The Secret World

[Morreion]

The Secret World: Shedding the Secrets
In the first of a new weekly series based on Funcom's The Secret World, MMORPG.com Lead Writer Bill Murphy takes a look at what we know about The Secret World so far. Because of how little is known, it leaves the door wide open to speculation. Check out Bill's thoughts and then leave us a comment or two about what you think.

On top of all that, there’s the little blurb that I glazed over: three-faction combat. Thank the gods, someone is listening! Now all we know so far about the PvP is that it will be three-faction, it will take place largely inside of instances (with PvP servers being a goal as well) and that it involves the gathering of a resource called anima, which is apparently priceless in Funcom’s new take on Earth. Now, I’d love to see some persistent world PvP a la DAoC, but we’ll save that discussion for another column.

The Secret World Videos: The Secret World GDC Trailer (3:28) (MMORPG.com)
Funcom's The Secret World promises a no-class, no-level up system. This new trailer featuring dev interviews and gameplay highlights the team's commitment in providing a wide open system for players.

The Secret World: Secretly Hyped
In Player Perspectives today, MMORPG.com columnist Isabelle Parsley takes a look at The Secret World currently in development by Funcom. Iz is ready to strap on her "frothing fangirl costume" for this one. Find out why and then let us know if you'll be donning yours too!

First, the setting appeals to me most awesomely. Zombies and tentacles and conspiracies, oh my! I'm a little tired of the fantasy trope in MMOs, much though I love it and probably always will love it, but big pointy elf ears or piggy orc eyes get old after a decade and change. I'm really looking forward to a game with cars in it (that I'm not required to steal, that is), and with cellphones and jeans and motorbikes and big honkin' guns... and maybe a pointy sharp katana or two. (Yes, I have a thing for katanas. Doesn't everyone?) TSW's cityscapes look authentic, gritty, a little Blade-Runnerish in places, and they look as though something with too many limbs and rugose skin might be lurking around that terribly normal-looking, rain- and neon-soaked corner. I love it!

The Secret World: The Classy Classless System
Now that more information is out about Funcom's The Secret World, there is much more to talk about. In The Secret World Weekly #2, MMORPG.com Lead Writer Bill Murphy takes a look at one of the features that Funcom is touting as truly ground-breaking: The Classless System. Check out Bill's thoughts and then weigh in with your ideas.

First, let’s take a look at some of the perceived plus-sides of the system as we know it so far.

* Freedom – With over 500 skills to choose from, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll run into a clone of yourself. Play what you want, as you want.
* Utility – The goal is to allow players learn lots of skills, but only use a specific number at a time. The idea is for everyone to be able to swap skills as needed in situations (out of combat I assume).
* Replayability – I assume, and I could be wrong, that one character will not be able to learn every skill. There’s also only going to be 7 active and 7 passive skills per load-out on a character. I suppose you could infer that to get the most of the system, you’ll want to play more than one character.

The Secret World: The Modern Setting
The Secret World is one of the new breed of MMOs taking place in the modern world as opposed to the high fantasy "medieval-ish" worlds of many others. In The Secret World Weekly #2, MMORPG.com Lead Writer Bill Murphy takes a look at the game's modern setting. Check it out!

The Un-worries

* I’ve wanted this for a while now. I’ve been hoping for some developer to either make a recent historical MMO (Western anyone?) or a modern-day one. I’m also a huge fan of the macabre and HP Lovecraft. This setting is something that, if nailed, can make me want to play a game for a very long time. It may not be as accessible as good ol’ swords and boards, but I don’t care.
* Though they’re not the only ones doing it, I love that we’re delving into myths and legends like werewolves, vampires, and the like. It could work in a Victorian set game (hell, that would be awesome) but I’ll just as well play around in modern New York City as ravaged by zombies and stalked by the blood-sucking soulless.
* I suppose it’s true of most any game, but just think of the expansion possibilities here. How about killing ghouls on Mount Rushmore or pushing opposing players off of the Eiffel Tower? I want to delve into the Mayan Ruins and see what Roswell holds. It’s like that saying about vacations: sometimes the best places to visit are in your own back yard.

Some Secrets Revealed! (GameSnafu)

Actually we have a mission type called Sabotage which we haven’t spoken a lot about yet. These missions share a similar gameplay style to the original Deus Ex game – avoiding security cameras, disabling traps and hacking computers etc. Generally the traps are dynamic only in the sense that players can disable/enable them in the world. This becomes interesting when other players can accidentally trigger an alarm in the camp you are sneaking through!

