Kingsmouth is probably the best area I have encountered in any MMO. The American Gothic theme with inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft and his kind is perfect. great place to run around and kill zombies.
The Egypt area is not so much to my liking, and a let-down after Kingsmouth. I recognize the Indiana Jones/biblical theme they try to create, but for me it doesn't fit as well. I stopped playing about a year ago and only recently returned to make another run, so there might be more information in the updates that brings the story along.
The Transylvania area with Vlad the Impaler and vampires are pretty cool, but the fusing of Soviet-era experiments makes it a bit more confusing. Hopefully will the updates shed more light to the story.
Overall, a great game, and I am glad I invested in a lifetime sub. I can see this as a game I return to regularly, but might not play every evening for the next five years. Stopping by from time to time is definitely going to happen.
Originally posted by Reehay Snatched up The Secret World from that Steam sale...
10 hrs in ... and very impressed.
So far it feels a bit solo player; and while in most MMOs I would quit for that alone, TSW has a wonderful vibe that I actually dont even notice or mind. Its atmosphere rivals the best single player RPG i've played. Very well done. The music, the writing - pretty darn good for a video game. and as someone who gets paid to review books for a living, thats not idle praise.
I must confess that I'm bit of a fantasy geek and dont stray too far from that setting in my videogames, but every fantasy themed MMO right now... hmmm, sucks balls - I think the kids say?
Even without the sale price, The Secret World is worth it. Very refreshing and I find myself drinking more coffee than I should and bought a notebook to keep notes in.
gg,
sincerely, a former funcom hater
I love how people say how wonderful the game is....After they pay like $10 for it now.
Reading comprehension. It helps.
Incidentally... Many people saying the game is great bought it at its full/normal price, and even payed a subscription for it when that was still required. They continue to buy the Updates as they're released. Some continue to pay the optional sub even now that it's not necessary; I'm certainly among them.
So, exactly what point is it you were trying to make with your remark?
Originally posted by Reehay Snatched up The Secret World from that Steam sale...
10 hrs in ... and very impressed.
So far it feels a bit solo player; and while in most MMOs I would quit for that alone, TSW has a wonderful vibe that I actually dont even notice or mind. Its atmosphere rivals the best single player RPG i've played. Very well done. The music, the writing - pretty darn good for a video game. and as someone who gets paid to review books for a living, thats not idle praise.
I must confess that I'm bit of a fantasy geek and dont stray too far from that setting in my videogames, but every fantasy themed MMO right now... hmmm, sucks balls - I think the kids say?
Even without the sale price, The Secret World is worth it. Very refreshing and I find myself drinking more coffee than I should and bought a notebook to keep notes in.
gg,
sincerely, a former funcom hater
I love how people say how wonderful the game is....After they pay like $10 for it now.
Reading comprehension. It helps.
Incidentally... Many people saying the game is great bought it at its full/normal price, and even payed a subscription for it when that was still required. They continue to buy the Updates as they're released. Some continue to pay the optional sub even now that it's not necessary; I'm certainly among them.
So, exactly what point is it you were trying to make with your remark?
Yeah, I bought it at release and was paying a sub for it, I really liked it. I thought the quest stories were great, and I am a spacebar hitter and hate quests usually.
I just honestly ran out of content once I ran into transylvannia area and did it a few times, out of appreciation, I stayed subbed while I was waiting on more content, then it went f2p. Considering that I got 200x more gameplay out of it then I did GW2, I can't complain. I have been thinking of going back to see what all new stuff they have done.
I think their big problem is, that the quests and such are of such a good quality imo, that it would take too long to generate content, as this is a problem for themeparks anyway, but seemingly much bigger for TSW. Still one of the best mmos in the past 6-7 years imo.
It's writing, quests, storyline and zones are some of the best of any game I've ever played. Age of Conan had similar issues, though, 1-20 was top notch then dropped off, TSW's content lasts quite a bit longer, though, and I feel justified buying it for the solid week half or so of play I got out of it.
I remember when i started and felt the same way; played 20 hours that weekend. Thought it was a nice change of pace for other online games. Then i came to the realization that the game is not all that great ; it is a single player game just with others walking around. Got old real quick being able to take on hordes of mobs at a time. nice atmosphere and unique quests but the gameplay gets old fast. This should have been a single player adventure game, funcom makes great ones.
Originally posted by c0exist I remember when i started and felt the same way; played 20 hours that weekend. Thought it was a nice change of pace for other online games. Then i came to the realization that the game is not all that great ; it is a single player game just with others walking around. Got old real quick being able to take on hordes of mobs at a time. nice atmosphere and unique quests but the gameplay gets old fast. This should have been a single player adventure game, funcom makes great ones.
It's as single-player or multi-player as you want it to be. I've done a number of missions solo. I've done a number of them with a group. Hell, it's an activity folks in my Cabal will partake in to get a group together to do nothing but run missions.
I spent about 6 hours yesterday doing Lairs, Lair Bosses and Regional Bosses with about 8 other people.
I spent a good hour at least last night with some others working through the "Last Train to Cairo" story (which is freaking brilliant... better than the "Dawning of An Endless Night", which was also fantastic).
I spent a good hour or so doing PvP with other Cabal-mates.
Ran some dungeons with some people, both in my Cabal and in PUGs via the dungeon finder.
There's been plenty of group content to do. I think people just let themselves get stuck in the rut of doing everything solo, and then just sorta assume "it's all there is to do".
You mention taking on hordes of mobs at a time. I'm gonna ask for some qualification for that, because without some context, that seems to be rather hyperbolic. What were you fighting, and in what zone? What QL were you at the time? How many mobs did you actually have around you? Saying "hordes" implies at least a dozen... probably more. I can say from experience that, even when you're several QL tiers above the mobs you're fighting, they can still chew you up pretty fast if you're not careful. I'm in QL7/8 gear, and some of the earlier mobs in Savage Coast still get through my HP pretty quickly if I get 5 or 6 of them on me. So.. if you could provide a bit more detail on how you're 'taking on hordes of mobs at a time', that'd be great
It's also worth noting that, community-wise, this game has absolutely the best I've seen in years. Most MMOs, I'll have several people on my ignore list within the first day. So far, I've not a single one on my ignore list in TSW. Everyone I've run into has been either very cool, or at least not a jerk.
It's a great game. My only big complaint about it is that it becomes an instance grind very quickly as people realize you can level and get gear much faster by repeatedly running instances. I also wish the game was much more social, which was one of the biggest promises of this game from back in the day. Ultimately it's a solo MMO, unfortunately.
A sure sign that you are in an old, dying paradigm/mindset, is when you are scared of new ideas and new technology. Don't feel bad. The world is moving on without you, and you are welcome to yell "Get Off My Lawn!" all you want while it happens. You cannot, however, stop an idea whose time has come.
It is an awesome game.I play this and ff14.I love the drary dark very horrorish mood.OK don't get me wrong I won't recommend people playing tsw 12 hour a day.it is very dark .but as a filler game 2 hour a day ?HELL YA!it is a nice change of genre.its like going to see an horror movie.one in a while it is a nice change!
TSW immediately thrust itself into the permanent category. I try all mmo's but only a couple don't get uninstalled. Now I go back for new expansions in eq, eq2, DDO, and TSW.
TSW single player content is simply unrivaled. No current MMO's available match their voice acting and story telling. Few MMO's available best their progression system and partially visceral combat.
Edit for disclaimers: Sadly, it is still lacking in some fundamental areas to be a truly complete and polished MMO. IMO the game has too many servers/chat rooms, and lacks voice chat. Also, the end game detracts from everything leading up to it. By this I mean that builds are less versatile, and instance/raid grinding is not as fun in TSW as I have experienced it to be in other games. This is possibly greatly due to the fact that you lose out on the great storyline and acting you come to expect by that point.
Originally posted by MindTrigger It's a great game. My only big complaint about it is that it becomes an instance grind very quickly as people realize you can level and get gear much faster by repeatedly running instances. I also wish the game was much more social, which was one of the biggest promises of this game from back in the day. Ultimately it's a solo MMO, unfortunately.
It becomes an instance grind if you choose to make it one. This is one of those situations where people make gameplay choices they aren't required to, and then react as though there was no other option.
"Getting gear faster" only matters if you make it a priority to do so. Again, personal choice. The game isn't forcing you to play it that way. You are.
I've had that choice as well, to do frequent/constant instance runs. I don't, because it doesn't interest me. I opt to mix it up. Do some instances, and then do some other activities.
I've crafted a bunch of my talismans/glyphs/weapons, because I found I had the materials to create something better than what I had, and I didn't have to wait to do a dungeon run for the chance to get a drop I could/would use. When I do a dungeon, and I get a good drop that can replace something, then I'll use it, or set it aside for when I'm able to. Getting gear is not the prime motivator for me. Experiencing and engaging in the fascinating world/story/setting FC have created is, and I can't think of a more counter-productive way to do that than by racing through everything to "get to the end".
The game is very social. I see people having all kinds of discussions. Cabals are recruiting. People are seeking groups, asking for advice, etc.
