The Secret World?

fade

Staff member
Is this game worth a play in your opinion? If so, does it ever go on sale? What are your overall impressions, etc?
 
One of my favorite MMO's, with a great roleplaying scene, it's own player-run radio station, http://radiofreegaia.com (with clues to player run in-game events) and a unique class system that allows you to combine active and passive skills together to form a 'deck' similar to a deckbuilding card game.

The game regularly goes on sale. There also used to be a free trial floating around, someone might be able to point you towards that.
 
I hear pretty good things, I just never manage to catch the sales before I've spent my game budget for the month. Generally when it does go on sale it's a pretty steep discount, though. I have a friend that's been playing it for years, and he absolutely loves it.
 
I love TSW. There is a lot of thought that goes into the world-building and quests. The NPCs are well-developed and the dialogue is engaging (it's real people talking, not droning exposition). The investigation quests are fun if you like researching things (literature/history/mythology/music/language). I play with a notebook to write down info I come across and to solve puzzles. Some of the puzzles can be pretty challenging. I'm not a fan of stealth quests, and The Castle made me want to throw my mouse across the room and rage-quit, LOL, but they're worth putting up with for the rest of the game. They release new DLC on a regular basis, so you won't run out of things to do.

There is now a trial version that gives you 10 days free. I got the game on sale on Steam, I think for $15.

And Templars is the best faction. :awesome:
 
And Templars is the best faction. :awesome:
Illuminati, you aging dinosaurs!


I used to have a picture of the physical journal I kept for the secret world, that looked like the diary of a crazy man with the scribblings of various runes inside, a cipher I had painstakingly put together to solve one series of quests.
 
Illuminati, you aging dinosaurs!


I used to have a picture of the physical journal I kept for the secret world, that looked like the diary of a crazy man with the scribblings of various runes inside, a cipher I had painstakingly put together to solve one series of quests.
Luuuuuumie! Say 'hi' to the sewer rats for me. :p

And I think I know exactly what runes you're talking about and I probably have nearly the same thing in my notebook. :D
 
The main reason I didn't keep playing Secret World is that I hate random people, but I also hate playing MMOs alone.
 
Luuuuuumie! Say 'hi' to the sewer rats for me. :p

And I think I know exactly what runes you're talking about and I probably have nearly the same thing in my notebook. :D
Do you know how long it took me to figure out the cipher was incomplete and I had to just guess on the last letters? So long.
 
The main reason I didn't keep playing Secret World is that I hate random people, but I also hate playing MMOs alone.
I almost always solo PVE in MMOs, because I don't play well with others unless the focus is working together as a group (like PVP or a dungeon). In PVE, I like to wander around and get distracted by shiny things ("I wonder if I can get on top of that tower over there...") so I would annoy the hell out of anyone PVE-ing with me. :D
 
I haven't solo'd in an MMO since I was level 6 in everquest. Pauline and I were always grouped.
The only MMO both my husband and I have played was EVE Online. But I was a total n00b in my puny ship mining ore in high-sec and he was off in some corporation allied with Goonswarm wreaking havoc on null-sec.
 
TSW is the single most solo friendly MMO I've ever played. The only times you will EVER need to group are for...

- Dungeons
- Lairs
- Holiday Event Bosses
- World Bosses

Literally everything else can be solo'd, but if you don't WANT to solo, working together simply makes everything faster. However, there are some missions that must be completed solo... this includes virtually all infiltration missions and most main story missions inside an instance.

The skill system is TSW can be complex... I highly recommend using the starter decks (all can be completed in the first zone) and then working towards one of the elite decks (designed for the Tokyo content). Some of the Faction Decks are okay too, but I generally don't like them. However, all decks are worth completing, if only because you get awesome costume options as a reward for doing it. I personally use a modified Gun Hexer (Assault Rifle/Blood Magic) for my main, Buddy "Boam" Hops, everyone's favorite Rockabilly Demon. Some basic tips for characters...

- Passive abilities are not limited to their home weapon lines. You want to use Elemental Force with an AR? Lethality with Pistols? Go right ahead.
- All weapons can DPS, but Elemental magic, pistols, and Assault Rifle are generally the best.
- Tank weapons are Hammer, Blades, and Chaos Magic. Shotgun has some good tanking options as well.
- Healing weapons are Blood Magic, Claws, and Assault Rifle. Most Assault Rifle healing is Leech healing, which is FANTASTIC for soloing.
- Try to have a ranged builder if possible, unless you are a tank. (In which case you probably want an AOE builder like Escalation).
- ALWAYS have at least one AOE option, probably as a consumable. You will get swarmed. You WILL need a way to deal with the swarm.
- If soloing, always try to have at least one healing option such as Turn the Tables. You're going to need it.

