The Secret World.

For a free MMO, it's rather enjoyable and different. Nothing earth shattering here, but the oddness of it gives it a great feel.

Anyone else play it? Or gave it a shot? I got it when it released but SWTOR pulled me in. Now as I wait for FFXIV:ARR and SWTOR has lost some of my interest, I decided to give it a go, and rather enjoyed it. I mean, having to actually think and solve a puzzle was kind of fun for a change.

It's an awesome game but like so many MMO's these days, there's just nothing to actually keep you playing.

Is good for a distraction then?

Is good for a distraction then?

A short one, yeah. It takes a lot of getting into though as the learning curve is quite steep compared to fisher price games like swtor.

The Secret World.

For a free MMO, it's rather enjoyable and different. Nothing earth shattering here, but the oddness of it gives it a great feel.

 

Anyone else play it? Or gave it a shot? I got it when it released but SWTOR pulled me in. Now as I wait for FFXIV:ARR and SWTOR has lost some of my interest, I decided to give it a go, and rather enjoyed it. I mean, having to actually think and solve a puzzle was kind of fun for a change.

TSW actually made me take a 5 months break from SWTOR last year. Being a roleplay freak, I was absolutely amazed by the way the quests made you work with a combination of puzzles, jump&run, combat and even google-searching.

Unfortunately that place too was completely overrun by mindless idiots (cannot say it any more charming) who were demanding quest help in open channels (which are by the rules to be kept spoiler free!), even if the solution was in the quest text or 3-5 steps away from their feet.

As with all modern MMO, the game was nearly destroyed by a horde of dumb locusts, who were crying "more more more!" a few days after release and who claimed to have "done it all" even when they were not even scratching the surface.

TSW got a solid combat system, a level-less skill system, a limit on 7-8 active skills and another 7-8 passive skills that can be "selected" from the whole pool at any given time. It is possible to play a tanking healer in that game and I do not at all regret having payed a 6 month sub for TSW.

Unfortunately then I was done with the class story, did indeed solve every quest in game at least once (they are almost all repeatable for exp) and my guild was breaking apart... Also I was taking a look at SWTOR again and being an avid StarWars fan, I came back here (which I also do not regret).

TSW got a solid combat system, a level-less skill system, a limit on 7-8 active skills and another 7-8 passive skills that can be "selected" from the whole pool at any given time. It is possible to play a tanking healer in that game and I do not at all regret having payed a 6 month sub for TSW..

I agree with the rest of your post except this paragraph.

I assume you're talking about efficiency and not animations when you say "solid combat system", right?

I don't know much about that because I played the game only for a month or so, but to me The Secret World was one of the most disappointing games out there.

The world was awesome. I loved the graphics, special effects and the story, but everything else was downright disappointing.

I found the combat system subpar. The animations were horrendous (it was literally the same simple animation for almost all abilities of the same weapon), it didn't feel like you actually did any damage to the target and (this might be just me but) I hated the "choose only 7 active and 7 passive abilities". I didn't like it in GW2 and I didn't like it in TSW - it just felt so restricting for an MMO that's all about "you can be whatever you want to be".

Then, one of the games' biggest innovations (no leveling) was actually...leveling but in a different way than the rest of MMOs. You still had to grind APs and SPs to get new abilities (which felt a lot like normal leveling just without a number in front of your character name) and certain abilities only unlocked after you'd spent a lot of APs on one part of the Ability Wheel and were always associated with specific weapons. So if you spent time upgrading your current weapon (which makes sense since you invested APs in abilities that required that weapon), grinding again for the APs and SPs for a new part of the ability wheel and a new weapon was like leveling an alt. All in all, yes they tossed the leveling idea, but they didn't really get rid of it. They just presented it in a different way.

I didn't do any PVP so I can't comment on that.

The puzzle quests were amazing, though. Especially the ones you had to use the in-game browser. It felt like I was playing an adventure game, which probably explains why people didn't like them - people don't like using their brains anymore.

To sum up, TSW is a good game but not a mainstream one. It's a niche MMO that people who love Stephen King's novels will enjoy. Unfortunately, Funcome didn't realize that and didn't market it appropriately.

That's why I said "solid combat system" and not "good combat system". the system works, some like it, others don't. I personally will not ever play TESO because of the combat system... others glorify TESO because of it.

Personally I liked the lass-less approach which allowed to experiment with the skills and I liked to pick a select few. I also like the massive set I got in SWTOR... it is two totally different approaches.

Yeah, I think it's an excellent distraction.

SWTOR is a AAA game, then TSW is AA+ game. The animations can be sad. The character models are funked up. As an artist, I know proportion sizes of fictional beings, and TWS has some serious proportion issues. Though, it can be over looked when they have clothing on. It's like they took a real person, and used them for proportions. But it doesn't work as well in drawings, games and graphics.

But, the fact you do have to solve puzzles is fun. The storyline is interesting, if you can get past the, oh hey, we dropped you into this crazy world and it's odd that you haven't freaked out about it yet.

I'm just bringing this up, for people who are burnt out, they may give it a try for a few months.

The storyline is interesting, if you can get past the, oh hey, we dropped you into this crazy world and it's odd that you haven't freaked out about it yet.

Not to mention the fact that your character doesn't say a word.

I mean you'd think you'd have a lot to say if you were suddenly thrown into a crazy world where every urban legend, conspiracy theory and mythological creature is real, but apparently you have no words. Literally.

I still remember the opening scene for the Illuminati, when you discover your powers and an NPC knocks on your door and starts talking for 10 minutes while you just look at him saying...nothing.

Not to mention the fact that your character doesn't say a word.

