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An attempt to describe what type of person will like The Secret World
Cantorage
Member Posts: 186
Here is the run down of whether or not there's a good chance you'll like The Secret World:
-If you roll your eyes and cringe to the idea of watching Die Hard or Terminator movies again, or similarly cringe and roll your eyes every time a new X men or Transformers movie is announced, BUY THE SECRET WORLD. You will have something more epic to do when your less patient friends are cramming into the movie theatre to watch shovelware movies.
If one of your favorite movies are one of these, buy The Secret World:
Memento, The Machinist, The Prestige, The Green Mile, 12 Monkeys, Unbreakable, (because the stories are mind f***s some times) EQUILIBRIUM (as you can play like a Grammaton Cleric in this game) - and just about every mystery movie ever. And of course Enemy of the State and other conspiracy-themed ones.
or
You like(d) any conspiracy show of old like the X-files, The Pretender, Now & Again or Fringe (though the latter doesn't measure up to TSW's writing at all, but at least it's in the genre).
Also, game-wise, you must enjoy, or be willing to learn to enjoy:
-No hand holding
-Challenges
-Adventures, in the true sense of the word
-Dungeon content (of which this game is the best in genre)
-Complex interactions between every system in the game, you can not choose not to PvP, not to PvE, not to craft. (If you want to not spend twice as long to get geared at end game as those who spread their time well)
-To be focused on one task at a time
-Reading
-Not playing on auto pilot (you will be frustrated if you don't remember details, because the game will challenge you to remember them)
-stat crunching and build tuning (because if you don't, you will struggle)
-Semi-themepark. The Secret World is a sandpark. The first area you encounter in every zone isn't necessarily the best place to start missions. In fact, it's usually the WORST and most DIFFICULT. Developertrollface.jpg
-Both grouping and soloing. TSW has both, in spades.
But above all:
Don't expect to love the game in an hour. There is quite a bit to learn before you hit the "love" point. At least you need to get through the first 3 zones of the game. Blue Mountain is your exam. The faction mission shortly after and then Scorched Desert will seal the deal for you.
From a different thread:
Like I and others explained in other threads, this game grows on you. That is the weird feeling you are having. The game starts out with a lot of unexplained mechanics. For instance, crafting, a tool that would help just about anyone have an easier time in the game, hardly gets used by people in the early game. Get used to clicking the "?" button in the top right corner of things you don't understand (hit "Y" to open assembly)
The second is a good build and the right stats. Most of those I've helped out in game who struggled with the game had completely dysfunctional builds and stats. They just assumed you need a bit of every stat and went on cruise control.
Above all, The Secret World is a game of specialization. There is no way you will ever have one deck and gear set that will do everything for you in the game. the game does not allow it, it is the core, alpha and omega about the game. So you need to think "how can I specialize to THIS particular extreme that I need right NOW?"
After you get more and more small "eureka!" moments in the game, the game will become better to you. Trust me on this.
So since you have the game, make it a point to get to Scorched Desert and learn how every mechanic works. Then you can judge if it is for you or not!
Good luck!
Comments
I'll do it shorter. If you liked The Longest Journey and Dreamfall, you will love TSW.
These guys...
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
GTwander how's it feel not having an MMO to enjoy? Miserable, ain't it. I should know, I had a long void between cataclysm and TSW, where no MMO could entertain me. Don't worry, you'll find the MMO that will captivate you again, eventually. In the meantime, keep trollin'!
I thought it was funny.
~and if you got the memo from HQ, you'd know what I'm playing lately.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
This can be summed up pretty easily, tbh.
- If you like the standard MMO gear grind, but are sick of the standard fantasy atmosphere: you will like TSW.
- If you enjoy quests that require a bit of creative problem solving / thinking puzzles every now and then: you may like the TSW
- If you are looking for a new experience from the standard MMO: you will not like TSW passed a few weeks of play. (or however long it takes you to get through the short amount of content)
Definitely a good game with it's own qualities, but it also manages to hang on to all the problems we've seen with games such as SWTOR.
I like the Secret World.
I also love Die Hard and Terminator....
Hence the qualifier "OR" between paragraphs
This is not an "all or nothing" deal.
Edit: And I never said anything about loving or hating it the FIRST time you saw it :P
You haven't played the game. Or, at least, you have skipped something. No one can claim a game with 200 hours of content is "short" whether it's an MMO or not. A theme park will NEVER have the hours that a grindy sandbox can "give" you. If you even consider that content, which I don't.
I really hate this game now, solely because people seem to think you have to be intelligent to play it.
I enjoy playing the game it is indeed fun but the amount of bull behind it from random people is quite unbelievable.
