Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
The Secret World is a Lovecraft MMO
Keridwan
Member Posts: 118
The Secret World is a Lovecraft MMO
The Secret World is inspired by and draws heavily on Lovecraft symbolism, narrative and imagery. Conceptually this makes its the most original and unique of all previously released MMOs.
Some details of the Lovecraft genre and the Cthulhu Mythology.
Coined by Lovecraft's associate August Derleth, and named after Cthulhu, a powerful fictional entity in Lovecraft's stories. Not a series per se, stories, novels and other works in the Cthulhu Mythos feature elements, characters, settings, and themes found in works by Lovecraft writers. Together, these works form the mythos that authors writing in the Lovecraftian milieu have used – and continue to use – in their ongoing expansion of the fictional universe, sometimes in ways far removed from Lovecraft's original conception
First stage (the Mythos proper)
Main article: Lovecraft Mythos
Lovecraft borrowed terms and ideas from earlier writers he admired: Hastur, for example, was originally a benevolent deity mentioned in an Ambrose Bierce story, but took on more sinister traits when appropriated a few years later by Robert W. Chambers. Lovecraft's only references to Hastur are in "The Whisperer in Darkness". The Great Old One Hastur the Unspeakable was created by August Derleth in "The Return of Hastur" (1937).
During the latter part of Lovecraft's life, there was much borrowing of story elements among the authors of the "Lovecraft Circle", and many many others, a clique of writers with whom Lovecraft corresponded. This group included Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Robert Bloch, Frank Belknap Long, Henry Kuttner, and others.
Lovecraft recognized that each writer had his own story-cycle, and that an element from one cycle would not necessarily become part of another simply because a writer used it in one of his stories. For example, although Smith might mention "Kthulhut" (referring to Lovecraft's Cthulhu) or Iog-Sotôt (Yog-Sothoth) in one of his Hyperborean tales, this does not mean that Cthulhu is part of the Hyperborean cycle. A notable exception, however, is Smith's Tsathoggua, which Lovecraft appropriated for his revision of Zelia Bishop's "The Mound" (1940). Lovecraft effectively connected Smith's creation to his story-cycle by placing Tsathoggua alongside such entities as Cthulhu, Yig, Shub-Niggurath, and Nug and Yeb in subterranean K'n-yan.
Most of the elements of Lovecraft's Mythos were not a cross-pollination of the various story-cycles of the Lovecraft Circle, but were instead deliberately created by each writer to become part of the Mythos, the most notable example being the various arcane grimoires of forbidden lore. So, for example, Robert E. Howard has his character Friedrich Von Junzt reading Lovecraft's Necronomicon in "The Children of the Night" (1931), and Lovecraft in turn mentions Howard's Unaussprechlichen Kulten in both "Out of the Aeons" (1935) and "The Shadow Out of Time (1936).[4] Howard frequently corresponded with H. P. Lovecraft, and the two would sometimes insert references or elements of each others' settings in their works. Later editors reworked many of the original Conan stories by Howard; thus, diluting this connection. Nevertheless, many of Howard's unedited Conan stories are arguably part of the Cthulhu Mythos.[5]
[edit] The Mythos as a background element
According to David E. Schultz, Lovecraft never meant to create a canonical Mythos but rather intended his imaginary pantheon to serve merely as a background element. Thus, Lovecraft's "pseudomythology"—a term used by Lovecraft himself and others to describe the beings appearing in his stories—is the backdrop for his tales but is not the primary focus. Indeed, the cornerstone of his stories seems to be the town of Arkham and not beings like Cthulhu.[6] Lovecraft himself sometimes referred to his mythos humorously as "Yog-Sothothery". [7]
That Lovecraft gave more weight to his "Arkham cycle" locations than to his pseudomythology is perhaps demonstrated by his so-called revision stories. Will Murray points out that while Lovecraft often employed his fictional pantheon in the stories he ghostwrote for other authors, he reserved Arkham and its environs exclusively for those tales he wrote under his own name. [8]
Furthermore, Lovecraft may not have been serious when he spoke of developing a "myth-cycle" and probably would have had no need to give it a name anyway. Since he used his Mythos simply as background material, he probably had this in mind when he allowed other writers to use it in their own stories. It could be said that Lovecraft's Mythos was a kind of elaborate inside joke propagating among the writers of his circle. However, August Derleth's understanding of the Mythos appears to have been that Lovecraft wanted other authors to actively write about the myth-cycle rather than to simply allude to it in their stories.[9]
[edit] Second stage (the "Derleth Mythos")
The second stage began with August Derleth,[10] who added to the mythos and developed the elemental system, associating the pantheon with the four elements of air, earth, fire, and water. To understand Derleth's changes to the Mythos, it is important to distinguish among Lovecraft's story cycles. Price says that Lovecraft's writings can be divided into three separate groups: the Dunsanian, Arkham, and Cthulhu cycles.[11] The Dunsanian stories are those that are written in the vein of Lord Dunsany (and may include Lovecraft's so-called Dream Cycle tales), the Arkham stories include those that take place in Lovecraft's fictionalized New England setting, and the Cthulhu cycle stories are those that use Lovecraft's cosmic story-cycle (the Lovecraft Mythos).