The fourth pillar of fear: Ragnar Tørnquist dishes on story in The Secret World (Massively)

In a new post over at The Secret World, Ragnar Tørnquist attempts to whet our appetite for a main course of storytelling. "The story in The Secret World is a giant jigsaw puzzle. That's really the only way to describe it. There are thousands of pieces scattered all over the game world, both figuratively and geographically, and as you play the game, you are actively uncovering -- unearthing -- the stories, large and small, that form the enormous tapestry of a backstory that goes back aeons."

[Regolyth]

There's growing interest in this game among the Dubhners.

[Rakul]

Snazzy duds!

[Morreion]

The Secret World: Story is Everything
Funcom's Ragnar Tørnquist recently wrote a long blog article on The Secret World's website about how story will not only be immersive but will submerge players in the tale. In today's TSW column, MMORPG.com Lead Writer Bill Murphy talks about story and how much it matters in The Secret World and how exciting that fact is. Check out Bill's thoughts and then tell us what you think in the comments.

So when Ragnar says things like: “Everything in The Secret World -- everything -- is infused with story. Everything has context,” I tend to get excited. When he goes on to talk about the story being more about multitudes of people working together to achieve their goals, and players uncovering and unravelling the story as they play rather than just being handed some cinematics, again I tend to get excited. What intrigues me most though is that the three factions and their goals really don’t seem to be much about good or evil. Both sides of the coin can be housed in either the Dragon, the Illuminati, or the Templars. No, TSW seems to be going with a “gray morality” type of mix and that’s something I’m fond of.

The Secret World - Preview (Eurogamer)

Having levels also puts the focus on levelling, and we don't want to do that. We want to put focus on the content; enjoy the content, really enjoy the missions as you play them. Enjoy pursuing these new powers that you don't have to be a certain level to use. It's liberating.

The Secret World readying seven years of content, new trailer released (Massively)



The Secret World: Everything is True?
In his latest column devoted to Funcom's The Secret World, MMORPG.com Lead Writer Bill Murphy takes a look at the recently released trailer "Everything is True". The trailer featured some interesting tidbits of information based on some of the most virulent urban myths every created. Bill takes a look at some of those myths and wonders what they could mean to the game. Check it out!

The Ark of the Covenant is an engine: Another very intriguing phrase and one that adds to the sense of wonder I hope we all have when stepping into TSW for the first time. I would say be careful around the Ark though. We all know what it does to faces.

The Secret World: The Revenant Revealed
MMORPG.com and Funcom have partnered to bring our readers and exclusive look at one of the creatures from The Secret World. Today we feature a look at The Revenant complete with lore behind the creature and exclusive screens. Check it out!

Drawn to areas where a disaster - natural or manmade - is imminent, Revenants have been instrumental in spreading pest and plague throughout history; from the bubonic plague and smallpox in Europe, to flu and typhus pandemics across Asia. In 1905, they arrived in the United States, carried across the ocean aboard freighter ships, hiding as rats and crows in the cargo. They have recently been spotted on an island off the coast of Maine, where, it is rumoured, a great evil stirs.

BLOG: Lead Writer Dag Scheve talks characters (TSW official site)

Where characters in other games are often just vehicles for the tasks the designers want their players to undertake, our characters are about giving you the information you need to decide for yourself. Rather than asking the player directly for help, they will talk about events in the world and offer opinions, present scenarios that players can choose to react to, do something to change, or walk away from.

In one of my favourite cinematics, we have a mother and a daughter arguing about the dirty dishes in the face of the apocalypse. In another we have a desperate villain threatening an already dead man with…death. We have characters who sing, characters who dance, characters who blow things up, and characters who deceive.

Massively Exclusive: The Secret World's Dag Scheve talks MMO story

All content creation is expensive. We made a choice to include voiced cinematics in our mission content, and our content creation pipeline is set up with that in mind. Keeping the story content fresh is about having enough things to explore and characters to meet and talk to, making sure that there's story in everything in the world, not just the characters. The plan to keep it fresh is to have enough of it, I suppose, and be able to expand it when needed.

The Secret World: It’s the Journey
The Secret World team has made no bones about the fact that the story in the game is doubtless the most important feature in the game. It's hard to argue that point considering there are no classes and no levels in TSW, two features generally found in MMOs. In today's column, MMORPG.com Lead Writer Bill Murphy talks about The Journey that The Secret World will allow players to travel. Check it out and then participate in the discussion in the comments.

Ragnar Tørnquist (Senior Producer and Creative Director) recently sat down with the lads and lasses at Gaming Nexus to chat about The Secret World, and well… remember when I said story is everything? I think the folks at Funcom believe the same. In the interview, Ragnar says, “…the story -- which we always describe as a vast jigsaw puzzle -- is embedded into the world in a really unique way, that it makes the world feel real, and it gives players an incentive to keep exploring, keep digging, to play the content in order to enjoy it, and not just to gain XP and race to the finish-line.”

