I go straight to google without even attempting to solve the puzzles. I don't have any fun at all doing puzzles. They feel like work to me, probably because my jobs have involved researching stuff for a quite a while now. I play TSW for the story and atmosphere. I like the pve and playing around with the ability wheel. My verdict is still out on pvp, but Darkfall is coming out so I'm good for now. I have Chivalry as well, if I want some bloody hilarious pvp.
So yeah, I'm glad they put the browser in game. I'm one of those people who uses it without a second thought.
Yeah same. As a scientist I do enough research during the day, I don't play video games to do more research.
I find it interesting that those of us that admit to skipping straight to the walk through in posts have something in common. Real life job duties requiring research and problem solving. I wonder if that will be a common theme?
Maybe. Honestly I play video games to turn off the thought processes that makes too much background noise otherwise. Get me out of work mode. So I tend to prefer action oriented games, rather than puzzle games. My partner on the other hand has a pretty non-demanding job mentally, so likes to do puzzles, and then asks me for help hahaha.
Although I still tend to theorycraft when making builds and choosing gear, and pull out the old spreadsheets for optimisation. Old habits die hard I guess.
You guys are in luck, there are so many game out there where you just kill ten rats and don't have to think about a thing.
Never look at spoilers. For me this is the most enduring content in the game. Cheating through it cheapens the content and robs you of self satisfaction.
Btw, if you use the ingame browser to Google up informations, it filters out the walkthrough / wiki sites... it's in the game for a reason so if you need some background information for a quest, you can use that and don't have to worry about spoilers.
Sorry, this is misinformation. Ingame browser defaults to the regular Google search page. A brief trial with two key words from the "Angels and Demons" investigation mission (the director's name and his security clearance level) produced the unfair.co guide as the 4th entry.
Someone once made a web site (tswsearch.com) with a search front end that *does* filter out such sites, unforutnately it appears to no longer exist. Adding
-TSW -"Secret World"
to your search terms will have the required effect.
My bad, I admit I didn't open the ingame browser for a while now... But in the beginning it definitely worked this way, we even tested it with lots of search phrases to see the different results, just out of curiousity
If it's giving back the same result as a regular google search, then it's pointless to have an ingame browser I think...
Edit: dancingstar's right. Just googled a mission ingame for testing, the first 2 pages were full with wiki, guide, walkthrough, etc. results... It sure makes tougher to search for infos spoiler-free from the game. FC should fix this...
Btw, if you use the ingame browser to Google up informations, it filters out the walkthrough / wiki sites... it's in the game for a reason so if you need some background information for a quest, you can use that and don't have to worry about spoilers.
Sorry, this is misinformation. Ingame browser defaults to the regular Google search page. A brief trial with two key words from the "Angels and Demons" investigation mission (the director's name and his security clearance level) produced the unfair.co guide as the 4th entry.
Someone once made a web site (tswsearch.com) with a search front end that *does* filter out such sites, unforutnately it appears to no longer exist. Adding
-TSW -"Secret World"
to your search terms will have the required effect.
My bad, I admit I didn't open the ingame browser for a while now... But in the beginning it definitely worked this way, we even tested it with lots of search phrases to see the different results, just out of curiousity
If it's giving back the same result as a regular google search, then it's pointless to have an ingame browser I think...
Edit: dancingstar's right. Just googled a mission ingame for testing, the first 2 pages were full with wiki, guide, walkthrough, etc. results... It sure makes tougher to search for infos spoiler-free from the game. FC should fix this...
I'll admit that if I were designing the puzzle system for TSW I would have kept the information needed to solve them entirely inside the game environment and might have favored more variety in types of puzzles offered. Frankly, most people playing the game can not solve Poe's "Gold Bug" code by hand and without the aid of tools accessed by means of Google just for example (if they wil admit it or not.) I would not have included an in game browser for Google searches but might have had an in game net like GTA IV for slim example..
That written, the game is what it is and I am not willing to request that Funcom change a thing. Nothing will ever be perfect. Let people play as they choose, spoiled or spoiler free. I can sympathize with wanting to guard yourself from unwanted spoilers though and wish there was a toggle based filter letting you choose.
At launch, there were probably an incredibly small percentage of players who solved these puzzles by themselves. The investigation missions are complex enough (requiring a very broad range of talents/knowledge to understand i.e music or symbology) that it was a community effort to solve. Now that the game has been out, the mass amount of support from the community isn't as prevalent. Personally, I solved the fist investigation mission solo (at the church). The second one (from the same quest giver (digging deeper iirc)) was insane. From this point forward, I will immediately go to a walkthrough for all the investigation missions, if I even decide to do them at all.
