Tag: The Secret World

The Secret World Opens Up Account-Wide Unlocks


jomali

Cash shops can be a major pain in the rear, especially if you’re the type of player who would take Bioware up on their 350 character slot limit. Buying multiple copies of the same piece of cosmetic clothing or vanity pet can get pretty expensive when you’re looking at three, four, or more alternate characters. As a measure of good customer service, many MMOs allow for cosmetic unlocks to be available account-wide, enticing users who might otherwise be dissuaded by the threat of high-costs to open up their wallet.

Starting today in The Secret World, it will be possible to unlock pets account-wide for the cost of 25% over the base cost of the pet. So for instance if a single pet cost 200 Funcom points (not a real estimate), the cost to unlock account-wide would be 250 Funcom points. If you already own the pet as of the transition, you will simply have to pay the 25% extra cost in order to unlock them account-wide. Additionally, Funcom will be rolling out the veteran reward system soon. Players who purchase a subscription will receive relevant points at the start of the period, including multi-month subscribers as well as Grand Masters (lifetime accounts). Funcom is planning on adding in a large variety of items, although the total list has not been fleshed out.

(Source: Funcom)

[Community] Must We Threaten To Sue Over Everything?


jomali

As you all know, The Secret World went Buy-to-Play, dropping the required subscription in return for giving subscribers more perks and allowing the unwashed masses to play (and presumably spend some cash in the cash shop) by simply picking up the box copy. Like any other town with a bridge to live under, there is a subsection of players who are apparently licensed, practicing, ambulance chasing lawyers, and naturally someone brought up the idea of suing Funcom over the transition. The claim is that the terms of the subscription/lifetime account have been changed without prior knowledge, and that somehow Funcom has diminished the value of the deal without offering a refund.

If you take a look at The Secret World pre-transition, you’ll find two tiers:

Subscriber:

  • Access to The Secret World for that month.
  • Cash shop points based on multi-month packages.

Grand Master (lifetime):

  • Access to The Secret World forever.
  • 1 additional character slot.
  • Set of XP potions.
  • Set of Talismans.
  • 10% discount to cash shop.
  • Snakeskin Jacket.

Following the transition to buy to play, the following benefits were added to accounts:

Subscriber:

  • Mayan time accelerator (reusable bonus xp item)
  • $10 worth of bonus points (cash shop)
  • Item-of-the-month gift
  • 10% discount to everything in the store.

Grand Master:

  • 20% discount to cash shop.
  • Everything subscribers receive above.

Additionally, Funcom instituted a “price guarantee” to subscribers and grand masters ensuring that they will be able to receive any DLC for free by marking down the price to match the monthly bonus point stipend. For example, if a piece of DLC is released that costs $20, the price will be marked down to $10 for subscribers and grand masters. In the shortest sense: There isn’t anything in the new plan that subscribers or grand masters no longer have access to in the new plan. In fact, the benefits (even over the new buy to play tier) have only increased.

I suppose it all comes down to whether or not you see the addition of another tier (buy to play) as removing a benefit from subscribers/grand masters. Perhaps it would have been better from a PR perspective for Funcom to allow players to request refunds for multi-month packages that still had time left rather than to force the players into adopting the new system. Like it or not, there are still a good deal of players who remain loyal to subscription-only games and would not touch a buy-to-play/free-to-play game with a ten foot pole, let alone spend money on it.

Heading forward, however, the MMO community should always know that when a company states that they have no intention of going free to play, they actually mean “at this time.” With the market of MMOs very heavily favoring optional subscriptions rather than mandatory subscriptions, such a transition isn’t as much a possibility as it is an inevitability with the only question being how far post-launch does the game move over? There are obvious exceptions to the rule, strong titles like Eve Online and World of Warcraft who see a better environment in subscriptions, or games like Warhammer Online that simply don’t have the funds to make the transition.

