Dark Days Are Coming - New Funcom Project

[Spiff]

I'm going to assume the character animations are not final, the monsters look more realistic than they do at this point (water-boss looked kind of cool actually).

Apart from that I wish Arenanet was making this though; GW2 in this setting and I'd have to quit my job, disconnect the phone, board up the windows and doors and become a 600 pound shut-in.

[Murgos]

Standing in one spot combat with guns bug me to no end.

Which is odd seeing as that's how it works irl.

You ever try shooting at a moving target while you're moving?  Doesn't work unless you spend a couple thousand hours a year (and 10's of thousands o $$$ in ammo and facilities) practicing.

[Sheepherder]

It's less difficult than you make it sound.  Though it heavily favours firearms that are short, light, high rate of fire, and quick to aim (or point, as the case may be).

Hence, you know: carbines, submachine guns, shotguns, pistols, and assault rifles.

[Surlyboi]

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.

Meh, SWTOR is getting away with it, why not this?

[Murgos]

It's less difficult than you make it sound.  Though it heavily favours firearms that are short, light, high rate of fire, and quick to aim (or point, as the case may be).

Hence, you know: carbines, submachine guns, shotguns, pistols, and assault rifles.

As long as you're within 25-50 meters it's a little easier, but not really.  IRL engagement range is closer to 200 meters.  And, no it's not that easy to shoot while moving, go watch Top Shot, those are some of the best shooters in the world.  I don't think you'll notice them moving very much (i.e. at all) when trying any kind of difficult shot.

[Mrbloodworth]

Standing in one spot combat with guns bug me to no end.

Which is odd seeing as that's how it works irl.

You ever try shooting at a moving target while you're moving?  Doesn't work unless you spend a couple thousand hours a year (and 10's of thousands o $$$ in ammo and facilities) practicing.

I think you know what I mean by that more than you are putting in this post. We have seen projectiles and guns in other MMO systems, it seems inherently bullets bend in the air, go over hills and track around trees and never require cover to avoid.  If you are going to have guns, they are not spells, at least try to have some faux-shooter element to aiming involved.

I have watched a few more movies of game play after I made that comment, it may not be as bad as I think it will be. Though doing some wide cross arms spray maneuver and having every shot hit one target gives me some doubt.

[Murgos]

I think you know what I mean by that more than you are putting in this post. We have seen projectiles and guns in other MMO systems, it seems inherently bullets bend in the air, go over hills and track around trees and never require cover to avoid.  If you are going to have guns, they are not spells, at least try to have some faux-shooter element to aiming involved.

Yes, I did know that you were comparing to what passes for normal in most games.  However, complaining that you have to stand still to be accurate with a projectile weapon just particularly annoyed me or I wouldn't have mentioned it all.  Realistic would be that if your target is more than about 100 meters with a rifle or 25 meters with a pistol you have to take a solid, well supported position to even have a reasonable chance of hitting your target (at least until fairly high level to stick within the video game RPG conceit).  Moving while gesticulating and talking is actually something most people do pretty easily on a daily basis by comparison.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that if media authors, such as game developers (and particularly movie makers) stuck to something close to reality more constantly then those times when you did break that convention would have much more impact/effectiveness, i.e Be more fun.  But that's another topic.

[Mrbloodworth]

However, complaining that you have to stand still to be accurate with a projectile weapon just particularly annoyed me or I wouldn't have mentioned it all. 

Not quite what I meant, it was a bad sentence.

[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.

Meh, SWTOR is getting away with it, why not this?

I'd rather play this than SWTOR any day of the week based purely on setting. Also, SWTOR looks like cartoon monkey ass. This just looks like stiff monkey ass.

[Mrbloodworth]

Everyone likes the shiny.

[SnakeCharmer]

Standing in one spot combat with guns bug me to no end.

Which is odd seeing as that's how it works irl.

You ever try shooting at a moving target while you're moving?  Doesn't work unless you spend a couple thousand hours a year (and 10's of thousands o $$$ in ammo and facilities) practicing.

Game =/= real life.