My opinion is biased though, I personally cant stand PVE content......no matter the MMO.
I'll admit that if I were designing the puzzle system for TSW I would have kept the information needed to solve them entirely inside the game environment and might have favored more variety in types of puzzles offered. Frankly, most people playing the game can not solve Poe's "Gold Bug" code by hand and without the aid of tools accessed by means of Google just for example (if they wil admit it or not.) I would not have included an in game browser for Google searches but might have had an in game net like GTA IV for slim example..
Agree, and this is why they put the browser in, offering in-game help and tools for solving puzzles. It was a pretty nice idea actually, you solve mysteries just like you'd do it outside the game (similar to the ARG's, or the numerous webpages FC made for TSW, it connects the ingame world with the real world). And it worked because of the filters, for example if you searched gold bug, you got the text, Poe's wiki, cryptography pages, etc.
Now with the filter is gone, the gold bug search gives back lots of TSW guides and walkthroughs...
And agreed too, GTA IV ingame web is great (though very limited) and very funny
i try hard (maybe not hard enough, just casually hard) to do investigation missions alone, after a while then i start getting bored so i look for the whole walkthrough on youtube. Walkthroughs have never killed my fun while playing. They are most welcome when im getting tired of failing at those missions. Sometimes i dont feel like solving anything and go straight to youtube while other times i just dont care about the missions at all.
Originally posted by atuerstar Never look at spoilers. For me this is the most enduring content in the game. Cheating through it cheapens the content and robs you of self satisfaction.
So you never asked anyone or looked up any codes ever while playing The Secret World?
Oh, I'll admit it - I'll look for online help if I'm stumped. I do try to solve the investigation missions with a minimum of browser-time, but it isn't always possible for me.
Comments
You guys are in luck, there are so many game out there where you just kill ten rats and don't have to think about a thing.
My bad, I admit I didn't open the ingame browser for a while now... But in the beginning it definitely worked this way, we even tested it with lots of search phrases to see the different results, just out of curiousity
If it's giving back the same result as a regular google search, then it's pointless to have an ingame browser I think...
Edit: dancingstar's right. Just googled a mission ingame for testing, the first 2 pages were full with wiki, guide, walkthrough, etc. results... It sure makes tougher to search for infos spoiler-free from the game. FC should fix this...
I'll admit that if I were designing the puzzle system for TSW I would have kept the information needed to solve them entirely inside the game environment and might have favored more variety in types of puzzles offered. Frankly, most people playing the game can not solve Poe's "Gold Bug" code by hand and without the aid of tools accessed by means of Google just for example (if they wil admit it or not.) I would not have included an in game browser for Google searches but might have had an in game net like GTA IV for slim example..
That written, the game is what it is and I am not willing to request that Funcom change a thing. Nothing will ever be perfect. Let people play as they choose, spoiled or spoiler free. I can sympathize with wanting to guard yourself from unwanted spoilers though and wish there was a toggle based filter letting you choose.
At launch, there were probably an incredibly small percentage of players who solved these puzzles by themselves. The investigation missions are complex enough (requiring a very broad range of talents/knowledge to understand i.e music or symbology) that it was a community effort to solve. Now that the game has been out, the mass amount of support from the community isn't as prevalent. Personally, I solved the fist investigation mission solo (at the church). The second one (from the same quest giver (digging deeper iirc)) was insane. From this point forward, I will immediately go to a walkthrough for all the investigation missions, if I even decide to do them at all.
My opinion is biased though, I personally cant stand PVE content......no matter the MMO.
Agree, and this is why they put the browser in, offering in-game help and tools for solving puzzles. It was a pretty nice idea actually, you solve mysteries just like you'd do it outside the game (similar to the ARG's, or the numerous webpages FC made for TSW, it connects the ingame world with the real world). And it worked because of the filters, for example if you searched gold bug, you got the text, Poe's wiki, cryptography pages, etc.
Now with the filter is gone, the gold bug search gives back lots of TSW guides and walkthroughs...
And agreed too, GTA IV ingame web is great (though very limited) and very funny
So you never asked anyone or looked up any codes ever while playing The Secret World?
Oh, I'll admit it - I'll look for online help if I'm stumped. I do try to solve the investigation missions with a minimum of browser-time, but it isn't always possible for me.
I don't think there's any shame in that.