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The Secret World releases Issue #5 teaser, announces End of Days events [Updated]
When Funcom announced that The Secret World was abolishing subscriptions and converting to a "pay once, play forever" model, the studio also noted that Issue #5 would be included free for everyone who had the game by the end of December. So now that the free-to-play question is answered, inquiring minds want to know what the next monthly update includes! Well, folks, we'll have to wait a bit longer on the full answer to that, but we do have a hint of the upcoming story; the cover art lets us know it deals with The Vanishing of Tyler Freeborn. We also have a special comic to start the story off after the break. Of course, the world is supposed to be ending, so what does that mean for TSW? Senior designer Tanya Short has jumped on the end-of-days bandwagon. In the latest dev blog, she details the special events that will begin on Friday the 21st, including special dynamic events and limited-time currency to spend on potions, unique weapon skins, and even a pet. As expected in any horror apocalypse, zombie attacks escalate everywhere and three giant nigh-invulnerable Harbingers will be roaming the lands. Will players find the single weakness of each that will bring down the behemoths before the world crashes? There is also a contest for the top player throughout the apocalypse with a title and pet reward, so hop on in and play a part in the end! [Updated with second version of comic. So tell us, which do you prefer?]%Poll-79645%
Secret World creative director goes crazy, kicks off End of Days chronicle
As we creep closer and closer to December 21st, more people seem to be paying attention to the cries of "The world is ending!" instead of reveling in holiday cheer. One recent convert to the end-of-days hype train is none other than Joel Bylos, creative director of The Secret World. After a weekend of poking around and researching the subject, Bylos decided that the world will definitely end at 11:11 on that fateful date and started a video blog to count down the remaining time. In the first installment, Bylos gets wistful about the fate of The Secret World. Then he gets a brilliant idea to bring more players to the game to experience the conspiracies for themselves. Charging into a meeting room, he spouts his idea to eradicate the game's subscription requirements. After all, who needs money when the world is ending? Management, however, seems less than convinced. Don't believe me? Watch the video after the break and see for yourself! [Source: Funcom press release]
The Secret World's Issue #5 to feature large new story arc, more
What's The Secret World game director Joel Bylos doing for Thanksgiving? We have no idea, but Funcom has released his latest letter to the community this morning. Much of Bylos' text recaps the recently released Issue #4, but he also teases the upcoming Issue #5 which will feature a "single, larger story arc" instead of the customary missions spread across the game's various locales. There's also a new auxiliary weapon in the works, and Funcom is caving to popular demand by making investigation missions repeatable (for reduced rewards, of course). There's more, but you'll need to head to the official TSW website to check it out.
Ragnar Tørnquist returning to his roots with Dreamfall Chapters
In September Funcom announced that Joel Bylos was taking over Ragnar Tørnquist's position of game director for The Secret World, leaving many of us wondering what the mastermind behind the renowned The Longest Journey series was getting up to. Well, now we finally know, and fans of TLJ will certainly be pleased to discover that Tørnquist is returning to his roots. Today, Ragnar announced that his new studio, Red Thread Games, is commencing development of Dreamfall Chapters, which will continue the story that began with The Longest Journey over a decade ago. Rock, Paper, Shotgun has posted a new interview with Tørnquist detailing what lies ahead for the world of Dreamfall and how Ragnar's new gig will affect his work on The Secret World (spoiler alert: He's remaining on the TSW team as Creative Director), so whether you're an avid adventure gamer or a die-hard fan of TSW, it's certainly worth a read. For all the juicy details, just click on through the link below to get to the full interview.
Chaos Theory: Reticles and roleplay in The Secret World
Funcom is a lot of things, but quitter isn't one of them. The company and its flagship The Secret World title have been through the proverbial poostorm in recent weeks, but the devs are doing their damnedest to come out swinging. What in tarnation am I talking about? Joel Bylos' state-of-the-game letter from yesterday, of course. The newly minted Game Director dumped a wall o' text on us that hinted at a couple of exciting developments in store for everyone's favorite horror/conspiracy MMO. Let's chat them up after the cut.
