Well for early access launch...my one issue is the in game browser crashing the game after a few minutes of use. Every investigation mission becomes a game crash for me once or twice. Other than that, one definite bugged quest, and for some reason most of the items I disassemble turn to water, when they should be fire based!!! - never happened to me in beta.
It's interesting that noone seems to be mentioning that they've already had 2 major downtimes on a 3day head start (totalling ~8hours down). Not to mention, the game still has bugs from closed beta. Gear loadout still doesn't work right, some of the boss encounters bug out on occasion, some of the major quests are still bugged in certain dimensions (cerberus seems to have it the worst). The launch isn't bad, but I see a lot of people with rosy glasses over what is essentiall a paid beta.
Rift had a smoother launch, so did TOR, hell, most of the AAA games in the past few years have had smoother launches. It's definitely a lot better than AoC's, but that doesn't make it a good launch.
It's interesting that noone seems to be mentioning that they've already had 2 major downtimes on a 3day head start (totalling ~8hours down). Not to mention, the game still has bugs from closed beta. Gear loadout still doesn't work right, some of the boss encounters bug out on occasion, some of the major quests are still bugged in certain dimensions (cerberus seems to have it the worst). The launch isn't bad, but I see a lot of people with rosy glasses over what is essentiall a paid beta.
Rift had a smoother launch, so did TOR, hell, most of the AAA games in the past few years have had smoother launches. It's definitely a lot better than AoC's, but that doesn't make it a good launch.
Oh no. How dare they shut down the servers. I want my money back for the time I missed.
I'm totally addicted. I haven't been this addicted to an mmorpg since I first played WoW. This is a different kind of addiction, though. I'm not saying better/worse, just different. In WoW, I was addicted, probably because of the leveling up thing. You know, the big gong and flash of light when you level and the way the game was designed around that and how you might get a cool drop to make you more powerful.
But in TSW it's because there is so much for me to find out. And I'm enjoying figuring out the story. And the way stuff is done just seems really different for a themepark. This is more of the kind of addiction I felt when I played Darkfall at first, or Mortal Online. While those games had a lot to learn, there was a lot of downtime because of the need to harvest resources. TSW is different because you don't do that. But I need to learn about combat, and about crafting to upgrade my stuff, and about pvp, and on top of all that, I'm learning about the story, which is interesting to me.
Besides all that, I don't even know if what I'm doing is right. Like, am I in the right place? Am I developing my character correctly? I don't even know what I don't know. There doesn't seem to be much handholding for a sandbox, and that might frustrate a lot of people. It has frustrated me. But in a good way, because it makes me want to come back and figure stuff out.
I don't even want to take time to watch vids and read up. I just want to play. But with downtime, it give me a chance to go to youtube and learn about crafting etc.
Anyway, servers down for update. I guess I can eat dinner and take a shower. Expected downtime is 4 hours, but they were up after 2 yesterday, so I'm hopeful....
After 3 mmo's and 14 years, Funcom finally learned how to release a game smoothly. Right up there with Rift's launch imo.
this ^
everyome was expecting this to be a joke of a launch cause thats what funcom do! But alongside the Rift launch this has been the smoothest launch ive experienced.
If anything it should perhaps be placed higher than Rift cause ive yet to see a server queue to enter the game and that was about the only blemish on Rift's launch
If someone is talking in general chat in a language you dont understand, chances are they're not talking to you. So chill out and stop bitching about it!
I'm low key so Good is high praise from me. So far the game has been stellar, the community could use a lot of work.
The community seems okay on my server -- I'm on Arcadia. I haven't intereacted much, but I look at general chat from time to time and it looks okay. If I see some stupid stuff coming up I just switch it over to combat.
People have helped me out when I've been overmobbed and I've done the same, so that's all I have to go on.
Great so far. My friend who hated the game skyped me this morning and said he bought it just so he could run with me but he hated the game in BWE3 (his first attempt) but after about an hour of questing and another hour running ElDorado and StoneHenge he was sold. He said he didnt give it enough credit when he first played it but its now grown on him.
Myself I knew I would love the game and even though I kind of regret not going Pistol (I went AR/Chaos) I am still in awe over the depth this game has.
Playing: GW2 Waiting on: TESO Next Flop: Planetside 2 Best MMO of all time: Asheron's Call - The first company to recreate AC will be the next greatest MMO.
Originally posted by Lord.Bachus Just answer the poll in all honesty, so people interested in the game get a good idea what tonexpect. And if your experience is not that good, please explain why.
