The Secret World

I love how there seems to be a drudge of theories and correction of theories going on. Fits the theme of "The Secret World".

So...Lone Gunmen with Jobs?

Well, I've seen a lot of people post "I'm in the beta" topics on the official forums and they just seem to close the threads with a bit of a face palm so I don't think they are scrubbing other forums to ban people just for saying they are in the beta. But, you never know, *shrug*.

The first open beta for preorders is this weekend and since I am preordered I can safely say I will be around this weekend making characters, trying out powersets, deleting them, and making new characters. Since this is a game that isn't terribly alt friendly (no character classes and one character can learn every skill a la' Eve Online) I want to really nail down my character before the game goes live.

Yeah, I'm preordered so I'll be on this weekend too. I'm assuming there will be a wipe going from beta to live so this will be a chance to test various builds out. I've used my preorder reserved name to lock down "tanstaafl" as my nick so that's who I'll be. Probably going for Shalalm "tanstaafl" Baskur as a name...

Any more thoughts on a GWJ Cabal?

Luckily Funcom cant do anything right, so I cant imagine they'd be able to coordinate connecting you here vs your in-game account.

/bittersticks

Well this is Funcom's chance to make up for a lot of horribad launches.

And to be fair they have a bad track record on releases but they do a good job of cleaning the game up after release.

I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt one more time. If this game is fail (which by all accounts it does NOT appear to be but we'll have to see at release) then I doubt I will give them another chance.

Despite the track record I have to say I am very optimistic for this title.

tanstaafl wrote:

Yeah, I'm preordered so I'll be on this weekend too. I'm assuming there will be a wipe going from beta to live so this will be a chance to test various builds out. I've used my preorder reserved name to lock down "tanstaafl" as my nick so that's who I'll be. Probably going for Shalalm "tanstaafl" Baskur as a name...

Any more thoughts on a GWJ Cabal?

last i checked they were society specific so it'll be hard to get everyone into one group

Well I pre-ordered but didn't get any email about the beta weekend. However, I did see a blurb about a beta key giveaway from Gamespot here.

So if you want in and don't have it pre-ordered (or if you're like me and didn't get notice), here's your chance.

TheArtOfScience wrote:

Well this is Funcom's chance to make up for a lot of horribad launches.

And to be fair they have a bad track record on releases but they do a good job of cleaning the game up after release.

I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt one more time. If this game is fail (which by all accounts it does NOT appear to be but we'll have to see at release) then I doubt I will give them another chance.

Despite the track record I have to say I am very optimistic for this title.

See I am torn, I like you guys who want this to be good, so on that hand I hope it doesn't suck, but on the other hand, i have an unatural and almost unfounded hatred for this company (they are my gamestop) and I long to see them flop.

The tipping point is that if it is good, Ran will make me purchase it and then, I'll be forced to play it, and the last thing I want to do is be happy and like something I want to hate. I am not sure I am ready for that.

Perhaps the only option is to build a bunker and become a hermit.

If you are setup for the beta weekends login to your account and there should be a download link available on your account page.

WiredAsylum wrote:
TheArtOfScience wrote:

Well this is Funcom's chance to make up for a lot of horribad launches.

And to be fair they have a bad track record on releases but they do a good job of cleaning the game up after release.

I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt one more time. If this game is fail (which by all accounts it does NOT appear to be but we'll have to see at release) then I doubt I will give them another chance.

Despite the track record I have to say I am very optimistic for this title.

See I am torn, I like you guys who want this to be good, so on that hand I hope it doesn't suck, but on the other hand, i have an unatural and almost unfounded hatred for this company (they are my gamestop) and I long to see them flop.

The tipping point is that if it is good, Ran will make me purchase it and then, I'll be forced to play it, and the last thing I want to do is be happy and like something I want to hate. I am not sure I am ready for that.

Perhaps the only option is to build a bunker and become a hermit.

We had some good times in Conan.

SpyNavy wrote:

We had some good times in Conan.

Even though AoC did so many things wrong back then, I also remember having a great time with you guys. It didn't last long though...

I'm looking forward to this game. I like the concept of getting rid of the levelling aspect that makes most MMO's kind of annoying and giving you more freedom.

There may or may not be a channel on the Vent server for beta folks to visit.

Anyone know if the open beta and closed beta people will playing together this weekend?

I'm in the open beta.

Have beta key but won't be using it. TERA has taken over my life. First non grinder PM gets it. It says it's for the closed beta and you will be included in all future beta events for TSW. Sounds kinda cool, maybe I'll ebay it and put "Rare!!!11!11!"

Ok fine, first PM gets it.

EDIT: Key taken

So I registered my account using a beta key I got from PAX, which I hope lets me play this weekend.. looking forward to trying this out!

I preordered and downloaded all the stuff. Tried to log in (just in case :P) and got nothing. I can't wait until the 11th to give this game a whirl. Talking to a friend of mine who is in the Open Beta and the things I'm reading sound pretty awesome. Looking forward to getting Dorien started and some female character at some point.

Free beta keys from Gamespot.
http://www.gamespot.com/event/codes/...

FYI for those that are in the closed beta. The client for the weekend is a separate download than the closed beta client.

Just a random post before the first open beta weekend to say that I am *very* *very* stoked about this game. My wife and I can't wait for it to go gold.

Take that for what you will.

Hope everyone in the open beta has a great time this weekend!

Turn on authentication server!!

Couple of things for those that are jumping in this weekend.

