Martin Bruusgaard’s holiday answers
It’s a new year, and that means new opportunities. With Funcom slowly collecting themself after a little internal relocating of office spaces during the Christmas and New Year holidays, it’s time again to put the foot down on the pedal for a release in April 2012. Thats only 4-5 months, a little more for a late release, but “we will not dissapoint” we hear a Funcom voice say.
It’s Lead Designer, Martin Bruusgaard. Everything is on track so far and all is as planned, he says, as he teases us by sharing just how much everyone is enjoying “playing” the game – just as much as making sure it gets finished in time. It’s all good and well meant, and they are surely eager to show us their baby soon enough. It won’t be long now, and within that short period there are still a lot of secrets we would like to learn about this world.
He makes sure to calm us down by telling us that the offices never are completely empty, not even in the holidays.
“Holidays or not, you will always find someone at the office working on their game. People are incredibly dedicated. We feel such ownership over what we do, and we know that in just a few months a heap ton of people will play our game, and everyone wants it to be as perfect as it can be. A developer might be 99% done with something, but he will still come in on his day off just to get that 1% perfect. This is something I love about working for Funcom, and in the game industry in general; seeing the dedication and the hard work people put into the games they make.”
That is so nice to hear for any player and fan, but holidays can often bring more to the player as they often come with special events. Martin tells us that TSW will be no different, but it might not be as predictable as a normal holiday event:
“I remember an event from when I was playing Anarchy-Online (before I worked at Funcom), where the Dust Brigade (an NPC faction) suddenly started assassinating the biggest guild leaders on the server as a part of an event. I remember how the rumors started to spread and how it engaged a whole server, and I find stuff like that incredibly fun.”
Fun indeed! Often events are not just a holiday thing and the addition of something that’s a little tougher can make a game far better. It can create more fun than normal for any player participating. Special events with something behind them are great for the community and create a spark that makes everyone happy.
But what will those happy people look like? Of course they will have big smiles on their faces, but they can’t walk around nude either. Well, in this game maybe they can, but usually everyone likes to have their own style when it comes to in-game clothing. We have heard lots about how many pieces of clothing there are in the game, so everyone will be able to look the way they want to, but we still haven’t heard how we can get hold of them. It seems like we won’t just be able to go shopping for them right away either:
“Some of the clothes are purchasable from vendors, some are available in the item shop, but most of it is reward based. One thing I’m particularly excited about is the template deck outfits. Template decks are a set of powers that enables the player to fulfill a certain role, and this is comparable to Magic the Gatherings starter decks. On completion of any of these templates the player is given an outfit that reflects what that deck is. So for instance if a player completes the Ninja deck, he or she is given a Ninja costume. And all of the templates are faction specific, meaning that there will be different outfits for Templars, Illuminati or Dragon!”
And let’s face it, who doesn’t want to have a ninja costume to run around in? Yeah, thats what I thought! Of course we all want one. Many are sure to come with mandatory bragging rights. Showing of that new cool outfit, throwing out some cool dance emotes while at it… or not…
Did you know Martins favorite ice-cream is "Maple Walnut"?
But what if our friends are in other factions? We already know we will have to fight it out in PvP on game realease, but there are hints of more. In PvE it is confirmed that we can create collaborative parties with friends or help out anyone that needs a hand. Helping out is a key to defeat the evil that lurks in The Secret World, regardless of the faction the one you are helping is from. But there might be more, and it’s exciting to hear Martin give little hints about what is to come after release as well:
“We have plans for umbrella organisations that can go cross faction, but this will not be in for launch. We need to focus on getting the core gameplay tight, but we plan to make steady, and plenty of, content updates.”
