Alea Iacta Est

AIE Podcast Episode 114 –  “In my Secret World, I’m a Restro Druid with an assault rifle!”

• Unique setting:  Lovecraftian horror, conspiracies.
• “Everything is true” – Game is filled with real-life folklore and myths.
• Set in the present, in real world locations…mention pictures some players have taken of New York, London which are nearly identical to their in-game counterparts.
• Lore, research, etc. Many people compare some elements to an old-school adventure game.
• Low hype launch.  People new to the game often comment “I didn’t expect much, but I really love this game”.  Funcom has learned from their previous MMOs…TSW is small now, but expect it to grow over time.

• “Builds” are based on selecting 7 active abilities and 7 passive, and a good build will exploit effective synergies between abilities.  This is your deck.
• Abilities unlocked based on spending points in weapon categories.
• Think of a deck as your hand in a game of cards.  Play the right card at the right time.
• Every character can unlock any and every ability in the game.
• One character can fill any role and do anything, provided they unlock the abilities.
• All content (other than main story and investigations) is replayable, so no need to play alts unless you want to experience the other factions.

• Short vertical leveling progression…a character can be “level capped” quickly (2 rank 10 weapon skills, all skills unlocked for complete deck).
• Further leveling is all about expanding options.  – Unlocked passives can be used with any weapon, possible to create interesting combos.
• Returning to early zones and dungeons to play with friends who may be new to the game still results in significant gains for the high level player.

• Replayability is great.  Inherently fun, I never feel like I am “grinding”.

Mission structure

• Mission breakdown, why this works, immersion, direction of quest flow,etc.
• Mission types: Story, Action, Sabotage, Investigation (fake websites created by Funcom outside game used for investigation info), Dungeon, Side.
• All main missions have cutscenes, and contain some of the best story, characters and dialogue I have seen in an MMO.  Better than most single player games.  Very thoughtfully written.
• Requires thinking…primarily during investigations, but even action missions sometimes require a surprising about of thought for an MMO.
• Level of detail…great level of attention paid to “the little things”…helps sell the immersion.
• Subtle humour mixed in…keeps the game from taking itself too seriously.

Combat

• TSW combat, very active…may have to change tactics multiple times in one fight, even while solo questing.  This becomes more apparent the further you get into the game.

(For Mantis to bring up )
(In episode on 112 of the AIE podcast Ghomus brought up how one of things he was bothered by was having to fight through all the trash to get from Mission item A to mission item B a lot. Talk about /reset and the devs talk about a system similar to flight points with the rez spots.)

• Fantastic dungeon design, filled with interesting game lore and exciting boss encounters.  Very little “trash”.
• Previewing first raid at Gamescom

PVP

• Fusang “Constant ongoing PVP” “Rewards similar to Wintergrasp”

• Stonehenge and El Dorado is there too.  (More like battlegrounds? -Sindrake)
• Fight Clubs are available in every city and we are planning to have Tournaments in the future.

Achievements, gear, cosmetics

• Character appearance not tied to stat gear.
• Customize appearance in “dressing room” based on options gained through achievement unlocks, the clothing store in London, or the in-game cash shop (briefly discuss cash shop).

Add-ons

• Many useful add-ons already available (Field Agent Locator, Bag Organizer (name?), Crafting, Top Bar).  Supported by Curse Client.

Cross-faction play

• Everyone gets to play together.  No restrictions on cross-faction grouping, trading, etc.  Only exception is PvP.
• Single-server – How this works.
• Benefits: Doesn’t matter what “dimension” you play on, cross-dimension guilds, chat, AH, etc.

• One cabal for each faction
• AIE chat channel used to tie all cabals together.  We operate as one big cross-faction cabal.  /chat join AIE
• Contests and events – Talk about The Secret Hunt, announce winner, plans for more events in the future.

Monthly content updates

• Details on contents of Issue 1 and 2.
• Issue #1 – Marketplace, 7 new missions added, mostly investigations.
• Issue #2 – Plastic Surgeon, Barbershop, at least 5 new missions, the first Auxiliary Weapon (Rocket Launcher).

• Community interaction has been fantastic so far.  Regular responses on TSW forums from Ragnar, etc.
• Regular Livestreams (explain)

• Game is greater than the sum of its parts.  TSW is more than a list of features.  It has drawn me in more than any other MMO in years.
• Engaging like a great single player RPG, but still feels very much like a MMO.
• Immediate familiarity with the lore.  Some compare to X-Files, Fringe, etc.
• Level of detail…great level of attention paid to “the little things”…helps sell the immersion.
• “A good movie is three good scenes and no bad scenes.” – Howard Hawkes  That is TSW…parts of the game are amazing, and there is no boring filler.  Even side missions are fairly engaging.

Final Notes

• Now available on Steam…includes 3 Steam-exclusive clothing options.
• Talk about trial, details.

Shoutout to Takemikazuch for coming up with this week’s show title!

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