The good folks at GamesRadar.com have a new interview with Funcom's Martin Bruusgaard about the deck system that will be utilized in The Secret World.

The complexity of the "freeform progression" that The Secret World uses, the team thought that perhaps a "Deck" would give players guidance in how to actively combine skills to form synergy. Each society will have ten decks available and players will receive a spiffy outfit when completed. Of course, this shouldn't rule out experimenting on one's own to find the perfect combination a player is looking for:

I believe a lot of players will take a look at the decks when they start playing, and start working towards one. This process has some great treats to it, since we can use it as a tool to teach players the different layers of synergy. Players will soon realize that, in many cases, wielding two weapons is optimal. Later they will realize that the abilities have synergy through the state system, meaning that an ability can do X, but if target is in state Y the X AND Z happens.

Read the full interview at the link above.

Sounds interesting. Cant wait to see how it is implemented.

If you complete a deck and get an outfit, do you get to keep it even if you customize your deck to something new?

AWEEESOOMMEE!! :)

Sort of like Archetypes for Champions Online. I can imagine some killer builds for TSW with Freeform though (and there ain't nothing wrong with that heh heh). However, for many players having a template to build towards that will keep the game playable for their playstyle (Solo, Healer, Raid Tank, etc.) would be immensely helpful.

It would also be interesting to see if they add Roles as Rift did.

Incidentally, Rift has a similar system now called Presets where they have taken some of the best performing builds from the Community and built them into the free-form Souls system so players can follow them as a guide.

Originally posted by lizardbones

If you complete a deck and get an outfit, do you get to keep it even if you customize your deck to something new?

i was just wondering the same thing...

im going to just assume that the outfit is a perk of the deck. change the deck lose the outfit. could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it.

BAD

OP decks will breed clones.

if you like the look but think a single passive or active skill that is NOT in your deck is superior to something that the devs like you lose the look.

GOOD

gives new players a good guide

will act as an achievement type system

i really hope that the outfits can be saved in a tab once you collect a deck. that way you can LOOK like you have Deck A even if you have Deck B equipped. ...one can hope...

Great idea, I'm all for making complex systems accessible, takes out the intimidation for newbies, all that agonising over skill point allocation can be waylaid until your confident enough to know what your doing. Those of us with a bit more experience can dive right in to making our own. The problem I foresee is that for costume junkies like me (yeah I'm a bloke who likes playing dress up...and?) we'll be chasing builds to get at them. Hopefully a respec isn't too expensive.

Looking forward to new info as we ramp up towards launch :)

Awesome!  This is a kind of system I had as a part of base design of any sandbox mmo I could dream up.  It reminds me of the FFXI job system, but feeds from such a free form sandboxey style of advancement.

Complete a set, get a 'Job' armor, and you can unlock all of them.  Starting with 10 per society makes 30 decks just at launch, and you could have 60 within a couple expansions.  These give something to work towards, and direction in a directionless system.  Collect them all, go for key ones, and infinite expandabality due to simply needing new armor sets. 

This game is really shaping up like a dream and I can't wait to see its implementation.

So we have 14 active abilities unlike in TOR where we have 30+?

I think one important thing that hinges on the multitude of skill combinations is that how much different does each individual look using a similar skill.

Say two people are building an archtype that resembles the bad ass old biker dude at the beginning of this thread. One individual wants to have their weapons wielded individually during their use while the other wants to wield both at the same time, ready to strike.

Having ways to individualize yourself with unique animation sets tied to the abilities would add a TON to individualization. This is one fault of having the huge skill deck is that many skills perform the same function thus many of the skills will look the same, thus losing the feeling of uniqueness.

Edit: I hope I am wrong about this.

Originally posted by nomss

So we have 14 active abilities unlike in TOR where we have 30+?

Read again, we only have 7 active abilities and 7 passive abilities on our loadout at any time.  Think more like Guild Wars where you can collect 500 skills, but alter your loadout with 7 active/7 passive when out of combat.  You can adjust them on the fly like if a boss wipes your party you can try altering skills, add more off heals, etc.

