The Secret World?

[Sajiri]

While Im (im)patiently waiting for Blade and Soul to release in a language I can finally understand, I've been on the hunt for a different mmo to kill some time with after I had to cancel my subs to all but one P2P game. Most free ones are either too pay to win, or essentially just stripped down versions of WoW, or have closed entirely since I last played them, its been somewhat hard to find something new and interesting.

I've been reading up on TSW a bit, I looked into it when it was first being released but wasnt interested in paying a sub to a new mmo at the time, but its been a few years now. Im getting somewhat mixed reviews, stuff I find online on websites/steam all say its great, but then the few people I know who have tried it out tell me little more then 'it was good at first but then got boring' (although they admit they havent played it in a long time)

Is there anyone who's playing this game? Anyone can tell me the state of it, how solo friendly it can be (timezones, ugh), in general if its good or is just the way others have put it to me that it loses interest soon enough? I'd like to play it and was considering buying the ultimate edition off steam, but dont want to spend $60 and then be disappointed

[Dhavaer]

Short version - it should never have been an MMO.

It has fantastic writing and worldbuilding (read this (http://wiki.crygaia.com/view/Lore:The_Buzzing), but the combat is extremely dull. The non-combat sections are excellent, if sometimes difficult, and the combat in the early stages was improved significantly a few months ago, but it nonetheless becomes an interminable grind. If it had been a single player game with a more complex combat system it would have been vastly better.

Still, it's worth a playthrough, particularly with the early game improvements.

[Eldan]

I've played it a bit. Generally, the setting works well, the atmosphere is sometimes excellent, as are the voice actors and the script. THere are some really good quests and puzzles. Sadly, well... the combat.
It's the classic MMO "click special ability to fight" combat and often quite terrible. There's monsters everywhere, when the story suggests more of a mystery tone. In some areas, one can't walk three steps without stumbling over half a dozen demons, starspawn, sea monsters or zombies. And I'm no exaggerating with those numbers. I got thoroughly sick of the combat.

It's quite solo-friendly, though.

[Pronounceable]

It's the best actionish single player adventure game evar. Sadly it's owned by idiots and scumbags who're about to sink into a well deserved watery grave. It's not an mmo no matter what anyone says. You play alone until story ends and then you stop.

Buy it while you still can. It's great and awesome and you'd have regretted having missed it after it's gone if you knew it. Just don't spend any more money than you'd have to complete main story.

[Avian Overlord]

It's great. Even the MMO bits.

[Sajiri]

Well, despite I say Im looking for an mmo, I do like to play them as single player games, just with other players around (short version of why- I really like the character customisation with skills and classes and factions and such common in mmos, that sadly dont seem as indepth in many single player games) so I dont mind that part, it is mainly story im looking for and hopefully something more in depth than 'kill these 10 wolves then come back' 'ok now go kill another 10 wolves...and bears'

Is the combat really so bad? I am getting tired of the usual WoW style of combat (which is why Im waiting for blade and soul) but if the story and quests and other stuff makes up for it then I wont mind. Is there much content not focused around combat? Im having a hard time trying to find that out.

Although I will likely give it a try now. I am a little worried by the sounds of the company's troubles, but I probably would regret it if it closes and I dont touch it. Just hope this isn't a repeat of phantasy star universe where 2 days after I bought it the game was announced to be closing down.

[Inarius]

I'd give the game a try. The main questlines story of it is pretty good, particularly the first areas story. On top of that the investigation quests are pretty fun the first time you do them and are non combat. They also give a rather large chunk of xp for your first time doing them. (most quests are repeatable, though they give more xp for your first try) The other primarily non combat mission type are sabotage missions, they're designed with you avoiding fighting if you're at the right gear level for them. That being said fetch and kill quests tend to make up the majority of quests in the game.

Combat when I was playing was a slog. Everything had a little too much hp and fights just tended to drag on a little too long. It was a little better when I was playing with friends, but other players aren't necessary they just sped things up. Overall its a pretty good game with some really memorable quests.

[Pronounceable]

Combat is actually pretty good. The animations, however, are LAAAAMEEE!!! and 5 out of 4 people can't differentiate between the two. Sure it's no DCUO or Vindictus, but far as mmo combat goes, it's good enough and miles above wow et al. All those people who had trouble were doing it wrong (because tutorials ****ing suck and taught them squat and gameplay bits are very complicated), combat is quite good after you get it if you can glaze over the terribad floaty animations.

There is too much of it though, that's also true. Stealth and investigation missions exist, yes, and they're awesome (except Hell and Bach, **** H&B, protip: do not do H&B without a walkthrough), but there's so many more combat missions and it does get old, especially if you don't know how to spec and dress for it.

[lesser_minion]

I've dabbled a little in the early parts of the game. There's not very much hand-holding in general -- even in the main plotline, you'll sometimes just be handed a clue and told to figure out what it means, with the quest only updating once you've figured out what you're looking at and acted upon it.

