Please Funcom, listen to us! - An open letter

[ckirmser]

Or make a new game with same combat system but different setting...obviously with no elves and orcs....

Oooo!!

Elric of Melnibone, perhaps?

[Roragar]

The only hope I hold out is that the community team are planning something big for AoC, similar to the TSW push weve seen an thats why they are so quiet.

Its that or they are being actively told not to do anything for AoC & let it rot

[ckirmser]

Bought TSW and played that for a while.

Meh.

It's ok, but nowhere near the fun I have in AoC. As a result, I've not played TSW for a long time.

[Roragar]

Bought TSW and played that for a while.

Meh.

It's ok, but nowhere near the fun I have in AoC. As a result, I've not played TSW for a long time.

Yeah its not bad but its not AoC

With the recent #IAMTSW promotion combined with the recent steam sale of TSW though, the game has plenty of life at the moment & a community that feels engaged, so why nothing for AoC?

[ckirmser]

TSW is new. It's different. From what I can tell, the missions in TSW are much more cerebral than those in AoC.

Sure, there are the "go kill X zombies" sort of thing, but there are also some nifty and complex puzzles that require more than just a well-equipped character. For example, one mission required one to be conversant with modern religious practices in order to complete a segment. No amount of T210 armor would avail one in that mission.

But, there's a flip side. Some of the missions are ridiculously complex, merely for complexity's sake. For example, there is a mission to find some security cameras that some worker just never got around to installing. Nothing special about them, just cameras. Well, to get the cameras required one to overcome obstacles far in excess of what would be expected - lasers, explosives, secure rooms. I mean, it was like a quest to go get the car keys that someone forgot, but they're set behind a security system that Ft Knox would be jealous of. Far too heavy danger for the reward.

But, that"difference" wore thin. It became tedious. Too much seemed unnecessarily dangerous or complex for too little reward. Too much seemed to be difficult and/or complex just because they could be.

So, I came back to AoC.

[Suctum]

Yeah its not bad but its not AoC

With the recent #IAMTSW promotion combined with the recent steam sale of TSW though, the game has plenty of life at the moment & a community that feels engaged, so why nothing for AoC?

The Secret World is terrible. No collision, WoW style click combat, and an absurd premise. Another ridiculous game with no classes. Why you would take money from a proven title and sink into that trash is beyond me. I am sure for someone who enjoys WoW or KotOR style combat, with some character sand box features, this is an acceptable title. For someone who has played AoC, it's just a downgrade in game play as far as mechanics are concerned. The only thing TSW has over AoC is that it receives the support it needs to keep in marginally popular. There is new content released, the stories are well crafted (however their insistence on unneeded complex puzzle style gaming is a turn off for many), and the game has a fairly good infrastructure as far as in game support. People play AoC without any Funcom advertising, minimal support, and hardly any new content. The game play and setting alone brings and holds people to the game.

I would have been OK with the premise if they sought out a license for the Lovecraft Mythos, and did it differently. But the actual game play and combat mechanics leave much to be desired after playing AoC. I can forgive the lack of content and support as opposed to playing some other new game which has it, because I have yet to find a game with a compelling combat system as well crafted as AoC, despite even what it has turned into now.

[ckirmser]

I was expecting a more Lovecraftian-based environment.

The most immediate turn off for me in TSW was a truly wimpy character creation process. I mean, I expected the company that gave us the great system in AoC, to have improved performance n the process in their new flagship, but, instead, they gave us a dinghy.

[tapwater]

The Secret World is terrible. No collision, WoW style click combat, and an absurd premise. Another ridiculous game with no classes. Why you would take money from a proven title and sink into that trash is beyond me. I am sure for someone who enjoys WoW or KotOR style combat, with some character sand box features, this is an acceptable title. For someone who has played AoC, it's just a downgrade in game play as far as mechanics are concerned. The only thing TSW has over AoC is that it receives the support it needs to keep in marginally popular. There is new content released, the stories are well crafted (however their insistence on unneeded complex puzzle style gaming is a turn off for many), and the game has a fairly good infrastructure as far as in game support. People play AoC without any Funcom advertising, minimal support, and hardly any new content. The game play and setting alone brings and holds people to the game.

I would have been OK with the premise if they sought out a license for the Lovecraft Mythos, and did it differently. But the actual game play and combat mechanics leave much to be desired after playing AoC. I can forgive the lack of content and support as opposed to playing some other new game which has it, because I have yet to find a game with a compelling combat system as well crafted as AoC, despite even what it has turned into now.

lol

The Secret World is actually an awesome game. Sure there is no collision with other characters, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The game doesn't really need that collision because it's combat style is different. I wouldn't call it WoW style combat either, though it is closer to that than it is to AoC.

