Secret World Legends, an overhauled TSW, or is it really?

Has anyone been following this? A recent twitch stream: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/145133068?

To be honest, at first glance it simply seemed like a way for funcom to better make money off old content through increased monetization. But the UI and skill overhauls appear to make this a better game overall (unfortunately, the wonky animations are still present).

Here is a screengrab from the twitch stream on something completely new:
capstones. Seems like a fun endgame goal.

Anyway, has anyone been following this? I might be trying this again when it's out (June 26). While I first thought it was a shameless cash grab to recycle and mold their old content into something 'new', there does indeed seem to be some substance here (although whether or not it merited an entirely new reboot is debatable).

I loved Secret World overall, but hated the combat - and found the progression extremely underwhelming.

But I'm definitely going to give it a shot and see for myself. Not expecting much, though.

Those capstones look like ultra boring passive bonuses. Much like their terrible loot and skill design.

From the FAQ,

How does Secret World Legends differ from The Secret World?

One major difference is that the game is free to play for everyone. But just as importantly, Secret World Legends has updates befitting a modern-day action RPG. This includes a redesigned combat system to make action feel more natural, more intuitive systems to interact with, enhanced visuals, an improved flow of quests, and improved structure of the early game for new players.

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Seems promising at least.

Never had a big problem with the quest flow.

My primary issues were definitely the poor combat, the excessive skill overlap/redundancy and the terrible loot.

Story/quests were pretty much superb - and better than in any other MMO I know.

Drithius said:

Has anyone been following this? A recent twitch stream: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/145133068?

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I haven't as I avoid twitch like a cancer.

Peeked into the thread thinking the overhaul means it'll switch to singleplayer game.
Glanced at posts, seems I thought wrong and it's just copypasted Beamdog's EE milk scheme, only this time applied onto a MMO.
Such a shame.

Count me as another person who hated the combat in TSW. I never even made it past Kingsmouth due to how much I disliked the combat and the quest design. (I didn't dislike the actual quests, I just hated the checklist manner in which they were presented).

I'm still curious about the story/lore though so I'm looking forward to trying Legends. If the redesigned combat flows the the way they're claiming, it might be something I can really enjoy.

I've been following it. I'm waiting to see how it all play out. I really like the game story, but the combat was a drag to me.

NewDArt said:

Never had a big problem with the quest flow.

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I'm pretty sure that part is about how you can do some (side) missions out of order in term of narrative in some areas.

joxer said:

Peeked into the thread thinking the overhaul means it'll switch to singleplayer game.

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It's basically a single player game already (you can solo everything but the dungeons) and Legends is reducing the amount of players per map to like 10 players (excluding the player hub).

joxer said:

I haven't as I avoid twitch like a cancer.

Peeked into the thread thinking the overhaul means it'll switch to singleplayer game.
Glanced at posts, seems I thought wrong and it's just copypasted Beamdog's EE milk scheme, only this time applied onto a MMO.
Such a shame.

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There are larger changes to the game than that, which is quite obvious from other comments in this thread.

pibbur who thinks that in this particular thread the joxer's post is very predictable and not very interesting.

It's not a real Watch thread until joxer comes pissing on another design he doesn't understand

azarhal said:

I'm pretty sure that part is about how you can do some (side) missions out of order in term of narrative in some areas.

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It should be interesting to see the changes.

I actually kinda liked how they handled it originally, though. They limited the amount of quests you could have active - meaning they were trying to motivate you to focus on a few quest lines at a time. I found that worked pretty well.

The trivial quests (blue, IIRC) were largely optional - and you didn't really have to do them because of how progression worked.

If there was one issue with the quests, in my opinion, it was the fact that too many of them were solo only, which was quite disruptive to the cooperative flow.

But it was the grindy, repetitive nature of combat which ultimately killed it for me. I only ever got to the second major area (Egypt) before giving up on it.

I've always wanted to go back to it, as I adored the atmosphere and style of narrative.

I arranged for access to beta and I don't really know what to think.

Performance was dreadful with a ton of stuttering. Even worse than I remember it - which is strange given my hardware is much better.

As for the changes, they seem mostly centered on streamlining the experience - rather than fundamentally changing the game.

Combat felt much the same to me, with the same crappy animations and a complete lack of visceral feedback. You still feel like you're hitting air or cardboard rather than real enemies.

That said, progression looks somewhat more interesting. Seems they added some mechanics to loot - giving them more effects/procs than I remember.

I have to be honest, I don't really remember much about the skills - but it seems they added a bunch of new ones.

