The Secret World

[Jarkko]

http://mmohub.org/news/another-glimpse-into-funcoms-the-secret-world/1291/

Seems weapons will gain "sklls" too. I guess something like the legendary weapons in LOTRO?

[Mangala]

http://mmohub.org/news/another-glimpse-into-funcoms-the-secret-world/1291/

Seems weapons will gain "sklls" too. I guess something like the legendary weapons in LOTRO?

Sounds that way after a fashion.  The sudden influx of info is very nice indeed for this - the world seems like a "fun" one.

[Gunnarr]

I'm getting really psyched about this game 
Too bad it's going to take another 2 years or so until release!

[Dlarah]

Isnt that a good thing? As if there wasnt enough MMO's around/on the way already.

[Jarkko]

Too bad it's going to take another 2 years or so until release!

*Hopefully* that is true. I don't anybody wants to see the similar mess we saw with AoC.

According to FunCom TSW is now in pre-alpha, and I sure hope they use enough time to make things actually work well before publishing a release date.

[Caradir]

i would hope theyd have learned that an awful release like AoC can kill a game.

[Jarkko]

i would hope theyd have learned that an awful release like AoC can kill a game.

One would have thought they had learned something from the release of Anarchy Online, but instead they made with AoC all the same mistakes and then some more...

[Mangala]

Ragnar gave a Twitter (ugh) interview recently:

RT: Okay, so here we go

chriscurrie: Are there forces in play beyond the three factions we've seen? Or do they mostly compete against each other?

RT: There are certainly other - darker, older - forces at play, and they are definitely going to be crucial to the story.

iktose: What are the tokens we got for ? ...what ? this is not a valid question ? but I'm sure many of us want to know this answer

RT: Can't tell you yet, but do hold onto them. Wait...which tokens? I don't know about any tokens.

Agrabush: Can factions group with each other on the surface? Or do all my friends have to join the same faction?

RT: We haven't announced anything yet - but the secret societies do stand united against evil.

henriksultan: Not a question about the game so i wont tag it with tswqa but where is that video they are talking about?? I wanna see it..

RT: It's on my computer.

philcsf: Yo, big fan. What's the predicted release date for The Secret World? Will the release be simultaneous, or delays for region/platform?

RT: No official release date yet, but I'm sure we'll launch simultaneously in Europe and North America.

albedo777: The articles touched on cabal pvp and cells to get anima. What about smaller cabals? Will it be difficult/impossible for us?

RT: Not impossible but probably more difficult. If you're few but strong and well coordinated you can still put up a fight.

Samozwaniec: when we will see gameplay and ingame footages?

RT: I'd love to see it released some time this autumn, but that hasn't been decided yet.

Agrabush: What kind of non-combat content will there be? And we need more info on crafting!

RT: We'll talk about trade skills another time but it's going to be fun. Many missions won't be about killing things.

Mimezu: we know that society HQ will be social places, will there be other social spots in the game (nightclubs, etc ...) ?

RT: Yes.

darkSTandrew: how will the cabal houses work?

RT: As gathering places for your cabal! There's gameplay associated with them, but we're not revealing anything more now.

Templar_unknown: I wonder how entry to Agartha will take place? Wonder if any of the lore based "entry points" are real?

RT: There will be many, many roads into Agartha. Some old, some new, some known, some very, very secret.

Ogibogi: will there be cross faction grouping in PvE? Global or north america & EU servers?

RT: Like I said above (below?) we haven't announced anything yet, but the societies do stand united against evil.

samsbase: These cells that are taken in Agartha are they only takable by NPC factions or cabaals too ?

RT: Cabals.

julienlavoie: There's no levels. Will there be specific targets/goals to always give you something to look forward to?

RT: Absolutely, definitely, yes.

Pyroclasam: what range of weapons can we expect in game and how heavily will magic figure into it?

RT: A wide range, and heavily.

Pyroclasam: is there a particular ESRB eating that you're aiming for?

RT: Right now, the game is pretty mature. Zombie head go boom. And cussing too.

bunchie007: How will the characters in TSW deal with death?