The Secret World: Issue #4 - The PvP
Over the next several columns, MMORPG.com Lead Writer Bill Murphy will be taking a look at the individual features of Funcom's The Secret World. In Issue #4, Bill talks all things PvP, both good and bad as he sees it. See what Bill has to say and then let us know what you think in the comments.

The Pros

* Three factions is three factions. Ups the ante on PvP mechanics, and offers a wider range of possibilities. Especially if the design of the PvP maps is intent on highlighting this strength.
* Skill-system will promote some crazy builds. Sure there will be flavors of the month, but by and large 500 skills should make PvP very interesting.
* Dressing anyway you like means no easy way to find the healer… and I like it that way. Sure you’ll eventually pick out the glowing person with a halo as your health supply (or something like that), but at least from the get go unless you know a certain name of a character everyone will be on equal ground going into the fight. Again you’ll know certain folks eventually, but I love that the itemization system Funcom is going with promotes individuality.
* No levels, all skills equals lots of PvP. If I’m reading things right, characters won’t be largely better than one another based solely on some arbitrary level system. Instead the skills you slot into your build will determine how strong you are at different parts of the game. No level 900s ganking a level 7. Yes, please!

The Secret World showcases NPC backstories (Massively)

We're introduced to the likes of a crazed journalist with a death wish, an assassin who didn't make the cut at Juilliard but did with the Illuminati, and a half-human half-demon member of the Dragon who serves a mysterious mistress, just to name a few.

The Secret World: The Factional Rundown
In his latest column devoted to Funcom's The Secret World, MMORPG.com Lead Writer Bill Murphy takes a look at the three factions: Templar, Illuminati and Dragon. Check out what Bill has to say about these factions and then let us know what you think in the comments!

The Dragon

They’re ninjas.

Oh, you probably want more than that. The Dragon are the stealthy, espionage driven faction in Funcom’s recreation of the world. They excel at playing their enemies against each other and assassinating the right people behind a cloak of shadows. While the Templars outright declare war, the Dragon wait in the wings, slip a vial of poison into the right cup, and live to fight another day. They don’t care for spoils of war or “righting the wrong”. The Dragon is all about respecting the balance between dark and light, and they’ll do anything and everything they can to make sure that balance is maintained and the scales never tip.

The Secret World Videos: The Secret World: Story & Missions (4:43) (MMORPG.com)

The Secret World: Joel Bylos and Dag Scheve Interview
MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood recently cornered Funcom's Joel Bylos and Dag Scheve to talk about The Secret World. As the floodgates are beginning to squeak open on all things TSW, Jon, Dag and Joel talked about The Secret World's story, missions and much much more. This is a must read and we've got an exclusive video diary that adds even more. Check it out!

To this end we have created mechanics that encourage an unorthodox approach to problem solving. Security systems that must be bypassed, enemies who will incapacitate rather than kill you, environmental hazards and triggers which ask the player to react. Sabotage missions usually have open ended goals. Instead of "Use the Keypad, Open the Door, Enter the base" we simply say "Enter the Base". One player might go over the fence. One player might use a passcode to get through the blast door. One player might just blast down the blast door. Hell crafty players might just wait until *someone else does the work* and then sneak through the still-open door. The idea of Sabotage missions is to encourage players to find creative gameplay solutions in line with their playing style.

Engaging the brain: Funcom talks about the immersiveness of story in The Secret World (Massively)

It's also interesting to note that every character in the game has full voice-over and motion capture as a way to pull you into the story instead of jolt you out of it. Bylos also outlines the different types of missions, which include stealth and infiltration, action, investigation, and story.

[Morreion]

Gamescom 2011: The Secret World launching April 2012 [Updated] (Massively)

...Funcom also said that it will be inviting players to register starting August 26th for the upcoming beta. The invitation process will be made through "an interactive social media campaign," keeping with the title's fondness for ARGs and viral campaigning.

The Secret World's business model to feature subs and cash shop (Massively)

The blurb mentions Funcom's desire to steer clear of "pay-to-win" scenarios by limiting the item store to clothing and convenience items. "Character power in The Secret World will be determined by how well you play the game, not how much money you are willing to put into it," Kunz writes.

There's a backlash against this news- more about this on a future post.





BLOG: Creating a world between the cracks in reality (The Secret World)

Creating the world that hides behind the world that we see every day is a special kind of challenge. In the process of creating content for the Secret World, we search for ways to contrast the mundane with the exciting, the everyday with the extraordinary, and the conformity of reality with the gritty discordance of conspiracy.

The Secret World unveils Atlantic Island Park (Massively)

Atlantic Island Park is a creepy-crawly outdoor area oozing with dread atmosphere. Originally built in the 1970s by industrial tycoon Nathaniel Winter, the place was beset by freak accidents and ghostly sightings from the beginning.

