Is this game for me?

tomis16 · February 2013

Hey guys

I'm planning to buy TSW next week, but I'd like to hear actual players about the current status of the game first. I'm currently having fun with GW2 (which, to me, it's a nice game, not the revelation of the MMOs of course, but a nice game anyway, I have 120+ hours and i'm still enjoying it), and I wanted this one to play aswell since I really like the lore and the setting of the game, since i'm a little bit bored of Fantasy-themed MMOs, been playing them for a while.

I really enjoy PVE, and I kinda like the gear-grinding thing like WoW for example (I like the satisfaction of getting a hard earned new piece of gear lol). Crafting is not something I love, neither I hate. And I play some PVP from time to time, just for the fun of it, nothing too serious. I love to get lost in a immersive world (that's what I love about GW2). And I love true open world. So, is this game for me? What about the current state of the game? And is the open world nice? The combat?

Thanks in advice for anyone willing to help me!

FromHell · February 2013

Grab it, play it, you won't regret it.

A little worried though that you liked GW2... TSW is a lot more challenging. The endgame offers some gear grind for the ones who like that, or you wait for the regular mission packs and leave out the gear grind. Both possible.

I'm playing it for the ongoing stories and missions and just because it's cool and really fun and immersive to play.

Rthuth434 · February 2013

you might find it to your liking, if i answered your last two questions objectively there'd be a bloodbath in this topic, but for the price you can't go wrong. don't let them know you like GW2 in game though, for your own well being.

Zinzan · February 2013

Originally posted by tomis16
Hey guys

I'm planning to buy TSW next week, but I'd like to hear actual players about the current status of the game first. I'm currently having fun with GW2 (which, to me, it's a nice game, not the revelation of the MMOs of course, but a nice game anyway, I have 120+ hours and i'm still enjoying it), and I wanted this one to play aswell since I really like the lore and the setting of the game, since i'm a little bit bored of Fantasy-themed MMOs, been playing them for a while.

I really enjoy PVE, and I kinda like the gear-grinding thing like WoW for example (I like the satisfaction of getting a hard earned new piece of gear lol). Crafting is not something I love, neither I hate. And I play some PVP from time to time, just for the fun of it, nothing too serious. I love to get lost in a immersive world (that's what I love about GW2). And I love true open world. So, is this game for me? What about the current state of the game? And is the open world nice? The combat?

Thanks in advice for anyone willing to help me!

From what you say, im certain you will LOVE TSW.

Buy it, you won't regret it.

Open world if subjective, TSW is about as "open world" as GW2 but the zones are smaller....although neither game is open world really, both are zoned.

Combat is also subjective, it's fun for a while, some find it boring and repetitive, but then so is GW2 for the same reasons.

The game has limited appeal, be warned, most players complete it in 2-3 months.....but it's a great ride for that time and worth the box price.

rodingo · February 2013

Like you, I currently play GW2. I played TSW for about a week when it first came out. My buddy talked me into it, but a week is all I could take. I won't bash the game becuase these forums are filled with plenty of people who do that with games, however I will just say it wasn't for me. The good thing about it though is that it's b2p, so that's a major plus. Just make sure you are aware of the features and the gameplay before you buy and try not to listen to fanboys or haters on this forum.

Bjelar · February 2013

TSW is different from GW2.

I've also played both for quite a long time (if months can be called "a long time" in an MMO), and I play TSW more than I play GW2 now.

The effort it takes to enjoy TSW is higher, and the difficulty level is insane. If you don't cheat with walk-through guides, you WILL NOT be able to do all the content. Never believe anyone who tell you they did

TSW is theory crafting heavy too. I have spent hours reading combat logs -needless to say I did no such thing in GW2.

But the TSW universe is not as developed as GW2, and it does feel "rougher" not so pollished. TSW also has got issues atm, mostly PvP (who hasn't) and no guild functions/activities/keeps/cities.

I would not expect anyone to instantly like TSW, while GW2 is a game anyone can enjoy from the first moment on.

