RT: Okay, so here we go

chriscurrie: Are there forces in play beyond the three factions we've seen? Or do they mostly compete against each other?

RT: There are certainly other - darker, older - forces at play, and they are definitely going to be crucial to the story.

iktose: What are the tokens we got for ? ...what ? this is not a valid question ? but I'm sure many of us want to know this answer

RT: Can't tell you yet, but do hold onto them. Wait...which tokens? I don't know about any tokens.

Agrabush: Can factions group with each other on the surface? Or do all my friends have to join the same faction?

RT: We haven't announced anything yet - but the secret societies do stand united against evil.

henriksultan: Not a question about the game so i wont tag it with tswqa but where is that video they are talking about?? I wanna see it..

RT: It's on my computer.

philcsf: Yo, big fan. What's the predicted release date for The Secret World? Will the release be simultaneous, or delays for region/platform?

RT: No official release date yet, but I'm sure we'll launch simultaneously in Europe and North America.

albedo777: The articles touched on cabal pvp and cells to get anima. What about smaller cabals? Will it be difficult/impossible for us?

RT: Not impossible but probably more difficult. If you're few but strong and well coordinated you can still put up a fight.

Samozwaniec: when we will see gameplay and ingame footages?

RT: I'd love to see it released some time this autumn, but that hasn't been decided yet.

Agrabush: What kind of non-combat content will there be? And we need more info on crafting!

RT: We'll talk about trade skills another time but it's going to be fun. Many missions won't be about killing things.

Mimezu: we know that society HQ will be social places, will there be other social spots in the game (nightclubs, etc ...) ?

RT: Yes.

darkSTandrew: how will the cabal houses work?

RT: As gathering places for your cabal! There's gameplay associated with them, but we're not revealing anything more now.

Templar_unknown: I wonder how entry to Agartha will take place? Wonder if any of the lore based "entry points" are real?

RT: There will be many, many roads into Agartha. Some old, some new, some known, some very, very secret.

Ogibogi: will there be cross faction grouping in PvE? Global or north america & EU servers?

RT: Like I said above (below?) we haven't announced anything yet, but the societies do stand united against evil.

samsbase: These cells that are taken in Agartha are they only takable by NPC factions or cabaals too ?

RT: Cabals.

julienlavoie: There's no levels. Will there be specific targets/goals to always give you something to look forward to?

RT: Absolutely, definitely, yes.

Pyroclasam: what range of weapons can we expect in game and how heavily will magic figure into it?

RT: A wide range, and heavily.

Pyroclasam: is there a particular ESRB eating that you're aiming for?

RT: Right now, the game is pretty mature. Zombie head go boom. And cussing too.

bunchie007: How will the characters in TSW deal with death?

RT: In a really interesting way. We will address it. Death means something in the real world.

M0nnes: Will melee combat be similar to WoW, like right click and wait for emotes, with the occational special move?

RT: Nope.

SA_Avenger: Crucial are there sherpas in game

RT: There can't NOT be sherpas in this game.

Syntheticwhite: All the stuff so far seems very combat focused. Any hints on what the ratio of Combat vs. Socal -play will be like?

RT: That depends on how you choose to play it.

Jest118: Re: Factions and Weapons. Will players be able to wield more than one type. i.e. Pistol for ranged, sword for Melee?

RT: Of course.

agill084: IGN and Massively are reporting contrary things about cross-faction PvE play, can you clarify? Is it still undecided?

RT: Not really undecided - more like unannounced.

iktose: Is there going to be a real gameplay difference between the 3 secret societies, i.e one got some improvements the others don't?

RT: Not in terms of balancing, but there will be content differences.

RT: @psyx0r The Xbox version will be different from the PC version, and the latter will be designed as a PC game first and foremost.

agill084: There's been a loss of consumer confidence in the Funcom brand. Any plans for the TSW launch to address this?

RT: Don't know about that, but we're just going to make the best damn game we know how and hope that people will play it.

astarti_alexia: is Anima crucial for battle and spells?

RT: As announced, anima will be important for - amongst other things - weapon upgrades and trade skills.

Chtuga: I feel the economy is extremely important, will it be player and tradeskill driven?

RT: We also feel the economy is extremely important, and we're doing something about it!

fujikanaeda: Can you release any details on the nature or existence of live events within TSW?

RT: I love events, but we can't say anything about that yet.

wryterra: Are cabal housing areas a part of the Society HQs or are they seperate entities?