Ohhh yeah! Lots of steady, plentiful content updates! We like the sound of that, but we aren’t forgetting the idea of umbrella organisations, which is already a pretty neat addition to the faction specific cabals we will have on release. What’s equally as neat, Martin says, are the sounds and music of the game:
“Funcom has always had an amazing sound team, and fantastic composers, and The Secret World brings it to a new level. It’s hard for me to describe the sound, but it’s beautiful, eerie and motivating depending on where you are and what you’re doing. We also have a really cool system for the combat music where the music intensifies depending on how many enemies you’re fighting, what type of enemies you’re fighting, if you any get adds etc.”
Aaarrrggghhh!!! How ready are we to see, feel and touch these systems, and to explore a world filled to the rim with secrets and mystery? We keep comforting ourselves with the fact that after years of waiting it’s not long now, and there is still so much we dont know about the game. Soon™, I hear a voice in the back of my head say, maybe soon™ we will know more about crafting and character customization. 4-5 months is not that long, but still lots of time to release loads of information, and the community is eagerly waiting for it, just as the developers are eager to get the game out on time. For some it might give them chills of the good kind:
“I hope it’s going to be like when we launched Conan. The whole team gathered in a room and watched server statistics. Might sound weird, but I got really emotional seeing tons of people pouring into the server and into our game we worked so hard on. I felt really proud and happy, and hopefully I can feel the same this time!”
And we hope you will as well. We hope you can be just as proud of this game as you are with your Skruf castle building. Such dedication to both projects is sure to bring success! But, after you enjoy the success of The Secret World, what will be your next project?
“Good question! I just moved my desk so I decided to change it up a bit! Instead of making a mini castle, I started building a real sized one! I figured I snus enough to complete it in 2016. Currently working on the walls, with those thingies archers can shoot from.” (See picture)
With that we will like to thank Funcom and Martin for answering some questions this holiday, and we would like to wish everyone a happy new year!
Making the Connections: The Monsters of Maine Narrative (Part 2)
By: Cler1c
Be sure to check out part 1
Toad Woman
“Local Wabanaki lore speaks of the Toad-Woman: Pook-jin-squis, a harbinger of evil. She roams the swamps and dark forests of the Northeast, and in her trail is just death and darkness.” (MoM Article)
Pukjinskwes is a notorious witch who appears in many Wabanaki legends and folktales, most commonly as a sort of bogey-woman who steals Native American babies and raises them as her own. In a more mythic role, she is the adversary of the hero Pogumk (in some versions of the story this role is taken by Glooskap himself). After being defeated by Pogumk (Glooskap), she turns into a mosquito or other stinging insect.
Pukjinskwes is usually depicted as a squat, ugly human woman in Wabanaki legends, although like most characters of the mythic age, she is able to shape-shift, and in particular, she is noted for sometimes appearing as a man.
“Photographed in Moon Bog, there’s some indefinably evil about this moss grown thing; something that meshes very well with the tales of the Toad-Woman.” (MoM Article)
“Pukjinskwes, is the harbinger of evil; and through her influence have come all venomous insects.” [11]
“And with that, Pukjinskwes became the first mosquito. Later she turned back into her true monstrous self, but her mosquito form remained and multiplied.” [Merlin's kin: world tales of the hero magician, Josepha Sherman, pp. 138]
The toad woman?
So, in the wabanaki myths, Toad Woman is the one through whom mosquitoes came into being, along with other venomous insects. But can this mosquito clue be traced to the bog in which the picture was taken? It appears we might be able to as there are plenty of boggy areas in Maine where mosquitoes (and other venomous insects) can breed.
“Suffice it to say, I stay away from that place after the sun’s gone down – and not just because of the awful pollution from the quarry.” (MoM entry)
Is Freeman warning his readers not to enter the Moon Bog after the sun has gone down because this Toad Woman creature is hiding from the sunlight and only coming out at night? Perhaps, and there is further mention of this possible connection in the Wabanaki mythology.
“Pukjinskwes, sure that (Pogumk) Glooscap, was watching, never dared let herself be seen by daylight again. She lurked in the darkness, and there she still lurks. But as long as there is light of any fashion, Pukjinskwes, for fear of Glooscap, dares not approach.” [Merlin's kin: world tales of the hero magician, Josepha Sherman, pp. 138.]
