investigation-mission
Latest
The Secret World's first mission pack announced for next week
Those thirsting for new content in The Secret World are getting a little something to help tide them over until Tokyo is opened. In his latest Game Director Letter, Joel Bylos announced the game's first ever mission pack. Available in the item store next week, Sidestories: Further Analysis contains four new investigation missions spanning the TSW map and a new undisclosed feature. These missions will delve players deeper into the backstories and lives of various groups and characters like Dr. Aldini and the Draculesti. Bylos also gives more details on the AEGIS system, explaining that these items will be equipped in new gear slots and how the core of the system, controllers, come in three distinct types. On top of that, he noted that a few PvP fixes in patch 1.9 change the way relics are handled in El Dorado. You can catch all the details of these changes in the March letter.
Why I Play: The Secret World
I'll be the first to admit that I've been one of The Secret World's biggest fanboys ever since Funcom first announced its horror-flavored entry to the MMO space. I spent many a conversation extolling the game's many virtues to my gaming friends. "It's like real life if the universe were written by horror authors," I enthused, rambling on and on about the innovative investigation missions, the unique skill wheel progression system, the fresh modern-day setting, and so on and so forth. Then finally the fateful day came that TSW went live, and I loved it... for a while. But for some reason, it just didn't click, and so TSW sat unloved, guilt-inducingly staring at me from my desktop. Last week, I finally gave into the guilt and hopped back into the game. I had kept my subscription running, as I knew that even if I wasn't actively playing, I still wanted to support Funcom's endeavors with what I felt was a remarkably refreshing entry into the stagnant MMO marketplace. Last I left my Illuminati agent Rouage, he had hit something of a brick wall in Blue Mountain thanks to a very short-sighted and subpar character build. I figured I'd probably be replaying Kingsmouth and/or Savage Coast just to get the AP to rectify my build anyway, so I scrapped him and started from the beginning. This time, it clicked. So here I am to tell you why it clicked, and of course, why I play The Secret World.
Ragnar Tørnquist discusses TSW's skill system, investigations, and more
Dark days are coming, my friends. All the myths are true, and evil lurks around every corner. Thankfully, we've gotten our hands on a new PC Gamer interview with The Secret World's creative director Ragnar Tørnquist, which should help to cast some light on these grim prophecies. It's already well-known that The Secret World won't hinge on classes and levels but instead will allow players to craft their own skill sets from a number of set categories. Ragnar expounds on this system, explaining that players will have access to something called a Base Gear Manager, which essentially provides a way for players to quickly swap between preset groups of abilities and equipment in order to adapt to the situation at hand. While players will likely find themselves falling into the traditional MMO archetypes of tanks, healers, DPS, and so forth, Tørnquist points out that The Secret World won't be as instance-heavy as other games and will provide a plethora of open-world events that will allow players to come together as an ad hoc group to, say, keep a police station from being overrun by the forces of evil. Perhaps most interesting, though, are the bits of information revealed about the game's unique Investigation Missions. Tørnquist provides two examples of what players can expect from the ARG-inspired missions. One involves hunting down an in-game location based on a fortune teller's visions, while the other is a bit more in-depth, requiring players to look up information on a famous painter in order to progress. He also hints that the team may put up websites regarding in-game information that players will have to hack into in order to progress the investigation. For the full interview, which is full of interesting nuggets and anecdotes from Tørnquist himself, just click on the link below.
