Welp. They haven't yet fixed the "DX11 breaks the HUD" thing.
What does it break?
I just hope the weird issue I had where it was VERY hard to interact with icons in the world (like quest icons, or picking up objects) is fixed.
Pretty much makes all the text in the game unreadable. Looks more like Matrix code than English text. Switching to DX9 fixes it, but annoying nonetheless.
Also lads, be sure to type "/chat join PA Wang" when you get into Arcadia, so we can set you up with the cabals and such. LINES OF COMMUNICATION.
Is the login to the game the same info used to login to the forums? I keep getting authentication errors.
Make sure you're not using your email to login.
I'm not, just the username.
I'm getting the same issue, Wraith.
The forums are a separate login, login to your funcom account to check the account name related to the secret world.
I just uniformly changed all my passwords to the same thing with regards to Funcom, and it worked in the client a few moments ago. Just stuck on trying to connect to the character server.
Is the login to the game the same info used to login to the forums? I keep getting authentication errors.
Make sure you're not using your email to login.
I'm not, just the username.
I'm getting the same issue, Wraith.
The forums are a separate login, login to your funcom account to check the account name related to the secret world.
Stupid question, but is the forum a separate username as well?
yep it could be. Other than the company name the may as well be completely unrelated. Only the closed beta forum accounts were tied in any way to to your funcom account.
Something rather interesting - that pre-order cat you get? The one that, if you're like me, you maybe didn't activate?
Yeah. That's how you get early access.
WATCH THIS SPACE.
0
AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
edited June 2012
Okay so I am working on a new thread for this since Zzulu is MIA. I am waiting on approval from a mod at the moment, but if you wish to see what I got you can check it out here:
Early Access available now for those who pre-ordered. Everyone else waits till July 3rd.
Indeed my friends, dark days are already here!
What is this?
My friends, this is The Secret World, Funcom's latest MMO.
Set in the modern world and drawing heavily from Lovecraftian horror, The Secret World puts you in the shoes of a newly magically endowed civilian who must join one of three secret orders and do battle with nightmarish terrors to keep the rest of the world safe and sound.
Conspiracies, occult mysteries, ancient myths, and terrors from beyond the void abound!
Okay, sounds good. How does it play?
The game has no levels or classes. Instead you gain Ability Points that can be spent on an Ability Wheel which looks a little something like this,
Actually it looks a lot like this.
Your primary abilities are and their basic "character" are:
Role: Tanking (evade)
Range: Short
Common state: Weaken
Uncommon state: Impair
Combat stats: Hit Rating, Defense Rating, Evade Rating
Attack subtypes: Burst, Frenzy
Buffs: Evade+ Resource+, Hate+
Blood
Role: Healing (shield/bubble) (unique in that consumers can be fueled with your own HP instead of only by resources)
Range: Long
Common state: Afflict
Uncommon state: Impair
Combat stats: Crit Rating, Penetration Rating
Attack subtypes: Focus, Chain
Buffs: (coming soon)
Assault Rifle
Role: Healing (damage leech) (requires doing damage to an enemy to heal, cannot heal out of combat)
Range: Long
Common state: Afflict
Uncommon state: Hinder
Combat stats: Hit Rating, Heal Rating
Attack subtypes: Burst, Frenzy
Buffs: Heal+, Grant leech effects to teammates
Fist
Role: healing (direct heals)
Range: Short
Common state: Afflict
Uncommon state: Impair
Combat stats: Hit Rating
Attack subtypes: Burst, Blast
Buffs: Glance- on targets, Heal+, Move+, and Blast+
Elementalism
Role: Support (DPS buffs and Turret Summons)
Range: Long
Common state: Afflict
Uncommon state: Hinder
Combat stats: Hit Rating
Attack subtypes: Strike, Chain
Buffs: Damage+, Hit+, Crit+, Hate-, Resource+
Shotgun
Role: Support (Traps, CC, and Turret Summons)
Range: Medium
Common state: Weaken
Uncommon state: Hinder
Combat stats: Penetration Rating, Defense Rating
Attack subtypes: Strike, Blast
Buffs: Pen+, Def+, Resource+
Pistol
Role: Support (Debuffs, Buffs, Pet Summons)
Range: Medium
Common state: Weaken
Uncommon state: Hinder
Combat stats: Crit Rating
Attack subtypes: Focus, Chain
Buffs: Crit+, Runspeed+, Damage+, Heal+, CC/Debuff Immunity
You should note that you can have two "weapons" equipped at a time. However, you can spend your points in all of the weapon skills if you so desire. Though I wouldn't recommend it and suggest you focus on just two at first.