Regardless, you won’t find any legal expert who will agree that Funcom has done anything worthy of legal action, even if some customers aren’t entirely happy with the transition.

70,000 Copies of The Secret World Sold Since Buy To Play


jomali

Alright, so first the bad news. Funcom has released a brand new press release where they discuss that the company will be undergoing some continued restructuring. Costs will be reduced through the closure and consolidation of offices to create a more unified organization. The goal is to use Funcom’s new streamlined technology to better serve their existing MMOs (Secret World, Anarchy Online, Age of Conan) as well as focusing on upcoming, smaller yet high quality titles including the Lego minifigure MMO. The good news, however, is that The Secret World’s transition to buy to play was a completely unsurprising success. Since December, over seventy thousand new units of The Secret World have been sold. As new players come into the game and old players return, activity levels in game have jumped 400%.

“We are building the basis of a very sustainable business. With a restructured organization, we will have a joint team of the best-of-the-best working together to expand our existing online worlds and to create new, exciting and memorable online experiences such as our upcoming ‘LEGO Minifigures’ game.”
-Ole Schreiner, CEO of Funcom

More details will be available in the future, once the process is complete.

(Source: Funcom)

Funcom Follows Arenanet: The Secret World Is Buy To Play


jomali

Good news, bears. As of…now, The Secret World is buy to play for all. Like Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2, this means that all you have to do is purchase the client and you have full access to the game for as long as you desire (or as long as the game is up and running anyhow). This means all content in the original game, plus that in the first four DLC packs.

“Buy the game before December the 31st and all the content in Issue #5, which will be released shortly, will also be included and you will receive the Initiate Pack, which includes strong starter weapons, a Blood Raven pet and extra social clothing.”

Being a subscriber now offers extra bonuses, from a bonus experience item to $10 worth of Bonus Points monthly for the cosmetic cash shop, an item-of-the-month gift, and a 10% discount to everything in the store. Lifetime subscribers will receive a bonus 10% discount to everything in the store.

Since this is a transition to a new payment model, that means new items being added to the cash shop. Players will now be able to buy bonus AP potions which double ability point gain, as well as a run speed upgrade which works the same as the item that can be bought through the secret society. The first paid DLC will release in January for $5, but anyone who has purchased The Secret World before December 31st will receive it for free.

(Source: The Secret World)

The Secret World Marks The End of Days, December 21st


I know what you are thinking, and you are wrong. The end of the world is upon us, and what better game to celebrate in than the one that brings truth to all of the wibbly wobbly, timey wimey…stuff. The Secret World has posted an upcoming Alternate Reality Game event, beginning in just a few days and leading up to December 21st. As posted on the main website:

“This might be your one chance to save yourself from this inevitable cosmic event, and we encourage you to pre-register to take part in the ARG. Pre-registration is free and available on this page. The ARG will start in a few days and this is one train you do not want to miss.”

The website asks for your email address, with an optional form for your phone number and Twitter. No details on how these forms of communication will be utilized, but it will be a nice change to have the heavy breathing coming from the other end of the phone to be from an automated message than my plumber. For those of you who would rather not participate, follow me on Twitter @mmofallout. I will try to keep you updated on what happens.

Is anyone else just happy that “End of Days” didn’t turn out to mean that the game was shutting down? I know I am.

(Source: The Secret World)

Funcom Listens: The Secret World Receives Reticle Combat, Back End Engine Updates


The Secret World marks three months since launch, and while shakeups at Funcom have resulted in the team being moved around, the team is dedicated to keeping everything business as usual. In a continued effort to improve on the game, Funcom has been releasing near monthly “issues” updates, offering new quests and features. With the launch of Issue #4 on the horizon, new game director Joel Bylos has posted a letter from the director, detailing where he will be taking the game.

Starting with Issue #4, The Secret World will be treated to a much-requested feature, reticule combat. The update doesn’t radically change combat, and it is completely optional for players who might prefer the current system, but it is a welcome update regardless. Additionally, the Dreamworld Engine will be receiving some upgrades in the coming future to allow for more fluid animations. The upgrades will be used to improve player and NPC animations in The Secret World and Funcom’s future MMOs. The team is also looking into fixing up skills that have become filler.

