I didn't like the combat or character models, but in the end what killed it for me was a depressing and confused setting. After a while the dark setting just started to lose its luster. Only so much death and misery before it becomes boring.
The quests were amazing though.
What do you mean by "confused setting"?
Is it a horror game or a superhero game or a sci fi game or a fantasy game? It can never decide.
It doesn't purport itself to be any one of those things, nor does it have to be. In fact, given its core theme/concept, it can't be just any one of those things all the time.
FC describes TSW as a MMORPG set in the modern world, where "... every myth, conspiracy theory and urban legend was true."
That's it. With that, in response to your statement, "it's any of the above, depending on the myth/legend/conspiracy involved in the given area or story arc". Solomon Island is very Lovecraft inspired, and so delves into the horror side. Egypt has a bit of a supernatural, "Indiana Jones" feel to it (especially Last Train to Cairo), so it goes that way. Certain dungeons, like The Facility, take a more Cosmic Sci-Fi twist.
So, it's not so much that the game has a confused setting, or can't decide what it is. Its core theme of "Everything is True" necessitates that it *not* be nailed down to one thing or another, because myths, conspiracy theories and such run the gamut. Not everything is horror. Not everything is Sci-Fi. Not everything is Fantasy. The game's premise wouldn't work if they decided to shoe-horn everything into, say, a Fantasy setting.
So, it's not that TSW doesn't know what it is, or has a "confused setting". TSW knows exactly what it is.
I think what's happening is you're trying to fit it into a single, specific categorical box, are
finding it doesn't fit neatly into any one of them, and deem that as "confusing". For me, I don't see that as a problem at all. I think it's a brilliant approach, giving them freedom to take it in just about any direction they want.
The look and comments about combat always turned me off in the past, however I always wanted to try it out as other aspects seemed interesting, downloading it now so I can at least say I tried it before it vanishes completely.
"Trump is a blunt force, all-American, laser-guided middle finger to everything and everyone in Washington, D.C." - Wayne Allyn Root
I didn't like the combat or character models, but in the end what killed it for me was a depressing and confused setting. After a while the dark setting just started to lose its luster. Only so much death and misery before it becomes boring.
The quests were amazing though.
What do you mean by "confused setting"?
Is it a horror game or a superhero game or a sci fi game or a fantasy game? It can never decide.
The look and comments about combat always turned me off in the past, however I always wanted to try it out as other aspects seemed interesting, downloading it now so I can at least say I tried it before it vanishes completely.
Cool!
One thing I will advise, specifically about the combat: Do not approach it like a typical modern MMO, where the extent of combat is "hit your builders, and then your finisher, wash-rinse-repeat", and that's it. Many people seem to do just that, and they consistently come away with a complete misunderstanding of how TSW's combat works, dismissing it as "too simple" in some cases.
Here's a great guide to bookmark and keep handy, maybe skim through quick. No need to memorize it all now, but it's a good way to get an idea of how TSW's combat/build system works, and its actual depth. Then you can reference it later as necessary.
It starts off slowly, as you don't have as many skills to work with to start, but as you gain AP's, you can unlock new skills. Make sure to read their descriptions, and make sure to give as much attention to Passives as you do Actives. Choosing good Passives can take an otherwise unimpressive looking Active ability, and turn it into an absolute beast. You'll see builds referred to as "having synergy" a lot, and that's the basis of what they're referring to.
Also remember, passives do not have to come only from the trees for the weapons you're using. If you're using Pistol and Sword (for a random example), there may be passives in the Elemental Magic tree (again, random example) that can make your build more effective. As long as their descriptions don't refer to a specific weapon's attack, you can use them with any other weapon combo.
A great place to ask questions you may have in-game is in the Sanctuary channel. You can access that by typing /chat join Sanctuary into your chat window. Then just select that channel from the selector (bottom left of the chat window), and ask away! Most people are very helpful.
It also helps to find a good Cabal to join. If you're Templar, and you decide to stick with the game, I can refer you to an excellent Cabal that I joined since I'm back, and they're an awesome group of people.
Most of all, take your time, take in the atmosphere, enjoy the missions,
ask questions as necessary, and try not to cheat on investigation
missions (though some might really tempt you to lol).
I dunno about anyone else, but I can answer for me:
I have this game. It's sitting on my desktop right now staring at me. I played it some, did some quests and leveled a bit. I enjoyed my time there well enough, and can't really think of many bad things to say about the game, if any.
