The Secret World

[Bubbles]

Can anyone comment on this image? I've seen it floating around, but I never got past Egypt myself.

Very accurate. Issue 8 is the only bad thing they ever did, but boy is it bad.

 

[bozia2012]

Can anyone comment on this image? I've seen it floating around, but I never got past Egypt myself.

I guess a lot of people have this "hurr durr zombies" idea about TSW and burn out in Savage Coast or latest Egypt. All the lighter stuff, fables and cabal warfare are quickly overshadowed by darker shit - Morninglight, Orochi, Red Hand, Gaia Engines.

When it comes to lore, story, art design (anything that's not combat) - this game oozes black, whispering awesome. It's a fucking emmorpuger that is actually scary!

Follow the radio signals - her voice riding the hiss-pop-crackle. She calls out to the stars. She calls out to that which makes them shudder. Find the radio telescope. There is a hole nearby, dug through by a vampiric brute, a diseased and degenerate specimen, His function is twisted and ugly, and he is of no consequence. Make him sleep.
Enter the facility, Halina watches you. She and an AI program have formed a co-dependent relationship. They continue the great experiment.

I could listen to Halina all day (spoilers obviously):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6xNYqLvDoI

 

[bozia2012]

Can anyone comment on this image? I've seen it floating around, but I never got past Egypt myself.

Very accurate. Issue 8 is the only bad thing they ever did, but boy is it bad.

It just adds some farming content for horizontal-ish progression.

 

[bylam]

Can anyone comment on this image? I've seen it floating around, but I never got past Egypt myself.

Very accurate. Issue 8 is the only bad thing they ever did, but boy is it bad.

I feel like if we had released Issue #8 and the Issue #9 a couple of months later, it would have been fine. The problem was that because Issue #9 took so long...Issue #8 was all there was for a long time.

 

[Gord]

I'm fooling around in Kingsmouth now and having fun. Setting is pretty cool. Biggest gripe is the control scheme, which makes combat more tedious than it needs to be, imho:

Pro: mouse button 4 and 5 finally get some use
Con: my thumb fell off.

Really, with controls conforming more to the standard "left button for basic attack", combat would be more comfortable at least.

Man, a single-player game in the setting, with reduced mmo-ishness would be heaven. Even so it's quite cool, though.

 

[Gord]

Is it just me, or are the additional abilities you unlock usually just slight variations of the ones you already have if you have filled up the basic weapon abilities?
There's not much progress most of the time in terms of increased damage - best thing seems to be the possibility to mix in some interesting passives.

 

[bozia2012]

Is it just me, or are the additional abilities you unlock usually just slight variations of the ones you already have if you have filled up the basic weapon abilities?
There's not much progress most of the time in terms of increased damage - best thing seems to be the possibility to mix in some interesting passives.

What do you mean by additional abilities? Actives from the outer rings?

Everything is just a variation of damage, dot, state, proc, CC etc. components - but there is stuff that works together and stuff that works together much better. I actually have no fuckin' idea how to make a good build - I also think that everything is similar and then I make something that is pure manure.

And there are "secrets" like EF + focus or FitH.

 

[Gord]

Yes, the stuff from the outer rings. I was somehow expecting that you would unlock more effective damage dealers, or stuff with larger radius and such, but usually the differences are rather small. E.g. the basic "Blade Torrent" is the second ability to unlock from the Techniques section in the blades area. "Bamboo Cutter" is in one of the outer rings, but deals exactly the same damage, only difference being that Blade Torrent has additional hate generated, while Bamboo Cutter has not, which is symptomatic of how the skill wheel is organized.
I guess doing builds based on finding good combinations of actives+passives can be fun, but I was hoping for more impressive higher-tier abilities (obviously higher damage, range, etc.).

 

[bozia2012]

I was somehow expecting that you would unlock more effective damage dealers, or stuff with larger radius and such, but usually the differences are rather small.

Nope, the only benefit of getting more points is just more skills to mix. You may be weaker in the beginning because you may not have all the cool passives for your actives to work.

Making a build is just picking the right stuff for your current gear and goal. Many skills from the inner ring and used in end-game builds - like Out for a Kill (because it's pure damage).

 

[Zombra]

Yeah, the differences between abilities do tend to be very subtle. If you can find good synergies, starter abilities can be practically as effective as outer ring stuff. You're not going to find double damage attacks etc. This is intentional.

 

[bozia2012]

Don't forget the dps differences on the tooltips can be misleading if you look at base numbers - they scale differently with attack rating and resources.

There's a lot of room to play if you want - there are crazy builds to discover (like uber-hammer-dps where you have to achieve perfect stack rotation or you'll do crap damage etc.). I went mostly with higher grade cookie-cutter stuff, just nomnoming on the atmosphere.

BTW: Golden weekend is coming and triple halloween (2 old and 1 new).

 

[Mangoose]

I do agree the builds are very interesting and fun to design but oh my god the combat and the encounters are shit so I never have fun. (That's not to say that it's worse than typical MMO combat, though.)

 

[Cyberarmy]

Dungeons were fun at start, sad to see that they are nerfed as hell... Some bosses has cool mechanics, like playing hide&seek with Cthulhu and deep ones.

 

[Cromwell]

Any thoughts about people who have played the latest issue in tokyo, is it good? I still have to play transylvania and then look at all the other issue content which was not doable in my gear.

 

[bozia2012]

Any thoughts about people who have played the latest issue in tokyo, is it good? I still have to play transylvania and then look at all the other issue content which was not doable in my gear.

I guess you mean The Black Signal, not the latest sidestories? Yes, it's good - saying this as a storyfag. Combat is tougher, so if you don't like it...