More on The Secret World as it exists.

(Source: The Secret World)

Funcom Reverses Layoffs, Anarchy Online Engine Update, Steam


You were paying attention when Funcom stated that the layoffs back at the end of August were temporary, weren’t you? In the latest Flash Point podcast, Joel Bylos went on to explain that the rehiring process has already begun, with three of the ex-Funcom employees brought back to the team. On the end of The Secret World, Funcom will continue its tactic of monthly issue updates, adding in a wide range of new content to the MMO.

In other Funcom news, Anarchy Online is coming to Steam. In the monthly update post over at the Anarchy Online forums, Producer Ilaliya explains that the Steam-compatible version of Anarchy will be available as soon as a few kinks are worked out, some to do with in-game bugs dealing with the Steam overlay, the other to do with internal scheduling over at Valve. Additionally, the long awaited upgrade to the Dreamworld Engine for Anarchy Online is coming along, with public beta testing to start hopefully early next year. This upgrade will bring with it a multitude of changes to Anarchy Online on a graphical and functional level, including the ability to add armor as additions to a character rather than the old painted on look.

(Source: Flash Point Podcast)

(Source: Monthly Development Update)

Funcom Former CEO Under Investigation, Insider Trading


I’m happy to see that I am not the only person who was baffled when Funcom’s CEO Trond Arne Aas suddenly up and flew the coup before the launch of The Secret World. As many of you already know, Funcom’s stock tumbled following the launch of The Secret World, from $17 to $2.23. Luckily, and perhaps in a well timed move, Trond was able to sell off 650,000 shares, possibly with the knowledge that The Secret World would fail to meet even Funcom’s lowest expectation of sales.

And if you are thinking, “gee, Omali. That sounds a lot like insider trading,” you would be correct. According to an insider at Funcom, reported to The Escapist, Trond Arne Aas is under investigation by Norway’s Financial Services Authority and OSE. Aas is claiming that, as he had stepped down as CEO, he had no access to sales figures until Funcom posted its latest financial details.

The source states that he would not be surprised if Aas ultimately winds up in jail.

(Source: The Escapist)

Funcom Q2 2012 Highlights


Funcom’s second quarter finances are out, and the results are rather predictable. Since we already know from previous reports that The Secret World failed to meet up to Funcom’s expectations, and greatly so, it comes as little surprise that the recently launched MMO has pulled in less than half of Funcom’s previous “Conan-like” scenario. The second quarter also has the bad luck of taking in all of The Secret World’s development costs with little of its income, due to head start not beginning until the end of July.

The Company still considers it likely that sales for the 12 months period following launch of the game will be less than half of what was presented in the Conan-like scenario in 1Q presentation.

Revenue was down once again compared to the previous quarter, due to Funcom’s main source of revenue (Age of Conan) taking yet another hit in sales. That being said, all of Funcom’s currently launched MMOs are rated as “cash flow positive.” The Secret World has sold more than 200,000 copies since launch, as noted in the filing, with what Funcom says is a strong and positive reaction from its user base. Funcom recently launched a number of titles, including The Secret World, the MOBA Bloodline Champions, and a couple of free to play social games.

For the future, Funcom has a few titles under its belt. Revealed earlier this year, Funcom has partnered with Lego to create an MMO based on the mini-figures. Additionally, the report mentions a large-scale MMO titled “Project A.” No doubt we will be hearing more about that in the future.

(Source: Funcom Investor)

Taco Tuesday: 5 Reasons I Play The Secret World


It is Taco Tuesday, and that can only mean one thing: lists of things describing things. Before I dive deep, I want to preface this with a small note. I generally write the Taco Tuesday piece days, and often a week in advance. The timing of this Taco Tuesday appearing on the same day that Funcom announced layoffs is pure coincidence. So without further ado, here are my top five reasons for playing The Secret World.