For your last remark, it absolutely is not a solo MMO. You need groups in dungeons. You need groups in Lairs. You're grouped up with others in PvP. You can choose to join a random group for a dungeon any time you wish to queue up for one. You can do stuff with your Cabal-mates.
If the game is "a solo MMO" to you, then that's because it's how you're playing it. The game offers plenty of opportunity to group up. Blaming the game because you choose not to participate in them is rather unfair. Don't conflate how you choose to play the game with how the game actually is.
"You can lead a horse to water..."
Incidentally, this isn't just a TSW thing. This applies to all MMOs. So many people make gameplay choices that they openly do not find fun... and then blame the game for it, even when other choices exist. It's like repeatedly hitting yourself over the head with a hammer, and then blaming the hammer manufacturer.
Snatched up The Secret World from that Steam sale...
10 hrs in ... and very impressed.
So far it feels a bit solo player; and while in most MMOs I would quit for that alone, TSW has a wonderful vibe that I actually dont even notice or mind. Its atmosphere rivals the best single player RPG i've played. Very well done. The music, the writing - pretty darn good for a video game. and as someone who gets paid to review books for a living, thats not idle praise.
I must confess that I'm bit of a fantasy geek and dont stray too far from that setting in my videogames, but every fantasy themed MMO right now... hmmm, sucks balls - I think the kids say?
Even without the sale price, The Secret World is worth it. Very refreshing and I find myself drinking more coffee than I should and bought a notebook to keep notes in.
gg,
sincerely, a former funcom hater
Really? Not sure what you are playing but this is by far one of the worst titles of the year. Not sure why it is even the top 5 games on this site. Although they have Sword of the new coast as top 7 last week, so the rating system obviously off...any ways, back on the topic.:
remember seeing the announcement of the creation of this game. The website had this strange count down ticker to the backdrop of a city land scape. There was this monster face looking at a girl calmly drinking a soda as a digital wallpaper and advertisign media to tantalize our imaginations. It touted next gen mechanics etc.. Rumors flying around it would be a game changing title. So what was truly different about this? Welcome to The Secret World (TSO) review!
Pay Model: Back when Guild Wars 2 was in closed beta and the rumors that Buy to Play model could be the way of the future. We had a title take the torch and launch this idea into fruitation. The Secret World decided to drop it’s subscription fee it was using at commercial launch and go Buy one box, play for free on the servers. I was on the fence wether to buy this. I had no job, and needed to save money and had my sights on some singe player titles I wanted to spend on first. BUT hey, I am an mmorpg fan and this game had allot of publicity. I started my research of game reviews by cross referncing articles and reading forums. This is mixed results. You had rigid fan bois supporting this title claiming how different it is. And others complaining about key points. One website, MMORPG.COM even has it as it’s TOP game in its gamelist. (right under GW2, beating GW2 by .01 voting points). I cracked. I bought in. I purchased the game through the official website. This payment process was a night mare. It took my Credit Card info but never gave me the game despite my account saying I have a legal key to use… After panicing and waiting 2 days for credit card to clear the bank. I learned that it is not my bank but the company. I read aroun the forums and learned that at F2P announcement, FUNCOM / EA had gone bank rupt on the project and fired allot of TSO staff…so I never heard back and the website purchasing is basically dead. I went to STEAM and used their services, and then I was able to play….YUP. Once I was in the game and spent time to end game…I learned my money was not well spent and that I am shocked people actually subbed to this horrible game. This leads us to Character Creation:
Character Creation: Basic mmorpg fare. You pick male or female, tweak some features and get in the game. However, this game has probably some of the ugliest character models I have ever seen. All the males and females share the same body structure. I wanted a tall and lean character to reflect my real life body form. I got medium stalky as the standrd size that cannot be changed. The faces look like bad. And the clothing you start out with may end up being the clothing visuals you will see to end game as allot of armor is pretty ugly and mis matched or over the top. I chose some cool shoes, jeans, and stripped shirt with nice pull over. I never ran into a better in game armor. The clothing you have to start is costume, and can be retained forever. So you can upgrade armor but leave the costume on. I did this. The vendor clothign list is long but very ugly. IT seriously was like the selection of clothing at WAL MART. The quest reward gear is a little better looking and the boss drops…but it is OVER the top. You have pirate gear, steam punk, alienoid, old fashion cult garb, fall out suits….you suddenly go from “Average looking urban dweller surviving nightmares” and go to “Drag queen over theatric movie prop”…IT kiind of kills the ambience and the tone of the game is destroyed in this sense. You will see and feel this as you pass other players or see a group of ugly gorillas huddled around the teleport areas or the bank. So I never changed. I had the gear, but it was ugly. The saddest part is that the core of the game is dress up. And that leads us to Gameplay:
Gameplay: In this game, you are an urban dweller that ends up chosing a secret sociecity to join. Since you are all thrown in the same world and your faction has NO EFFECT on your skills or identity other than you a cute backstory and a title change on your character…it is useless and not even worth talking about. It is just fluff, like a “Killer of rats” title floating above your character, that is all it is for. Or a social identity. All factions can group together, and do quests together and all build the same kind of skills together. The SECRET SOCIETIES HAVE NO IMPACT on this game whatsoever. Perhaps in the pvp…but that is so bad I will not be covering PvP. It is broken.
Back to the story, you join a secret society, in the starting urban city area where all players hub together. You shop and bank here…No quests are carried out here and nothing of interest happens here other than this is the commerce hub. YOU have to go to the story missions by entering a magical lala land of teleports. To do this you have to find the portals to get there. There are 3 portals to get tthere and they are hidden on useless stretches of running. For example, after I chose my faction and settle my bank affairs, I have to run to the metro each time and descend 3 levels, turn right, turn left, and then enter the portal to start the game…This is so bad. This walk to the portal between my bank feels so bleak and bland. Why not have bank access in the mission maps? Or in the teleport area? IT just adds frustrating load screens.
So any ways, you go in the portals to an INSTANCES staging zone. It is on this strange other dimension tree. There are 2 giant robots and a humanoid guy like steam punk theme, he talls you to take a branch on the tree to travel to different places on earth (I geuess this is earth)… So you take a branch, and it zapps you to yet another portal to enter for each “story” or “content”. I started on an island somewhere I forgot as it is forgetable. All that is in the memmory is wow…this is instanced…So to go from character selection to the actual GAME I have to pass 2 instanced magical zones…this huge distraction and detraction of the world take out a HUGE sense of “disaster in your neighboorhood”. It is like YOU are the alien being zapped into this world. I could care less if the people die in it. The emotional strings it tries to pull just fail. WHY do I care what disaster is happening in this instanced zone when I have immunity to just instane out and hope away to safety…It is so dumb. So I go into this non motivated land to “discover” its mysteries.
Long story short, you are in a VERY LINEAR game. Literally, you have to follow a small path in all maps. Nothing is open wold, and if it is, you are dead the moment you break the trail as you need to progress.
This game toats NO LEVEL progression. This is a lie, there is a rank level that exists and your characters progression is reliant on the linear path. So you cannot skip one zone and go to another. You cannot advance farther along the path in a zone unless you “level” up. IT is so linear that it KILLS THE USE OF LEVELLESS PROGRESSION. So not having traditional levels, yet using all the mechanics of having levels = the game has levels. It is just a GIMIC TO GET YOU TO PAY and join this crap fest of lies.
The game advertised they do not have skill trees and it is “open and free” and the idea was you can have hybrid builds and wow FREEDOM! YA! NEW! YAY! NOPE! It does not exist. Here is what they did…they took the tree in mmorpgs that is in a square menu box., that we are all familiar with, and they made it round…That is it. SQUARE MENU – ROUND MENU. THAT IS IT. There is nothing new. They did this to attract players with false promises. The round wheel, yes, you can build what you want in the wheel…you will be useless! You HAVE TO BUILD A SPECIFIC way or you will be useless. This is well known in game. You will not pass dunjons and certain PVE elements if you do not build strictly to a class model. This is like in WoW, PWI, etc, where you have skill points and skill builds, and you can plop them anywhere, but if you do it wrong…you will end up useless and people will drop you from groups if you do not perform. Simple as that. So before you go in and think “YAY I am gonna be a blood wielding, gun dealing, healing machine!” NOPE! Chose Damage output, healer output, or shielding output and chose the appropriate weapon do fulfill your roll or GTFO! THAT Is the secret of secret world.
The questing is so boring. Typical quest hubs, and 3 different kinds of quests. It does not matter what order you do it, or what relation, it is all about (SUPER DOUBLE PUNCH TO THE BALLS) YOUR LEVEL! DERP!
