous Aaronous

I think SOE is doing it right. They have a FTP model for most of there games… you can get into it and mess around and have fun or you can be like me (get hooked) and buy a SOE all access pass and get all the pay to play perks of ALL there games AND get a monthly allowance of in game cash that you can save up and/or spend in any of there games.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Robbert-de-Wilde/1806039882 Robbert de Wilde

People still play the Secret World…?

Jokes jokes! I would probably check it out if I had the time this summer. And when I do get time GW2 will come out so I doubt I really get to try it before it goes Free to Play (yes it will go F2P).

Old Ben

They need to keep the subscription for at least two years to justify what they’re charging for the “lifetime subscription”.
- MMO_Doubter
  
  Offering an LTS means that they have no plan to remain P2P that long. That is why LTS in an MMO is a scam – every time.

http://twitter.com/missfunk Anna

Would love to play it but I cannot justify £12.49 a month. I already have a WoW sub and Charge up the Riot points on LoL. If it was the same as WoW sub then yes I would buy and play it without a doubt.

MMO_Doubter

Stop spending money on a F2P game.

http://twitter.com/Johnnygeeuk John Gillard

If you make a TSW show I will watch it, loving the game and there arnt many shows, podcast for it out there. Give it a go, you have the people on staff who are enjoying it

Evilevi501

What exactly would a TSW show be? Not about PvE. The content you could talk about would turn out to be too many spoilers. The game is about exploring and figuring things out minus outside influence. About builds? ok, thats 5 mins. Couldnt be about PvP, its far too basic and really lacks tactics other than zerging. So what exactly would a 45 min show about TSW be?

TSW, as a concept has the same merit of a SWTOR but in practice would have little to nothing to offer without ruining gameplay.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Filip-Buhov/1379207683 Filip Buhov

nonono it’s the other way around Gamebreaker crew. Crappy games like swtor , lotro , sto , dc uni were subscibtion games , and tehy maade people sceptic. The real game everyone pays and plays and gets the best experience is still wow. The thing is , RPG online games have to be with the quality and scale of world of warcraft if they are to survive even 2Qs . But wow has content wich is build upon for 7 years. Noone can top that from teh get go , and players are spoiled and whan more.

Old Ben

> wow has content wich is build upon for 7 years. Noone can top that from teh get go

You level past 99% of WoW’s content in less than a week, and then spend the rest of your time sitting in front of the auction house, waiting to repeat the same dungeons again and again and again.

The actual amount of content available in WoW at max level is quite easy to “top”. Most of WoW’s player base is just too attached to their characters and their guilds (or too addicted to the gear treadmill) to leave, despite the repetitive gameplay.
- Jay
  
  +1
- jayremy
  
  Pretty factual, people are in denial to believe otherwise. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bashing them as much as it is truth, I myself couldn’t get into Rift for that reason. Though Rift was a superior in my mind, I couldn’t start something so foreign yet so much the same.
  - Old Ben
    
    Rift seemed to me like it was just trying really hard to be more WoW than WoW, while missing the point of some of the things that made WoW popular (like the silliness of some quests and the cute & colorful graphics).
    
    It was a grayer (or possibly browner) and “tougher” version of WoW with more vertices, more talents, more classes, more action bars. The problem with amplifying a game which, by then, had accumulated so many design flaws was that they also ended up amplifying most of those flaws.
    
    And most people who wanted WoW, unsurprisingly, kept playing WoW (if only because they had already “invested” so much time into their characters). The only way to convince those to move would be if there was some way to let them “transfer” their characters from WoW to Rift, but Blizzard would obviously never give Trion access to their database.
    
    Rift finally seems to be moving away from that WoW obsession, and they certainly have a very competent and prolific team, so maybe they’ll manage to find a better identity and start growing again. The game still seems to take itself too seriously, tough, which I think will limit its appeal to a narrower demographic. More mature players tend to prefer a more “tongue-in-cheek” approach.
MMO_Doubter

You’re right that no new MMO can hope to compete with an established MMO for amount of content.

What is needed is end game content that remains fun when you repeat it (and fun does not mean a loot lottery). End game dungeons need to be challenging even after their loot tables have been farmed. ‘Farm status’ is one of the worst mechanics in gaming history.

This means that end game content has to provide rewards which do not render the content trivial. EVERY time you go into that dungeon, you have to be unsure if you will be able to clear it.

Another thing is to have the same (but expanded) loot tables for all dungeons of the same tier – so players can run the dungeons they LIKE, rather than the ones which have the loot drops they need.
jayremy

The hugest point is the amount of cash, time and popularity WoW has and how it covers many bases of the game. To many it may or may not be fun still, regardless of such it is still solid. Games cannot compete in terms of matching in such aspects especially when charging for a near or exact same price.