If you are a Human and you enjoy MMORPGs then try the game you may like it.
I love that fanbois of this thing really feel smarter because they have to use google to solve quests in game. I personally did not enjoy TSW at all (and yes I liked all those movies, I love a challenge and I love reading) but if I didn't like the game in and of itself these arrogant posts that indirectly call everyone else stupid for not liking the game would be enough to put me off it.
Edit: horrific typos
I came to this this thread thinking it would be another Troll post but was pleasantly suprised and quite funny , thanks OP :-)
There is also nothing "sandbox" about the game, it has a pre determined path you pretty much have to follow all the way through, the only thing you get a choice with is your builds but they are also limited because if you don't synergise then you are gimped massively, requiring synergies limits the amount of builds you can actually make.
The game can be played on auto pilot quite easily.
The dungeon content is bog standard, move from the AOE type stuff, if you are not familiar with MMO dungeons maybe it is a challenge for you.
It's not hard to come up with a good build the synergies make it really easy to see what goes with what.
Most of the quests are great but the ones that are fetch and kill whatever are really dull and they stick out like a sore thumb because the other quests are so good.
The game in the end like most themeparks is a gear grind, once you have finished the story you will grind to fill out the skill wheel and get the best gear you can as that is what determines your characters power. Think of it like WoW but you are already max level, the gear you equip is what makes you more powerful.
There are many nice things about the game but its not ground breaking nor is it in any way sandboxy.
Also loading screens between every zone and solo instances on loads of quests.
I can agree that the shovelware movies comment was a tad rough, and does take it to an extreme, but I won't remove it (will instead change it to "less patient") because it sets the tone to explaining a deeper truth. Simply that this game is an aquired taste. I do not think I am smarter than anyone who didn't like The Secret World. This thread contains many qualities one person can have and any one of them can propel them into love with The Secret World.
It is not an "all or nothing" list. I already said this once.
Also, if you can't read an entire post on a forum, The Secret World may not be for you (but I may be wrong, like in the entire rest of my thread) Overlap exists.
1: Wrong. I skipped Blue Mountain, went straight to Scorched Desert like a boss, got QL 6 gear, went back and finished Blue Mountain (starting at the "end" of the zone) Then did City of the Sun God, repeated some of Scorched Desert, and went to Shadowy Forest before I even did one mission in Besieged Farmlands. It very much isn't as clean of a theme park as you seem to be disillusioned it is.
2: Yes, the game can be played on auto pilot, but it will punish you for it later. You missed a detail. Here, have a turd sandwich of back tracking because you can't remember the names of locations you've been to. Just an example.
3: Have you done any Nightmare dungeons? Actually, that was a retorical question. And maybe Polaris and Hell Raised are what you describe, but the better and later dungeons have a lot more interesting mechanics. Two words: Contact Core.
4: It's not hard once you know what to look for. You just basically said, "Knitting is easy, you just have to learn it".... Man, are you really serious? Really?
5: If you are referring to item missions, they are side quests and there are actually fewer of those in the game than there are scripted story missions. And they're supposed to be easy XP padding that you can do simultaneously with a story mission. Most of the time, the only reason they're there, is to lead you to a new character that has a story mission.
6: Yep there's a gear progression. Problem? It's an MMO. Gear progression is there for a reason. At least you get them from interesting, fantastically well designed dungeons with no trash pulls to waste your time.
7: The last bit is to be expected, so....
Nice try.
Faction rank 13, beat all 3 storylines, done all the dungeons (and most in NM mode), and have most of the zones 100% cleared. Only thing I'm missing are various lore pieces I either forgot to get or haven't found yet.
I even tried rolling a templar alt, to see how the main story changes faction - faction. It doesn't.
Fact: A large amount of people cleared this game in the first week. Most of the players have cleared the game already, and are either sitting in Agartha, running dungeons (while their NM timers reset), grinding lairs for signets, or doing Fusang.
I even took a group of people to try and help some lowbies clear some of the earlier dungeons, because it's difficult to find enough people to run them now. Just 2 weeks after the game has launched. 2 Weeks.
Can you honestly think of another MMO that you can say that about?
And what's all this talk about sandbox vs. themepark. That has nothing to do with anything. The game has 8 PvE zones, EIGHT. 2 of the zones are insanely short (egypt). Most people played through kingsmouth & savage coast in the beta / weekend event, and blue mountain is decent, but doesn't take all that long either. This is not even getting into the fact that you can clear each zone in half a day if you stop to smell the roses.