Maybe once the game has actually, officially launched tomorrow, you can give people that play it a day or two, then ask them to take part in the poll
Or you could change the title of your OP and ask people to rate the preorder headstart....
The people that are going to play 3rd juli are playing today.
"Headstarts" is just bait tactics, there no influx of new potential voters for this poll after release.
I'm low key so Good is high praise from me. So far the game has been stellar, the community could use a lot of work.
The community seems okay on my server -- I'm on Arcadia. I haven't intereacted much, but I look at general chat from time to time and it looks okay. If I see some stupid stuff coming up I just switch it over to combat.
People have helped me out when I've been overmobbed and I've done the same, so that's all I have to go on.
Arcadia is a RP server though. I tend to find RP servers have a slighlty more mature player base (only slightly mind ! )
If someone is talking in general chat in a language you dont understand, chances are they're not talking to you. So chill out and stop bitching about it!
Arcadia is a RP server though. I tend to find RP servers have a slighlty more mature player base (only slightly mind ! )
This was my choice as well but it seems like alot of people WANT a more mature playerbase but DONT want to contribute to that.
Anyway i voted 'great' since maybe im biased from the other launches i had and its a funcom launch so i was preped for a crashlanding in the first place. But when i raised head again, i found myself playing for over 5 hours straight and actualy enjoying it!
It's interesting that noone seems to be mentioning that they've already had 2 major downtimes on a 3day head start (totalling ~8hours down). Not to mention, the game still has bugs from closed beta. Gear loadout still doesn't work right, some of the boss encounters bug out on occasion, some of the major quests are still bugged in certain dimensions (cerberus seems to have it the worst). The launch isn't bad, but I see a lot of people with rosy glasses over what is essentiall a paid beta.
Rift had a smoother launch, so did TOR, hell, most of the AAA games in the past few years have had smoother launches. It's definitely a lot better than AoC's, but that doesn't make it a good launch.
Considering they advertised 4h for patch but it did not even take 2h for one of them I would say that while you are not wearing rosy glasses you are just making the same ignorant post as done with every game, and every launch already.
Why not form your opinion based on your actual experience instead of conlcusions made from others?
I assume it have bugs, even if I never seen for instance boss encounters yet, hence any bugs there is not problematic for me... How about you, honestly? (You did not have any problems with them patching the game otherwise you would not have stated 8h downtime.)
The launch was relatively smooth but the broken quests kind of ruined it for me. Also, every time I load into London from Agartha, I experience severe FPS drops and freezes. I have to restart the game, then it goes back to normal. It's annoying but I can live with it. The broken quests annoy me to no end though. I can understand 1 or 2 but there is absolutely no excuse for the amount of bugged quests in this game.
I am enjoying the locations and the stories though. Savage Coast has a great horror feel to it and some places, like the amusement park and the Black House, are downright creepy.
Also, I'm a bit worried about the longevity of the game. Once you experience all of the story and mission content, it doesn't seem like there's a lot to do.
Great (early) launch, zero launch issues for me, besides the server being down on Sunday morning for 2 hours, no biggie as I was just waking up from an all night session of it lol.
Game itself compared to AoC (early days) has come on leaps and bounds. Quests are engaging and well thought out, atmosphere is cool, setting is different, story is interesting, graphics are to die for, combat could be better regards the smoothness, interface refreshing, progression system and skill system - revolutionary.
Well done Funcom and thanks for pushing the boundaries once again!
I see that 2,3% that voted are trolls... If this was a "very bad" launch then do tell me what a good launch is. Thank GOD its still a low number and the reasonable votes that lead. I voted good myself.
It was the best launch I have had so far, but I voted great. Still enough thing not going right. EXP balancing issues that needed patching, CTDs, some broken missions. Really well done especially by FC standard.
I give it GREAT. I came across couple of broken quests and one bug where i got stuck. otherwise smooth sailing and nothing major that stopped me from enjoying the game.
Bravo FC, you pulled an almost flawless launch.
Originally posted by Norpan
I see that 2,3% that voted are trolls... If this was a "very bad" launch then do tell me what a good launch is. Thank GOD its still a low number and the reasonable votes that lead. I voted good myself.
Die hard FC haters who would never ever accept that FC did a great launch. They wanted it to crash and burn badly just like AO and AOC launch. So this is there way of showing anger.
