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Chaos Theory: Been there, done that, got the guardian event t-shirt in The Secret World
The hardest part about writing about The Secret World's anniversary Guardians of Gaia event was stopping long enough to write! No, seriously, it was completely addicting; you kept thinking, "Oh, just one more guardian," and soon the entire day and half of the night was gone. And then the weekend. I should know because I hardly left the game this past week! (But let's keep that between us, shall we?) What could be so compelling that it kept me logged in for more hours than I'm willing to admit even to comrades at a gaming site? It all started innocently enough: I simply came to the aid of someone trying for a guardian pet reward. Quite the critter aficionado myself, I was more than happy to help, Sounds harmless enough, right? Wrong! That was only the beginning. Little did I know what I was truly in for as the event turned out to be a veritable smörgåsbord of AP, SP, and loot as well as a shining example of community cooperation. And I got a t-shirt! Unfortunately, it couldn't all be sunshine and kittens... I mean gloom and golems (this is TSW after all!). Something invariably has to go wrong, or it wouldn't be a true MMO, right? There was a definite black cloud that hung over the otherwise festive occasion. And I hope it is one that Funcom will address and dispel for any future events.%Gallery-193850%
The Secret World dev blog expounds on Issue #6 PvP changes
When Issue #6 Last Train to Cairo was announced for The Secret World, a new PvP ranking system was briefly touched upon. In today's dev blog, system designer Tim Donks goes into more detail about this new feature as well as the matchmaking system. In response to player requests for PvP rewards, Issue #6 is introducing Battle Ranks. By gaining PvP experience (which is shared among all group members who are present and alive at the time of the enemy kill), players can climb the ranks of PvP prowess, earning special tokens along the way to spend on various PvP rewards, including uniforms that are automatically equipped when entering PvP. An important note about PvP experience: Less XP is earned for each subsequent kill of the same player within the battlegrounds, Fusang, and the fight clubs until nothing is gained. This diminishing rewards system resets for each new trip into a PvP zone. Once the update hits, players will also be able to queue for multiple battlegrounds at the same time. Also expected in Issue #6 -- or shortly thereafter -- players' wins and losses in PvP matches will be tracked to improve the matchmaking mechanic.
Chaos Theory: TSW's new PvP -- how do you like them Big Apples?
Back when you all sent me into The Secret World for Choose My Adventure, little did you know that someday I'd be in the driver's seat of Chaos Theory. Yet here I am! It was quite the stroke of luck (to say nothing of the behind-the-scenes plotting and the occasional subtle manipulations) that landed me here. I promise, I didn't break too many fingers wresting the keys away from Jef, so you'll continue to see him all over Massively. I am pretty sure he can type with a cast... Anyway, let's get down to business because there is so much that can be said about The Secret World and not nearly enough time to say it! So what's my debut column going to be? Well, truthfully, I was going to delve into a few points of the new Big Trouble in the Big Apple update. But once I started, the sheer magnitude of all the stuff just filled page after page after page. So instead, I relegated one aspect to a different column (be sure to check out Some Assembly Required on December 7th!) and retooled my focus here to just the new PvP experience. You've heard about what the changes are and how excited some players are for them, but how do they play out in day-to-day PvP life in TSW? Keep reading to see.
Funcom overhauling Fusang PvP in The Secret World's Issue #4 update
The days of zerging Fusang missions for AP, SP, and black marks are numbered, according to Funcom's latest dev blog. The Secret World's senior PvP designer explains some significant changes heading our way in the game's Issue #4: Big Trouble in the Big Apple update. "[The] new reward scheme incentivizes conflict a lot more, since now you have to actually hold on to your objectives in order to gain rewards," writes Rasmus "Bjorndal" Harr. "This also means that zerging is discouraged, since you ideally need to have players spread out in several groups to be able to quickly react to events." Players will no longer receive black marks for completing Fusang PvP missions, and Funcom is also adding PvP vendors to the zone that sell upgrades for the turrets and custodians that guard each facility. Furthermore, the devs are implementing an underdog mission to assist undermanned factions as well as cross-dimensional Fusang battlegroups. That's not all, either, as Harr has plenty to say about matchmaking and currency changes. Read all about it at the official TSW website.
Funcom addressing PvP issues in The Secret World
The Secret World's PvP fanbase knows that right now Fusang is more like a merry-go-round than a battleground, with groups just circling around capping facilities and anima wells. Funcom has noted this as well as other issues and has released an overall plan for improving high-level PvP. Among the changes are plans to give incentives for defending facilities and for staying in the Fusang PvP zone longer. The Eldorado and Stonehenge battlegrounds will also see some tweaks, including incentives for increased participation and a reduction in the size of the center "score circle" so players cannot gain points while hiding behind the perimeter stones. Additionally, players saving up for PvP talisman upgrade kits might soon get more for their tokens as the prices will most likely drop.
Chaos Theory: The Secret World's one-month checkup
Huh, has it been a month already? Time flies when you're having fun, I guess, and yep, I'm still having quite a bit of it in The Secret World. Yesterday brought us the big 1.1 patch, the one patch to rule them all (thus far), and the first post-launch content drop. Funcom has famously promised updates like this on a monthly basis, and as first starts go, this was a good'un. We got seven new story missions (five of which were the meaty investigation variety), all of them chock-full of interesting stuff to do and interesting cutscenes to ogle. All of that said, the one-month mark is also when subscription MMOs find out whether they've got staying power or whether they're going to bleed, and if Funcom wants The Secret World to fall into the former category, it's still got a bit of work to do.
The Daily Grind: How do you like your MMO PvP?
So The Secret World's Fusang Projects PvP zone is a rollicking good time. And this is coming from someone who generally thinks of MMO PvP as ill-considered (at best). Why is it fun? I can't really put my finger on that. It's an absolutely huge zone, and beautifully rendered. It also supports hundreds of simultaneous players, and for the first week of the game at least, it's lived up to its constantly populated billing. It's pretty much a zerg, though, unless you happen to be in Ventrilo with a well-coordinated group. And therein lies today's breakfast topic. Assuming you partake of MMO PvP, do you do it in a small group or are you part of the hive mind? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