The game is set in a version of the modern world, and even has very light ARG elements. You're expected to frequently hit Google and Wikipedia for essential information -- one mission requires you to play a few bars from a specific place in a specific song, one has the code for a vault hidden in a certain easily-referenced place in a certain work of literature, another mission uses Morse Code, and several missions expect you to visit websites belonging to in-game organisations like the Orochii Group to look up specifications for their products and other relevant information.

Your weapon is your class, and you can use two weapons at the same time while also using passives from any ability line. When you gain experience, it gets directly converted to ability and skill points which you use to unlock new abilities and upgrade your skills (which gate the weapons and talismans you can equip). After learning an ability, it has to be equipped before you can use it -- you can only equip seven active abilities and seven passive abilities. Each weapon has its own pool of up to five resources, which you build using weaker skills so that you can then consume the same resources using stronger skills.

The game uses a fairly conventional tank/healer/DPS model in group content such as dungeons. Every weapon offers a mix of damage and support skills: swords provide aggro generation and tankiness; chaos foci provide aggro generation and evasion; assault rifles provide healing and lifesteal; fist weapons provide healing and regeneration; and blood foci provide healing and shields. Hammers, elemental foci, shotguns, and pistols all provide more general support.

All PvE gear except for weapons is either invisible or statless, which means that you generally won't be forced into a clownsuit by the game, although you can wear one anyway if you want. I'm fairly sure that the in-game hair stylists and plastic surgeons can be used free-of-charge, at least in terms of real money -- there's probably a fee in pax (in-game currency), however.

[NeoVid]

I've played it since 2012. The main draw is the writing, so I tend to take long breaks when I've finished whatever the newest batch of missions happens to be (though it does a better job of holding my interest than, say, GW2). It's one of the best-written games I've ever played and beats any other MMO by a mile in that department. The community is also the best one I've seen in any MMO other than City of Heroes, which is another thing that puts it miles above the average MMO.

It was also the first MMO I've played mostly solo, as the majority of missions are just easier that way, and there's no reason to group for things like its brilliant Investigation missions... In fact, that might be counterproductive, because I can just imagine what it would be like running an Investigation I already know with someone who's figuring it out for the first time. And in a huge surprise for a game that does its story and solo play so well, the group content in TSW is some of the absolute best I've ever played in my decade of MMOing. It's also got much less boring gameplay than oldschool MMOs... kind of a bridge between those days and the modern Guild Wars 2/WildStar mobility-based combat.

Sadly, the game's weakest part is right at the beginning: As TSW makes it possible for any character to eventually unlock any skill in the game, so you'll do worst at the start, when you have a brand-new character and almost no options for how to build them... as well as trying to figure out the game's complicated mechanics at the same time. I'd highly recommend joining the #sanctuary chat channel and getting beginner advice. You have to unlearn a huge amount from other MMOs to do well in TSW. For instance:

The game expects you to change builds constantly depending on the situation, so trying to focus on getting high skills with one weapon is a huge mistake.

When doing ordinary missions, you should avoid combat as much as possible, as enemies tend to just be obstacles to keep you from solving the missions too quickly.

You should read everything and watch every cutscene, as they'll often have vital information (besides, TSW is for the kind of player who enjoys reading everything and watching every cutscene).

I'll give my usual recommendation to people who are considering the game: Get it for cheap during a Steam sale. If you decide like it enough that you want to see the entire story, get the Issues. The Issue storylines were all meant for characters who have beaten the main story up through Transylvania, and if you don't get that far, there's no reason to get them. If you do get that far, grab them all. The final mission of Issue 5 was one of the most unforgettable things I've ever played, and they came close with a couple of the others...

I'm on TSW at least a couple of times a week, so if you pick up the game, say so and I'll help you out. That's a standing offer to anyone who plays TSW, as it's one of the few games I know in and out.

[Ronnoc]

I would say that it's definetly worth playing for the story. I've always essentially treated it as a single player game, lapsing between content patches and then returning for new lore.

[huttj509]

I've been out of the game for a while (I think issue 5 was around when I played). Considering jumping back in, and trying to decide if I want to make a new character or something, or try to pick up where I left off (was in the middle of the 2nd zone). Especially after the earlygame revamp.

Thoughts?

[NeoVid]

You'll have a much, much better time if you dust off your old character than if you make a new one. The less you have unlocked, the less fun a character is to play. Nearly every mission is repeatable, so you can just go back and redo stuff if you want to see it again.

The only reason to make an alt in TSW is to see how the other factions go through the main storyline.

[huttj509]

Finished Solomon Island story. Need to decide if I wanna continue to Egypt, or continue doing all the main solomon island quests.

Currently using blade mainhand, with one fist ability. Wondering if it'd be better to switch up my skills. The fist isn't getting much use. Got almost all the first tier skills available for all weapons.

Any thoughts for solobuild?

[NeoVid]

For soloing, it's generally one tank weapon+one healing weapon, for AoE killing combined with survivability. Blade/Fist can be amazingly good, it's what I use when I'm soloing in the hardest zones.