Funcom prepping The Secret World for reticle combat
Most of you Secret World fans know that the game has featured a changing of the guard in its development ranks. While Ragnar Tornquist remains as Creative Director, former Lead Content Designer Joel Bylos is now the Game Director, and as such he's penned his first state-of-the-game letter which just went live on TSW website. After a lengthy introduction, Bylos gets down to the business of update schedules. First up is Issue #4 and the long-awaited New York City raid. More importantly, the update will introduce reticle combat. Bylos says it's something the game has needed for a long time, but he's also conscious of the fact that some players may prefer to do without. "I feel it makes combat a lot more direct and exciting. We are not forcing it upon anyone, though. You will be able to freely switch between traditional targeting and the reticle depending on what you feel is best for you," he explains. Bylos also hints at "an entirely new animation backend for the Dreamworld engine," which should allow the firm to address common complaints regarding TSW's avatar movement. There's more, too, including a bit on puzzle raids, but you'll need to head to the official website to read it all.
Funcom: Secret World 'not going free-to-play any time soon' [Updated]
Funcom's still riding the roller-coaster that is The Secret World, but as of today the Norwegian development firm has no plans to do away with the game's subscription fee. "No it's not going free-to-play any time soon," Funcom communications director Erling Ellingsen told Eurogamer. "There's currently no plans for making it free-to-play." The game is in fact profitable as a subscription title, Ellingsen says, and creative director Ragnar Tornquist says that Funcom has content plans laid out through May of 2013. Tornquist and game director Joel Bylos spend a good bit of the interview talking about the challenges TSW faced last summer, from mediocre reviews to the need to launch and enable continued development to the stiff MMO competition. "MMOs are hugely expensive, and of course Guild Wars 2 has sold a lot, and of course it's a big success. That game cost a lot of money and they're going to have to sell a lot of copies, especially without a subscription model. It is a dangerous path," Tornquist said. "It might be the right path for MMOs; as a consumer, as a player, I appreciate it. As a developer I'm with Joel in thinking that it is unfortunate for a lot of smaller companies or medium-sized companies." [Update: TSW may not be going F2P soon, but it's certainly getting cheaper. Tipster Brant points out that the game is currently 50% off on Steam.]
Funcom rehires staff, confirms TSW group investigation missions
New Game Director Joel Bylos dropped several juicy tidbits about the future of The Secret World on the Flash Point podcast. One of the biggest of these is that Funcom is growing once more following recent layoffs. "We have already brought back three people," he said, "It gives us hope and it's great to see those faces back at the office." He said that a second auxiliary weapon -- which players assume to be the chainsaw -- is coming with next month's Issue 4, and the Halloween event scheduled in a couple weeks will have players digging through Irish lore books. If you like the game's investigation missions, you'll be pleased to hear that The Secret World will be introducing group versions of these types of quests. But will the team be able to keep up with the monthly updates? Bylos is firmly confident that it can be done, as the structure for issue development is in place. Bylos admits that it's "absolutely vital" for the studio to advertise the game better and communicate clearly what the game is to potential players. He also said that the team is working on helping players overcome the game's higher difficulty, particularly with starter decks that are coming soon and easier story boss fights. [Thanks to Elania for the tip!]
The Secret World gets a new game director, title and date of Issue #3 announced [Updated]
Funcom's finally named a replacement for The Secret World's game director spot: Joel Bylos. Bylos is moving up from his previous position as lead content designer, and Ragnar Tørnquist is pulling back from his role as senior producer to pour his energies into being creative director. Bylos is psyched at the move: "Being given the opportunity to lead the game into a bold, new future is definitely a dream come true for me. I am very proud of what we as a team have created with The Secret World, and it is truly a brilliant canvas that will allow us to create more groundbreaking MMO experiences for many years to come. The Secret World is only really getting started, and with a game world that draws upon our own, real world, there is no limit to what sort of amazing stories we can tell and fantastic locations we can visit in the upcoming content updates." Bylos and Tørnquist are hard at work leading the team through the next two patches. Funcom announced that this month's Issue #3 is titled The Cat God and Issue #4 will feature the New York City monster raid. [Update: We've now learned that Issue #3 releases tomorrow. Thanks to Dalazar and Elania for the tip!]