The Secret World: Interview Gleanings
After a pair of top notch and very juicy interviews with Funcom developers, MMORPG.com Lead Writer Bill Murphy has thoughts to share about what we learned about The Secret World. See what Bill gleaned from the interviews and whether or not you agree. Leave us a comment or two.

Mission Types – There are some pretty cool concepts when it comes to the missions and quests of TSW it would seem. You’ll have your basic “action” missions which require you to go in, fight baddies, and so forth. But then there are also the sabotage sort, which require you to employ stealth over brute force. Breaking into buildings, bypassing security, and so forth are all a part of the equation which will require players to solve problems creatively, rather than just “collect this by killing this”. Then there are the investigation missions which openly and earnestly send players out into the real world (or internet search engines) to find the answers to in-game problems. Lastly are the informational sort, in which a player might have to uncover some clues in-game to progress the mission: be it a sequence of numbers, or an address, or what have you.

The Secret World: EA and Funcom = What?
In today's column devoted to The Secret World, MMORPG.com Managing Editor Bill Murphy takes a look at the partnership between EA and Funcom. Bill looks at both sides of the coin, both good and bad, and offers a few insights into his thought process. Check it out and let us know what you think!

As I see it, both the good and bad possibilities rely on whether or not EA keeps to the publishing side of things and lets’ Funcom take the time it needs to get the game out when it’s ready, not when the number is up. With something as complex and difficult as an MMO, I worry that EA simply doesn’t have the patience to let a developer see it through. I know it’s not easy to just keep feeding a game money when you want to see an ROI, but sometimes the best course of action is to do just that so that the MMO is more likely to retain subscriptions.

New Secret World dev walkthrough delves into the Savage Coast (Massively)

The walkthrough -- which is so expansive it has to be presented in three parts -- begins with our dev tour-guides Martin Bruusgaard (Lead Designer) and Joel Bylos (Lead Content Designer) jumping into the dungeon linked to the Solomon Island zone, which they note is the first that players will encounter as they play through The Secret World. After a short preview of the quest-receiving experience (which includes voice acting that's rather good, especially for a game still in development), it descends into a rollercoaster ride into the mouth of madness.

Ragnar Tørnquist On The Secret World: Part 1 (Rock Paper Shotgun)

Ragnar: The Illuminati have the best HQ. They have amazing gas masks! I mean, come on. They also have the best parties. They are the giant corporation, they’re the ones who pull the strings, this hidden vast corporate structure that is invisible to everybody and influences everything. They are that shadow government. They’re the classic secret society, the ones who rule the world. While the Templars are the kick-ass crusaders, who go out and fight demons, who aren’t afraid of anything, and are willing to do whatever it takes to destroy evil. They’re based in London, it’s the best hub. It’s the social hub, the capital of the Secret World. New York is much more focused around the headquarters of the factions. With the Templars you live in the capital, you’re the ruling elite of The Secret World. If you want that motivation, it’s there. With the Dragon, where is the motivation? Well, it’s going to come out, but it’s going to be weird. Some people are going to be turned off by the Dragon, and we want them to be. But we want people to be invested before they even buy the game, they’ll know who they’re going to be.

Ragnar Tørnquist On The Secret World: Part 2 (Rock Paper Shotgun)

Ragnar: I also think that the Western world has lost the sense of religious mystery too. People knew there was something bigger, but they didn’t question it. Now we question everything, and everything has been reduced to facts or data. What we’re doing with this game, and what I do with all my stories, is to reintroduce that mystery. That sense that you don’t have to know, you don’t have to get all the answers. And that’s frustrating too. I think the end of Dreamfall is about making people understand that you don’t have to understand everything.

The Secret World designers talk optimal builds, travel, and more (Massively)

"In certain areas, people will need to have the correct effects to be optimal," Bylos explains. "In solo play especially, you will want to have a certain build." You can still progress any way you see fit, though, and Bylos was quick to point out that Funcom's intent is to provide a flexible character building system. That said, it's clear that build flexibility can come at the expense of perfect optimization, and ultimately Funcom is striving for a balance between playing how you want to play and tweaking your build as you go in order to progress through content.

Interview - The Secret World Warzone Details and More from gamescom 2011 (Ten Ton Hammer)

You’ll also be gaining ranks within your secret society via missions in PvE and PvP. Your relationship to your faction and your war against the other factions’ secret societies will be the focal point of the game to some players. Each society will have its own story. You will go to some of the same locations, and see what even seems like the exact same story—but different results and things will happen. You’ll have to see it to believe it. The full story can only be gleaned from talking to those of other factions who have seen the events unfold from another angle.

