For those of you that dont know anything about it, The Secret World is a MMO set in a modern universe. The basic premise is simply "what if stories, legends and myths are true?" What if there is another world, a hidden world from most people, what if legends of ghost ships, vampires, mummies, zombies and other creatures exists. Players are awakened to this reality, and based on their choices are introduced into one of three secret societies, the Templars, the Illuminati, or the Dragons, all of whom fight these evils and advance their own interests in many ways.
Right there, I'm drawn in, the idea of conspiricies and myths being true, and a modern setting go a long way for me, it isnt elves, dwarves and orc's. There are no lightsabers, but a game based in the modern world, that's just a setting that I've never really seen done all that well. I'm going to explore our globe, and go from Stonehenge to Egpyt. There are puzzles, they have even suggested you'll need a web browser to search for certain myths so you can either solve quests, or understand some of the background for others. Those are some concepts I remember reading about, and I dont know if they are still part of the game, but I am anxious to see.
Most MMO's have levels and are class based, but TSW isnt. There are no levels, instead you accumulate skill points, and buy skills, and there are over 500 skills to choose from. Seven skills are active, seven are passive, so you can build a character that suits your playstyle, and you can switch on the fly if you need to fill a different role in a group. TSW still doesnt break away from the trinity based combat system of past MMO's, but because of what it does offer, I've got to say I may not mind too much.
There is three faction PvP, something many of us have screamed for since Dark Age of Camelot. I dont know how it will compare to that of Guild Wars 2, and I dont know if it is single server, but if in fact it is, for many folks I think it would be a massive selling point. GW2 is getting plenty of hype for being a spiritual successor to DAoC style PvP, but if TSW does the same thing, and does it on a single sever, that's a solution that appeals to me more than GW2. That being said, TSW has a lot to show me in terms of that PvP, because the keep defend/capture mechanic of GW2 is indeed stellar, and perhaps the largest single reason I will play it.
So enough about the game itself. Granted I havent followed the game avidly, I see a lot of things about it that I'm intersted in, at least interested enough to want to check out. I know it's Funcom, I fully expect a fairly linear world, I expect a fairly rough launch, and I'm not terribly thrilled that it is subcription based plus cash shop, that seems a bit excessive. I thought Funcom had major issues at launch trying to balance classes in Age of Conan, I wonder how they will balance 500+ skills in a classless game. I think that eventually we'll see people figure out a few builds that work, and eventually people will jump into them. I expect there to be gaps in content, and I question how fast they will be able to pump out new content.
I watched the video I linked the other day when I wanted to see where the game stands today, and I'd rather see a GDC presentation than some random trailer, or "fly-by". I really, truly, am impressed by the concepts that Funcom wants to try. I have no illusions that this title is going to be a mass market monster, it isnt, but I get the feeling that it has very strong niche potential, and could very well do as well as Rift did last year. I wont say that Rift came from nowhere to turn in a fairly respectable year, but it wasnt a big "name" title. Perhaps some of the success is due to the fact that we havent had a desireable MMO release in years, and for what Rift offered it was fairly polished (even if I hated the PvP). The bottom line is that it was a below the radar success story.
Funcom has some tougher competition, as dollars are still invested in TOR for some people, Guild Wars 2 on the near horizon (even if it is not a subscription game) Tera, and the Pandalicious World of Warcraft expansion. Personally I have never subscribed to two MMO's at the same time, I did have a couple of SWG accounts, but that was the same title. In my last blog I detailed a bit about why I'm about ready to say my farewell to The Old Republic for now, but for the first time, I would actually consider buying and subscribing to The Secret World as well as playing Guild Wars 2.
I'm looking forward to this beta weekend to see how the concepts I enjoy actually play out, and what kind of a game TSW is really shaping up to be. I have to look twice at anything that Funcom does, and that does make me a bit more skeptical. While I dont know that TSW could hold my attention for years at a time, I do wonder if there is enough for 5-6 months of enjoyment. I'll post my impressions of the experience early next week.
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