The Secret World

[bozia2012]

Thanks. No need for a buddy key, but that is greatly appreciated. I have a friend who has been trying to get me interested in the game, so I'll give it a shot. It will take some time to download though with the horrible download speeds I'm working with. One of my concerns was if I could solo things since I tend to be a bit of a hermit.

Everything story related can be soloed and it's the best way to do it to fully enjoy the setting and quest structure. Many quests require slow exploration, reading stuff, solving puzzles and getting through "nopenopenope" moments.

 

[Bigg Boss]

Thanks. No need for a buddy key, but that is greatly appreciated. I have a friend who has been trying to get me interested in the game, so I'll give it a shot. It will take some time to download though with the horrible download speeds I'm working with. One of my concerns was if I could solo things since I tend to be a bit of a hermit.

Everything story related can be soloed and it's the best way to do it to fully enjoy the setting and quest structure. Many quests require slow exploration, reading stuff, solving puzzles and getting through "nopenopenope" moments.

Sounds good. I like how it isn't focused just on combat or mindless crafting. All of the puzzles and dialog/text are what really attracts me to it aside from the theme. I was a fan of Age of Conan when it first launched so I think Funcom somewhat knows what they are doing. A shame the way that game turned out though.

 

[Humppaleka]

Anyone wanna do Polaris? I have no idea about the dungeons in this game, I'm quality level 4-5 atm so apparently not soloable. Would like to try some of them but too lazy to try and find a newbie group to do them.

 

[bozia2012]

All of the puzzles and dialog/text are what really attracts me to it aside from the theme. I was a fan of Age of Conan when it first launched so I think Funcom somewhat knows what they are doing. A shame the way that game turned out though.

How AoC turned out? It was a glorious game between 2009-2013, when they were pushing content. Rise of the Godslayer added a very atmospheric playfield with tons of dungeons which all had unique flavour and varied mechanics - nothing I've seen compares to this. House of Crom was a massive dungeon with a secret raid boss - it took months to figure out how to summon him and then some time how to defeat him. Of course both updates were super heavy on Lovecraft (starring Yog-Sothoth and Nyarlathotep).

AoC got me hyped so much for Funcom's stuff, that I only needed to see this in closed beta:



to go from "meh gay conspiracy shit" to "completely sold" status.

TSW is really heavy on detail and atmosphere - really feels like an adventure game (going through evidence and flavor bits, manipulating items etc.) and the horror parts can be really creepy. Then you have happy themes like societal collapse, free will, suicide - all mixed with fictional and historic stuff and neatly tied to lovecraftian stuff.

Anyone wanna do Polaris? I have no idea about the dungeons in this game, I'm quality level 4-5 atm so apparently not soloable. Would like to try some of them but too lazy to try and find a newbie group to do them.

If we're talking elites, then I can solo Polaris and Hell Raised (first 2 dungeons) - we could hook up if you don't like big crowds.

 

[His Majesty]

Solo Polaris elite? Whoah. Or do you mean the normal dungeons?

If you're looking for a noobie team, join the sanctuary chat. Plenty of people willing to help out.

Type ./chat join sanctuary in your chat window

 

[Rahdulan]

How AoC turned out? It was a glorious game between 2009-2013, when they were pushing content. Rise of the Godslayer added a very atmospheric playfield with tons of dungeons which all had unique flavour and varied mechanics - nothing I've seen compares to this. House of Crom was a massive dungeon with a secret raid boss - it took months to figure out how to summon him and then some time how to defeat him. Of course both updates were super heavy on Lovecraft (starring Yog-Sothoth and Nyarlathotep).

I still think Age of Conan was a victim of its time and ended up on life support way too soon. Now most people have a PC to handle it, F2P is actually handled decently these days compared to what they initially rolled out, plenty of content was added since launch, etc but no one really cares because it's kinda old news at this point. And I think Rise of the Godslayer is still only accessible by active subscribers for some reason, even if you bought the damn thing. Crafting update before the turn of the decade, maybe? Hell, Anarchy Online finally got the famed engine update so they might as well toss a bone to AoC after achievements system nobody really asked for.