So far, I'm fairly happy with the launch of the "Early Access". The servers are currently down right now for another maintenance patch, so they seem to be scrambling to clean up whatever it is that people are finding prior to the "official" launch date. Works for me.
There's a few clunky areas that I hope they address soon; a few quests fail to function properly, the DX11 could use some touching up, and I'm not a fan of long waiting times on loading screens from zone to zone, but otherwise that game is in pretty good shape.
I had one crash the entire time I've been playing during the "early access", and that happened after my game logged me out for sitting idle in one spot for too long.
I like the complex combat system, although I wish I had planned my course more thoroughly before starting out. I changed my mind about my build going from Beta to "Early Access", so I've allocated some points in places I wish I wouldn't have, but considering how quickly I can make them back, I'm not too worried about it.
I'm disappointed that the community isn't quite what I thought it was going to be, but there are definitely some good folks out there running around. I think the vocal ones I see in General chat are the real issue, the good folks are too busy playing to take part in the shennanigans.
Graphics: 8.5 I would have liked to see more customization at Character Creation, but the broad selection of outfits/clothing items/costumes are terrific.
Stability: 9 I've had one maybe two events where the game briefly locked up due to a lag spike, but those moments were so short I was able to quickly dismiss them. Considering the rouch launches I've experienced in other MMOs, this "early access" launch has been smooth running thus far-- I've definitely seen worse in some other "AAA" titles out there. Anyone remember Vanilla WoW's launch?
Fun Factor: 7.5 Right now I'm going to mark this relatively low, but I feel it deserves to be higher once they fix some of the quests that have been holding people up. Some of the quests require using outside resources to crack their clues (like looking up a web site I derived from a dead Orochi Group agent's I.D. card for a valuable piece of information), and I absolutely love that! That's also why it's so disappointing when I come to a step in the quest that's broken, and it turns out it's a "known issue".
People seem to be delving into the various PvP functions with a fervor, and I see a lot of active groups running the starting zone instances, so there's been a LOT of activity going on.
There never seems to be a shortage of things to do, and there seems to be a vast pool of friendly resources to draw information from if you get stuck on any one of the myriad of The Secret World's brain-twisting quests.
There are also a lot of friendly players that seem to be loyal fans that followed the game since early beta, and they don't hesitate to answer basic questions about the game as long as they're asked nicely, and NOT asked for "spoilers". This leads me to...
Community: 8 I didn't delve into The Secret World until Beta Weekend #3, but I regret turning a blind eye to this title for so long. I had no idea how in-depth the intrigue and mystery behind the lore of this game really went. I only recently stumbled onto The Secret World's "Alternate Reality Game (ARG)" as the impending launch of Early Access loomed closer and closer. I regret missing out on one of the most cerebral game experiences I've ever encountered
The contributions and participation involved in this ARG was simply astounding. It showed me that there was going to be a seriously dedicated community attached to this game, and I'm sorry to have missed out on it as it progressed through the mind-crushing puzzles and clues that were systematically doled out to the participants over a period of months. It was as intriguing as any episodic, mature-themed sci-fi/espionage series.
The carry-over from the ARG to the actual game doesn't seem as prevalent, a lot of people tend to take a "hold my hand" mentality in General chat channels, asking a lot of basic questions they could answer themselves if they bothered to experiment or do a little research.
However, there are definitely people watching the chat channels that DO contribute to the overall community. They answer questions about game functionality and sometimes they offer a little quest help for people without giving too much away. Usually I see people thanking someone publicly in General chat after receiving a private message with the answer they were looking for, thus sparing the rest of us from seeing a spoiler we'd rather not see.
Crafting: 8.5 While the interface and tutorials could use a little work, FunCom's approach to "crafting" for The Secret World is in a class all its own. Luckily, someone in the community has already responded to the difficulty of grasping the concept of TSW's craft system (Thanks for your terrific guide, Raithwood!!!) There is no gathering per se, but almost EVERYTHING you pick up from slain enemies has the potential to be disassembled into raw components.
Those components can then be scaled up to the next level, then that next tier of compenents can be scaled up again to the next level... so on, so forth, depending on whether or not your crafting kit calls for it.
You also pick up random kits, so the only thing really holding you back is the proper kit that accomodates your Q-Level, and the appropriate components for that level.
Since your outward appearance is affected by "clothing" and not gear (except for weapons), your abilities are affected by "Talismans" instead, somewhat falling in line with the overall premise of the game, which involves the enhancement of supernatural talents.