If you dont like spoilers for stories, movies and the like then you'll want to pass. Seriously! I'm telling you to not do a beta.

Those that are still plowing on through. Make sure you ahve notepad/pen ready or something to help keep notes with.

ranalin wrote:

Couple of things for those that are jumping in this weekend.

If you dont like spoilers for stories, movies and the like then you'll want to pass. Seriously! I'm telling you to not do a beta.

Those that are still plowing on through. Make sure you ahve notepad/pen ready or something to help keep notes with.

Well, I am okay with doing this weekend since I am going Dragon. I know there are shared quests/stories, but I don't think I will even get enough time in to get too far into those I really just want to see the world and skill system.

NathanialG wrote:

Free beta keys from Gamespot.
http://www.gamespot.com/event/codes/...

thanks for the link! I'm in for the beta weekend.

Senkrad wrote:
ranalin wrote:

Couple of things for those that are jumping in this weekend.

If you dont like spoilers for stories, movies and the like then you'll want to pass. Seriously! I'm telling you to not do a beta.

Those that are still plowing on through. Make sure you ahve notepad/pen ready or something to help keep notes with.

Well, I am okay with doing this weekend since I am going Dragon. I know there are shared quests/stories, but I don't think I will even get enough time in to get too far into those I really just want to see the world and skill system.

Well it'll be slow going unless you spoil things. There's a bunch of folks here that hate being spoiled, and this is something where i figured it'd be fair to warn them. This isnt your normal game as far as story goes...

My take on it, so far...

What's good:

  • Atmosphere
  • Environment graphics
  • Lore
  • Some of the characters and dialogue

What's bad:

  • Animation
  • Character models
  • Very limited character creation
  • Facial expressions in cutscenes

What's atrocious:

  • Boring, clunky, disconnected combat.
  • Very linear skill system. Really disappointed that I have to grind all the base skills to start picking the interesting stuff and getting those APs come very slowly at least initially.
  • For every good quest, there are 5 kill ten monsters, pick up something in the world or any of the old school type of quest that doesn't really fit with the rest of this game.
  • Limited amount of quests you can carry. The whole system is very clunky.
  • The way quests are spread around the map. It's hard to figure out that we are not supposed to treat it as an old school quest hub type of thing, but it doesn't give us good directions on how to handle them either.

Overall, the game feels unpolished and not ready at all. I know, it's beta, but come on. They have a month to finish it and there are some pretty major changes they'd have to do to fix some of the big issues. This is not happening before release. It's not a matter of just tweaking certain things but changing the way a lot of the core systems work.

If the game launches as it is, even "just polishing" some aspects of it, I'm pretty sure it will fail attracting a lot of players on launch.

Am I still interested in the game? Yes I am, but I'm definitely not buying it on release. I will follow its progress in the following months and then decide if it is worth my time and money.

KillTrash wrote:

What's atrocious:

  • Boring, clunky, disconnected combat.

    Agreed this is tied to teh animations being off... I'd love to hear an explanation for this that makes sense. This is supposed to be a level ABOVE AoC.

  • Very linear skill system. Really disappointed that I have to grind all the base skills to start picking the interesting stuff and getting those APs come very slowly at least initially.

    That's the whole point of a skill system. Thank god it's this way...

  • For every good quest, there are 5 kill ten monsters, pick up something in the world or any of the old school type of quest that doesn't really fit with the rest of this game.

    We playing the same game? The only time i've had to kill X monsters is to try out equipment taht was given to me and fit the story so didnt notice it was a kill x mob quest. This has been some of the best quests i've done in a mmo. With the exception of one that needs help they've been great. You have to use your noodle and cant rely on clicking accept and go looking for the nearest shiney bits. Next to no hand holding

  • Limited amount of quests you can carry. The whole system is very clunky.

    While annoying it forces you to see more of the world and trust me... you need to learn every detail, nook, cranny to do some of the quests.

  • The way quests are spread around the map. It's hard to figure out that we are not supposed to treat it as an old school quest hub type of thing, but it doesn't give us good directions on how to handle them either.

    0 hand holding. Absolutely love it!

We're totally blowing the NDA right now...but im already a bit jittery and not wanting to spoil more of the story for myself.

Ouch, that doesn't sound good...

lol I can see you guys have sure been busy for the past hour!

Regarding combat: Depends on the skills, to be honest. Some are better than others. I agree that the animations need work and that is probably my biggest issue with the game right now. I think some of the enemy animations are great, though, it's just the character animations that are lacking.

Skill System: The skill system is not linear at all, imo. Yes, it requires that you have certain skills before you get others but so does Eve Online and that is *the* most open system in MMOs period. There needs to be a natural progression of some sort or else the game would be impossible to balance.

Quests: I am with Ranalin on this one. The quests in this game are unlike any other MMO I have played. The way the quests are scattered around is actually awesome because instead of going to one hub and getting eleventy two quests you get one or two at a time and then focus on those only. Undoubtedly as you are running around doing the quests you have you will find more because the quests are located in very sensible locations. For instance you may stuble upon a police car that has the radio going or you may happen upon a trail of pizza boxes that beg investigating. Instead of Joe Questgiver telling you what needs to be done you happen upon opportunities for quests out in the wild and it feels much more organic.

This is not a game where you stand there and wait to be told what to do. You have to stoke your sense of adventure and actively go out exploring and learning the world around you.

Also, SP and AP start pouring in eventually. The progression definitely ramps up.

Is anyone else having trouble just logging in? The client crashes as soon as I start to input my password.