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The Secret World: Make or Break Features

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Comments

  • SimonVDHSimonVDH Member Posts: 178

    Suzie is confusing casual/hardcore players with more/less intelligent players. Understanding "ability wheel" system and finding good "build" doesn't require grinding 8 hours/day, it requires ability to think and analyze. It has nothing to do with players beeing casual/hardcore.

  • TWillardTWillard Member Posts: 1

    I'm a casual player and I found the game to be fun and different. I've tried a LOT of MMO's, and haven't really gotten into any of them.

    It has its flaws, but every game does, the question to me was: "Am I willing to accept the flaws and play anyway."

    After playign the Beta rather sparingly (I spent more time looking for holes in the geometry and looking for missing textures) as far as quests went (I learned in Kingsmouth I didn't want to go too far into the quest chains before launch) I found myself looking forward to playing.

    The community was helpful, the GM's were quick to respond to a problem (Oops, I fell through the geometry/am stuck again) and nice about it, which was a pleasant change from waiting for 3 hours for a GM to help me out.

    The character creator issues are "Meh" to me because honestly, who really looks at their own characters or others outside of City of Heroes Costume Contests? When was the last time you went up to someone and said "Nice outfit" or "Nice face!"

    As for grouping, well, I play MMO's and MP games with a group of friends, so that wasn't an issue to me.

    What was, was I liked the world, I liked the quest chains, I liked the organic feel to the game.

    Is it going to be for everyone? I highly doubt it. Will everything be Go at lauch? I doubt it.

    If you didn't get in on Beta, wait until a free weekend like Starwars had. Be like some of my friends and wait a month or two to see how well they're fixing things.

    It's 50 bucks, and in this economy, hell, that's a tank of case and a case of beer.

    I liked it, and I'm a casual gamer. You might not.

  • ValasAzuviirValasAzuviir Member Posts: 27
    Originally posted by Zikari

    - not as polished as it could be, there are questbugs and technical issues still present (as of BW4) and players will run into them. Bit disappointed bout this, but nothing really gamebreaking (except maybe the equipment manager that is unable to save sets correctly)

     

    I had some closed beta players on my Beta Weekend server.

    All of them pretty much agreed on the suspicions that the quests ended up "buggy" during Beta Weekend 3 + 4, due to the fact that Funcom had disabled the Investigation quests and that this somehow had an effect on some of the other quests.

     

    Because the quests that were "temperamentful" during the Beta Weekend, worked fine in their closed beta sessions.

     

    No idea if they were correct with their suspicion, but it seems reasonable enough, considering how intertwined coding sometimes is in games, and how doing one thing can break another aspect.

     

    No idea about the gear manager, I really didn't bother too much with that, nor did I ask them any questions about it, because of my disinterest in that aspect.

  • ericbelserericbelser Member Posts: 783
    Originally posted by TellusMars

    They have not the full character creation for the beta as I have heard and the beta is a

    beta and most of the big features is not in place for the beta it's like giving away the

    game before it is in the shop.

     
     

    I'm sorry but the "there is a better version, they just aren't letting us see it" is the bigfoot legend of MMO Betas. It is a load of BS, pure and simple.

    They keep stuff out of the OPEN beta weekends...and there are a few locked quest lines/abilities for the closed beta people...but when people from the closed beta are telling you that some game system is lacking/broken/poorly done they are talking about the version of it that is going to be in the retail launch.

    TSW is playable and has some features that will attract some gamers...it also has some huge gaps and badly done elements that are going to turn off a whole lot more...and that's not going to change in the less than seven days before launch.

     

  • SpottyGekkoSpottyGekko Member EpicPosts: 6,916
    Originally posted by ericbelser
    Originally posted by TellusMars

    They have not the full character creation for the beta as I have heard and the beta is a

    beta and most of the big features is not in place for the beta it's like giving away the

    game before it is in the shop.

     
     

    I'm sorry but the "there is a better version, they just aren't letting us see it" is the bigfoot legend of MMO Betas. It is a load of BS, pure and simple.

    They keep stuff out of the OPEN beta weekends...and there are a few locked quest lines/abilities for the closed beta people...but when people from the closed beta are telling you that some game system is lacking/broken/poorly done they are talking about the version of it that is going to be in the retail launch.