Unlike games like Mass Effect, or Star Wars Old Republic where your NPC relationships are dependant on the outcome of your conversations…that will effect story as well…TSO fails. It has the ability! Why have INSTANCED, no DOUBLE INSTANCED PvE worlds, yet have no dynamic story? It just has a choice of regular mission, research mission, and boss missions. It is all the same no matter what order you do them and sometimes some quests work non logical with others. Example, you take one quest that has you clear a house of zombies “for good” and then the next guy you talk to tells you to go back, where you will be attacked by zombies since you did the talking out of order…so I guess “for good” was just fancy text to plug ina box and has no meaning on the game. Even games like TERA have dynamic questing with use of instanced sotry telling moments, and npcs that appear and dissapear depending on what quest oyu are doing. This helps flesh out the story…and TERA has been falsly accused of having no story…so if STO is WORSE than TERA and TERA is “BAD”…IMAGINE THAT! Yup, STO is that bad. So, get this…in addition to 3 quest types, ALLOT of quest givers have shaded out quests you cannot take because you are not HIGH ENOUGH LEVEL. The characer leveling is masked as a “cult rank” or the rank of your faction…That grows when you get EXP from quests. So if your HP and MP and armor and quests are all dependent on this…that makes it the official leveling system in this game. In fact, most people will not take you in a group if you are not a certain rank. SIGH. This game is so bad.
Intelligence of quests: So, allot of fan bois like to say: “Oh, I know the game is bad but I Do it because it is a thinking game. I like puzzles”. This is horrible. This game masks stupidity in quests and markets it as “intelligent”. Here is an example: You are on a mission to find a dissapearance. You walk into mayor solomons house. In the house there are portraits and a clock in the first room. In the next rool is a locked door and you need to do something to open it. Apparently, you need to to see the hour of the clock, 08:30, and because the mayors name is solomon, you need to somehow RELATE THAT TO THE BIBLE…so you go to the bible 08:30 (you know, because that makes sense…) and find a passage that says “the lion sits on the throne”….and then you know to click on the portrait that has a throne (but no lion)…And the door unlocks…Ok… ALL THAT is not puzzle making. That is just thinking like a retard…like trying to shove a square block in a circle hole…IT FEELS STUPID. IT is also forgetable. Other games know how to this. Silent Hill had great creepy puzzles…Secret World has marketing marketing marketing. It was just to sound bigger and smarter…”We built secret websites to find the answers!” yeah…the answer is there…buy it is not logival responses. It is illogical randomness. It feels stupid. IT is forgetable. I remember just being annoyed by it as I just googled the anwsers and moved on. None of it made me think huh…and IMPORTANTLY NONE OF IT IS INTERESTINGMY ENOUGH TO TRY. I mean, Silent hill, Indiana Jones, there are hemes and ambience to add to make it feel alive and interesting despite how silly it is…but STO does not deliever.
People say “Oh the game is ambient, it is so alive”. No. It has music that picks up in the fog…to intensify the action of running. That is all. It is stale and boring.
Since the point of the game is to level up and progress, this will be reliant of armor. Yes, this is an armor based game. You need to suit up to progress. Your armor and weapons are very related to your skills and class choice, like all mmorpgs. This means repetitive boss grinding. It is bad., as socializing is horrible and groups barely run anyhting except end game bosses. Because your gaming progression and end game is based on armor and crafting we should talk about crafting:
Crafting: This is the worst slap in the face. If you want to summarize the intelligence of this game…it is here…in the crafting…Here is an example: You gather coke cans and necklaces. You dissasseemble them (anywhere on the go). The dissasembling turns into STEEL, and FIRE, and WATER….from coke cans and litter folks…. Then you buy bue prints that need X amount of steel and fire etc…and you build a gun! YUP! A nice AK-47 with missle launcher built out of coke can resources… This is so stupid. And the defending fan bois are even stupider. Let me qoute a defense: “Funcom told us that crafting would not be a focus on the game, so you just have to accept it and enjoy the story”….ok but I can’t enjoy the story if I Cannot progress if I do not have my armor and weapon, which is crafted from the….Oh I give up. You people are brain dead.
Social: Bad. People hang out to show off the outlandish costumes they found and do the gungam style dance by the teleporters. Other than that, most people are unresponsive. Donjons left empty. And lots of people not building the right skills so they are useless in groups. I felt so alone, and the groups usually all wiped. Since most content is just grind solo content, people run around you aimlessly and unhelpfull. So many times I could have used a nice tank to get my healer through a narrow crowded areas (90% of the game) and they just run around pulling mobs, which run back after the agro is dropped and attack you. Thanks bun holes. Strangely, 80% of the guilds and groups that used VOIP programs, were stay at home moms with babies crying in the background...and most just there to play dress up, as the ugly costumes for women were all hoochie mama suits...
Graphics: It eats ressources like crazy. I can run aion and TERA smooth. But this game hiccupped on some boss fights. And it is not like the bosses are highly detailed. It is a resource dump. The sad server pumps of EA FUNCOM abandon ware products.
Music: It is not bad. Ok.
Combat: I will end the review here. The combat is horrid. It is the first mmorpg, and video game, to ever make my hands hurt. I had cramps after doing 111111 22222222 333333 5 222222 1 3333333 5 222222 1
FOR EVERY FIGHT! The way the monsters scale, you can be end game high level, but you can not one hit a mob. YOU have to take a few whakcs…so as a regular leveld dude doing your leveld content, you will fight each encounter like a boss fight and get those spams out or you will be taken out. So you have to spam sam spam in finger acrobats.UGHHH I would have take 3 day breaks just to let my hands not get arthritis.
After all this, there may be points I am not including…but really, after the glaring core elements broke or crap, and not to mention they sell their expantions…It is all irelevant. This game is bad and gets a score of 0/5
Please, stop being a consumer sheep and saying: “Oh well its F2P so don’t complain”. No, I will complain, because complaining makes games update and get fixed. Mindlessly playing and throwing cash at titles is what allows them to contiinue to do nothing. I have spent on mindless titles before like Runes of Magic, and I do not regret it, it was fun while it lasted, but this game is the first video game I ever regret buying. It gives a bad name to B2P.
Snatched up The Secret World from that Steam sale...
10 hrs in ... and very impressed.
So far it feels a bit solo player; and while in most MMOs I would quit for that alone, TSW has a wonderful vibe that I actually dont even notice or mind. Its atmosphere rivals the best single player RPG i've played. Very well done. The music, the writing - pretty darn good for a video game. and as someone who gets paid to review books for a living, thats not idle praise.
I must confess that I'm bit of a fantasy geek and dont stray too far from that setting in my videogames, but every fantasy themed MMO right now... hmmm, sucks balls - I think the kids say?
Even without the sale price, The Secret World is worth it. Very refreshing and I find myself drinking more coffee than I should and bought a notebook to keep notes in.
gg,
sincerely, a former funcom hater
I hate the game!!!
I summarized that wall of hate for you..
As for the game.. It's pretty damn good. It will keep you entertained for awhile. It has some of the best quests I've seen in an MMO.
"You are all going to poop yourselves." BillMurphy
"Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone."
lol Papaprika - you going for the longest post record? That wasn't just a wall of text, it was a whole apartment block. :-)
Plenty have said it before - this game is not for everyone. If you like it - great, it does deserve to thrive, if only for the variety it brings.
To those who don't - doesn't make it a bad game, just different tastes to yours that's all.
Whether other games companies will have the courage to try something different in future I don't know. I hope so, but the last one that got bitten (SE) reverted straight back to a wow clone.
Snatched up The Secret World from that Steam sale...
10 hrs in ... and very impressed.
So far it feels a bit solo player; and while in most MMOs I would quit for that alone, TSW has a wonderful vibe that I actually dont even notice or mind. Its atmosphere rivals the best single player RPG i've played. Very well done. The music, the writing - pretty darn good for a video game. and as someone who gets paid to review books for a living, thats not idle praise.
I must confess that I'm bit of a fantasy geek and dont stray too far from that setting in my videogames, but every fantasy themed MMO right now... hmmm, sucks balls - I think the kids say?
Even without the sale price, The Secret World is worth it. Very refreshing and I find myself drinking more coffee than I should and bought a notebook to keep notes in.
gg,
sincerely, a former funcom hater
I hate the game!!!
I summarized that wall of hate for you..
As for the game.. It's pretty dang good. It will keep you entertained. It has the best quests I've ever seen in a MMO.
This is the reputation of the forum users here. They are all toxic and use .00001% of the brain. I know you did not read it based on the time stamp. YOu sjust read the intro, and scrolled down to post.
Typical troll tactic. They try to sum things up to sound funny. Pick on mis spellings. Yet not one can aver pick out a point and prove it wrong. You can't. And that just justifies the "wall" even more. I take it you people have never read anything longer than a text message "yo dog wut u doin?", considering the wall is pretty small easy read. I guess all future discussions of games should be this:
Game X: Graphics: Good.
gameplay: Cool
Sound: ok
MY name bobo, me like game. Ok. Go play. bahhhhhhhhhh bahhhhhhhhh
PS: the internet use of a wall of text is some one who does not add space between lines or indents. I did both. Google "wall of text". DERP
Want tip!don't ask for spoiler in chat!people will plain ignore you at best and flame you at worst.I played swtor and tsw is better.yes on paper it sound lame ,yet for all its flaw ?still best bang for your $ this is why it is so highly rated. A b2p game is always rated fairly high!why!because of the bang for $
Apartment of solid truth and knowledge and hours of game play. Why would I write anything shorter? that would be lame. Most of you are hear and not playin video games to "READ". So I thought writing text in a site meant for READING was kind of like saving the princess at the end of mario brothers? *shrug* I could have toned it down to 2 year old level for 90% forum users here but meh, ill fish for you smarter guys.