[Morreion]

The Secret World preview (PC Gamer)

The game caters for groups of up to five, but doesn’t rely as heavily on instances as its peers. “Most of our world is completely open, and live and massively multiplayer. There’s a mission called Elm Street Blues – an assault on a police station. The siren goes off, and you basically get tasked with holding off this attack. The beauty of it is that when the siren goes off, everybody in that location hears it. People can just flock to you, and you’ll all get credit for that.”

The Secret World – The Plot Thickens at PAX Prime (Ten Ton Hammer)

One of the most important things to be aware of is that it was no accident that Funcom revealed the three secret societies in the game long before discussing specific game mechanics. This is due to the fact that your choice of secret society will replace the more standard class selection as the most critical decision you’ll make in the game, so the more you understand the motivations and goals of the three, the more confident you’ll be that you’re making an informed decision.

The Secret World announces group and raid sizes (Massively)

He goes on to say that it may be possible for players with similar builds to actually be viable even when they're grouped together. He specifically mentioned a group of all tanks' being able to tackle a dungeon if they all had a self heal. But how many players are actually in groups? Bylos says five, and raid groups are 10. No more worrying about finding those other 30 people you would need for those 40-man dungeons, thank goodness!

Ragnar Tørnquist discusses TSW's skill system, investigations, and more (Massively)

Perhaps most interesting, though, are the bits of information revealed about the game's unique Investigation Missions. Tørnquist provides two examples of what players can expect from the ARG-inspired missions. One involves hunting down an in-game location based on a fortune teller's visions, while the other is a bit more in-depth, requiring players to look up information on a famous painter in order to progress. He also hints that the team may put up websites regarding in-game information that players will have to hack into in order to progress the investigation.

The Secret World Dev Journals: Developer Diary: Storytelling in The Secret World
MMORPG.com has partnered with Funcom to bring our readers and exclusive look at the art of storytelling in The Secret World. Penned by Funcom's Senior Producer & Creative Director Ragnar Tørnquist, the article discusses how the team is making the story is the "heart and soul" of The Secret World. Read our exclusive developer diary and then leave us your thoughts in the comments.

Firstly, every key mission in the game begins with a fully voiced and motion-captured cinematic sequence that sets the scene and establishes the characters. The cut-scenes focus on characterisation and atmosphere, but will always contain clues to the mission ahead. All missions -- aside from the main story mission -- can be played in any order, allowing players to discover the story at their own pace, from different perspectives.

The Secret World unveils Tokyo Flashback at New York Comic Con (Massively)

This introductory instance is known as Tokyo Flashback, and not only does it serve to introduce players to the mechanics of combat within The Secret World, but it also sets up the game's conspiracy-laden storyline by introducing players to four key characters of The Secret World's universe.

The Secret World Dev Journals: Into Darkness - An Exclusive Dragon Preview
MMORPG.com and Funcom have teamed up to bring our readers an exclusive first look at the Dragons, one of three factions to be featured in The Secret World. Let us know what you think of the mysterious Dragons after reading the dev journal. Leave us a comment or two!

There are many who serve the Dragon without knowing that they serve the Dragon, or even know what or who the Dragon is, and the player will meet some of these lost souls in the streets of Seoul. Pulled here by events large and small, they are part of a vast machinery of chaos. Their roles may be unclear to all, but they do have a role to play, and sooner or later their presence here will have an effect. The players are not as helpless, and they are given direction -- if not direct commands -- by the Dragon's head, but even they will not yet know what role they ultimately have to play in the orchestration of chaos.

The Secret World: Investigating The Dragon (IGN)

Tørnquist: The Dragon's neighbourhood in Seoul is a strange and mysterious place, seemingly without exits -- unless you know exactly where to go and how to turn, or if the forces of chaos decide to let you leave. In the centre of this neighbourhood lies the Dragon's nest, a small collection of buildings that serve as their headquarters, while around it are buildings you'd find anywhere in Seoul: a grocery store, a bike repair shop, a police station, a PC Bang, a boutique hotel, and narrow streets that wind back on themselves…all of it part of the Dragon's machinery of chaos.

Over Half a Million Players Register for The Secret World Beta (Ten Ton Hammer)

"We are thrilled to see the amount of interest ‘The Secret World’ is generating among gamers and the press, and exceeding half a million beta registrations six months before release is definitely something we are proud of,” says Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas.

[Morreion]

The Secret World: A Look at The Templars (IGN)
This ain't your Dan Brown secret society.

The Templars have one main goal; to rule the world on their own premise and rid it of evil. All evil. And their definition of evil is scrupulous. They believe in justice and righteousness as defined by themselves, and they firmly believe that their actions are always justified and in the world's best interests. And this last point is probably where they differ the most – at least philosophically – from the other societies.

