The Secret World/Secret World Legends

[Dollhouse]

So, installed TSW after a several hour download.  Fire it up....create a toon from a relatively small wardrobe and character options, then get to the name screen.  Sweet!  First Name, Nickname, Sur Name....throw it together....what? nickname taken?  Seriously?  You require 3 names, but make the nickname the unique identitfier? 
 
/e facepalm

Yep...never thought that made sense, particularly on a game where servers are just used for population instancing but you can play cross server (thus making it necessary to have only one list of unique names). You started hearing complaints that "all the good names are taken" about 30 days after launch.

The small wardrobe part gets better, and the majority of pieces are available with in-game currency. Some are quest or ability wheel segment completion awards, too. There are also clothes in the cash shop, which is one of their revenue centers. The character modeling options, however, are indeed fairly limited. They're excellent models, but not a ton of 'em. Some of the modification ranges are annoyingly limited (try and make a "dead fish belly white" goth-looking person...you can't).

I've been playing in "maintenance mode" for a few weeks now. I still love the game (best writing in all of gaming, immersive, graphically lovely), but some of the people I team with are waiting for more mission content (despite us not having progressed through the dungeon difficulty ladder all the way). But it's really sketchy at the harder levels without a full team, and I'm more than a little PUG-averse. I pop in and run some dailies and explore odd areas a couple three times a week while I wait for friends to return.

[Kurrent]

I just bought this over the weekend and started playing.  I'm really liking it so far.  My main character is on Arcardia, named Nika Rousseau (NikaRousseau for the nickname).  Nika (full name Satanika Lilith Rousseau) was one of my old GURPS Horror characters, the only one who actually survived every game she was in; she retired from occult investigation and became a professional golfer, thanks to me putting aside a point every game to go into her Golf skill.  It started as a joke, but when I decided to retire her, her Golf skill was somewhere around 19 or 20, so I went with it.  I figured the best place for someone who knows far too much for her good to be was as firmly in the public eye as possible, where a sudden disappearance would raise all sorts of questions, so the LPGA and its lower-tier tours got to deal with a fairly exhibitionistic young woman whose slightly too-short shirts, belly button piercing (an occult talisman), pentacle tattoo around her belly button (occult power focus) and "Hell's Belle" tramp stamp tattoo on her lower back stirred up all sorts of publicity.  Since blood magic was always her thing in GURPS, picking what ability I wanted to focus on for her in TSW was easy.

So I see that there is a CoH-Refugees channel for CoX alums; I'll try to join it tonight.  I hope the command syntax will be something simple like /chanjoin X, but I'll figure it out.  Any other channels out there for us, or any groups that are semi-regular?  I'd dearly love to see some of my old Liberty or Triumph friends, but just being around others from our world would be wonderful.  Never found anyone in Age of Conan who had seriously played CoX, sadly.

Oh, and is it my imagination, or did my subscription for AoC count as a subscription for TSW too?  When I checked out the item store, all my Funcom points were there as well as my unspent vet tokens.  Could it possibly be that I don't need to pay twice for subscriptions for those two games, since they're both Funcom products?  If so, that would be quite nice.

Jo

[saipaman]

Aren't both games now 'free to play'?

[Aggelakis]

Aren't both games now 'free to play'?

I don't know about AoC, but TSW is "buy to play" (ala Guild Wars) - you buy the 'box' (or digital code) and then play forever for free.

I can't find anything for AoC that says anything about needing to buy ANYTHING. So it looks like it's completely free to play (I do see there's a "premium sub" option though - and an item store.)

Additionally, Funcom points are available to any Funcom game attached to that master account. They're Funcom points, not AoC points or TSW points.

[saipaman]

This weekend is double ability points.  That might be worth going back to it.

