I decided to give SWL another go and took a new character through Kingsmouth-Savage Coast-Blue Mountains in order to give it a good test. I've walked away from it profoundly depressed about the changes and what they say about the gaming community.
There isn't a single quest or mechanic change that doesn't boil down to dumbing-down TSW. Side quests have been moved to "more convenient" locations, the innovative Talisman system replaced by a God-awful mechanic that has you chewing up the same talismans over and over again to improve the one you have, and, in one memorable case, a nice long quest was cut by about a fifth solely to relieve the busy player from having to travel to a different part of the map to finish the quest.
The wonderful and complex mix of skills, both active and passive, have been mimicked by a "streamlined" new set that not only eliminates choice, it makes the using of different skills and abilities a nearly useless endeavor. I wiped up the field with every encounter I faced using the same set in all three zones. I realized to my horror that all the complaining about TSW's combat was because it was actually challenging, your character could die. Under SWL's system, you press the awesome button a lot and awesome shit happens.
TSW had more wit, intelligence, humor, writing skill and depth in its opening Kingsmouth zone than most games have in their entirety.
I know, I know, the market has iron laws.
But, on the other hand, there ARE different markets out there for different types of people. If whoever the shitty hip hop star of the week is selling in the bazillions to great profit, there are also small jazz and classical ensembles that make a very good living serving customers with higher standards and better taste.
I wish FunCom would realize that, and produce games for that market, rather than keep on this useless struggle to merge intelligent games with console-tard expectations.
TSW is the best MMO ever made. Nothing else even comes close.
FunCom, find your market, find your place. You may never be a huge player in the games industry that way, but you'd be beloved, steady, solid and profitable.