So Glooscap, the protector of humans, was the one who early in time, defeated Pukjinskwes, banished her from the daylight into the night, and sentenced her to always roam the dark places, forests and swamps to which she is closely connected.
Although the Pukjinskwes is associated not just with the Penobscot tribe but with the Passamaquoddy, Maliseet and Abenaki tribes, the Monsters of Maine do not call her “Pukjinskwes” but rather “Pook-jin-squis”. And just there we find an even more intriguing connection, because although there are different spellings and pronunciations for the Toad Woman in the Wabanaki lore, in the Abenaki -Penobscot language group the Toad Woman or Pukjinskwes is spelled Pook-Jin-Skwess, Pook-jin-squess, Pook-jin-squis. And so once again we may say we have found a poential connection to the Penobscot traditions.
Playing Games for Charity: Extra Life
Some people run marathons for charity. Some people have lock-ins to raise awareness. Some people gather in peaceful assemblies and vigils for various causes. Well, Saturday, October 15th, 2011 thousands of people around the world did what they do best for 24-hours straight: play video games.
That’s right, you read that correctly! Extra Life is a charity that uses a video game marathon as a medium for raising awareness and much needed funds for local hospitals in the Children’s Miracle Network. You sign up, join a team if you wish (Funcom!), choose a local hospital to support, obtain sponsors to donate towards your fundraising goal, and commit yourself to game for a 24-hour period on October 15th (of course, within reasonable health limitations).
Funcom jumped at the opportunity to support such a altruistic organization with an affinity for gaming. Glen “Famine” Swan and Amber “Morteia” Skinner recruited The Secret World community (and the other Funcom communities from Age of Conan and Anarchy Online – though many TSW’ers also hail from those communities) a few days before the event was scheduled to begin to play Funcom MMO’s during the 24-hour marathon. We quickly met the goal of $5000 with a frenzy of donations from people who were really supportive of this event. Nyte’s awesome bribes..er, I mean, INCENTIVES to donate surely didn’t hurt. We didn’t meet the goal of $10,000, but I fully believe we will next year if Team Funcom intends to participate again (no reason why we shouldn’t, and hopefully, we’ll all be playing TSW by then)! As I write this article, Funcom has managed to raise $9,689 with a total of 197 participants and is #9 on the Top Ten Teams listing for donations (technically #8, but we’ve had some donations after the official event, so it is all good). As if we needed more of a reason to be a proud member of this community – this is an incredible achievement towards an amazing and worthy cause.
During the event, beta keys for The Secret World and Funcom Points were awarded every hour or so on a random basis by GM’s contacting people in game. Granted, this event isn’t about what we could gain from it, but they were nice incentives that kept things interesting. A big congratulations is due to everyone who participated as well as to those who won something!
- It has been done!
Participants used Facebook, Twitter, forums, and in game chat systems to communicate our cause and goals and to spread awareness and the excitement of the event. Guilds were even formed for the purpose of advertising the event! Players congregated on IRC, Skype, Ventrillo, Mumble, Steam, and other various ways to keep each other awake and entertained during the marathon. The response was almost entirely positive. And the experience? Outside of an expected wonky sleeping schedule for a few days after the event, it was a blast.
Morteia, The Secret World’s Community Manager, brought us another fun little mini-game for the marathon. She asked us to go into our Extra Life profiles and state what faction we are playing for. Tallying those votes, whichever faction gets the most – she’ll dye her hair that color. Turns out, The Illuminati are the winners of this round… so, on October 26th, 2011… Morteia has dyed her hair blue! Here’s the proof.
It should be mentioned that the entire Extra Life event netted over $1.1 MILLION worldwide. Everyone should be very proud of themselves. Not only do we all win at online gaming – we also win at helping out local hospitals!
Making the Connections: The Monsters of Maine Narrative (part 1)
By: Cler1c
Loads of people have asked us whether the creatures revealed in the Monsters of Maine (MoM) blog have a foundation in actual historical legends, and if so, which. Well, it seems that most of the creatures listed likely have a foundation in traditional lore. In fact, three of the creatures listed seem to bear a strong resemblance to legendary beasts known to the Penobscot tribe, long time residents of Maine in the eastern U.S., who are thought to have close ties to the Norse Vikings. Two of the monsters, Jack O’Lantern and Will-O-the-Wisp are found mainly in the Penobscot lore, and nowhere else.
Making the First Connection: Is Tyler Freeborn Algonquian?
In the MoM article itself Tyler Freeborn speaks of the creatures as deeply rooted or actually coming from the lore of the Wabanaki people, to whom his grandfather belongs. But who exactly are the Wabanaki? Tyler speaks about his grandfather being from the “People of the Dawn”, and in the real world, there is a sub-group of the Algonquian people called the “dawn land people” who live in an area that spans from the northeastern reaches of the United States, up into Quebec and the Canadian Maritime provinces. Historically, the Wabanaki were one of the many tribes of the Algonquin nation, who were once found all the way from the Rockies in the west to the east coast of North America and everywhere in between, and the words that Tyler uses in his blog appear to connect him directly with the Penobscot tradition of the Algoniquian nation. Knowing this, let us now concentrate on the monsters themselves.
Wendigo/Keewaqu/Kiwakwa
The Wendigo is a creature found mainly in Algonquian mythology. It is generally portrayed as a malevolent cannibalistic spirit into which humans could transform, or which could possess humans, often through a dream almost like Freddy Kruger. Once possessed, the person would become violent and obsessed with eating human flesh. It is said that those who indulged in cannibalism, even if required in times of extreme famine, were at particular risk of inviting the Wendigo spirit in. The Wendigo spirits were strongly associated with the winter, the north, and coldness, as well as with famine and starvation.
If we take a look at the MoM entry for the Wendigo we can see that it looks like a hideous, malformed human, but this is a bit weird compared to the general Wabanaki myths because in those the Wendigo is an ice giant, complete with bulging eyes, a mouth full of jaggedy teeth and a heart of pure ice, who could move around in a whirlwind form hunting human beings [4]. But in the MoM article he doesn’t look like an ice giant, so is he really related to the Wabanaki? He might be, because Brightman clearly states that not all Wabanaki myths consider the Wendigo to be an ice giant. Some consider it to be a malevolent, cannibalistic, supernatural being of great spiritual power, and this is exactly the case with the Wendigo among the lore of the Penobscot tribes.
“But this characteristic [the ice giant connection] is completely absent from the Wendigo myth in the other Algonquian cultures- such as the Penobscot people.” [Brightman (1988:344)]
Therefore we can trace the entry of the Wendigo in MoM to the Penobscot people, because in their myths the Wendigo is a creature that can be compared to the one described in MoM.
- The wendigo as from MoM
But is there perhaps another proof for the Penobscot connection? In the MoM article the Wendigo monster is called by its Wabanaki name – Keewaqu or Kiwakwa . If we take a look at all the names the beast has been called, we find that the Mi’kmaq people call him Chenoo, while to the Cree he is known as Witiko, and among the Anishinabe, Windigo. None of these names are even similar to the Keewaqu/Kiwakwa from the MoM article, but if we take just one additional step onward we can see that only among the Abenaki and Penobscot people are the Wendigo called Giwakwa, and Giwakwa is equal to Kiwakwa. This is also proven by the alternate spellings for the Giwakwa which include Kiwakw, Kewahqu, Kiwakwe, Kiwákwe, Keewaqu’, and Keewahkwee.
Therefore we can start to draw lines between the Kiwakwa from MoM and the Giwakwa from the Abenaki-Penobscot and start to think that there might be a possible link between the Penobscot lore and the Wendigo creature in the MoM article.
Piecing it together
You have not slept yet have you? You did, you say? Then there is probably lots of stuff you have missed out on! But do not fear fellow warrior of the Googlefu. We have your back, and plenty of freshly bought cans of food in storage, for we are not done yet. There is a lot more still to discover!
In the past few weeks we have been mostly waiting for the community members to receive their puzzle piece and upload images of it so we can match them up with all the other pieces. At this point 86 of 99 pieces have been posted, and that just shows how dedicated every member of this great community is. With every new piece, more of the picture fell into place. A glove, a stick, and some straw with a flour bag. Yes, it must be! It is a scarecrow. But it’s not complete, we still lack some pieces.
- Tease us they do…
Then again, look how far we have come. Flipping the puzzle over, we can see lots of letters, and even strange symbols marked in gold. Those must be important. So we started the work of translating the symbols and trying to make sense of all the letters. We used our books of knowledge, trying everything from anagrams and cryptograms, looking for hidden urls or words. And it all turned out to be quite simple. By arranging the letters according to the Superbowl sheet numbered from 0-9, we ended up with words. English words! Oh the joy. There are still some blank spaces where the pieces we are missing should be, but there’s no stopping us now. We are smart enough to fill them out yourself. And that gave us this small list:
- Gather the pieces
- Sew the eyes
- Stitch the mouth
- Tie the hands
- Lace the boots
- Bind them as one
- Enter the lair
- Face the beast
What it means we do not yet know. Some speculate that they are some sort of instructions, others started to research the short lines of text to see if they fit in someplace. Maybe we just have to wait for the last pieces to be posted. Or we could stumble upon something big!
- Is it a clue or a wagtail?
In the meantime we can look at the symbols. Most of us agreed to say that these gold markings looked like Theban letters, a writing system that apparently has unknown origins. And as fast as we found out, a ninja magically posted a possible translation that seemed very viable spelling out “coronis”. And so our warriors spread out to crawl the web, coming back with several suggestions. In Greek mythology there are several characters by the name Coronis, and some of them definitely rang bells. Others found two ships with the name. What it could really mean is still uncertain, but the Greek theories seem like a steady path towards further enlightenment.
Although we have come far on the quest for knowledge, there is still a lot more to learn. We need to keep our senses alert, watch out for clues and keep digging. There are more wagtails this time it seems. So tread light, be the swift ninja of the wind who never sleeps and never lets his guard down. We are ready! Are you?
BETA: First phase of the secret war
Beta registration and thus the first phase of the secret war has just begun. This pre-beta experience connects you to a facebook-based game, and gives you the opportunity to win everything from access to in-game items (when the time comes) or a guaranteed slot in the beta test. Read the FAQ and signup using the link at the bottom!
Q: What is ‘The Secret War’ experience?
A: It is an interactive online experience where you choose a secret society or take the personality test to determine which one you are suited for, and you are then brought into a web-based representation of the global conflict where you can expand your society’s influence in the world at the same time as you climb their ranks and unlock rewards such as in-game items, achievements, and even the coveted guaranteed beta access.Q: Is the full ‘The Secret War’ experience available now?
A: No, the experience is being launched in two phases. The first phase launched on August 29th, 2011 and includes the new trailer video, the brand-new personality test, and the ability to choose a secret society and register with that society. This also functions as the official beta registration for ‘The Secret World’.Q: What will the second phase include?
A: The second phase will include all the advanced features of the experience, such as the ability to recruit friends and make them agents for your cause, affect the influence of your secret society on an interactive world map, climb the ranks of your society by sharing screenshots and information about ‘The Secret World’ with your friends, unlocking exclusive in-game items such as weapons and clothing, and more. The experience will even feature new videos that the community must work together to unlock!Q: Why does registration require Facebook Connect?
A: This is due to the fact that the second phase of the experience will rely heavily on social networking functionality such as the ability to recruit friends and turn them into agents.Q: Do I need to participate in the second phase of ‘The Secret War’ experience to be eligible for beta testing the game?
A: No, you do not need to participate in the second phase. Even though beta registration is tied into the first phase of the experience, you do not need to join us in the second phase should you not want to. Even when the second phase launches, those who just want to register for the beta can leave the experience after having chosen a secret society and left their details. One of the reasons why we have incorporated the beta registration into the experience is because we want everyone who wishes to beta test the game to learn more about it and be as involved in the community dynamics as possible.Q: I have already taken the original initiation test and I am already a ‘The Secret World’ community member. Do I have to register again to be eligible for beta access?
A: No, you do not need to register again. All community members who have taken the previous initiation test have already been automatically registered as beta applicants. However we strongly encourage everyone who signed up previously to re-register, as this will allow you to take part in ‘The Secret War’ experience. Due to the way the experience is set up, we need everyone to re-register in order to gain access. We encourage everyone to use the same e-mail address as before, though it is not required.Q: Does participating in the second phase of ‘The Secret War’ experience increase my chances of getting into the beta?
A: Yes. Those who reach the highest rank in experience automatically receive guaranteed beta access, and as such you have a higher chance of getting into the beta if you choose to participate in the experience. To us that is also a great way of getting the best testers into the beta experience, as anyone who reaches the highest rank is sure to be more than averagely interested in the game.Q: What does guaranteed beta access mean?
A: Guaranteed beta access means that you are guaranteed to be invited into the beta at some point between now and the launch of the game. Guaranteed access does not guarantee early entry into the beta, it means you will get admission at one point.Q: I already have guaranteed beta access that I received though a previous Funcom campaign — is this still valid?
A: Yes. Anyone who has ever acquired guaranteed access still has guaranteed access. This means that they will be invited into the beta at some point between now and launch.Q: I have just registered – when will I get into the beta for ‘The Secret World’?
A: Keep in mind that due to the sheer volume of beta applications that Funcom receives, it is impossible to give everyone a chance to join before the game is launched. As such, it is not guaranteed that you will get into the beta. Keep in mind that beta testing is first and foremost a tool for the developers to make sure the game is stable, fun and enjoyable.Q: How long will the beta test run for?
A: The beta test for ‘The Secret World’ is an ongoing process that will run all the way up to the launch of the game. Funcom will gradually introduce more testers into the beta as it progresses.
__________________
Oliver ‘Tarib’ Kunz
Senior Community Manager
JOIN THE SECRET WAR
April 2012 Release and BETA!
Plans to reveal TSW news at the EA pre-gamescom show were ruined this week when someone with an itchy trigger finger spoiled Ragnar’s big news for the stage show. Publishing the press notice a bit early resulted in an ungodly amount of spam on both theTwitter #TSW hashtag and several new threads in the forums. With the whole community going crazy hitting the re-tweet button, the news must be out of this world, if not the entire universe?
Yes. Yes, it is!
The following is a message posted from Funcom indicating that they’ll be aiming for an April 2012 release of the game, which was also confirmed by Ragnar during the presentation in the EA show. And finally, in only 9 days, all the “I want beta!” trolls can leave their credentials for their chance to get their key as the Beta sign up stage starts 26th August.
It’s not only the fans of #TSW thats exited, as Martin comments:
“Because we’re a public company, everyone outside the executive team found out at the same time as everyone else, to some it came as a bit of a shock. I’m really excited to be able to share this with the community and the world, and I’m looking forward to some late nights with fantastic people in a fantastic game.”
Durham, USA – August 16th, 2011 – World-leading independent game developer Funcom and EA Partners, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS), today announced that the highly anticipated modern-day, Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMO), ‘The Secret World’ will release for the PC in April, 2012. Starting August 26th, gamers can register to join upcoming betas, through a unique interactive social media campaign that will be made available on www.thesecretworld.com.
And do you know what the best part is? Gamescom hasn’t even started yet. In the days to come, Funcom will be showing off some features as well as giving us the first super-secret look at the game’s large-scale PvP. So its time once again to grab your tinfoil hats, add some extra foil if you’ve grown since last year and get ready for some exciting days in The Secret World.
Something to puzzle with
Not able to go to this years GamesCom or Pax ? Have too much spare time and don’t know what to do with it all? Fear not, because after seven months, the chaos of the forum is emerging again. It’s time to go to the local store, buy all the canned food you can afford and set up camp in front of your computer for the next 2-3 weeks. Mysteries are about to be solved and you can not miss a single second. Turn away and you might miss it. Remember the last ARG when you went to sleep, and by the next day it was all solved? No sleep this time!
- Signed poster of awesome!
After the superbowl contest hit a snag for CGN, when the wild square turned out to magically have the power to define the laws of chance. Nyte felt he must be true to his word and ensure that everyone came out a winner. After a long wait, on the 8th day of the 8th month, puzzle pieces started emerging on the forum, together with the promised poster of characters signed by Ragnar, Martin and Joel.
It did not take long before we were flooded by posts about the puzzle and we were welcoming both old members and fresh faces to the forum. One by one, pieces of the puzzle are being posted by the “winners” of the superbowl contest. Man the battle stations! To your microscope and sharpen your googleFu! With each piece we are able to study the puzzle closer. There are markings on the backside – what looks like letters, one for each piece. Some pieces even have the added bonus of golden markings, but we don’t yet know what those mean. Apparently we will need more pieces to understand. So we ask you: if you have a puzzle piece post it! But please remember to keep the discussion where it belongs.
The back symbols
After digging deeper some members of the community pointed out that the pieces seem to fit into the grid the superbowl contest was layed out in, but surely it can’t be that simple? And if it is, there is bound to be more to it. And ohh yeah, all the packages came with a quote from either the Everything is True trailer or Older ARGs. Maybe this is no coincidence? Or it might be just for the fun. What we do believe, though, is that there must be something more to the letters on the backside of the puzzle pieces. Perhaps the completed puzzle may turn out to read like the incoherent moaning of the zombies of Kingsmouth, and we will then have to decode them to make sense of it all in standard English. Who knows!
At least we now have something to puzzle with. It has begun. Keep your mind open, your eyes on the forum and your canned food safely stored. There will be no “Real Life” for the next few weeks. The Dark Places are Crawling.
An interview with Ragnar
Here is a short e-mail interview conducted by the members of the Illumination, an Illuminati cabal.
What inspired you all to do it in a modern world setting?
RT: There are more than enough games out there that take place in medieval, high fantasy and science-fiction worlds, and we figured it was about time someone made an MMORPG in a contemporary dark fantasy setting. It’s a fantastic genre that lends itself extremely well to games, and combined with all these myths, legends and conspiracy theories, it’s exactly the sort of persistent online world that we all want to explore. We’re not just making a game for ourselves, of course, but at the same time it’s important for us to make a game that we enjoy playing — that’s the only way we can ensure that it’s a great game. We are our own worst (and best) critics, and I think everyone on the team loves our setting and our universe. It feels different and exciting and refreshing, a real change from all the other MMO worlds out there.
What are each of the devs’ favorite zone/area?
RT: With the size of our team, the answers to that question could probably fill a book! We have independent teams working on each of the game’s locations, and if you ask them they’ll tell you that their area is their favourite – of course. There’s so much passion on the team, and such a feeling of ownership and dedication, and everyone works really hard to make their content the best in the game. That constant friendly competition ensures a higher level of quality across the board. As for those of us who are responsible for connecting all the pieces and maintaining a singular vision, we might have our favourites, but we’d never tell. My preferences change as our development focus changes. Whichever area we’re currently putting the most focus on is usually my favourite area.
How free or how sandbox will the character creation be?
RT: Mostly in regard to looks (like, will we just be able to chose from a handful of premade faces and haircuts or will we be able to actually design the characters looks including the crease on the forehead and the size of the nose) but also in regard to starting “stats” or skills. Through character creation, you will be able to customise your character in a lot of different ways — starting with the body and the face, and carrying over into the clothing options available at the start of the game. Since there are no classes, of course, you don’t have to make any tough choices in character creation, and the same goes for stats and skills — that all happens as you play the game. But even then you always have the flexibility to go down a different path. Maybe you started out with guns, for example, but got bored with that after four or five hours and decided to try your hand at some Blood Magic. That’s not a problem: just earn some more experience points, buy yourself a couple of Blood Magic powers, get hold of a magical focus item, and keep playing as a radically different character. And you could even combine that with your pistol skills, to make a fun hybrid pistols-and-magic deck. It’s going to feel really liberating to not be locked down into one role, one class, and to have the complete freedom of choice that our free-form character development system offers.
To what extent will we be able to communicate with the other factions?
RT: “United against darkness, divided in pursuit of power” — that’s the mantra the three secret societies live by. Players will be able to chat and team up with players from other factions in PvE — after all, everyone’s fighting the rising darkness — but in PvP the gloves come off, the uniforms come on, and the three sides separate into opposing teams. At that point, there’s no communication between the factions…at least not until everyone congregates at the Horned God for beers and friendly banter afterwards.
How many dungeons can we expect at launch?
RT: Quite a few. I can’t give you an exact number, but there will be plenty of variety, from The Polaris, a capsized cargo ship, to a Soviet-era research facility…and even into other dimensions and time-travel. I think players are going to really get a kick out of our dungeons and the unique gameplay challenges they present.
As we saw in the dungeon video, we needed a mission in order to get there. Will we be able to redo the missions or can we just take the chopper over there when we want after doing the quest?
RT: You can just hop on the chopper to replay the dungeon — no need to get the mission again.
How integrated will cabals be into the game? And how customizable will these cabals be, in general?
RT: Cabals are important, but we haven’t yet revealed the exact mechanics and customisation options that we’re including at launch.
How customizable will the rank/rights -system in the cabal be? What can you tell us about storage / cabal storage?
RT: This is something we haven’t revealed yet, sorry!
Will there be a maximum size for the cabals?
RT: There most likely will be, although that number has yet to be revealed. (I’m starting to sound like a broken record.)
Will there be any progression system in the cabal? And will there be any perks?
RT: We’ll be talking more about cabals soon, I promise, so please stay tuned!
How will monsters scale to your experience level, as there is no leveling? Just how much will gear affect us? I mean will there be a MASSIVE difference or a 1% increase to fire damage. I don’t expect much from starter gear of course but I’m just wondering how much gear can differ in a game that’s ALL end game.
RT: Gear will have a pretty big effect on your character’s stats — I can’t tell you the exact number right now, since those values are still being tweaked based on Beta feedback — but gear is definitely hugely important in The Secret World, and there will be a pretty sizable difference between a character who’s only got starter gear and someone who’s got elite gear.
No monsters scale to your experience level — that wouldn’t be fun. Instead, you’ll find that you can usually tell how powerful a monster is based on how it looks…just like in the real world. A single slow zombie, for example, won’t provide much of a challenge even for a new player, while a massive demon will be a lot more challenging: it’ll do more damage, have more diversity in abilities, fewer weaknesses, and more hit-points. And while there are no levels, that doesn’t mean you can go anywhere and do anything from the get-go — you’ll just get yourself killed, messily. You might need a certain combination of powers, more powerful gear, higher weapon skills, and so on, before taking on a more challenging monster.
Will there be PvP objects around the world for the Cabals to capture to gain some kind of bonuses?
RT: Cabals will be important in PvP, and there will definitely be bonuses and rewards for capturing important relics and Anima wells.
You mentioned that the current PvP stuff are just “minigames.” Can we get any kind of hint as to what the non-minigame PvP will entail?
RT: Not right now, but you’ll find out very soon!
Thank you so much for giving us your time.
RT: Thanks for your support! Our community is extremely important to us — after all, you guys are the reason we’re making this game — and we want to keep you guys involved and informed as much as possible.