[CoolFlare]

me and the hubby have been playing TSW for a couple of months now(bought the game to see what all the hoohaw was about)and had to buy a second so that we could both play. I do like the fact that the gear that you receive does not affect how your costume looks unlike some of the other gear based games that I have played. I like the mythology and lore in the game also. I anyone would like to form a team and go kill zombies and stuff or just hang look for Coolflare and the Hubby is Aggroking. just mention COH and you got us. We were also on the triumph server.

[Rust]

Steam has this game as their Daily Deal for half price ($15 instead of $30). I went ahead and grabbed it because it's always seemed interesting to me.

[Dollhouse]

Great to see some new faces!  I'm still kind of in the same boat as above (that is, playing in "maintenance mode" while waiting for Issue 7 to run my two high-end characters), but I have a lowbie* (and space for at least one more toon), so I can run with new folks without overpowering the starter area content. One small catch: for RP/Immersion reasons, I only have Illuminati characters...no Templars or Dragons. That's no barrier to (PvE) teaming, just can't be in a non-Lumie cabal (guild) or invite non-Lumies to my cabal.

Happy to team and help people over the game's not-inconsiderable learning curve (without spoilers or "tour guiding!"). Might be best to contact me here to try and hook up in-game, since  the game's global communication tools are nothing special. I live on the West Coast, US, and have a pretty normal business work schedule...usually play in the evenings and on weekends. I'm a roleplayer, but more of the "do missions and kill stuff while staying in character" type; not much for hanging around gabbing in social hubs.

*"lowbie" in the sense of not having the ability wheel or skills ladder filled out much...there are no actual levels in the game.

[Rust]

Poking about the material while the game downloads updates. I'm honestly shocked as all get out about the three factions, mostly because I can import some of my CoH/Original Concept characters without much fuss or bother. Vincent Chetti (Known in the Rogue Isles as "The Monochrome Mobster") or Lily Pandora are both absolute shoe-ins for Illuminati characters. Kevin McGann (aka The Leopard) will likely find his way into the Templar order, but I have to admit...the Dragons also have some qualities McGann might lean towards.

EDIT: Rolled my first character, Kevin "KillerLeopard" McGann, a member of the Dragons. The "One blade can silence a thousand lies" thing speaks to Kevin's motivations. The Dragons are definitely interesting. I plan to shoot for revamping his power selections from Champions Online - specifically Dual Pistols and Blades. Tonight after work I might roll out Vincent "Vinny/Monochrome" Chetti for the Illuminati. Who will likely be a Assault Rifle/Shotgun and some form of Magic wielder. Not sure what form of Magic to use, though. (The Monochrome Mobster was a Thug/Darkness Mastermind)

[Oskmey]

Rust, what about Blood Magic? I found that it goes well with the AR especially the heals which have kept me going a number of times.

[Rust]

A possibility. Of course, I might go Shotgun too for that up close Shooty Shoot. But my plans for alts have stalled pretty severely. I've become immersed in Kingsmouth. The questing structure took me by surprise - the fact they are almost all repeatable - but I've been impressed with both the variety of the side quests and the general overall size of Kingsmouth in general. It's a pretty impressively large place.

Also I really do love the dialogue and story to the game. Some genuine moments of well timed humor. "Henry's got his God, that Roma (?) Woman has her crystal ball, and old Norma on point has her 12 gauge. My money's on Norma."

[JWBullfrog]

The writing keeps being amusing as you get deeper into the game. You might notice a few familiar voices as you go.
 
AR/Blood is a good mix, particularly if you like acting as party support. My character has good long range hitting power with the ability to throw heals/barriers on teammates. If you like a more high damage lifestyle, take a look at elementalism as your magic. It pairs well with pistols and shotgun.

[Rust]

Wait a second here.

Kingsmouth had participation in World War II, the Witch Trials, and had a Mining Accident.

...Kingsmouth is on Carnate Island! o_o (From the PS2 game The Suffering)

[saipaman]

The only character I have is essentially an attempt to recreate an electric/electric blaster.  Sadly, the Secret World naming convention is frustrating and the character ended up with a stupid name.