Quests Are The Fourth Pillar

I like to think of The Secret World as succeeding where The Old Republic, in a way, failed. While the cutscenes in The Old Republic brought a level of immersion that isn’t normally seen in the MMO genre, it was little more than a gimmick. The personal story was always worth keeping up with, but the whole system was just a veil added on to hide the quest grinding required to level up. A veil that didn’t work all too great.

The Secret World follows the formula I’ve talked about with RuneScape: Quality over quantity. There are a much smaller selection of quests in The Secret World compared to your average MMO, but each quest presents a unique and interesting story with memorable characters and events.

My personally favorite quest so far is an impromptu tower defense that tasks the player with setting up area-of-effect traps at various roadblocks. Some traps would cause damage, others would stun, and some would slow movement, but it was ultimately up to the player to take charge of crowd control and ensure the traps weren’t destroyed. This quest was insanely difficult, because at the later stages your trap placement needs to be perfect, and there is a lot of trial and error in play.

Characters and Storytelling

Normally I couldn’t care less about characters in an MMO. The random NPCs in the world with generated names, standing idly and doing little more than repeating generic phrases, offering generic quests, and shouting random pop references and internet memes. They don’t excite me.

Luckily all of those generic people are dead in The Secret World and are likely roaming around as the faceless zombies whose heads you will smash in along the way. What small population has made it through the apocalypse are rife with things to say and tasks for you to accomplish. Every character you come across is unique and memorable, even if the creatures you fight are coupled into classes.

The Secret World has done what few others can accomplish: making the player want to know what is going on in the world, and actually interested in playing through quests for a reason other than gathering experience.

Combat Isn’t A Mindless Endeavor

This sounds terrible, and it is painfully true. The Secret World takes a more tactical approach to combat. Your stature and positioning is important when it comes to blocking or avoiding enemy attacks, and your more powerful attacks are mostly reliant on first inflicting status effects on your foe.

My chaos character is equipped to deal with almost any situation, from large crowds of mobs to single foes and boss characters in between. While the random nameless mobs employ your regular method of running in a straight line and attacking, the world is well populated with foes that require more finesse to defeat.

Indicators on the field require you to pay attention to combat, and just the fact that I can’t run through areas in a stupor watching Netflix places The Secret World on a level above a large number of its bedfellows.

Levelless Gameplay

I’m sure there are people who will dispute this as a negative aspect of The Secret World, but I see it as a positive. The idea that the world presented by Funcom is all about exploration is just encouraged by the fact that the game doesn’t herd you through zones. In level-based games, once you out-level a zone, you have to choose between dumping the story and moving on to the next area, or taking a hit in experience gain (and eventually a complete loss) in order to continue questing or exploring the entire map.

The Secret World sits somewhere between the very incremental increase in power that you receive in games like Darkfall or Mortal Online, and one level being the difference between getting your ass kicked and beating an NPC without breaking a sweat. So the game isn’t so much about making the transition from this powerless weakling into a demi-god able to bring down fire and rain, but rather about taking your character on a journey from the discovery of their new found powers into a position of comfort in the new world.

I Want To Play It

Easiest to point out, hardest to explain. The combination of everything that makes The Secret World fun and unique culminates in a game I just simply want to play. I always know that a game is going to keep my attention when, while writing the Why Aren’t You Playing, I keep having to pull myself out of gathering screenshots as an excuse to keep playing. I also know it will hold my attention if I have to turn off Netflix because I can’t pay attention to both at the same time.

So the factor of The Secret World coming on the edge of Funcom’s CEO departing and the company taking a massive hit in its stock value, admittedly Funcom’s next couple of quarterly finances concern me. Hopefully Funcom can bring in the revenue it needs to keep development going for The Secret World, and they are guaranteed to at least have my fifteen bucks a month.