Funcom Unveil The Secret World: Part One (Rock Paper Shotgun)

An MMO can’t be driven entirely by single player action, in fact it can’t be at all driven by single player action, so our story is actually about that. The theme of The Secret World is ‘what is the nature of being a hero in an MMO, in this kind of world where there is no one hero’. There’s an army of heroes and what you are doing throughout the game is maintaining the status quo. In the case of Kingsmouth, you’re not there to save the day, or the civilians, you’re there to make sure this darkness doesn’t leak out. And more importantly, you’re there to make sure that people outside of Kingsmouth don’t know what’s going on. The factions don’t want people in Vermount or Montreal to find out there are zombies on their doorstep, and that’s key to the story.

Funcom Unveil The Secret World: Part Two (Rock Paper Shotgun)

Of course, there is a massive endgame, but unless you’re into PVP and achievements and crafting, story does pause at a certain point. But there is always lore, something we haven’t ever really revealed, but we have talked about tenuously…but, yes, you’re absolutely right, if your main driver is PVE and story, there are points where you will have to wait. We will add content to the game in various ways, including new chapters with strong plot points that we are going to push out. But that won’t be on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis. I don’t see The Secret World diminishing though because the story-players are going to take longer to travel through the content on release. Somebody like me who is not into crafting, or PVP, I spend a lot of time getting through the 150-200 hours of story content.

The Secret World Previews: First Ever Hands-On Preview
During a recent press event at Funcom's Montreal studio, MMORPG.com Associate Editor Suzie Ford had the opportunity for a day-long hands-on experience with The Secret World. Calling it "a thinking player's game", Suzie has a lot to say about why she thinks that in her comprehensive first look at The Secret World. Treat yourself to a fine read. Leave us a comment or two when you're finished reading.

Another innovative feature that Funcom is including in The Secret World is the Power Wheel. Gone is the ever-popular skill tree in favor of this rather complex wheel system. As players complete quests and tasks, they are assigned power points which can be spent in any skill area that a player has trained in (melee, ranged and magic). Once two cells in the inner wheel have been purchased, the more advanced outer wheel becomes available. Skill points can be spent on skills the player likes without using some skills as ‘stepping stones’ to higher level skills.

Hands-on impressions of The Secret World (Massively)

I simply cannot write a preview of TSW without saying how great it looks. The atmosphere is great, the shadows are probably the best I've seen in a game, weather effects during boss encounters are an integral part of the strategy, and the sound design is out of this world. I got access to the Templars' training facility, its serene music clashing with the chained demons in a surreal environment I fell in love with. Music changes dynamically during combat, becoming more and more intense as adds appear and the challenge grows. Funcom has hit the mark on all those levels, making an immersive world vibrant and interesting. While I saw only a small portion of the game's territory -- the London starting point for the Templars, an island off the coast of Maine in the USA, the Polaris instance, a shipwrecked container vessel, and a Mayan-ruin PvP battleground -- ancient Egyptian tombs were also shown and looked spectacular. A mix of urban settings and mythological settings sets the stage for TSW.

[Rakul]

I like the look and feel of this one!

[Morreion]

‘THE SECRET WORLD’ TO LAUNCH JUNE 19, 2012 (Funcom)

Durham, USA – February 21st, 2012 –Independent developer and publisher of online games, Funcom, today announced that the highly anticipated massively multiplayer online role-playing game ‘The Secret World’ will launch on June 19th, 2012. Originally slated for an April launch, Funcom has decided to invest more development time into the title in order to apply even more polish before launch.

A second look at The Secret World (Massively)

First, I was able to experience the Illuminati starting point, reliving the same opening as that displayed for the Templars but from a different perspective. Instead of walking through London to get to the Templars' sumptuous palace, I had to find the Illuminati's hidden lair in New York's back streets and warehouses. While the Templars featured rich colors, warm ambiance, and classical music, the Illuminati are all about cold design, technology, futurism, hip-hop music, and a lot of swearing. You'll learn to walk a fine balance between diplomacy and gunplay; the goal is profit and influence, and you must succeed at corralling both to climb the ranks. It's clear that you are but a tiny part of a vast organization, at least in the beginning. The motivations are different, and the angles from which missions are viewed differ, but the much of the gameplay is similar across the factions. We can, however, expect faction-specific missions and missions that are common across the factions but are given in a different context. For example, the Templars might kill X to put a stop to his research, while the Illuminati might steal the research outright and the Dragons might blow the whole installation to smithereens.

5 Reasons to Play The Secret World (Ten Ton Hammer)

#3 - You Have No Class

If you’re tired of the sort of games where you pick a starting class and then immediately start researching builds to figure out how you’re going to optimize your character so that you play just as well as (and exactly like) the next guy who plays the same class…then you’re in luck. The Secret World takes an entirely different approach. Instead of having you stick to a class-based ability tree, The Secret World gives you access to over 500 abilities on its Ability Wheel and lets you customize to your heart’s content.

