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Why isn't the Secret World more popular?

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  • GladDogGladDog Member RarePosts: 1,097
    2) terrible combat, especially the animations.  That would be bad enough, but then there is...

    1) Made by Funcom.  Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.  I'm not giving them a third chance.


    The world is going to the dogs, which is just how I planned it!


  • QuarterStackQuarterStack Member RarePosts: 546
    edited June 2016
    GladDog said:
    2) terrible combat, especially the animations.  That would be bad enough, but then there is...
    @Mardukk - There ya go :)  And there are many more like them.

    GladDog said:
    1) Made by Funcom.  Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.  I'm not giving them a third chance.
    It's weird, or maybe just tellling, how the most negatively worded posts against this game are also the most vague or cryptic. No explanation or elaboration or examples. Just one or two sentences, effectively saying "the game is bad", and that's it.

  • DKLondDKLond Member RarePosts: 2,273
    Even so, I hated the combat - and I found the skill diversity to be a case of The Emperor's New Clothes. As in, skills were minor variations of a few themes - and the animations/visual effects were so underwhelming that it just wasn't interesting or satisfying to progress your character. Didn't exactly help that the loot design was horrible - and the only way to visually stand out was through clothing.

    Loved the story, atmosphere and setting, though.
  • MikePaladinMikePaladin Member UncommonPosts: 592
    edited June 2016
    Very interesting dichotomy playing out in this thread.

    On one side, the people who don't like TSW, by a large margin, seem to cite "don't like the combat" as their reason, with the animations being the major factor. There's nothing wrong with that - you like the animations, you don't, or maybe you don't care either way. That's just how it seems to be playing out in this thread, by and large.

    On the other side, the people who say they really enjoy TSW either don't mention the combat at all, or don't place much importance on it, focusing instead on the quality of the storyline, the world design, the missions, the voice-acting, and so forth.

    Essentially, one side places more importance on eye-candy and animation fidelity. The other side places more importance on depth and engaging story/content. Considering TSW is clearly intended to cater to the latter category, I'd say FC has done a great job overall of capturing their target audience.

    It's a niche game, for a niche playerbase, and that's just fine. There needs to be more games catering to a niche, rather than trying to appeal to that unattainable "everybody".
    Idk pal but I spent lot on my  mid high gaming setup and I love to stress my system to max and enjoy eye candy .
    I also dislike  snobs ow graphic is  not important blablala
    Bull shit it's 2016 and we can make each of game aspect good.....and I reject all these terrible excuses
    a good Project has strong point all around
    Story Graphics Animation Rich Ambient .

    Skyrim Modding made me love high textures
    4k Rocks 4k Skin LOL

    Gw2 made me love responsive and smooth animation at least decent .

    My first Pc game was first Warcraft release back in 1995 and I played it in 1998-99 because PC generally was an  expensive thing in 3rd world back then .
    And I loved it but now I won't give a single thought to play an old outdated game .
    We are supposed to improve with development spiral not the opposite .

  • QuarterStackQuarterStack Member RarePosts: 546
    edited June 2016
    DKLond said:
    Even so, I hated the combat - and I found the skill diversity to be a case of The Emperor's New Clothes. As in, skills were minor variations of a few themes - and the animations/visual effects were so underwhelming that it just wasn't interesting or satisfying to progress your character. Didn't exactly help that the loot design was horrible - and the only way to visually stand out was through clothing.
    Regarding "The Emperor's New Clothes" remark... Can you elaborate on that more? How far into the skill wheel did you get? How many builds did you work on? What weapon combos did you try? What States were you focusing on? What kind of synergies were you creating? Again, the TSW's combat/skill system can be as simple as you want it. You can just throw a bunch of cool-sounding actives and passives on your bars and go to town, without ever looking at how they work, or how they work together (or don't). What kind of Talisman setup were you using, which stats/effects were you building on with those?

