Because the animation and the game play are from back in the 90's. Horrible. It looks like an amateur did them and its a AAA company. And frankly, it feels like someone played Vampire Bloodlines and felt they didn't come out with an MMO fast enough so they took everything from that game and turned it into an MMO while adding some gimmicks. Still at least Vampire Bloodlines did the story right, this game just sucks. Really sick to death of the whole zombie schtik too.
I played TSW for about a month. I really liked the atmosphere. I would play it in the dark and it's one of the few games that actually scared the shit out of me on occasion.
There are a few reasons why I stopped playing.
Like others have mentioned, the combat and animations are terrible.
I am big on PvP and the PvP in TSW wasn't fun for me. When TSW was being developed Funcom suggested they would create a persistent PvP zone and they ended up reneging.
I hate doing puzzles and this game if filled with them. I ended up looking up the answers rather than trying to solve them.
it shares the problem all modern MMOs have. except for dungeons etc, it lacks replay value. games like World of Warcraft etc, use their IP power, and old fans to keep things going on but for new IPs, not many will put time and effort for pointess grinding, specially the new generation. if it was released on consoles back in 2012, thanks to the thirst on consoles it would get better results. (it would still turn into b2p though cause most console gamers don't believe in paying charges and since this is a new IP it would never get enough money to stay p2p based on what it had to offer)
my top MMOs: UO,DAOC,WoW,GW2
most of my posts are just my opinions they are not facts,it is the same for you too.
There is no sense of accomplishment if a player has to be constantly referring to google to solve their quests, not to mention it breaks immersion. They probably went a bit too far with the quest difficulty level.
...
Lastly, they should have replaced the person in charge of character customization at the first sight of their concept art. To say they were dreadful would be a huge understatement.
Other than those three areas, the game is great
The difficulty is fine (and actually it was lowered during betas, for example with highlighting items in yellow), it's a Ragnar game eventually, with an adventure-ish design Having internet in the game is not immersion-breaking, and google != internet (at least yet... damn I liked them so much in the '90s, where's the "don't be evil" now, Sergey?). Just like in life, if you don't know something, you can check the net for some answers, the game has the same layout since it's "life", with a secret world behind it.
Personally I used outside help mostly just for the art section, and the location-specific stuff (like the US-version bible for the New England part).
Character model is a more valid issue, I'm fine with the starter set (since it's the secret world, not the secret world of supermodels ), but it was voiced so many times that FC added the plastic surgery into the game pretty soon.
Originally posted by Moirae
And frankly, it feels like someone played Vampire Bloodlines and felt they didn't come out with an MMO fast enough so they took everything from that game and turned it into an MMO while adding some gimmicks. Still at least Vampire Bloodlines did the story right, this game just sucks. Really sick to death of the whole zombie schtik too.
You'd be surprised how many players in TSW are huge fans of VtM: Bloodlines It's an awesome game. Similar to TSW, great writing, great characters, fun gameplay - and also a very mixed reception, with just a small but avid fanbase. Just in Bloodline's case it was because of the "usual" Troika issue, all of their games are massive bugfests... still, Bloodlines is a stellar game imo. And since I barely can stand the VtM franchise, it means a lot from me
I don't get the story comment though, TSW's story is much better than Bloodlines' plot. Maybe you left a bit too early? (I mean "the whole zombie schtik", with the Fog and the zombies you barely just scratched the surface...) What started in Kingsmouth 3 years ago, was just finished with Issue #11 recently.
its is cool. I'm not sure I like puzzle games, but, it has potential. I have no idea how steamcharts says people are playing, unless it's on the EU servers.
its is cool. I'm not sure I like puzzle games, but, it has potential. I have no idea how steamcharts says people are playing, unless it's on the EU servers.
It's pretty populated when I get on (NA). You won't find legions of people, but there are a healthy number during the times I'm on.
I recently returned to this game after playing at launch and purchased the Ultimate Pack.
When I played at launch I primarily did PVP. If you remember you could level very quickly when PVPing at launch. I stopped playing after launch because I finished the main story.
So now returning I have leveled the traditional way with questing.