... and seriously do we need to compare these games?  They are almost nothing alike.  If you love SWTOR with 30+ skills (of which less than 7 are usually frequently used by most classes) then that is awesome.  I personally like the ability to have 500 skills and customize my character how I want instead of having the exact same setup as almost every other player who plays my class.

Originally posted by nomss

So we have 14 active abilities unlike in TOR where we have 30+?

Technically seven. Seven active and seven passive.

Its both a cool and worriesome decission.

The fun comes from experimentation, but it can get confusing with 400+ skills to find the right synergies at the beginning.

But i think it might hinder the experimentation that teaches you by trial and error, and its a lot of fun to boot. Giving suggestions diminishes this a bit.

Well its not mendatory i guess :/

Originally posted by AdamTM

Its both a cool and worriesome decission.

 

The fun comes from experimentation, but it can get confusing with 400+ skills to find the right synergies. 

But i think it might hinder the experimentation. 

Well its not mendatory i guess :/

I think it could add a little addictive 'collect them all' system, and since armor doesn't have stats it will be all for looks.  I doubt the deck setups will be the be all end all when it comes to that style of play, but more of a launching platform to get started and further enhance.  With only 10 available per char and 500 skills that leaves a lot of experimentation room.

Originally posted by ProfRed

Originally posted by nomss

So we have 14 active abilities unlike in TOR where we have 30+?

Read again, we only have 7 active abilities and 7 passive abilities on our loadout at any time.  Think more like Guild Wars where you can collect 500 skills, but alter your loadout with 7 active/7 passive when out of combat.  You can adjust them on the fly like if a boss wipes your party you can try altering skills, add more off heals, etc.

... and seriously do we need to compare these games?  They are almost nothing alike.  If you love SWTOR with 30+ skills (of which less than 7 are usually frequently used by most classes) then that is awesome.  I personally like the ability to have 500 skills and customize my character how I want instead of having the exact same setup as almost every other player who plays my class.

 

I only gave TOR as an example to clarify my question.

Are we able to adjust our deck during fights?

Originally posted by nomss

I only gave TOR as an example to clarify my question.

Are we able to adjust our deck during fights?

 

Got ya.  There are definitely perks and drawbacks to both systems.  I think it is editable any time you are out of combat last I checked.  So not during fights. 

Originally posted by nomss

Originally posted by ProfRed

Originally posted by nomss

So we have 14 active abilities unlike in TOR where we have 30+?

Read again, we only have 7 active abilities and 7 passive abilities on our loadout at any time.  Think more like Guild Wars where you can collect 500 skills, but alter your loadout with 7 active/7 passive when out of combat.  You can adjust them on the fly like if a boss wipes your party you can try altering skills, add more off heals, etc.

... and seriously do we need to compare these games?  They are almost nothing alike.  If you love SWTOR with 30+ skills (of which less than 7 are usually frequently used by most classes) then that is awesome.  I personally like the ability to have 500 skills and customize my character how I want instead of having the exact same setup as almost every other player who plays my class.

 

I only gave TOR as an example to clarify my question.

Are we able to adjust our deck during fights?

     Seeing as how the game isnt instanced, yes you will be able to switch skills between fights. Its otherwise very similar to what Guild Wars did with there skill system. Just with the added dimension of being able to have an equal number of passive skills that will affect your active skills. Also the game doesnt just toss all 500 skills at you at once. You will gradually obtain skills as you play the game (also much like Guild Wars) so players will have time to learn about there new skills before gaining there next one. As a fan of the Guild Wars skill system im very pleased with this decision as it ensures that every skill in your build will be useful rather than having a bunch of skills taking up space on your ui that you might use once in a blue moon, which will allow you to focus on the game itself.

Originally posted by Nailzzz

Originally posted by nomss

Originally posted by ProfRed

Originally posted by nomss

So we have 14 active abilities unlike in TOR where we have 30+?

Read again, we only have 7 active abilities and 7 passive abilities on our loadout at any time.  Think more like Guild Wars where you can collect 500 skills, but alter your loadout with 7 active/7 passive when out of combat.  You can adjust them on the fly like if a boss wipes your party you can try altering skills, add more off heals, etc.