You either don’t compete with WoW and/or make a game totally unique enough from it that offers something players wanting something else in an MMO to play. For people to challenge a game like WoW head on it requires huge investment, phenomenal developing pace and some ingenuity.

Players wont give new MMOs time months in to wait for patches upon patches of content with raids and everything to have as many as WoW has been given over a year into Cataclysm.

Alphamax

Mike S needs to be relegated to running cables in the studio, or doing soundchecks for the actual participants on TWIMMO. He hasn’t completed a meaningful sentence for three shows now, all he does is dribble meaningless word porridge that keeps going on and on and on…

As for a show on TSW, although I love the game, I don’t see it working out and I don’t think I’d watch it.

http://twitter.com/makro_gamer Kristian Mæland

am all for a TSW show and I would sertenly watch it

MMO_Doubter

For four or five weeks – until it is cancelled.

http://www.facebook.com/stradus.woods Stradus Woods

Bleh lost so much interest in wild star with trinity.

Revanhavoc

I think it’s necessary to correlate the downturn in the economy over past 3 years to the changing of the MMO economic model. The business plans of these gaming companies adjusted to the chaning spending patterns of their consumers.

It’s not that free to play games are naturally more profitable than subscription based games, it’s that we as consumers are spending less, which means gaming companies are willing to do anything to get us into their games - even if that means giving their product away for free.

‘Ease of access’ is the new ‘Pay for quality’.

http://www.facebook.com/dovetrius Dovetrius Wright

Omg what are the qualifications for Game Reviewers. The clean cut computer nerd is so far off. The Trailer was perfect for the game. The soul sound of the lady singing gave the trailer a new spin to the genre. The Secret World is a breath of fresh air in an already dead and Dying MMO world. Plus the Things they are trying to implement in the future with this game will continue down the path of ground breaking innovations. DUB STEP music with a loud Rock sound does not make a trailer grant the game greatness. Sad that the guy i am talking about in this show reminds me of of the type of gamer that bought down the Star Wars Galaxies, that type of gamer that states if i am paying the same 15 dollars as the next man why just because he invested the over 240 hours and learned his class why cant i beat him 4 hours after i installed the game. But back to the Game.

The Fact that the game is based on a psuedo-real world. And that it doesn’t Have people running around with elf ears and cow heads already puts it in a new league for most intelligent gamers.Will the game Last? I believe that the game will be a good game and have a medium client base nothing close to WOW. But with the way the masses are now a days, the days of Playing a hardcore MMO like wow are over. Attention spans are so short that a 2 year run is a good run now in this genre.

On a side note. You guys need a Brother on the show. It would help round out all sides of the cube of gaming.

That’s My two cents.

And i will leave you with a Joke that really happened.

I was playing MW3 and this lil kid was trying to rattle me out of my
game. He said ” Espirtu what the F___ are you doing. ” I said “Your mom
just walked by in a eye patch and some flip flops” He said “WHAT!!!” I
said ” I know, right … it through me off too” everyone laughed.

dovetrius@gmail.com

Elusive Fox

to me the problem with clunky combat is that combat is involved in EVERY aspect of a game for most people, so eventually it gets to a point where it is very hard to ignore. That being said I agree with you Gary the game while far from amazing has a lot of good points…. other than combat.

Also, as a raider who left EQ for wow back in the day, I will definately go back to Next if they do it right, EQ1 in its prime is still some of the most fun in an MMO I have ever had… long enough ago we have nestalgia, but when thier dev team did stuff right it did it RIGHT, I s@facebook-1806039882:disqus ill say they should never have released EQ2 though but that is another converastion.

As far as the trinity goes, I just want to say the trinity is fine, good even. However what many games recently have taught us is that every class needs to have access to multiple roles in the trinity so that queues can be more balanced.

MMO_Doubter

Agreed about the trinity with the addition that group sizes should be bigger to allow a higher DPS:healer/tank ratio, to accommodate the higher number of players who want to play DPS.
- http://www.facebook.com/stradus.woods Stradus Woods
  
  The only problem is that there will always be more dps then tanks or heals. They only way I think that could change if group make was like 5dps, 1heal, 1 tank.
  
  Unless people can cover more then one roll. Like a dps cover heals or tank with there main roll.
  
  So I agree but frankly the more numbers just makes it harder to form groups.

dgh420

99% of these posts are laughable, just play WoW and don’t look anywhere else for something of a decent quality. I’ll not argue or even check these comments because I already know you fanbois are already under “The Skinner Box” effect WoW and the like has put you in without you even knowing/understand.Please keep playing WoW and leave everything else alone … you’ve found your game of choice, stay there and leave the rest to others.