It's cheap as chips though; you'll get a lot for your money. You can't really go wrong, even if you do end up going "back" to GW2.

Kuppa · February 2013

It's perfect now that it's B2P. Get it, play the story and move on.

Pumuckl71 · February 2013

although im not playing TSW , my friends are praising it as an unique expirience.

Ortwig · February 2013

Both GW2 and TSW are good games, and I think you'll like TSW based on what you describe. Story, lore, atmosphere, setting are a big part of the game, and if you like PVE, I don't think you'll find better, especially if you like X-Files/Lovecraft/Indiana Jones -- the big difference of course is that it's set in the modern day, which, for me is a nice break from fantasy.

You don't have to grind gear in TSW, but you can, and lots of people do nightmare dungeon runs and the raid for the loot; lots of people like to farm sequins. There are only 10 gear levels, but the later ones are in small increments (10.1, 10.2, up to 10.5).

The crafting system is pretty basic -- you assemble patterns like in Minecraft, but there is no mining nodes -- you simply break down gear into materials and then reassemble them into what you want. There are no professions or levels in crafting, and you can craft anywhere.

Contrary to what people are saying, the TSW folks are not down on GW2 (I'm sure there are few around), but for the most part the community is friendly and mature and newcomers always welcome

As far as open world, the questing is more like breadcrumbs than hub and return (you turn in missions via cellphone), and there is no set order for the quests -- you kind of stumble into them as you go. The main storyline follows an overarching story, but there you can complete missions in any order you like, and you can pause them and return if you want.

PvP is a work in progress right now (balance, matchmaking and queue fixes coming in February), and the game doesn't have as much content as others, but you do get plenty for $30, and a new zone is coming later this year. They've been really good about pushing new releases at a monthly rate, but it'll probably be going to something like every 2 months in 2013. Lots of people in game since b2p as well. The nice thing about b2p is that you can work the story at your own pace; no need to rush.

If you really want to be sure, ask for a buddy key to test it out for 24 hours.

Bjelar · February 2013

Originally posted by Kuppa
It's perfect now that it's B2P. Get it, play the story and move on.

That's soooo not what the developers intended with TSW

You may find TSW good by rushing through the story-line, it IS a good story. It certainly wasn't made for that, just saying.

I'd rather recomend a different approach. Play GW2. When you feel you need to play something else (it happens), mess around in TSW and take your time exploring and figure something out. Then go back to GW2.

There is not a million things to keep you busy in TSW once you complete the story-line. But there is no reason you should complete the story line for the first few hundred hours of gameplay imo

FromHell · February 2013

I find it funny how most people overlook the TV series character of the game and the monthly/ soon bi-monthly issue updates.

They are pumping out story updates, Tokiyo will wrap up Act 1 and move the game story into Act 2. I think this is one of the coolest aspects of the game.

btw, the Tyler Freeborn missions in Issue 5 were probably the most amazing pieces of content I played in years, in any game, single player or MMO. For that price TSW for me was the gaming bargain of the decade.

upcoming Issue 6 will have some Indiana Jones type missions and a new bull whip weapon. So, yeah what's not to love about TSW. Always good for surprises.

Bjelar · February 2013

Originally posted by FromHell

btw, the Tyler Freeborn missions in Issue 5 were probably the most amazing pieces of content I played in years, in any game, single player or MMO. For that price TSW for me was the gaming bargain of the decade.

I agree those missions were pretty much worth the box price alone (actually, I believe you need to buy issue 5 aeperately).

The rewards were useful too, something I did not expect

spookydom · February 2013

I got it pretty cheap around christmas time, Beta tested it for around 2 months but at release didn't think it was worth buying . Now it's b2p it's another story imo. if you are looking for something different it really is unique among it's peers. Storys great, settings amazing, build system is one of my faves in any mmo I have ever played, I also found the community to be very pleasent and helpful. Combat can get a little tedius but it's an mmorpg....That's what they do. If you can keep your eyes open and scan some game sites like savy gamer and can pick it up cheaply it's even better, if not the content you get is well worth the box price.

evilastro · February 2013

Originally posted by FromHell
Grab it, play it, you won't regret it.