    All of those things combine in numerous different ways to create radically different playstyles, and approaches to any given situation... and I mean beyond just "ranged or melee or magic".  Effectively, if there's a playstyle you can think of, chances are pretty darn good that you can build a deck to achieve it.

    I'm not just being difficult here, it's just that your impression of the system - the whole "minor variations on a few themes" - on its face, and without more context - seems  to imply that you may have missed the bigger picture of how those variations actually are designed to work together, and with your weapons, and with your Talismans.

  • NanfoodleNanfoodle Member LegendaryPosts: 10,610
    Horror. Right off the bat it excludes families with younger ones, so they cant play together. Parents that dont want their kids seeing them play that type of content and then their are people who morals conflict with a game that is that graphic and the language is that vulgar. So right away you narrow your audience by going Horror/M rated. It really is niche. 
  • Nicco77Nicco77 Member UncommonPosts: 145

    I'm posting this hoping to get serious responses.

    I recently returned to this game after playing at launch and purchased the Ultimate Pack.

    When I played at launch I primarily did PVP. If you remember you could level very quickly when PVPing at launch. I stopped playing after launch because I finished the main story.

    So now returning I have leveled the traditional way with questing.

    The game really is one of the best MMORPG's I've ever played. The quests are A++ and the world is engaging. The graphics are excellent compared to other MMORPG's.

    My biggest complaints with the game are the crafting (which is terrible) and the animations are sometimes stiff/awkward.

    But neither of these issues imo ruin the game..

    So why isn't this game more popular???

    Mainly because of his bad combat system,overall poor graphic quality and performances.
    I wanted so bad to like this game but I can't bring myself to play it,I always hope that one day they rework these issues. 
  • User836User836 Member UncommonPosts: 117

    I had a good run with it and enjoyed it a lot but ran out of content :expressionless: . Done the missions, done the achievements, done the instances one too many times, had all the talismans i needed to do just about anything. Was a fun ride and I would recommend people to try it but at some point.. I'd ridden all the rollercoasters and eaten all the soft serve I could stomach.


  • DKLondDKLond Member RarePosts: 2,273
    edited June 2016
    DKLond said:
    Even so, I hated the combat - and I found the skill diversity to be a case of The Emperor's New Clothes. As in, skills were minor variations of a few themes - and the animations/visual effects were so underwhelming that it just wasn't interesting or satisfying to progress your character. Didn't exactly help that the loot design was horrible - and the only way to visually stand out was through clothing.
    Regarding "The Emperor's New Clothes" remark... Can you elaborate on that more? How far into the skill wheel did you get? How many builds did you work on? What weapon combos did you try? What States were you focusing on? What kind of synergies were you creating? Again, the TSW's combat/skill system can be as simple as you want it. You can just throw a bunch of cool-sounding actives and passives on your bars and go to town, without ever looking at how they work, or how they work together (or don't). What kind of Talisman setup were you using, which stats/effects were you building on with those?

    All of those things combine in numerous different ways to create radically different playstyles, and approaches to any given situation... and I mean beyond just "ranged or melee or magic".  Effectively, if there's a playstyle you can think of, chances are pretty darn good that you can build a deck to achieve it.

    I'm not just being difficult here, it's just that your impression of the system - the whole "minor variations on a few themes" - on its face, and without more context - seems  to imply that you may have missed the bigger picture of how those variations actually are designed to work together, and with your weapons, and with your Talismans.

    I've tried a large variety of combinations and gear loadouts - but it's been years, so I don't remember the details. I played it for ~6 months or so at release and that's pretty much it.

    I'm not talking about playstyles, though, I'm talking about satisfying progression. Once you realise that all skills are based around a limited variety of detrimental and positive effects - the illusion of having a vast arsenal available is ruined. Well, it was ruined for me.

    There were a few exceptions - and I clearly remember a nice Assault Rifle skill with some kind of laser dot which was pretty cool.

    But when I first laid my eyes on the skill wheel, I was blown away - and I thought the game had a tremendous amount of variety.

