Q/A from Ragnar's Twitter

RT: Okay, so here we go

chriscurrie: Are there forces in play beyond the three factions we've seen? Or do they mostly compete against each other?

RT: There are certainly other - darker, older - forces at play, and they are definitely going to be crucial to the story.

iktose: What are the tokens we got for ? ...what ? this is not a valid question ? but I'm sure many of us want to know this answer

RT: Can't tell you yet, but do hold onto them. Wait...which tokens? I don't know about any tokens.

Agrabush: Can factions group with each other on the surface? Or do all my friends have to join the same faction?

RT: We haven't announced anything yet - but the secret societies do stand united against evil.

henriksultan: Not a question about the game so i wont tag it with tswqa but where is that video they are talking about?? I wanna see it..

RT: It's on my computer.

philcsf: Yo, big fan. What's the predicted release date for The Secret World? Will the release be simultaneous, or delays for region/platform?

RT: No official release date yet, but I'm sure we'll launch simultaneously in Europe and North America.

albedo777: The articles touched on cabal pvp and cells to get anima. What about smaller cabals? Will it be difficult/impossible for us?

RT: Not impossible but probably more difficult. If you're few but strong and well coordinated you can still put up a fight.

Samozwaniec: when we will see gameplay and ingame footages?

RT: I'd love to see it released some time this autumn, but that hasn't been decided yet.

Agrabush: What kind of non-combat content will there be? And we need more info on crafting!

RT: We'll talk about trade skills another time but it's going to be fun. Many missions won't be about killing things.

Mimezu: we know that society HQ will be social places, will there be other social spots in the game (nightclubs, etc ...) ?

RT: Yes.

darkSTandrew: how will the cabal houses work?

RT: As gathering places for your cabal! There's gameplay associated with them, but we're not revealing anything more now.

Templar_unknown: I wonder how entry to Agartha will take place? Wonder if any of the lore based "entry points" are real?

RT: There will be many, many roads into Agartha. Some old, some new, some known, some very, very secret.

Ogibogi: will there be cross faction grouping in PvE? Global or north america & EU servers?

RT: Like I said above (below?) we haven't announced anything yet, but the societies do stand united against evil.

samsbase: These cells that are taken in Agartha are they only takable by NPC factions or cabaals too ?

RT: Cabals.

julienlavoie: There's no levels. Will there be specific targets/goals to always give you something to look forward to?

RT: Absolutely, definitely, yes.

Pyroclasam: what range of weapons can we expect in game and how heavily will magic figure into it?

RT: A wide range, and heavily.

Pyroclasam: is there a particular ESRB eating that you're aiming for?

RT: Right now, the game is pretty mature. Zombie head go boom. And cussing too.

bunchie007: How will the characters in TSW deal with death?

RT: In a really interesting way. We will address it. Death means something in the real world.

M0nnes: Will melee combat be similar to WoW, like right click and wait for emotes, with the occational special move?

RT: Nope.

SA_Avenger: Crucial are there sherpas in game

RT: There can't NOT be sherpas in this game.

Syntheticwhite: All the stuff so far seems very combat focused. Any hints on what the ratio of Combat vs. Socal -play will be like?

RT: That depends on how you choose to play it.

Jest118: Re: Factions and Weapons. Will players be able to wield more than one type. i.e. Pistol for ranged, sword for Melee?

RT: Of course.

agill084: IGN and Massively are reporting contrary things about cross-faction PvE play, can you clarify? Is it still undecided?

RT: Not really undecided - more like unannounced.

iktose: Is there going to be a real gameplay difference between the 3 secret societies, i.e one got some improvements the others don't?

RT: Not in terms of balancing, but there will be content differences.

RT: @psyx0r The Xbox version will be different from the PC version, and the latter will be designed as a PC game first and foremost.

agill084: There's been a loss of consumer confidence in the Funcom brand. Any plans for the TSW launch to address this?

RT: Don't know about that, but we're just going to make the best damn game we know how and hope that people will play it.

astarti_alexia: is Anima crucial for battle and spells?

RT: As announced, anima will be important for - amongst other things - weapon upgrades and trade skills.

Chtuga: I feel the economy is extremely important, will it be player and tradeskill driven?

RT: We also feel the economy is extremely important, and we're doing something about it!

fujikanaeda: Can you release any details on the nature or existence of live events within TSW?

RT: I love events, but we can't say anything about that yet.

wryterra: Are cabal housing areas a part of the Society HQs or are they seperate entities?

RT: Separate.

fujikanaeda: Will we see puzzle elements within the game? If so, how is FC planning on combating the 'alakhazam' lookup effect?

RT: There will be puzzles. And there will always be ways to make the game easier - and less interesting.

ilistyn: For those of us that do not like PvP will there be other ways to get Anima? what about non pvp equipment, etc.

RT: Yes.

Sagebigly: Any chance of seeing the great old one in the game?

RT: There will be things that are both great and old and dark and deep and wet and slimy.

Azeltir: As a non-MMO player, what do you think TSW might do to sway me to it?

RT: The story, the setting, the action gameplay, the missions, the puzzles, the characters, the sights & sounds.

Soulstrider: Will there be any plot related details released soon?

RT: Who says there hasn't been?

mr_whisper: Can you give a general idea of the projected system specs? I'm building a new computer specifically for TSW?

RT: Not quite yet but we're aiming for laptops.

Makaruda: Any info you can give us on infiltrating enemy bases as mentioned in the IGN article?

RT: It's going to be fun and exciting.

greve_tsw: At what stage is the game at right now? Pre-Alpha? Alpha? Pre-Beta?

RT: Pre-Alpha.

AnnLemay: Hi! Looking forward to the game! Q: Will gameplay be predominantly PVE or PVP? Will solo gameplay be possible, or limit the exp.?

RT: Soloing will definitely be possible. The game will have plenty of PvE. This reveal was just mostly about PvP.

brinstar: On TSW forums players are associating Templars with Christianity. Will the devs distance the faction from religion?

RT: Templars aren't about Christianity. They're about Faith. Which is different. And also about kicking demon ass.

smugas: How cabals are important? Can we enjoy most parts of game without need to join to cabal?

RT: You can play without joining a cabal, but PvP will be a lot more fun if you're in one.

Zombacon: Will the secret society you join determine your ethnicity?

RT: No, absolutely not.

Aquilus: Also, will players will be able to wear monocles? That's a dealbreaker for me

RT: Definitely. Monocles are go.

KyleHorner: @brinstar had a good one here: Will the devs distance Templars from any specific religions?

RT: Yup, like I said, no secret society is tied to any religion. Everyone's invited.

squareking: Any chance TSW could be Mac-compatible? Also, I'm a big fan of what I've seen so far -- keep it up!

RT: No Mac version planned, but there's always Boot Camp and Windows 7. Works for me!

philcsf: Another quick Q - Will the PC and 360 versions be using the same server (cross-platform gameplay)? If it's still coming to 360.

RT: Nope, no cross-platform gameplay.

Fald0n: Will combat rather be 1st person or 3rd person? Or doesn't the "character view" matter at all?

RT: 3rd person.

eXes: How far will the hate between Illuminati and Templar go? Will they actually have conflicts in the story line or only in agartha?

RT: There will be conflicts in the story, too.

eXes: Several interviews are talking about expansion (addons) any details about that?

RT: There will be extensions and add-ons and expansions, but it's a bit too early to talk about that.