Funcom always had the mojo, but I'd agree that The Secret World was when they finally channeled and realized it properly for the first time.

 

[Hobo Elf]

AoC suffered because it was a piece of shit unfinished game that ran out of content after the tutorial island. Up until that point it was a very cool game.

 

[bozia2012]

Yeah, they fucked up the launch - people left, the stink didn't. Years later, when there were shittons of new content, AoC still had the same opinion.

Still, especially now when it's free to play, if you have some Hyborian munchies - grab the game and just play solo for a while. The world they created, with all the distinct cultures, is astonishing.

 

[bylam]

AoC suffered because it was a piece of shit unfinished game that ran out of content after the tutorial island. Up until that point it was a very cool game.

Nah, it was after level 40 that the content ran out. There were 3 areas to go to right out of Tortage (Khopshef, Conalls and Wild Lands) plus the three hubs which all had quests (khemi, Tarantia, Conarch) and more than enough XP there to get to 40.
Apparently lack of voiceover = lack of content in the minds of many people...

 

[Hobo Elf]

AoC suffered because it was a piece of shit unfinished game that ran out of content after the tutorial island. Up until that point it was a very cool game.

Nah, it was after level 40 that the content ran out. There were 3 areas to go to right out of Tortage (Khopshef, Conalls and Wild Lands) plus the three hubs which all had quests (khemi, Tarantia, Conarch) and more than enough XP there to get to 40.
Apparently lack of voiceover = lack of content in the minds of many people...

You're bullshitting something fierce if you are trying to imply that there were enough quests to take you to 40.

 

[Stokowski]

I remember Funcom's bad reputation from the launch of (the ironically titled, as it turned out) Anarchy Online. Clearly they've improved since then but I wonder if for "gaming journalists" asked to pick between promoting Guild Wars 2 and The Secret World it was a case of once bitten, twice shy. This, of course, assumes "gaming journalists" have any sort of long-term memory, and so is probably wrong.

 

[bozia2012]

I joined AoC when they've already added Atzel's Approach, Thunder River and Kheshatta - enough content to level to 80 - and rolled out the 7-day trial campaign. Dunno how it was at launch, but heard dreadful stories about levelling to 80 in villas (repeatable solo dungeons for levels 50+).

From what I saw during my time, most players were thrown away because of:

- over 20GB download

- ...which didn't install the whole game and kept updating conent while you played, causing massive lags (you could choose to download that in launcher menu, but people were just rage quitting because of a laggy game)

- very high and very specific system requirements (3GHz single-core CPU, while many people had fresh 2GHz duals etc.)

- uninformed people choosing PvP servers, where you could be ganked anywhere (many people stayed as long as possible in Tortage Underhalls and White Sands to get as much pvp xp on noobs)

Years later, the game still had bad rep and people repeated stuff from launch. I remember maybe 2 sites that updated their reviews, there were still a ton with outdated info out there.

Don't get me started on retards who think Arnie was a great Conan or idiots that can't into realistic art style.


Compare to that, TSW had a really smooth launch. Whole base game was available right away (except lairs and raids) and I had like total 2 quest bugs (which got fixed still during EA week and GMs helped with fucked up steps).

 

[Hobo Elf]

AoC was a disaster on launch. Tortage was a well made, well thought out area with plenty of quests and stuff to do. Then after that it was basically empty zones with mobs to grind ad nauseam with a few awful fetch quests here and there. After lvl 40 or so the quests just ended completely. It is a big mystery how Funcom managed to release such an unfinished game despite years of development time.