Rating stands strong 0/5 for one of the worst titles of the year. Any how. Re Read. re read. Re read to counter any claims or trolling followed below.
I am out and will not return. Got other writings to do and the "wall" speaks for itself
I tried several times but could not get into it. Having tried all the weapon types the only two that I half like where the shotgun/AR but I hate tab targetting when using modern rifles, it doesn't feel right. I tried the TPS mode but I prefer left mouse fire and right mouse to zoom. I found hiting action bar buttons while in TPS mode clunky. I would have prefered it if the action bars were used to activate gadgets and not for abilities but that would have meant a major redesign of the game.
The concept of the game is good, missions are good, settings are good... I just couldn't get into weapons/combat.
TSW=best MMO on the market together with Age of Conan, I´m a huge Funcom fan
both titles I always keep installed, other MMOs come and go, TSW and AOC stay
TSW worst (shold read the posts before this) to see why. Most blind fans do exactly what you just said. "Love a company" with no real life quality examples to back it up. Oh what? both those titles almost got ripped off your hard drive because they went bank rupt. BOth have low quality production and have need seen updates in years. All those "other games" don"t go away, we get updates, content, and a truly F2P experience...No gold caps, or other gimmicks. For a company that holds strong to a sub system you would think all that cash would update those titles. nope, you get recyled content or fodder.
Okay... I'm gonna bite at this one because, aside from being a rambling rant of misinformation and barely coherent opinions, there's a lot of stuff that's just flat out false. If there's one thing I hate, it's people trying to deliberately mislead or misinform others.
It's also worth noting that, when doing a search on an alleged mission you attempt to describe below, I noticed that this same exact "review" has pretty much been spammed across several websites. So, call me crazy, but I smell an agenda here. However, a review should be judged on its merits, rather than the dubious intent of its author. So let's go through it, and see how well you do.
Originally posted by Papaprika
Really? Not sure what you are playing but this is by far one of the worst titles of the year. Not sure why it is even the top 5 games on this site. Although they have Sword of the new coast as top 7 last week, so the rating system obviously off...any ways, back on the topic.:
"I don't like the game, so there must be something fishy about how it's been rated by others"
Yeah, solid logic there.
Character Creation: Basic mmorpg fare. You pick male or female, tweak some features and get in the game. However, this game has probably some of the ugliest character models I have ever seen. All the males and females share the same body structure. I wanted a tall and lean character to reflect my real life body form. I got medium stalky as the standrd size that cannot be changed. The faces look like bad. And the clothing you start out with may end up being the clothing visuals you will see to end game as allot of armor is pretty ugly and mis matched or over the top.
Weren't happy with the character customization. Okay, that's personal preference, so I have nothing to say to that. I managed to make a few characters I'm happy with, and am fine with it, overall.
Personal opinion regarding the clothing. If someone is unable to come up with various ensembles that are well-matched or consistently themed, then I'd chalk that up to a lack of being able to match clothes or colors. I've come up with plenty, as have many others.
As for "over the top". That's subjective. What's over the top to you may not be to someone else. So, again, nothing to say there.
I chose some cool shoes, jeans, and stripped shirt with nice pull over. I never ran into a better in game armor. The clothing you have to start is costume, and can be retained forever. So you can upgrade armor but leave the costume on. I did this. The vendor clothign list is long but very ugly. IT seriously was like the selection of clothing at WAL MART.
Okay, still ranting about the clothing options. Tell ya what, rather than explaining my rebuttal, I'll just link you to several shots of my character in various outfits I've put together, primarily through NPC shop purchases and/or gear unlocks from Faction ranks or skill wheel completion... Click on each to view it enlarged.
That's just three, though I have several more I could post if you'd like. But I think it makes the point. I don't find any of those to be mismatched, nor "over the top". Try not to have an aneurism over the bunny slippers. It's an in-joke with my Cabal... and matches the outfit rather well.
The quest reward gear is a little better looking and the boss drops…but it is OVER the top. You have pirate gear, steam punk, alienoid, old fashion cult garb, fall out suits….you suddenly go from “Average looking urban dweller surviving nightmares” and go to “Drag queen over theatric movie prop”…IT kiind of kills the ambience and the tone of the game is destroyed in this sense. You will see and feel this as you pass other players or see a group of ugly gorillas huddled around the teleport areas or the bank. So I never changed. I had the gear, but it was ugly.
I'm sorry... did I miss the part where the game forces you to wear those gear sets outside of the quests they're required for (where applicable, such as the Hazmat suit)?
You're bitching about a game giving players more ways to set up their character and express themselves. Very odd.
The saddest part is that the core of the game is dress up. And that leads us to Gameplay:
Gameplay: In this game, you are an urban dweller that ends up chosing a secret sociecity to join. Since you are all thrown in the same world and your faction has NO EFFECT on your skills or identity other than you a cute backstory and a title change on your character…it is useless and not even worth talking about. It is just fluff, like a “Killer of
rats” title floating above your character, that is all it is for. Or a social identity.
False. Your faction affects entire storylines your character will follow as you go through the game. Your agent missions will be completely different. In situations where all 3 factions are involved (such as the "Into Darkness" mission early on), your assignment, and how you experience the mission is affected 100% by which Secret Society you joined. Any given mission can be easier or more difficult depending on which faction you're doing it as. This continues on up through the ranks.
There is no "killer of rats" title. You get titles indicating your rank within your Secret Society or via different missions or achievements you complete.
All factions can group together, and do quests together and all build the same kind of skills together. The SECRET SOCIETIES HAVE NO IMPACT on this game whatsoever. Perhaps in the pvp…but that is so bad I will not be covering PvP. It is broken.
There's a lore-driven reason why factions are able to "play nice" together. If you'd actually played to the End game as you claim, and paid any attention to the lore, you'd know this, and why it's the case.
Hint: It involves theCouncil of Veniceand its role in moderating the Secret Societies.
PvP is broken? Really? It's worked just fin when ever I've participated. Care to elaborate? You know... using actual factual info, and not just "shit you made up 'cause it sounds good in your "review"?
Back to the story, you join a secret society, in the starting urban city area where all players hub together. You shop and bank here…No quests are carried out here and nothing of interest happens here other than this is the commerce hub. YOU have to go to the story missions by entering a magical lala land of teleports. To do this you have to find the portals to get there. There are 3 portals to get tthere and they are hidden on useless stretches of running. For example, after I chose my faction and settle my bank affairs, I have to run to the metro each time and descend 3 levels, turn right, turn left, and then enter the portal to start the game…This is so bad. This walk to the portal between my bank feels so bleak and bland. Why not have bank access in the mission maps? Or in the teleport area? IT just adds frustrating load screens.
So much convoluted and oddly intertwined misinformation in this bit, I'm not even sure where to slice into it. In summary... You start out in your Faction's city. You do an initial series of quests/missions to familiarize yourself with how such things are handled in TSW, and you soon are introduced to your Faction, you choose your starting Primary and Secondary skills, you are introduced to the Skill Wheel, and are then sent off to Kingsmouth in Solomon Island to begin doing field work for your chosen Secret Society. Not sure what's so bad about that setup to you, but whatever.
You don't have to "find" the portals to get there. They are shown on the map and you are given an indication of direction and distance to them from the moment you're assigned to head to Agartha (aka "Hollow Earth", aka "La la land" as you call it). Perhaps you are poor at reading maps and can't navigate streets toward a clearly indicated marker... but I suspect most people wouldn't have that problem.
What you call "useless stretches of running" is basic navigation through The Secret World, or in any MMO. Is there some MMO I'm not aware of where your character never has to run anywhere, for any distance. Not sure what point you're trying to make by bitching about having to run for maybe 30 seconds to a portal; other than because it's one more thing you can bitch pointlessly about to pad your "review".
So any ways, you go in the portals to an INSTANCES staging zone. It is on this strange other dimension tree. There are 2 giant robots and a humanoid guy like steam punk theme, he talls you to take a branch on the tree to travel to different places on earth (I geuess this is earth)… So you take a branch, and it zapps you to yet another portal to enter for each “story” or “content”. I started on an island somewhere I forgot as it is forgetable. All that is in the memmory is wow…this is instanced…So to go from character selection to the actual GAME I have to pass 2 instanced magical zones…this huge distraction and detraction of the world take out a HUGE sense of “disaster in your neighboorhood”. It is like YOU are the alien being zapped into this world. I could care less if the people die in it. The emotional strings it tries to pull just fail. WHY do I care what disaster is happening in this instanced zone when I have immunity to just instane out and hope away to safety…It is so dumb. So I go into this non motivated land to “discover” its mysteries.
Sigh...
You are sent through Agartha (hence introducing the game's core "transportation network". Again, Agartha = Hollow Earth. So, yes... you are "on Earth". You know that whole "Everything Is True" theme that they had in all that marketing for TSW? Remember that vid where they mention "The Earth is hollow"? Yeah... Say hi to Agartha.It's even derived from actual Mythology.
The lore in the game even explains Agartha and its purpose, etc. Somehow I get the feeling you didn't bother to look into any of that, though, given the ignorance you've demonstrated so far.