The game really is one of the best MMORPG's I've ever played. The quests are A++ and the world is engaging. The graphics are excellent compared to other MMORPG's.
My biggest complaints with the game are the crafting (which is terrible) and the animations are sometimes stiff/awkward.
But neither of these issues imo ruin the game..
So why isn't this game more popular???
For me personaly the best The Secret World offered me I find better in other genre of games.
Still a great game at what it gives for a MMOrpg, just not giving me the things I would like from a MMORPG.
its is cool. I'm not sure I like puzzle games, but, it has potential. I have no idea how steamcharts says people are playing, unless it's on the EU servers.
There's single server tech, so no EU or NA or any other servers
Originally posted by SirBalin They dont understand the importance of having pve and pvp servers...the pvp is crap...so you are catoring to one half the community.
Same here, no servers. Actually there's a slight twist, because logically every Dimension ("server") has a unique and separate Fusang. Personally I don't know whether the pvp is crap or not, never been there myself TSW is a PvE-heavy game. (though the second update from now, Issue #13, allegedly will be a pvp-focused one.)
I loved this game when it first came out and played for a few months. Then once i got all the skills i wanted there was nothing to do that interested me. Came back for the "new player experience" played for another month and got bored with the combat.
its is cool. I'm not sure I like puzzle games, but, it has potential. I have no idea how steamcharts says people are playing, unless it's on the EU servers.
There's single server tech, so no EU or NA or any other servers
Originally posted by SirBalin They dont understand the importance of having pve and pvp servers...the pvp is crap...so you are catoring to one half the community.
Same here, no servers. Actually there's a slight twist, because logically every Dimension ("server") has a unique and separate Fusang. Personally I don't know whether the pvp is crap or not, never been there myself TSW is a PvE-heavy game. (though the second update from now, Issue #13, allegedly will be a pvp-focused one.)
I figured it out and started having a lot of fun. It's a good game.
1) Combat. Most players will spend the majority of their time in an MMORPG by fighting one creature or another. If nothing else in your game looks good, or has an impact on the player, but the combat is phenomenal, then people will be able to look beyond it while you bring the rest of the game up to par.
If the combat and combat animations are trash, then many people, like myself, won't even make it to end game.
2) Animations. FunCom owns an entire motion capture studio. The animations for Age of Conan are absolutely fantastic. They even put the mocap golf balls on horses to capture all of the mounted animations.
How they went from such brilliant animation to such crap animation in the space of one game is mind boggling.
3) Setting. I just never felt like a modern setting did TSW justice. I would have much preferred to play this game in a Victorian setting. Adam Weishaupt founded the Illuminati in 1776, the Templars go back to the crusades and the Dragon have been around for millenia, so 1885'ish America would have been a much more interesting backdrop for this game.
Not only that, but considering that the game is based loosely around Lovecraft, a Victorian setting would make even more sense.
3) Setting. I just never felt like a modern setting did TSW justice. I would have much preferred to play this game in a Victorian setting. Adam Weishaupt founded the Illuminati in 1776, the Templars go back to the crusades and the Dragon have been around for millenia, so 1885'ish America would have been a much more interesting backdrop for this game.
Not only that, but considering that the game is based loosely around Lovecraft, a Victorian setting would make even more sense.
1 and 2 are mostly up to personal taste (since I don't need an another warning from the mods )
3 however... there's a good reason why the events are happening in the present. Not to mention the inbalances of a XIX c. setting, Lumies would've been just an up-and-comer shabby gang trying to set foot on the Colonies after the fiasco in Europe. Btw in the game they're not the same fairly lame and pretty amusing bunch you see everywhere in the "real" world Anyways, the Victorian era was the peaceful prosperity in Britain for a reason, that century was a quiet period in the Secret world, so a game in that era would be pretty boring, I think.
Dragons for millenia? More like Ages - not like the phrase, Ages with a capital "A" (according to Ragnar / to the lore, spoiler: this world is in the Fourth Age, and Dragon is around since the First Age, maybe even older than Gaia. That's why the other two groups are suspicious and puzzled towards them, since they don't know what the Dragon has kept from the previous Ages)
Crafter of love, I'd say very loosely based, the early gameplay perhaps. And Solomon Island is just 1/4 of the game... (but yep, there are a couple of Lovecraft references in the game)
Modern day setting comes with certain expectations. At least for me. No housing, no vehicles, and the crafting is embarrassing.