The potentcy of those talismans is affected by how high your Skill Point proficiency levels are, and the ability to use higher Q-Level talismans requires you to spend more of your hard earned SP. It makes sense in the grand scheme of things, it just takes getting used to.
It also makes finding rare recipes/kits all the more rewarding, and saving up components to craft them all the more interesting. Probably the most sought-after kits are "Glyph" kits.
Bonus stats in crafted items are usually introduced through placing something called "Glyphs" in the empty sockets of the items. Glyphs are crafted using a component called Runes. This is where you have the most flexibility in the game. Runes offer a wide variety of different attributes (e.g. Defense, Crit Power, Heal Power, Penetration, etc., etc.), and you can craft a final Glyph using a variety of runes to add multiple attributes. So far, glyphs are the only flexible kit in the game where you can play with different attributes in one item's assembly.
Overall, there isn't much I have in the way of crticism. I find myself losing track of time when I play, I'm so deeply involved in what I'm doing-- whether it's trying to solve an intricate puzzle to open a secret passage, pouring over the specifics of a combat build I want to try and calculating how I'll spend my ability points to achieve it, or putting together a cool outfit from the various pieces of clothing I bought at the merchant. The Secret World was probably one of the last games on my radar that I ever considered playing, and I really doubted that I'd be interested in it. Ever since Beta Weekend #3, I'm pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying this game a LOT!
EDIT: I added the Crafting portion after the intial post. I like the system a lot, just takes some getting used to. Nothing is ever wasted! I like it!
You also pick up random kits, so the only thing really holding you back is the proper kit that accomodates your Q-Level, and the appropriate components for that level.
You make that seem minor. Kits are few and far between and really make it difficult to make anything of note due to their RNG availability. Something as simple as crafting should have been much better thought out. I have stacks and stacks and stacks of materiels and no kits to make things with.
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Server stability is great PvE side. PvP side it's another story. The lag can make Fusang unplayable at times, mainly at night. That seems really strange because the map is limited to a total of 225 players. The PvP has crashed out a few times also.
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The weekend nerf of PvP rewards seems a bit harsh. I believe the rewards are somewhere around 60% of what they were. This is fine for the wells because that takes about 5 or 10 minutes of time to complete, and can be done solo. If PvP dies down a bit, or one side starts dominating the other, the Facility one will be more difficult.
Kill count for the third PvP quest needs to be adjusted or the reward increased. Unless I run solo or a DPS build I have to spend 2 to 3 times as much time completing that quest for much much less reward.
You also pick up random kits, so the only thing really holding you back is the proper kit that accomodates your Q-Level, and the appropriate components for that level.
You make that seem minor. Kits are few and far between and really make it difficult to make anything of note due to their RNG availability. Something as simple as crafting should have been much better thought out. I have stacks and stacks and stacks of materiels and no kits to make things with.
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Server stability is great PvE side. PvP side it's another story. The lag can make Fusang unplayable at times, mainly at night. That seems really strange because the map is limited to a total of 225 players. The PvP has crashed out a few times also.
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The weekend nerf of PvP rewards seems a bit harsh. I believe the rewards are somewhere around 60% of what they were. This is fine for the wells because that takes about 5 or 10 minutes of time to complete, and can be done solo. If PvP dies down a bit, or one side starts dominating the other, the Facility one will be more difficult.
Kill count for the third PvP quest needs to be adjusted or the reward increased. Unless I run solo or a DPS build I have to spend 2 to 3 times as much time completing that quest for much much less reward.
Really? Sorry to hear that. I've actually seen a few people say this about crafting kits, but I'm literally selling off spares left and right. I find that I have better luck with getting crafting kit drops if I move into the "tougher" portions of the zones I'm questing in (e.g. the earthspewers around the airport in Kingsmouth, the academy in Savage Coast, etc., etc.). The higher level mobs tend to drop weapons, talismans, and kits like crazy.
It's interesting that noone seems to be mentioning that they've already had 2 major downtimes on a 3day head start (totalling ~8hours down). Not to mention, the game still has bugs from closed beta. Gear loadout still doesn't work right, some of the boss encounters bug out on occasion, some of the major quests are still bugged in certain dimensions (cerberus seems to have it the worst). The launch isn't bad, but I see a lot of people with rosy glasses over what is essentiall a paid beta.
Rift had a smoother launch, so did TOR, hell, most of the AAA games in the past few years have had smoother launches. It's definitely a lot better than AoC's, but that doesn't make it a good launch.