    Turns out that was mostly an illusion - and it was really just a handful of abilities with different names and some awkward animations.

    I'm exaggerating of course, but you probably get the point.
  • PyukPyuk Member UncommonPosts: 762

    Honest answer?

    Because it's hard and makes you use your brain.

    Plus the combat mechanics are terrible. I love everything about TSW, but it's the dull, uninspired combat mechanics that drove me away and keeps me from coming back for more than an hour every 4-6 months.

    I make spreadsheets at work - I don't want to make them for the games I play.

  • observerobserver Member RarePosts: 3,685
    Because of Combat, Models, and Animations.
  • BloodaxesBloodaxes Member EpicPosts: 4,662
    I honestly didn't mind the combat, what I didn't enjoy was the abilities. 

    Not for their animation but for that huge wheel of abilities I couldn't find much diversity besides certain abilities dealing different type of damage. Whenever I got a new ability I would notice this deals the same damage as my current one and thus I didn't switch that much abilities.

    I didn't reach that far into the game tough just right after the park. Sometimes I am tempted to install it again and give it another try, maybe someday I will.

  • BascolaBascola Member UncommonPosts: 425
    I also don't like the combat. it was a good idea with good graphis but get boring fast
  • KazuhiroKazuhiro Member UncommonPosts: 606
    Godawful combat/ability system. Truly one of the worst designs in recent memory. Everything else was good/great about it though, but when the core of the game is rotten, the rest is irrelevant.

    To find an intelligent person in a PUG is not that rare, but to find a PUG made up of "all" intelligent people is one of the rarest phenomenons in the known universe.

  • Agent_JosephAgent_Joseph Member UncommonPosts: 1,361
    Never played it. Was always curious about it though.
    if you are mmo & RPG player , you should  try it, one by best mmo RPG's made after 2005 
  • DKLondDKLond Member RarePosts: 2,273
    Ironically, Age of Conan had a vastly superior combat system, with vastly superior animations. Also, I prefer distinct classes over a ton of generic and derivative skills.
  • alivenaliven Member UncommonPosts: 346
    Very interesting dichotomy playing out in this thread.

    On one side, the people who don't like TSW, by a large margin, seem to cite "don't like the combat" as their reason, with the animations being the major factor. There's nothing wrong with that - you like the animations, you don't, or maybe you don't care either way. That's just how it seems to be playing out in this thread, by and large.

    On the other side, the people who say they really enjoy TSW either don't mention the combat at all, or don't place much importance on it, focusing instead on the quality of the storyline, the world design, the missions, the voice-acting, and so forth.

    Essentially, one side places more importance on eye-candy and animation fidelity. The other side places more importance on depth and engaging story/content. Considering TSW is clearly intended to cater to the latter category, I'd say FC has done a great job overall of capturing their target audience.

    It's a niche game, for a niche playerbase, and that's just fine. There needs to be more games catering to a niche, rather than trying to appeal to that unattainable "everybody".
    As a supported of Sercret World im gonna say that this game got best depiction of shotgun in MMO by pure feeling. Instant booner when unleash 5 combo point finisher. So good...
  • QuarterStackQuarterStack Member RarePosts: 546
    edited June 2016
    aliven said:

    As a supported of Sercret World im gonna say that this game got best depiction of shotgun in MMO by pure feeling. Instant booner when unleash 5 combo point finisher. So good...
    I haven't done much with shotguns, yet. The weapons I've focused on have been Blade, AR, Blood, Elementalism, Pistols and fists. I'm sure Shotgun will find its way into my repertoire at some point, though.

    For myself, regarding the animations, I think they're fine. They're not amazing. They're not awful. I've seen worse (much worse, actually), and I've seen better. They suit the setting/environment fine. I would more likely be bothered by them if they were over-the-top, like in many fantasy/sci-fi MMOs, because it would seem out of place with everything else. Overall, though, eye candy just doesn't rank that high for me on the list of things that will make or break a game. If the content is fun and engaging - and TSW's is, for me - then that's all that really matters.