[Rust]

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the naming conventions of the game but I'm working around it.

Cleared out all but the dungeon mission (And the Lair Missions, but those are still conning as "Devastating") in Kingsmouth and am on the Savage Coast now. Have to say, I like the fact that while it's still the same general area, it has a very different "feel" to it then Kingsmouth. I was honestly getting a little sick of Draug and Zombies, so the Hellbeasts are a nice change up.

Also, this game is the first game since Myst back in the day that I've up and bought a journal for. Those Investigation Missions are a lot of fun, but I don't want to keep just looking up the walkthrough. I want to solve them for myself.

[Rotten Luck]

I'm now playing in The Secret World as well.  Arcadia server joined a Cabal that just starting up thought the Rpers seem alright.  Name is Ron "RottenLuck" Bolton, Illuminati at this time I'm using the Maverick deck and expanding.

[Dollhouse]

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the naming conventions of the game but I'm working around it.

Cleared out all but the dungeon mission (And the Lair Missions, but those are still conning as "Devastating") in Kingsmouth and am on the Savage Coast now. Have to say, I like the fact that while it's still the same general area, it has a very different "feel" to it then Kingsmouth. I was honestly getting a little sick of Draug and Zombies, so the Hellbeasts are a nice change up.

It's a bit confusing, but despite being in the "starter area," the Lair missions in Kingsmouth (and every other zone in which there are Lair areas) are for characters/teams who have gotten their Skills advanced, have at least a couple of outer ring Ability wheel "slices" filled out all the way, and QL10 weapons and talismans. Lairs are filled with Nightmare-level enemies,  like you'd meet in Nightmare dungeons (dungeons advance from Normal to Elite to Nightmare...). They have tens of thousands of HP and special attack mechanics. "Devastating" in truth as well as label...

The Normal level dungeon mission in Kingsmouth, however, is very do-able for characters in the zone's range (same for Savage Coast, etc...). It's challenging and you'll want a full team (trust me on that), but it's also a lot of fun. It can take a while to figure out each boss fight 's distinct mechanics...this is NOT a game where you can just zerg rush that level of enemy.   

I have a relative lowbie in Savage Coast. You can friend "JustAstrid" (w/o me being in-game) and look for me, if you'd like some more company...

[Rust]

I figured as much was the case. I was by the Municipal Airport and I saw someone farming the Zombies in the Parking Lot. A little later I wandered into the Parking Lot and realized my attacks weren't damaging the Zombies at all.

I kind of like that there will be things to do in the game once I hit a high enough skill set. I enjoy not "invalidating" Content.

I'm eager to try and find a group for the Kingsmouth Dungeon, but right now I'm busy doing the Investigation Mission at the Overlook Motel. This journal is going to be amusing to revisit in a few years or for anyone not familiar with it being a game. Drawing out an entire Infernal Alphabet is not exactly your standard fare for Video Games.

[Twi]

So, been trying this out for a bit now. Just got to Transylvania, got to say, the game manages to stay fairly fresh.

[Rust]

So I need a bit of help, but in an odd sort of way. Thanks to Industrial Revolution and Original Gangster I have all the pieces I need for Vincent "The-Monochrome" Chetti, my Secret World version of my City of Villains Mastermind (He's Illuminati, and I think I'll be going Grifter for him since I like the idea of AoE attacks with Summons - fits his Mastermind Roots).

But Kevin "KillerLeopard" McGann is more complicated. Here's his Champions Online look (Since I was using Champions as the guideline for his powerset, seems appropriate):



Currently I'm rocking the Black Tactical Vest, Brown Military Harnass, Yellow Slacks, Black Fingerless Gloves, and Black Buckle Boots. It works as a look, but I was wondering if I could maybe get something a little more in the ballpark. I've seen people walking around with like scarf masks covering their lower face, and I saw one guy who was in a full Black and Yellow ensemble completely with full face mask that looked really close. But I have no idea what outfit that is.