Considering they advertised 4h for patch but it did not even take 2h for one of them I would say that while you are not wearing rosy glasses you are just making the same ignorant post as done with every game, and every launch already.
Why not form your opinion based on your actual experience instead of conlcusions made from others?
I assume it have bugs, even if I never seen for instance boss encounters yet, hence any bugs there is not problematic for me... How about you, honestly? (You did not have any problems with them patching the game otherwise you would not have stated 8h downtime.)
Yes, ignorant, like saying it's not still offline now (and has been for over 4hours). And no, this is not done w/ every game, and every launch. Reason I bring this up, is because I see a lot of people giving free passes out for issues with this game. People much like yourself.
My issue is this. One, there are people that are claiming that this game is 'bug-free'. Claiming such to the extent as to call people who mention that there are bugs 'liars'. I'm glad you aren't one of them, but it doesn't change the fact that they are there. Secondly, the game is launched. Beta is over. We are now out of the 'headstart period'. A headstart is not a beta, it's early access to what is supposed to be a finished game. I expect MMOs to have downtime. Hell, I expect new games to have bugs. I do not expect a new AAA game to be down for 2 of the 3 days of a headstart. I do not expect a new AAA game to still have the majority of the bugs that were mentioned over a month ago in closed beta. Bugs they fixed, and then reintroduced into the game. Is this launch better than Age of Conan's? Absolutely. But to pass this launch off as a stellar launch is very much a joke. I don't want to see this become the new standard of what's acceptable with MMOs. I'd rather see games getting better, not see us settling for worse.
Again, I'm glad they are working to improve the game. However, that doesn't mean that these things shouldn't have been taken care of before release. It's no different then people who praise TOR for implementing features now that should've been implemented months ago.
Pretty good experience thus far. The game still has a few bugs but the dev team seems to be working hard through the release with a few patches cleaning things up. The story and quest system is very cool and requires some thinking that is nice to see in an MMO. I have heard some complaints on the graphics but it's some of the best I've seen in a MMO is quite a while. The combat is fun in my opinion and I think anyone who plays MMO's on a consistent basis should give this game a try. I'm going to be in TSW for a long time....
Comments
Well for early access launch...my one issue is the in game browser crashing the game after a few minutes of use. Every investigation mission becomes a game crash for me once or twice. Other than that, one definite bugged quest, and for some reason most of the items I disassemble turn to water, when they should be fire based!!! - never happened to me in beta.
It's interesting that noone seems to be mentioning that they've already had 2 major downtimes on a 3day head start (totalling ~8hours down). Not to mention, the game still has bugs from closed beta. Gear loadout still doesn't work right, some of the boss encounters bug out on occasion, some of the major quests are still bugged in certain dimensions (cerberus seems to have it the worst). The launch isn't bad, but I see a lot of people with rosy glasses over what is essentiall a paid beta.
Rift had a smoother launch, so did TOR, hell, most of the AAA games in the past few years have had smoother launches. It's definitely a lot better than AoC's, but that doesn't make it a good launch.
Oh no. How dare they shut down the servers. I want my money back for the time I missed.
Lol.
Gotta love the opinions based on hearsay.
I'm totally addicted. I haven't been this addicted to an mmorpg since I first played WoW. This is a different kind of addiction, though. I'm not saying better/worse, just different. In WoW, I was addicted, probably because of the leveling up thing. You know, the big gong and flash of light when you level and the way the game was designed around that and how you might get a cool drop to make you more powerful.
But in TSW it's because there is so much for me to find out. And I'm enjoying figuring out the story. And the way stuff is done just seems really different for a themepark. This is more of the kind of addiction I felt when I played Darkfall at first, or Mortal Online. While those games had a lot to learn, there was a lot of downtime because of the need to harvest resources. TSW is different because you don't do that. But I need to learn about combat, and about crafting to upgrade my stuff, and about pvp, and on top of all that, I'm learning about the story, which is interesting to me.
Besides all that, I don't even know if what I'm doing is right. Like, am I in the right place? Am I developing my character correctly? I don't even know what I don't know. There doesn't seem to be much handholding for a sandbox, and that might frustrate a lot of people. It has frustrated me. But in a good way, because it makes me want to come back and figure stuff out.
I don't even want to take time to watch vids and read up. I just want to play. But with downtime, it give me a chance to go to youtube and learn about crafting etc.
Anyway, servers down for update. I guess I can eat dinner and take a shower. Expected downtime is 4 hours, but they were up after 2 yesterday, so I'm hopeful....
