I  am now well into my 2nd beta weekend and can safely say that I will be playing this game for a long time. 

The amosphere and the stories are so rich and deep that it blows me away. Every time i see a red speech buble on a NPC i run over to listen to every single story line. Also i have trawled London for all the lore pieces and I am frustrated that I have only found 14 out of 15. Will have to search the forums for tips. I can see what the GD means when he says that The Secret World is a huge puzzle. 

I really cant imagine how this will unfold once they open the whole game. 

On a sidenote: 

As for the "niche" stamp I beleive this game will be just as succsessful as EVE (another niche game)

Originally posted by Aceundor

 

On a sidenote: 

As for the "niche" stamp I beleive this game will be just as succsessful as EVE (another niche game)

 

Eve launched in 2003, and now 9 years later it has 400,000 players, no other Funcom MMO is even close.  The niche of eve is its endgame is epic and is largely sandbox and endless so players can play for a long time. The developers of EVE online are developing an MMO based of of vampire the masquerade (an RPG that had a quest and story that pawned anything I saw in TSW beta.  Once again they are making an Eve like endgame but in modern times where player interaction and politics is strong which will give the game longevity.

The secret world is an MMO with a subscription and cash shop.  SWTOR had an awesome story, the best video game writters, bioware's morality choice system, and tons of funding. Players blew through that in 3 days, they could add another 3-5 days by picking another class in that game.

There were 5 puzzle quests in Kingston, so if Kingston is one of 8 content zones, there may be around 40 puzzles in this MMO, and they seem closer to Blue's clues than myst.  Support your argument and premise, what will keep players once they have finished the puzzles to make it have 400,000 players 9 years from now?

Well after finally getting pass the "black screen"-bug I got a chance to try TSW some. In between almost dying of boredom on the "loadscreens of death" between places etc I found the story to be really intriguing. I was really sucked into this story, and usually I just skip those cutscenes, but not in this case. So a big plus there from me. But the combat felt quite clunky, and I would have loved for it to be more aim-based. More like it is in Fallen Earth or something similar. Since I haven´t been able to try the PVP, and won´t be in this beta, I´m still not sure if I´m going to buy it. Atm, I´m leaning on not buying it. But who knows. Funcom maybe have some tricks up their sleaves. :P

I played as much as i could with the story for Kingsmouth. Untill Beta-stopped me :)

But yeah, im also going to play this game

I played a little. I really just wanted to see what the gameplay is like and how it would run on my computer. I didn't want to spoil anything so when release comes it will be new to me.

This game is a keeper for me.

I've played much, much more than I thought I would this weekend. Decided I'd try unlocking different skills and trying different builds, while doing so I actually found a fair bit of content I'd missed (not just what was added this weekend). I'm logged out now with a few active quests I haven't done before I'll be returning to later. I've been impressed by the characters, I've just sat here and invented a whole back story for the woman Detective you first meet when entering London, she can be found if you explore London standing on some elevated walkway. I've never sat and invented a back story for a game character before, that's how invested I got in the story.

TSW has the potential to form a strong community to support it similar to Eve. The games themselves couldn't be more different and as was stated above, Eve's sandbox, the mass of content offers quiet a lot for any player getting involved in it.

What is really going to decide TSW's fate is it's launch, if Funcom can manage a succesful launch and manage to grow the game in a direction that isn't just the tired new dungeon+new gear patch that we see with so many new MMOs. Instead if they really focus on the the investigation style gameplay where it will take an entire faction more or less working and helping to unlock the mysteries ahead of their rivals I think that competitiveness coupled with some good 3 faction PvP has the possibility to claim a strong niche in the market.

It's really a strong community popping up that needs to happen, while the PvE content allows for cooperation between the factions I think that competition of vying for power and access is something that could really set this game apart.

After 2 beta weekends, I can say that I like this game and am considering picking it up to check out for  a month to decide whether or not to keep at it. Overall I'm hopeful that this game will be a solid niche MMO with an active community to sustain it for many years.

*edit for grammer

How about the main quest where you have to open the pc and the only hint is "season music", Thank for my Wife classic music love and the secret world browser:)

I really like the fact that you have to think to get the job done, so far they haven't been too hard but I'm hopeful that the ones in the later portions will be truly challenging and require scouring and traveling to other zone and hub cities.