Funcom, CCP, Snail devs talk skill-based MMOs
Although the majority of MMOs are level-based, some games are bucking the trend. The Secret World, EVE Online, and Age of Wushu are three titles that eschew the standard system in favor of offering players a more open gaming experience. In a recent interview, GameSpot talked with developers from these games about level-free MMOs. Why should games forgo the popular trend and throw levels out? To give players freedom and allow them to play they way they want is the reason cited by both Funcom Lead designer Joel Bylos and Tyler Rawlins, Marketing Associate for Snail Games. Bylos sums up Funcom's design philosophy like so: "You should not be playing a game to get to the top level. You should be playing a game to have fun." He also admitted that The Secret World changed from level-based to skills mid-development when the team decided that the genre had grown stale in that sense. Kristoffer Touborg, lead game designer for CCP, noted how players get to participate in the gaming experience for EVE even without being in the actual game thanks to the title's far-reaching meta experience. Are skill-based systems on the rise? Watch the full video after the cut to find out.
The Secret World devs to host exclusive livestream on Friday the 13th
Forget superstition: This Friday the 13th is a lucky day for The Secret World fans who want to delve deeper into the world of conspiracies. Tomorrow at 11 a.m. EDT, Creative Director and Senior Producer Ragnar Tørnquist and Lead Content Designer Joel Bylos will host a livestream of themselves playing select parts of the game while offering commentary and discussing the development process. To watch, join TSW's official Twitch.TV channel, TheSecretWorld. Don't want to wait until tomorrow to see some The Secret World action? Then watch Massively TV tonight at 8:00 p.m. EDT for a two-hour special stream showing off investigation missions. You can still catch the special developer livestream tomorrow! [Source: Funcom press release]
GDC 2012: Watch Funcom's full The Secret World presentation
If you found your appetite whetted for The Secret World after reading Jef's writeup from GDC, then make room in your life for 35 minutes of Funcom's full presentation from the conference! Senior Producer Ragnar Tørnquist, Lead Designer Martin Bruusgaard, and Lead Content Designer Joel Bylos take turns showing off in-game footage and discussing the game mechanics at play. Topics covered in the presentation include character creation, the creepy/sexy Dragon starter experience, how achievements work, story, crafting, and the lands of Transylvania. While the video isn't 100% pristine -- Funcom apologized for the less-than-perfect lighting during the presentation -- it's so chock-full of information and footage that you won't even notice. Give it a whirl after the jump!
Some Assembly Required: Is The Secret World a sandbox?
I'm more excited than I thought I would be for The Secret World. After playing it at last week's Game Developer's Conference and getting a preview of the game's crafting system, I think it's safe to say my anticipation went up a few notches. The real-world setting and horror-fantasy elements have always been appealing, but a general lack of info throughout 2011 -- coupled with Funcom's decision to add a cash shop to a subscription game -- conspired to knock The Secret World down a few pegs. Now I'm almost willing to forgive the business model faux pas because it seems like the game will feature significant sandbox elements. Is it a sandbox, though?
The Secret World ends Illuminati Week with new interview
The Secret World's Illuminati Week is drawing to a close, and to round out the excitement, the game's Lead Content Designer Joel Bylos sat down for an Illuminati-centric interview with IGN. Joel outlines what kind of players would find themselves most suited to a life with the Illuminati, what principles the society upholds, and even what sort of faction-specific abilities Illuminati players can look forward to. While he's not too forthcoming on that last point, he does reveal that "[Illuminati faction abilities] will reflect the Illuminati obsession with combing magic and technology to greatest effect." To get the full details and round out your Illuminati fix, just click on through to the interview below.
The Secret World designers talk progression, hand-holding, and more
The Secret World is up for discussion at Rock, Paper Shotgun this morning, and Funcom designers Joel Bylos and Martin Bruusgaard spend quite a bit of time going over various details of the upcoming horror-conspiracy MMORPG. Those of you wondering how the game's classless skill-based advancement system is going to work will definitely want to read through the piece, as there is a lot of information in terms of both how the The Secret World feels and how it directs players in comparison to more traditional themepark titles. "I believe World of Warcraft uses a very heavy hand to guide players. It says, 'pick up this stuff here, go and do these missions in this place here, do all the quests then go to this place here and do the quests there,'" Bylos explains. "In our game, we try not to be as heavy handed. It's much more of a light touch and comes through in the places you visit and the people you meet."