Great launch indeed. Hard to stop playing, heh. Baffling though, as so many here were saying how Funcom was incapable of it.
To all the doubting thomases, i say maybe try a little ice cream with your humble pie.
this ^
everyome was expecting this to be a joke of a launch cause thats what funcom do! But alongside the Rift launch this has been the smoothest launch ive experienced.
If anything it should perhaps be placed higher than Rift cause ive yet to see a server queue to enter the game and that was about the only blemish on Rift's launch
If someone is talking in general chat in a language you dont understand, chances are they're not talking to you. So chill out and stop bitching about it!
The community seems okay on my server -- I'm on Arcadia. I haven't intereacted much, but I look at general chat from time to time and it looks okay. If I see some stupid stuff coming up I just switch it over to combat.
People have helped me out when I've been overmobbed and I've done the same, so that's all I have to go on.
Great so far. My friend who hated the game skyped me this morning and said he bought it just so he could run with me but he hated the game in BWE3 (his first attempt) but after about an hour of questing and another hour running ElDorado and StoneHenge he was sold. He said he didnt give it enough credit when he first played it but its now grown on him.
Myself I knew I would love the game and even though I kind of regret not going Pistol (I went AR/Chaos) I am still in awe over the depth this game has.
Everything you need to know about Elder Scrolls Online
Playing: GW2
Waiting on: TESO
Next Flop: Planetside 2
Best MMO of all time: Asheron's Call - The first company to recreate AC will be the next greatest MMO.
The people that are going to play 3rd juli are playing today.
"Headstarts" is just bait tactics, there no influx of new potential voters for this poll after release.
I'm so broke. I can't even pay attention.
"You have the right not to be killed"
Arcadia is a RP server though. I tend to find RP servers have a slighlty more mature player base (only slightly mind ! )
If someone is talking in general chat in a language you dont understand, chances are they're not talking to you. So chill out and stop bitching about it!
This was my choice as well but it seems like alot of people WANT a more mature playerbase but DONT want to contribute to that.
Anyway i voted 'great' since maybe im biased from the other launches i had and its a funcom launch so i was preped for a crashlanding in the first place. But when i raised head again, i found myself playing for over 5 hours straight and actualy enjoying it!
Pretty much best ever. I found it better than Rifts launch, because in that I had lag for the first few hours.
Considering they advertised 4h for patch but it did not even take 2h for one of them I would say that while you are not wearing rosy glasses you are just making the same ignorant post as done with every game, and every launch already.
Why not form your opinion based on your actual experience instead of conlcusions made from others?
I assume it have bugs, even if I never seen for instance boss encounters yet, hence any bugs there is not problematic for me... How about you, honestly? (You did not have any problems with them patching the game otherwise you would not have stated 8h downtime.)
I'm so broke. I can't even pay attention.
"You have the right not to be killed"
The launcher said head start would be UP TO 3 days, also this must be your first mmo experience then.
The launch was relatively smooth but the broken quests kind of ruined it for me. Also, every time I load into London from Agartha, I experience severe FPS drops and freezes. I have to restart the game, then it goes back to normal. It's annoying but I can live with it. The broken quests annoy me to no end though. I can understand 1 or 2 but there is absolutely no excuse for the amount of bugged quests in this game.
I am enjoying the locations and the stories though. Savage Coast has a great horror feel to it and some places, like the amusement park and the Black House, are downright creepy.
Also, I'm a bit worried about the longevity of the game. Once you experience all of the story and mission content, it doesn't seem like there's a lot to do.
Great (early) launch, zero launch issues for me, besides the server being down on Sunday morning for 2 hours, no biggie as I was just waking up from an all night session of it lol.
Game itself compared to AoC (early days) has come on leaps and bounds. Quests are engaging and well thought out, atmosphere is cool, setting is different, story is interesting, graphics are to die for, combat could be better regards the smoothness, interface refreshing, progression system and skill system - revolutionary.
Well done Funcom and thanks for pushing the boundaries once again!
It was the best launch I have had so far, but I voted great. Still enough thing not going right. EXP balancing issues that needed patching, CTDs, some broken missions. Really well done especially by FC standard.
I give it GREAT. I came across couple of broken quests and one bug where i got stuck. otherwise smooth sailing and nothing major that stopped me from enjoying the game.
Bravo FC, you pulled an almost flawless launch.
