Kevin VanOrd talks about his first week playing the Funcom MMO, The Secret World.
Kevins 100% right, The Voice Over Work and Story Telling is well done, a lot better then SWTOR. It's an "ok" game, The Combat wasn't all that great it's very clunky and sloppy. It's not open world, and the skill wheel is not really all that interesting. I guess a few people like it but I just felt like it was more like a single player rpg then a mmo. To each his own though, nice to see something differn't for a change then a complete WoW clone! Cheers to funcom
1 Like i mean if these points you guys mention warrant a monthly subsription, then by all means get it. More power to you...
1 Like Um, why would anyone pay a monthly subscription for this game when you can buy guild wars 2 and play it for free. This game offers nothing new. Matter of fact, this looks a lot less decent that GW2.
@An_EthiopianI *did* buy Guild Wars 2, and have played in all the BWEs and both stress tests. Frankly, this game's better. For all the hype, Guild Wars 2 is just another game with Asura instead of gnomes, Charr instead of orcs...the monsters are all variations on a theme, the events are just WAR's public quests or RIFT's rifts all over again.
Watering corn and feeding cows? This is what makes Guild Wars 2 special and different? Be honest; Guild Wars 2 has better combat, but The Secret World has better questing and a MUCH better setting and ambiance.
@An_Ethiopian It really does offer alot of new stuff. The fact it's a modern setting is one, some of us are tired of having our characters looking like medeival knights or fantasy monsters ... additionally the quest system is quite different with alot less reliance on quest hubs. And thirdly the investigation quests are vastly different, they are hard, in most cases you have to do research and start thinking laterally
Played the beta loved the gfx and atmosphere, felt very new and fresh. I didn't even mind the combat I thought some of the animations could have been better though. What put the nail in the coffin for me not getting this game was the boring quests. They felt so repetitive like I've already done this already in every other mmo out there. And the "puzzle solving" quests were frustrating at times because of the lack of info about what your supposed to do. Just felt like lazyness on the part of the devs. I loved the idea of this game but the execution just fell short for me.
2 Like I was one of those people saying I wasnt going to play this game because of the sub fee but I broke and bought it and I do not regret it. The environments are so wonderful and immersive and the graphics are intricate and detailed. They really have done a wonderful job with the game pulling you in and wanting to explore and solve. As many have said the fighting leaves a little to be desired but it aint horrible. They'll polish it up... the game just came out for eff sake. The quests are really interesting, more than any other mmo I have ever played. Please, do yourself a favor and check this game out... it really is wonderful and different and unique. Funcom needs to be supported for not producing another boring as hell cookie cutter game like Blizzard and the rest of them pump out. Do not listen to the haters either... they are probably vapid mindless 10 year old COD players or WoW players that can't bare to be presented with any level of challenge or thought. TRY THIS GAME and get into it. It's so fun.
1 Like I agree that the game is not perfect action wise, the combat is pretty boring sometimes, but the graphics are good, the game is really immersive and man the quests are amazing! I've never seen quests so good that make you really think if you want to solve it. Expect lots of lazy people hating this game.
That's so freakin' cheap having a real money store on a game with a monthly subscription. That alone is reason to shun this game on principle. What was Funcom thinking? F2P without being... F2P. That's extremely greedy. I've also heard nothing good about the PvP, which is a shame. That was the element I was looking forward most to. If the PvP is lame, the game has no saving grace. I'm ashamed to have looked forward to it. Thank you, Kevin VanOrd, for saving me time and money.
Uhm, it's purely for cosmetic items.
Consider it akin to Blizzard putting that Celestial Steed into their shop. It's quite possible to get other flying mounts in-game, so you don't need to buy it, if you don't want to, but if you like that particular skin, then you can.
Same with TSW, plenty of ways to get clothes in-game, whether it be from the clothing stores, decks, faction rank etc. But if you want that particular skin, and are willing to pay for it, go for it.
If not, then don't.
@Valas_AzuviirSome people just look for any reason to hate on a game that's garnering popularity. =\
yeah this wasnt for me and beta further confirmed that.
I cant justify the horrible gfx and combat for a so-so questing.
gw2, cometh!
@infinity_ LOL you're delusional if you think the graphics in SW are horrible LOL LOL LOL... btw... the finished product is better then the beta but I guess incomplete games in beta stage are what you judge games by.
@jojocoolio graphics arent good. Not enough to justify a monthly fee.
