My Personal vlog
Anyone have a video or article of what happens with the Illuminati stater zone?
Pokemon FC: 4425-2708-3610
I received a day one ORAS demo code. I am a chosen one.
I'll dig one up here in a few. Still at work.
edit:
Here is a good collection of some videos released today: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...0&feature=plcp
Can't find the Illuminati one right off-hand. It's pretty old and it wasn't very long.
Last edited by Sj; 2012-03-15 at 09:05 PM.
Is TSW a sandbox MMO?
by Zephyrus
In an article released today by Massively's Some Assembly Required asked is The Secret World a sandbox MMO?
Is it a sandbox, though? - Massively
This was something I've wanted to talk about for a little while now and with some of the recent comments on the forums, this is the perfect time for me to put my two cents in and answer that very question. Let's first take a look at what types of MMOs there are.
Sandbox MMO: A sandbox MMO is basically an MMO where the developers give you a very wide range to decide who, what and how your character or game is played. Think EVE and Wurm Online. EVE explains sandbox MMO in this interesting game trailer and Wurm describes itself saying it is "limitless opportunity and freedom, where the actions of each player can make a lasting difference."
Themepark MMO: A themepark MMO is just that. When you go to a theme park, everything is laid out by the developers. Your only true choice is what to ride on and when. The best example of this is World of Warcraft. You are given choices of class and spec but they the options within those are predefined by the developers. These games while limiting in who, what or how your character develops aren't bad games, they are just highly developed games.
With those defined, let's look at which of the two The Secret World falls into with some basic questions from a "list of what makes a good sandbox MMO".
Can choose to be friend or enemies of anyone? To some extent yes. In PvE, you can talk to or not talk to any other player. You can't work for the NPC's out of your faction but you can work with another faction player toward a goal they have. A work around to be able to help out another faction but there isn't anything like different languages or barriers keeping you from interacting with another faction. Just the opposite is true also. You do not ever have to help anyone outside your faction. The same can be applied into PvE. You can choose to support a friend (in your faction or not) or you can choose to mercilessly kill them repeatedly. (*ahem* Watch out Mal *wink*)
Can you craft many things out of many things? From what's been recently released about, yes. You will be able to take things apart and make new things and the crafting system here is pretty freaking amazing. The complexity and simplistic nature all rolled into one is ... amazing. Really, I can't say that enough. It looks really cool. It allows for you to make your own way down the path rather than a trainer teaching you the way to make it.
Is there developer based quests and stories in the game? Yes. First let's just talk about this in general terms. There are mission quests, ranking quests, investigation quests and found object quests in the game. These are all designed by the developers and lead you down the path they want you to see. This is the very definition of a themepark design. Also falling into this line of developer driven quest or storyline is the Dragons introduction released from GDC, there is scene in which you have no control over it happening or not and contains some sexual nature. This is the foundation of the Dragons and is not something you can change, stop or alter from happening. This does not only apply to the Dragons. The Templars have a gentleman (if you wanna call him that) who plays with your mind using old magics and hypnotism and the Illuminati give you drugs (not the medical kind) and put a chip in your back. You have no control over these actions. They are what the developers want to have happen and we cannot change that, which is the opposite of a sandbox MMO.
Can you battle any way you want or can you define the characteristics of your character and change it during the game? Yes. At the heart of The Secret World, this is what makes it a sandbox MMO. You may not have control over the development of your characters story but you can control how you fight. You can change this anywhere and at anytime (provided you are not in combat). This has nothing to do with the storyline, quests or missions that your character must go through to progress in the games story. We have to fight the confusion of these two things.
Will you have a say on the economy? I believe so, if there is an auction house (trading post?) you will be able to have a say in how the economy is set. Of course there there will also be themepark elements in what is purchased at vendors but for anything broken down by crafting or looted from mobs, you should be able to set the market price for.
Will you be able to travel anywhere in the world and explore any area? Yes, you will be able to go to any area after finishing the Tokyo Flashback starter area. There won't be any level restrictions or requirements to go into another area. The only restriction currently is for PvP that you will not be able to enter warzones until you are a specific rank. Without open world PvP this is very limiting and less of a sandbox element they were hoping for.
There are some things we will have to wait and see about such as: will you be able to change the world or spaces around you and all other players will be able to see the changes and can you change the look and appearance of your avatar any way you want and any time you want during the game play? I think as we draw closer to the release of the game a lot of our ideal situations will have to be toned down and accept the reality of the game.
Back to the question at hand, is The Secret World a Sandbox MMO? In the pure definition of the term, no. It is the sandboxyist of the themepark MMOs which I think creates a great balance between having developer interaction and giving freedom to play your character in ways that you want. We are able define ourselves in terms of our powers, faction and alliances within the community but are still required to participate in developers quests and story lines. Which let's face it are some of the most imaginative in the MMO world right now so who's complaining there!
Last edited by bcbully; 2012-03-19 at 01:15 AM.
Make sure you check out the Ability Wheel, and crafting. This is my first real look at crafting, and it's off the charts.
Last edited by bcbully; 2012-03-19 at 08:14 PM.
It had been a while since I looked into TSW. I love a lot of the ideas in this game, modern mmo with a "pick n' choose" abilities (similar to RPG platformers) with very aesthetically pleasing factions. But, I must say I'm disappointed they're on the old sub based business model. :S I hope either they change that after launch or I get to a place in my life where I can play sub based mmo's again because this game looks very intriguing.
"Do not only practice your art, but force yourself into its secrets, for it and knowledge can raise men to the divine." -- Ludwig Van Beethoven
I wish the graphics were a bit better. Looks sorta old/out dated.
Everything else so far seems pretty neat though.
My Personal vlog
Pokemon FC: 4425-2708-3610
I received a day one ORAS demo code. I am a chosen one.
I agree about the character models. They look so... idk. There's no texture to the skins at all. Makes them look plastic.
its has EA Stamped all over it and looks really consolely
Its just DCUO -
Basically.
Non-Linear > Linear.
If this game turns out to be Linear. FFFFFFFFFFFF It's a garbage PoS waste of time.
I was a Death's Demise.
Those were the good old days.
Nooot so fast. Funcom is an independent developer. Let me show how this works.
SW:TOR - EA went to BioWare to develop SWTOR. They fronted the bill and called the shots, distributed the boxes, and published the game.
The Secret World - Funcom payed their own development cost, and called their own design shots. Funcom then went to EA for distribution. Funcom & EA signed a CO-publishing deal. Funcom owns "The Secret World" IP
Funcom and TSW have a very different set up than that of BW, EA & swtor, and than that of Blizzard, Activision and WoW.
Here is the article talking about it.
http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/g...ification.html
---------- Post added 2012-03-20 at 09:33 PM ----------
The faction story arc is linear, but you don't have to do the story. Once you are done with the starting area, you can go and do as you please.
The TSW story is not linear. That's were the fun come in
Last edited by bcbully; 2012-03-20 at 09:43 PM.
Stats are still vertical though. So eventually it'll come to zone 1 being outgeared and zone 2 not geared enough then eventually zone 2 will be out geared and so on.The story arc is linear, but you don't have to do the story. Once you are done with the starting area, you can go and do as you please.
Even nightmare mode dungeons will be out geared eventually. It's not like GW2 where at max level stats are horizontal.
Pokemon FC: 4425-2708-3610
I received a day one ORAS demo code. I am a chosen one.
No, no you wont Once you leave the starting area you can go and kill whatever. It maybe harder for you do to a lake of abilities though, but not due to a lack of gear
Horizontal progression is the meat of the game not so much vertical.
---------- Post added 2012-03-20 at 10:16 PM ----------
You got it and said it very well.
I like all I've seen about the game so far except for the combat, the whole no class thing is probably one of the better Ideas this game has though.