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Half-Life meets Dark Age of Camelot
unclemo
Member UncommonPosts: 462
I'm hooked already. I can't believe that it took this long for a company to attempt a 3 faction MMO, and a non-traditional fantasy one to boot.
Comments
I'm curious as to why you draw a comparison to Half Life, aside from the fact that it's set around about the present time?
Personally, I'm not paying much attention to TSW yet because we don't know anything about the game other than flashy pics and a few CGI trailers. The game is based on the AOC dreamworld engine, which indicates that the world will be split into zones just like AOC was. Therefore, even though its being designed by a separate team, it may exhibit issues which were apparently in its older brother.
However, Ragnar Tornquist is at the helm who is a self-proclaimed story teller. His 18 chapter novel which acts as a preface to Anarchy Online was, in my opinion, very good. So I'll wait and see.
Top 10 Most Misused Words in MMO's
You can'tj see the resemblance between zombified humans from TSW and zombified humans from Half-Life? Dose Half-Life not tell a story?
o....K....
Heh, the 'zombies' is actually only one area of the game, it isn't like TSW will be a zombie MMO.
But yeah, I agree, the theme and setting is actually pretty good and the 3 factions a reminder of good old DAoC.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Taken the test a few times to be sure, I'm a Dragon, now hurry up so I can get busy doing umm Dragon stuff!
Heh, I also ended up Dragon, I think a lot of people do maybe because the Dragons viewpoints are leaning more towards balance. But I picked Templar, I make my own destiny
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
DAoC, really? Yes it's got three factions but from what i've read so far pvp seems highly instanced. I'll be very suprised if that aspect of the game is on par with what DAoC had. If it does great, sign me up.
"Come and have a look at what you could have won."
Damn! I want to go Templar also, you are making me second guess the accuracy of their test! The only faction I do not like and want nothing to do with are the Illuminati though :P
We at the Illuminati have ways of tempting even the most hard nosed Templar to our side. They don't put our symbol on the dollar just for a laugh you know...
3 Factions does not equal DAOC, though it does at least head down the right road.
I'll reserve judgement until I get to see more of the game.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Yea , 3 factions is good and adds to a game. However DAOC was more than that. The factions had reasons and desire to kill one another.
BTW: DIE Hibbies!!!
Its unclear why one faction wants to win over another (or two). Aside from a historical conflict what reasons do Templars have to fight Illuminati (better be more than just XP)
Still, IM happy with anything that breaks away from the Fantasy setting.
DIE Illuminaties!!! ...naw, just doesnt have the same ring.
Torrential: DAOC (Pendragon)
Awned: World of Warcraft (Lothar)
Torren: Warhammer Online (Praag)
TSW resembles DAoC in having 3 factions, but also having 3-faction PvP in a designated area, where the factions battle over resources and control points/strongholds. In TSW it's the Underworld region.
TSW's Kingsmouth region indeed can make you think of games like Left4Dead, Half-Life, Dead Rising, and any other game with a zombie vibe. The Kingsmouth region is merely a starter area, though. Other areas in TSW will be completely different, each area having its own atmosphere, legends and mythology.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Well, we don't know that much yet and game director Ragnar Tornquist (creator of The Longest Journey and Dreamfall) likes to keep some things more mysterious and secretive.
But as far as has been revealed, the 3 factions each battles the rising darkness, but each in their own way and vision: it's a clash of ideologies.
This description of the factions given by the TSW developer teams might help:
Templar
The Templars believe they will deliver the world from evil by force, and even their opponents - who call them zealots and warmongers - cannot deny that force. As an agent of the Templars you are not just fighting the war on darkness, you "are" the war on darkness. Suave and sophisticated, but brutal and uncompromising, you use history as a weapon to shape the future.
Or as Tornquist stated,
[Templars] are old-school. They have been fighting evil for thousands of years and they've been doing with extreme prejudice. They are traditionalist, but there are changes with the new blood coming to make sure they are in tune with the times, not all is in control by the "withered old men" anymore.
Illumati
"Sex, Drugs & Rockefeller"
Notorious bad boys and girls of the secret world, the Illuminati are also the most ambitious, cut-throat and furtive of the secret societies. The Illuminati seek to plunder heaven and hell by any means necessary, and god help those who stand in their way. As a member of the Illuminati, you don't play by anybody's rules. There are no rules. There is no honour.
There is only victory.
Tornquist elaborated on the Illuminati faction,
These guys are much more about re-inventing themselves rather than being still stuck in the past. These guys are the archenemies of the Templars.
Dragon
"The Art of Chaos"
Manipulators and conspirators, the Dragon have survived for millennia by playing their enemies against each other. Few know of the Dragon and their long history, and that is how the Dragon want it. You are invisible but pervasive, silent but all-knowing, and when the other secret societies have decimated each other, you will rebuild the world from the ruins of their arrogance.
And Tornquist commented upon the Dragon the following,
The Dragon believes they are the only ones that really understand everything... They've always been, sort of, between the other societies, pulling the strings, setting them up against each other to make sure that they are always, at the end of the day, left standing, without too many deaths, without too many wounds.