No housing - there are some rumours lately, but atm it's true, no housing. However, you can get a room in Tabula Rasa if you need some privacy or roleplay
crafting is embarrassing - there's no crafting, just assembling. Suits better for the Wheel and theory crafting, the flexibility of roles. But I agree, a player with crafting-oriented mindset can find it lacklusting, not having "regular" MMO crafting in TSW.
1) Combat. Most players will spend the majority of their time in an MMORPG by fighting one creature or another. If nothing else in your game looks good, or has an impact on the player, but the combat is phenomenal, then people will be able to look beyond it while you bring the rest of the game up to par.
If the combat and combat animations are trash, then many people, like myself, won't even make it to end game.
2) Animations. FunCom owns an entire motion capture studio. The animations for Age of Conan are absolutely fantastic. They even put the mocap golf balls on horses to capture all of the mounted animations.
How they went from such brilliant animation to such crap animation in the space of one game is mind boggling.
3) Setting. I just never felt like a modern setting did TSW justice. I would have much preferred to play this game in a Victorian setting. Adam Weishaupt founded the Illuminati in 1776, the Templars go back to the crusades and the Dragon have been around for millenia, so 1885'ish America would have been a much more interesting backdrop for this game.
Not only that, but considering that the game is based loosely around Lovecraft, a Victorian setting would make even more sense.
Not going to spend much time on 1 and 2, as I mostly agree for the same reasons you mention, at least on its effect on retention. Though the last major update helped combat considerably.
3. One of the major appeals of the game, to me, is the modern setting. But I've had to accept that my opinion regarding the setting probably isn't held by alot of the potential market. People didn't just leave the game after it launched; they didn't buy it in the first place. Launch sales were extremely weak. I could blame that on Funcom's reputation for horrible launches, which probably was a factor, but that's not enough IMO to explain the lack of initial interest.
With something like half of all prime time dramas these days having a modern supernatural theme, you'd think there would be a huge market for a game like this. But apparently, there isn't. Sure, a less flawed game might have been more successful, but people would have had to buy it to find that it was a good game. And if TSW's initial sales are any indication, that just wouldn't have happened.
Not going to spend much time on 1 and 2, as I mostly agree for the same reasons you mention, at least on its effect on retention. Though the last major update helped combat considerably.
3. One of the major appeals of the game, to me, is the modern setting. But I've had to accept that my opinion regarding the setting probably isn't held by alot of the potential market. People didn't just leave the game after it launched; they didn't buy it in the first place. Launch sales were extremely weak. I could blame that on Funcom's reputation for horrible launches, which probably was a factor, but that's not enough IMO to explain the lack of initial interest.
With something like half of all prime time dramas these days having a modern supernatural theme, you'd think there would be a huge market for a game like this. But apparently, there isn't. Sure, a less flawed game might have been more successful, but people would have had to buy it to find that it was a good game. And if TSW's initial sales are any indication, that just wouldn't have happened.
I think there is a large market for modern horror games but the problem becomes clear when you see what prime time dramas that people actually watch. They aren't about organisations fighting supernatural evil, they are about teenage werewolves romantically involed with cheerleaders, about vampires drinking faux blood and about teenage witches and similar.
The heroes of those shows are usually the supernatural being themselves (who for some reasons seems to date human teenage girls). While there are a few about hunters they havn't been very popular since Buffy stopped running.
I think a MMO like that could appeal to a lot more players, but probably not so many on sites like this. On the plus side would it probably be a hit with female players (and that is female players who generally isn't into MMOs, please ignore this female raiders).
And the challenges of a MMO like that would be pretty different from what we see in TSW, they do fight other werewolfs in Teenwolf but a lot of the story is about fitting in the normal world, about romance and other stuff like that. I don't think I would enjoy a game like that myself (but then I might be wrong, it would be different from the other games on the market at least).