The premise is where you start to approach what is really awesome and well done about the game. The storytelling ability is the best part of the game. No other MMO that I have ever played or heard of does anywhere near as good of a job at telling a good story, with a nice fitting atmosphere. Having no classes is also a plus, something that sets it apart from other generic MMOs. You aren't constrained in the same ways you are in games like WoW or AoC.

The questing is also a huge plus in TSW. Most particularly the Sabotage and Investigation missions, though I tend to really enjoy most missions. You don't tend to find other games which actually make you thing, especially not MMOs. In a lot of games, you just faceroll your way through quests, not reading a word of the dialog or mission descriptions. It is really sad that so many games/developers don't have a clue how to write engaging stories and missions.

And hey, if you really hate those Investigation missions because you can't/don't want to think, then there are always guides telling you exactly what to do so you can skip past them like all the generic quests in other MMOs.


Now, all that said, you are definitely right that the combat in AoC is soo much better than TSW. AoC combat rocks, for all the reasons you know. I do wish TSW had a combat system more similar to AoC, but it is what it is. The thing is, people don't play TSW for the combat system. You can let slide a less than ideal combat system if the rest of the game is compelling enough.

[Laurina]

The Secret World is terrible. No collision, WoW style click combat, and an absurd premise. Another ridiculous game with no classes. Why you would take money from a proven title and sink into that trash is beyond me. I am sure for someone who enjoys WoW or KotOR style combat, with some character sand box features, this is an acceptable title. For someone who has played AoC, it's just a downgrade in game play as far as mechanics are concerned. The only thing TSW has over AoC is that it receives the support it needs to keep in marginally popular. There is new content released, the stories are well crafted (however their insistence on unneeded complex puzzle style gaming is a turn off for many), and the game has a fairly good infrastructure as far as in game support. People play AoC without any Funcom advertising, minimal support, and hardly any new content. The game play and setting alone brings and holds people to the game.

I would have been OK with the premise if they sought out a license for the Lovecraft Mythos, and did it differently. But the actual game play and combat mechanics leave much to be desired after playing AoC. I can forgive the lack of content and support as opposed to playing some other new game which has it, because I have yet to find a game with a compelling combat system as well crafted as AoC, despite even what it has turned into now.

WoW Style Click Combat? Guess, you never made it to the Sherriffs Office. One of the big deals with TSW is in fact the Combat System - its simply great. In opposite to WoW you can move, and you MUST move, or you like lying around dead. Its a very comprehensive System with shitloads of deck-combinations, you have to study well. I really love AoC, but the combat is "old school", casters and ranged fighters cant move at all, this makes me crazy here. Of course... foes don't do damages which force you to move (except boss tactics in Raids or High Inis). To master the Dungeons in TSW in Nightmare Mode you need really a lot of skill, movement and understanding. And teamplay of course. So to compare this game with WoW is simply dumbish.

The Missions are outstanding. There is no better story driven game than TSW. And btw: only a few missions are requiring a brain capacity past the horizon of a taxidriver. Most missions are simple in their requests, but still stunning with their story. No classes btw. is not true. There are classes in TSW but they are not exactly defined. If you like range play, you chose the weapons for it and skill them. If you like to be a melee DPS, then you chose swords, fists or hammer, and skill that. And if you like magic.. well there is. The difference is, you don't need a twink. You can do it all with one char. And this is what confuses normal players. They are used to their old fashioned class system, and expect that. Then they see that damned big skillwheel and get overwhelmed. They are not used to decide by themselves, they need their guidelines. In Dungeons you have the "Holy Trinity" as in any other game: Tank, Healer, DPS. With the difference, that every veteran char can switch to any of that classes when needed. But I understand: people love twinking ^^ There is no need for twinking in TSW, except of playing another faction, therefore you have 3 slots, not more.

Besides all that, the grafic is still stunning. Its one of the most beautyful online games ever. Well, if you love AoC, with its elder grafics, but made deliciosly detailed as it is, then you will love TSW also. The animations could be a bit better, yes, but all the atmo is fantastic. If you don't like the setting - well, this is a matter of taste. Surely it has its flaws, as any game does. But I will not talk about the flaws now and here.

I don't say all this, to diminish AoC, hell no. I love AoC, and play it again now (after they implemented the new Achievement System). But I can stand all that ******** here about TSW. AoC is a damned good game, TSW is as well. There is no "better" or such, they are just different. But don't talk nonsense about this damned good title.

[chesus-sliced]

We can haz more content plz?

Black Kingdoms or Vendhya?