Your entire perception of the game (disaster in your neighborhood, etc) clearly indicates that you didn't pay any attention to the storyline or setting of the game, either. It has nothing to do with "disaster in your neighborhood". It's a disaster that's threatening to spread to everyone on a global scale... which started during a major event in a certain major city...
Do you know which city? Don't cheat. You played to "end game", so you should certainly know this. Hell, if you're an hour into the game, you should know the answer.
Hint 1: You experience it in the form of a "memory" or "flashback" during your initiation with your chosen Secret Society....
Hint 2: It starts with a T, ends with a O, and rhymes with 'Tokyo'.
Your failure to pay attention or comprehend what's going on in the world, and your character's place in it all does not constitute incongruity on the game's part. Everything is explained, quite clearly.
Long story short, you are in a VERY LINEAR game. Literally, you have to follow a small path in all maps. Nothing is open wold, and if it is, you are dead the moment you break the trail as you need to progress.
False.
The main storyline missions (for your faction, and for each Issue) are the only ones you're required to do in a specific order all the way through. You can attempt the other missions in any order you wish. There are relatively few that will be "locked off" to you until you've met a prerequisite for it, and those prerequisites only exist in the case of missions that follow immediately on another before it. I know... makes too much sense.
Missions are hidden all over the place, in the form of NPCs, random objects on the ground, out in the open, hidden away, etc. You can have Cabal-mates or other players assist you through tougher ones to make them more manageable.
This game toats NO LEVEL progression. This is a lie, there is a rank level that exists and your characters progression is reliant on the linear path. So you cannot skip one zone and go to another. You cannot advance farther along the path in a zone unless you “level” up. IT is so linear that it KILLS THE USE OF LEVELLESS PROGRESSION. So not having traditional levels, yet using all the mechanics of having levels = the game has levels. It is just a GIMIC TO GET YOU TO PAY and join this crap fest of lies.
Again, False.
The game has no levels in the sense of "character levels" or "skill levels". You are making the common mistake of confusing "progression" with "levels". You failing to understand (or just plain mischaracterizing) a game system does not render it a "gimic". It means you either don't understand the setup, or are deliberately misinforming about it.
The game advertised they do not have skill trees and it is “open and free” and the idea was you can have hybrid builds and wow FREEDOM! YA! NEW! YAY! NOPE! It does not exist. Here is what they did…they took the tree in mmorpgs that is in a square menu box., that we are all familiar with, and they made it round…That is it. SQUARE MENU – ROUND MENU. THAT IS IT. There is nothing new.
FALSE.
You are so way out in the weeds on this one.
Unlocking the skills and working your way up through the different weapon sets is where TSW's skill system begins; not where it ends.
The entire system is based around the concept of "Synergy", which is itself an involved enough concept that there's an entire Wiki article dedicated to it. Perhaps you should read it yourself; then you wouldn't go making such ridiculous claims.
That doesn't get into the "Miscellaneous" skills that one can unlock to further customize their build.
That doesn't even get into Talisman builds, glyphs, signets, weapon stats, and how all those things even further enhance their choice of weapons and builds.
With all those things combined, there are innumerable possible builds a player can put together, experiment with, tweak, adjust and use. Even within the same overall "role".
Yet again, you either have no clue of what you're talking about here, or you're just flat out lying.
They did this to attract players with false promises. The round wheel, yes, you can build what you want in the wheel…you will be useless! You HAVE TO BUILD A SPECIFIC way or you will be useless. This is well known in game. You will not pass dunjons and certain PVE elements if you do not build strictly to a class model. This is like in WoW, PWI, etc, where you have skill points and skill builds, and you can plop them anywhere, but if you do it wrong…you will end up useless and people will drop you from groups if you do not perform. Simple as that. So before you go in and think “YAY I am gonna be a blood wielding, gun dealing, healing machine!” NOPE! Chose Damage output, healer output, or shielding output and chose the appropriate weapon do fulfill your roll or GTFO! THAT Is the secret of secret world.
You have tons of options on how to build out your character. Any given role has a variety of builds they can employ. If you create a build without having any understanding of what you're doing, what passives and actives complement each other (ie. Synergy), don't have a solid Talisman setup for your intended role/goal.. yes... you'll be useless. You have to use common-sense and employ an understanding of the system to come up with builds that will work for you in a given situation. That's not exactly a "bad thing". I'm quite sure most people would rather do well in a given activity, than "suck horribly" at it.
The questing is so boring. Typical quest hubs, and 3 different kinds of quests. It does not matter what order you do it, or what relation, it is all about (SUPER DOUBLE PUNCH TO THE BALLS) YOUR LEVEL! DERP!
FALSE
Is there anything you actually learned while playing, bothered to look up, or didn't just pull out of your ass when writing your "review"?
There are Seven (7) types of missions. They are 'Story', 'Action', 'Investigation', 'Sabotage', 'Rank (Faction)', 'Dungeon' and 'Item'. They come from all different types of sources, and can be found all over any given area. Some are centered around specific locations. Some cover an entire zone/area. Some span multiple zones. Some send you into the past. Some require you to be dead to solve them. They run the gamut.
Once again, if you had any intent of being honest or accurate in your "review", you could have found this out for yourself with a 10 second google search... Free Reality Check For Reviewers Who Make Shit Up!
And again, they are not all about your "level". I've gotten missions offered to me in areas that are *wayyyyyy* beyond my capability right now. The quest description tells you the difficulty (easy, normal, hard, very hard, devastating), so you have an idea of whether it's something you should be taking yet or not.
Even games like TERA have dynamic questing with use of instanced sotry telling moments, and npcs that appear and dissapear depending on what quest oyu are doing. This helps flesh out the story…and TERA has been falsly accused of having no story…so if STO is WORSE than TERA and TERA is “BAD”…IMAGINE THAT! Yup, STO is that bad. So, get this…in addition to 3 quest types, ALLOT of quest givers have shaded out quests you cannot take because you are not HIGH ENOUGH LEVEL. The characer leveling is masked as a “cult rank” or the rank of your faction…That grows when you get EXP from quests. So if your HP and MP and armor and quests are all dependent on this…that makes it the official leveling system in this game. In fact, most people will not take you in a group if you are not a certain rank. SIGH. This game is so bad.
More meandering, inaccurate nonsense... This is getting boring.
Intelligence of quests: So, allot of fan bois like to say: “Oh, I know the game is bad but I Do it because it is a thinking game. I like puzzles”. This is horrible. This game masks stupidity in quests and markets it as “intelligent”. Here is an example: You are on a mission to find a dissapearance. You walk into mayor solomons house. In the house there are portraits and a clock in the first room. In the next rool is a locked door and you need to do something to open it. Apparently, you need to to see the hour of the clock, 08:30, and because the mayors name is solomon, you need to somehow RELATE THAT TO THE BIBLE…so you go to the bible 08:30 (you know, because that makes sense…) and find a passage that says “the lion sits on the throne”….and then you know to click on the portrait that has a throne (but no lion)…And the door unlocks…Ok… ALL THAT is not puzzle making. That is just thinking like a retard…like trying to shove a square block in a circle hole…IT FEELS STUPID.
Mind telling me what Mission it is that you're describing? I've tried searching for the mission you're describing and can't find it anywhere. When I do a search for "secret world mission the lion sits on the throne", for example, the only relevant results that come up link to the other places you've posted this "review" of yours.
It sounds like you're trying to describe Town Hall portion of "The Kingsmouth Code" and doing a horrible job of it.
I'd like to give you the benefit of the doubt and conclude that you're just misremembering something, but considering your track record and utter lack of factual information so far...
So, please link me to the actual mission you're describing, because I have a feeling it doesn't actually exist. Who knows, though. Maybe it does exist and you'll have actually managed to get something right.
People say “Oh the game is ambient, it is so alive”. No. It has music that picks up in the fog…to intensify the action of running. That is all. It is stale and boring.
Are you sure you've even played this game? Seriously?
Since the point of the game is to level up and progress, this will be reliant of armor. Yes, this is an armor based game. You need to suit up to progress. Your armor and weapons are very related to your skills and class choice, like all mmorpgs. This means repetitive boss grinding. It is bad., as socializing is horrible and groups barely run anyhting except end game bosses. Because your gaming progression and end game is based on armor and crafting we should talk about crafting:
Yes, in order to survive harder challenges, you improve your gear over time. Welcome to every RPG ever.
However, that only goes so far. You can have the best gear in the game, you can have all weapons fully unlocked and all the best Glyphs and Signets for a given build in-slot. If you don't understand what all of that does, or how to make the most of it.. you will get your ass kicked. Repeatedly.
Crafting: This is the worst slap in the face. If you want to summarize the intelligence of this game…it is here…in the crafting…Here is an example: You gather coke cans and necklaces. You dissasseemble them (anywhere on the go). The dissasembling turns into STEEL, and FIRE, and WATER….from coke cans and litter folks…. Then you buy bue prints that need X amount of steel and fire etc…and you build a gun! YUP! A nice AK-47 with missle launcher built out of coke can resources…
Holy mother of... FALSE.
"coke cans and litter"? Seriously?
You have lost all right to ever question anyone else's intelligence again. Ever.