So far, I'm fairly happy with the launch of the "Early Access". The servers are currently down right now for another maintenance patch, so they seem to be scrambling to clean up whatever it is that people are finding prior to the "official" launch date. Works for me.
There's a few clunky areas that I hope they address soon; a few quests fail to function properly, the DX11 could use some touching up, and I'm not a fan of long waiting times on loading screens from zone to zone, but otherwise that game is in pretty good shape.
I had one crash the entire time I've been playing during the "early access", and that happened after my game logged me out for sitting idle in one spot for too long.
I like the complex combat system, although I wish I had planned my course more thoroughly before starting out. I changed my mind about my build going from Beta to "Early Access", so I've allocated some points in places I wish I wouldn't have, but considering how quickly I can make them back, I'm not too worried about it.
I'm disappointed that the community isn't quite what I thought it was going to be, but there are definitely some good folks out there running around. I think the vocal ones I see in General chat are the real issue, the good folks are too busy playing to take part in the shennanigans.
Graphics: 8.5 I would have liked to see more customization at Character Creation, but the broad selection of outfits/clothing items/costumes are terrific.
Stability: 9 I've had one maybe two events where the game briefly locked up due to a lag spike, but those moments were so short I was able to quickly dismiss them. Considering the rouch launches I've experienced in other MMOs, this "early access" launch has been smooth running thus far-- I've definitely seen worse in some other "AAA" titles out there. Anyone remember Vanilla WoW's launch?
Fun Factor: 7.5 Right now I'm going to mark this relatively low, but I feel it deserves to be higher once they fix some of the quests that have been holding people up. Some of the quests require using outside resources to crack their clues (like looking up a web site I derived from a dead Orochi Group agent's I.D. card for a valuable piece of information), and I absolutely love that! That's also why it's so disappointing when I come to a step in the quest that's broken, and it turns out it's a "known issue".
People seem to be delving into the various PvP functions with a fervor, and I see a lot of active groups running the starting zone instances, so there's been a LOT of activity going on.
There never seems to be a shortage of things to do, and there seems to be a vast pool of friendly resources to draw information from if you get stuck on any one of the myriad of The Secret World's brain-twisting quests.
There are also a lot of friendly players that seem to be loyal fans that followed the game since early beta, and they don't hesitate to answer basic questions about the game as long as they're asked nicely, and NOT asked for "spoilers". This leads me to...
Community: 8 I didn't delve into The Secret World until Beta Weekend #3, but I regret turning a blind eye to this title for so long. I had no idea how in-depth the intrigue and mystery behind the lore of this game really went. I only recently stumbled onto The Secret World's "Alternate Reality Game (ARG)" as the impending launch of Early Access loomed closer and closer. I regret missing out on one of the most cerebral game experiences I've ever encountered
The contributions and participation involved in this ARG was simply astounding. It showed me that there was going to be a seriously dedicated community attached to this game, and I'm sorry to have missed out on it as it progressed through the mind-crushing puzzles and clues that were systematically doled out to the participants over a period of months. It was as intriguing as any episodic, mature-themed sci-fi/espionage series.
The carry-over from the ARG to the actual game doesn't seem as prevalent, a lot of people tend to take a "hold my hand" mentality in General chat channels, asking a lot of basic questions they could answer themselves if they bothered to experiment or do a little research.
However, there are definitely people watching the chat channels that DO contribute to the overall community. They answer questions about game functionality and sometimes they offer a little quest help for people without giving too much away. Usually I see people thanking someone publicly in General chat after receiving a private message with the answer they were looking for, thus sparing the rest of us from seeing a spoiler we'd rather not see.
Crafting: 8.5 While the interface and tutorials could use a little work, FunCom's approach to "crafting" for The Secret World is in a class all its own. Luckily, someone in the community has already responded to the difficulty of grasping the concept of TSW's craft system (Thanks for your terrific guide, Raithwood!!!) There is no gathering per se, but almost EVERYTHING you pick up from slain enemies has the potential to be disassembled into raw components.
Those components can then be scaled up to the next level, then that next tier of compenents can be scaled up again to the next level... so on, so forth, depending on whether or not your crafting kit calls for it.
You also pick up random kits, so the only thing really holding you back is the proper kit that accomodates your Q-Level, and the appropriate components for that level.
Since your outward appearance is affected by "clothing" and not gear (except for weapons), your abilities are affected by "Talismans" instead, somewhat falling in line with the overall premise of the game, which involves the enhancement of supernatural talents.