    Animations are a representation of what I'm doing; they're not the actions themselves. So, to me, not playing TSW because its animations aren't "top shelf", or even sub-par, despite everything else it offers, would be like refusing to eat at a restaurant known to have a good menu, and good food, just because I don't like the silverware.
  • BloodaxesBloodaxes Member EpicPosts: 4,662
    Shotgun is what kept me in the game the longest.

    You just bind the auto attack of the shotgun to your side mouse button and it's like you are playing an fps.

  • alkarionlogalkarionlog Member EpicPosts: 3,584

    I'm posting this hoping to get serious responses.

    I recently returned to this game after playing at launch and purchased the Ultimate Pack.

    When I played at launch I primarily did PVP. If you remember you could level very quickly when PVPing at launch. I stopped playing after launch because I finished the main story.

    So now returning I have leveled the traditional way with questing.

    The game really is one of the best MMORPG's I've ever played. The quests are A++ and the world is engaging. The graphics are excellent compared to other MMORPG's.

    My biggest complaints with the game are the crafting (which is terrible) and the animations are sometimes stiff/awkward.

    But neither of these issues imo ruin the game..

    So why isn't this game more popular???

    like someone did say, quests are hard, some are annoying since if someone else mess on it, it will no let you complete it, but also let us the after you finish the quests there is no reason to quest again, the good about puzzle is when its new and you need to think after no point, the combat is simple how much you can abuse the system, and how well your stats are, and even when dungeon put some mechanics for you to play after a certain point you can just rush dps on it.

    if the combat was better worked then maybe it would have more people, not the combat is bad but is not good either is just generic, plus some decisions during launch and after kinda killed the mood
    FOR HONOR, FOR FREEDOM.... and for some money.
  • alkarionlogalkarionlog Member EpicPosts: 3,584
    Originally posted by justmemyselfandi
    Originally posted by MMOGamer71

    Honest answer?

    Because it's hard and makes you use your brain.

    What's hard about Google? Considering the entire game is built around Google. Surprised they don't have "GOOGLE" splattered on the tanks of all the new bikes and an entire wardrobe ensemble.

    See OP, too hard.  Easier to run to Google than making attempt(s) and die figuring out the puzzles(s).

     

    My initial post stands.

    btw a lot of puzzle on this game will require you research, hell they even build a in game bowser, to try to mimic the smartphone internet so you don't really alt+tab the game, was also very nice and interesting the devs did put some internet pages of the game, with is what required for some quests from that first town you go. so you will google, the most killer quest I did find was the morse code one, I had to look for the quest in the internet not how to learn morse code :p
    FOR HONOR, FOR FREEDOM.... and for some money.
  • mgilbrtsnmgilbrtsn Member EpicPosts: 3,430
    A combination of things really.  A bit more challenge than normal; combat that a lot of people don't like;  not one one of the more popular mmo settings; and just lacked that spark that it needed for many.  A shame really.  I think it's one of the best.

    I self identify as a monkey.

  • WarzodWarzod Member RarePosts: 493

    This thread was awesome. Thank you. Like 5 of us at the office read this entire thing over lunch and had a great laugh. Some of the best repeat responses:

    It's not fantasy and players are more confortable with those kinds of games.

    What does that say about gamers when they are more comfortable with a world surrounded by elves and plate mail than cars, computers, and guns... you know, real life... outside.

    The quests were boring and after you figure out the puzzle why would you ever do it again

    True, much better that quests be collect 15 frozen elf farts or kill 50 Snarflblats that are ravaging our kingdom because they are not boring or repetitive at all.

    The game should just have been a Google search

    Sure, because I don't know maybe figuring out the puzzles never occurred to the devs? No one asked anyone to Google the answers. Yes, there were a couple that used the web as part of the ARG but they were few and they were not Google.