They also added classes - and I picked "Assassin". Seemed a decent enough class, but felt nothing like an actual assassin to me.

I really don't think it will change my opinion of the game, sadly. Launch is in one month, so I don't expect it to change much at all.

I'd say if you haven't played it before, it's probably a better way to introduce new players to the game - and it most definitely feels more accessible - and not in a bad way.

But the core issues are still there, for the most part - as far as I can tell.

I'm not sure what they're hoping to achieve here - but there's absolutely no way the changes represent enough to turn it into some kind of hit or anything.

They should have gone all in instead.

I need to try it if only because I want to see what is different for myself. Like Dart I made it to Egypt and then stopped. Although I didn't mind the combat but then I am not a big combat person so I tend to just adopt to whatever. As long as it isn't to twitch based I can manage (I saw the word twitch applied and didn't consider the original game that twitchy ... but perhaps it is but in a way I was able to handle).

I just liked the modern setting with all the magic and supernatural stuff. It is a very run role playing setting and really liked the story and lore. But the grind started to wear me out which is why I stopped.

I only wish they had new animations and better looking characters. Modded games like Skyrim and FO4 have really spoiled me on MMO's when it comes to having great looking character detail.

The story really is the strength, especially if you like horror and a modern setting. It's honestly a relief to get away from medieval fantasy, with at least one game. I really enjoy TSW, despite the flaws like combat. The biggest problem, people cant' seem to focus on a build, because there isn't really any help other than a few lame (imo) prebuilds. I've played the full story a couple of times and made it up to, about half way through, dlc 9 out of 15(?).

Imo, the most important thing you need to do combat wise if decide on your personal favorite playstyle. Melee or Range, then get help, the skills are overwhelming, which sucks. Now it's only worst. Not only, do players have the original wheel to contend with, but they've added two more wheels (not sure about Legends).

When I first started, I desperately wanted to play full magic but it was near impossible. Searched for builds everywhere and had a bit of luck, but not much. Atm, my favorite Range build is Assault Rifle and Elemental for single and multi AoE crowd control. The best Melee looks to be Claws or Sword, but I don't really have experience with them.

I'll defiantly be trying Legends. I've still got TSW installed, so if anyone needs help in game now, let me know.

who bought the game, get anything special?

porcozaur said:

who bought the game, get anything special?

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If you own The Secret World and link your account to Legends you get:
- all weapons unlocked right from the start (F2pers only get the 2 associated to the starting deck and have to unlock the others)
- transfer of cash shop items and other vanity stuff you got in TSW (full list not known yet)
- more undisclosed perks

Grand Master (lifetime sub) is also transferring to Legends.

There's a new video out talking about the combat in TSW: Legends and how it's different from normal TSW.



Honestly, it doesn't seem all that different to me; sure, there's a few new mechanics, but you're still just floating around targets, seemingly more focused on skill queues than any feedback from the game.

The new version of the beta seems to have resolved the performance issues I was having, so that's something.

Still don't think it's going to change the game enough to get people all that interested.

I don't think it will be anything but a niche MMO - like always.

But at least it's better and more streamlined now - so you can get down to the story, which is definitely the best part.

Also, they're going to add all the story DLCs for free - and only charge for cosmetic stuff.

So, there's never been a better time to try it - or get back to it if you didn't bother to buy the story packs!

I'll be checking this out too. I've enjoyed about 60 hours of TSW so far and go back to it every few months.

Just looking at the FAQ… Is it correct that when the time comes I just need to install the new version, fire it up and then link it to my 'old' TSW login to carry things over? ie I'll just be able to use my existing TSW account with TSWL? (albeit with a new character)


Thanks

Played it a bit more, but my conclusion is unfortunately the same.

Combat is more or less as terrible as always. Well, it's better in that it's not as build-and-then-execute focused - but that doesn't help much.

I'm almost certain I won't be playing this much

KaosWarMonk said:

Just looking at the FAQ… Is it correct that when the time comes I just need to install the new version, fire it up and then link it to my 'old' TSW login to carry things over? ie I'll just be able to use my existing TSW account with TSWL? (albeit with a new character)

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Yes. I just followed the link from their email and used my old name and password to install TSWL.

I started playing last night, and I'm not too impressed. I wasn't impressed by TSW either though, and I'm not a fan of MMOs in general.

Combat does feel a *little* more fluid to me, but it's still not nearly as visceral as I'd like. The visuals are way behind today's standards even on the highest settings.

I only just got to Kingsmouth though so I'll give it a bit longer. I don't see myself playing it for very long though.