    TSW is playable and has some features that will attract some gamers...it also has some huge gaps and badly done elements that are going to turn off a whole lot more...and that's not going to change in the less than seven days before launch.

     

    Now, the same paragraph without the obvious bias:

    TSW is playable and has a few core features that are excellent, and that some gamers will absolutely love...it also has some core features that that are not well done, and that some players will absolutely hate...and that's not going to change in the less than 7 days before launch.

  • Dahkot72Dahkot72 Member Posts: 261

    Still chuckling at the people touting how "cerebral" the game is. Clicking on puzzles or knowing VIvaldi for a "spring" composer does not make it a MENSA game any more than Counterstrike.

    You could as easily say knowing the combat pattern of a complex boss mob in a raid is just as cerebral as the puzzle solving ,

    [mod edit]

  • octaocta Member UncommonPosts: 245

    With Funcom's track record I don't expect them to address any of these issues timely or efficiently.  Hopefully they prove me wrong because two horrible launches should have taught them more than enough lessons. 

    I also feel betas are being treated as simply marketing objectives now instead of actual proper feedback and testing.  Funcom isn't the only one guilty of it but it's even more apparent when they are touting their beta numbers as an advertising bullet point.

    Good luck to all those who have purchased.  I'll be on the sideline eating my popcorn watching all hell break loose.

  • tokinitokini Member UncommonPosts: 372

    should've 'rated' these elements based on what they are, not what they might be some day.

     

    char creation is neutral IF they improve it? just say its subpar, if thats what it is currently.

     

    one of the smartest things funcom did was to put the skills on a circle, rather than a straight line that says 'hammers', a second line that says 'magic' etc.  to give the illusion it isnt a skill tree we have seen in near every other game. just look at how people gush over the innovatove skill WHEEL lol

     
  • eykosurfeykosurf Member Posts: 14

    If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with.

     

    Given the state of MMOs, TSW may not be perfect, but it's not bad either.  I agree with most of the dissenting opinions on combat and character creation, and to a degree with the linearity of the world.  However, the unique story and general mechanics are solid for an early release game. 

    My only concern is Funcom's history (i.e. Age of Conan).  I'm willing to give them another chance and play TSW for the initial month.  I figure in the least the story will be entertaining enough.

  • AbangyarudoAbangyarudo Member Posts: 156
    Originally posted by octa

    With Funcom's track record I don't expect them to address any of these issues timely or efficiently.  Hopefully they prove me wrong because two horrible launches should have taught them more than enough lessons. 

    I also feel betas are being treated as simply marketing objectives now instead of actual proper feedback and testing.  Funcom isn't the only one guilty of it but it's even more apparent when they are touting their beta numbers as an advertising bullet point.

    Good luck to all those who have purchased.  I'll be on the sideline eating my popcorn watching all hell break loose.

    closed beta was remarkable as far as addressing concerns. They really changed issues even issues that didn't happen often. Open beta events like the weekends are merely for stress testing and honestly most of the bugs I personally witnessed was just spawn timer bugs. I also don't get your logic basically if you can have the potential market of the game saying its a great game that is the best type of marketing.  

  • MattVidMattVid Member Posts: 399

    I like how the "make or break" features are all aesthetics and stupid crap that doesn't matter. What about the actual game play? What about so many quests having broken game breaking bugs in them? And this is just in the FIRST zone, which should have the most polish ...

    That is what was lacking for me. Sure, the quests, puzzles and world seems awesome ... but the skills and combat? You spam 2 buttoms the entire time. I hope people enjoy it, I really do, but it didn't grab my attention during the time I played it. May pick this up sometime later this year, we'll see!

  • AbangyarudoAbangyarudo Member Posts: 156
    Originally posted by MattVid

    I like how the "make or break" features are all aesthetics and stupid crap that doesn't matter. What about the actual game play? What about so many quests having broken game breaking bugs in them? And this is just in the FIRST zone, which should have the most polish ...