Derleth combined Lovecraft's various cycles to create a large, singular story-cycle[citation needed]. For example, he appropriated Nodens from the Dunsanian cycle and leagued him with the Elder Gods against the Old Ones. He also introduced a good versus evil dichotomy into the Mythos contrary to the dark, nihilistic vision of Lovecraft and his immediate circle.[citation needed]
Derleth apparently treated any story mentioning a mythos element as part of the Mythos, and in consequence all other elements in the story also became part of the mythos. Hence, as Lovecraft made passing reference to Clark Ashton Smith's Book of Eibon, Derleth added Smith's Ubbo-Sathla to the mythos. Because of Derleth's broad canon the Mythos grew enormously.[12]
Further removing the Cthulhu Mythos from its source were stories written by such authors as Lin Carter, Colin Wilson, and Brian Lumley. Carter was especially influential in setting out detailed lists of gods, their ancestry, and their servitors through his Mythos tales, attempting to codify the elements of the Mythos as much as possible. Through this process, more gods, books, and places were created and interlinked with each other.
Another influence has been the Call of Cthulhu RPG published by Chaosium in 1981. Largely developed by Sandy Petersen, this version of the Mythos broke Lovecraft's entities down into further sub-groupings: Outer Gods, Great Old Ones, servitor races and the nebulously-termed Other Gods. Material from these sources has slowly crept back into mainstream Mythos fiction, as Chaosium published fiction related to, or written by players of, the game.
Many of the newer generation of Mythos authors (especially those published in Chaosium compendiums) take their cue from this more clinical, continuity-focused brand of the Mythos instead of Lovecraft's more mysterious version. Some new stories (such as those found in The Spiraling Worm: Man Versus the Cthulhu Mythos) have included protagonists who are members of government agencies actively opposed to the entities that dominate the Cthulhu Mythos. This is a significant divergence, as the protagonist changes from being an unprepared victim to a warrior prepared both physically and mentally to fight the horrors of the world. Though this is not an entirely new concept, as H.P. Lovecraft did have Innsmouth destroyed by an attack from the Federal government.
Comments
Ya wikipedia for the win.
Err, did you just paste all that from somewhere? Where is your argument for why TSW is based on Lovecraft lore? Just pasting some info on the genre is pretty worthless.
Why does that make it a unique mmo? It just makes its story unique.
Pretty silly post overall.
All of the above (except for the copypaste thing, i really don't care)
Turning amazing books into games is never an easy task and I really don't know any good "transcription" to the date. (any good book based game)
That said Lovercraft's world, is one of the toughest to capture right. From funcon I would expect an action game where you shoot demons with a revolver and of course cthulhu would be a raid boss. (and 3 weeks after release it would still be misspelled Chutulu :P)
Unless zombie Lovecraft himself is involved in the project i'll pass.
Wow you guys are brutal to people on here.
I played AoC etc.., FC has its faults but overall there are much worse companies. At least FC tries to do something new. They need better funding to be able to finance longer production times, i thin they're getting there.
Sinister Savant MMORPG Community
Nope they took the money and ran on AoC and theyll do the same on this. AoC when at its very wost lost its devs to work on this when they should have been fixing the game. All the while FC came out with mistruth after mistruth. Ill never buy a FC game again and Im sure a lot of people think the same.
all games have bugs & issues but FC handled communication on those issues so badly and broke more than they fixed with each patch. thats a company quality control problem and seems common across all their games.
Prelude : The Secret World is a Lovecraft MMO , Ok....