RT: Separate.

fujikanaeda: Will we see puzzle elements within the game? If so, how is FC planning on combating the 'alakhazam' lookup effect?

RT: There will be puzzles. And there will always be ways to make the game easier - and less interesting.

ilistyn: For those of us that do not like PvP will there be other ways to get Anima? what about non pvp equipment, etc.

RT: Yes.

Sagebigly: Any chance of seeing the great old one in the game?

RT: There will be things that are both great and old and dark and deep and wet and slimy.

Azeltir: As a non-MMO player, what do you think TSW might do to sway me to it?

RT: The story, the setting, the action gameplay, the missions, the puzzles, the characters, the sights & sounds.

Soulstrider: Will there be any plot related details released soon?

RT: Who says there hasn't been?

mr_whisper: Can you give a general idea of the projected system specs? I'm building a new computer specifically for TSW?

RT: Not quite yet but we're aiming for laptops.

Makaruda: Any info you can give us on infiltrating enemy bases as mentioned in the IGN article?

RT: It's going to be fun and exciting.

greve_tsw: At what stage is the game at right now? Pre-Alpha? Alpha? Pre-Beta?

RT: Pre-Alpha.

AnnLemay: Hi! Looking forward to the game! Q: Will gameplay be predominantly PVE or PVP? Will solo gameplay be possible, or limit the exp.?

RT: Soloing will definitely be possible. The game will have plenty of PvE. This reveal was just mostly about PvP.

brinstar: On TSW forums players are associating Templars with Christianity. Will the devs distance the faction from religion?

RT: Templars aren't about Christianity. They're about Faith. Which is different. And also about kicking demon ass.

smugas: How cabals are important? Can we enjoy most parts of game without need to join to cabal?

RT: You can play without joining a cabal, but PvP will be a lot more fun if you're in one.

Zombacon: Will the secret society you join determine your ethnicity?

RT: No, absolutely not.

Aquilus: Also, will players will be able to wear monocles? That's a dealbreaker for me

RT: Definitely. Monocles are go.

KyleHorner: @brinstar had a good one here: Will the devs distance Templars from any specific religions?

RT: Yup, like I said, no secret society is tied to any religion. Everyone's invited.

squareking: Any chance TSW could be Mac-compatible? Also, I'm a big fan of what I've seen so far -- keep it up!

RT: No Mac version planned, but there's always Boot Camp and Windows 7. Works for me!

philcsf: Another quick Q - Will the PC and 360 versions be using the same server (cross-platform gameplay)? If it's still coming to 360.

RT: Nope, no cross-platform gameplay.

Fald0n: Will combat rather be 1st person or 3rd person? Or doesn't the "character view" matter at all?

RT: 3rd person.

eXes: How far will the hate between Illuminati and Templar go? Will they actually have conflicts in the story line or only in agartha?

RT: There will be conflicts in the story, too.

eXes: Several interviews are talking about expansion (addons) any details about that?

RT: There will be extensions and add-ons and expansions, but it's a bit too early to talk about that.

Ragnar mentions Cabal housing (HQ:s) but not very detailed. Found this on the website however.

"Player-made organisations - Create or join player-made organisations called cabals. Create your own headquarters, and decorate and furnish it to your liking. All cabals are ranked against each other, and a cabal's success will bring fame, fortune and power to its members."

I like the really like that you can decorate and furnish the HQs. But the real question is, will there be any player housing? I mean if I decorate my Cabal's HQ in one way, I don't want some other member to re-decorate the whole thing the next day, if you catch my drift.

So far it hasn't been said anything about players houses, but it's definitely something that can happen. The game is still in pre-alpha stage and we still know so few about it's mechanics.

Like in other games (Lotro for example) they can implement such extra things on forthcoming content patches or expansions.

Nice Q&A thanks for posting easier to read.

"Templars aren't about Christianity. They're about Faith"

There has been no mention of Player Housing.

But Cabal (Guild) housing looks like it will have a strong part in the game. :)

Glad to hear Templar isn't about Christianity (or religion what so ever.) But I still think I'm more suited for Dragon.

Non-combat content and a strong ecconomy (and strong crafting presumably.) Woot!

Every word from Tornquest's mouth boosts my hype.

I love sandbox MMOGs and it looks like with Ragnar Tornquest at the helm, Funcom may very well make one of the best ever.