Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
TSW: My New MMORPG Addiction
SquireX
Member UncommonPosts: 82
I know TSW doesn't get much attention these days. Heck, it looks like the last review/impression post was almost a year ago. Regardless, I'd thought I'd go ahead and share my latest experience with TSW since it's kept my attention longer than any other game I've played in a while.
Background: My first MMORPG (and addiction) was EQ back in '99. Since then, I've played or tried pretty much all of the major games (SWO, DAOC, AO, CoH, CO, AoC, EQ2, AoW, LOTRO, etc).
Current state: Like many of your, I've been following the next "shiny" new game, hoping to find one that would capture my interest for more than a week or two. Anyway, this summer, I focused on finding a new game. I had already tried WS (open Beta), NW, and AA, so I thought I'd revisit some other options: Rift, FF:ARR and TSW
TSW Experience: My first experience with TSW was back in 2012 when I briefly tried the Open Beta. At the time, it just didn't hook me. I think I was intimidated by the skill wheel, there really wasn't much guidance at the time, and (with open beta) there were so many players milling about in the starting area I think (looking back) it really took away from the atmosphere that TSW creates.
Anyway, I obtained a trial key from an MMORPG member to give the game another go. I found myself enjoying the experience so when it was available on the Steam Summer Sale for $8, I purchased. A week later, I decided to up the ante and purchase the Ultimate Edition while on sale for $42. About a month in, I decided to invest an extra $10 and (with bonus points you get for your first 30 missions), purchased the Franken Chopper plus got the 1st time purchase bonus 
TSW Likes:
Skill Wheel- What was originally intimidating, is now enjoyable and refreshing. In other games, I tend to be an Altoholic. TSW has the Trinity of Tank, Healer, DPS and being able to develop builds and switch on the fly is fun. I think they must have improved how they introduce builds as I started off with selecting two weapons. Ability Points come at a good pace and, if anything, I find myself with at a surplus to experiment with vs. not having another to be viable in the area I am currently questing.
Quest Design- Of all the MMOs I've played, I have to say that TSW has the most "organic" questing system. I realize that (for the most part) I'm still doing Kill x number of mobs, go to y, or collect z number of items, but they are well integrated into story that it doesn't typically feel that way. Plus the investigative missions are also unique and fun to do.
Story/Atmosphere- Like many here, I'm typically drawn to fantasy environments, but I'm really digging TSW. I find the stories and dialog very well done. There are surprises, twists, and humor as well. I'm focused more on experiencing all the different quest stories than I am on "leveling" (which is the way I prefer to play).
Grouping- TSW dungeons actually require old school grouping (i.e. group find, invite and talk) vs. the newer norm of auto group while you still solo. There are still times where players form a group and just run through a dungeon without speaking much, but, for the most part, the groups I have been part of have been social.
Community- Most of the channels are pretty quiet, but #sanctuary is quite active with a lot of great people. I also got to experience the recent anniversary event and there were a ton of people about hunting golems, etc. It was a lot of fun.
TSW Dislikes:
Engine- The game is a beast. For the most part, I just keep it at Medium settings due to fps and lag
UI- Definitely an Old School UI. My biggest gripe is that I can't easily customize things like chat color (although I understand there's a way to script it). It does support add ons and I use a few of them.
Crafting- "Crafting" in TSW is very basic, but, then again, I don't tend to focus on crafting in most of the games I play.
The Other games I tried-
I really like Rift and played it heavy before I got drawn into TSW. I have not yet tried FF:ARR yet...
Comments
TSW is a really great MMO, nice to see someone appreciating it properly!
I return to it periodically as well. And yep, it has some of the greatest quests in MMO land, and one hell of a story line.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
Second that, nice to see the appreciation, especially the questing part
you wouldn't believe the truckload of laments regarding the quest mechanics, I think Ragnar even had to write a dev letter during the betas explaining the design ideas behind it... I like Yokai's summary about it: http://yokaiblog.wikidot.com/guides:mission-system So,
nice one
"Crafting" is just a skill or a utility, more like assembling / disassembling. It's useful, but that's it, nothing more.
The best thing about the UI is that it's completely moddable. True, it needs some work (or finding a good pack), but you can do anything you want with it, totally up to you. The chat is a different story - also tweakable, but a bit more rigid, since it's from AoC. So it needs more work, if you want to hone it to your needs.
Also, beyond the regular events like the golem hunting you mentioned, there's the roleplay events - for example the latest recap update of the Visible Dark was posted yesterday (https://forums.thesecretworld.com/showthread.php?85057-The-Visible-Dark-Investigation-RP-event&p=1879757&viewfull=1#post1879757), I praised it earlier too, was one of the best roleplay fun I've played so far. (even if this latest post covering a slower, talking part. Soon he'll get to my favourite part, where we went to the Academy, can't wait that post
)
"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
Thanks for the links Po_gg. I liked Yokai's summary and I'm really interested in reading more of the Visible Dark RP!
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
Yep, after launch that was my favourite blog alongside with Ryahl's, sadly it wasn't updated since years (for example the "box missions" are on the map since the New Player update, so you don't need to explore and seek for those - but if you want to explore, luckily it's a toggle)
I planned to write a post about the Visible Dark, but then they started to post the official recap
. Still, if I have some time I'll write one as well, from the perspective of an "outsider"... it was awesome.
Best game I ever got during a Steam Sale last year.
And now I´m purchasing the DLCs because I love the stories and community events, really nice people playing it
It's definitely an MMO that has one of the better communities out there.
I get that with Path of Exile. =/
It's happened with TSW too, but to a lesser extend thankfully.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/