Direct quote from the forums:

Hi all,

Welcome to the inaugural The Secret World State of the Game update!

(Right, so that's a mouthful. In the future, I think I'll shorten it to TSWSotG, because that's a LOT easier to remember.)

We've had an exciting first week, and we're thrilled to see that everything has gone incredibly smooth so far. There have been some bugs and issues, of course, and we're fixing those as quickly as we can, but things are really stable and our players -- you guys! -- are very, very happy with the game. And that makes us very happy, too!

Now that players are progressing further and further into the game, uncovering all those things we've managed to keep secret for years and years, we're starting to see a lot of questions about what's next. What does the future hold for The Secret World, for our players and subscribers?

Well, I'm finally allowed to reveal a FEW of the things we're working on, and I'm really excited to be talking about what's ahead for The Secret World.

We're going to be releasing fresh and tasty new content to our subscribers on a regular, monthly basis. The first update is due on Tuesday, July 31st, and we will be releasing more details about that particular update later this week -- including a couple of fun surprises. (You're going to love it.)

So what will these updates contain? I'm glad you asked! I won't spoil too much, but here's an overview of some of the things we have in the pipelines:

* Mission packs on a monthly basis! The first few packs will contain new investigations for every adventure zone in the game -- but we also have more action and sabotage missions planned for the near future. These missions will feature fully voiced cut-scenes and new media pop-ups, and will match the quality of the missions currently in the game

* New weapons! We will be announcing our first auxiliary weapon soon (one clue: bigger, slower, more explosions) and new auxiliary weapons will be released on a regular basis. Combat in The Secret World will continue to evolve, and it will pay to expand your character in multiple directions!

* Raids! We're well into production on our first raid, and there will be more information about that in August! But as a teaser: The Big Apple will never be the same

* We've already announced our plans for expanding and improving character customisation: The Modern Prometheus and Ockham's Razor are opening in New York and London respectively in August, Execution later this year in Seoul. Pangaea in London will receive new stock, and we will add more accessories and clothing as rewards for both achievements and missions

* Chronicle has entered public beta, and we'll keep enhancing and growing that service according to player needs and wishes! Our intent is for Chronicle to become a living, breathing community in itself, and a place where players will go to measure and compare themselves against others, to check out the profiles of their co-players and rivals, and -- in the long run -- to become a living chronicle (zing!) of their player characters

* We have a player-versus-player dungeon in the early stages of planning -- in a brand new geographical area. More on this later this year!

* And speaking of dungeons, we're also working on a dungeon finder tool, allowing players to more easily put together a team to handle the instanced content

* Seasonal events won't go unnoticed in the secret world, and both Halloween and the Winter Solstice are important milestones for those who dabble (and dive deep into) the occult. Expect plenty of content to tie into both events -- including new missions, new characters, new monsters and some twists and turns that will keep players on their toes

* We're in production on two large, new and incredibly exciting adventure zones -- both of which will be announced in August. New geographical regions, new characters, new missions, new drops, new challenges, new monsters, new lore that will carry the story past its first act and into its thrilling and shocking second act!

* Improved cabal functionality is on the drawing board and will be seeing improvements later this year

* And we're not forgetting about our social players! We have some cool functionality tied to the Albion in London coming up very soon, allowing role-players and would-be thespians to spread their wings

* Pets will be updated and upgraded as we go along! More pets, better pets, and some cool surprises in store for pet owners!

* And last but certainly not least: Combat will receive constant polish and tweaks to make things look and feel better. Keep an eye out for more revisions to our effects and animations this autumn -- and the inclusion of auxiliary weapons will make combat even more exciting!

This isn't all. In fact, it's just the beginning, so stay tuned! The Secret World will keep growing, and there will always be a reason to go back to your favourite places, to dig deeper into the mysteries of Solomon Island, Egypt, Transylvania, New York, London and Seoul...and beyond.

So classical. The developers of DCUO and Rift wanted the same thing. (monthly updates) 

We'll see how things go :)

Pretty much everything everyone wants is in that list, we'll see how well they do with the actual implementation.

IF they can pull this off and keep this level of content and updates coming good on them, but I wonder how much of this stuff was with-held from release for just this purpose? Release half the game and force players to pace out the content and keep them subbing by releasing one "pack" per month?

Skeptical i admit, but mmo companies are ruthless.

I wonder how many subs they need to retain to keep to that plan?

I have no doubt they have a lot of huge things planned for this game just like every other MMO that has released has, the big question is can they keep the income streams high enough to hold onto the staff to accomplish them?

I dont know why anyone even reacts to "content on a monthly basis" anymore. Pretty much all of them promise this, and the content is always on the light side. Sometimes they just drop the ball completely after the first monthly update.

Maybe THIS time though..?

More news to come later this week.

Ragnar:

"You're welcome. We live for making your day. We really do.

If you like this, you're going to love what's coming up later this week. We're going to be talking in more detail about some of the content, and we're going to announce the name of these monthly updates on Friday -- and show off the wrapping. I'm excited! Are you excited? I'm very, very excited. "

Thanks for posting this! I think I just went over the hump on going lifetime. :)

Originally posted by ShakyMo
It's not for me with it being a raiders game, but I think rift has been pretty successful hasn't it?

