The Secret World

[LOG]

There is no conspiracy. (http://www.darkdaysarecoming.com)

[whistlelock]

You know, after Age of Conan and actually playing Anarchy Online, I'm not all that thrilled about a new Funcom game.

[Zellie]

The trailer owns my soul. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woBJX-KSH_k)

Funcom has issues designing games. I just finished The Longest Journey and it was buggy as hell and while Dreamfall (played it first) was improved it had some issues too but I just love Ragnar Tornquist's stories. Even though his storytelling in TLJ could have benefited from some AW boot camp, the soul of it shines through and I'm addicted. I also appreciate his take on MMOs--his interest in designing them for those of us who have lives and can't devote 10 hours a day.

[LOG]

You know, after Age of Conan and actually playing Anarchy Online, I'm not all that thrilled about a new Funcom game.
2 Words:
Free Trial.

They usually don't release that sort of thing until all the initial bugs are ironed out.

[Romantic Heretic]

That trailer was amazing.

[LOG]

1 more trailer to go, that we know of anyway.
The Japanese girl is the Dragon Trailer, the next one is Templar, last one is Illumanti.

[Zoombie]

I'd be interested if it wasn't another goddamn MMO where I'd have to interact with annoying dipshits and pay money for a game I already bought.

Also, Ragnar Tornquist should be chained to a desk until TLJ 3 comes out and we can finish the damn story cause i've been hanging in suspense for years and it HURTS CAUSE I WANNA KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT GODDAMN IT!

[LOG]

MMO's are becoming more F2P and Micro-trans.
Still, I don't understand the hate, you're paying that money so that the developer will continue to produce quality replayable content. That's where the true decision lies, if the developer cannot keep producing quality content, then it's a bad MMO. But MMO's like WoW and Runes of Magic(F2P by the way) produce quality content that keeps it worth playing.

Scream at him on his twitter account.

[Zoombie]

I guess I'm just an old 19 year old crummudgion who hates interacting with other people in my video games.

[Zellie]

From what I understand, it's being designed so you can play it single or multiplayer. You still need an active internet connection to do it, but you're not required to interact. I'm not sure how well all these plans he's got will work out, they're pretty ambitious but I'm hoping for the best.

I do find the pay as you go thing annoying. I understand the whole continuation of content thing but I'm poor T_T monthly fees = me not playing. As it is, I typically buy games when they're used on ebay for $10 instead of the $50-60 release price but a monthly fee doesn't allow me that option to work with.

Oh well, we'll see and man, if anything is going to be worth a monthly fee, this is it. It's like getting the chance to live in Tornquist's head :D

[whistlelock]

They usually don't release that sort of thing until all the initial bugs are ironed out.
Have you been a part of many MMO launches?

The Age of Conan launch (also a funcom game) is now a text book case of what not to do.

Warhammer Online didn't have the majority of its PVP system in place at launch, and pvp 80% of that game.

The "common" wisdom for MMO's is that it takes a year for all the bugs and balance issues to shake out of a game.

[LOG]

Have you been a part of many MMO launches?

The Age of Conan launch (also a funcom game) is now a text book case of what not to do.

Warhammer Online didn't have the majority of its PVP system in place at launch, and pvp 80% of that game.

The "common" wisdom for MMO's is that it takes a year for all the bugs and balance issues to shake out of a game.
I didn't say all, when I say initial I mean all the really serious bugs.
AoC has been pretty much fixed, sub rates on on the rise.
WAR; also part of that launch, system seemed fine to me. WAR launch was actually a very smooth one.
The initial WoW launch period was horribly laggy and there were several other serious issues that had to be resolved.

@Zoombie, most MMO's produced nowadays are designed so that you can reach max level or power through pure solo play. However, the most powerful items(uber loot) almost always requires some form of player cooperation. WoW is a prime example.

[LOG]

Some (http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/53451/The-Secret-World-Interview?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter) more stuff (http://pc.ign.com/articles/107/1072842p1.html) on the Secret World.

[Adam]

Also, Ragnar Tornquist should be chained to a desk until TLJ 3 comes out and we can finish the damn story cause i've been hanging in suspense for years and it HURTS CAUSE I WANNA KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT GODDAMN IT!


This. A thousand times this.

[LOG]

Aint you guys heard of Dreamfall Chapters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamfall_Chapters)?

[Zoombie]

Yes. That does not prevent us from being impatient.