A little worried though that you liked GW2... TSW is a lot more challenging. The endgame offers some gear grind for the ones who like that, or you wait for the regular mission packs and leave out the gear grind. Both possible.

I'm playing it for the ongoing stories and missions and just because it's cool and really fun and immersive to play.

I found most of the GW2 dungeons more challenging than TSW ones. Trinity makes everything a snoozefest.

Ortwig · February 2013

Originally posted by PWN_FACE
The best part of this game, for me, is the complexity of figuring out how to play your character, the skill wheel, synergies, stuff like that. In that way, it is most different from GW2, which I found to be a very simple game in terms of figuring out your abilities, how and when to use them, etc. However, some people might say that about TSW and "optimal builds," so it depends on the person.

I think this is the biggest draw for me as well, maybe tied with investigation/sabotage missions. The class/level-free system is a lot of fun, and I can spend a lot of time playing with the different weapon and deck combos. When you find a combo that's really effective, it's pretty exciting, especially when you finally take down that mob that's been handing you your rear the last 10 times you've wandered his neighborhood.

fallenlords · February 2013

Having just been gifted the game and playing it. I would say unless you are the type that likes magic, it's pretty lame. Weapon wise you might as well be holding a hot dog as a shotgun, assault rifle, dual pistols, sword etc. I don't have combat down to a tee yet, but I would say it involves running around in circles spamming a few buttons. Hoping you don't get hit. Combat as far as I can see at the moment is pretty dull, this game five years ago would of been great. But now ... not so much.

On top of which add bad voice acting, a plot that at the start doesn't make much sense and the bizarre nuances of the Funcom technology and you have a game that you probably have to persevere with to get any satisfaction out of it. The only game I have ever stuck with and got to like was Fallout 3, something just clicked in the middle of the game and pieces fell into place. TSW I don't see as that sort of game. I find everything about it annoying. From Zombies in a continuous loop eating the same corpse, to structures I can't enter and an initial lack of loot. Not to mention the over complicated skill wheels, decks, whatever you call them. That look nice but I don't fully understand how they work and I am not sure I can be bothered to learn, so I pick random options and skills that are next to useless. I kind of want to play a game, not spend hours fiddling with options. Perhaps it get's better I don't know.

Bottom line I like WoW, GW, GW2 and f you are bored of fantasy themed MMO's then look to something like Fallen Earth if you want to play with weapons and have an open world experience etc. TSW is like most Funcom games instanced up to the eyeballs (laggy as well I noticed, and it's not my connection).

If you like rolling casters, the ones that don't have to think too much about combat. Just spam the same button sequence over and over again. Then you might like TSW from what I have seen so far. If you think a weapon should be reloaded, should never have unlimited ammo and needs to be aimed properly to do the right amount of damage. Don't look at TSW.

Ortwig · February 2013

For those who actually want to understand combat, here's good primer:

http://yokaiblog.wikidot.com/guides:build-mechanics

The fact that you can use any weapon and any ability throws some people, but with the freedom to do anything, you also have the responsibility to understand how to build decks. If you don't want to learn how combos work (they really make the game fun when you figure out a good one), there's always the pre-made starter decks, which are not the best but do the job. With that freedom, any player can create very good (and very sucky) decks -- flexibility is a two-edged sword in this game.

And if you are spamming the same buttons over and over again, remember that you can swap out any ability from the ability wheel pool and change things up. Try some different weapons/abilities that fit your style better; try some of the special abilities(Chaotic Pull is one). Create multiple decks for different situations -- dps, tank, heal, solo, aoe, single target, ranged, whatever. Later in the game, you'll NEED to have different decks -- no one deck will work in all situations.