Sound confusing? Never fear. The Secret World also has what it calls “decks”—basically a template system to help you sort out which abilities work well together. Prebuilt decks are ranked from easy to medium to hard, and the completion of an entire deck (14 abilities—7 active and 7 passive) scores the player a badass outfit so he can look the part. You don’t have to use a premade deck—you can progress your character entirely in freeform—but they’re available for guidance to keep the system from becoming overwhelming.

You’re not locked into specific abilities, either—you’ll be able to swap out the decks you’ve acquired to suit different situations. Certain skills will exploit enemy weaknesses called states (bleeding, for instance, would be a state) so you’ll need to understand what you’re up against and how to take advantage of it.

Exclusive: The Secret World – Introducing the deck system (GamesRadar)
Lead designer at Funcom reveals the details behind various decks

Martin Bruusgaard: A deck in The Secret World is a collection of 7 active and 7 passive abilities that work well with each other. Each deck will enable the player to fulfill one or several roles, either soloing or teaming up with others. Upon collecting all 14 abilities the player is also given a kick-ass outfit, so he won't only be able to play the part, but also look the part!

The Secret World: The Illuminati (IGN)
It's good to be greedy.

IGN: What sort of player makes a good member of the Illuminati?

Joel Bylos: The type of player who follows the rule that "He who has the money, makes the rules". The Illuminati enjoy a corporate structure – they reward talent and love rising stars – they grind failures underfoot.

Anyone who believes that it is the right of the few who have seized the opportunity to decide the fate of the world for the many, anyone who has ever heard about the invisible puppet masters of the world and thought, "Me too!"

Interview with Lead Programmer Øystein Eftevaag (The Hydra Initiative)

The Dreamworld Engine is a shared company-wide technology base which is continually being worked on by a pretty huge team of programmers. How it usually works, is that the next project being worked on (The Secret World) drives the main development of the engine, and then existing live projects like Age of Conan) can pick and choose which improvements and features they want to collaborate on and port into their branch of the engine.

The main benefit of this to The Secret World, is that the features being collaborated on (like, say, memory usage improvements, loading time improvements and the upcoming single-server technology) get the full development and testing resources of two whole projects focused on them. Of course, the benefit to Age of Conan is exactly the same! They get new features they want, and they don’t have to “pay” the full price for them.





Martin Bruusgaard’s holiday answers (Cry Gaia)

“Some of the clothes are purchasable from vendors, some are available in the item shop, but most of it is reward based. One thing I’m particularly excited about is the template deck outfits. Template decks are a set of powers that enables the player to fulfill a certain role, and this is comparable to Magic the Gatherings starter decks. On completion of any of these templates the player is given an outfit that reflects what that deck is. So for instance if a player completes the Ninja deck, he or she is given a Ninja costume. And all of the templates are faction specific, meaning that there will be different outfits for Templars, Illuminati or Dragon!”

The Secret World unveils new horrific creatures (Massively)

...Meanwhile, Jack O'Lantern, is some poor sod who fell under a wicked curse, and is now driven only by vengeance and bloodlust. To take advantage of his pumpkin head, Jack O'Lantern tends to bury himself beneath the ground in pumpkin patches in order to take passers-by by surprise.

New Secret World ARG puzzle hidden on Funcom website (Massively)

What's that, you say? You didn't know there was a new TSW puzzle? Well, head to the official Funcom website. Once you're there, single-click on something that isn't a link (the red title text that says The Secret World should work), and then type in the number 33.

If you do it correctly, you should eventually see a bunch of glyphs, and we're assuming they're written in some sort of Runic script.

[Morreion]

The Secret World Hands-On Preview (Ten Ton Hammer)

The synergies between these abilities are an important part of TSW because they literally translate into how effective you are in combat and stealth. The system reminded me of the way builds work in Guild Wars, but with a lot more happening on-screen. Some abilities were power builders, while others were exploiters, and still others were situational utility. Various meters and indicators would fill up on the screen during combat and although each indicator had a distinct purpose I was still a bit overwhelmed by it all by the time we made our way over to the Scorched Desert, which is the Egyptian area of The Secret World. To be fair, though, Egypt is about 60 hours of play time deep into the game. It’s unlikely that anyone will be as green as I was by the time they reach the area in which we were playing during our hands-on demo. Funcom did assure us that there are proper tutorials within the game to educate the player about all the different displays happening on the screen during combat, so by the time a regular player starts on the missions in the Scorched Desert they should, theoretically, know what they're doing.