Why would say it's a raiders game? True, it's there, but it could also be those puzzle oriented raids, not normal ones. Also, there's a pvp dungeon, whatever the hell it is (mayb new WZ).

I also hope those "mission packs" aren't for the cs. And Big Apple? Yeah, it's probably that monster in the 4th CGI trailer.

This all sound good and everything, but delvering is another thing. Not hating, but that's how it is. So far, it seems they're on the good track.

EDIT: Ragnar just confirmed mission packs are not CS.

Originally posted by rznkain

Originally posted by GnatBug

Oh look ...lol

Star Trek Online all over again .... Dont developers ever learn!

They launch a game with no content and promis more content which will blow your mind! ..BUT ..you will have to renew your sub ...Wink Wink ..

to see it in August .. ROFL come on poeple we smarter than this !

      Stop trolling you do not even play this game you have said so in other threads therefore your opion is worth nothing.Go back to your F2P game forums which apprently is all you can afford atm and troll them.There is plenty of content in TSW and I will be subbed past august to begin with as I am not some loser who plays a game for 16 hours a day and hits escape key on all content.The content is there if you choose to esc key and rush through it then thats your ADD faul no one elses.

Many of the things on that list have more to do with gameplay than content.  So far I have had no issues with lack of content at all as I'm just leaving Blue Mountain now so have a lot of the game in front of me.  Things like new weapons, improved cabals, new weapons, character creation, combat improvements mean more to me but again they can promise a lot but in order to deliever they will need enough money coming in or the suits will cut their staff.

You are right in that TSW has more content than STO at launch however STO and DCUO both said we would see monthly content patches which quickly turned into quarterly than whenever we have the resources as the subs dried up.

It all sounds awesome to me.  HOWEVER, if they can't pull it off on time and working as intended, they'll get their butts handed to them and rightfully so.  Don't make promises you can't keep.

Turbine is the only developer I know that has successfully, consistently produced significant monthly content updates for any MMORPG.  That was Asheron's Call, still my favorite MMORPG.

I love TSW, but Funcom's track record is not stellar with past games and they are making an ambitious promise with monthly updates.

Well we'll see how things actually play out but least in theory it sounds pretty sweet. I would be very surprised  if we actually do get monthly updates.

Certainly won't bitch about it if it actually happens.

Originally posted by FredomSekerZ

EDIT: Ragnar just confirmed mission packs are not CS.

 Thank...god...

Thanks for the info

Very excited for this. This game as gone above all my expectations. 

Originally posted by ShakyMo
I was talking about rift not tsw fredom

Oh ok sorry. I just felt you where saying the game was turning into a raiding, gear treadmill style, mmo.

Wicked- Yes, it was confirmed on this thread http://forums.thesecretworld.com/showthread.php?t=42552&page=2

Where Ragnar states:

"If you like this, you're going to love what's coming up later this week. We're going to be talking in more detail about some of the content, and we're going to announce the name of these monthly updates on Friday -- and show off the wrapping."

The reason i'm posting this is because i believed this was the announcement in the wee they where talking about. But again, let's hope they deliever. Until then.

But it looks like FC is working hard. A new server was announced by player demand

http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/07/10/the-secret-world-adding-server-dimension-to-meet-player-demand/

Lol, I can see how this will go down in these forums....

Funcom announces monthly content updates.

Usual suspects post: "Hahaha ! You fools actually believe this ? It's Funcom, after all"

End July: FC delivers first content pack on schedule.

Usual suspects post: "Oh, it's much too little. And this wiil be the last thing you'll see from them. It's Funcom, after all"

End August: FC delivers second content pack on schedule.

Usual suspects post: "Oh, they're just fooling you. This is stuff they held back from release. It's Funcom, after all"

End September: FC delivers third content pack on schedule.

Usual suspects post: "Man, can you believe this sh1t ? The fanbois are still giving FC money for content they should have received at launch. Funcom, is duping them, and they're too dumb to realise it. Typical Funcom move."

And over on the GW2 forums: "Hey guyz, Anet just made the first DLC pack available ! They truly are amazing, always deliver on their promises..."

Originally posted by SpottyGekko

Lol, I can see how this will go down in these forums....

 

Funcom announces monthly content updates.

Usual suspects post: "Hahaha ! You fools actually believe this ? It's Funcom, after all"

 

End July: FC delivers first content pack on schedule.

Usual suspects post: "Oh, it's much too little. And this wiil be the last thing you'll see from them. It's Funcom, after all"

 

 

End August: FC delivers second content pack on schedule.

Usual suspects post: "Oh, they're just fooling you. This is stuff they held back from release. It's Funcom, after all"

 

 

End September: FC delivers third content pack on schedule.

Usual suspects post: "Man, can you believe this sh1t ? The fanbois are still giving FC money for content they should have received at launch. Funcom, is duping them, and they're too dumb to realise it. Typical Funcom move."

And over on the GW2 forums: "Hey guyz, Anet just made the first DLC pack available ! They truly are amazing, always deliver on their promises..."

Hehe, you are probably right SpottyGekko :-)

I can understand people are somewhat sceptical though (because it is Funcom), but so far Funcom have done everything related to TSW close to perfect.