The sorts of things you'll generally want in a solo build for TSW is AoE damage with some survivability. Passives that automatically heal you, like Immortal Spirit and Circulation, will do you a lot of good so long as you use a bit of Heal Rating. I generally wear one tank talisman and one healing talisman when soloing. It's good to have some active defenses in a solo build for when things get ugly. Stuns and self-buffs can save your life, and Blade has good options for both. All the tank weapons do, really. Since you have Fist as your secondary, you can pack an active heal for when things really get bad, though how useful that is when solo varies a lot.

[Pronounceable]

You should finish all main missions (and preferably most of side missions) before leaving a zone. Beelining the main story will lead you to misery.


Wondering if it'd be better to switch up my skills. The fist isn't getting much use.
http://www.tswdb.com/builds has more thoughts than you can shake a draugr arm at.

[Ogremindes]

I've logged in for the first time since the New Player Experience, and rolled a new char. TSW has been the game I wanted to love but never could, maybe I'll have a better time this time.

[huttj509]

So, I think I just had a not great group "leader," but in case I'm missing something, wanted to check.

Sitting in queue for The Darkness War (I had other stuff to run, and I have issues taking the lead forming groups). Get an invite. Join, leader says nothing.

2 more people join. Someone even asks in /group what's up, leader says nothing.

Leader whispers me to join #group. We wind up 4-manning the instance with no tank.

Questions: So, I'm used to, when manually forming groups, either whispering people beforehand, or when each new person gets invited giving a "hey, welcome, this is what the group's for" schpiel. This also helps confirm to people who's healing, etc. I mean, we had someone in the group who was surprised it was the Darkness War normal (as opposed to elite or nightmare, I assume). Am I missing something in assumed interaction culture?

Also...the #group channel seemed completely unnecessary. Is there some reason to use that rather than just /group I'm unaware of? As the new guy I didn't want to ask mid dungeon.


Bah, in general, while going through the story, I just find the dungeons and general mmo dungeon mentality (cmon cmon hurry up sort of stuff) to be really jarring to what feels like The Secret World experience, which is much slower atmospherically paced. Was a spiffy dungeon though. I liked the idea of Mayans and vikings converging on the island to fight over this power source that had gotten mined up. It fills in some stuff nicely.

[NeoVid]

Not a very good group leader, no. If I've got first-timers in a group, I explain all the fights and point out all the dungeon Lore entries as we go. Hope you didn't get such a bad group that they expected you to skip the cutscenes on your first time through the dungeon...

And yes, Darkness War is one of the best of the bunch out of an array of really excellent dungeons. You learn major things about the backstory of Solomon Island, the fights have memorable mechanics (and a callback/forward to Polaris)... and to top it off, it's one of the dungeons with minibosses that give extra drops, so it's also really good for gearing.

[huttj509]

Got to the second area of Egypt, and wow the SP comes rolling in.

Up to SL 10 on my blade/fist and all talismans, trying to decide what to use SP for.

a) Build up to SL 10 on blade/fist in damage (went support/healing for both of them)

b) diversify into other weapon types. Not sure which I want, but leaning towards Elemental as that's at SL 5 already and I saw someone mentioning I'll want some eventually for purges (after all the Elite dungeons...so it'll be quite a while, but some direction better than none). Hmmm, Elemental damage, or support? That support looks tasty, though it does lock me into a manifestation for one of my skills to use it.

c) save up 35 points or so to get my rocket launcher accessable

d) a- can't remember the name...those 4 color skill booster things that looked rather meh to me at first glance.

[NeoVid]

I'd recommend diversity. TSW expects you to change builds whenever your current loadout isn't doing the job, and the more options you have, the better. Aux weapons can be good, but all the skills from them cost 50 AP, so it takes a while before you can get much use out of them. As for the augments, they're only for players who have hundreds of AP and millions of pax they've got no other way to spend.

[Pronounceable]

That guy was a moron and you should be in #sanctuary.

[huttj509]

That guy was a moron and you should be in #sanctuary.

I am in #sanctuary (well, often). #group was for the group chat. Didn't know if there was some common mod that used the channel or something I should know about, is why I asked.

Edit: Sheesh, when daily/weekly quests line up it gets awesome. I just got 99 black buillion in 1 Stonehenge win. 44 after battle, 15 for "participate in stonehenge", and 40 for "win stonehenge or el dorado." Time to get me a purple claw to go with my purple sword.

[Janwin]

Hrm, maybe I'll need to reinstall.

Had a love/hate relationship with the game. Loved the story, hated the combat/boringness.

[NeoVid]

Had a love/hate relationship with the game. Loved the story, hated the combat/boringness.

That's completely normal. The combat stops being boring once you have a good array of skills for some weapons you enjoy, but that doesn't happen right away. The dungeons always have fun combat, but putting together dungeon groups for the starting zones takes some effort.

[huttj509]

That's completely normal. The combat stops being boring once you have a good array of skills for some weapons you enjoy, but that doesn't happen right away.

For that reason I can second the suggestion I got of "don't try starting over, you'll hit the same wall, just pick up where you left off skill wise, and if you want go back and repeat quests to refresh on story etc."