6 months tops, and this game is f2p.
1 Like Best MMORPG I have played in a very long time.. nothing looks like its going to come close to this for quite some time..
Just his kid-brother essentially.
He's a pain in the backside, but very killable.
The Big C on the other hand.... yeah.. well.. good luck with that.. ;)
My question here is: Do I risk spending a single dollar in this game, or should I lean back while I wait for the "Phai Cascade"? I've been fooled by SWTOR, been nerfed by WoW, analy probed by EVE Online, and so many others really.
After watching the pvp scenarios and /or the combat system in this game, how can someone or anyone really, say the game is worth buying. It has an innovative character progress system yes, it has above average puzzles to immerse you in the game, but is an MMO + subscription fee like thisone even worth spending a single cent? IDK. They should've sticked with the "subscription free" method imho, the success of the game will be completely overshadowed by their decision to make "too much money" out of a mediocre product.
my 2 cents
0/
1 Like @Chez_5 Don't listen to these fanbois nerd raging at you because you have common sense and can think for yourself (All you TSW fanboi's can start raging at me like Chewbacca... GUGAGUGA...JU GAMES DIZ BETTER DEN YOUZ!)....... I simply dont care.... I beta tested, and played the secret world and there is really nothing really great in this game other than the voice acting which imo is better then SWTOR's terrible voice acting. The bad thing about TSW, However is the game just seems more like a single player story rpg. For a MMORPG it's really static, theres not much depth here. The areas are small and not very open world at all. The skill system really isnt all that interesting either. Game is not worth it imo, The only people this is going to attract is people who are reletivly new to playing MMO's or people bored of their minds and waiting on something else to occupy their time with, or simple casual gamers. Its not even worth a monthly fee. I'de wait on GW2
@midnight_trashh "For a MMORPG it's really static, theres not much depth here. The areas are small and not very open world at all. The skill system really isnt all that interesting either. Game is not worth it imo, The only people this is going to attract is people who are reletivly new to playing MMO's or people bored of their minds and waiting on something else to occupy their time with, or simple casual gamers."
This paragraph fails me. I have a hardcore pvp cabal playing this game and we truly love it. It is not perfect by any means but it reached beyond our expection whether it's PVP or PVE and yes we will be playing GW2 as well(and we will dominate). So stop generalizing your statements like you are speaking for everyone and forcing it like it is a fact!!
@Chez_5 First off, you need to watch your use of language. You use words like "above average" and "mediocre" without having played the game.
Second, the real question is whether or not the dollar you've invested in the product warrants the experience that you've walked away with. Personally, I'm standing at about 80 fantastic hours of this game--loved every minute--and I've only thrown $50 at it. As far as I'm concerned, that's a goddamn steal. That is what matters, not grandiose debate on the effectiveness of the game's business model.
And yes, the business model will have some effect on the playbase, but consider the server structure of the game: it all runs on interconnected servers. Whether or not they have to cut servers as people drop out of the game is irrelevant so long as there exists a core audience (which shouldn't be a problem given the game's quality).
@project343 $1 per quality hour of game time is a fair expense in my mind. As expensive as these games can be, if every hour of that time rocks, it's worth it. WoW, for example: I could put in 20 hours a week with that game and only pay $15 a month. When all my friends were playing it was SO worth it. Now, with none of my friends playing, even if I do get dozens of hours out of the sub, I don't feel it's quality time. It's just work. I got my $20 worth for new expansion content and cut loose. I haven't played WoW in years save for the one month necessary to play a new expansion (I'm not about to dump those characters I spent hours leveling and no one is going to buy them).
I'm really enjoying this so far. It feels like a step forward for the genre, despite its rough edges.
Not a bad game. To me, it kinda has a MxO feel to it. ( Without all the leaping from building to building.) One of my favorite things in it though are the puzzles. You really do have to think about them and some of them require you to actually use the net to find the answers. Thankfully, there is built-in web search for that.
My only complaint in the beta was that the in-game text was so small. Maybe it was the resolution I was using but I had a hard time getting things big enough to read, but not so big that it took up all of my screen. But still, not that big of a deal.
1 Like This game...incredibly immersive and addictive. I was pleasantly surprised, especially after all the bad things folks had to say about the beta. Every time I play it, I literally have to pull away from it, lol. And kudos to Funcom for the smoothest launch I've ever been a part of; aside from a few glitches here and there, I haven't run across anything gamebreaking, and that's saying a lot.
