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Chaos Theory: Understanding The Secret World's crafting, part two
So last week we tested the waters of The Secret World's crafting system, and we learned the basics of material acquisition, how material quality level works, and how to assemble and disassemble basic items. This week we'll go into more detail on the assembly process. Whereas last time we stopped after creating a simple weapon, today we'll look at crafting talismans (TSW's answer to traditional MMO armor) and glyphs (which are basically talisman upgrades and the primary way to customize your gear).
Chaos Theory: Understanding The Secret World's crafting, part one
The Secret World's crafting system, much like the rest of the game, is deeper and more complex than it first appears. On the surface, it's a matter of arranging stacks of materials into Minecraft-like visual patterns and pushing your assemble button. Underneath that, though, there's an elaborate game-within-the-game that's one of the more enjoyable MMO tradeskill systems I've experienced to date. Is it strictly necessary? Well, no. The Secret World is not a pure sandbox, so players can simply use drops and auctioned items to equip their characters. Rune-, glyph-, signet-, and gear-crafting offers an absurd amount of customization, though, and those of you who want full control over your decks and your play experience will want to have a look through my two-part crafting guide.
GDC 2012: The Secret World's crafting, combat (and cutscenes) revealed
Funcom's hush-hush demo at last week's Game Developer's Conference was quite a bit of fun, even if the opening few minutes treaded perilously close to wince-inducing. The Secret World creative director Ragnar Tornquist kicked things off with a brief introduction, which was followed by a look at the game's character creation as experienced by a female Dragon-faction avatar. Once that was complete, we got an eyeful of some opening cinematics, and I do mean an eyeful. If you've never watched a lesbian makeout scene alongside a half dozen sweaty male game journos (and a couple of pretty PR girls), well, let's just say that it's hilarious to think about now and fairly awkward to actually experience.
