Tag: The Secret World

Funcom Management Pulled Mankini


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Those of you who follow The Secret World likely already know the story, but last week saw the addition and sudden removal of a mankini outfit from the in-game cash shop as part of the April Fool’s day patch. Not only was the item removed from the game without explanation, it was also removed and a refund applied to those who had already purchased the suit.

Joel Bylos posted on the official forums to explain that miscommunication caused the

To be clear: the Mankini outfit (and the wetsuit) was definitely an April Fool’s joke, and it was always my intention to have them be available for a limited time only in the store. However, it was never my intention to pull them from players who actually bought these items. Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication between my team and Funcom management on how this was to be handled. Funcom management feels strongly that the Mankini outfit goes against what The Secret World intellectual property (IP) is all about and they did not want this item to stay in the game permanently.

Bylos assured the community that Funcom is working to ensure that such a situation is not repeated in the future.

(Source: TSW Forums)

The Secret World Preps Tokyo


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The final showdown is upon us! After months beating back the filth as it attempts to creep its way around the world, players will finally converge to battle the Zero Point Pathogen in a 40 man raid.

The final showdown in Agartha takes place now in Funcom’s The Secret World! The last chapter of the extensive Whispering Tide event has come, and now the players must face a huge 40 man raid challenge to defeat the invasion of Filth.

The event will run until the portal to Tokyo has been cleansed, allowing players to enter Tokyo once Issue #9 is released.

(Source: The Secret World press release)

MMOrning Shots: Take A Bath


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Today’s MMOrning Shot comes from The Secret World. While going through missions that I had passed up, I once again found myself in the Innsmouth Academy. Now, I get the whole idea of blood splattered people adding to the horror element, but it wasn’t until a mission had me head upstairs to grab a file off of the Headmaster’s desk that I realized how disgusting this trio must smell, hiding in that office for all this time. Add to that the experiments in vaporizing familiars, and that wing of the school must smell like a combination of burnt flesh, stale blood, and body odor. And you know that girl doesn’t have access to a shower or change of clothing. My poor avatar.

The Secret World doesn’t need more weapon vendors, it needs an Old Spice and hand sanitizer salesman.

Funcom Offices Raided By Economic Crime Unit


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News out of Norway is that Funcom employees showing up to work this morning were met by the economic crimes unit Økokrim. Police raided the Funcom offices, retrieving boxes full of seized documents. According to News in English, the raid is related to an investigation over whether or not Funcom breached disclosure requirements related to The Secret World, as well as who had access to inside information leading up to the game’s release. Funcom is also being charged with negligent bookkeeping according to a news post on the Oslo stock exchange, from which the company has been delisted until the investigation is complete.

This isn’t the first time that The Secret World has landed someone in hot water. Funcom’s former CEO Tron Aas came under investigation after he left his position and offloaded his shares of Funcom the day before The Secret World launched and Funcom’s stock plummeted. Employees have reportedly been sent home for the day.

(Source: News in English)

Funcom's Third Quarter Finances


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Funcom has released their third quarter results for 2013, and as usual the results are a mix of the good and the bad. Revenues in the third quarter amounted to $5.3 million, a decrease over the same time last year when The Secret World initially launched. A significant operating cost decrease combined with tax credits allowed for a $2.2 million cash flow compared to a slight loss in the previous quarter.

The main source of revenue for this past quarter came from The Secret World and Age of Conan, consistent with last quarter but lower than last year. Revenue in all games went down due to high profile game releases including Grand Theft Auto V. Work continues on the engine upgrade for Anarchy Online, and further initiatives are being pursued across all titles despite a relatively stable quarter for The Secret World and Age of Conan.

Funcom’s upcoming title, Lego Minifigures, is maintaining its development schedule, and was met with a positive response at its public showing in Cologne, Germany. The company expects lower revenue in the next quarter.

Nab The Secret World Massive Edition For $30


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If you haven’t picked up The Secret World, now is your chance to get your hands on an amazing deal. Funcom has made the Massive Edition available on Steam, and until November 1st you can get the whole package at 50% off. The Secret World Massive Edition includes the base game and four DLC “issues” it comes with, as well as issues five, six, seven, and the plague doctor Halloween costume. After November 1st, this package will go back up to its regular price of $59.99.