The problem, I suppose, is that I also can't think of many GOOD things to say about it either.
The story was not bad, but it also did not compel me. It felt generic, and slightly dull. The world itself, or at least what I was exposed to as I entered the game, was all dark and dreary with almost no refreshing break, to cause it to begin to feel somewhat monotonous. The quests? I couldn't recall a single one today if I tried; I know that most MMO quests are generally about "fetch" or "kill", but for some reason the quests just started to run in on themselves. Rather then feeling like I was unfolding an epic story, I felt like I was the errand boy for the last bastion of humanity.
It's a cool idea, and I really can see how someone who likes a kind of dark survival/horror game would enjoy this, but at the end of the day I did not feel myself compelled to log in each day. I logged in simply because I told myself "you should keep playing; it might get better". This was the same feeling I had for Wildstar. I didn't dislike it, and in fact I felt like I SHOULD like it. But at the end of the day? I simply did not.
Sadly it was the combat for me too, that whilst not entirely bad in and of itself, just wasn't as enjoyable or smooth as what I've experienced elsewhere. It's a really shame as I loved the setting, the quest mechanics, and especially the quest cut scenes. Also having to think was very refreshing, though at times almost frustrating.
I dunno about anyone else, but I can answer for me:
I have this game. It's sitting on my desktop right now staring at me. I played it some, did some quests and leveled a bit. I enjoyed my time there well enough, and can't really think of many bad things to say about the game, if any.
The problem, I suppose, is that I also can't think of many GOOD things to say about it either.
The story was not bad, but it also did not compel me. It felt generic, and slightly dull. The world itself, or at least what I was exposed to as I entered the game, was all dark and dreary with almost no refreshing break, to cause it to begin to feel somewhat monotonous. The quests? I couldn't recall a single one today if I tried; I know that most MMO quests are generally about "fetch" or "kill", but for some reason the quests just started to run in on themselves. Rather then feeling like I was unfolding an epic story, I felt like I was the errand boy for the last bastion of humanity.
It's a cool idea, and I really can see how someone who likes a kind of dark survival/horror game would enjoy this, but at the end of the day I did not feel myself compelled to log in each day. I logged in simply because I told myself "you should keep playing; it might get better".
Wait, what?
You completely contradict yourself in your post.
In your first paragraph, you say: "I enjoyed my time there well enough, and can't really think of many bad things to say about the game, if any."
I'd call that an unequivocally positive remark.
But then, you go on to write a paragraph criticizing some of TSW's most praised aspects, before ending your post with this: "... at the end of the day I did not feel myself compelled to log in each
day. I logged in simply because I told myself "you should keep playing;
it might get better".
So, you found the story dull and generic, you didn't like the dark/brooding setting, didn't like and can't even *remember* any of the missions, and only logged in because you thought it might get better if you kept playing... but you liked it well enough and can't really think of much, if anything, bad to say about it...?
That doesn't add up. It's like saying "I thought the meal was great, no complaints at all really, except the main course was bland, the dessert was dry, the drinks were watered down and slow on refills, the silverware was dirty and by the end, I was struggling to even finish the meal".
I'm also skeptical that you can't remember a single mission.
Were you paying attention while doing them, or did you just skip
through cutscenes in a rush to finish them? Did you try solving
things yourself, or did you google the solutions instead?
That
you say you can't remember a single mission precludes me from asking
which missions you did (and perhaps that's the point). Can you at
least say how far in you got? Were you still in Kingsmouth? Had you
gone beyond the police station? Can you remember anything that can indicate how far along you got?
To be clear, I don't care if you liked the game or not. Personal tastes are personal tastes. However, the contradictions and dubious claims in your post, understandably I'd say, raise some red flags.
but i have a solution; remove all the skills and abilities and make this game a thirt person shooter, i think its better fits for the game. becouse i dont like tab targeted with tons of unbalanced garbage useless skills. and its not a middle age fantasy, its a modern day fantasy. its a shame that this game gonna fail. this game has realy cool story.
I like the idea of making it a fps. I played it when it first released and all i remember from combat was it was 1,1,1,2 or 3,3,3,2 if it was aoe or something of that nature. While the quests were amazing for an mmo the combat being one of the worst makes me wonder why they didnt focus on fleshing skills out instead of adding new quests and areas. It would have done pretty well with a few tweaks.
I didn't like the character models, though overall I thought the game looked really nice. I love the setting as well.