Once again, you demonstrate either a gross amount of dishonesty, or an almost impressive amount of ignorance about something in this game.
Here... I'll allow those who actually want to know how the system works learn about it for themselves. If you suddenly get the random urge to be informed, you could do the same. Here's a link to a basic crafting article (2 pages). It covers the basics, but there's more depth you can get into with it.
Take special note of the distinct lack of "coke cans and debris" mentioned anywhere when you're reading it.
Social: Bad. People hang out to show off the outlandish costumes they found and do the gungam style dance by the teleporters. Other than that, most people are unresponsive. Donjons left empty. And lots of people not building the right skills so they are useless in groups. I felt so alone, and the groups usually all wiped. Since most content is just grind solo content, people run around you aimlessly and unhelpfull. So many times I could have used a nice tank to get my healer through a narrow crowded areas (90% of the game) and they just run around pulling mobs, which run back after the agro is dropped and attack you. Thanks bun holes. Strangely, 80% of the guilds and groups that used VOIP programs, were stay at home moms with babies crying in the background...and most just there to play dress up, as the ugly costumes for women were all hoochie mama suits...
Hmm... Community/Social aspect has been fine for me. Could it maybe be that your experience had more to do with you, than with everyone else?
Graphics: It eats ressources like crazy. I can run aion and TERA smooth. But this game hiccupped on some boss fights. And it is not like the bosses are highly detailed. It is a resource dump. The sad server pumps of EA FUNCOM abandon ware products.
Pro-Tip: Abandonware doesn't mean what you seem to think it means. At this point, this does not surprise me.
Combat: I will end the review here. The combat is horrid. It is the first mmorpg, and video game, to ever make my hands hurt. I had cramps after doing 111111 22222222 333333 5 222222 1 3333333 5 222222 1
FOR EVERY FIGHT! The way the monsters scale, you can be end game high level, but you can not one hit a mob. YOU have to take a few whakcs…so as a regular leveld dude doing your leveld content, you will fight each encounter like a boss fight and get those spams out or you will be taken out. So you have to spam sam spam in finger acrobats.UGHHH I would have take 3 day breaks just to let my hands not get arthritis.
If you actually were playing that way, and this isn't more BS and hyperbole on your part (hard to tell at this point), then it pretty much proves what you've indicated all along.. You don't actually understand the skill system in this game or how to make the most effective use of it. If you did, you would not be spamming the same key over and over again.
After all this, there may be points I am not including…but really, after the glaring core elements broke or crap, and not to mention they sell their expantions…It is all irelevant. This game is bad and gets a score of 0/5
You say that as though you've made any points to begin with.
In your entire wall of text, you failed to make even one argument that wasn't made up, hyperbole or a blatant lie, or a demonstration of how little you actually know about the game you're "reviewing". It does paint a clear picture as to why you failed to get anything out of it, however. So there's that.
Comments
Kingsmouth is probably the best area I have encountered in any MMO. The American Gothic theme with inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft and his kind is perfect. great place to run around and kill zombies.
The Egypt area is not so much to my liking, and a let-down after Kingsmouth. I recognize the Indiana Jones/biblical theme they try to create, but for me it doesn't fit as well. I stopped playing about a year ago and only recently returned to make another run, so there might be more information in the updates that brings the story along.
The Transylvania area with Vlad the Impaler and vampires are pretty cool, but the fusing of Soviet-era experiments makes it a bit more confusing. Hopefully will the updates shed more light to the story.
Overall, a great game, and I am glad I invested in a lifetime sub. I can see this as a game I return to regularly, but might not play every evening for the next five years. Stopping by from time to time is definitely going to happen.
Reading comprehension. It helps.
Incidentally... Many people saying the game is great bought it at its full/normal price, and even payed a subscription for it when that was still required. They continue to buy the Updates as they're released. Some continue to pay the optional sub even now that it's not necessary; I'm certainly among them.
So, exactly what point is it you were trying to make with your remark?
Yeah, I bought it at release and was paying a sub for it, I really liked it. I thought the quest stories were great, and I am a spacebar hitter and hate quests usually.
I just honestly ran out of content once I ran into transylvannia area and did it a few times, out of appreciation, I stayed subbed while I was waiting on more content, then it went f2p. Considering that I got 200x more gameplay out of it then I did GW2, I can't complain. I have been thinking of going back to see what all new stuff they have done.
I think their big problem is, that the quests and such are of such a good quality imo, that it would take too long to generate content, as this is a problem for themeparks anyway, but seemingly much bigger for TSW. Still one of the best mmos in the past 6-7 years imo.
It's as single-player or multi-player as you want it to be. I've done a number of missions solo. I've done a number of them with a group. Hell, it's an activity folks in my Cabal will partake in to get a group together to do nothing but run missions.
I spent about 6 hours yesterday doing Lairs, Lair Bosses and Regional Bosses with about 8 other people.
I spent a good hour at least last night with some others working through the "Last Train to Cairo" story (which is freaking brilliant... better than the "Dawning of An Endless Night", which was also fantastic).
I spent a good hour or so doing PvP with other Cabal-mates.
Ran some dungeons with some people, both in my Cabal and in PUGs via the dungeon finder.
There's been plenty of group content to do. I think people just let themselves get stuck in the rut of doing everything solo, and then just sorta assume "it's all there is to do".
You mention taking on hordes of mobs at a time. I'm gonna ask for some qualification for that, because without some context, that seems to be rather hyperbolic. What were you fighting, and in what zone? What QL were you at the time? How many mobs did you actually have around you? Saying "hordes" implies at least a dozen... probably more. I can say from experience that, even when you're several QL tiers above the mobs you're fighting, they can still chew you up pretty fast if you're not careful. I'm in QL7/8 gear, and some of the earlier mobs in Savage Coast still get through my HP pretty quickly if I get 5 or 6 of them on me. So.. if you could provide a bit more detail on how you're 'taking on hordes of mobs at a time', that'd be great
It's also worth noting that, community-wise, this game has absolutely the best I've seen in years. Most MMOs, I'll have several people on my ignore list within the first day. So far, I've not a single one on my ignore list in TSW. Everyone I've run into has been either very cool, or at least not a jerk.
A sure sign that you are in an old, dying paradigm/mindset, is when you are scared of new ideas and new technology. Don't feel bad. The world is moving on without you, and you are welcome to yell "Get Off My Lawn!" all you want while it happens. You cannot, however, stop an idea whose time has come.
TSW immediately thrust itself into the permanent category. I try all mmo's but only a couple don't get uninstalled. Now I go back for new expansions in eq, eq2, DDO, and TSW.
TSW single player content is simply unrivaled. No current MMO's available match their voice acting and story telling. Few MMO's available best their progression system and partially visceral combat.
Edit for disclaimers: Sadly, it is still lacking in some fundamental areas to be a truly complete and polished MMO. IMO the game has too many servers/chat rooms, and lacks voice chat. Also, the end game detracts from everything leading up to it. By this I mean that builds are less versatile, and instance/raid grinding is not as fun in TSW as I have experienced it to be in other games. This is possibly greatly due to the fact that you lose out on the great storyline and acting you come to expect by that point.
It becomes an instance grind if you choose to make it one. This is one of those situations where people make gameplay choices they aren't required to, and then react as though there was no other option.
"Getting gear faster" only matters if you make it a priority to do so. Again, personal choice. The game isn't forcing you to play it that way. You are.
I've had that choice as well, to do frequent/constant instance runs. I don't, because it doesn't interest me. I opt to mix it up. Do some instances, and then do some other activities.
I've crafted a bunch of my talismans/glyphs/weapons, because I found I had the materials to create something better than what I had, and I didn't have to wait to do a dungeon run for the chance to get a drop I could/would use. When I do a dungeon, and I get a good drop that can replace something, then I'll use it, or set it aside for when I'm able to. Getting gear is not the prime motivator for me. Experiencing and engaging in the fascinating world/story/setting FC have created is, and I can't think of a more counter-productive way to do that than by racing through everything to "get to the end".
The game is very social. I see people having all kinds of discussions. Cabals are recruiting. People are seeking groups, asking for advice, etc.
For your last remark, it absolutely is not a solo MMO. You need groups in dungeons. You need groups in Lairs. You're grouped up with others in PvP. You can choose to join a random group for a dungeon any time you wish to queue up for one. You can do stuff with your Cabal-mates.
If the game is "a solo MMO" to you, then that's because it's how you're playing it. The game offers plenty of opportunity to group up. Blaming the game because you choose not to participate in them is rather unfair. Don't conflate how you choose to play the game with how the game actually is.
"You can lead a horse to water..."
Incidentally, this isn't just a TSW thing. This applies to all MMOs. So many people make gameplay choices that they openly do not find fun... and then blame the game for it, even when other choices exist. It's like repeatedly hitting yourself over the head with a hammer, and then blaming the hammer manufacturer.
Really? Not sure what you are playing but this is by far one of the worst titles of the year. Not sure why it is even the top 5 games on this site. Although they have Sword of the new coast as top 7 last week, so the rating system obviously off...any ways, back on the topic.:
remember seeing the announcement of the creation of this game. The website had this strange count down ticker to the backdrop of a city land scape.