Comments
Because the animation and the game play are from back in the 90's. Horrible. It looks like an amateur did them and its a AAA company. And frankly, it feels like someone played Vampire Bloodlines and felt they didn't come out with an MMO fast enough so they took everything from that game and turned it into an MMO while adding some gimmicks. Still at least Vampire Bloodlines did the story right, this game just sucks. Really sick to death of the whole zombie schtik too.
Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.
I played TSW for about a month. I really liked the atmosphere. I would play it in the dark and it's one of the few games that actually scared the shit out of me on occasion.
There are a few reasons why I stopped playing.
Like others have mentioned, the combat and animations are terrible.
I am big on PvP and the PvP in TSW wasn't fun for me. When TSW was being developed Funcom suggested they would create a persistent PvP zone and they ended up reneging.
I hate doing puzzles and this game if filled with them. I ended up looking up the answers rather than trying to solve them.
TSW was a nice try but it's not for me.
it shares the problem all modern MMOs have. except for dungeons etc, it lacks replay value. games like World of Warcraft etc, use their IP power, and old fans to keep things going on but for new IPs, not many will put time and effort for pointess grinding, specially the new generation. if it was released on consoles back in 2012, thanks to the thirst on consoles it would get better results. (it would still turn into b2p though cause most console gamers don't believe in paying charges and since this is a new IP it would never get enough money to stay p2p based on what it had to offer)
my top MMOs: UO,DAOC,WoW,GW2
most of my posts are just my opinions they are not facts,it is the same for you too.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
The difficulty is fine (and actually it was lowered during betas, for example with highlighting items in yellow), it's a Ragnar game eventually, with an adventure-ish design
Having internet in the game is not immersion-breaking, and google != internet (at least yet... damn I liked them so much in the '90s, where's the "don't be evil" now, Sergey?). Just like in life, if you don't know something, you can check the net for some answers, the game has the same layout since it's "life", with a secret world behind it.
Personally I used outside help mostly just for the art section, and the location-specific stuff (like the US-version bible for the New England part).
Character model is a more valid issue, I'm fine with the starter set (since it's the secret world, not the secret world of supermodels
), but it was voiced so many times that FC added the plastic surgery into the game pretty soon.
You'd be surprised how many players in TSW are huge fans of VtM: Bloodlines
It's an awesome game. Similar to TSW, great writing, great characters, fun gameplay - and also a very mixed reception, with just a small but avid fanbase. Just in Bloodline's case it was because of the "usual" Troika issue, all of their games are massive bugfests... still, Bloodlines is a stellar game imo. And since I barely can stand the VtM franchise, it means a lot from me 
I don't get the story comment though, TSW's story is much better than Bloodlines' plot. Maybe you left a bit too early? (I mean "the whole zombie schtik", with the Fog and the zombies you barely just scratched the surface...) What started in Kingsmouth 3 years ago, was just finished with Issue #11 recently.
its is cool. I'm not sure I like puzzle games, but, it has potential. I have no idea how steamcharts says people are playing, unless it's on the EU servers.
Also, Funcom almost never delivers anything in time and spin the shit out of everything that goes wrong.
Incognito
www.incognito-gaming.us
"You're either with us or against us"
It's pretty populated when I get on (NA). You won't find legions of people, but there are a healthy number during the times I'm on.
I self identify as a monkey.
For me personaly the best The Secret World offered me I find better in other genre of games.
Still a great game at what it gives for a MMOrpg, just not giving me the things I would like from a MMORPG.
There's single server tech, so no EU or NA or any other servers
Same here, no servers. Actually there's a slight twist, because logically every Dimension ("server") has a unique and separate Fusang. Personally I don't know whether the pvp is crap or not, never been there myself
TSW is a PvE-heavy game. (though the second update from now, Issue #13, allegedly will be a pvp-focused one.)
The genre is a turnoff, never felt even remotely interested in the title.
Previous Funcom experiences did not leave me eager for more abuse.
PVP players are nowhere near half the community. Not in this game, anyways. Maybe like GuildWars or something.I figured it out and started having a lot of fun. It's a good game.
1) Combat. Most players will spend the majority of their time in an MMORPG by fighting one creature or another. If nothing else in your game looks good, or has an impact on the player, but the combat is phenomenal, then people will be able to look beyond it while you bring the rest of the game up to par.