[Adam]

Yes. That does not prevent us from being impatient.

Indeed.

[Zoombie]

Though, Dreamfall is an odd game for me. Kian was my favorite character (other than Crow) and his discussions with April about freedom, religion, duty and so on were fucking AMAZING.

...but his chapters also had the most combat. And the combat was like getting a dental drill jammed up your nose.

[Adam]

Yeah, the combat sucked ass, along with the "stealth" stuff. :(

Crow was awesome. :D

[LOG]

Nother interview. (http://www.criticalgamer.co.uk/2010/03/01/the-secret-world-interview-with-ragnar-t%C3%B8rnquist/)

[LOG]

GDC 2010 embargo was lifted (http://www.darkdemonscrygaia.com/showthread.php?t=8635), lotsa sites basically saying the same stuff over and over.
Also, something's happening on the 25th at gametrailers. I think it's supposed to be some form of in-game trailer.

[LOG]

That in-game trailer (http://g4tv.com/videos/45002/The-Secret-World-In-Game-Trailer/), a bit late, sorry. :S
Now I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure I saw a person moving while using an ability in that video. Gives me hope for dynamic combat movements.

London Trailer (http://g4tv.com/videos/48325/The-Secret-World-Starting-Out-In-London-Trailer/#video-45002)
I've been bouncing between Templars and Dragons since day one. Now I'm leaning more toward Templars. I'll probably play both.

[LOG]

News on character creation. (http://twitter.com/TSWAlerts/status/25258757527)

[LOG]

GDC 2011 info. (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/03/10/preview-the-secret-world/#more-53600)
The key movement and combat mechanics seem like very much those of any number of MMOs out there, of course, but it was nevertheless it was remarkably dynamic. For example, laying down a field of fire and then luring enemies through it was totally possible for extra fire damage, and enviromental objects caused things to happen in the world – the slightly predictable example of car alarms attracting zombies made the group quest seem a little closer to Left 4 Dead than to World Of Warcraft. It was impressive stuff. Players were thinking about position and movement, and the difference between a melee character and the one standing at the back with a rifle was really clear. Convincing game design went much further than combat, too, with things like the cues for quests being in the world, rather than being the next NPC, or in the next flashing arrow. Tracking one of the monsters entailed finding flocks of ravens and seeing in which direction they flew off. Follow the flight of the birds and you’d encounter the next battle with your sinister target. Neat. Smart.
I was also fascinated by the character creation process, which is somehow “circular” rather than vertical. Funcom illustrated this with a “skill wheel”, which showed that while you character gets more skills, and is limited by his faction, he is not limited by class. You will need to progress along certain routes to unlock certain types of skills, yes, but the game is ultimately “flat”. You aren’t levelling up to be miles above newbies in power and hit points, you’re simply becoming a more talented and differentiated character... All that feeds into PvP, of course, which is a domination game all its own, with arenas such as Stonehenge making up fantastical stadiums for the three factions to fight – yes – three way battles for control of the world’s mystical resources. Newbies and experienced contenders will all be able to play together, thanks to The Secret World’s experience structure.
the most interesting thing about The Secret World are the investigation quests. These are fascinating, leaky game systems that do more than ask you to collect mystery meats from fallen foes. Funcom showed us a group of players taking such a quest and then looking around in the world for clues. In this case it was a series of symbols on buildings, manhole covers and other elements across a town. Tracking these down allowed them to uncover some secret doorways in one of the towns houses and this led… to Google? Outside the game? Of course! Why not? By being set in the real world, The Secret World is able to draw in real-world elements. To solve the quest in this instance the players needed to actually do their research and find out about the characters – real world characters – who are involved in the conspiracy. These fed back into the game’s fiction, and ultimately to the resolution of the quest.
Not that this stuff is even essential to progress within the game world, either. These quests that require you to do a bit of research and to stretch your imagination beyond the build of your character are simply there for extra colour. You can get along just fine following your own character’s personal story and slaying monsters, if that’s what you want.
Also, GDC trailer. (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/03/10/and-also-the-secret-world-gdc-trailer/#more-53622)

I'm excited all over again. :)

[LOG]

Site has gotten a serious face-lift and some great new tidbits: notable NPCs, monsters, locations, etc. It's pretty awesomesauce. (http://www.thesecretworld.com/)

P.S. There will be undead dinosaurs at some point, I love Nadia's design to bits, and I still can't decide if I prefer Templar or Dragons...