    That is what was lacking for me. Sure, the quests, puzzles and world seems awesome ... but the skills and combat? You spam 2 buttoms the entire time. I hope people enjoy it, I really do, but it didn't grab my attention during the time I played it. May pick this up sometime later this year, we'll see!

    there was not even game breaking bugs in the first zone? If you're playing combat that way then you're playing the game wrong. 

  • QuicksandQuicksand Member UncommonPosts: 683
    Originally posted by SlickShoes

    The character creator surely has to be a resounding negative!? It is sorely lacking for a game released in 2012.

    I do like the game but that is an inescapable fact, the game also will not make it BIG, as alluded to in the title, it will be a niche game. Ofcourse at launch I am sure we will see huge numbers of the usual "play every mmo at release and then moan about it on forums and general chat" crowd. 

    Unless the charactor creation has been upgraded alot since the last beta weekend, then this is very very true. It is the single reason I am not buying the game at release. I just cant play a game that i am not able to make a char look the way I want (atleast in general appearence) After all TSW you can't even make your male  character bald... how basic is that and you cant do it?

     

    I hope it changes because over all (if i had been able to get into it) I think TSW has alot to offer down the rode.

    www.90and9.net
    www.prophecymma.com

  • SlickShoesSlickShoes Member UncommonPosts: 1,019
    Originally posted by Quicksand
    Originally posted by SlickShoes

    The character creator surely has to be a resounding negative!? It is sorely lacking for a game released in 2012.

    I do like the game but that is an inescapable fact, the game also will not make it BIG, as alluded to in the title, it will be a niche game. Ofcourse at launch I am sure we will see huge numbers of the usual "play every mmo at release and then moan about it on forums and general chat" crowd. 

    Unless the charactor creation has been upgraded alot since the last beta weekend, then this is very very true. It is the single reason I am not buying the game at release. I just cant play a game that i am not able to make a char look the way I want (atleast in general appearence) After all TSW you can't even make your male  character bald... how basic is that and you cant do it?

     

    I hope it changes because over all (if i had been able to get into it) I think TSW has alot to offer down the rode.

    There is now a bald hairstyle choice, I noticed it in the last beta weekend, however the character creator is still bad. I was able to make 1 character I like that look of that I usually make in every game so that was good for me, but every one i tried to make after that looked like my main one because all of the other choices were so ridiculous looking I couldnt take most of them seriously!

    image
  • WizardryWizardry Member LegendaryPosts: 19,332

    To myself everything in a game matters but these are a good starting point to discuss.

    Customization....Seems to be that most correlate this to mean only visual,it should be one of the least concerning things in a game.Gear will cover everything but the face so about  20% of the visual even matters.I think Aion which set the internet a blaze with it's character creation is proof enough that it is not a make or break because gamers soon left in drones.Customization should go well beyond just the visual of a face.

    navigation...I think this falls hand in hand with fast gratification players.The ones who just want to have a fun time gaming,will not care one bit PROOF [FFXI] the ones who need self gratification and very quick[mainly the ones who care about a level number]yes they will want easy navigation,even if it means unrealistic or a contradiction to the LORE of the game.

    skill wheel...Yep it matters a lot,i have not seen many developers do it right.So if TSW does it right for it's fans it surely will make a lot of happy gamers.

    Grouping...I think it is not even open for debate but gamers aside from when i played FFXI,would rather solo.This has been proven on forums and in games.

    Questing...Yes it is pretty much standard content,how it is presented is imo very important.Most games do nothing more than produce a VERY linear set of questing hubs,to me it is extremely boring,i want freedom in all of my game.I do not like to feel like i have to follow a set of markers over npc heads all around a game.

    Combat animations.....Well i like animations a LOT,but i feel this like Character customization is leaning towards the less significant.To me the player animations are a factor yes but the actual effects and particles of combat mean a lot as well.Most of the time i have read on forums the same answer over and over "the game matters more".Usually what they do is for example the arms only move at the shoulder joint,rarely the shoudler and elbow.They also seem to have only a few frames like forward/mid/back ,a good animation needs at least 12-30 frames.

    Two additions i will add

    The achivements are done a little too cheap for me,they should fee llike an achievment,killing something 10x is NOT an achievement unless it is a RARE boss spawn or something.