If the combat and combat animations are trash, then many people, like myself, won't even make it to end game.
2) Animations. FunCom owns an entire motion capture studio. The animations for Age of Conan are absolutely fantastic. They even put the mocap golf balls on horses to capture all of the mounted animations.
How they went from such brilliant animation to such crap animation in the space of one game is mind boggling.
3) Setting. I just never felt like a modern setting did TSW justice. I would have much preferred to play this game in a Victorian setting. Adam Weishaupt founded the Illuminati in 1776, the Templars go back to the crusades and the Dragon have been around for millenia, so 1885'ish America would have been a much more interesting backdrop for this game.
Not only that, but considering that the game is based loosely around Lovecraft, a Victorian setting would make even more sense.
1 and 2 are mostly up to personal taste (since I don't need an another warning from the mods
)
3 however... there's a good reason why the events are happening in the present. Not to mention the inbalances of a XIX c. setting, Lumies would've been just an up-and-comer shabby gang trying to set foot on the Colonies after the fiasco in Europe. Btw in the game they're not the same fairly lame and pretty amusing bunch you see everywhere in the "real" world
Anyways, the Victorian era was the peaceful prosperity in Britain for a reason, that century was a quiet period in the Secret world, so a game in that era would be pretty boring, I think.
Dragons for millenia? More like Ages - not like the phrase, Ages with a capital "A" (according to Ragnar / to the lore, spoiler: this world is in the Fourth Age, and Dragon is around since the First Age, maybe even older than Gaia. That's why the other two groups are suspicious and puzzled towards them, since they don't know what the Dragon has kept from the previous Ages)
Crafter of love, I'd say very loosely based, the early gameplay perhaps. And Solomon Island is just 1/4 of the game... (but yep, there are a couple of Lovecraft references in the game)
Modern day setting comes with certain expectations. At least for me. No housing, no vehicles, and the crafting is embarrassing.
No housing - there are some rumours lately, but atm it's true, no housing. However, you can get a room in Tabula Rasa if you need some privacy or roleplay
no vehicles - http://l3cdn.funcom.com/tsw/uploads/MC3-612x337.jpg
crafting is embarrassing - there's no crafting, just assembling. Suits better for the Wheel and theory crafting, the flexibility of roles. But I agree, a player with crafting-oriented mindset can find it lacklusting, not having "regular" MMO crafting in TSW.
Not going to spend much time on 1 and 2, as I mostly agree for the same reasons you mention, at least on its effect on retention. Though the last major update helped combat considerably.
3. One of the major appeals of the game, to me, is the modern setting. But I've had to accept that my opinion regarding the setting probably isn't held by alot of the potential market. People didn't just leave the game after it launched; they didn't buy it in the first place. Launch sales were extremely weak. I could blame that on Funcom's reputation for horrible launches, which probably was a factor, but that's not enough IMO to explain the lack of initial interest.
With something like half of all prime time dramas these days having a modern supernatural theme, you'd think there would be a huge market for a game like this. But apparently, there isn't. Sure, a less flawed game might have been more successful, but people would have had to buy it to find that it was a good game. And if TSW's initial sales are any indication, that just wouldn't have happened.
I think there is a large market for modern horror games but the problem becomes clear when you see what prime time dramas that people actually watch. They aren't about organisations fighting supernatural evil, they are about teenage werewolves romantically involed with cheerleaders, about vampires drinking faux blood and about teenage witches and similar.
The heroes of those shows are usually the supernatural being themselves (who for some reasons seems to date human teenage girls). While there are a few about hunters they havn't been very popular since Buffy stopped running.
I think a MMO like that could appeal to a lot more players, but probably not so many on sites like this. On the plus side would it probably be a hit with female players (and that is female players who generally isn't into MMOs, please ignore this female raiders).
And the challenges of a MMO like that would be pretty different from what we see in TSW, they do fight other werewolfs in Teenwolf but a lot of the story is about fitting in the normal world, about romance and other stuff like that. I don't think I would enjoy a game like that myself (but then I might be wrong, it would be different from the other games on the market at least).