Personally I doubt that. Partially perhaps in general i think i would call it a "psychoooootic" mmo *stretches*. Hell let's talk of some possible scenarios the mmo is sceduled to be realesed at the end day of the calendar of maya ... By then and given the mmo is staged in the real world nothing could change or everything ... Only standards are imo the following : a) human characters , b) that it will be completely insane. What i Hope for a) a storyline that is discoverable , not forced and fed to every character, b) customization, c) at the middle of the night playing TSW to feel paranoid enough!
Points to substantiate the contrary are : a) there is no lovecraft mmo yet , b) there is already a ruleset of Lovecraft's mythology (like pnp ...afaik always) and c) the people that started gaming 2-4 years ago at their age say of 12-16 by the time of 2012 will be wanting something different than click 1,click 2 ,click 3 ,click 4 and fairies and elves.
Perhaps i am wrong perhaps common logic is for once correct , bottomline 2012 is far far away and by then ...
.......
Signature!!!...
Why is providing some background into what is obviously one of the game's influences "silly"?
Because it doesn't interest you personally?
Personally, I don't find it silly at all, being a fan of Lovecraft myself and finding it quite cool that his mythos will make it into a MMO (even if "in spirit").
Maybe others will find it interesting as well.
Thanks for the interesting read, OP.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Indeed thanks for the interesting read, OP
Why is providing some background into what is obviously one of the game's influences "silly"?
Because it doesn't interest you personally?
Personally, I don't find it silly at all, being a fan of Lovecraft myself and finding it quite cool that his mythos will make it into a MMO (even if "in spirit").
Maybe others will find it interesting as well.
Thanks for the interesting read, OP.
That's the whole point! Why is this game like a Lovecraft story?? The OP says nothing about how the game is like Lovecraft, or why they would know anything about the game. Sure Lovecraft is interesting, but you have to show why it's relevant when discussing this game first.
I stop my quoting here. What Keridwan writes is clear . I would intonate, inspired and draws heavily on. I personally am not sure as I posted earlier on how the game will be but i can't think of any horror writer (derleth masterdon lovecraft himself) that wouldn't linger on symbolism and narrative . As if the game will provide that, no clue though, time flies though fast enough ! except from today
Edit : but i see your point where are the facts eh? Well this is the secret world afterall, to seek the facts or the conspiracies O.o i really shouldn't have said that *laughs* or is it not? mhmmm questions questions!
Signature!!!...
Why is providing some background into what is obviously one of the game's influences "silly"?
Because it doesn't interest you personally?
Personally, I don't find it silly at all, being a fan of Lovecraft myself and finding it quite cool that his mythos will make it into a MMO (even if "in spirit").
Maybe others will find it interesting as well.
Thanks for the interesting read, OP.
That's the whole point! Why is this game like a Lovecraft story?? The OP says nothing about how the game is like Lovecraft, or why they would know anything about the game. Sure Lovecraft is interesting, but you have to show why it's relevant when discussing this game first.
I'd say because there's clearly Lovecraft influenced content in the game, and so the author thought it would be interesting to share the background of that lore with the people here.
I wouldn't have phrased the title a bit differently, as the game borrows from various mythologies from around the world. Lovecraft is just one of them.
Either way I found it interesting.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Most definitely agree... the first thing that came to mind when I read over the setting summaries for TSW, was the style and world of the Hellboy movies. They seem to both be modern stories involving Lovecraftian elements, even similar down to the government agencies and secret groups who deal with or are a part of this.
AoC was inspired by HPLs good friend and Mythos writer Robert E. Howard. That doesn't make it a good game.
Error: 37. Signature not found. Please connect to my server for signature access.
Of course not.
What makes it, or any game, a "good game" is up to the individual - whether they enjoy it or not. It's entirely subjective. Some of the lowest ranked games out there have a loyal following who enjoy them. TSW will be no different, regardless of the opinions of all the self-appointed "MMO Quality Experts" who love to pretend they speak for everyone.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Lovecraft borrowed almost everything he wrote from folk lore and historical references to religions and beliefs that were prexsisting and he made them his own in his own way. Taking these stories and weaving it into a masterpiece.
Honestly though from watching the video I feel you could compare this just as well to Buffy the Vampire Slayer...
I do like the website and its puzzles, its deffenately leaning toward a lovecraftish world, I just thought I'd step in and say that a lot of things have used the stories that he used to make his story.
I just hope that they use what they have to make one hell of a game.
It really did feel like Buffy the MMO though... just sayin
Of course not.