So the faction dynamics as provided by Tornquist and the TSW designers seems to be that the Templars and the Illuminati are eachother's natural arch enemies both vying for the control of the ruling powers in the world, with the Dragon standing to the side, watching, observing, and manipulating the other parties to ensure that they'll come out on top when the conflicts have died down again.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
instead of illuminati, try 'lumie
DIE LUMIES!
(for what its worth, illuminati is plural, the singular being illuminatus. freaking latin.)
well i guess if your gonna start using the rip-off terms then wouldnt L4D be a rip-off of RE
well the pic looks like 2 guys fighting 1 small zombie and a monstrosity to me and if the monstrousity is a L4D rip to you then the L4D tank is a RE Nemesis rip to me but IMO just because one game uses a zombie or a bigger zombie doesnt mean it cant be used elsewhere
Although I do not think that TSW ripped anything from L4D, it is still pretty funny how similar that TSW SS looks like L4D.
East Carolina University, Computer Science BS, 2011
--------------------
Current game: DAOC
Games played and quit: L2, PlanetSide, RF Online, GuildWars, SWG, COH/COV, Vanguard, LOTRO, WoW, WW2 Online, FFXI, Auto-Assault, EVE Online, ShadowBane, RYL, Rappelz, Last Chaos, Myst Online, POTBS, EQ2, Warhammer Online, AoC, Aion, Champions Online, Star Trek Online, Allods, Darkfall.
Waiting on: Earthrise
Names: Citio, Goldie, Sportacus
Whatever floats your boat, man. But DAoC and Planetside are the only MMO's using 3 factions that I know, and DAoC of these 2 the only one using a form of region control PvP, so that's the comparison I'll keep using.
TSW > L4D
At least when it comes to theme and settings. The 'zombies' thing is only 1 area. Other areas in TSW will be totally different.
For those having trouble picturing that, compare it with Teldrassil in WoW. If you're done with that you move off the island, and a whole new world opens up with all kinds of different looking areas with different mobs.
The theme of TSW is not 'zombie MMO', the theme and setting of TSW is 'what if all the legends, myths, folklore tales and conspiracy theories are actually true'.
That leaves room for a lot of different 'hotzones' ingame.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
ultima online allready had 4 factions in 1999.
leads to an unending scenario of giefing horror just because people belong to different factions, oh the hate ...
Thank goodness. I'm so tired of polar conflicts. I would have preferred more factions, really, but three is a good start.
Well, Funcoms first MMO Anarchy Online had (and still has) three factions - Omni, Clan and Neutral, so I can't really see how that inspiration came from DAOC that launched half a year later than their own three faction game..
But I would much rather be griefed by an opposing faction than say a member of your own faction like my short lived experience with DarkFall.
Yes, but this is all historical and lore. Which is fine. However why do they fight from a gameplay standpoint. DAOC had tangible benifits to players from taking keeps, gaining access to darkness falls, claiming and reclaiming relics.
the "I hate you, and everyone else like you" approach does not make for good incentive to fight in an MMO
The "I like your shoes......now they gonna be mine" is better (Albeit hardcore)
Torrential: DAOC (Pendragon)
Awned: World of Warcraft (Lothar)
Torren: Warhammer Online (Praag)
Well, we're still a year and more away from any launch and there hasn't been lots revealed of the ongoing storylines that players will get immersed in. But there has been some interviews that commented upon the relations between the factions and where they stand:
(Kotaku)
'The three societies are united in their war against evil, make no mistake. Their difference lie in their pursuit of power. They share common goals, but when the dust clears and evil is vanquished, each society wants to come out on top.
The battle for ranking and status finally brings us to the player versus player combat in The Secret World. While above ground the battle against evil is the main focus, deep within the hollow Earth, Cabals and secret societies battle for control of the world's most precious resource: anima. Anima is a key component for crafting items and objects in The Secret World. In short, it's the lifeblood of the economy, and the only way to get it is to either trade for it or take control of an anima node hidden deep under the planet's surface.
The PVP combat in The Secret World is called Battle for Hollow Earth PVP. Both solo players and Cabals do battle underground in order to control the precious anima, with Cabal coffers slowly filling the longer they possess a node. There is an element of strategy to the PVP battles, with players able to construct turrets and defenses to aid in the protection of their valuable property. There's also diplomatic strategy to consider, urging Cabals to form alliances and help defend each other from attacks from rival societies or risk being helpless when the enemy reaches their gates.
While players don't have to participate in PVP, what happens beneath the Earth's surface will have effects topside.'
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Agreed.
The 'tangible benefits' would be competing over resources of some kind, whether these are commodities / items or territories that provide access to such resources.
For my money, PvP is all well and dandy, but unless there is a competitive reason to fight for finite / limited resources and/or territory - other than purely ideological resaons - then I feel that the PvP element will always be a little lacklustre.
As another poster pointed out, we are still (probably) a year away, and such information should hopefully be forthcoming in the fullness of time.
Cheers!
"If you think I'm plucky and scrappy and all I need is love, you're in way over your head. I don't have a heart of gold or get nice. There are a lot nicer people coming up. We call them losers."
Eh?
See post above, there I described what's known so far about PvP and the fight for resources in TSW. Sure, it's not the level of detail in info that we'll see increase in the upcoming year, but it describes the general picture I think
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."