Dark Days Are Coming - New Funcom Project

[jth]

*edit* delete

[TripleDES]

Wasn't this society test thingy supposed to be some sort of beta signup? I finally did that shit, and the activation link in the email just points again to that. No on-screen confirmation telling me that my email address has been confirmed.

[tmp]

Wasn't this society test thingy supposed to be some sort of beta signup? I finally did that shit, and the activation link in the email just points again to that. No on-screen confirmation telling me that my email address has been confirmed.

There's probably vague hints in the email that'll help you to reach the real signup page if you jump through enough hoops.

[TripleDES]

God, I love people being intentionally obscure.

[UnSub]

The society test was just the society test. Public beta hasn't yet started afaik.

[Lantyssa]

It's just an e-mail harvester for those with an interest in the game.  I'll get updates from it every few months when they have something to announce.

[tmp]

God, I love people being intentionally obscure.

Sorry, i did consider a diclaimer i was totally making the shit up but in the end thought the idea was absurd enough that it wouldn't need one...

[Typhon]

I thought it was funny, and a good jab at Dark Days marketing strat

[TripleDES]

Sorry, i did consider a diclaimer i was totally making the shit up but in the end thought the idea was absurd enough that it wouldn't need one...

With all the ARG bullshit that's so goddamn prevalent, who knows...

[palmer_eldritch]

The latest developer diary makes the game look very cool. Every NPC is fully voiced and motion-captured. Different types of quests, including some which involve players going out of the game and finding things out on the net. It looks like players are able to choose what type of quest they want from mission-givers.

You can tell it's using basically the same graphics engine as Conan and the characters look a bit plasticky to me, just like Conan. It's that difficult half-way house between realistic and stylised - not realistic enough to look real, not stylised enough to get away with looking fake. Maybe that's just a personal taste. One good thing about the Conan engine is that it allowed people to see all the different bits of clothing on their characters. If you put on a necklace made of human ears, people will see it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJuEQStDHEI

[Malakili]

I like the idea of searching for information outside the game, but I also think its all going to end up compiled in a guide after the first week of beta and all the "Secrets" of the "secret" world will be meaningless.  Its really cool in theory, but I can't see how it would work in reality.

[Ashamanchill]

The latest developer diary makes the game look very cool. Every NPC is fully voiced and motion-captured.

Yeah for the first 20 levels, I'm sure they will be.

[palmer_eldritch]

The latest developer diary makes the game look very cool. Every NPC is fully voiced and motion-captured.

Yeah for the first 20 levels, I'm sure they will be.

You may be right but to clarify what I said above, Funcom claim in the film that every single character will be fully voiced.

[TripleDES]

So much goddamn talk(/hype), when's the beta?

[HaemishM]

It's a Secret (World). 

[UnSub]

So much goddamn talk(/hype), when's the beta?

Sometime this year, probably.

[Spiff]

It's Funcom so; depends when it launches, the beta will coincidentally start the same day 

[luckton]

It's Funcom so; depends when it launches, the beta will coincidentally start the same day 

Bah, beat me to the punchline 

[Rasix]

So, anyone want to take bets on how close to launch the "miracle patch" will hit?  With their third shot at this, they might even get it in before launch and test it!

[luckton]

So, anyone want to take bets on how close to launch the "miracle patch" will hit?  With their third shot at this, they might even get it in before launch and test it!

I honestly don't know why they keep trying....their offline single-player adventures are AWESOME.  The Longest Journey should be a keepsake in anyone's collection, and it's follow-up left us all with a cliffhanger, yet they continue to bash their heads on the MMO wall and expect money-hats.

If they could get a hold of a non-fringe, non-cult classic mainstream IP that they could MMO-ify, and then ACTUALLY apply all the things we hope they learned from AO and AoC, they could see great success.

[Shatter]

So, anyone want to take bets on how close to launch the "miracle patch" will hit?  With their third shot at this, they might even get it in before launch and test it!

Thrid time is the charm.  Im guessing they will launch Oct 21...the day the world ends...again 

[Morfiend]

If they could get a hold of a non-fringe, non-cult classic mainstream IP that they could MMO-ify, and then ACTUALLY apply all the things we hope they learned from AO and AoC, they could see great success.

I disagree. Generally a mainstream IP has only been a hinderance to almost every MMO that has used one. The only successful one I can think of is LOTRO and for me, that could have been a better game if it wasnt constrained by the license.

*Edit*

Also, Conan could be argued wether it is a big IP or not. I would say that it is more widely known to Joe Public than the Warcraft lore was before WoW.

[Mrbloodworth]

So, Twitch combat or what?

[SnakeCharmer]

Newp.

[Mrbloodworth]

Meh. Not even faux?

[SnakeCharmer]

As far as I know?

Newp. 

From what I understand they wanted to have some component for aiming, but eventually moved away from it.

[Modern Angel]

I know things but what little I know is NDAed. What I can say is that the process for beta and development is going to be very different than AoC. If you're wondering whether Funcom learned some lessons from AoC, the answer is very much yes. It remains to be seen if that means a better game, mind you, but they're acutely aware of what's riding on this and the big mistakes on AoC.

I'm cautiously optimistic.

[luckton]

I know things but what little I know is NDAed. What I can say is that the process for beta and development is going to be very different than AoC. If you're wondering whether Funcom learned some lessons from AoC, the answer is very much yes. It remains to be seen if that means a better game, mind you, but they're acutely aware of what's riding on this and the big mistakes on AoC.

I'm cautiously optimistic.

So now the game will be good from level 1 to 30 instead of 1 to 20?   

[Modern Angel]

Yes, that's exactly what I said.

[Draegan]

I thought there was psuedo-aiming in this game.  I'm probably just confused.

[K9]

So, anyone want to take bets on how close to launch the "miracle patch" will hit?  With their third shot at this, they might even get it in before launch and test it!

I honestly don't know why they keep trying....their offline single-player adventures are AWESOME.  The Longest Journey should be a keepsake in anyone's collection, and it's follow-up left us all with a cliffhanger, yet they continue to bash their heads on the MMO wall and expect money-hats.

If they could get a hold of a non-fringe, non-cult classic mainstream IP that they could MMO-ify, and then ACTUALLY apply all the things we hope they learned from AO and AoC, they could see great success.

Honestly, I think they have enough in-house IP to run with. AO actually had a pretty great storyline for an MMO.

[Kageru]

I adore the setting (enough high fantasy already) though the "mystery"  obviously loses a lot in the conversion to MMO. Still looks like fun.

This Developer diary: Story and Missions was in the latest news-letter. Though this presentation video (part1, part2) which has a lot of info and shows something that looks like a game.

[Modern Angel]

The big hurdle (besides Funcom being Funcom) was the WoD MMO. Three years ago I would've said that TSW is dead in the water in the face of a CCP/WoD juggernaut. I've had the last tiny vestige of that thinking purged with this EVE patch. If this game works, they'll have the modern/supernatural niche, and it IS a niche, all to themselves.

[HaemishM]

I really think it hurts them to show such great rendered CGI cinematics alongside their gameplay engine. The animations looks really stiff and MMO-y by comparison.

[Mrbloodworth]

Standing in one spot combat with guns bug me to no end. Also, look another fully voiced over MMO game, Nah, thats just crazy talk!