There was this monster face looking at a girl calmly drinking a soda as a digital wallpaper and advertisign media to tantalize our imaginations. It touted next gen mechanics etc.. Rumors flying around it would be a game changing title. So what was truly different about this? Welcome to The Secret World (TSO) review!
Pay Model: Back when Guild Wars 2 was in closed beta and the rumors that Buy to Play model could be the way of the future. We had a title take the torch and launch this idea into fruitation. The Secret World decided to drop it’s subscription fee it was using at commercial launch and go Buy one box, play for free on the servers. I was on the fence wether to buy this. I had no job, and needed to save money and had my sights on some singe player titles I wanted to spend on first. BUT hey, I am an mmorpg fan and this game had allot of publicity.
I started my research of game reviews by cross referncing articles and reading forums. This is mixed results. You had rigid fan bois supporting this title claiming how different it is. And others complaining about key points. One website, MMORPG.COM even has it as it’s TOP game in its gamelist. (right under GW2, beating GW2 by .01 voting points). I cracked. I bought in. I purchased the game through the official website. This payment process was a night mare. It took my Credit Card info but never gave me the game despite my account saying I have a legal key to use… After panicing and waiting 2 days for credit card to clear the bank. I learned that it is not my bank but the company. I read aroun the forums and learned that at F2P announcement, FUNCOM / EA had gone bank rupt on the project and fired allot of TSO staff…so I never heard back and the website purchasing is basically dead. I went to STEAM and used their services, and then I was able to play….YUP.
Once I was in the game and spent time to end game…I learned my money was not well spent and that I am shocked people actually subbed to this horrible game. This leads us to Character Creation:
Character Creation: Basic mmorpg fare. You pick male or female, tweak some features and get in the game. However, this game has probably some of the ugliest character models I have ever seen. All the males and females share the same body structure. I wanted a tall and lean character to reflect my real life body form. I got medium stalky as the standrd size that cannot be changed. The faces look like bad. And the clothing you start out with may end up being the clothing visuals you will see to end game as allot of armor is pretty ugly and mis matched or over the top.
I chose some cool shoes, jeans, and stripped shirt with nice pull over. I never ran into a better in game armor. The clothing you have to start is costume, and can be retained forever. So you can upgrade armor but leave the costume on. I did this. The vendor clothign list is long but very ugly. IT seriously was like the selection of clothing at WAL MART.
The quest reward gear is a little better looking and the boss drops…but it is OVER the top. You have pirate gear, steam punk, alienoid, old fashion cult garb, fall out suits….you suddenly go from “Average looking urban dweller surviving nightmares” and go to “Drag queen over theatric movie prop”…IT kiind of kills the ambience and the tone of the game is destroyed in this sense. You will see and feel this as you pass other players or see a group of ugly gorillas huddled around the teleport areas or the bank. So I never changed. I had the gear, but it was ugly.
The saddest part is that the core of the game is dress up. And that leads us to Gameplay:
The game advertised they do not have skill trees and it is “open and free” and the idea was you can have hybrid builds and wow FREEDOM! YA! NEW! YAY! NOPE! It does not exist. Here is what they did…they took the tree in mmorpgs that is in a square menu box., that we are all familiar with, and they made it round…That is it. SQUARE MENU – ROUND MENU. THAT IS IT. There is nothing new. They did this to attract players with false promises. The round wheel, yes, you can build what you want in the wheel…you will be useless! You HAVE TO BUILD A SPECIFIC way or you will be useless. This is well known in game. You will not pass dunjons and certain PVE elements if you do not build strictly to a class model. This is like in WoW, PWI, etc, where you have skill points and skill builds, and you can plop them anywhere, but if you do it wrong…you will end up useless and people will drop you from groups if you do not perform. Simple as that. So before you go in and think “YAY I am gonna be a blood wielding, gun dealing, healing machine!” NOPE! Chose Damage output, healer output, or shielding output and chose the appropriate weapon do fulfill your roll or GTFO!
THAT Is the secret of secret world.
The questing is so boring. Typical quest hubs, and 3 different kinds of quests. It does not matter what order you do it, or what relation, it is all about (SUPER DOUBLE PUNCH TO THE BALLS) YOUR LEVEL! DERP!
Unlike games like Mass Effect, or Star Wars Old Republic where your NPC relationships are dependant on the outcome of your conversations…that will effect story as well…TSO fails. It has the ability! Why have INSTANCED, no DOUBLE INSTANCED PvE worlds, yet have no dynamic story? It just has a choice of regular mission, research mission, and boss missions. It is all the same no matter what order you do them and sometimes some quests work non logical with others. Example, you take one quest that has you clear a house of zombies “for good” and then the next guy you talk to tells you to go back, where you will be attacked by zombies since you did the talking out of order…so I guess “for good” was just fancy text to plug ina box and has no meaning on the game.
Even games like TERA have dynamic questing with use of instanced sotry telling moments, and npcs that appear and dissapear depending on what quest oyu are doing. This helps flesh out the story…and TERA has been falsly accused of having no story…so if STO is WORSE than TERA and TERA is “BAD”…IMAGINE THAT! Yup, STO is that bad. So, get this…in addition to 3 quest types, ALLOT of quest givers have shaded out quests you cannot take because you are not HIGH ENOUGH LEVEL. The characer leveling is masked as a “cult rank” or the rank of your faction…That grows when you get EXP from quests. So if your HP and MP and armor and quests are all dependent on this…that makes it the official leveling system in this game. In fact, most people will not take you in a group if you are not a certain rank. SIGH. This game is so bad.
Intelligence of quests: So, allot of fan bois like to say: “Oh, I know the game is bad but I Do it because it is a thinking game. I like puzzles”. This is horrible. This game masks stupidity in quests and markets it as “intelligent”. Here is an example: You are on a mission to find a dissapearance. You walk into mayor solomons house. In the house there are portraits and a clock in the first room. In the next rool is a locked door and you need to do something to open it. Apparently, you need to to see the hour of the clock, 08:30, and because the mayors name is solomon, you need to somehow RELATE THAT TO THE BIBLE…so you go to the bible 08:30 (you know, because that makes sense…) and find a passage that says “the lion sits on the throne”….and then you know to click on the portrait that has a throne (but no lion)…And the door unlocks…Ok… ALL THAT is not puzzle making. That is just thinking like a retard…like trying to shove a square block in a circle hole…IT FEELS STUPID. IT is also forgetable. Other games know how to this. Silent Hill had great creepy puzzles…Secret World has marketing marketing marketing. It was just to sound bigger and smarter…”We built secret websites to find the answers!” yeah…the answer is there…buy it is not logival responses. It is illogical randomness. It feels stupid. IT is forgetable. I remember just being annoyed by it as I just googled the anwsers and moved on. None of it made me think huh…and IMPORTANTLY NONE OF IT IS INTERESTINGMY ENOUGH TO TRY. I mean, Silent hill, Indiana Jones, there are hemes and ambience to add to make it feel alive and interesting despite how silly it is…but STO does not deliever.
People say “Oh the game is ambient, it is so alive”. No. It has music that picks up in the fog…to intensify the action of running. That is all. It is stale and boring.
Since the point of the game is to level up and progress, this will be reliant of armor. Yes, this is an armor based game. You need to suit up to progress. Your armor and weapons are very related to your skills and class choice, like all mmorpgs. This means repetitive boss grinding. It is bad., as socializing is horrible and groups barely run anyhting except end game bosses. Because your gaming progression and end game is based on armor and crafting we should talk about crafting:
Crafting: This is the worst slap in the face. If you want to summarize the intelligence of this game…it is here…in the crafting…Here is an example: You gather coke cans and necklaces. You dissasseemble them (anywhere on the go). The dissasembling turns into STEEL, and FIRE, and WATER….from coke cans and litter folks…. Then you buy bue prints that need X amount of steel and fire etc…and you build a gun! YUP! A nice AK-47 with missle launcher built out of coke can resources…
This is so stupid. And the defending fan bois are even stupider. Let me qoute a defense: “Funcom told us that crafting would not be a focus on the game, so you just have to accept it and enjoy the story”….ok but I can’t enjoy the story if I Cannot progress if I do not have my armor and weapon, which is crafted from the….Oh I give up. You people are brain dead.
Social: Bad. People hang out to show off the outlandish costumes they found and do the gungam style dance by the teleporters. Other than that, most people are unresponsive. Donjons left empty. And lots of people not building the right skills so they are useless in groups. I felt so alone, and the groups usually all wiped. Since most content is just grind solo content, people run around you aimlessly and unhelpfull. So many times I could have used a nice tank to get my healer through a narrow crowded areas (90% of the game) and they just run around pulling mobs, which run back after the agro is dropped and attack you. Thanks bun holes. Strangely, 80% of the guilds and groups that used VOIP programs, were stay at home moms with babies crying in the background...and most just there to play dress up, as the ugly costumes for women were all hoochie mama suits...
Graphics: It eats ressources like crazy. I can run aion and TERA smooth. But this game hiccupped on some boss fights. And it is not like the bosses are highly detailed. It is a resource dump. The sad server pumps of EA FUNCOM abandon ware products.
Music: It is not bad. Ok.