Hands-on impressions of The Secret World
Last month, Funcom held a special hands-on event for The Secret World at its Montreal, Canada offices, where we sent freelancer François Blondin to cover all the exciting details. François also got to play the game for several hours, giving us a fresh perspective on what TSW has to offer MMO gamers. In Funcom's upcoming The Secret World, the game's three factions -- Templars, Illuminati and Dragons -- face off, compete, and collaborate (all at the same time!) amidst the nightmarish creatures being revealed throughout the world. But choose your allegiance carefully: Your faction determines your path and special bonuses for the whole game, and faction-switching won't be an option. Join me for a hands-on look at the game's current incarnation!%Gallery-72395%
Funcom hosting The Secret World Templar Q&A on Facebook
Want to know more about The Secret World's Templar faction? Aside from reading up on everything related to Templar Week, the best thing you can do is tune in to Funcom's next Facebook developer Q&A session. The shindig happens tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. EST, when lead content designer Joel Bylos and writer Ben Schroder will be fielding your Templar-related questions. Funcom's press release says that interested gamers are free to submit their questions in advance, but the devs may not be able to answer everything. Thus far Templar Week has served up some new screens, art, and a few mission details, and the dev Q&A looks to be the icing on the cake. Funcom also notes that the Illuminati faction will be getting a similar week-long publicity treatment in the near future. [Source: Funcom press release]
The Secret World announces group and raid sizes
As you may have heard, The Secret World gathers up modern-day legends and conspiracy theories and asks, "What if they were all true?" Of course, if these stories were true, then there would have to be a group of people preventing the world from crashing down in utter chaos, right? The Secret World has three such groups, in fact: the Illuminati, the Templars, and the Dragon. That's the big picture, but what about smaller groups? In an interview with The Electric Playground, Lead Content Designer Joel Bylos explains the general idea behind the group dynamics: We really feel that an MMO is a shared experience, right? It's very important that people work together to solve these problems. That's the greatest sort of feeling of achievement: when you work together with other people to overcome something. He goes on to say that it may be possible for players with similar builds to actually be viable even when they're grouped together. He specifically mentioned a group of all tanks' being able to tackle a dungeon if they all had a self heal. But how many players are actually in groups? Bylos says five, and raid groups are 10. No more worrying about finding those other 30 people you would need for those 40-man dungeons, thank goodness!
The Secret World designers talk optimal builds, travel, and more
Funcom devs have been hitting the publicity circuit lately in support of The Secret World, and GamePro has a new video interview featuring lead designer Martin Bruusgaard and lead content designer Joel Bylos. The pair spend a good nine minutes talking about various aspects of their upcoming fantasy-horror MMO, with particular attention given to the game's skill system and the builds it makes possible. "In certain areas, people will need to have the correct effects to be optimal," Bylos explains. "In solo play especially, you will want to have a certain build." You can still progress any way you see fit, though, and Bylos was quick to point out that Funcom's intent is to provide a flexible character building system. That said, it's clear that build flexibility can come at the expense of perfect optimization, and ultimately Funcom is striving for a balance between playing how you want to play and tweaking your build as you go in order to progress through content. The interview also touches on travel in The Secret World, and Bylos drops a few interesting hints about the use of hollow-earth myths to facilitate the globe-jumping that players will experience when traveling between far-flung locales like New York, Seoul, or London. Check out all the details after the cut.
New Secret World dev walkthrough delves into the Savage Coast
All right now, all you occultists, paranormal investigators, and conspiracy theorists, it's your turn to squeal with delight. Funcom has treated the world to a spankin'-new dev walkthrough of The Secret World's Savage Coast instance. You may remember we got our first look at the Savage Coast at the beginning of the month. Now, we get to go in for a first-hand look at just what makes this coast so savage. The walkthrough -- which is so expansive it has to be presented in three parts -- begins with our dev tour-guides Martin Bruusgaard (Lead Designer) and Joel Bylos (Lead Content Designer) jumping into the dungeon linked to the Solomon Island zone, which they note is the first that players will encounter as they play through The Secret World. After a short preview of the quest-receiving experience (which includes voice acting that's rather good, especially for a game still in development), it descends into a rollercoaster ride into the mouth of madness. The developers take on the Draugh (undead Norse warriors out for vengeance) and their masters throughout the course of the dungeon, which culminates in a scene straight out of Lovecraft's best. We'd hate to spoil the whole thing for you (and it's so long we really don't have the space!), but believe us, it's well worth the watch for any TSW fan. So head on past the cut for the full walkthrough videos!