Every MMO I can think of that has launched before now, has had more content. The only one I can think of that might be an exception would be Global Agenda, or possibly Planetside (though both games are more shooters than RPGs).
This shouldn't even be a surprise. Why does TSW have less content? Simple. Nearly all their quests are voiced, mission-oriented quests. That is both expensive, and takes longer to pull off than a traditional quest. It doesn't mean it's more content, but it is presented better. Basically, for the amount of money you would spend on voice actors, animators, and programmers to implement these quests, you could have a writer-programmer team do 100s.
Oh, and the main storyline, IS very short (like SWTOR). Again, if you don't count the artificial roadbloacks set in place (ie. Level barriers), the entire thing can be done in a few hours. That's the problem with story-driven MMOs. They don't have as much content as a single player story-RPG, and they don't have as much replayability as a traditional MMO. They are more exciting the first time around, definitely. Heck, I really enjoyed TSW's storyline, inspite parts of it being completely random (some of the characters don't have any follow-ups, and each storyline is completely different from the next, to the point of being almost irrelevant, but I won't spoil anything). That doesn't change the fact that once you play the story, it's over. There's really no reason to play through it again.
Now, using the in-game chat type /played and hit enter. Post a screenshot of your result. I am so excited about you volunteering to bury your entire point all on your own! Do share!
On to your last point: I am one of those people working on Nightmare, farming signets, filling out the AP wheel and you know what? I love it. I even did the very same things in beta. I am not getting bored of this game.
But I do admit, my fantastic cabal is most of the reason why burnout is non-existant.
I will at least have the common decency to ADMIT that I am a LOCUST. No developer will ever make a game for us mate. You just got to accept that. You either stop being a locust and devour content so fast, you start finding ways to entertain yourself (good guild is an idea, min/maxing is another) when you've devoured most of the game, OR you keep jumping games like you will with Guild Wars 2, like you will with World of Darkness, like you will with ArcheAge like you will ZZZzzzzz......
Just started TSW over the weekend. Read a lot about it before jumping in, so was prepared for the differences.
But have to admit it's still a struggle at the moment to get to like the game. I'd say this is down to not recognising the familiar mmo format - which is no bad thing for people looking for something different.
I'm definitely out of my comfort zone, which gives good and bad feelings. The good side is that someone has decided to try something different, and I'll try to give this game a real effort over the coming weeks.
The bad is that the discomfort I'm currently feeling may not go away in time for me to decide that's it, and just await the second coming in August.
And although there are a wide range of differences, at the end of the day you will still be confronted with groups asking for tank, healier, dps - must have min xxx to join.
Did. Still not liking TSWs combat. Can't be helped. I just get bored the moment I hit a quest that asks me to kill 15+ mobs that aren't much of a threat and i just spam build up skill followed by consume till they fall. If not those quests or more exciting combat system I'd love TSW, as it stands tho, I just love the setting but not the game itself.
Uh, maybe with GW2.
WoD and AA are looking to be the kinds of games you either hate or get absorbed in for a looooong time. As in, there is other stuff to do than 'max lvl > repeat raid'.
*cough* sandbox *cough*
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
I like the way you describe these people that Rush through content as " Locusts " OP and you are right they will never ever be satisfied ... I guess its an e-peen thing " Oh look at me I am uber coz I cleared the Secret World in a week ! " It gets boring and nobody give a toss how quick they finish the game/content , its only they that give themselves some sort of elevated Mmo player status .
Every MMO has annoying fans who like to claim their game is for the cool people. "Fans of TRUE.ACTION.COMBAT. like TERA! Clearly it's too hardcore for you!" "Fans of high-quality BioWare storytelling like SWTOR! Clearly it's too sophisticated for you!" "Fans of cool new mechanics like GW2! Clearly it's too innovative for you!"
Looks like the latest trend is "Smart people like TSW! Clearly it's too smart for you!"
We should hang out more often.
~but clearly I'm too cool for you.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
Actually it was Ragnar himself who called them "Locusts' but he didn't mean it in a wrong way, OP is just blatantly taking it out of context.
And in fact, I dislike all the shallow blockbusters movies you listed like Unbreakable or Prestige or Die Hard (all same category for me), and im not a fan of X-files either. However, I still enjoy The Secret World pretty much, not for its little stories or background (some areas are totally off actually, transylvania missions mostly consist of some ridiculous combination of nazis, soviets, vampires and roman soldiers), but rather for its gameplay, character building and instance mechanics, which currently stands above all else. Your elitist generalizing attitude doesn't make a good picture of the TSW community.
REALITY CHECK
I didn't get the memo and from the looks of it neither did your sig.
I don't update my facebook either, sue me.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture