And I have to say, 4 hours in I'm having more fun than any other MMO I could remember. The community (at least on Arcadia) is very alive and helpful, already joined a Cabal (guild).

What I really like about the game above all is that it's going for a horizontal progression, not vertical as most themeparks are going for these days, the limited skills and perks you can pick for builds, the fact you can keep your character appearance however you want and not be gimped in any way, and the focus on story and atmosphere.

Props to Funcom for not launching a repeat of AO and AoC. 

Glad that you have fun, and that some new faces join the game. Welcome to the fold.

A few days ago the Lead Designer said they want to concentrate on stories in the future and want more horizontal progress instead of raising the level of Items every bunch of months. I think thats a good idea and will fortify the strengths of the game.

I think the 50% off sell this weekend was quite good, because in the newcomer section of the offcial forums there are quite a bunch of new threads from newbies. Good to see.

Bummer -- looks like the 50% sale ended on Steam.  There's still the free trial though:

http://www.thesecretworld.com/news/play_the_trial_now

Originally posted by Draron

And I have to say, 4 hours in I'm having more fun than any other MMO I could remember. The community (at least on Arcadia) is very alive and helpful, already joined a Cabal (guild).

What I really like about the game above all is that it's going for a horizontal progression, not vertical as most themeparks are going for these days, the limited skills and perks you can pick for builds, the fact you can keep your character appearance however you want and not be gimped in any way, and the focus on story and atmosphere.

Props to Funcom for not launching a repeat of AO and AoC. 

As you said only 4 hours in you will realize its crap at endgame and that it is an AO an AoC repeat

Originally posted by jayfeeler69

...

As you said only 4 hours in you will realize its crap at endgame and that it is an AO an AoC repeat

Have you ever played AO? I doubt it. You probably heard the stories about the bad launch and unfortunately missed one of the best sci-fi mmorpg games ever made (some people think this title goes to the original SWG, but I still like AO's take and mechanics on a lot of things.

As for AoC, it certainly is not the success (or it'll ever be) that the original box sales would suggest at the time. However, for a game that was deemed dead with a passion by a lot of people, it has matured very gracefully over the years and it's more than worth its money right now. I'm sure people would wish SOE had done the same with SWG, ie keep developing for it instead of shutting it down.

Now, TSW is a different take in the mmorpg world with things that you won't find in most offerings out there. It was a very solid launch with pretty much all the features promised on the box. And the bottom line is that you'll get your money's worth or more, depending on play style.

Originally posted by jayfeeler69

Originally posted by Draron

And I have to say, 4 hours in I'm having more fun than any other MMO I could remember. The community (at least on Arcadia) is very alive and helpful, already joined a Cabal (guild).

What I really like about the game above all is that it's going for a horizontal progression, not vertical as most themeparks are going for these days, the limited skills and perks you can pick for builds, the fact you can keep your character appearance however you want and not be gimped in any way, and the focus on story and atmosphere.

Props to Funcom for not launching a repeat of AO and AoC. 

As you said only 4 hours in you will realize its crap at endgame and that it is an AO an AoC repeat

32 hours in (according to Steam) and still playing more than any other MMO in recent years. If endgame is anything like the dungeon Polaris I've ran twice now, I won't mind it one bit. Haters gonna hate.

Content locusts always complain. Any player with a healthy view of the game knows that there is a monthly ongoing story development and fantastic missions which continue the story in TSW in monthly pacing; it´s like an ongoing season of "LOST", something every other MMO can dream of. I only know about STO having "seasons" but no clue if the story content is nearly as good.

 We´re now at Issue 3, Issue 4 around the corner and a fat Halloween event starting on Oct 15. Also the community events are awesome. Happy camper here

Originally posted by Draron

And I have to say, 4 hours in I'm having more fun than any other MMO I could remember. The community (at least on Arcadia) is very alive and helpful, already joined a Cabal (guild).

What I really like about the game above all is that it's going for a horizontal progression, not vertical as most themeparks are going for these days, the limited skills and perks you can pick for builds, the fact you can keep your character appearance however you want and not be gimped in any way, and the focus on story and atmosphere.

Props to Funcom for not launching a repeat of AO and AoC. 

Been playing since release and am still having as much (or more) fun as when I tried it in Beta.  So, welcome to the fold!

My super-sekrit srsbsns build is seriously making content child's play atm (against *most* mobs), but that took me a loooong time with a lot of tweaking, trial and error.

Best of luck to you.  I truly hope you look for your own super-sekrit build instead of copy-pasting something from the web.  Well, copy-pasting a beginner (60 point) build isn't a bad thing.  Something to get you going if needed.  Just babbling about how I love the skill system.  

PvP is a blast.  Whenever I see that our facilities are being tampered with (always the Dragons! always!), I hop into Fusang to do my best and deter them.

Anyway, lots of new people coming in lately.  It's great to see.  Have fun!

The only thing that will tear me away from TSW for a while will be when Rift's Expansion drops.  But I won't be gone forever. =)

Originally posted by Draron

And I have to say, 4 hours in I'm having more fun than any other MMO I could remember. The community (at least on Arcadia) is very alive and helpful, already joined a Cabal (guild).

What I really like about the game above all is that it's going for a horizontal progression, not vertical as most themeparks are going for these days, the limited skills and perks you can pick for builds, the fact you can keep your character appearance however you want and not be gimped in any way, and the focus on story and atmosphere.

Props to Funcom for not launching a repeat of AO and AoC. 

The Arcadia RP server is one of the better Dimension servers atm.  Very alive and well populated across all zones still.

I am also in a very nice and active Cabal. Makes all the difference.

Don't listen to the haters, the endgame is only weak if you are either massively into raiding or PvP. If you're happying doing group content or solo content there is a lot to do once you've acheived what little vertical progression there is in the game.

Dungeons in TSW are infinitely better than dungeons in anything else that has come out in the last six years.

Originally posted by GR3NDEL
I think Funcom is taking note of the influx of new players with the 50% off sales - which is a very good thing!  I've been glad to see so many new 'introduction' threads in the Newcomers sub-forum on the TSW site.

I had never had any intention of playing TSW, being happy with the games I was already playing. At most, I thought I might give a trial a workout just to say I'd looked at it, as I did with AoC. But losing CoH opened a void in my schedule. That weekend, there was a third-off-3-month-sub for Champions Online, and TSW's half-off the game. I wasn't finding CO's freebie to be anything great, so I decided to check out TSW's trial. Two days of playing told me that this one was a keeper.

Originally posted by Yakamomoto

Content locusts always complain. Any player with a healthy view of the game knows that there is a monthly ongoing story development and fantastic missions which continue the story in TSW in monthly pacing; it´s like an ongoing season of "LOST", something every other MMO can dream of. I only know about STO having "seasons" but no clue if the story content is nearly as good.

 We´re now at Issue 3, Issue 4 around the corner and a fat Halloween event starting on Oct 15. Also the community events are awesome. Happy camper here

Are the earlier issues 1 and 2 still available? Or is only the current issue available?

I ask because after several months / issues, that'd be a nice chunk of content for a new player to experience.