 

[Kem0sabe]

AoC was a disaster on launch. Tortage was a well made, well thought out area with plenty of quests and stuff to do. Then after that it was basically empty zones with mobs to grind ad nauseam with a few awful fetch quests here and there. After lvl 40 or so the quests just ended completely. It is a big mystery how Funcom managed to release such an unfinished game despite years of development time.

It's a wonder how funcom managed to release TSW with this fucking horrible engine, flash Ui and one of the worse combat systems to ever grace an mmorpg.

 

[bozia2012]

Yeah, the launch was crap etc.

Still it was one hell of a ride for me and all the other people that stayed. First steps in lush Connall's Valley, climbing Eiglophian Mountains, freeing the giant in Amphitheathre of Karutonia... then discovering Kyllikki's Crypt and Yakhmar's cave, forming a guild and working hard to beat every raid tier possible.

RIP Casilda

one of the worse combat systems to ever grace an mmorpg

You may not like it, but it did stuff which wasn't popular back then - like directional hits and shielding or real collisions for melee (i.e. swings didn't have to be targeted and damaged anyone in their reach). The animations felt natural, the characters felt like they had weight (compared to floaty bullshit in most games, including TSW). Lots of people stayed in the game just because of the combat system. And fatalities - nothing more satisfying than ripping other player's head in an arena.

 

[Kem0sabe]

Yeah, the launch was crap etc.

Still it was one hell of a ride for me and all the other people that stayed. First steps in lush Connall's Valley, climbing Eiglophian Mountains, freeing the giant in Amphitheathre of Karutonia... then discovering Kyllikki's Crypt and Yakhmar's cave, forming a guild and working hard to beat every raid tier possible.

RIP Casilda

You may not like it, but it did stuff which wasn't popular back then - like directional hits and shielding or real collisions for melee (i.e. swings didn't have to be targeted and damaged anyone in their reach). The animations felt natural, the characters felt like they had weight (compared to floaty bullshit in most games, including TSW). Lots of people stayed in the game just because of the combat system. And fatalities - nothing more satisfying than ripping other player's head in an arena.

I was talking about TSW not about AoC, which actually has a combat system that is world's better than the shit they put out with TSW.

 

[bozia2012]

I was talking about TSW not about AoC, which actually has a combat system that is world's better than the shit they put out with TSW.

I can't fucking read. I absolve you of your sins.

 

[Bigg Boss]

AoC combat was pretty damn good for a MMO.

 

[Hobo Elf]

AoC combat was funny because you could totally rip out the hearts of high level players with a low level character because of how utterly hopeless some people are at PvP without auto attack.

 

[Mangoose]

I <3 my Bear Shaman.

 

[bozia2012]

you could totally rip out the hearts of high level players

Literally.



Mangoose BS and PoM best classes evar.

 

[Norfleet]

If my lag wasn't way too bad for anything of this nature, I would be tempted to play it.

 

[bozia2012]

AoC had creally brutal combat before they did the "rpg system revamp" which bloated hp and armor points. Duels ended after a few hits, now 2 good (or equally inept) players can fight for very long (arena duels often end in timeout).

 

[Explorerbc]

Last time I played a few months back, I was doing that Venetian Missile Crisis Illuminati quest which turned out to be a bit more than I could chew.

I spend like an hour luring enemies away one by one because I couldn't survive two or more hitting me at the same time. Then after I left the map to get consumables all the enemies respawned as I feared. So I quit and didn't touch it again.

I thought I'd start playing again, and booted up the game today, but I just can't drop that quest at 4/6. Any bros wanna help ?

 

[bozia2012]

Last time I played a few months back, I was doing that Venetian Missile Crisis Illuminati quest which turned out to be a bit more than I could chew.

I spend like an hour luring enemies away one by one because I couldn't survive two or more hitting me at the same time. Then after I left the map to get consumables all the enemies respawned as I feared. So I quit and didn't touch it again.

I thought I'd start playing again, and booted up the game today, but I just can't drop that quest at 4/6. Any bros wanna help ?

Why not just ping me on steam?