The Secret World Previews: Immersion Day Preview (MMORPG.com)
Funcom is stepping up the machine and releasing more and more information about The Secret World. We recently had the opportunity to attend an "immersion day" at the Funcom Montreal studio. See what we discovered about The Secret World and see why we say "The Secret World should be tops on your list of games to play in 2012."

Funcom has always stressed the importance of horizontal progression being much more important than the vertical in The Secret World. Players might begin with a certain build, or a role they enjoy in the game, but might encounter a solo dungeon where they will have to think about the build that would beat it. It never hurts to have a healing ability in your back pocket you can pull out when you need it.

How you “level” your stats is through equipment and Chakras. Chakras are basically centers of energy in your body; these are dropped by mobs and can be traded and sold. They also can be swopped out at any time, and some may fit into more than one of the Chakra slots. Playing a healer tonight? Swap in all your healing Chakras.

Creating The Secret World - An Interview with Joel Bylos (Ten Ton Hammer)

Finally, you have the ‘Investigation Missons.’ These are the puzzle missions. This is where you dig into the clandestine, conspiracy angle of things. You need to solve the puzzles to figure out why things are the way they are. This is hacking computers, solving puzzles through Google, and in Egypt, finding out who Aten was in the real world. This guy exists. You can look him up on wiki. Our bad guys are mostly people from the real world.

Some Assembly Required: Is The Secret World a sandbox? (Massively)

I wouldn't describe the game as a sandbox but rather as a themepark where you pick whichever rides you like whenever you like. Most missions (unless they are a part of a story arc or secret society ranking) are available the minute you finish the tutorial. All skills are available after a few hours of play. Through the story mission there is an encouraged progression path, but there is nothing forcing players to follow it before they can move on.

GDC 2012: The Secret World's crafting, combat (and cutscenes) revealed (Massively)

At this point we got to see a dual-wielding shotgun/assault rifle character mowing down mobs in one of the The Secret World's Egypt zones. We also discovered that each weapon in the game has unique resources attached to it, and by using abilities called builders, players can either "build" resources on themselves or on their targets, which results in various effects like healing, crowd control, extra damage, etc.

The Secret World GDC 2012 Preview - Transcribing and Transylvania (Ten Ton Hammer)

These points may be spent in the Ability wheel (below), which provides over 500 abilities spread out over 9 weapon types (3 each for ranged, melee, and magic). Abilities come in passive (for example, buffs to damage resistance) and active (e.g. sword attack, sniper shot) varieties. Each small box on the wheel is referred to as a cell, and offers 7 different abilities. These abilities must be bought sequentially and lead up to an elite ability. Players can equip one elite passive and one elite active at a time plus 6 normal passives and 6 normal actives.

Free-Form Progression - The Secret World Developer Diary Video (PC) (Gamespot)

BLOG: Lead Designer: Martin Bruusgaard explains character development (TSW)

The game is not flat, but it's flatter than most traditional MMOs. Being a flatter game makes the window of viable content greater for the player, as there are more areas that will give the player xp. To put some numbers into this: When you have played through all of the content in the adventure zones, and for arguments sake maxed all your skills, more than half of those zones will still give you xp. There are also camps in every adventure zone which are meant for only the toughest players. In these camps you really have to think about the horizontal progression (learning a large number of different abilities), and bring highly specialized sets of abilities in order to be successful. This is the type of content we design to push people horizontally, asking people to maybe take a step outside their comfort zone and think in new ways.

The Secret World pre-order packages feature beta access, lifetime sub, and more (Massively)

Clicking the pre-order button on TSW's website will kickstart the process and show you three optional packages that include extra character slots, name reservations, and even a lifetime subscription. If you're on a budget, the basic $49.99 pre-order comes with three character slots and one name reservation.

The Secret World reveals Hell (Massively)

The instance looks and feels real, like my own vision of what Hell should be, and I wouldn't want to be stuck there. Monster design is spot on, especially for this setting. Towering demons and swarming lesser evils dot the incandescent landscape. This is what I was looking for when going for a second look at TSW: consistency in the quality of design. I've now seen three instances, and they were all brilliant and will have your team adjusting to each different encounters. Players will definitely be switching up skills after wipes to allow for off-healing or off-tanking, depending on what's needed or lacking, making for a grouping style that will freshen up any MMO player's day. So when TSW tells you to go to Hell, enjoy the ride!

Secrets of The Secret World - An Interview with Joel Bylos and Ragnar Tornquist (Ten Ton Hammer)

As you might expect, the conspiracy theme of The Secret World’s marketing is indicative of its game play. The game will include four types of missions: action, sabotage, story and investigation. Of the four types, investigation missions differ the most from the usual MMO fare by asking players to step outside the game to look for clues from real world sources. For this purpose, The Secret World will have an in-game browser.