When you spend Ability Points in an particular skill you will unlock Active Abilities or Passive Abilities for your character. At any time your character can only have 7 Active Abilities (attacks, debuffs, buffs, heals, so on) and 7 Passive Abilities (+ATK DMG, +Heal power, so on) equipped on your hotbar. Even though your character may have 20+ Active/Passive skills unlocked. This leads to a pretty sweet "deck" building feel as all your different Active and Passive skills work really well off one another. In fact just changing your current Skill loadout can drastically change the way you play the game.
If that all seems a bit confusing to you don't worry Funcom has you covered.
In your Ability Wheel you have the option of choosing build templates called "Decks". These decks cover a wide range of skill combos and will guide you on what abilities to take. As a bonus you can unlock special Deck Outfits for your specific role.
Well that all sound cool, but what where those factions you mentioned?
Ah yes, the Secret Societies. Three in total that you can join.
A whisper of a rumour of a shadow, this Asian group is the most secretive of societies. With no fixed territory or structure, the Dragon have dissolved and reformed throughout history. They believe that a closed, controlled society is a sick society. Only through collapse and rebuilding, the natural chaos of life, can the world be in harmony. Recently, they have taken root in a nameless district of Seoul, Korea. To an outsider, their strategies are incomprehensible. Fractal patterns, chaos theory, random numbers, unrelated events. The Dragon understand that there is no pattern, only acts of great change to be committed. From a whisper to an explosion, they divine that an incident here, a disappearance there, can change the course of everything; acupuncture applied to a paralysed planet. In the order of the Dragon, you are given the entire cosmos in potential. They have practiced martial and mental arts attuned to the true harmony of the world. The most dangerous and unpredictable of magics bend to the wills of those who are dangerous and unpredictable. In the approaching dark times, things will never be the same again. You are in the Dragon's element.
The Illuminati may have ancient roots, but they remain forever young and hungry. In every growing empire they have played for it all. And they play for keeps. Stealing the Americas from under the Templars' noses, they grew with the United States to become a shadow superpower. Their corporate headquarters, the Labyrinth, is in an undisclosed location beneath Brooklyn, New York. Acting silently, unless the occasion calls for a gunshot, the Illuminati push for a New World Order. It will be empowering and ruthless. Failure is not an option. Complacency is worse than not an option. Their arsenal is the ambition of a new media startup, the rhetoric of a congressman and a mogul's business sense. Working hard, playing hard and fighting dirty. The Illuminati's golden agents enjoy power, money and glamour – but the real power they offer you goes beyond that. Information worked from every civilian, government and clandestine organisation in the world. Advances in modern magics, in the 'New Magic', that the secret world has never seen. They can give you everything...and they can take it all away.
Proudly tracing their royal lineage back to Babylon, the Templars are the lions of the secret world. When they roar, everyone listens. Old Europe is theirs, and the Templars' marble hall dominates the old London borough of Ealdwic - historic capital of the secret world. It's not just a show of strength. Nothing is just for show with the Templars. At the forefront of the war against darkness, they decide for themselves what counts as darkness. Never backing down from a fight. Never forgetting a grudge. They have tradition to uphold. For thousands of years they have been single-minded in their mission to obliterate evil in all its forms. Where angels fear to tread, the Templars kick down doors. As a soldier of the Templars, you will benefit from their military might. They have hoarded vast occult libraries and the hard-won knowledge of battles throughout time. Their traditional magics, the old mysticism of sorcerers and priests, of life and death, are powerful still. And the loyalty between Templars may be old-fashioned, but it is absolute. You will not stand alone.