2 Like I was seriously considering getting this game but after hearing about this ridicules outfit purchase system there is no way. How the hell can they justify you A. Buying the game for 50 bucks then B. Charging you 15 bucks a month to play it then have the bloody cheek to charge you for outfits!!!?
On top of which i have to say i'm pretty shocked at the state of the graphics, Conan looks twice as good as this and is over 4 years old. Ill pass thanks.
1 Like I agree with you entirely lee. Either a cash shop for in game items OR the $15/month sub. having both is a rather slimy stunt
@lee0577 All the cash shop items are cosmetic pieces of clothing--and there are plenty of better looking alternatives that are unlockable in the game proper.
And Age of Conan most certainly does 'not' look better than The Secret World. The lighting, texture resolution, character models... they are all significantly better looking than Age of Conan. If it wasn't for TERA, I'd say that this is probably one of the best looking games in the genre.
1 Like @project343 As i stated above, 50, plus 15 a month should allow me to choose anything i like in the game regardless of what the item does. Asking for more money on top of that to me is outrageous.
There is no point in us arguing about graphics as it is subjective and purely our own opinion (which obviously do and can differ) However i stll stand by what i said about them. Not good enough IN MY OPINION.
@lee0577 Well, my point is not that it's a fair business practice. It's more that if you have any interest in this genre, you're going to get cut down with microtransactions with nearly every release. It's completely unfair to pin-point and avoid TSW for something that is fairly common in the genre.
And just going back to the most basic argument: this stuff is super optional. It's pets and cosmetic clothing. Don't let something like a (likely EA-influenced) business model keep you from a game that clearly has so much love, quality and passion put into it.
@project343 I understand what your saying and i agree that it isn't just FC that have this shall we say 'dirty' business model.
The fact remains though and i'm only speaking for myself here of course that it really is very cheeky of them to try and squeeze even more money out of the players after what is already a fair amount to begin with.
Just to be clear here, just because other companies are doing this, it does not at all make it right. Your argument is that everyone else is doing it so why not FC too and I'm sorry that does not justify the extra charges IMO.
@lee0577 Seeing as how almost every MMO on the market has all sorts of microtransaction options, I don't see how TSW is any different. Only difference is that TSW provides a lot of the important stuff for free, like instant character transfers to whichever servers you like. In other games, this can cost a fortune via these microtransactions. And yes, I'm talking about games that also have the $50 + $15/mo model.
The optional World of Warcraft microtransactions (on top of the $15/mo fee):
- Character Transfer: $25
- Name Change: $10
- Race Change: $25
- Faction Change: $30
- Appearance Change: $15
- Mounts (many, many of 'em): $25/each
- Non-combat pets (many, many of 'em): $10/each
By contrast, TSW seems to charge:
- Articles of clothing: $1 - $7
- Full outfits: $10-12
- Non-combat pets: $5-7
Just note that these pieces of clothing are irrelevant to your character's ability and there are thousands upon thousands of articles of clothing already in the game without microtransactions. To be honest, very little on this store is stuff that looks outright better than the outfits you can unlock via completing achievements/purchasing via in-game cash.
To me, this seems like a completely reasonable venture on Funcom's part.
1 Like @lee0577 Actually you were misinformed. You can purchase outfits ingame...theres a cash store to purchase additional clothes and accessories but you don't have to if you dont want, the ingame store located in London offers plenty of options. As for the graphics well...if you turn everything to Ultra settings youll see how great they can be.
And really...outfits? Is that the main reason for not trying the game? This ain't The Sims.
Don't forget the clothing trucks in NY, and there are two clothing NPC's in the Haitian Market London as well. Seoul should also have some, don't recall where though.
@TheSecretUser80 I'm not misinformed all. You have just stated yourself that you have the option to buy extra outfits ingame which is what i said in my original post so how exactly am i misinformed?
I think its a damn cheek after charging 50, plus the 15 a month to play it to even consider ANYTHING that involves you spending more money. No matter what the item does and does not do this is unacceptable to me.
And No that is not the sole reason for not trying the game. I also however think the animation actually is better in AoC and the graphics in general are the same to me. Bear in mind AoC is FOUR years older than this. Please compare the 2 side by side.
Oh that's perfectly acceptable, but it would work a bit better, if you make this "gripe" a bit wider then.
Right now, how you've phrased things seems like you're just singling out FC for a bashing. Whereas your problem lies with the entire practice in the Industry.
