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How is the side-content? (not missions, raid or PvP)
TheScavenger
Member EpicPosts: 3,321
Before I go spend 20 dollars.
First...
I'm on the first day of my 14 day trial. But, that won't really give me a chance to see the side-content.
I'm really enjoying doing the missions so far, I turned off almost all the HUD...no quest markers (I turn those off in Skyrim too, the quest markers REALLY took out the immersion so much and made it follow the cookie crumb...luckily its easy to turn that off). Only HUD I have is HP and ability bar which I'll turn off when I learn the abilities in my mind. Chat, minimap and everything else is off...and that makes the experience really great 
However, what I'm worried about is this is going to be like a Deus Ex type of game...just going from mission to mission and nothing else.
In WoW, there is achievements, collectibles (tons and tons of collectibles, mounts, toys, pets to collect). There is a huge crafting game inside WoW...while simple...is a lot more fun than realistic crafting MMOs. Its fun creating potions, floating carpets and all that...but the point isn't what I can make...but I have to find all the recipes so its kinda like a collecting game in its own. There is treasure to find through archeology
Or Skyrim with mods. I need to explore to find hidden treasure chests, explore to find secret items, explore to find books that I can read about lore. Tons of collectibles through mods.
Or FFXIV, TONS and TONS of side content...even more than WoW. Housing, collection stuff...so much...even collecting pets and mounts is a lot of fun.
I love MMOs that don't focus only on raids or PvP or endless questing (even though TSW has AMAZING story. Deus Ex had amazing story but the game sucked for me as it was just endless questing and nothing else). But I love all the side-content of MMOs and other games like modded Skyrim. If a game has no side content or very little, and no reason to get out in the world and explore I always end up getting bored super fast and moving on.
I'm not trying to rant about TSW as I know nothing about it except the setting, I just don't want to spend money (while the story IS amazing, I really love it thus far)...I only like games with side content. Or if no side content, at least games that give you a reason to get out and explore and not just endless questing, pvp and raids...that gets super boring for me.
My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB:
https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul
Comments
TSW has a very active RP community that runs regular events from scavenger hunts to player written investigation missions. Those are pretty fun even for non-roleplayers, at least in my opinion. It's a very welcoming community.
Game wise you have the standard "kill named mob for achievement" type of content. Usually, you get a title or piece of clothing as a reward. A lot of people (me included) work on completing the skill wheel for specific titles or outfits. You also get cosmetic rewards during seasonal and weekend events.
I really like soloing scenarios. Some hate those, some love them. If you enjoy challenging combat, you should give them a try. Again, rewards here are mostly cosmetic.
Some people do lairs for achievements.
Then there's always Fusang for open world pvp or you can queue for battlegrounds. They have quite an active dueling scene and run some fun events where people can only compete in trash gear or play certain builds. It's defintely worth checking out if you like that kind of pvp.
I am pretty sure I am forgetting a lot of things, so you may want to ask your questions over at their official new player forum. As far as I am concerned the game is worth playing for the community alone. There is always someone who will run stuff with you or help you out.
They have a custom chat channel to help newer players, advertise player events, or where you can simply socialize. It's /chat join sanctuary
Hope that helps
First: 14-days trial? Sounds odd... there's only 3days ones
On the side-content, mostly 5ubzer0 covered that part. It's there, it's decent - not overwhelming. Don't get me wrong, I love the game (except the scenarios and the gear grind
), but following you example it's like Deus Ex - which also is an awesome game (the first one, not the sequels).
See, TSW is about story and missions, that's the very core of the game. You wrote you love it so far, I'm fairly positive you'll love it even more as the stories unfold themselves. Amazing writing, great characters (and voice-actors), fun investigation and sabotage missions with the unique "1 main mission at a time" setting... it's a massive ride.
But besides that... it is really up to each player's taste. There's raid and pvp - but you're more curious about the rest.
There's the Wheel and theory crafting new decks, some folks can spend hours on that (happens to me too, occasionally) - but it's not everyone's tea. There's the great Rp community and the events - again, if you're not into that, it doesn't mean much.
You've mentioned wow's achievments/collectible part. Achievments are there, it's a huge system, and was even extended with the late New player experience update. Contains a wide array of activites above the usual killing and exploring, some of them even make the game into a "platformer" as one called it on the forums
(think about GW2's jumping puzzles on steroids)
Collectibles, is mostly the lore honey pieces, which give you titles, and expanding the story even further - not to mention finding many of them is a real challange
also there are truckload of cosmetic pets, titles to collect, mostly from the Store. There are the huge amount of outfits to collect, and the cosmetic system, but again, if you don't fancy that, it won't help much as a side-activity.
Crafting, is there, but definitely not like in other games. In TSW crafting is a utility for players, not a system with tiers and recipes and activities to do. In TSW, as soon as you're out of the tutorial, you can craft anything that a veteran with many years behind his back can craft. So crafting is not the side-activity you seek, it's just a tool, a useful ability for every player.
Housing, mounts - sadly nope.
Yep, if you've turned off the map, you can explore hidden missions and items and places. (and about hidden read-able lore pieces I already wrote above, lore collecting is fun - if you don't use wiki guides with the coordinates, of course
)
So:
I think if you find the story and the setting, etc. amazing so far, I'd say spend that 20. Even the worst case scenario you'll get an awesome 2 months while playing through the game and the additional Issues. If you don't like Rp events or theory-crafting or goofing around with a cosmetic system, then you still can explore and collect, and chase the achievements. For 20, it's a great deal even just for the story. Have fun
edit: forgot, "Deus Ex type of game...just going from mission to mission and nothing else." in TSW it's from mission to mission, but not on a directed path, you can go anywhere you want. And the main story mission also have "choke points" with one-time decisions, so if you want to go a different path you need to do that on a second character. It's not really the "multiple ending" of old times' adventure games, but still fun.
I decided to spend the 20 dollars, it isn't that much. I did sign up for a sub (but I get 30 days free after buying it so I don't have to pay again till next month) as well so its easier to buy issues and stuff.
The game is great so far. And actually, right in the beginning at the very start of the game...if you explore around, some of the lore stuff is really hard to find. One in particular was really tricky. So I end up running around looking for them more than the missions :P
My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB:
https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul
Welcome to the game then
Trust me, the early ones are pieces of cake: when you see a lore piece, at least you can devise a plan to reach it - but there will be plenty you don't even see
there's a favourite one of mine in Savage Coast, by that time you'll get used to the "cliff = barrier" mindset, so during an explore rush of mine -to my surprise- I've found a place where I could climb up on a cliff, I started to jump on the top around, running along the area I thought previously inaccessible - and on a clearing there was a signature boss (btw, killing those is part of the achievements system), guarding a lore piece. Totally undetectable from below. So, always look into every corner, check every cave... you never know what you can find.
(also there are shortcuts and tunnels inside the cliffs which are not marked on the map, the map shows solid grey rock line)