The Secret World

[Stokowski]

Management this bad is almost tragic, really.

Yeah hilarious. Funcom actually making money for the first time since we were doing work-for-hire for Disney in the 90's. The Park and Conan Exiles are actual concrete successes for Funcom. With profit and everything.
Such terrible management.

Even EA can make money.

The hard part is making a product that isn't fundamentally flawed or outright completely amateurish shit, and Funcom haven't achieved that in ... um ... yeah, I'll have to get back to you.

If you are actually proud of the current state of Funcom's catalogue, then you are a prime exemplar of what's wrong with gaming companies. You should be ashamed.

 

[bylam]

Can you tell us about the combat and progression a bit?

I'm not sure how much I am allowed to say at the moment.

Mind sharing a few thoughts on amazing management, such as:

Any explanation why Funcom failed to mention they were relaunching the game as F2P , selling the original (now never to be supported with updates) up to the day of the announcement?

Publicly listed company, this is a government regulation problem, not a Funcom problem AFAIK. Stopping sales is a stock impacting thing, which necessitates informing the market at the same time. That was all done on the announcement date.
Getting a refund if you have purchased the game recently is not a problem and the best that can be done, legally.

Relaunching the game with no new content while removing all the post release updated content?

I could swear I played new content last night in the beta... Are you just speculating? What constitutes content to you exactly? If you just mean more storyline, sure. AFAIK the removal of the post release stuff is so that they can upgrade it in line with the new systems. If they are removing/changing AEGIS, for example, it requires a lot more work than pushing a button to remove it.

I mean, players of the original were already content starved, now you are "forcing" them to replay the original launch content, with the updates being only repackaged old content... how long have they been waiting for an expansion to the story content?

Sure, I don't at all disagree with or want to defend this. I wrote a story outline for the game that sees it through multiple years of content updates. But if the cash-flow of the game was unable to sustain those updates, then management have to make tough decisions.

I would argue, though it won't be a popular argument, that a relaunch is not aimed at players who were already happily enjoying the game. By definition it is an attempt to attract more players.

This all sounds extremely anti-consumer, outright immoral in my opinion.

I guess closing TSW due to dwindling profits and ongoing costs would be less anti-consumer? I dunno, hard for me to judge from this side of the fence but I like to keep both the people I work with employed and the games I work on open.

 

[bylam]

If you are actually proud of the current state of Funcom's catalogue, then you are a prime exemplar of what's wrong with gaming companies. You should be ashamed.

Proud with the context of understanding constraints during development is very different to being proud and saying "this is the best game ever". I can't help you if you don't understand the difference.

If you accuse the management of a company whose sole job is to keep the company solvent of doing a bad job when they are creating games that keep the company solvent (for the first time in a long time), I also can't help you.

 

[Lhynn]

Thats fair. Still, giving old players a hat or another unique cosmetic to thank players for "their commitment to the game" would have shut up a lot of people, maybe have them starting with an extra level (which anyone can get in like 5 minutes), or more points to unlock weapons if that system is still being used. Its a nice gesture and all that, goes a long way.

That said im hyped for this.

 

[bylam]

Thats fair. Still, giving old players a hat or another unique cosmetic to thank players for "their commitment to the game" would have shut up a lot of people, maybe have them starting with an extra level (which anyone can get in like 5 minutes), or more points to unlock weapons if that system is still being used. Its a nice gesture and all that, goes a long way.

That said im hyped for this.

Hmmm, I think they are planning a few things for old players. I'm not in the loop, but AFAIK they are def giving them something. I'll let you know if I find out what it is.

 

[vampiregrave]

Hmmm, I think they are planning a few things for old players. I'm not in the loop, but AFAIK they are def giving them something. I'll let you know if I find out what it is.

Regarding this topic:

We're going to offer some bonuses for SWL to those who have purchased TSW Retail and/or package deals like the Massive/Ultimate/Complete Edition. We'll have more details on what these bonuses are as we get closer to launch, but we do plan to give you something.