Combat: I will end the review here. The combat is horrid. It is the first mmorpg, and video game, to ever make my hands hurt. I had cramps after doing 111111 22222222 333333 5 222222 1 3333333 5 222222 1
FOR EVERY FIGHT! The way the monsters scale, you can be end game high level, but you can not one hit a mob. YOU have to take a few whakcs…so as a regular leveld dude doing your leveld content, you will fight each encounter like a boss fight and get those spams out or you will be taken out. So you have to spam sam spam in finger acrobats.UGHHH I would have take 3 day breaks just to let my hands not get arthritis.
After all this, there may be points I am not including…but really, after the glaring core elements broke or crap, and not to mention they sell their expantions…It is all irelevant. This game is bad and gets a score of 0/5
Please, stop being a consumer sheep and saying: “Oh well its F2P so don’t complain”. No, I will complain, because complaining makes games update and get fixed. Mindlessly playing and throwing cash at titles is what allows them to contiinue to do nothing. I have spent on mindless titles before like Runes of Magic, and I do not regret it, it was fun while it lasted, but this game is the first video game I ever regret buying. It gives a bad name to B2P.
I summarized that wall of hate for you..
As for the game.. It's pretty damn good. It will keep you entertained for awhile. It has some of the best quests I've seen in an MMO.
"You are all going to poop yourselves." BillMurphy
"Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone."
lol Papaprika - you going for the longest post record? That wasn't just a wall of text, it was a whole apartment block. :-)
Plenty have said it before - this game is not for everyone. If you like it - great, it does deserve to thrive, if only for the variety it brings.
To those who don't - doesn't make it a bad game, just different tastes to yours that's all.
Whether other games companies will have the courage to try something different in future I don't know. I hope so, but the last one that got bitten (SE) reverted straight back to a wow clone.
This is the reputation of the forum users here. They are all toxic and use .00001% of the brain. I know you did not read it based on the time stamp. YOu sjust read the intro, and scrolled down to post.
Typical troll tactic. They try to sum things up to sound funny. Pick on mis spellings. Yet not one can aver pick out a point and prove it wrong. You can't. And that just justifies the "wall" even more. I take it you people have never read anything longer than a text message "yo dog wut u doin?", considering the wall is pretty small easy read. I guess all future discussions of games should be this:
Game X: Graphics: Good.
gameplay: Cool
Sound: ok
MY name bobo, me like game. Ok. Go play. bahhhhhhhhhh bahhhhhhhhh
PS: the internet use of a wall of text is some one who does not add space between lines or indents. I did both. Google "wall of text". DERP
Apartment of solid truth and knowledge and hours of game play. Why would I write anything shorter? that would be lame. Most of you are hear and not playin video games to "READ". So I thought writing text in a site meant for READING was kind of like saving the princess at the end of mario brothers? *shrug* I could have toned it down to 2 year old level for 90% forum users here but meh, ill fish for you smarter guys.
Rating stands strong 0/5 for one of the worst titles of the year. Any how. Re Read. re read. Re read to counter any claims or trolling followed below.
I am out and will not return. Got other writings to do and the "wall" speaks for itself
I tried several times but could not get into it. Having tried all the weapon types the only two that I half like where the shotgun/AR but I hate tab targetting when using modern rifles, it doesn't feel right. I tried the TPS mode but I prefer left mouse fire and right mouse to zoom. I found hiting action bar buttons while in TPS mode clunky. I would have prefered it if the action bars were used to activate gadgets and not for abilities but that would have meant a major redesign of the game.
The concept of the game is good, missions are good, settings are good... I just couldn't get into weapons/combat.
TSW=best MMO on the market together with Age of Conan, I´m a huge Funcom fan
both titles I always keep installed, other MMOs come and go, TSW and AOC stay
TSW worst (shold read the posts before this) to see why. Most blind fans do exactly what you just said. "Love a company" with no real life quality examples to back it up. Oh what? both those titles almost got ripped off your hard drive because they went bank rupt. BOth have low quality production and have need seen updates in years. All those "other games" don"t go away, we get updates, content, and a truly F2P experience...No gold caps, or other gimmicks. For a company that holds strong to a sub system you would think all that cash would update those titles. nope, you get recyled content or fodder.
Hiya impressed....I'm Apoc Hur Hur
yah it is pretty good game. Ill proba ly head back when I burnout on FF14
No matter how cynical you become, its never enough to keep up - Lily Tomlin
Okay... I'm gonna bite at this one because, aside from being a rambling rant of misinformation and barely coherent opinions, there's a lot of stuff that's just flat out false. If there's one thing I hate, it's people trying to deliberately mislead or misinform others.
It's also worth noting that, when doing a search on an alleged mission you attempt to describe below, I noticed that this same exact "review" has pretty much been spammed across several websites. So, call me crazy, but I smell an agenda here. However, a review should be judged on its merits, rather than the dubious intent of its author. So let's go through it, and see how well you do.
False. Your faction affects entire storylines your character will follow as you go through the game. Your agent missions will be completely different. In situations where all 3 factions are involved (such as the "Into Darkness" mission early on), your assignment, and how you experience the mission is affected 100% by which Secret Society you joined. Any given mission can be easier or more difficult depending on which faction you're doing it as. This continues on up through the ranks.
There is no "killer of rats" title. You get titles indicating your rank within your Secret Society or via different missions or achievements you complete.
A 10 second google search would have saved you the trouble of making shit up for your "review".
There's a lore-driven reason why factions are able to "play nice" together. If you'd actually played to the End game as you claim, and paid any attention to the lore, you'd know this, and why it's the case.
Hint: It involves the Council of Venice and its role in moderating the Secret Societies.
PvP is broken? Really? It's worked just fin when ever I've participated. Care to elaborate? You know... using actual factual info, and not just "shit you made up 'cause it sounds good in your "review"?
So much convoluted and oddly intertwined misinformation in this bit, I'm not even sure where to slice into it. In summary... You start out in your Faction's city. You do an initial series of quests/missions to familiarize yourself with how such things are handled in TSW, and you soon are introduced to your Faction, you choose your starting Primary and Secondary skills, you are introduced to the Skill Wheel, and are then sent off to Kingsmouth in Solomon Island to begin doing field work for your chosen Secret Society. Not sure what's so bad about that setup to you, but whatever.
You don't have to "find" the portals to get there. They are shown on the map and you are given an indication of direction and distance to them from the moment you're assigned to head to Agartha (aka "Hollow Earth", aka "La la land" as you call it). Perhaps you are poor at reading maps and can't navigate streets toward a clearly indicated marker... but I suspect most people wouldn't have that problem.
What you call "useless stretches of running" is basic navigation through The Secret World, or in any MMO. Is there some MMO I'm not aware of where your character never has to run anywhere, for any distance. Not sure what point you're trying to make by bitching about having to run for maybe 30 seconds to a portal; other than because it's one more thing you can bitch pointlessly about to pad your "review".
Sigh...
You are sent through Agartha (hence introducing the game's core "transportation network". Again, Agartha = Hollow Earth. So, yes... you are "on Earth". You know that whole "Everything Is True" theme that they had in all that marketing for TSW? Remember that vid where they mention "The Earth is hollow"? Yeah... Say hi to Agartha. It's even derived from actual Mythology.
The lore in the game even explains Agartha and its purpose, etc. Somehow I get the feeling you didn't bother to look into any of that, though, given the ignorance you've demonstrated so far.
Your entire perception of the game (disaster in your neighborhood, etc) clearly indicates that you didn't pay any attention to the storyline or setting of the game, either. It has nothing to do with "disaster in your neighborhood". It's a disaster that's threatening to spread to everyone on a global scale... which started during a major event in a certain major city...
Do you know which city? Don't cheat. You played to "end game", so you should certainly know this. Hell, if you're an hour into the game, you should know the answer.
Hint 1: You experience it in the form of a "memory" or "flashback" during your initiation with your chosen Secret Society....
Hint 2: It starts with a T, ends with a O, and rhymes with 'Tokyo'.
Your failure to pay attention or comprehend what's going on in the world, and your character's place in it all does not constitute incongruity on the game's part. Everything is explained, quite clearly.
Again, False.
The game has no levels in the sense of "character levels" or "skill levels". You are making the common mistake of confusing "progression" with "levels". You failing to understand (or just plain mischaracterizing) a game system does not render it a "gimic". It means you either don't understand the setup, or are deliberately misinforming about it.
FALSE.
You are so way out in the weeds on this one.
Unlocking the skills and working your way up through the different weapon sets is where TSW's skill system begins; not where it ends.
The entire system is based around the concept of "Synergy", which is itself an involved enough concept that there's an entire Wiki article dedicated to it. Perhaps you should read it yourself; then you wouldn't go making such ridiculous claims.
That doesn't get into the "Miscellaneous" skills that one can unlock to further customize their build.
That doesn't even get into Talisman builds, glyphs, signets, weapon stats, and how all those things even further enhance their choice of weapons and builds.
With all those things combined, there are innumerable possible builds a player can put together, experiment with, tweak, adjust and use. Even within the same overall "role".
Yet again, you either have no clue of what you're talking about here, or you're just flat out lying.