For me without question it was the PvP. They gave players away to make all these unique builds, then jammed them into mosh pit battlegrounds where AoE was the only thing that mattered.
On top of that little things were not accounted for like what happens if 3 people use the same AoE. What did happen was extreme fps lag.
TSW has the best writing on the market, hands down, and solid PvE. It just wasn't enough for a player like me.
I can overlook the combat deficiencies - it was the cut-scene dialogue after each quest that killed it for me. I don't have time to sit through all that in an MMO. If I wanted to be told a fun story I would read a book or play a RPG. In an MMO I want to do my own thing - not sit around listening to voice actors. I wanted to like it because of the atmosphere and uniqueness of the setting but couldn't bring myself to sit through all the yapping.
Love the game, but it's too small. I got 80% of my wheel done before I threw in the towel. Love the world. Love the lore. Love the quests. Everything else is, meh.
Joined 2004 - I can't believe I've been a MMORPG.com member for 20 years! Get off my lawn!
I bought the game but really hated the way you controll your char now this was a big letdown since everything else in the game is good or even outstanding.
I played this game for some months and enjoyed it but then I was done. I needed to buy extra content and I just did not want to. Great game for a time.
Can not build the character to how I actually want to play (even with all that already available on the wheel). That's probably how switch weapons work in the game + poor clunky combat animation, made combat feel like a chore.
If a game isn't near any of my expectations nor meets my minimum requirements, then I'll pass. That's why I won't be playing ESO as well. Just because a game does some things differently doesn't mean it gets a free pass on basic necessities such as, smooth responsive combat, buy to play or sub model, classes I want to play and a world I want to explore.
The combat is terrible, especially after the great combat that is in Age of Conan. Rest of the MMO is pretty solid, but when THE main core system is that bad, most people won't play it.
Why should I even bother with a game with a small world, bad animations, slow combat, loading screens and raids for endgame ?Even if I like Cthulhu mythos, that alone is not enough to make me buy a bad game, same it was not with Star Wars for SWTOR or Tamriel for TESO. Not to even mention here that is made by a company which didn't update Aoc very often and is published by EA.
I bought it and had high hopes, but it just never hooked me. While I could give the graphics a pass, the high use of instancing and the rat-maze level design made me feel like I was playing Duke Nukem 3D again. I'm not trying to bash it in any way, but it just reaffirmed to me that I've grown weary of themepark style games. I give them credit for trying to break free of the high fantasy model. There just wasn't the level of immersion that I was hoping for.
I have not nor will I ever play it due to its rated M esrb rating. Same with AoC
I wonder how many others pass on it because of this.
While I certainly appreciate your choice, I think that if they did a study of how many people passed because of the rating, they would find it inconsequential. Elder Scrolls Online has the "M" rating as well, but is attracting a very large following. I think the amount of people who choose not to play over a rating far less than people who choose to play over other reasons.
For me its simple. FunCom had their AO baby and was updating it, there was a huge population when it went F2P, and I was happy to pay for it to do the extra content in the Shadowlands. Then they started promising a new graphics engine, and after the 3rd or 4th expansion, the game went downhill. Now, its nearly 10 years later and still no graphic update or anything pushing the game forward, and now its another dead game.
Then came AoC, when it first came out it was a marvel to play. Plenty of solo content, elite dungeons that req'd a group, rich in lore and places to explore. Then after awhile the game slowly started to decay. Perhaps it was the dungeon changes to all elite, class nerfs, weapon nerfs, etc. Kinda went downhill, and now you don't even hear of it.
They put all their efforts into TSW, all their devs, programmers, everyone, and gave up on other things. Why would I give them more money if they can't even properly support their prior 2 games?
Atmospherically refined but systemically flawed. I have absolutely no idea they were thinking when they designed the combat system. Story arcs are well-thought out and addictive though...as long as you don't have to fight anything. But then, there always has been a problem with modern MMOs and gun combat. It's all conceptually fine when you're plonking things over the head with a hammer in a turn based format but standing still unloading a clip into something's mush until its health bar runs out is never going to work on any level..and I suspect it never will. I would love to see a lovecraft-themed game with an ESO-style gameplay...that would be nothing short of awesomeroids.
MMOs generally do one of 2 things really well and are mediocre in everything else. TSW has the best questing in any MMO ive played, combat was meh, it served as a tool to get around and progress the story and questing.
Other games have good combat, but the questing is meh, and only serves as a vehicle to get you into higher content, push you around the zone or get you or more gear
From what ive seen of wildstar, combat looks good, questing meh, ESO? decent questing, combat kinda meh for some.
Dont even get into the graphics/animations, everyone has their own personal preferences here and are also heavily factored in. Animations never bothered me in TSW but for others its an absolute deal breaker.
Now if they would get off their rears and implement the game across multiple screens as they promised in the first place... Then I would play it like a madman.
Used a 3rd party mod at one point and it was playable, but alas the mod has been discontinued.
Stuck on a single display I just cannot play the game...
I had great fun playing through the main story, side quests and regular issues, but then the Nightmare/Scenario/PvP grind became unavoidable, and I said to myself "no more". I still log on once a month though, to spend my bonus points before they cap and expire (bought a lifetime subscription at launch... doh!).
I actually really enjoy TSW once I got out of the first area. As someone who saw the terrible launch of AOC I seriously had doubts that funcom could turn things around. I now feel they have redeemed themselves with TSW for how well the game performs. The fairground is my favourite area in game, the visuals are great.
I don't mind paying for a game that is free after initial purchase except for the DLCs but they are not necessary to enjoy most of the game.
Well there are two big things that contributed for me.