A few tips:

Synergies/combos are abilities that work well together. Most active abilities trigger Conditions which can be used by passive abilities to create a combo. For example, if an active triggers Weakened, looks for passives that USE the Weakened Condtion.
There's a handy search panel to the right of the ability to help you find Conditions that work across abilities
An Important Note: You can equip passives from ANY weapon, not just your equipped weapons!
Remember to equip 2 weapons -- if you are equipping only one, you are gimping yourself
Start with 2 weapons and branch out into others.
Remember that the ability wheel is just the POOL of abilities. The important thing to focus on is your deck; combos are the key to combat.
Ultimately, you will unlock every weapon, abillity and skill in the game, and you will never stop earning AP/SP. Therefore, nothing you ever purchase is wasted -- it's just more flexibility in your pool that can be used to build more decks.

Lots of discussion of various decks and builds and approaches on the forums:

http://forums.thesecretworld.com/forumdisplay.php?f=12

ShakyMo · February 2013

Strengths
Story, it has much better voice work and plot than the personal stories in say swtor or gw2
The progression system, its nice not to have classes, its good to be forced to swap your deck around to complete certain.content.
The combat, this gets a slaying from people who played the open beta weekend which used an old client. The closed beta and current combat is a lot better, not as good as gw2 or ps2 etc.. but stronger than tab Target / shhoters fireballs out your ass wow clone type combat imo
The hardness, some quests are really hard and you need to tune your build and / or grow to complete, then there's the puzzle quests and the stealth quests to mix things up.
Very good dungeons
Nicely realised workday with consistent lore, Try looking up things you bump into in game on the internet

Weakness
Pvp
Crafting
Small game, soon over
Too gear driven, gear too important

SuperNick · February 2013

I played it on release a bit. It's pretty much a love/hate type game.

It appeals to a more niché community with an odd blend of GW2/Tera combat mechanics and is more focused on story than most games out there. The quests are fairly innovative and the dungeons are hard. The open world factor is kind of limited - when I played you had a handful of quite large zones that weren't interconnected and it was done.

It should have been F2P from the beginning and might be doing better than it is now as a result but it's still enjoying some OK success.

Worth a try if you can get a free trial or something - i'd hesitate to say buy it (it's still B2P I think)

Agent_Joseph · February 2013

I am not fan of story driven mmorpg's,puzzles,voice acting & cut scenes in an mmo,I am not FC fan(played only AO) but still enjoying in TSW ,not bored, still making new in game friendships,exploring zones,still surprised with missed side missions on fields

I has 800+ hours playing TSW...and still playing...love universe,world,gameplay...Everyone can find something interesting for self in this secret world.

fallenlords · February 2013

Originally posted by Ortwig
For those who actually want to understand combat, here's good primer:

http://yokaiblog.wikidot.com/guides:build-mechanics

See that is what is wrong with the game, you need a whole article to just get a basic understanding of the combat aspects. I want to play a game, not study it... If it can't show me how things are done through normal gameplay it has some serious flaws.

I can see now why it appeals to the elitist type of MMO player. They don't like fun so much as being able to work out the mathematical calculation of what weapons, equipment and perks will deal the most damage if it's a full moon, they are standing on one leg, facing west etc. The fun part is in trying to understand why their exact calculations are not adding up in the damage numbers being displayed on screen.

ShakyMo · February 2013

Yes but some people like theory crafting. To me this is one of tsw great strengths, although I'm not playing it due to instance grinding endgame, I did really enjoy messing about with builds and having content that was hard. Most modern mmos are too easy, you hardly ever die.

Rayshe · February 2013

Originally posted by fallenlords
Originally posted by Ortwig
For those who actually want to understand combat, here's good primer:

http://yokaiblog.wikidot.com/guides:build-mechanics

See that is what is wrong with the game, you need a whole article to just get a basic understanding of the combat aspects. I want to play a game, not study it... If it can't show me how things are done through normal gameplay it has some serious flaws.

I can see now why it appeals to the elitist type of MMO player. They don't like fun so much as being able to work out the mathematical calculation of what weapons, equipment and perks will deal the most damage if it's a full moon, they are standing on one leg, facing west etc. The fun part is in trying to understand why their exact calculations are not adding up in the damage numbers being displayed on screen.