However, it plays more like a regular MMO. Zombies (even though technically not zombies) stand around doing nothing, and act like a punching bag like WoW mobs. You can go pretty close to them and they just don't aggro at all. The AI is pretty much exactly like any other MMO AI...a huge failure. Of course I play WoW and it doesn't bother me there, but it did with The Secret World. I think just because it felt more like a singleplayer game (which tend to have better AI than MMOs), but wanted to be an MMO instead.
The Secret World could however have used the AI from Tabula Rasa where they attack on their own and they are actually smart. It could have been really cool. Instead, it felt like a lackluster, heavily nerfed failure of an MMO to me. But seeing "zombies" standing around not doing anything, pretty much killed it for me. That and all the character models look kinda lame.
Outside of that, the story seemed cool. And I love the horror setting it has going on. It just felt like a B grade MMO, instead of a triple A MMO.
My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB:
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???
You answered for your self the animations are awkward. Some skill animation are awkward as well. Story wise feels great but i just cant stand horrible animations in a game. I prefer to play black desert just for the amazing animations alone.
One of my all time favorite MMOs. Such a great community and questing system. I actually like tab target based combat and enjoy its skill system. Hunting lore, achievements, etc all good fun. Annual Halloween event coming up soon (Samhain)!
Of course, it seems I'm also in the minority of people that hate MOBAs so to each their own.
The Secret World is another case of a game that did incredible things mixed in with some absolutely bad shyte.
If I could take the combat and animation fluidity from TERA, the art style and polish from Guild Wars 2, and combine it with the incredible questing, storyline, setting, lore, etc from TSW I'd probably be 50lbs heavier and less tan.
"As far as the forum code of conduct, I would think it's a bit outdated and in need of a refre *CLOSED*"
Loved the whole idea but not the implementation. You grind to get a decent build and key skills are nerfed so you grind another build, rinse and repeat. Not enjoyable for me to play until I had every skill. Combat is barely ok for me and not a lot of fun. Mob placement was to thick in some areas probably to encourage group play. Took a long time to kill stuff even when you were way above it's level. They made that a little better but not by much. Again great idea.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
Zombies (even though technically not zombies) stand around doing nothing, and act like a punching bag like WoW mobs. You can go pretty close to them and they just don't aggro at all.
The road beneath Kingsmouth is the only place where they don't aggro, and that's because they're Fresh, just as the players there. Beyond that they can give you a nice long chase, as they did to Peon in his funny (but also with several factual mistakes) video. And correct, they're not the "textbook" zombies, and that is why there's no place where they do nothing - quite the opposite, different mobs and their behaviour is part of the story and gives missing pieces to the big picture... Aggro range was lowered a bit last year at the EPE update, but still is a nice range. (and I assume you know it's mostly based on sight, except for a few mobs, so from the back you can sneak upon, or sneak by, most of them)
You grind to get a decent build and key skills are nerfed so you grind another build, rinse and repeat. Not enjoyable for me to play until I had every skill. Mob placement was to thick in some areas probably to encourage group play. Took a long time to kill stuff even when you were way above it's level. They made that a little better but not by much.
Yep, the last two, mob density and strength, was also covered at EPE, now you can find "safe" path through most areas (not speaking about roads ), but a few patrolling mobs can still surprise you. Actually, they quite rarely "nerfing key skills" as you said, and even if they do, you don't have to grind an another build, since even after nerfs the deck is still viable. Maybe kills take a few more seconds, so what? And if you don't like the delay, you can adjust your deck, or if theorycrafting is not your forte, you can wait a bit for others do it for you. That's the point of the system, decks are constantly changing and evolving... not to mention, there's no "one deck to rule them all", you need several ones for playing the game, so nerfing one skill shouldn't hinder you that much anyways. And yes, when you have the whole Wheel, it's even less an issue.
edit: after the EPE changes, which was kind of an easyfication, probably you can go through the base game with only one deck (with skipping a mission here and there), but you will still need to adjust it for the Scenarios, and for Tokyo. And for the dungeons, for the raids... for different roles, a couple for pvp... etc. etc
I didn't like the combat or character models, but in the end what killed it for me was a depressing and confused setting. After a while the dark setting just started to lose its luster. Only so much death and misery before it becomes boring.
The quests were amazing though.
All games become boring; TSW is no exception. And so people leave.
The critical factors then are: how many people did the game manage to attract at launch and how well does it attract new players. And insofar as games that attract a lot of people at launch generate more buzz which will attract - if its a positive vibe - or if its a negative vive repel - the two are related.
TSW didn't get a lot of players at launch and its struggled since. It struggled like many other subscription based games have.
Yes WoW has a subscription; no this does not prove that people stick around. Remember Blizzard gave out a 100M accounts number a couple of years or whatever ago. So on average about 10M people a year have been leaving WoW. No different to TSW in that regard, where WoW has been more sucessful is in attracting new players.
Is there anyhing TSW can do? Its tough. "Relaunches" on the back of new "expansions" help - EQ1 started doing this years ago; ESO did it last year (console release) and again just recently (Gold Edition). Its tough though and needs money to pull it off. Another way is to launch a complimentary product and piggy back that - which is a strategy they seem to be pursuing.
And I hope it works. Yes TSW gets boring but - up until that point - there is a solid, relatively inexpensive game with lots of content that is worth of checking out.
If there is a built in game internet browser that shows you how to solve the quest then there's something wrong with the game. The game has bland combat , playing solitaire has better animation than this game. The skills tree is just http://www.drakkashi.com/secretworld/ see for yourself. I bought the game for .99 cents and got my moneys worth.
I played the game at launch and there were no shortage of players. The game was busy. I recently logged in to check it out and although they have change a few things for the better, the combat is still stiff and your character still gets locks in combat position after combat is over. Instead of providing respects they still want you to play until you completely fill the skill tree. There are still players around so it's no ghost town.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
Because it is a theme park game, once you do all the quests its pretty boring, and the pvp was the worst I have played in any game. The running of the harder quests with groups, and the combat was fun though. I think i played it for like 150 hours or so. Just not a game that is gonna get to many people dumping 10 years in, and 3000 hours.
If there is a built in game internet browser that shows you how to solve the quest then there's something wrong with the game.
Quite the opposite, the in-game browser can filter out walkthrough sites and such, for the very reason that if you want to solve an investigation mission, you could browse the web without spoilers. But if someone wants to follow a walkthrough, those are available on the web - just like with any other game.
Instead of providing respects they still want you to play until you completely fill the skill tree. There are still players around so it's no ghost town.
True, the no respec is WAI, and might intimidate newcomers since it puts a heavier emphasis on the initial weapon pair selection. But after a short play it is not a problem anymore, and later you won't even notice due to the infinite AP. Especially if you find your favourite weapons / playstyle early. Player count, there's the Samhain event currently, so game is quite crowded. The community- and teamwork-required event was a fun idea, less than a week we got pretty far, but still undecided we've reached the end or there will be more (I'm thinking about a summary post, when everything is cleared, it was an ARG-esque event which is mostly a new approach among events... games usually tell the mechanics and details when announce them at start edit: until then, http://forums.mmorpg.com/discussion/comment/7059936/#Comment_7059936 )
Comments
FC describes TSW as a MMORPG set in the modern world, where "... every myth, conspiracy theory and urban legend was true."
That's it. With that, in response to your statement, "it's any of the above, depending on the myth/legend/conspiracy involved in the given area or story arc". Solomon Island is very Lovecraft inspired, and so delves into the horror side. Egypt has a bit of a supernatural, "Indiana Jones" feel to it (especially Last Train to Cairo), so it goes that way. Certain dungeons, like The Facility, take a more Cosmic Sci-Fi twist.
So, it's not so much that the game has a confused setting, or can't decide what it is. Its core theme of "Everything is True" necessitates that it *not* be nailed down to one thing or another, because myths, conspiracy theories and such run the gamut. Not everything is horror. Not everything is Sci-Fi. Not everything is Fantasy. The game's premise wouldn't work if they decided to shoe-horn everything into, say, a Fantasy setting.
So, it's not that TSW doesn't know what it is, or has a "confused setting". TSW knows exactly what it is.
I think what's happening is you're trying to fit it into a single, specific categorical box, are finding it doesn't fit neatly into any one of them, and deem that as "confusing". For me, I don't see that as a problem at all. I think it's a brilliant approach, giving them freedom to take it in just about any direction they want.
"Trump is a blunt force, all-American, laser-guided middle finger to everything and everyone in Washington, D.C." - Wayne Allyn Root
Cool!
One thing I will advise, specifically about the combat: Do not approach it like a typical modern MMO, where the extent of combat is "hit your builders, and then your finisher, wash-rinse-repeat", and that's it. Many people seem to do just that, and they consistently come away with a complete misunderstanding of how TSW's combat works, dismissing it as "too simple" in some cases.
Here's a great guide to bookmark and keep handy, maybe skim through quick. No need to memorize it all now, but it's a good way to get an idea of how TSW's combat/build system works, and its actual depth. Then you can reference it later as necessary.
It starts off slowly, as you don't have as many skills to work with to start, but as you gain AP's, you can unlock new skills. Make sure to read their descriptions, and make sure to give as much attention to Passives as you do Actives. Choosing good Passives can take an otherwise unimpressive looking Active ability, and turn it into an absolute beast. You'll see builds referred to as "having synergy" a lot, and that's the basis of what they're referring to.
Also remember, passives do not have to come only from the trees for the weapons you're using. If you're using Pistol and Sword (for a random example), there may be passives in the Elemental Magic tree (again, random example) that can make your build more effective. As long as their descriptions don't refer to a specific weapon's attack, you can use them with any other weapon combo.
A great place to ask questions you may have in-game is in the Sanctuary channel. You can access that by typing /chat join Sanctuary into your chat window. Then just select that channel from the selector (bottom left of the chat window), and ask away! Most people are very helpful.
It also helps to find a good Cabal to join. If you're Templar, and you decide to stick with the game, I can refer you to an excellent Cabal that I joined since I'm back, and they're an awesome group of people.
Most of all, take your time, take in the atmosphere, enjoy the missions, ask questions as necessary, and try not to cheat on investigation missions (though some might really tempt you to lol).
Have fun!
I have this game. It's sitting on my desktop right now staring at me. I played it some, did some quests and leveled a bit. I enjoyed my time there well enough, and can't really think of many bad things to say about the game, if any.
The problem, I suppose, is that I also can't think of many GOOD things to say about it either.
The story was not bad, but it also did not compel me. It felt generic, and slightly dull. The world itself, or at least what I was exposed to as I entered the game, was all dark and dreary with almost no refreshing break, to cause it to begin to feel somewhat monotonous. The quests? I couldn't recall a single one today if I tried; I know that most MMO quests are generally about "fetch" or "kill", but for some reason the quests just started to run in on themselves. Rather then feeling like I was unfolding an epic story, I felt like I was the errand boy for the last bastion of humanity.
It's a cool idea, and I really can see how someone who likes a kind of dark survival/horror game would enjoy this, but at the end of the day I did not feel myself compelled to log in each day. I logged in simply because I told myself "you should keep playing; it might get better". This was the same feeling I had for Wildstar. I didn't dislike it, and in fact I felt like I SHOULD like it. But at the end of the day? I simply did not.
You completely contradict yourself in your post.
In your first paragraph, you say:
"I enjoyed my time there well enough, and can't really think of many bad things to say about the game, if any."
I'd call that an unequivocally positive remark.
But then, you go on to write a paragraph criticizing some of TSW's most praised aspects, before ending your post with this:
"... at the end of the day I did not feel myself compelled to log in each day. I logged in simply because I told myself "you should keep playing; it might get better".
So, you found the story dull and generic, you didn't like the dark/brooding setting, didn't like and can't even *remember* any of the missions, and only logged in because you thought it might get better if you kept playing... but you liked it well enough and can't really think of much, if anything, bad to say about it...?
That doesn't add up. It's like saying "I thought the meal was great, no complaints at all really, except the main course was bland, the dessert was dry, the drinks were watered down and slow on refills, the silverware was dirty and by the end, I was struggling to even finish the meal".
I'm also skeptical that you can't remember a single mission. Were you paying attention while doing them, or did you just skip through cutscenes in a rush to finish them? Did you try solving things yourself, or did you google the solutions instead?
That you say you can't remember a single mission precludes me from asking which missions you did (and perhaps that's the point). Can you at least say how far in you got? Were you still in Kingsmouth? Had you gone beyond the police station? Can you remember anything that can indicate how far along you got?
To be clear, I don't care if you liked the game or not. Personal tastes are personal tastes. However, the contradictions and dubious claims in your post, understandably I'd say, raise some red flags.
but i have a solution; remove all the skills and abilities and make this game a thirt person shooter, i think its better fits for the game. becouse i dont like tab targeted with tons of unbalanced garbage useless skills. and its not a middle age fantasy, its a modern day fantasy. its a shame that this game gonna fail. this game has realy cool story.