RT: In a really interesting way. We will address it. Death means something in the real world.

M0nnes: Will melee combat be similar to WoW, like right click and wait for emotes, with the occational special move?

RT: Nope.

SA_Avenger: Crucial are there sherpas in game

RT: There can't NOT be sherpas in this game.

Syntheticwhite: All the stuff so far seems very combat focused. Any hints on what the ratio of Combat vs. Socal -play will be like?

RT: That depends on how you choose to play it.

Jest118: Re: Factions and Weapons. Will players be able to wield more than one type. i.e. Pistol for ranged, sword for Melee?

RT: Of course.

agill084: IGN and Massively are reporting contrary things about cross-faction PvE play, can you clarify? Is it still undecided?

RT: Not really undecided - more like unannounced.

iktose: Is there going to be a real gameplay difference between the 3 secret societies, i.e one got some improvements the others don't?

RT: Not in terms of balancing, but there will be content differences.

RT: @psyx0r The Xbox version will be different from the PC version, and the latter will be designed as a PC game first and foremost.

agill084: There's been a loss of consumer confidence in the Funcom brand. Any plans for the TSW launch to address this?

RT: Don't know about that, but we're just going to make the best damn game we know how and hope that people will play it.

astarti_alexia: is Anima crucial for battle and spells?

RT: As announced, anima will be important for - amongst other things - weapon upgrades and trade skills.

Chtuga: I feel the economy is extremely important, will it be player and tradeskill driven?

RT: We also feel the economy is extremely important, and we're doing something about it!

fujikanaeda: Can you release any details on the nature or existence of live events within TSW?

RT: I love events, but we can't say anything about that yet.

wryterra: Are cabal housing areas a part of the Society HQs or are they seperate entities?

RT: Separate.

fujikanaeda: Will we see puzzle elements within the game? If so, how is FC planning on combating the 'alakhazam' lookup effect?

RT: There will be puzzles. And there will always be ways to make the game easier - and less interesting.

ilistyn: For those of us that do not like PvP will there be other ways to get Anima? what about non pvp equipment, etc.

RT: Yes.

Sagebigly: Any chance of seeing the great old one in the game?

RT: There will be things that are both great and old and dark and deep and wet and slimy.

Azeltir: As a non-MMO player, what do you think TSW might do to sway me to it?

RT: The story, the setting, the action gameplay, the missions, the puzzles, the characters, the sights & sounds.

Soulstrider: Will there be any plot related details released soon?

RT: Who says there hasn't been?

mr_whisper: Can you give a general idea of the projected system specs? I'm building a new computer specifically for TSW?

RT: Not quite yet but we're aiming for laptops.

Makaruda: Any info you can give us on infiltrating enemy bases as mentioned in the IGN article?

RT: It's going to be fun and exciting.

greve_tsw: At what stage is the game at right now? Pre-Alpha? Alpha? Pre-Beta?

RT: Pre-Alpha.

AnnLemay: Hi! Looking forward to the game! Q: Will gameplay be predominantly PVE or PVP? Will solo gameplay be possible, or limit the exp.?

RT: Soloing will definitely be possible. The game will have plenty of PvE. This reveal was just mostly about PvP.

brinstar: On TSW forums players are associating Templars with Christianity. Will the devs distance the faction from religion?

RT: Templars aren't about Christianity. They're about Faith. Which is different. And also about kicking demon ass.

smugas: How cabals are important? Can we enjoy most parts of game without need to join to cabal?

RT: You can play without joining a cabal, but PvP will be a lot more fun if you're in one.

Zombacon: Will the secret society you join determine your ethnicity?

RT: No, absolutely not.

Aquilus: Also, will players will be able to wear monocles? That's a dealbreaker for me

RT: Definitely. Monocles are go.

KyleHorner: @brinstar had a good one here: Will the devs distance Templars from any specific religions?