The potentcy of those talismans is affected by how high your Skill Point proficiency levels are, and the ability to use higher Q-Level talismans requires you to spend more of your hard earned SP. It makes sense in the grand scheme of things, it just takes getting used to.
It also makes finding rare recipes/kits all the more rewarding, and saving up components to craft them all the more interesting. Probably the most sought-after kits are "Glyph" kits.
Bonus stats in crafted items are usually introduced through placing something called "Glyphs" in the empty sockets of the items. Glyphs are crafted using a component called Runes. This is where you have the most flexibility in the game. Runes offer a wide variety of different attributes (e.g. Defense, Crit Power, Heal Power, Penetration, etc., etc.), and you can craft a final Glyph using a variety of runes to add multiple attributes. So far, glyphs are the only flexible kit in the game where you can play with different attributes in one item's assembly.
Overall, there isn't much I have in the way of crticism. I find myself losing track of time when I play, I'm so deeply involved in what I'm doing-- whether it's trying to solve an intricate puzzle to open a secret passage, pouring over the specifics of a combat build I want to try and calculating how I'll spend my ability points to achieve it, or putting together a cool outfit from the various pieces of clothing I bought at the merchant. The Secret World was probably one of the last games on my radar that I ever considered playing, and I really doubted that I'd be interested in it. Ever since Beta Weekend #3, I'm pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying this game a LOT!
EDIT: I added the Crafting portion after the intial post. I like the system a lot, just takes some getting used to. Nothing is ever wasted! I like it!
You make that seem minor. Kits are few and far between and really make it difficult to make anything of note due to their RNG availability. Something as simple as crafting should have been much better thought out. I have stacks and stacks and stacks of materiels and no kits to make things with.
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Server stability is great PvE side. PvP side it's another story. The lag can make Fusang unplayable at times, mainly at night. That seems really strange because the map is limited to a total of 225 players. The PvP has crashed out a few times also.
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The weekend nerf of PvP rewards seems a bit harsh. I believe the rewards are somewhere around 60% of what they were. This is fine for the wells because that takes about 5 or 10 minutes of time to complete, and can be done solo. If PvP dies down a bit, or one side starts dominating the other, the Facility one will be more difficult.
Kill count for the third PvP quest needs to be adjusted or the reward increased. Unless I run solo or a DPS build I have to spend 2 to 3 times as much time completing that quest for much much less reward.
Really? Sorry to hear that. I've actually seen a few people say this about crafting kits, but I'm literally selling off spares left and right. I find that I have better luck with getting crafting kit drops if I move into the "tougher" portions of the zones I'm questing in (e.g. the earthspewers around the airport in Kingsmouth, the academy in Savage Coast, etc., etc.). The higher level mobs tend to drop weapons, talismans, and kits like crazy.
Yes, ignorant, like saying it's not still offline now (and has been for over 4hours). And no, this is not done w/ every game, and every launch. Reason I bring this up, is because I see a lot of people giving free passes out for issues with this game.
People much like yourself.
My issue is this. One, there are people that are claiming that this game is 'bug-free'. Claiming such to the extent as to call people who mention that there are bugs 'liars'. I'm glad you aren't one of them, but it doesn't change the fact that they are there. Secondly, the game is launched. Beta is over. We are now out of the 'headstart period'. A headstart is not a beta, it's early access to what is supposed to be a finished game. I expect MMOs to have downtime. Hell, I expect new games to have bugs. I do not expect a new AAA game to be down for 2 of the 3 days of a headstart. I do not expect a new AAA game to still have the majority of the bugs that were mentioned over a month ago in closed beta. Bugs they fixed, and then reintroduced into the game. Is this launch better than Age of Conan's? Absolutely. But to pass this launch off as a stellar launch is very much a joke. I don't want to see this become the new standard of what's acceptable with MMOs. I'd rather see games getting better, not see us settling for worse.
Again, I'm glad they are working to improve the game. However, that doesn't mean that these things shouldn't have been taken care of before release. It's no different then people who praise TOR for implementing features now that should've been implemented months ago.
Pretty good experience thus far. The game still has a few bugs but the dev team seems to be working hard through the release with a few patches cleaning things up. The story and quest system is very cool and requires some thinking that is nice to see in an MMO. I have heard some complaints on the graphics but it's some of the best I've seen in a MMO is quite a while. The combat is fun in my opinion and I think anyone who plays MMO's on a consistent basis should give this game a try. I'm going to be in TSW for a long time....
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