However, it plays more like a regular MMO. Zombies (even though technically not zombies) stand around doing nothing, and act like a punching bag like WoW mobs. You can go pretty close to them and they just don't aggro at all. The AI is pretty much exactly like any other MMO AI...a huge failure. Of course I play WoW and it doesn't bother me there, but it did with The Secret World. I think just because it felt more like a singleplayer game (which tend to have better AI than MMOs), but wanted to be an MMO instead.
The Secret World could however have used the AI from Tabula Rasa where they attack on their own and they are actually smart. It could have been really cool. Instead, it felt like a lackluster, heavily nerfed failure of an MMO to me. But seeing "zombies" standing around not doing anything, pretty much killed it for me. That and all the character models look kinda lame.
Outside of that, the story seemed cool. And I love the horror setting it has going on. It just felt like a B grade MMO, instead of a triple A MMO.
My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB:
https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul
Some skill animation are awkward as well.
Story wise feels great but i just cant stand horrible animations in a game.
I prefer to play black desert just for the amazing animations alone.
Of course, it seems I'm also in the minority of people that hate MOBAs so to each their own.
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
Please do not respond to me
If I could take the combat and animation fluidity from TERA, the art style and polish from Guild Wars 2, and combine it with the incredible questing, storyline, setting, lore, etc from TSW I'd probably be 50lbs heavier and less tan.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
Opinions and tastes are different of course, so just a few corrections
The road beneath Kingsmouth is the only place where they don't aggro, and that's because they're Fresh, just as the players there. Beyond that they can give you a nice long chase, as they did to Peon in his funny (but also with several factual mistakes) video. And correct, they're not the "textbook" zombies, and that is why there's no place where they do nothing - quite the opposite, different mobs and their behaviour is part of the story and gives missing pieces to the big picture...
Aggro range was lowered a bit last year at the EPE update, but still is a nice range. (and I assume you know it's mostly based on sight, except for a few mobs, so from the back you can sneak upon, or sneak by, most of them)
Yep, the last two, mob density and strength, was also covered at EPE, now you can find "safe" path through most areas (not speaking about roads
Actually, they quite rarely "nerfing key skills" as you said, and even if they do, you don't have to grind an another build, since even after nerfs the deck is still viable. Maybe kills take a few more seconds, so what?
That's the point of the system, decks are constantly changing and evolving... not to mention, there's no "one deck to rule them all", you need several ones for playing the game, so nerfing one skill shouldn't hinder you that much anyways. And yes, when you have the whole Wheel, it's even less an issue.
edit: after the EPE changes, which was kind of an easyfication, probably you can go through the base game with only one deck (with skipping a mission here and there), but you will still need to adjust it for the Scenarios, and for Tokyo. And for the dungeons, for the raids... for different roles, a couple for pvp... etc. etc
The critical factors then are: how many people did the game manage to attract at launch and how well does it attract new players. And insofar as games that attract a lot of people at launch generate more buzz which will attract - if its a positive vibe - or if its a negative vive repel - the two are related.
TSW didn't get a lot of players at launch and its struggled since. It struggled like many other subscription based games have.
Yes WoW has a subscription; no this does not prove that people stick around. Remember Blizzard gave out a 100M accounts number a couple of years or whatever ago. So on average about 10M people a year have been leaving WoW. No different to TSW in that regard, where WoW has been more sucessful is in attracting new players.
Is there anyhing TSW can do? Its tough. "Relaunches" on the back of new "expansions" help - EQ1 started doing this years ago; ESO did it last year (console release) and again just recently (Gold Edition). Its tough though and needs money to pull it off. Another way is to launch a complimentary product and piggy back that - which is a strategy they seem to be pursuing.
And I hope it works. Yes TSW gets boring but - up until that point - there is a solid, relatively inexpensive game with lots of content that is worth of checking out.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
True, the no respec is WAI, and might intimidate newcomers since it puts a heavier emphasis on the initial weapon pair selection. But after a short play it is not a problem anymore, and later you won't even notice due to the infinite AP. Especially if you find your favourite weapons / playstyle early.
Player count, there's the Samhain event currently, so game is quite crowded. The community- and teamwork-required event was a fun idea, less than a week we got pretty far, but still undecided we've reached the end or there will be more
(I'm thinking about a summary post, when everything is cleared, it was an ARG-esque event which is mostly a new approach among events... games usually tell the mechanics and details when announce them at start
edit: until then, http://forums.mmorpg.com/discussion/comment/7059936/#Comment_7059936 )