[ElizaFaith13]

Hmmmm I wonder if they did the research. If you think about it, Templars are really Masons, and the Illuminati are really high level masons......but I guess it is just a game. They've would've been better off using Eastern Star and made them all Amazon women.

[Amadan]

I have avoided MMPGs because of time and money and racist/sexist swill-spewing assholes all over the place, but Secret World actually intrigues me. (Okay, it was "Illuminati" that hooked me.)

But I want to know if it's going to be any fun to play without doing PvP combat. I hate PvP. I just plain suck at it, and haven't really the inclination to put in the hours it would take getting good enough to beat some fourteen-year-old from Finland who spends all day p0wning people.

[LOG]

I have avoided MMPGs because of time and money and racist/sexist swill-spewing assholes all over the place, but Secret World actually intrigues me. (Okay, it was "Illuminati" that hooked me.)

But I want to know if it's going to be any fun to play without doing PvP combat. I hate PvP. I just plain suck at it, and haven't really the inclination to put in the hours it would take getting good enough to beat some fourteen-year-old from Finland who spends all day p0wning people.

So don't PvP.

[LOG]

Modern Setting: Worries and (word that doesn't make sense) (http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/404/feature/5086/The-Secret-World-The-Modern-Setting.html)

[LOG]

If you haven't checked recently, there's been a steady release of more info on the Secret World, characters, locations, monsters, etc. Not surprisingly, Kingsmouth/Solomon Island seem to be a real hotbed of eldritch activity.
Still liking it.

Edit: It occurs to me that The Secret World in general and things like London/Ealdwic and Innsmouth Academy especially remind me of dark urban fantasy worlds. In particular, the Nightside series. But other ones too, such as the Dresden Files, Mortal Coils, or Mercedes Thomspon, etc.

Edit 2:
Developer Diary: Story and Missions (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJuEQStDHEI)
Everything is True (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRY2tRU_OAo)

[LOG]

If you haven't yet, you should check out the blogs (just discovered them myself).

Ragnar Tornquist on the story in The Secret World (http://www.thesecretworld.com/news/blog_update_ragnar_on_the_story_in_the_secret_worl d)
I hope you'll join our thriving community as we put our feet to the spades, pierce the soft ground with the sharp metal, and start shoveling the dark earth over our shoulders as the distant stars above burn bright and cold in the misty October night. Deeper and deeper, down, down, down into the eldritch blackness where the whispers, those piercing, insistent whispers, are strong and clear and tempting...

"Join us... Join us..."Lead writer Dag Scheve talks about characters (http://www.thesecretworld.com/news/blog_lead_writer_dag_scheve_talks_about_the_charac ters_in_the_secret_world)
On your journey through the secret world you will meet characters from all continents and all walks of life. From a Scottish school teacher to an Ethiopian gangster. From a fifteen year old contract killer to a jaded hero of elder times. From a sexy Brazilian diplomat to a three thousand year old mummy in a suit. From a golden child to an ancient villain with a huge chip on his shoulder.

Where characters in other games are often just vehicles for the tasks the designers want their players to undertake, our characters are about giving you the information you need to decide for yourself. Rather than asking the player directly for help, they will talk about events in the world and offer opinions, present scenarios that players can choose to react to, do something to change, or walk away from.

In one of my favourite cinematics, we have a mother and a daughter arguing about the dirty dishes in the face of the apocalypse. In another we have a desperate villain threatening an already dead man with…death. We have characters who sing, characters who dance, characters who blow things up, and characters who deceive.


Creating a world between the cracks in reality (http://www.thesecretworld.com/news/blog_entry_creating_a_world_between_the_cracks_in_ reality)
The Illuminati don’t tell new recruits how to find them, finding them *is* the job interview.

[LOG]

Blog: Creating the world -- Part 1 (http://www.thesecretworld.com/news/blog_creating_the_world_part_one)

Kingsmouth Lighthouse (http://www.thesecretworld.com/world/locations/lighthouse)

Wendigo (http://www.thesecretworld.com/world/monsters/wendigo)
The Akab (http://www.thesecretworld.com/world/monsters/akab)
Deep Ones (http://www.thesecretworld.com/world/monsters/deepone)

[LOG]

Q&A (http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=26909&storypage=2)
Hints of some game mechanics that he's not allowed to talk about.