The Black Signal gives you a new playfield with about 20 quests*, centered around the main story mission - you have to finish Transylvania to go there. All new enemies have special shields and are immune to normal attacks, so you need to grab a few green drops (there are new inventory slots) to be able to kill them - feels weird at first, but becomes natural after a few hours in. Another new thing that lore is now dual - you get gold and black lore entries.

For me it's just more of brain-boner material. The writing is brilliant as always, there are new cool characters, the atmosphere is creepy - Tokyo brings some of the most "nope" moments ever. There's almost no fairy stuff (lots of demons though) - most stuff so far is about Orochi, Fear Nothing Foundation (old friends with a new name) and world coming to an end. I love the depressing direction the atmosphere took in Transylvania - Tokyo goes further.

Spoiler

I know a little-little-little something about Fear Nothing. I know the buzzing voice keeps shouting "programming." But is that reality fair? What's more programmed than a hive? Tell me, Chuck, how long have you been listening to a staticky voice playing in your ears and brain, and all of those subliminal images-images-images?
Who's being programmed, Chuck? It's a trick of the ego to assume it's not you.

*Be prepared that from now on, you'll have to pay for every story progress - only systems updates will be free. The game shipped with tons of base content and issues/sidestories were kinda augumenting it. Well... Tokyo is all new, mission packs is all that will ever be.

 

[J_C]

There will be a golden weekend on the weekend, meaning you get double ability points for everything. It will be good time to hop back into the game.

 

[Cromwell]

I have no Problem with paying for The Stories, I always felt the Game worthwhile and booked it under subscription fee, of course I also want to do the Sidestories. Damn I have so many thing I have to play, well I have Vacation in a few days, will miss out on the golden weekend though but thats not really an issue.

 

[Norfleet]

Tell me more about this game. I have heard that these "Signets of Whatzit" are valuable commodities. How does one acquire them?

 

[bozia2012]

Tell me more about this game. I have heard that these "Signets of Whatzit" are valuable commodities. How does one acquire them?

Not sure if trolling

I'm not a signet farmer myself, but I heard the quarry is the way to go - lots of normal ql10 mobs with good respawn rate. There are also issues missions that give signet bags as reward.

I got the most crucial signets (f.e. laceration) while doing missions, so I'll get the rest when I do.

Cromwell: story/lore/writing/artwise - call me unwashed, but the whole package is the best stuff ever. Some of the things this game does are revolutionary, talking mainly about quests here.

Love the fragmented lore, which hides truth in plain sight. This also my big grief - almost no one I talk to, gets what's going on. Battling anthropocentrism on forums of an HPL game is not healthy. And how easily questions about free will fly by, when your character is forcibly recruited as a hive soldier...

 

[chestburster]

I could listen to Halina all day (spoilers obviously):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6xNYqLvDoI

Yeah that dungeon is the best. I also like the Aztec one (or is it Inca? I forgot). The moth monster design is ... disturbing.

 

[bozia2012]

It's Mayan and Wayeb-Xul is definitely cool. Staring into the Dreaming Prison is calming and hypnotizing.

I don't think I would use the word "disturbing" to describe anything in this game, but it gives me a constant feeling of exhilarating terror. No, fuck that - there is disturbing shit. And lots of nope.

 

[Norfleet]

I'm not a signet farmer myself, but I heard the quarry is the way to go - lots of normal ql10 mobs with good respawn rate. There are also issues missions that give signet bags as reward.

I got the most crucial signets (f.e. laceration) while doing missions, so I'll get the rest when I do.

I don't troll. However, my last experience with MMOs has now scarred me in a way that will never be reversed. Tell me more about "Signet Farming". I mean, I haven't even played the game yet, but I know this is what I want to be. I want these signet things. They sound important. I don't even know what they do or what they're used for, but I understand they are the money. My Eggy Friends demand these things. How feasible is it to get these?

 

[Cromwell]

Love the fragmented lore, which hides truth in plain sight. This also my big grief - almost no one I talk to, gets what's going on. Battling anthropocentrism on forums of an HPL game is not healthy. And how easily questions about free will fly by, when your character is forcibly recruited as a hive soldier...

when it comes to writing I usually go with my precious feels, and the game feels right for me (I am always some kind of calm and happy when I play that, maybe fascinated is the right word), this way I don't have to articulate what exactly it is that is gripping or have to have a useless debate on why x is good writing and y is bad which usualy ends in "but I like it so its ot bad!11". Theres not one quest I didnt like, except maybe the fucking animals in Blue Mountains which were annoying as fuck.

 

[Norfleet]

So how many and which Codexians play this? Do I wish to associate with them in some manner of guild where resources (probably the ones I farm) are used for the common good and advancement, or is this more of an asocial experience in which nothing is gained from association, and it's every man for himself? Also, signets. Tell me about signets. These signets intrigue me. I understand they are of critical importance and represent the primary asset and currency of this game, much in the same way dilithium in STO worked. How does this work? You also mentioned purchaseable episodes one had to unlock. Can these be earned from in-game, or accsesed by some social mechanism, or can they ONLY be bought by forking over sensitive financial data to these dodgy and frankly untrustworthy companies?

 

[Zombra]

Enough about the signets. They're optional power-ups you have to farm for. If that doesn't tell you everything you need to know about them, no explanation will.

Mission packs etc. are only purchasable with real money. In general they are cheap as hell for the number of entertainment hours they will provide. Same goes for the main game. If you are a little kid with no money you are out of luck, but if you can afford to go out for a sandwich, you can afford to pay for the mission content in TSW if you end up liking the game.

There isn't a Codex guild. There are guilds in the game, and it would probably be easy to join one. There are also a few raids that require muy multi players. In general you don't see lots of guild teams running around, mostly soloers or groups of 2-3 friends who may or may not be guild related. I'm a solo player so I don't care about any of that, maybe someone else can address it better.