A pretty sweet thing about the faction system. It does not limit who you can group with. Players from all factions can group up and quest with each other. The only thing it prevents you from doing is joining the same side in PvP (duh) and stopping you from being able to join the same Cabal (Guild).
Wait there is PvP?
Oh right, forgot to mention that.
Don't fret if PvP isn't your thing. There are no PvP servers and there is no open PvP. PvP is strictly located in either Fight Clubs (arenas), Battlefield (think WoW), or in a Warzone (which I liken to fast paced DAoC).
You can join a Battlefield or Warzone at any time and from anywhere.
Right now there are three Warzone maps.
Stonehenge is like a 5v5v5 king of the hill map. Crazy chaotic and, IMO, fun as hell.
El Dorado is a 3-way grab the relic map. Several relics on the map and you get points for holding onto relics (like a ball). Didn't play it more than once, but that was only because;
Fusong is my favorite. Large ass map that reminds me of fast paced DAoC. It is a never ending 3-way battle with a fuck ton of people for control of three facilities and a dozen or so "Anima Wells". Controlling the facilities gives your entire faction a set of small bonuses. You can also grab 3 PvP quests from inside the map. Usually they are "Kill X dudes" or "Capture X objective".
When in the warzones you wear a uniform to represent your faction. There are 3 different uniforms to pick from. I guess your "supposed" to pick a uniform that helps identify what your character is best at (tank, healer, DPS), but you don't have to.
Okay cool, what about quests
Ho-boy, okay.
You will find all manner of quests in TSW. From the generic "kill x of Y" to the totally awesome Myst-like mind puzzle that will sometimes make you want to snap your keyboard in half.
Many quests are given to you through cut scenes from various NPCs. The cut scenes are surprisingly well done and the NPCs all have particular personalities and are generally pretty awesome.
Many other quests are found throughout the game, usually involving you to click on an item. These quest can also range from "kill x of Y" to hair pullingly hard riddles.
One thing that is a bit different is that the game does not hold your hand when it comes to quests. The game will normally point you in the right direction, but after that it is up to you. In fact there are no gold "!" to conveniently tell you who/what has a quest. I, personally, find it to be a breath of fresh air.
Well, what else should I know?
Probably a lot, which is why I will post some useful links and helpful info!
PAers play on the Arcadia (RP) Dimension.
We also have three Cabals (Guilds). One for each faction
The Six Mouths, for the Dragons.
We Are Nice Guys, for the Illuminati.
The Last Christmas, for the Templars.
We also have a custom chat channel so all of us can smack talk each other.
/chat join PA Wang
Just hop in to the chat channel and ask for an invite to your faction's Cabal. Should be someone who can hook you up.
Useful Links
Deck Builder- Not the prettiest thing out there, but it works.
Yokai's Build Guide- Has a ton of useful info and honestly a lot is over my head for me at the moment.
Also worth remembering that you can click on your map to leave your own markers. Due to the nature of certain puzzles, this is probably worth doing if you happen across something interesting.
Okay, well if there is anything else I should post, write it up and PM me. I will add it to the OP.
Also, in regards to "servers" Funcom has done something cool here. Technically there are no "servers" in the traditional sense. Instead they have Dimensions, which is more then just a name. At any time you can talk to, mail stuff to, group with, or join the same Cabal as another player from a different Dimension. Very cool stuff.
Any suggestions are welcome.
Axen on
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
Posts
Pretty much makes all the text in the game unreadable. Looks more like Matrix code than English text. Switching to DX9 fixes it, but annoying nonetheless.
Also lads, be sure to type "/chat join PA Wang" when you get into Arcadia, so we can set you up with the cabals and such. LINES OF COMMUNICATION.
I'm not, just the username.
I'll be on a little later, hopefully will join the Templar Cabal as well.
Excitement!
I'm getting the same issue, Wraith.
The forums are a separate login, login to your funcom account to check the account name related to the secret world.
I want to know more PA people on Twitter.
I just uniformly changed all my passwords to the same thing with regards to Funcom, and it worked in the client a few moments ago. Just stuck on trying to connect to the character server.
Stupid question, but is the forum a separate username as well?
Also on Steam and PSN: twobadcats
yep it could be. Other than the company name the may as well be completely unrelated. Only the closed beta forum accounts were tied in any way to to your funcom account.
I want to know more PA people on Twitter.
Templar uniforms look like ugly arena football jerseys, guys, srsly. :rotate:
Yeah, I don't like them at all. In fact I am prepared to say that they are pants-on-head retarded.
That is all.
I work in banking, so I pretty much have to.
Also on Steam and PSN: twobadcats
Yeah. That's how you get early access.
Indeed my friends, dark days are already here!
What is this?
My friends, this is The Secret World, Funcom's latest MMO.
Set in the modern world and drawing heavily from Lovecraftian horror, The Secret World puts you in the shoes of a newly magically endowed civilian who must join one of three secret orders and do battle with nightmarish terrors to keep the rest of the world safe and sound.
Conspiracies, occult mysteries, ancient myths, and terrors from beyond the void abound!
Okay, sounds good. How does it play?
The game has no levels or classes. Instead you gain Ability Points that can be spent on an Ability Wheel which looks a little something like this,
Actually it looks a lot like this.
Your primary abilities are and their basic "character" are:
Role: Tanking (glance/heal)
Range: Short
Common state: Afflict
Uncommon state: Impair
Combat stats: Penetration Rating, Defense Rating
Attack subtypes: Focus, Frenzy
Buffs: Def+, Glance+, Hate+, Runspeed+, Self-Heals, AOE taunts, Hinder Resistance
Hammer
Role: Tanking (block)
Range: Short
Common state: Weaken
Uncommon state: Impair
Combat stats: Crit Rating, Defense Rating, Block Rating
Attack subtypes: Strike, Blast
Buffs: Crit+, Block+, Resource+, HP+, Damage+ (for builders), KB/Stun duration+, CC Immunity
Chaos
Role: Tanking (evade)
Range: Short
Common state: Weaken
Uncommon state: Impair
Combat stats: Hit Rating, Defense Rating, Evade Rating
Attack subtypes: Burst, Frenzy
Buffs: Evade+ Resource+, Hate+
Blood
Role: Healing (shield/bubble) (unique in that consumers can be fueled with your own HP instead of only by resources)
Range: Long
Common state: Afflict
Uncommon state: Impair
Combat stats: Crit Rating, Penetration Rating
Attack subtypes: Focus, Chain
Buffs: (coming soon)
Assault Rifle
Role: Healing (damage leech) (requires doing damage to an enemy to heal, cannot heal out of combat)
Range: Long
Common state: Afflict
Uncommon state: Hinder
Combat stats: Hit Rating, Heal Rating
Attack subtypes: Burst, Frenzy
Buffs: Heal+, Grant leech effects to teammates
Fist
Role: healing (direct heals)
Range: Short
Common state: Afflict
Uncommon state: Impair
Combat stats: Hit Rating
Attack subtypes: Burst, Blast
Buffs: Glance- on targets, Heal+, Move+, and Blast+
Elementalism
Role: Support (DPS buffs and Turret Summons)
Range: Long
Common state: Afflict
Uncommon state: Hinder
Combat stats: Hit Rating
Attack subtypes: Strike, Chain
Buffs: Damage+, Hit+, Crit+, Hate-, Resource+
Shotgun
Role: Support (Traps, CC, and Turret Summons)
Range: Medium
Common state: Weaken
Uncommon state: Hinder
Combat stats: Penetration Rating, Defense Rating
Attack subtypes: Strike, Blast
Buffs: Pen+, Def+, Resource+
Pistol
Role: Support (Debuffs, Buffs, Pet Summons)
Range: Medium
Common state: Weaken
Uncommon state: Hinder
Combat stats: Crit Rating
Attack subtypes: Focus, Chain
Buffs: Crit+, Runspeed+, Damage+, Heal+, CC/Debuff Immunity
*Info curtousey of Yokai's Build Guide
You should note that you can have two "weapons" equipped at a time. However, you can spend your points in all of the weapon skills if you so desire. Though I wouldn't recommend it and suggest you focus on just two at first.