    The game was boooooring

    OMG I haz ta reed? Yes, the pace was slower but then again, in a market where games where all you have to do is tap the screen repeatedly are hugely popular. Tink, reed, wak sumplase? Ain't no wun gotz timz fo dat!

    Combat sucked, the wheel was stupid, no options

    I... don't know where to begin on this one. Combat was so bad that several other games have actually used their ground telegraph, dodge mechanics while most MMOs you just stand there and run the same animations over and over. The Wheel was immense and offered countless possible builds and options. What I bet happened was someone got to Egypt and found out there super DPS build couldn't solo and flipped their table.

    Now I played TSW from launch until around the time when Byblos or whatever his name was took over and turned the entire game into his own perverted S&M sex cash shop farm but prior to that this was one of the most unique and potentially brilliant games to date. It was nothing like what was out there and THAT is why it was not more popular.

    I have watched the industry for years and there is one universal truth. Players will forever bitch and complain about the fact that no one ever does anything different yet will immediately crap on anything that is because it isn't more like what they are already playing.


  • tawesstawess Member EpicPosts: 4,227
    Well when you aim towards a smaller market... You get less buzz. 

    But i think i have said that before. 

    This have been a good conversation

  • GladDogGladDog Member RarePosts: 1,097
    GladDog said:
    2) terrible combat, especially the animations.  That would be bad enough, but then there is...
    @Mardukk - There ya go :)  And there are many more like them.

    GladDog said:
    1) Made by Funcom.  Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.  I'm not giving them a third chance.
    It's weird, or maybe just tellling, how the most negatively worded posts against this game are also the most vague or cryptic. No explanation or elaboration or examples. Just one or two sentences, effectively saying "the game is bad", and that's it.

    Hmm, OK you want direct answers.

    2) Even though I swore I would never try another Funcom game, I had a couple of friends that were playing, and did try a one week trial.  The combat is not much fun.  I like combat, it is the main reason I play these games.  Bad combat = I no play.  As a buddy of mine that was a dev on Men Of Valor said, "Good combat will carry a lousy game a long way.  A game with a good story and lousy combat is a time bomb, and no one knows exactly how long it will go before the bomb explodes."  And I only played two days of the 7 day trial.

    1) The two games that I played that Funcom made.  AO - A good concept that was full of bugs, and none of them ever got fixed, at least that I saw.  Whenever I would get stuck, someone would say, 'its a bug'.  After a while I thought that was the name of the latest expansion...  Anarchy Online - It's a Bug.  This was a game with a lot of problems.  I was given a person's account, since he was no longer interested in the game.  I only played a few agonizing days before I quit.

    Age of Conan - I was a long time tester of this game.  I played a lot of classes, but did not exceed 45 in testing.  I was trying all classes, and tried a lot of things to help with the testing.  I loved the graphics, and the combat was acceptable.  Some of it was great; casters had a great feel of empowerment.  Some not so great; melee was pretty pedestrian other than fatalities.   But this game had bugs that got worse and worse as you leveled.  I wish I had leveled beyond 45 in testing so I would have seen all of the bugs and problems.  As it was I bought the Collectors edition, and a copy of the Deluxe edition for my wife. $158 dollars.  There was good content up to about level 65, too bad the level cap was 80.  There was enough content to fill one bubble out of 20 after 65, and the rest you had to grind.  After taking my Tempest of Set to 80, I could not get myself to do that again to level my Conqueror beyond 66.  The bugs remained, and got worse.  PvP was unfun, so bad that the 400 members of our PvP server guild disbanded after two months.  And instead of putting more resources into saving a game with nearly 3 million sales, Funcom announced they were making The Secret World.

    So that was my experience with Funcom.  Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.  No third chance for them.

    So there you go.  My answers for why I will not buy TSW, and why Funcom is a company that will never see another nickel of my money.


    The world is going to the dogs, which is just how I planned it!


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