I mean you'd think you'd have a lot to say if you were suddenly thrown into a crazy world where every urban legend, conspiracy theory and mythological creature is real, but apparently you have no words. Literally.

 

I still remember the opening scene for the Illuminati, when you discover your powers and an NPC knocks on your door and starts talking for 10 minutes while you just look at him saying...nothing.

Haha. Yes. That is weird.

I'm not against the main character not saying anything, as it can break immersion for some. The difference between you are in the game, or are you just playing a character in the game. And I was use to this from the Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross games of my youth! But, it is odd there isn't more of a reaction to finding all of this stuff out. People would freak out, for reals. It would take time to actually accept that world.

That is a hurdle you have to jump over, but it makes little difference as the story goes. I wish there was more to that aspect of story telling, or lack of story telling.

Haha. Yes. That is weird.

 

I'm not against the main character not saying anything, as it can break immersion for some. The difference between you are in the game, or are you just playing a character in the game. And I was use to this from the Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross games of my youth! But, it is odd there isn't more of a reaction to finding all of this stuff out. People would freak out, for reals. It would take time to actually accept that world.

 

That is a hurdle you have to jump over, but it makes little difference as the story goes. I wish there was more to that aspect of story telling, or lack of story telling.

I think Swtor spoiled me, tbh

I was fine with MMOs not having voiceovers because, well, it needs a lot of work and a lot of money so I was used to the whole "pick up the quest from an NPC/terminal that says nothing or just a simple, generic line".

But what seemed weird in TSW was the amount of work that obviously went into voice overs for NPCs while the main characters remain silent all the time. Personally, I think TSW has some of the best lines in any game I've played and some of the best voice overs. I still remember a line from the Illuminati promo video: "We have stocks in Hell and compromising photos of Angels" lol

It might be for immersion reasons, I guess. Although, I always liked games where your character speaks. Not saying a word always seemed like developers were taking the easy way out, but to each his own.

I think it's a technique more so than laziness.

I plan on playing FFXIV:ARR when it comes out, there were no voice overs in the beta, and your character says nothing. But they do acknowledge how you feel and what you would be saying. Feels like an old timey RPG to me. I loved it. In fact I think voice overs are not needed for most quests in MMO's. I think that is what SWTOR got wrong.

Again, to each their own. I don't have a problem reading because it draws you into the world more. Same things happen between books and movies.

Is good for a distraction then?

IMO it is, the ability system is kinda like EVE online in that you can learn every ability in game eventually. What does that mean for you? you can pick one of the three factions and stick with one toon. Given enough time you can earn enough skill points (SP) to learn all weapons, and enough ability points (AP) to learn every ability in the game. You dont have to worry about ability bloat cause you only get 7 active skills and 7 passives. But you cant just put any skills on your bars. Some passives will cause snares for example, and you have attacks that do extra damage on snared targets. Or you can put a DoT on something, and then do attacks that do more damage on afflicted (DoT'ed) targets. So basically you have to put a little thought into putting your skillset together so that it has some synergy with your own skills or with the people in your group/raid.

The other cool thing about TSW is its approach to puzzle quests. Think of it this way...if you woke up tomorrow IRL with super powers and had to go outside to stop a zombie invasion, or cult attack or vampire attack, that is what TSW is. You need to get into a computer to get some information? dang the password is some 16th century composer. You dont know anything about composers IRL right? so if you know the name of a song, but not the name of the composer how would you find that info out IRL? you would probably google it, look on wikipedia. Some of the puzzles are also crypto based or based on computer coding or hacking techniques.

There are a lot of fake websites related to the game on the web right now and those sites are meant to be used for missions in the game. Go to http://www.kingsmouth.com and take a look at the site (make sure to type the www part as well). Looks like the front page for some town right? well that town is actually the first town you go to in game. Look at welcome, about, gallery, activities and news. They have in game screenshots mixed in there with actual pictures. Activities has a picture of a woman looking through some shop window. That picture could have come from anywhere yah, but the fact that they have real pictures like that mixed in with in game screenies is on purpose. I havent found out what mission that site is used for yet, but there are a few others like that. Sites dedicated to fake towns and fake companies that are found just in TSW. Thats the neat thing about TSW is that they try to blur the line between reality and fiction.

But what seemed weird in TSW was the amount of work that obviously went into voice overs for NPCs while the main characters remain silent all the time. Personally, I think TSW has some of the best lines in any game I've played and some of the best voice overs. I still remember a line from the Illuminati promo video: "We have stocks in Hell and compromising photos of Angels" lol

Cracked.com did an article on video games 'who got it wrong and who did'.

http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-video-games-that-just-didnt-get-it-and-6-that-did/

Read #5...the part about Gordon Freeman kinda sums up my feelings on the subject of voiceover. Here is the text from the site:

Got It: Half-Life series

 

Gordon Freeman is the smartest first person shooter ever, and proves it by kicking a** and shutting up. His refusal to speak even once demonstrates more respect for his user than the Emperor's Geishii. Dr Freeman understands both particle physics and that if you wanted to listen to a**holes you wouldn't be running around throwing toilets at people. This is a man who ripped a hole in reality rather than stop for one second to ask, "Should we be doing this incredibly dangerous experiment with me at ground zero?" He figured that slowing the game down by 13 words was a worse fate than ending the world, and for that he's the greatest action hero of all time.

Keep in mind that Gordon Freeman, the guy who never says a word, won a gamespot contest a few years back for best video game hero of all time (i think super mario was in 2nd place). VO talking is all well and good, but me personally? even after playing SWTOR i'm ok with other games having my character as a mute.