When you spend Ability Points in an particular skill you will unlock Active Abilities or Passive Abilities for your character. At any time your character can only have 7 Active Abilities (attacks, debuffs, buffs, heals, so on) and 7 Passive Abilities (+ATK DMG, +Heal power, so on) equipped on your hotbar. Even though your character may have 20+ Active/Passive skills unlocked. This leads to a pretty sweet "deck" building feel as all your different Active and Passive skills work really well off one another. In fact just changing your current Skill loadout can drastically change the way you play the game.
If that all seems a bit confusing to you don't worry Funcom has you covered.
In your Ability Wheel you have the option of choosing build templates called "Decks". These decks cover a wide range of skill combos and will guide you on what abilities to take. As a bonus you can unlock special Deck Outfits for your specific role.
Well that all sound cool, but what where those factions you mentioned?
Ah yes, the Secret Societies. Three in total that you can join.
A whisper of a rumour of a shadow, this Asian group is the most secretive of societies. With no fixed territory or structure, the Dragon have dissolved and reformed throughout history. They believe that a closed, controlled society is a sick society. Only through collapse and rebuilding, the natural chaos of life, can the world be in harmony. Recently, they have taken root in a nameless district of Seoul, Korea. To an outsider, their strategies are incomprehensible. Fractal patterns, chaos theory, random numbers, unrelated events. The Dragon understand that there is no pattern, only acts of great change to be committed. From a whisper to an explosion, they divine that an incident here, a disappearance there, can change the course of everything; acupuncture applied to a paralysed planet. In the order of the Dragon, you are given the entire cosmos in potential. They have practiced martial and mental arts attuned to the true harmony of the world. The most dangerous and unpredictable of magics bend to the wills of those who are dangerous and unpredictable. In the approaching dark times, things will never be the same again. You are in the Dragon's element.
The Illuminati may have ancient roots, but they remain forever young and hungry. In every growing empire they have played for it all. And they play for keeps. Stealing the Americas from under the Templars' noses, they grew with the United States to become a shadow superpower. Their corporate headquarters, the Labyrinth, is in an undisclosed location beneath Brooklyn, New York. Acting silently, unless the occasion calls for a gunshot, the Illuminati push for a New World Order. It will be empowering and ruthless. Failure is not an option. Complacency is worse than not an option. Their arsenal is the ambition of a new media startup, the rhetoric of a congressman and a mogul's business sense. Working hard, playing hard and fighting dirty. The Illuminati's golden agents enjoy power, money and glamour – but the real power they offer you goes beyond that. Information worked from every civilian, government and clandestine organisation in the world. Advances in modern magics, in the 'New Magic', that the secret world has never seen. They can give you everything...and they can take it all away.
Proudly tracing their royal lineage back to Babylon, the Templars are the lions of the secret world. When they roar, everyone listens. Old Europe is theirs, and the Templars' marble hall dominates the old London borough of Ealdwic - historic capital of the secret world. It's not just a show of strength. Nothing is just for show with the Templars. At the forefront of the war against darkness, they decide for themselves what counts as darkness. Never backing down from a fight. Never forgetting a grudge. They have tradition to uphold. For thousands of years they have been single-minded in their mission to obliterate evil in all its forms. Where angels fear to tread, the Templars kick down doors. As a soldier of the Templars, you will benefit from their military might. They have hoarded vast occult libraries and the hard-won knowledge of battles throughout time. Their traditional magics, the old mysticism of sorcerers and priests, of life and death, are powerful still. And the loyalty between Templars may be old-fashioned, but it is absolute. You will not stand alone.
