The Secret World - initial impressions

Originally Posted by fadedc
Yeah it was very different in a game like Eve, where you could spend an hour or more just traveling from point A to point B. Some people even did nothing but fly a giant transport ship that did nothing but sit there while other players mined astroids and brought the ore back to the ship. They didn't even press buttons, they just sat there. For hours. When that's going on, you have nothing to do, but talk to people.

People did this for fun?

At least in X3 you have the SETA button. And I can talk to family and the dog while I wait.

I have to say I am totally into The Secret World and how great the story is … so much so that it has me very attached to my character - far more than in most MMO's I have played. I was doing a big quest line in the game and I got tricked into making a choice I did not want (more me not paying enough attention). But since this is an MMO it was irreversible. At the time, full of adrenaline and coffee, I was ready to quit on the spot. Starting a new character would be out of the question at this point. Unlike other games where making alts tend to have a bit more purpose (different starting areas and classes), TSW really has you invest in a single character … and no way I want to redo all the content again so soon into the game.

But after thinking it over I realized far better to make some mistakes then have yet another MMO that just holds your hand through everything. So now Ulfr is flawed, and a little tainted, but more human because of it … just like real life I suppose. On the down side he is no longer the perfect character, the ideal me, that I was making. No going back to undo that choice. No saved game to reload.

All in all a great game that requires some thinking, exploring, and getting outside of the box in how you approach things. I am now eager to have Ulfr redeem himself and prove his loyalty to the cause. He has a deeper personality with more beef to it. He has some new motives, a darker past, and all in all this makes for a more fun character to role play.

For all the little bugs and flaws (which really are no worse then most games at release) I have become very hooked on this MMO. To the point that GW2, which I thought was going to be my main and TSW just a diversion for August, may end up as my alternative game. Luckily it is F2P and already purchased it so easy enough to play both (and I like GW2 for very different reasons anyhow).

ROFL! Great t-shirt!

My character is just kinda standing there wonder what to do with all her AP points. She's got her AoE set up pretty well and her single-target+hinder going nicely as well so she just keeps stacking up points.

Now, since SW is out for a while, could somebody who still plays it share some post-initial impression of it? I am toying with the idea of joining and would appreciate your thoughts!

That would be awsome.
Because after the disappointment with STO I'm really not going to try another MMO without seeing it described in details here.

I don't play it anymore - but thought it was quite fantastic as a TEMPORARY MMO. It's really more like a hybrid of a traditional MMO and an adventure game. The emphasis is on story and atmosphere.

However, it doesn't really have much to sustain it beyond the point of content exhaustion - which can be reached within a couple of months for most players.

They don't seem to have anything in place for the end-game experience, even at this point.

However, the content is so strong and it truly rivals the best singleplayer adventures in that way. It's most definitely worth a shot - unless you plan on making it a long-term home.

Sadly, it wasn't much of a hit - and they clearly failed to appeal to the mainstream. I expect it will "all but die" within 6-12 months.

Thanks D'Art. What a pity but it was a similar story with Age of Conan. Players had to wait for ages for Funcom to fix some intitial bugs and for some end of the game contence. But, then, there were no GW2 or WoW expansion to compete…
Still, I just might be tempted enough to give it a try for couple of months

Well, to be fair - Age of Conan was broken for a long time and had a horrible launch state. TSW is really quite polished and - at least in my experience - not very buggy.

However, it's not an endgame heavy MMO. But it does seem they're working pretty hard to get new content rolled out frequently. A good 2-3 months for most players with fantastic content and the absolute best story/quests in any MMO - and I've played pretty much all of them.

The subscription fee just went away! http://www.thesecretworld.com/news/s…onger_required

Wow perfect timing. I just purchased TSW over black friday for $10 from Microsoft. May have overpaid now that its basically free. Only problem is I don't know if I have time to actually commit to an MMO but this sounded too good as a single player that I had to pick it up.

It was $5.25 on GMG a few days ago.

$5.25.

I'm flailing and kicking myself endlessly. Amazon having it for $15 tomorrow is like a slap in the face after missing the real sale.

Originally Posted by figment
May have overpaid now that its basically free.

The game isn't going F2P, it's going B2P. You have to buy the game box to have access to the game (minus all the DLCs). The normal price for the game is $30.

With this move, I think the game really deserves to be experienced by pretty much everyone interested in strong atmosphere and great storytelling. Just get to it.

Originally Posted by Zloth
The subscription fee just went away! http://www.thesecretworld.com/news/s…onger_required

That sure didn't take long. Now I may have to try it if I can get it for a good price and my PC can run it well. I am disappointed to hear about a lack of end game content though.

I've been reading reviews and I am intrigued. Even though the two games are different, I'm torn between TSW & GW2. Does GW2 also suffer from a lack of endgame content?

So, I've been restless the past couple days and decided to purchase The Secret World. Glad I did! This writing, voice-acting, atmosphere, & combat is so much fun.

Bumping this topic because this game, as Dart has stated, truly should be bought by anyone and everyone who likes atmosphere in their games. Even if you run out of things to do after a month or two, $30 is a steal for this content.

Aye TSW is the only MMO still installed on my HD. Heh right now the only games on my PC is TSW and Skyrim :-)

It is a great game and a lot of fun and I plan on returning to it this summer if I ever find the time.

Such a good game. So well-written. Turning cliche game mannerisms on their collective head.

Check out this clip of one of the most cynical npc's you will ever encounter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu_KnFHN6ow