    Lore...I like the effort  they are trying to put into the lore,most games just toss it togther but they aretrying to make it all fit together in game,that is good stuff.

     

    Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.

  • ohhhmyyyyohhhmyyyy Member UncommonPosts: 34
    Originally posted by MattVid

    I like how the "make or break" features are all aesthetics and stupid crap that doesn't matter. What about the actual game play? What about so many quests having broken game breaking bugs in them? And this is just in the FIRST zone, which should have the most polish ...

    That is what was lacking for me. Sure, the quests, puzzles and world seems awesome ... but the skills and combat? You spam 2 buttoms the entire time. I hope people enjoy it, I really do, but it didn't grab my attention during the time I played it. May pick this up sometime later this year, we'll see!

     

    Well - I guess it's possible to play the combat that way if you want. I can tell you that from personal experience, pressing two buttons over and over again while standing still is probably going to be less efficient than circle strafing and attacking (with 2 or more attacks.)

     

    You could certainly just build resources and use a finisher over and over and be done with it. However, there are other things you can do to increase your damage output that will require using more than two attacks. Whether one method is more "optimal" versus another is something I can't say, because I never did the math.

     

    I'll give you an example of a combat scenario I've seen happen when I was in the beta weekends:

     

    You're fighting an enemy, a named quest boss(the non bosses are kinda easy peasy and you can usually just stand still and spam sillyness on them and win.)

     

    You use an attack that builds a resource for your primary and secondary weapon (you have two different weapons you can equip at once) You drop your finisher for your primary resource, let's say that somewhere in your resource building activity you managed to land a status effect or a DoT because of one of the passives you've got equipped. You now have the option of either dropping your second finisher for your secondary resource pool, or you can use an attack that will exploit the status effect for additional damage (which can then build a resource for the primary pool you just consumed from and give you the opportunity to use your first pool's finisher again.)

     

    While you're thinking about this (or if you're not, because you can certainly just concentrate on one builder and one finisher) you're watching your enemy for any attacks (s)he makes and you're trying to dodge it to avoid taking too much damage that you can't outheal quickly. Let's say you get hit hard though because the enemy put out a pretty large area effect damage attack - you have to now decide to continue dpsing to kill it before you die (if you can) or you can heal yourself (which stops you from doing any damage)

     

    The combat can be as simple if you want it to be, or as complex as you want. I can see a point being made for both sides.

  • drf408drf408 Member Posts: 6

     I keep seeing Tera mentioned for "see what you are missing" I was so geeked out for Tera. Felt bored and forced for the first 25 levels, got better, but the action combat isn't really that fun. I quit along with several of my friends, good game for sure. Bland world and action combat with the same clicks for every match, except pvp which we were only a little into so if pvp is your thing perhaps it makes more of a difference to you, being mostly pve i don't have the experience to say. The combat system matters, but I find its the game as a whole that matters more, I had more fun playing Aion (downloaded it recently) despite its generic combat than Tera. Star Wars I really wanted to like, and I tried, it felt labored from the start. I enjoyed TSW, its not fantastic, but it has potential and the world is really well done.

  • rygard49rygard49 Member UncommonPosts: 973

    I disagree with a couple of the points:

    Character Creator

    For me, this was a negative. We have games out nowadays where you can really tweak your character to look exactly how you want. I just couldn't do that in this game. I couldn't even get close.

    Grouping

    I really couldn't believe that you gave this is a win because they promised to improve this in the future. What ever happened to reporting on a game in it's current state rather than what it might be at some point in the future? You're a better journalist than that, Suzie.

    Combat Animations

    They're not great. It's been agreed far and wide that they're not great. They're improving, but once again you've rated this feature based on a promise by Funcom that things will get better, and I just can't get behind that.

     

    The rest of the points I can agree with: questing was pretty unique, navigation was cool, and the skill wheel could go either way.

     

  • BrodieBroosBrodieBroos Member Posts: 32
    All most of you people do is b*tch. I have seen do many people slam other people because they like this game. If you don't like it fine that is your opinion. If someone in a restaurant orders salmon but you hate it are you going to walk up to them and chew them out? No, but you use the internet to spout out insults at people for having a different opinion than your own. Grow the f up. Try saying something like that's cool you like the game glad ya found something that will entertain you. However I didn't like it because of x and y.
  • KenzeKenze Member UncommonPosts: 1,217

    here we go with the dreaded  "game has potential"..

    how many games over the last few years have launched with 'pontential" only to never see it realised.  same song , different dev.