Besides, you don't play normal people with normal skills.  You're supposed to be exceptional.  You must have been a riot to play cowboys and indians with.

[Modern Angel]

Who do you think would win in a fight? A ninja or a cyborg commando?

I bet the ninja because his sword is folded many times. But I bet that cyborg could kick the ninja with his hydraulic legs and maybe cause serious thigh bleeding, maybe leading to a serious heart problem.

I've been working on the math to explain the physics of this whole thing.

[Malakili]

Standing in one spot combat with guns bug me to no end.

Which is odd seeing as that's how it works irl.

You ever try shooting at a moving target while you're moving?  Doesn't work unless you spend a couple thousand hours a year (and 10's of thousands o $$$ in ammo and facilities) practicing.

Are you being intentionally thick?  Lets see, out of the following games which has proven to be the most popular:  World War 2 Online (sim elements), ARMA (sim elements), Call of Duty (run and gun).

[Murgos]

So what?  If it "bugs him to no end to stand still and shoot" in this game why cant it bug me to no end that you can run and gun in other games?

Oh, because I disagree with you?  Oh, ok.  Sorry, I should have checked with you first.

[Surlyboi]

Who do you think would win in a fight? A ninja or a cyborg commando?

I bet the ninja because his sword is folded many times. But I bet that cyborg could kick the ninja with his hydraulic legs and maybe cause serious thigh bleeding, maybe leading to a serious heart problem.

I've been working on the math to explain the physics of this whole thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQhbf_I4GDU

[Amaron]

I've been working on the math to explain the physics of this whole thing.

How do you put a value to REAL ULTIMATE POWER though?  I think we can rule out cyborgs with fleshy necks right away at least.

[Lantyssa]

Which has a tank and which has the mech?

[palmer_eldritch]

Who's winning? They'll be the ones with the mech.

[tmp]

Some more footage from the game engine

looks rather clunky. On the other hand, pretty.

edit: also, interview with Ragnar Tørnquist at RPS with some insight into the Dragons and whatnot.

[Soln]

yeah very nice models but still way too clunky.  Makes SWTOR look good.   I hope there's more than fighting every encounter with a machine gun, standing still.

[PalmTrees]

Three part walkthrough of an instance over at massively: http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/07/08/new-secret-world-dev-walkthrough-delves-into-the-savage-coast/#continued

You can change your skill loadout during the mission at an anima point. They also mentioned that you could eventually learn all 500 skills, no mention of timeframes though.

Their out of game stuff is just begging to be spoiled and will only be fun for the first few beta testers to figure it out. No group is gonna wait around for you to web surf your way to finding the code to unlock the treasure chest. That is assuming you can find it yourself. Even if you don't want to be spoiled, the code's going to be mentioned in group chat by somebody trying to be 'helpful' or just trying to rush things along. Going to be a lot of wasted effort on Funcom's part.

Animation wise there's too much of a disconnect between the upper and lower parts of the body. It lets you move and attack but it's not blended very well. Better than being rooted (or sliding around) while doing a full body animation I suppose.
 
The boss fights looked ok. Some simple, don't stand on the electrified spots and deal with summoned minions quickly type challenges in addition to beating on the big bag of hp.

 

[Typhon]

Sad to see tank + healer is alive and well (and required).

Completely baffled as to how they think leaving the game to go surfing web pages is fun.  Would rather see them switch it around - when you loot in-game you receive lore items (books, clues, etc) that you can research online that provide backstory, links/clues to follow-on quest/instances and more loot.  Having the story gate getting loot just seems... well, not fun.

[TripleDES]

There's a dev over at SA, and he's saying that at least the silly uncanny heads are going to be improved.

[Modern Angel]

April 2012

[SnakeCharmer]

Oh Funcom.  Don't ever change.
:dreamy:

[Nebu]

Sad to see tank + healer is alive and well (and required).

Completely baffled as to how they think leaving the game to go surfing web pages is fun.  Would rather see them switch it around - when you loot in-game you receive lore items (books, clues, etc) that you can research online that provide backstory, links/clues to follow-on quest/instances and more loot.  Having the story gate getting loot just seems... well, not fun.