Source: Official Forums

 

[Zombra]

Speaking as a noob with only 400 hours in TSW ...

I don't really see the problem with "forcing" the old players to replay old content. Anyone who has stuck around this long has already played through it all a dozen times anyway, it's not like they're making a new zone every month. What's one more time through?

Really, with the new combat system, all the content will be new in a way. The first time you fight your first zombie, that will be a brand new experience. Then when you fight a fire axe zombie, that will be new, and so on. Multiply that by every enemy type in the game and you have a substantially new experience. Relearning the game should be viewed as a pleasure, not a burden. It wouldn't make sense to have a level 500 character at the end game who has no idea how to fight a fucking zombie.

I get it, you love your character you've nurtured like a flower petal by petal over the years and you don't want to "lose" them. But come on, if you want to play for another 1000 hours rebuilding them will be fun too. This is what happens in a "reboot".

 

[Siveon]

I just hope it runs better. No matter what I did I always got a laggy game in the outdoor areas and the instanced stuff was fine.

Thankfully since I haven't played much I'll get those bonuses from buying the game and still experience stuff relatively fresh. I still hope this game will increase interest in a single player The Secret World RPG. We need one, like, yesterday.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

and in fact reboots suck by definition.

 

[bozia2012]

I have a weird boner for this.

I've clocked almost 2000h and all that was left for me was completionist grinding (moving from 10.9 to 11, getting best augs, unlocking museum shit, getting some ultra hard achis etc.).

Replaying the main quest again was something I thought about several times, so relaunch should make it sweeter.

 

[Stokowski]

If you are actually proud of the current state of Funcom's catalogue, then you are a prime exemplar of what's wrong with gaming companies. You should be ashamed.

If you accuse the management of a company whose sole job is to keep the company solvent of doing a bad job when they are creating games that keep the company solvent (for the first time in a long time), I also can't help you.

Ah, so you are really OK with bottom of the barrel scraping to get by. That explains it. In which case, I'm not the one in need of help, because frankly, your creatives - always Funcom's greatest asset - deserve better.

By the way, just what are your non-Steam sales like? Are they five to eight or more times the Steam figures? Otherwise your wonderfully managed company - with all the great publicity its half-baked releases get because, y'know, it's a Funcom game!, from that great company that used to make great games - is getting its arse kicked:

Conan Exiles vs ARK: Survival Evolved

The Park vs Layers of Fear

I look forward to when you keep succeeding your way all the way into the mobile market.

 

[DeepOcean]

Really like they aren't saying this is an MMO anymore but some online action game. Mean WoW style combat is gone and it is more actiony now? Hope so, there are still Transylvania and Tokyo to play and all those issues that I didn't want to waste money with because of the bad combat.

 

[Bigg Boss]

My dick is so hard for this. I only held off playing more since I had nobody to play with.

 

[Severian Silk]

I have installed TSW, but not played it yet. Will Steam give me my money back? I'd rather start fresh with the new Legends thingy. Improved combat sounds great! If Steam doesn't give give me my money back I may not bother.

 

[Zombra]

I have installed TSW, but not played it yet. Will Steam give me my money back?

If you bought it less than two weeks ago and have less than two hours played, Steam's policy is to refund no questions asked.

 

[bylam]

Ah, so you are really OK with bottom of the barrel scraping to get by.

Apparently you get to define what bottom of the barrel is in this conversation. But you honestly have no idea, see below.

That explains it. In which case, I'm not the one in need of help, because frankly, your creatives - always Funcom's greatest asset - deserve better.

I'll take the compliment, but you really think Funcom being bankrupt would be better for us? Remember, most people at Funcom are Oslo locals. If Funcom disappears, it is highly unlikely they will continue making games but will instead be absorbed into the oil industry like 90% of programmers and 3d artists here.

I look forward to when you keep succeeding your way all the way into the mobile market.