RT: Yup, like I said, no secret society is tied to any religion. Everyone's invited.

squareking: Any chance TSW could be Mac-compatible? Also, I'm a big fan of what I've seen so far -- keep it up!

RT: No Mac version planned, but there's always Boot Camp and Windows 7. Works for me!

philcsf: Another quick Q - Will the PC and 360 versions be using the same server (cross-platform gameplay)? If it's still coming to 360.

RT: Nope, no cross-platform gameplay.

Fald0n: Will combat rather be 1st person or 3rd person? Or doesn't the "character view" matter at all?

RT: 3rd person.

eXes: How far will the hate between Illuminati and Templar go? Will they actually have conflicts in the story line or only in agartha?

RT: There will be conflicts in the story, too.

eXes: Several interviews are talking about expansion (addons) any details about that?

RT: There will be extensions and add-ons and expansions, but it's a bit too early to talk about that.


derFeef: Is the look of the character somehow defined by the faction or can I have an asian templar as well?

RT: You can be anything and anyone you want.

Soulstrider: Will characters like "A friend" or Aveline Belmont have a significant presence in the game?

RT: You mean, will real crazy people who pretend to be involved in real conspiracies be in this fictional game?

GlennJPWilson: We begin in one of three citys,are we able to travel and visit the other two as we please? can we have our faction cabals in any city?

RT: Yes to the first one. Just don't go messing with anyone wearing a uniform.

RT: That's it for tonight. Thanks for participating, I hope that cleared up some confusion! Additional questions may be answered later.

[Jarkko]

Have to say I am just as interested of this game now as I was of Warhammer. And I am (or rather, used to be) pretty close to a warhammer fanatic...

[Gunnarr]

Some kind of encoded timer appeared on darkdaysarecoming.com (or I just missed it the first time)
Assuming it's d:h:m:s:chronograph, and assuming I deciphered it right, it's now standing at 1189 days and a bit. That's a bit more than 3.25 years
Looks like they're starting to create buzz early with this one....

[Jarkko]

Some kind of encoded timer appeared on darkdaysarecoming.com (or I just missed it the first time)
Assuming it's d:h:m:s:chronograph, and assuming I deciphered it right, it's now standing at 1189 days and a bit. That's a bit more than 3.25 years
Looks like they're starting to create buzz early with this one....

It's been there ages, before anything else was available of Secret World/Cry Gaia.

It is counting down to the end of the world prophetised in the Mayan calendar. The end of the world will be on 21st of December in 2012.
http://www.adishakti.org/mayan_end_times_prophecy_12-21-2012.htm


EDT: As for *why* it is there, none outside FunCom knows. It is assumed the world in the game has changed a lot in 2012 (pictures of New York, London and Shangai destroyed,  monsters emerging from the hollow earth etc), and is the reason why the Earth in Secret World is quite different from the Earth we know. The second explanation is that the countdown has nothing to do with the game, but is there just to confuse people.

[Gunnarr]

Ah right. I knew about the 2012 thing - Mayan calendar and Nostradamus prophecy...I just didn't connect it to the timer.
Thanks for clearing that up.

[Dlarah]

It looks like funcom is planning to get rid of about 20% of their staff and are looking at moving some of the ones they keep to canada if possible to reduce costs. This also means a launch of The Secret World will be delayed by months(not that i have seen a launch date yet).

[Jarkko]

As far as I could read that Norwegian article, it said FunCom is reducing 20% of their staff in Norway, but is at the same time recruiting more people in Canada during the next 6-12 months. No doubt it will slow down the developing though.

Funcom made a big loss last year, this year they've made a ~1 million lossso far. In Canada software companies recruiting more people get tax reductions (IIRC up to 35% reduced tax) as well as other benefits.


EDIT: It's the governement of Quebec and they are not reducing taxes but re-imbursing 37.5% of the salaries (which makes it a huge deal).

There is an article available in English too now:
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/funcom-to-cut-20-percent-of-workforce

[Keggi]

anybody else get the email from funcom inviting you to apply for beta?.

i liked the whole sign up process something different i was given the alignment of a dragon but chose templar.