This is exactly what I was thinking when I watched the walkthrus.  New theme, new story, and it's tacked on to the same tired old gameplay models. 

[TripleDES]

So there was a countdown on their site, counting down to zero on Aug 26th. Everyone assumed there'll be some beta signup or anything. Guess what, it appears to be another ARG. 

I should scratch this game off my care list until it releases.

[luckton]

I'm sorry...I'm just not 'getting' this game.  I'm aware it's based on Lovecratian lore and all that jazz, but what is the POINT?  Can we see a UI at some point?  Where is all this secret stuff going to?  What's the goddamn plot?!

[PalmTrees]

They're planning on a sub with cash shop, http://www.darkdemonscrygaia.com/showthread.php?p=523662

Nothing specific, just general statements such as:

We will be revealing more information about the store at a later date, but what we can say for now is that it will focus mostly on convenience item and character customization items such as clothing - of which The Secret World will offer a ton of variety! As developers we are being very careful in making sure that items purchased through the store does not give players any unfair advantage against those who do not use the in-game store.

Eh, I don't like it when sub games charge extra for things. Too bad for me people are willing to pay twice. Hopefully it will be ignorable.

[palmer_eldritch]

Beta applications were supposed to launch yesterday but had to be delayed for technical reasons, according to the official forums. Instead, they are due to launch today, Saturday (dev thread on official forums).

Apparently, beta access will be partly determined by playing a game which involves spreading the word about The Secret World on Facebook. It seems to me to be quite a clever way of making players do your marketing for you.

The experience is tightly connected to Facebook, and players can attempt to recruit their friends to join their secret society. If a friend joins the same secret society as you belong to, you can then use these as agents. Agents can be sent to different countries, which will give you points and also increase your secret society’s influence in that country. A friend who joins a rival secret society cannot be used as agents.

Players can also share assets such as screenshots, artworks, videos and even exclusive articles that contain (often new!) information about the game. Sharing assets also gives you points, and increases your secret society’s influence in the different regions.

From mmorpg.com. These "points" get you into the beta if you collect enough. I'm not sure if they are also going to choose people randomly the old fashioned way.

Personally I cannot use my Facebook account to spam people about an MMO, as many of my "friends" on Facebook are actually work colleagues and contacts who might think I was being a bit odd.

[Shatter]

Beta applications were supposed to launch yesterday but had to be delayed for technical reasons, according to the official forums. Instead, they are due to launch today, Saturday (dev thread on official forums).

Apparently, beta access will be partly determined by playing a game which involves spreading the word about The Secret World on Facebook. It seems to me to be quite a clever way of making players do your marketing for you.

The experience is tightly connected to Facebook, and players can attempt to recruit their friends to join their secret society. If a friend joins the same secret society as you belong to, you can then use these as agents. Agents can be sent to different countries, which will give you points and also increase your secret society’s influence in that country. A friend who joins a rival secret society cannot be used as agents.

Players can also share assets such as screenshots, artworks, videos and even exclusive articles that contain (often new!) information about the game. Sharing assets also gives you points, and increases your secret society’s influence in the different regions.

From mmorpg.com. These "points" get you into the beta if you collect enough. I'm not sure if they are also going to choose people randomly the old fashioned way.

Personally I cannot use my Facebook account to spam people about an MMO, as many of my "friends" on Facebook are actually work colleagues and contacts who might think I was being a bit odd.

Fuck that

[Hawkbit]

Yep, fuck that.  Also, this is the same company that charged for AoC beta.

[UnSub]

A secret society + Facebook = DOES NOT COMPUTE.

I really want to like TSW, but there is such a a thing as trying too hard and being too clever.

[Surlyboi]

The greatest trick the illuminati ever pulled was hiding in plain sight. 

[palmer_eldritch]

"Due to technical difficulties we have decided to postpone the first phase of the Secret War experience and the beta registration until further notice."
http://www.thesecretworld.com/news/secret_war_and_beta_registration_delayed