The first is that the game lost all momentum shortly after it went free to play in December of 2012. Now I understand the reason, Funcom did another massive round of layoffs, as well as closed a studio and moved the team to North Carolina. If my memory serves it took about 4 months for them to be able to get back to the point of semi regular updates and content. Even then, a lot of things that were being worked on stopped because they lost the people that had been working on those features. People got bored and left during this time.
The second thing that killed it for me is that the "tone" of the game changed. I was drawn to the game because of the modern setting and horror feel. Maybe I was mistaken, but the game is called the SECRET World, so sort of expected that there would be some attempt to make it, you know, a secret. But when Joel took over as director, the game started to feel a bit more campy. Then strange items that were just ridiculous started appearing, like tentacle hats and other goofy hats and outfits. Now at the height of this "Agartha invasion" event you can get a ridiculous outfit that looks like some rejected concept from Tron. It just doesn't feel like the same world to me.
I know that some people like the humor and tongue and cheek stuff, but that is not what drew me to the Secret World. It doesn't feel right to me, and that is what ultimately led me to leave.
Comments
For me without question it was the PvP. They gave players away to make all these unique builds, then jammed them into mosh pit battlegrounds where AoE was the only thing that mattered.
On top of that little things were not accounted for like what happens if 3 people use the same AoE. What did happen was extreme fps lag.
TSW has the best writing on the market, hands down, and solid PvE. It just wasn't enough for a player like me.
Joined 2004 - I can't believe I've been a MMORPG.com member for 20 years! Get off my lawn!
Endgame. Sure, the combat could really use a lift up, maybe make a full third person shooting game, but even with that, it's still a themepark.
Mind you, the most unique leveling experience i've seen in mmos (at the top along with GW2), but once you're done, it's the same mmo trappings.
Exactly, it looks different but under the hood it really isn't.
I have not nor will I ever play it due to its rated M esrb rating. Same with AoC
I wonder how many others pass on it because of this.
I bought the game but really hated the way you controll your char now this was a big letdown since everything else in the game is good or even outstanding.
Reasons I stop playing:
Combat
I like tab target just fine, in fact I hate TERA's combat. I like slower paced combat just fine. TSW's combat still sucks.
Why should I even bother with a game with a small world, bad animations, slow combat, loading screens and raids for endgame ?Even if I like Cthulhu mythos, that alone is not enough to make me buy a bad game, same it was not with Star Wars for SWTOR or Tamriel for TESO. Not to even mention here that is made by a company which didn't update Aoc very often and is published by EA.
While I certainly appreciate your choice, I think that if they did a study of how many people passed because of the rating, they would find it inconsequential. Elder Scrolls Online has the "M" rating as well, but is attracting a very large following. I think the amount of people who choose not to play over a rating far less than people who choose to play over other reasons.
For me its simple. FunCom had their AO baby and was updating it, there was a huge population when it went F2P, and I was happy to pay for it to do the extra content in the Shadowlands. Then they started promising a new graphics engine, and after the 3rd or 4th expansion, the game went downhill. Now, its nearly 10 years later and still no graphic update or anything pushing the game forward, and now its another dead game.
Then came AoC, when it first came out it was a marvel to play. Plenty of solo content, elite dungeons that req'd a group, rich in lore and places to explore. Then after awhile the game slowly started to decay. Perhaps it was the dungeon changes to all elite, class nerfs, weapon nerfs, etc. Kinda went downhill, and now you don't even hear of it.
They put all their efforts into TSW, all their devs, programmers, everyone, and gave up on other things. Why would I give them more money if they can't even properly support their prior 2 games?
MMOs generally do one of 2 things really well and are mediocre in everything else. TSW has the best questing in any MMO ive played, combat was meh, it served as a tool to get around and progress the story and questing.
Other games have good combat, but the questing is meh, and only serves as a vehicle to get you into higher content, push you around the zone or get you or more gear
From what ive seen of wildstar, combat looks good, questing meh, ESO? decent questing, combat kinda meh for some.
Dont even get into the graphics/animations, everyone has their own personal preferences here and are also heavily factored in. Animations never bothered me in TSW but for others its an absolute deal breaker.
People generally want the full package
my favorite character creation so far:
Now if they would get off their rears and implement the game across multiple screens as they promised in the first place... Then I would play it like a madman.
Used a 3rd party mod at one point and it was playable, but alas the mod has been discontinued.
Stuck on a single display I just cannot play the game...
I actually really enjoy TSW once I got out of the first area. As someone who saw the terrible launch of AOC I seriously had doubts that funcom could turn things around. I now feel they have redeemed themselves with TSW for how well the game performs. The fairground is my favourite area in game, the visuals are great.
I don't mind paying for a game that is free after initial purchase except for the DLCs but they are not necessary to enjoy most of the game.
Well there are two big things that contributed for me.
The first is that the game lost all momentum shortly after it went free to play in December of 2012. Now I understand the reason, Funcom did another massive round of layoffs, as well as closed a studio and moved the team to North Carolina. If my memory serves it took about 4 months for them to be able to get back to the point of semi regular updates and content. Even then, a lot of things that were being worked on stopped because they lost the people that had been working on those features. People got bored and left during this time.
The second thing that killed it for me is that the "tone" of the game changed. I was drawn to the game because of the modern setting and horror feel. Maybe I was mistaken, but the game is called the SECRET World, so sort of expected that there would be some attempt to make it, you know, a secret. But when Joel took over as director, the game started to feel a bit more campy. Then strange items that were just ridiculous started appearing, like tentacle hats and other goofy hats and outfits. Now at the height of this "Agartha invasion" event you can get a ridiculous outfit that looks like some rejected concept from Tron. It just doesn't feel like the same world to me.
I know that some people like the humor and tongue and cheek stuff, but that is not what drew me to the Secret World. It doesn't feel right to me, and that is what ultimately led me to leave.