A pretty sweet thing about the faction system. It does not limit who you can group with. Players from all factions can group up and quest with each other. The only thing it prevents you from doing is joining the same side in PvP (duh) and stopping you from being able to join the same Cabal (Guild).
Wait there is PvP?
Oh right, forgot to mention that.
Don't fret if PvP isn't your thing. There are no PvP servers and there is no open PvP. PvP is strictly located in either Fight Clubs (arenas), Battlefield (think WoW), or in a Warzone (which I liken to fast paced DAoC).
You can join a Battlefield or Warzone at any time and from anywhere.
Right now there are three Warzone maps.
Stonehenge is like a 5v5v5 king of the hill map. Crazy chaotic and, IMO, fun as hell.
El Dorado is a 3-way grab the relic map. Several relics on the map and you get points for holding onto relics (like a ball). Didn't play it more than once, but that was only because;
Fusong is my favorite. Large ass map that reminds me of fast paced DAoC. It is a never ending 3-way battle with a fuck ton of people for control of three facilities and a dozen or so "Anima Wells". Controlling the facilities gives your entire faction a set of small bonuses. You can also grab 3 PvP quests from inside the map. Usually they are "Kill X dudes" or "Capture X objective".
When in the warzones you wear a uniform to represent your faction. There are 3 different uniforms to pick from. I guess your "supposed" to pick a uniform that helps identify what your character is best at (tank, healer, DPS), but you don't have to.
Okay cool, what about quests
Ho-boy, okay.
You will find all manner of quests in TSW. From the generic "kill x of Y" to the totally awesome Myst-like mind puzzle that will sometimes make you want to snap your keyboard in half.
Many quests are given to you through cut scenes from various NPCs. The cut scenes are surprisingly well done and the NPCs all have particular personalities and are generally pretty awesome.
Many other quests are found throughout the game, usually involving you to click on an item. These quest can also range from "kill x of Y" to hair pullingly hard riddles.
One thing that is a bit different is that the game does not hold your hand when it comes to quests. The game will normally point you in the right direction, but after that it is up to you. In fact there are no gold "!" to conveniently tell you who/what has a quest. I, personally, find it to be a breath of fresh air.
Well, what else should I know?
Probably a lot, which is why I will post some useful links and helpful info!
PAers play on the Arcadia (RP) Dimension.
We also have three Cabals (Guilds). One for each faction
The Six Mouths, for the Dragons.
We Are Nice Guys, for the Illuminati.
The Last Christmas, for the Templars.
We also have a custom chat channel so all of us can smack talk each other.
/chat join PA Wang
Just hop in to the chat channel and ask for an invite to your faction's Cabal. Should be someone who can hook you up.
Useful Links
Deck Builder- Not the prettiest thing out there, but it works.
Yokai's Build Guide- Has a ton of useful info and honestly a lot is over my head for me at the moment.
Lots of GUI and chat commands
A detailed guide to crafting
For those who like to tinker with their UI in more ways than usual
Also worth remembering that you can click on your map to leave your own markers. Due to the nature of certain puzzles, this is probably worth doing if you happen across something interesting.
Screenshots & Videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1MeETdH9NM&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFJTprVXHfQ&feature=player_embedded
Last remarks.
Okay, well if there is anything else I should post, write it up and PM me. I will add it to the OP.
Also, in regards to "servers" Funcom has done something cool here. Technically there are no "servers" in the traditional sense. Instead they have Dimensions, which is more then just a name. At any time you can talk to, mail stuff to, group with, or join the same Cabal as another player from a different Dimension. Very cool stuff.
Any suggestions are welcome.
I want to know more PA people on Twitter.