Cindy Claveau

I'm so psyched about this I don't know what to do with myself

The Secret World Pre-order



I bought the cheap option. It's been my experience that collector's editions are generally not worth the cost, and the skill tree design of Secret World gives you so much flexibility (on the fly!) that 3 character slots ought to be ample for the 3 factions if you're into alts. And I'm also sure one could buy more slots later if you wanted.

The client was really fast to download and install. Now I just need the beta servers to come up and let me play!

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"As long as there’s one person on earth who remembers you, it isn’t over." - Oscar Hammerstein

Ramen Jedburgh

Sounds kind of neat but I wonder if there is really a need for a pay per month RPG with such a plethora of F2P model games available.

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Ramen Jedburgh
Abusively Cute ^_^

Cindy Claveau

Even the F2P games will nickel and dime you with charges for additional content. Age of Conan's free model requires payment for more inventory space and higher levels. The upcoming game Path of Exile (kind of a fun Diablo clone which just had an open beta stress test this past weekend) is based on that same monetized model.

So in my view, you either pay full price up front and get the whole game or you pay $10 here and $20 there to add to your subscription. Pick your poison.

The Secret World is so different from other MMOs in all respects that I don't frankly care what model they use. I've been waiting for this one for over a year and I'm pumped to play.

Cindy Claveau

Here's a good synopsis of the skill system:

Kavik Brock

Holy crap! They really hard-sell the extras on the pre-order page. jeebuz...

I've been wanting to play this game since it was announced, but after looking at the pre-order page I'm really hesitant. I'm going to have to give this some thought; even with as much as I want to play.

grrrrr....

Ramen Jedburgh

Eh, except, the overall cost still feels less I've played Second Life since 2006 and spent maybe 100 dollars total. I've tried some WoW and Aion and Star Trek online and not had to spend a cent (though that's partially because they were all boring enough of an experience I didn't get very far). Even on Team Fortress 2 I've only spent maybe 50 dollars for a few years of play.

Cindy Claveau

Boil it down:

* Do you really want to shell out $250 for a lifetime sub when most MMO interest barely exceeds a year (or for me less)?

* Three character slots = the 3 factions. You don't need extra slots for a Paladin, Wizard, etc., since your Illuminati character (or your Templar or your Dragon) can amass any skills and switch them at will between combat. There are no classes. Only a die-hard alt-hoarder (me) would need more than 3 slots.

* A snakeskin jacket? Really? Pricey for a gee-gaw.

* Experience potions? Might be handy if you're a powerleveller. Personally I intend to suck every last drop of xp goodness out of this one and enjoy the ride. If I get on one of my kicks, I won't need potions to level quickly

* Starting a little earlier than other players? Tempting, I admit, but mainly if you just want to blast through the content and avoid the newbie crowds. Those newbie crowds won't last more than a couple of weeks anyway, though, if you go by other MMOs in the past.

I generally pass up on the "valuable items" lure. In games past, I outgrew that special item by level 5 and banked it because it wouldn't let me sell or trade it. Meh.

My conclusion? I'm just buying the $50 game and I'll get to play in the beta for a couple of months. When release comes around, I and my friends probably won't even worry about jumping ahead a few days or having a sharkskin jacket to wear.

Cindy Claveau

Then maybe this game isn't your cup of tea. I can't tell you whether it is or not. That's your decision.

Sean Gorham

I'm interested in trying this out - I have been since I first heard about it, and I'm a die-hard MMO-hater these days. I'm not interested enough to pay for beta, though.

Cindy Claveau

I'm not interested in shelling out more than the usual $50 game cost, either. I have my name reserved and I'll poke around some on weekends until release. That's all I wanted for now

Edav Nomad

Sometimes those pay off but only if you play them a lot. In some cases they get monthly stipends. LOTRO gives 500 Turbine Points to buy things from the store. Below is list of what Gold Members get for STO. Lifetime subscribers automatically got made Gold Members.

F2P Features Matrix | Star Trek Online Official Site

I probably won't ever get a lifetime subscription again though but they can be good if you play the game a lot.

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Kavik Brock

/signed

However; I'm a big dork when it comes to pre-order or things remotely like Collector's Edition perks/extras.



So, I know I'll (pre) order; I just need to figure out what I'll make use of and how much I think I might use it and play the game with my limited gaming time.

Edav Nomad

The big question is that will it be through EA's Origin only?

Mad Mouse

I got an email that they will be giving away beta keys via Facebook this weekend during PAX. Probably impossible to win though

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Ramen Jedburgh

If I were more into MMOs I could see where this would be tempting. what they need to do (which they might) is continue to offer the lifelong option after the game is released. This way, if people are skeptical that it'll last they can change their mind later.

As it is, nothing towards this game, so many MMOs totally flop within a year and shelling out the $200 does seem risky. Or, you could win the lottery and it could be the next WOW and last for a decade.

Cindy Claveau

The promo page lists Origin as one of several product vendors, but I can't find anything specifically stating that this will be an Origin-only game.

I have Origin running on my machine to allow me to play Kingdoms of Amalur, but given how often I don't play that (and EA's threat to remove individual licenses for games that aren't played for 2 years), I'm seriously considering removing Origin and all its spyware from my machine. If it's required for Secret World I'll rethink, but all that will do is piss me off.

TorturedPolygon

I was looking forward to this game. Between the upgrade preorder options and cash shop microtransactions in addition to a subscription...I'm gonna pass for now. I don't have that much faith in FailCom. It sounds as though they are hedging their bets until F2P.

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Seriously. . .poking and prodding just makes a bitch even bitchier. ~Maelstrom Eyre

Dain Shan

I preordered today.
Well that clearly shows i never will learn ..
And .. i like it ^^

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Aki Shichiroji

I just wanna see the next instalment of Tornquist's Longest Journey/Dreamfall series. Is that too much to ask?

On a more serious note, I was originally rather interested but am not really sure what the game wants to be. Primarily a zombie MMO? Also, the camera movement from the various trailers has me hesitant, since i get nauseous from many video games rather easily.

Siyu Suen

I got a chance to play it over the weekend, but I admit I was disappointed. I loved TLJ and Dreamfall and I'd love to see what Ragnar Tornquist does with an entire open world... but I just didn't like the actual gameplay. As it was when I tried it, the skills seemed disconnected and like they had no natural synergy, and movement felt odd. The skill thing is probably the drawback to such an open selection of abilities, not all skill schools will work well together but even a few from the same tree just seemed discombobulated. That on its own wasn't a deal breaker, but while playing, I ran into an area way beyond my power, and died when I faced my first baddie. I ran headfirst into an incredibly frustrating experience. TSW is apparently using the old "corpse run" death mechanic, so when I came back at a nearby "animus well" I had to run back to my body to fetch it. Unfortunately, you can't interact, use skills or pull mobs away before you've fetched your corpse, and so since the mob was right on top of my body I wasn't able to resurrect myself without aggroing them. There was also no fast travel system that I could use to escape quickly, and when you have an enemy's aggro apparently you can't sprint? I wasn't able to anyway, and after dying several times immediately after running back and rezzing myself I just gave up. The whole corpse run thing just seems like an old artifact of the last generation of MMO's, and decidedly out of place in such a seemingly groundbreaking RPG without levels or classes. I shouldn't have to fight a game to enjoy it, not when I have other, less frustrating options. Maybe they won't have the same amazing story but at least I'll have fun playing them

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"Your reality, sir, is lies and balderdash and I'm delighted to say that I have no grasp of it whatsoever" -Baron Munchausen

I'm attempting to bring about the end of the world to usher in a new era of mask wielding overlords. This is how!

Dain Shan

They have corpse runs?
PERFECT
Finally you have to pay attention to your surroundings again .. That suits me well

Siyu Suen

I don't really see how paying attention to your environment and fetching your body so directly relate. Obviously I'm not everyone and I know a lot of people are used to this mechanic (the last game I played with it was Diablo 2 if that says anything), but this wasn't fun for me. The mob that killed me was directly on top of my body, and if I was close enough to rez I was close enough to aggro. I wasn't able to dodge, run away from or escape their hits, and so I just kept going down. Maybe I was missing something in my noobishness but it was extremely frustrating and not something to look forward to.

Dain Shan

You said you run into an area that was way beyound your power?
I guess even in TSW theres a way to "see" how strong the nsc's are, compared to your Avatar.

Thats what i meant with paying attention to the surroundings. I always being dissapointed if death means nothing in such games.
Dont get me wrong .. its not that a favour annoyances or such. But at least a sense of danger must be there, or its all meanigless.
I simply prefer it that way ... with corpse runs and the danger to run into real diffculties

Siyu Suen

Unfortunately there was no easy way to tell by sight, the particular mob that ended up pwning me so badly was a group of zombies near a playground. They looked identical to the zombies that were in lower level areas, and since you can attack without selecting them I didn't see the level marker on their health bars until I'd already gotten into the thick of them. At that point it was too late. There was also no way of knowing it was a higher level area when I entered that zone (no recommended level notification or movement restriction), and I had run a good distance in without aggroing anything so it was a rather rude surprise. Don't get me wrong, I don't like to be coddled, but in the case of having the ability to openly explore and get into situations you're really not ready to handle you should also have the ability to get out of them.

Cindy Claveau

1997 called. They want their outmoded game mechanics back.