     

     

    Watch your thoughts; they become words.
    Watch your words; they become actions.
    Watch your actions; they become habits.
    Watch your habits; they become character.
    Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
    —Lao-Tze

  • drf408drf408 Member Posts: 6

     I keep seeing Tera mentioned for "see what you are missing" I was so geeked out for Tera. Felt bored and forced for the first 25 levels, got better, but the action combat isn't really that fun. I quit along with several of my friends, good game for sure. Bland world and action combat with the same clicks for every match, except pvp which we were only a little into so if pvp is your thing perhaps it makes more of a difference to you, being mostly pve i don't have the experience to say. The combat system matters, but I find its the game as a whole that matters more, I had more fun playing Aion (downloaded it recently) despite its generic combat than Tera. Star Wars I really wanted to like, and I tried, it felt labored from the start. I enjoyed TSW, its not fantastic, but it has potential and the world is really well done.

  • drf408drf408 Member Posts: 6

     There is a difference between a well done game that is good and has potential than a crap game that has potential. I think TSW is a good game and its enjoyable, however it has potential to be even better as most games often do so we'll see if they capitalize on it or not. I'll give Funcom the benefit of the doubt, they did turn AoC into a great game, but took years and now nobody plays, maybe they've learned from that mistake, maybe they didn't. I also know everyone wants solo content, obviously we are busy and it's nice to jump in and out, but i do think these games have lost focus of the social aspect and "single player MMOs' seem to die down faster, I would like to see a good balance between solo and grouping, as in there be great motivation for me to group.

  • EpOcH91EpOcH91 Member Posts: 1
    Originally posted by eric_w66

    "players won’t have to run back to the quest giver to get the reward. This is a game set in the modern era and players will receive quest rewards via PDA, a really nice touch."

    Heh. 'Won't have to'. I like that spin they put on it. Yes, yes, you WILL have to run back to the quest giver. Many times. They even admitted to *why* they did it this way: If they let you gather up your quests all at once, they'd have to slow down xp gain because you'd run out of content too quickly. So to "add content" they make you run back and forth over and over and over again to slow you down. Fantastic. This will probably kill the game faster for most people more than anything else.

     

    Pause a quest because you know you'll never probably be in this out of the way secluded hard to reach spot again and there's a quest item laying on the ground (some idol, etc)? Yeah, you can "dial in the reward" for that new one, but you get to run back to where you got the one you paused to get it restarted. Apparently, your quest giver KNOWS when you've put them on the back burner, and won't let you "Dial" that one in, they want to see your FACE when you beg them to let you restarted their mission.

     

    Uhh..I have been playing the Close Beta for a while now and i can't recall a quest were i had to run all the way back to the quest giver. Have you even played it?

  • ArshoonArshoon Member UncommonPosts: 71

    Well, I am not reading 13 pages, so here's my opinions.

    I played the two-day beta very recently and I have to say I am so playing this game. I have played many MMOs, and this one sucked me in an immersed me like nothing else. I am a role-player, and if I can fell like I am THERE, then you have me.

    See you others playing in game!

    If you aren't actively part of the solution, you have no right to complain about anything.

  • WrenderWrender Member Posts: 1,386

    My god people don't any of you ever have any thing other than immediate negative garbage to spew out about anything anymore. I only read like the first 5-6 posts after Suzie's rather well written opinion and that's all I could take. Such negativity is getting rather old. And mmorpg always seem to ban ME for speaking what I feel sometimes passionate about? MMO's?

    Sry Suzie I rather enjoyed your post and can agree on just about everything you stated. TSW from what little I played over last 2 weekend test runs seems to be a breath of fresh air compared to the same ole same old type of mmo's we have seen over the last several years. About time something came along that at least tries to break away from the stagnation MMO's have fell into since Blizzard massacred thier own creation and since began spiraling the entire genre down the toilet. :)~

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