... and seriously do we need to compare these games?  They are almost nothing alike.  If you love SWTOR with 30+ skills (of which less than 7 are usually frequently used by most classes) then that is awesome.  I personally like the ability to have 500 skills and customize my character how I want instead of having the exact same setup as almost every other player who plays my class.

 

I only gave TOR as an example to clarify my question.

Are we able to adjust our deck during fights?

     Seeing as how the game isnt instanced, yes you will be able to switch skills between fights. Its otherwise very similar to what Guild Wars did with there skill system. Just with the added dimension of being able to have an equal number of passive skills that will affect your active skills. Also the game doesnt just toss all 500 skills at you at once. You will gradually obtain skills as you play the game (also much like Guild Wars) so players will have time to learn about there new skills before gaining there next one. As a fan of the Guild Wars skill system im very pleased with this decision as it ensures that every skill in your build will be useful rather than having a bunch of skills taking up space on your ui that you might use once in a blue moon, which will allow you to focus on the game itself.

When you play TSW you need to forget everything that you know about MMORPG combat. There is no "right way to play" or "optimal build".

There will be situations where different synergies do different things. For example, a single-target DPS rifle + an elementalism build with DOTS might be a bad synergy AGAINST HORDES OF ZOMBIES, but excellent for bosses and single tougher mobs. Whereas a shotgun AOE + rifle AOE healing build might really suck against tough single targets. 

The combat should be extremely diverse and situational, you need to learn everything from scratch here, switching skills out before an encounter is probably encouraged, nay, necessary, at times.

I really hope that they will include a tool that will enable you to create your own skill-builds for quick switching, the skill-wheel is just way too clunky if i look at it in the demo-videos.

PS: quick correction on the green highlight, the game is instanced in the same way AOC is, thats obvious from the developer vids with a hub city etc. Also skill-switching in dungeons is restricted to be only performed at anima-wells, so you need to pay attention to the clues as to what you will face in the next segment of the dungeon. I.E. NPCs will give you clues that you might encounter for example Draugr, which are vulnerable to fire so an elementalism build might be in order, etc.

It's nice to be getting some more information on The Secret World as April (to those of us who are in high anticipation) is right around the corner. I was in search of more on how the combat system would work in TSW, the only thing I knew was the 7 active skills at a time. Which is a little different from most MMO's but I played DCUO and didn't find it too limiting. You were able to change in different stuff on the fly.

As for having multiple builds and being able to swtich between them. Do people think it will be something like Rifts, where you can change between combat? or will you be able to switch builds 'during' combat and then have your new set of passives and actives set?

I'm not leaning either way, just wondering myself since I have both high hopes and desire to actually play TSW. Been following for so long now and trying to appease my hunger with SWTOR maybe wasn't the best idea. That's neither here or there tho...

In closing I'm really stoked to see and learn more not only about the deck system and the freeform skill wheel, but ANYTHING about The Secret World.

I'll contain my excitement and expectations. In fact I'll just think TSW is going to be garbage now, so that it will completely be shit-pants-mind-blowing awesome when I do get to play.

Originally posted by Opapanax

It's nice to be getting some more information on The Secret World as April (to those of us who are in high anticipation) is right around the corner. I was in search of more on how the combat system would work in TSW, the only thing I knew was the 7 active skills at a time. Which is a little different from most MMO's but I played DCUO and didn't find it too limiting. You were able to change in different stuff on the fly.

As for having multiple builds and being able to swtich between them. Do people think it will be something like Rifts, where you can change between combat? or will you be able to switch builds 'during' combat and then have your new set of passives and actives set?

I'm not leaning either way, just wondering myself since I have both high hopes and desire to actually play TSW. Been following for so long now and trying to appease my hunger with SWTOR maybe wasn't the best idea. That's neither here or there tho...

In closing I'm really stoked to see and learn more not only about the deck system and the freeform skill wheel, but ANYTHING about The Secret World.

I'll contain my excitement and expectations. In fact I'll just think TSW is going to be garbage now, so that it will completely be shit-pants-mind-blowing awesome when I do get to play.

"Builds" can be switched out of combat only, or at least thats what we know so far. In dungeons skills can only be switched at anima-wells that are strewn about in every "chapter" of the dungeon.