So turning it into something like: "I absolutely loathe this new business practice that has sprung up in the Industry. Where you have to: A) Buy the game for 50 bucks then B) Get charged 15 bucks a month to play it C) then there's the bloody cheek to charge you for outfits in addition to that!!!?"
That would cover what you're trying to say just as well, and it doesn't give off the impression either, that it's just FC who is being horrid about all of this.
I do believe in fairness.
If you have an orchard with apple trees and a bunch of kids steal some of your apples, then just punishing/cussing out one, when you know the identity of all of them. It just seems off to me.
I understand what your saying and i agree that it isn't just FC that have this shall we say 'dirty' business model.
The fact remains though and i'm only speaking for myself here of course that it really is very cheeky of them to try and squeeze even more money out of the players after what is already a fair amount to begin with.
Just to be clear here, just because other companies are doing this, it does not at all make it right. Your argument is that everyone else is doing it so why not FC too and i'm sorry that does not justify the extra charges IMO.
1 Like
It's not so much about excuses as it's about pointing out that this has seemingly become an accepted business form, considering how many companies are doing these types of things.
Heck, I could've mentioned CCP with Eve and their monocles as well. How much was that again? 10 to 25$?
Or Cryptic with STO or CO, and the costume/power sets they sell. What about NCSoft with CoH/CoV. etc etc etc.
So this whole, it's an outrage thing... I'm not getting it.
It's not just FC doing these things, it's pretty much all the big players in the market.
Thus the whole FC is this unnameable unspeakable Eldritch horror for doing this, just seems so overblown and like nothing more than Diva Drama, when they're just no different from anyone else in the market really.. *shrugs*
1 Like It makes my skin crawl even hearing about "Turbine Points", ever since I played DDO online. Games made by Turbine are a money trap, and because someone else has done it before, doesn't mean anyone should be excused to do it once more
Celestial Steed ring a bell?
What about the Winged Guardian?
Heart of the Aspects?
Three mounts, all purchasable from the Blizzard Store, yet you can earn flying mounts in-game as well.
Or let's compare it to the Freemium LotRO, which I happen to play. You can pay a monthly fee and have less restrictions and get free Turbine Points to spend on the shop, or you can go the free route, with some restrictions and having to grind to get the Turbine Points to get around some of the restrictions.
You can also buy cosmetic items from the store. Do you need to do so? Well, that's up to you to decide, there are some in-game shops to sell cosmetic items as well.
So the choice is all up to the individual player.
But to act as if FC is out of bounds by doing this, when it's a fairly standard business practice in the MMO genre. Seems kinda silly to me.
As for the Animation thing, probably has to do with how different the combat system is in the two games.
They've had to tweak some of the animations in order to make it fit with the combat system that TSW has, and they've admitted, that it makes things look a bit off. Could or should they've started from scratch to make it fit?
Good question. Not one I can answer, as it does pertain to individual tastes a bit. I know, that I didn't notice the floaty stuff etc that much myself during the Beta Weekends, as I was too busy with trying to kill the mobs in front of me and trying to keep an eye on my surroundings so I didn't end up getting swamped by a patrol.
But then that's me, same may very well not apply to you. *shrugs* Different strokes for different folks.
1 Like Personally I don't really see the major difference in how combat feels if you compare TSW to per say World of Warcraft, The Old Republic, Guild Wars 2. No MMOs have ever been particulary good at giving you a feeling of actually hitting your mobs. A great example is having a 3.6 speed two handed axe in WoW and swinging it at a tiny boar at the same time as the boar is auto attacking you. Nothing happens. You just see a number and hear an axe-swinging sound. How does this give you a better feel of actually making contact? It doesn't. The amount of fanboys here, especially from GW2, is simply astounding. Dear God.
@Calath dodge button says hi , and at least in GW2 characters don't move around like they have cement shoes.
@Calath Same here. Unless GW2 offers God of War-type combat system, which I sincerely doubt, theres really no difference between combat systems in mmo's. They all get repetitive and grind-y eventually.
I'd say its a little better than Warcraft because you have to choose carefully your active abilities since you can only have 7 and you have to string them the right way to get the best combos and the most dps.
Tera has a good combat system but whos playing it?
1 Like Also, the graphics are pretty god damn good. Some weaknesses here and there, but hit the game up and it play it on ultra with the DX11 client, then come back here and say the graphics are bad. They aren't. They're amazing for an MMO.