See fallen that makes games like WoW perfect for you, There is no thinking just playing with your total of 9 skill points to use.

Personally i love TSW, and has become one of the Best MMO's ive ever played. The game allows you to play what you want. There are always going to be the optimumal build that everyone runs to for max DPS but you dont actually have to. Make the character you want to play and play it.

Also im confused at whoever said that magic was the way to go and holding a shotgun was as good as holding a Hotdog. Sorry to let you in on this but for ranged DPS the top 3 are Shotgun-Pistol, AR-Shotgun, and AR-Elemental. Melee is a different story but we are still hammering out Melee builds to figure out whats going on with them. They do more DPS, however getting that close to a boss is a death sentance. So successfully surviving a fight like that takes alot of practice.

TSW is a good game that is growing, the game will never stop growing monthly content updates that are more than just afew more fetch quests. When they add content they are expanding the story and making you learn more about whats going on. Issue 5 cause a big development that i wont spoil here.

EDIT - Ah thought of more, Dungeons go by ranking Normal-Elite-Nightmare. Normals are basically a first step into the fight teaching you some of the basics on what to do. Elite is when you get your gear to Quality level 10, and with it they add some more mechanics and abit of health. Nightmare is a ton of mechanics and a instant kill if you get hit with ANYTHING as a DPS and sometimes a instant kill if you get hit as the tank.

Ortwig · February 2013

Originally posted by Rayshe
Originally posted by fallenlords
Originally posted by Ortwig
For those who actually want to understand combat, here's good primer:

http://yokaiblog.wikidot.com/guides:build-mechanics

See that is what is wrong with the game, you need a whole article to just get a basic understanding of the combat aspects. I want to play a game, not study it... If it can't show me how things are done through normal gameplay it has some serious flaws.

I can see now why it appeals to the elitist type of MMO player. They don't like fun so much as being able to work out the mathematical calculation of what weapons, equipment and perks will deal the most damage if it's a full moon, they are standing on one leg, facing west etc. The fun part is in trying to understand why their exact calculations are not adding up in the damage numbers being displayed on screen.

See fallen that makes games like WoW perfect for you, There is no thinking just playing with your total of 9 skill points to use.

The beauty of it is that you CAN just take a pre-made (starter) deck or one of the many cookie cutter builds folks post on the forums and go without any theorycrafting at all. The only problem with that is that you may not understand the strengths and weaknesses of a particular deck, and at some point you'll get your butt handed to you. This is typically the point when new players say WTF, and ask why it is happening (typically when they get to Blue Mountain, where the game tests your build.) A few tweaks to the build and a better understanding of decks, and players are off to the races again.

And as far as the theorycrafting goes, you can take it as far as you like. I personally don't get out spreadsheets or anything, but I will search through the Conditions to see what's available and experiment with some to see how they play out. Others goes whole hog into min/maxing. There's definitely room for different levels of deck building.

By the way, I haven't encountered any elitist jerks in game (I'm sure there are a few), but everyone I've run into has been very patient and helpful in explaining how things work. It really is a good community.

fallenlords · February 2013

Originally posted by Rayshe

See fallen that makes games like WoW perfect for you, There is no thinking just playing with your total of 9 skill points to use.

Yeah WoW is my level, love the game nothing wrong with WoW at all. In fact I would of played it a lot sooner if the Funcom AOC crew hadn't consistently told me how bad it was, which was just sour grapes.

As for the hotdog - that was me. What I meant was, guns have kick, need ammo and reloading. Might as well be holding a hotdog in my hand as a shotgun or pistols in TSW because none of that is relevant etc. Would of actually been more fun. 'The Hotdog of Death' ... ' The Bagel of Combustion' ... 'The Pretzel of Pain' ...

ashleymorrow · February 2013

I play both, and both are great games. GW2 is by far more relaxing. TSW has more flavor.

Don't worry about all the theory crafting, at least at first. Follow a beginner deck build and learn from there. You are not going to get a handle on the mechanics in one day, so just relax and enjoy.

And if it gets to be too much, go back to GW2 for a while, that is what I do.

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