And yes, the game goes on sale frequently. It's a steal at 15 bucks, which gets you all the content up Issue 5, which includes 99% of Kingsmouth, Egypt, and Transylvania. Additional issues are 5-10 bucks and give you several hours content, as well as ways to unlock new costume items and usually an end-game quality talisman. You'll want to do each issue in order to get the full story. And hey, if you enjoy The Secret World, why not try one of the tie-in games?

- The Park: Remember the amusement park in Savage Coast? Here's a small exploration game about it! Play as a mother looking for her missing son, as she braves the dangers and mysteries of the Atlantic Island Park. Buying this also gives you rewards in TSW: the chipmunk mascot outfit and a strong talisman.

- The Black Watchmen: like augmented reality games, like Majestic? Then this is for you. Each season of TBW obscures the differences between the real world and the game world by presenting the player with puzzles, mysteries, and real world interaction in order to solve conspiracies. You can even sign-up to receive phone calls and packages from the company. I helped solve some of these before it became it's own game... I assure you, you WILL need to work with others to do it.
 
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Awesome advice, Ash. Thanks!

I'm about to start Venetian Agenda. Do you recommend I have an Elite deck done before starting Tokyo? (I have plenty of things I can run around and do before Tokyo to get AP, like finishing gathering Lore in Solomon Island/Egypt/Transylvania, rare bosses, and Lairs/Dungeons).

I was thinking of going with Agent of Chaos, because I love my sword. :D

Though, I love my pistols, too.

But...magic!

So. Many. Choices.
 
Awesome advice, Ash. Thanks!

I'm about to start Venetian Agenda. Do you recommend I have an Elite deck done before starting Tokyo? (I have plenty of things I can run around and do before Tokyo to get AP, like finishing gathering Lore in Solomon Island/Egypt/Transylvania, rare bosses, and Lairs/Dungeons).

I was thinking of going with Agent of Chaos, because I love my sword. :D

Though, I love my pistols, too.

But...magic!

So. Many. Choices.
If you aren't having a lot of trouble now, then you might not need the Elite Decks. They've made Tokyo a bit easier since I had to run through it. However, being prepared is always good and I can say that all of the Elite Decks are good enough to get you through Tokyo by themselves, though I modified mine a bit (I think I dropped the backwards escape explosion for Fire-At-Will). Simply keep in mind that the game play becomes MUCH different the moment you get to Tokyo... you have a new game mechanic to worry about, so you might need to change things up.

As for Dungeons... make sure you get your Elite runs done. You need to do all of them, I believe, before you can undergo the trial to unlock Nightmare mode.
 
Well, everything has been said already. That's what I get for taking a weekend off from the computer. :)

So I simply can repeat what has been said: great game, best MMO story and NPC-wise I ever played! It has completely spoiled all other MMOs for me. No more 'kill 10 rat' quests for me, thank you very much. Also no more utterly stupid NPCs. Yay TSW!
Templar, of course!

If you are in game, feeel free to add Swing-B to your friend list.
 

fade

Staff member
I installed it and played a little while. I think it will take some time to hook me, but I'll keep going. I made a templar, just because. It's very overwhelming, which I think is a side effect of the class-less skill system.[DOUBLEPOST=1463404776,1463404685][/DOUBLEPOST]Also, until a little while ago, I thought this game was a crappy phone game because it advertises like one.
 
I installed it and played a little while. I think it will take some time to hook me, but I'll keep going. I made a templar, just because. It's very overwhelming, which I think is a side effect of the class-less skill system.
When I was learning the game, I found the best way to understand how to build a character was to look at the various decks on display and see how they worked and what abilities did what. You start seeing a lot of common themes (Escalation or Breakdown for melee tanks, Lethality and Elemental Force on DPS, Bloodsport and Leech Therapy for Leech Healers, etc) and those give you a good idea of what abilities to focus around. Then you start tossing in things you need survival (usually a self-heal like Turn the Tables or Point of Harmony). Toss in a builder and then consumers for each weapon type. Any space left is probably going to go towards a support buff tied to your weapons (Energize, Martial Defense, etc).

Pretty soon you'll have something that works for you, at least for the time being. When you're more experienced, you can start throwing in more specialized stuff.
 
So I was digging around in my Secret World account and discovered I had an extra game key. Probably because I hoped to get someone who is lame to play with me, but he refused. SO, if anyone wants to play TSW with me, (probably sporadically and late-ish until next week), ask nicely. Also, yes, I know TSW is solo friendly, I don't care, I get bored playing games alone.
 
A

Anonymous

Anonymous

*voice from back of room*

What about the handsome young dervish who started this thread?
 
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