You don't seem to realize that this already happened - http://toucharcade.com/2015/06/29/lego-minifigures-online-now-available/

Luckily I dodged that bullet (I was on TSW) apart from having to edit the dialogue and do voice direction, but seriously, how do you not understand that Funcom is in an infinitely better place then it was when management (not the current management) thought making iOS games was the future of the company?

You're acting like we are on a slow slide into the mobile market, I am watching us claw our way out of it, game by game. Maybe it is just a matter of perspective, but I feel like I have read the entire book of Funcom history and you've skipped all the chapters where things were really fucking dire.

 

[Severian Silk]

I have installed TSW, but not played it yet. Will Steam give me my money back?

If you bought it less than two weeks ago and have less than two hours played, Steam's policy is to refund no questions asked.

It's been several months now, alas.

 

[Zombra]

I have installed TSW, but not played it yet. Will Steam give me my money back?

If you bought it less than two weeks ago and have less than two hours played, Steam's policy is to refund no questions asked.

It's been several months now, alas.

Try anyway, they make exceptions.

 

[His Majesty]

I have a weird boner for this.

I've clocked almost 2000h and all that was left for me was completionist grinding (moving from 10.9 to 11, getting best augs, unlocking museum shit, getting some ultra hard achis etc.).

Replaying the main quest again was something I thought about several times, so relaunch should make it sweeter.

I feel the same way. I played a Templar but always wanted to roll a Dragon for the mission debriefings and refresh my knowledge of the main quest. I really hope they make it replayable this time though.

 

[Jazz_]

Ah, so you are really OK with bottom of the barrel scraping to get by. That explains it. In which case, I'm not the one in need of help, because frankly, your creatives - always Funcom's greatest asset - deserve better.

By the way, just what are your non-Steam sales like? Are they five to eight or more times the Steam figures? Otherwise your wonderfully managed company - with all the great publicity its half-baked releases get because, y'know, it's a Funcom game!, from that great company that used to make great games - is getting its arse kicked:

Conan Exiles vs ARK: Survival Evolved

The Park vs Layers of Fear

I look forward to when you keep succeeding your way all the way into the mobile market.

Conan came out 2 months ago and it's already sold more than 500.000 copies, that's a failure?

 

[Modron]

Conan came out 2 months ago and it's already sold more than 500.000 copies, that's a failure?

Not to mention that ark was bundled for pennies like 20 different times

 

[Bigg Boss]

Ah, so you are really OK with bottom of the barrel scraping to get by. That explains it. In which case, I'm not the one in need of help, because frankly, your creatives - always Funcom's greatest asset - deserve better.

By the way, just what are your non-Steam sales like? Are they five to eight or more times the Steam figures? Otherwise your wonderfully managed company - with all the great publicity its half-baked releases get because, y'know, it's a Funcom game!, from that great company that used to make great games - is getting its arse kicked:

Conan Exiles vs ARK: Survival Evolved

The Park vs Layers of Fear

I look forward to when you keep succeeding your way all the way into the mobile market.

Conan came out 2 months ago and it's already sold more than 500.000 copies, that's a failure?

Guess Numenera is a failure too. This is a good thing guys. Fix the shit MMO part, the combat, and make it story focused which was the only good part really. I hope it does well. I actually liked Age of Conan until it turned to shit.

 

[Kem0sabe]

The drama on the TSW forum is exploding, the old servers will become a ghost town as most new players will play on legends and not on classic. Anyway, if they manage to make the combat tolerable it will be a win for me but I understand why some people are pissed off.

Worse thing is... This won't even have any new content, it's just the release version with the old dlc being release later.

So everyone has to replay all the old content again for a few more years before they either release something new or go bankrupt, the later being the most likely scenario.

this year will see the launch of season 2

 

[bozia2012]

Everything is shit.

 

[Night Goat]

I don't see how this is a bad thing for anyone. If you enjoyed playing TSW before, you'll enjoy playing it again with improved gameplay. And if you didn't enjoy it, what the fuck were you playing it for?