What makes it, or any game, a "good game" is up to the individual - whether they enjoy it or not. It's entirely subjective. Some of the lowest ranked games out there have a loyal following who enjoy them. TSW will be no different, regardless of the opinions of all the self-appointed "MMO Quality Experts" who love to pretend they speak for everyone.
As a rule of thumb, you should take into account the track record of the company making the game. If you played their games and wanted more of the exact same thing, then you're in for a treat. If you played, for example, AoC, and hated how linear and unpolished it was, even after patching, then you'll probably hate TSW too.
Error: 37. Signature not found. Please connect to my server for signature access.
Of course not.
What makes it, or any game, a "good game" is up to the individual - whether they enjoy it or not. It's entirely subjective. Some of the lowest ranked games out there have a loyal following who enjoy them. TSW will be no different, regardless of the opinions of all the self-appointed "MMO Quality Experts" who love to pretend they speak for everyone.
As a rule of thumb, you should take into account the track record of the company making the game. If you played their games and wanted more of the exact same thing, then you're in for a treat. If you played, for example, AoC, and hated how linear and unpolished it was, even after patching, then you'll probably hate TSW too.
Oh, I agree.
The track record of Funcom, to me, is as follows:
1) The Longest Journey - Highly acclaimed Adventure game, from Ragnar Tornquist
2. Dreamfall - Highly acclaimed follow-up to Lonest Journey, also from Ragnar Tornquist
3. Anarchy Online - Very fun sci-fi MMO that had a really bad start, but turned around and became a solid, fun game that went on to win various awards and many still play to this day. Much of the back-story to Anarchy Online is also conceived and written by Ragnar Tornquist
4. Age of Conan - A MMO that suffered from far too much hype, terrible PR and a screwed up launch, but that seems to be turning around to the satisfaction of those playing it. I've voiced my criticism of FC in its handling plenty.
All told, they have a pretty good overall track record as far as I'm concerned.
They have Ragnar Tornquist as the main "mind" behind TSW and that alone gives me confidence that it may well turn out to be a solid game. However, I'm going to hold judgement until it's released and see how it goes.
I'm not going to say "Oh, well, AoC had a bad launch, so TSW is probably going to suck, too".
A: I'm not psychic and can't predict the future.
B: I'm not that pessimistic.
C: Passing judgement on something that's still a long way from beta is premature and ridiculous.
Again... "enjoyable" is subjective. No matter how much I, you or anyone might think something is a pile of festering dung, there are those who will find it enjoyable. And who are we to tell them otherwise?
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Silent Hill was a game that used a type of Lovecraftian horror. I really hope there some areas as creepy as some of the silent hill places, a possibly a few that are instanced to make you feel like you are all alone in there...
Instancing can be good when used correctly
I would love to see abandoned town settings as well as much as from the 30-40's and the 10-20's as well. More like Innsmouth as the OP wrote and the citizen with the different eye colorization, which reminds me of a very old adventure game with Innsmouth and the story that took place there.
Signature!!!...
I got AoC hoping there might be some 'Lovecraftian' elements and I'm willing to give Secret World a try as well.Sounds interesting-good luck to them!
-.- To some people responding on the first page,
In fact The Secret World IS most definitely inspired and largely based on Lovecraft's stories. It's not an MMO based on any of his books like AoC is to Robert E Howard, but the basic mysteries and lore is. Come on now people who have known of this game prior to this month have known this I'd say for at least 2 years.
You want some clues as to how these monsters and magic comes from in TSW read up on the Cthulhu time line.
(,,,)=^__^=(,,,)
Well.... it's the same 2 - 3 psycho's that are trolling in every Funcom related thread on this site.
Wouldn't have expected any less of these idiots really.
Let's keep in mind that this is not the first FC game inspired by HPL. Age of Conan, anybody? OK, AOC was inspired by REH, right? Well, REH was a Cthulhu Mythos writer and a close friend of... HP Lovecraft. Remember the quote "For stark, living fear, what other writer is even in the running with Robert E. Howard?" -- HP Lovecraft.
So yeah, TSW's Lovecraft influence is not a new element in FC's Modus Operandi.
Error: 37. Signature not found. Please connect to my server for signature access.
Finally something different!
I love horror genre, and obviously I adore Lovecraft books: I have high hopes for this new mmorpg.
I'm also looking forward next CCP/WhiteWolf mmorpg about World of Darkness universe.
Look what the bats dragged in !!!
P.S.: lots of lulz in this thread, especially on the first page. Thanks for all the fun you bring me guys.