Originally posted by Corthala

How about the main quest where you have to open the pc and the only hint is "season music", Thank for my Wife classic music love and the secret world browser:)

That is not the only hint. On the floor is a framed picture, where the note says he was listening to his favorite composer. So you should be able to figure out the answer is a composer who wrote something related to "seasons". There is also a number in the room, adding that to a simple google search gets you the definitive answer, while just searching for "composer+seasons" nets you two results, of which you can try both.

Forced myself to log out to keep it fresh  Was hard but luckily its only one month until launch. So far it seems to be The Game I've been waiting for years.

This game just seems so beautiful. Hope it lasts many years with a lot of expansion packs to come :)

Originally posted by Piiritus

Forced myself to log out to keep it fresh  Was hard but luckily its only one month until launch. So far it seems to be The Game I've been waiting for years.

yea I just uninstalled the CB client.. i like testing but in this type of game I'm ruining to much of the story.. I was trying to play through without paying much attention to the cutsenes but it takes a lot away from the game...so ill just wait for release I got my pre-ordered set

Yep I loved the PvE in the game. Not playing this weekend because I don't want to ruin it anymore. Just hope the game is completed.

I just decided to preorder this when i stumbled on something ... They are offereing a Lifetime sub ...

Ok my Spidey sense is going haywire now(could be the meds though). Why would you offer a LTA if your in it for the long run and do not intend to monetize the crap out of people with the cash shop? I know only cosmetics, no advantages ... hmm why do i have a dejavú right now? I think i heard that somewhere before.

The thing is, the amount of money CCP got out of me over the years is mindboggling stupid(its in the low 4 digits). Anyone passing up on that for a single time fee, obviously doesn't expect people to stay very long, or atleast not put much strain on the system by playing only very little.

So if they think im not gonna stay, why should i believe they will be wrong? This is a buisness, there is no way in hell they are doing it just to be nice(their investors would skin them).

I think i rather wait for a couple weeks after release, but cashshop + LTA really should be the ultimate red stop sign for us MMO gamers. Can't think of a single MMO that offered LTAs and is not fleecing everything left, right and center wth a cashshop nowadays.

Originally posted by Rocketeer

I just decided to preorder this when i stumbled on something ... They are offereing a Lifetime sub ...

 

Ok my Spidey sense is going haywire now(could be the meds though). Why would you offer a LTA if your in it for the long run and do not intend to monetize the crap out of people with the cash shop? I know only cosmetics, no advantages ... hmm why do i have a dejavú right now? I think i heard that somewhere before.

The thing is, the amount of money CCP got out of me over the years is mindboggling stupid(its in the low 4 digits). Anyone passing up on that for a single time fee, obviously doesn't expect people to stay very long, or atleast not put much strain on the system by playing only very little.

So if they think im not gonna stay, why should i believe they will be wrong? This is a buisness, there is no way in hell they are doing it just to be nice(their investors would skin them).

 

I think i rather wait for a couple weeks after release, but cashshop + LTA really should be the ultimate red stop sign for us MMO gamers. Can't think of a single MMO that offered LTAs and is not fleecing everything left, right and center wth a cashshop nowadays.

i look at it this way.. for me game is fun enough to want to play at least a couple months.. I enjoy the setting and the story and combat is decent enough once you unlock enough skills. I would never buy a lifetime for a story based game though and without playing endgame just doesn't make sense to me.  On the other hand I just don't see playing this one for a year+ also an issue with going for the realistic look it ages much faster than the more cartoony stylized graphics. Either way Id say its worth the price for at least a month if you enjoy the setting and into this sort of story based MMO.

Well i didnt really get much chance to test this weekend as I had a stag do to attend :)

Just from playing the first weekend i know its a game im gonna sub  :) playing TSW is like a breath of fresh air.. really getting bored of all the same old fantasy MMORPGs im glad someone tried somthing a bit different :)

Thanks for the write up. I am interested in Secret world but my concern when comparing wtih EVE is that EVE has a huge end game which is pretty much endless and can be as small or as large as you want.  That is why I played for 6 years and a lot play longer.

Secret World has a great concept but as its puzzle base, how long will it take?  Once you get through the content my concern is that its just another MMO I will shelve and move on.  How much playability is there in the game?

e.g. I spent 4 years based in the same system in EVE, what other game can incorporate or encourage that?

Still good to see some positive feedback on the game.