Yesterday's investors' report from Funcom contained some bad news for the company in that its highly touted The Secret World had not lived up to hope-for expectations. We take a look at that news and more in our latest editorial. Check it out!

I really don't know what to say. Every part of our 8.5 review for The Secret World is something I stand by. I believe in that game, in the developers' vision for a different kind of MMO, and in the love and attention that's gone into its world. I always expected TSW to be a niche MMORPG, one that would be fiercely guarded by its fans. I also expected that the Funcom Investor predictions of a million-plus sales were overly optimistic.  I just didn't think that 200,000 copies would be all the title saw in its first couple of months.

Read more of Bill Murphy's and Suzie Ford's Musing on Funcom.

I really don't understand all these "ahead of its time" comments - if anything TSW appeared to me as being a game stuck in the past.

Linear, story-driven, grind quest-hub to max level, sandwich hit-point-swapping combat, whack a mole Trinity, and grind instanced end-game PvP and PvE.

You know what would have happened if TSW had the IP recognition/popularity and marketing/hype of TOR? The exact same thing that has happened to TOR. Burn brightly, then burned out.

I'll say it again, it's not a probem with the game it's a problem with funding and marketing of an unknow IP.

Recently I thought about if TSW had another year to bake. It's so far ahead of the curve graphically and in character development  that if it did release a year or even two from now it would still be cutting edge. Money again wouldn't allow this. Funcom is an indy that doesn't have unlimited money for endless development time. I've even thought what if FC did sell to EA or another big publisher would they have had more funding which would have gave more time to fill out the pvp content? 

TSW is ahead of it's time for better and for worse. I truly admire the vision of these guys, being able to start a project five or six years ago while releasing something today that is still new and fresh, BioWare couldn't do it. 

TSW is still by far the most immersive world I've had the pleasure to be apart of with a character development system that's a pvprs dream. Here's to seeing more pvp and more player created content in the future. 

I too stand by every glowing statement I've made. They were all well deserved.

TSW not only deserves better it deserves much better! All those hypocrite reviewers out there who have been screaming for a new take on the genre only to turn around and score TSW down should be ashamed of themselves. Bugs and issues aside TSW is a breath of fresh air in a stale environment and should have been applauded for all it has brought to the MMO market.

Sure somethings should have been made clearer in that I don’t think people get that the in-game shop isn't like an F2P shop and contains very little you would expect to see in one. Sure EA didn't help by slapping a huge price tag on it, sure it has bugs but they all do when they released as does every game in every genre! Sure Funcom had a lot to prove but they have proved it with TSW, just look at the fan reviews to see that it is much better than the reviewa (MMORPG’s aside) say it is.

You only have to spend a bit of time with TSW to realise it has some of the best writing, voice acting, mission design, implementation, atmosphere and stunning locations of any MMO released and it deserve a lot more respect than it has been given!

I am proud to say I am lifetime subscriber!

The problem is the theme and setting. Most people just don't like Modern World MMOs, Post-Apocalyptic MMOs, and Sci-Fi MMOs (Unless it's Star Wars). It's because of this that I paid no real interest in The Secret World.

I know wer're all tired of them, but the Sword & Board / High Fantasy is where the appeal is.

People want longswords, two-handed claymores, broad swords, short swords, katanas, recurve bows, reflex bows, pikes, halberds, partisans, tower shields, magical staffs, daggers, plate mail armor, leather armor, etc...

Many just aren't into wearing jeans wielding shotguns in their MMOs.

I don't cotton to the idea that an MMORPG deserves anything. I agree that the game was pretty well written, had a unique idea and a fresh setting. Funcom did something wrong though. Maybe it was advertising, maybe it was just not tying into a common theme that the current gaming population would want. I don't know, but they missed something.

I know what I'm hoping they'll do, but that's motivated by what I want, not what I think would be good for the game. If they did a B2P thing like GW2, I would probably play the game, especially since it's on Steam.

Originally posted by kevjards
spot on..i bought a lifetime sub yesterday mainly because it has me hooked..last game to do that was lotro..and i got a lifetime on that one as well.i,m in for the long haul.i really hope this turns out to be a great success regardless of the naysayers.

 

I managed to get a lifetime sub for 75 pounds (half price) with lotro a few years ago . I think a similar priced subscription would make this game worth it . I certainly would take up the offer .

I haven't played TSW, so I cannot comment on the game itself except to say I can't see what the 'ahead of it's time' fuss is about.  It has skill based progression..  ok, cool.. but not a gamechanger IMO.  Anyway, ill put this down to my ignorance of the game.

I think there are 3 main reasons it hasn't done well.

1 - releasing close to GW2

2 - Box price, subscription and cash shop.  Seems excessive.

3 - Funcom.  Sorry, but some of us got burnt with AO.  Others got burnt with AOC.  It'd take a lot to restore any trust.

It likely is a combination of things that destroyed the sales of this game.  A company with a bad reputation, the release date, the payment model, many non mmo friends of mine didn't even know about the game and the fact that people apparently prefer cartoon fantasy settings.

Despite what some other misinformed zealots may spout on this site, I don't think it was the game itself that was the problem.  Even with all the factors coming into play, I'm still shocked that it didn't sell better. 

First off, I think TSW is an awesome game. However, by its very design, it was limited. While most of the content is repeatable, it also gets increasingly longer cooldowns by zone (~20 hours for New Solomon, 48 for Egypt, 72 for Trannsylvania). So if you play every day, you will quickly be propelled through the game itself. Since every character can do everything, there is really NO replay value... so for those with altitis... no joy.  

I believe the game's best chance is to flip to F2P and start putting the new content out in purchasable packs.