Savage Coast video preview (http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/404/view/videos/play/1989/The-Secret-World-Location-Preview-Video.html)
I like it, though it's nothing special. However, it was kind of sad to see the narrator talking about dark woods while the video shows woods that...aren't. They're kind of gloomy, but not dark.

[Bartholomew]

Ouch. Something is now competing for my attention with Old Republic.

[LOG]

Preview on RPS (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/07/05/the-secret-world-preview/)(The grammar needs help)

until a certain moment, I still felt a sense of disconnect as I watched it being played inside Funcom’s Norwegian headquarters.Because my real world isn’t stalked by zombies. Clearly if I’m ever suffering the misfortune of having to go inside ASDA it can feel damned close, but during my general day-to-day life I rarely encounter Draug emerging from the sea. And as much as I want to live in denial of this, I don’t work for a secret society attempting to protect the Earth from knowing of the presence of darknesses. I felt this way right up until we had a chat with a local priest.
He described himself as a “hobbyist” member of the Illuminati, and then added that he knows things that “aren’t on Google.”
And snap!
It’s the real world.
So much of The Secret World’s design seems to be about creating a narrative rationale for the accepted memes of MMOs, and then trying to make that something meaningful and worthwhile. Monsters are everywhere, but every monster is there for a reason, and that seems to go beyond an origin story. A huge part of The Secret World will be figuring out why.

[LOG]

So, they say that, at GamesCom,: Behind closed doors, press will be treated to a demonstration of The Secret World's secret society gameplay, including the first-ever reveal of the game's large-scale PvP where over a hundred players compete in massive, persistent battles.
It seems like there will also be smaller-scale PvP as well.


New dev diary. (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/the-secret-world/video/6327836/the-secret-world--gamespot-exclusive-world--setting-developer-diary-video)
I love the way Agartha (Hollow Earth) looks.

[LOG]

We have a release period: April 2012 (http://www.thesecretworld.com/news/ship_date_april_2012_the_secret_war_starts_august_ 26)

The Secret War begins soon (~200 hours from the time of this post). Choose your society.

New CG trailer too. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBrZfrrmTbM)
Not worth much IMO.

[Droood]

I'm a bit fearful of this game. At first Funcom wanted to release this game on the Xbox 360, and then the PS3 came into things. But now they have stated that they will just focus on the PC version for now. This brings back flashbacks of Age of Conan for me.

Funcom also planned to release AoC on the Xbox 360 in their original design, and built the game to suit. It was only shortly before the release date that they cancelled the console idea, and what we were left with was an awkward game that did not fit the PC standards we would expect from an MMO.

Although Funcom have hinted that they are learning from their past mistakes, by stating that a console version of The Secret World would be a far different game to the PC version, I can't help but be wary by the constant juggling act they do with their ideas.

[LOG]

AoC works perfectly fine on a PC . . .

Besides, while they may have juggled, if they're set on PC, then there's not as much reason to worry since it won't be coming out until April 2012.

[LOG]

Beta regs start on the 26th.

[LOG]

New video for the Secret War. (http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclusive-secret-the-secret/719752)


The timer--and beta sign-ups--seem to be broken (or are they?)
That's the thing with the TSW setting, you never know when it's planned or not . . . I kind of like it.
If it is an ARG, there's a new thread for it here (http://www.darkdemonscrygaia.com/showthread.php?t=20587).




ETA: Payment model will be a traditional subscription model as well as a micro-transaction store for cosmetic stuff.

[LOG]

The Secret War (and therefore beta reg) are up.
The new test is cool, and it gives me a completely different result from the oold one. Before I would usually get Dragon/Templar. New one gave me Illuminati, never gotten that result before.

ETA: Now I'm flip-flopping between Illuminati and the Templar . . . I don't like the Dragon's belief in destiny/fate.

[LOG]

Last man standing cleans up. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUWcar0VHSc)


I'm worried that they may be over-hyping it. But if it's everything they say, it will be so awesome.

[Starstryder]

This has definitely won me over more than the Old Republic by a long shot. :D So glad they are finally releasing more info. Trying to ignore some though otherwise I might lose interest.

[LOG]

Some more previews and interviews that might interest you Starstryder: http://www.thesecretworld.com/news/the_secret_world_previews_hit_today


I'm definitely preferring TSW over SWToR, it just has more original concepts.

[samsevern]

Been waiting for this one forever... progress looks pretty good so far, though I wish we'd really see as many revolutionary elements as were promised.