The Secret World: The Templar Starter Area

BillMurphy

This week, we have had the opportunity to get our collective grubby hands on Funcom's The Secret World. We've got a slate of articles for your viewing pleasure today. In this particular piece of heaven, we take a look at the Templar starter area, at London and at Agartha. Read on!

Templar HQ is gigantic. No, I mean it. It’s huge. Kinda makes you wonder what those Templars are compensating for but that’s a whole ‘nother article.

Not only is the building huge but the rooms that you can access inside are big too. The building is guarded by Templars in the now-traditional red and white that Funcom has made us so accustomed to seeing. Most don’t speak but there are a few well-placed folks who can fill in lore about the Templars or even engage you with a snarky discussion about the riff-raff. Yeah, I’m talking to you, Lady What’s-Your-Name. *frowns*

Read more of Suzie Ford's The Secret World: The Templar Starter Area.

elocke

I think my only real issue with the game is the starting cities feel so small.  They really should have made them bigger, longer and the place you learn the ropes, basically.  But once you hit Kingsmouth the game hits you square in the face with it's complexity and size.  I, personally wish it did that in the starting cities.

JeroKane

Originally posted by elocke

I think my only real issue with the game is the starting cities feel so small.  They really should have made them bigger, longer and the place you learn the ropes, basically.  But once you hit Kingsmouth the game hits you square in the face with it's complexity and size.  I, personally wish it did that in the starting cities.

 

I guess the Starter cities are just like a tutorial. Tutorials are usually a bit short. Just to quickly pick up the basics and then get unleashed onto the world.

I will find out myself this weekend. ^^

adam_nox

where are the videos, are they not allowed?

Feydaway

I know the Templar use Agartha...but, don't the other factions use something different?

Yuui

Originally posted by Feydaway

I know the Templar use Agartha...but, don't the other factions use something different?

 

Agharta is bassically a hollow earth. (read up on it on wiki).

 

Its a concept that there's an entire  continent INSIDE earth leading to the core. 

 

Everyone uses it. 

Konfess

There is no NDA for the beta weekend event so I feel free to say this.  I watched Grakulen & RipperX stream before I made my first test character.  The first thing I watched that annoyed me, small difficult to click and interact with objects in the game.  Grakulen tried to use a ladder, but mousing over it was tricky.  A ladder is a 10 foot x 1 foot target, not the 2 inch rail.  Same thing happened when he tried to use a cell phone on a body.  This is a minor point some may feel, but it goes to the utility of the game.  How fun is a game that you spend 20% of your time fighting the UI rather than the mobs.

 

The small starting zone that the above poster is referring to is the Capital City London, and not the Underground Tube System from the tutorial.  There is one Vendor shop with 6 vendor NPCs sharing 5% of the available floor space.  The result, this large room looks empty, and rigged by amateurs.  On the minimap  the vendor icons overlap and look sloppy.  The Templar Keep is made up of one massive room with a vaulted ceiling,  There is one NPC in this room that will rudely talk with you.  She may be a quest giver at a higher level.  There is a second  office size room with your first quest giver.  The third room is an instanced weapon training room, and a weapons trainer NPC.  And that is it for the Templar faction base, three rooms, three intractable NPCs.  The main room is filled with “Door Decals” that don’t open, and Guard NPCs that don’t speak and can’t be interacted with.

 

I understand that TSW doesn’t utilize a “Quest Hub” system, in favor of a “Branching Quest Storyline” system.  I’m fine with that.  But I had three types of quests, a blue, red, and green.  The quest tracker stacks the quests so only one is tracked at a time.  So I opened my quest Journal with the J key to switch the active quest.  Nope not done there.  Next I mistakenly check the list of controls to see if there is a Hotkey to switch them.  Finally I clicked on the quest tracker and stumbled upon the one and only control.  Once again fighting with the UI.  Grakulen was playing with his inventory Open the whole time, he said it was a known Bug.  I logged in an hour after he left and was able to recreate the “bug” by clicking and unclicked the padlock icon on the inventory window.  Another example of players fighting the UI, and not the game.  I was also using a different build, so his inventory problem may have had a different cause.

 

Lets wrap this up.  I was going to say to the fanbois, that a month is not time enough to fix things.  That we are seeing the game in its released state.  But I don’t know for sure.  This weekend package only had a one hour download, that is fast.  So I know I didn’t see the entire data package.  But those still bound by the NDA know the true state of things, and if fanbois are still saying there is time to fix things.  They are wrong.  If I was project lead at this stage of completion I would say TSW is a year out.  But then I wouldn’t be project lead for long.  I would rather have a successful product launch rather than on time.

Elikal

Originally posted by elocke

I think my only real issue with the game is the starting cities feel so small.  They really should have made them bigger, longer and the place you learn the ropes, basically.  But once you hit Kingsmouth the game hits you square in the face with it's complexity and size.  I, personally wish it did that in the starting cities.

I agree. Some "flavour quests" would be nice, something to get to know people, places and stories. Some NPC where you are connected to, maybe a bit like Tortage from AoC or somesuch.

dgarbini

I agree exploring around London in the start was a bit fun the little tunnels and walkways finding the lore Icons.  Untill I fell through the world and got stuck, then having to remake my guy from scratch.

I will say though it felt a little dead, you cant really interact with anyone or anything much.