(Source: Steam)

 

Funcom Director Letter Details TSW Anniversary


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Boy, The Secret World, has it really been one year since you graced us with your launch? Despite some hardship along the way, our good friend Joel over at Funcom is proud of what the team has accomplished over the past year. July 3rd marks the beginning of the Guardians of Gaia event, for The Secret World’s first anniversary. The event will task players with defeating the Guardians, the second line of defense for the planet against the Filth. Why are players fighting the guardians of the planet? That depends on your faction, but it primarily has to do with the Guardians breaking the secrecy of The Secret World, that they consider human casualties as an acceptable collateral to stopping The Filth, and that they aren’t very good at their job.

The event will bring in bonuses, gifts, and discounts to all players. Additionally, anyone who has ever played a Funcom game will be able to access The Secret World for a week. The event will kick off Issue #7: A Dream To Kill, where players will uncover a dark force that threatens the entire world.

Check out the whole letter at the link below.

(Source: TSW Director Letter)

The Secret World Teases Event Leading To Tokyo


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Funcom has released the latest Game Director letter for The Secret World, detailing the upcoming updates of Issue #7 and #8. Coming in the next few weeks, Issue #7 deals with a new threat facing our Secret World co-conspirators: The Filth. The event is set to take place over the course of several events, spawning from the Tokyo district and moving to other areas of the world. The event will begin after the release of Issue #7 and after the first anniversary event for The Secret World.

Over the coming months as we ramp up towards Tokyo, players will be fighting to contain, and drive back the filth which is tainting the world tree. With every patch, this event will move to a new phase until eventually, if players have done enough, they will gain access to Tokyo itself.

Issue #8 deals with players proving their worth by completing training situations with the Council of Venice in order to be certified to enter Tokyo. Only the bravest and most capable will be able to take on the threat that awaits and the Council must be sure you are able to stay alive long enough to make some headway. Scenarios are repeatable and pit the user in a variety of random situations to test their adaptability.

We’ve heard this word random thrown around before, so let me provide a concrete example: Imagine a Scenario in Kingsmouth Church, where the player has been tasked with helping a group of survivors get through the night (12hrs). Every hour or so (in game time 5 minutes), huge numbers of zombies spawn around the church and move to attack the survivors. The player has multiple options to defend against these waves, including traps and tricks they find lying around. Where the random element comes into play is the chance of something else occurring on the waves: Special bosses spawning, survivors panicking and fleeing the church, an infected survivor turning and attacking the others, a helicopter dropping additional supplies or lightning striking randomly in the spaces around the church.

Sounds fun. This comes alongside an augmentation system allowing players to customize their powers toward specific uses. You can read the entire letter at the link below.

(Source: The Secret World)

The Secret World 50% Off On Origin


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Good news, gamers. You can now pick up The Secret World through EA’s Origin store for 50% off, or $14.99 USD. The purchase gives access to the full Secret World experience minus the DLC expansions and the items available in the cash shop. Otherwise, The Secret World is completely subscription free (ignore the outdated notice at the bottom of the origin page). The offer does not include all countries, so if you see the game at its standard price, you probably aren’t included in it.

You do not need to download Origin in order to play The Secret World. Simply log in or create a Funcom account and apply your key, then download the client from the Secret World website.

(Source: Origin)

Funcom Bigwigs Weigh In On Relocation


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With the recent layoffs Funcom’s Montreal/Raleigh offices and closure of Funcom’s Beijing office, everyone is asking: What does this mean for Age of Conan? Or The Secret World? Or Anarchy Online? Or that Lego Minifigure MMO? Or that kid’s game you probably never heard of? Each of the game’s directors have written their own letters to the community this morning, giving some insight into how things will be changing down the road ahead.

Craig Morrison stepped up on the Age of Conan website to discuss future content. There’s no point in sugar coating it, as Morrison says, and development will be affected by the layoffs and consolidation of the development teams. Development on Dragonspine content, as well as the trade-skill revamp and more are still in progress with most of the content still on track for release this year. Over at The Secret World, Joel Bylos discussed similarly that development will hit some turbulence due to the consolidation of the development teams into one studio, and the loss of employees unwilling to relocate as part of the restructuring. He goes on to say that The Secret World still has a strong development team, and that Issue #6 is on track to launch at the end of February, containing new content set in Egypt as well as improvements to the game’s PvP, among other additions.

Overall, the message is pretty similar: Expect some bumps in the road for the near future, after which Funcom hopes to get everything ironed out and resume normal operations. It appears that, while they may take more time, pretty much all of the content that was in development for Funcom’s MMOs prior to the shift are still on their way, even if they take a bit longer than hoped for.