Randall Burt

The problem is not subs or lack thereof. Any of the business models work if the game is good and warrants the investment. I wish companies would stop this bandwagoning and treat us, as consumers, with some respect and expectation of intelligence. TSW is a prime example. I’d play the hell out of it if it would pick 1 (at most 2) of the revenue models it currently has. As it stands, I think that everything going f2p will eventually die out and folks paid to do so will start thinking critically about a game’s business model again.

Levi Miller

I thought the Secret World trailer looked better than the GW2 one. Combat being clunky means a lot to me though so I doubt I’ll pick it up. Strangely enough of the games talked about today I’m most interested in that Wildstar game.

Cody Moody

PLEASE do a Secret World show!

http://profile.yahoo.com/QEJSC34G7GDXFRZXUDQV2SF754 Tzimis

Maybe do a show for a couple of mmos together, like Swtor Secretworld and Tera.

http://twitter.com/TrayeZ TrayeZ

YES! TSW, in my opinion, is ‘way’ better than expected and I’m starting to loose interest in other MMOs I’ve been looking forward to for a long time just because of how much I actually like TSW.

http://twitter.com/pizzzas Pizza

Secret World would be a fun show to watch, whether you play the game or not. Also, bring back Sanctum!

http://www.facebook.com/ghita.marcelmarius Ghita Marcel Marius

Can you please adress the problem with the video; I’m from Romania and for 2 weeks now i can’t see your vids. It sais “Sorry, this episode is temporary unavalible”. Thanks

Senatic

Yea, when you guys ran the Wildstar video and he started saying they have a trinity I was about to pull a Gary Gannon and just leave my computer, “I’m out”.

I wouldn’t watch a TSW show personally, just because the game doesn’t really do enough to get me interested. IF it had nailed the combat the way Guild Wars 2 had I might have felt it was worth the money but as is I can’t justify it. Combat is what you’ll spend the most time doing in these kinds of games and so it should be the thing that is most polished, not the least. It says a lot that GW2′s combat is one of the best of any MMO’s ever made.

I agree with Mike S on the video comparison though, but would like to add that for someone who has no knowledge before hand neither the TSW or GW2 videos told the viewer much. But then the GW2 video was just a teaser video and not a launch trailer.

CCLemon77

RE: EQ Next

Let’s remember, that many of the EQ1 fans held out for ‘Vanguard: Saga of Heroes’(VSOH) and were hoping that this game would be the next EQ game. Indeed, there were lots of elements in VSOH that made it appealing to many EQ1 followers.
SOE acquired the game, and DID improve it and stabilized it. Yet it was far from being enough. SOE basically just sat on the game and didn’t do anything to make it a hit. They took away funding and resources for the game and it’s barely keeping its head above water…

SOE have alienated a ton of EQ1 followers in part due to their horrible treatment of VSOH (which contained a ton of EQ1 followers).

Not only does SOE have to make a killer game in EQ Next to be viable and compete with other games on the market, they also owe it to their fan base of EQ to right the wrongs of their past treatments of MMO games, SWG and VHOH etc….
I predict EQ Next will either make or break SOE’s ability to continue in the MMO market space. So much is riding on this EQ Next game for them.

CCLemon77

RE: EQ & Vanguard Saga of Heroes(VSOH)

Interesting, I just read that Brad McQuaid – one of the founders of Everquest and creators of VSOH has returned to Vanguard.

Wasn’t that covered on gamebreaker? Perhaps you guys missed it? haha I know, not really ‘breaking’ news I guess

DoctorOverlord

It has been an amazing evolution of MMOs regarding sub-based models. The speed with which the industry is dropping that model has to make one think that maybe it was something they could have done a while ago. Maybe the model has always been a scam and because there was never any real need for subs to run an MMO, it’s so easy for the companies to quickly dump it.
I think the major thing that changed was the MMO customers base finally woke up and decided they are no longer willing to pay the equivalent of 4-5 AAA titles over a year just to play one game.

I recognized the McQuaid/Vanguard reference and while it doesn’t deserve much attention is it just bizarre. Vanguard barely survived its release and Sony went through considerable effort to save the game. The first step taken to save it was getting rid of McQuaid. Now that the game is doing a little better they want to bring back the guy who drove it into the toilet in the first place?

I have to disagree with Mike S. I doubt we’ll see any of the staples of the MMO genre breaking any molds. Those companies and people are the ones who contributed to the stagnation that MMOs suffered from for years. Look at the recent failures of MMO “gurus” like Garriott and McQuaid and Jacobs when they tried to survive in the modern MMO market. And the real innovations in MMOs are coming from companies like Trion and ArenaNet, companies that were not staples in the MMO industry (GW1 was not a true MMO)

I’d like to see something new but I’ll be very surprised if any old-school MMO company manages anything truly innovative. Maybe Sony can manage it, but it will be very unexpeceted.

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