The Secret World

Funcom's still riding the roller-coaster that is The Secret World, but as of today the Norwegian development firm has no plans to do away with the game's subscription fee. "No it's not going free-to-play any time soon," Funcom communications director Erling Ellingsen told Eurogamer. "There's currently no plans for making it free-to-play."

The game is in fact profitable as a subscription title, Ellingsen says, and creative director Ragnar Tornquist says that Funcom has content plans laid out through May of 2013. Tornquist and game director Joel Bylos spend a good bit of the interview talking about the challenges TSW faced last summer, from mediocre reviews to the need to launch and enable continued development to the stiff MMO competition.

"MMOs are hugely expensive, and of course Guild Wars 2 has sold a lot, and of course it's a big success. That game cost a lot of money and they're going to have to sell a lot of copies, especially without a subscription model. It is a dangerous path," Tornquist said. "It might be the right path for MMOs; as a consumer, as a player, I appreciate it. As a developer I'm with Joel in thinking that it is unfortunate for a lot of smaller companies or medium-sized companies."

New Game Director Joel Bylos dropped several juicy tidbits about the future of The Secret World on the Flash Point podcast. One of the biggest of these is that Funcom is growing once more following recent layoffs. "We have already brought back three people," he said, "It gives us hope and it's great to see those faces back at the office."

He said that a second auxiliary weapon -- which players assume to be the chainsaw -- is coming with next month's Issue 4, and the Halloween event scheduled in a couple weeks will have players digging through Irish lore books. If you like the game's investigation missions, you'll be pleased to hear that The Secret World will be introducing group versions of these types of quests.

But will the team be able to keep up with the monthly updates? Bylos is firmly confident that it can be done, as the structure for issue development is in place.

Bylos admits that it's "absolutely vital" for the studio to advertise the game better and communicate clearly what the game is to potential players. He also said that the team is working on helping players overcome the game's higher difficulty, particularly with starter decks that are coming soon and easier story boss fights.

[Thanks to Elania for the tip!]

Final Fantasy XIV is due for a cataclysmic revamp and reboot in just a few short months, so what better time to feature it than now? Massively reader Cyndair emailed One Shots this image from the doomed current version of the game:

Here's a shot of the angry red moon, Dalamud, overlooking the Rivenroad battlefield, site of the final confrontation with FFXIV 1.x's main protagonist, Nael Van Darnus.

Truly breathtaking shot, Cyndair. It's behind the break with a few more reader submissions!

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It's that time of the week again, people! Time for those unlucky few who missed our livestreams as they went live to click beyond the cut and enjoy my favorites of the week. It's hard picking them out, so I reach out to the team and ask which ones deserve to be highlighted. Honestly, all of the livestreams deserve the spotlight, but it should be no surprise to find out that individual streamers find their own streams to be the best of the best. I tend to agree, and every week I am surprised at just how no-nonsense and informative our streams are. Be sure to bookmark our livestream schedule calender so that each week you can tune in to your favorite. Feel free to suggest titles for streaming and to chat it up with our streamers live as they play!

This week we have MJ returning with her favorite games like EverQuest II, Aion, The Secret World, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, and Guild Wars 2. Richie joins in with his current favorite, Guild Wars 2, and I round things off with an hour spent with the Ultima Online developer team, a goblinball session with community leaders in Allods Online, and a tutorial on building a house in Wurm Online! Trust me, if there is one goblin-kicking, dev-interviewing, house-building livestream series that you should watch, it's this one!

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Funcom is slashing prices on The Secret World's client this weekend. Well, technically there's only one price, and for the next couple of days it's half off the usual figure.

That's $24.99 if you're looking for specifics, and it also includes 30 days of gameplay. If you haven't been following TSW lately, it's worth noting that Funcom has recently released the second and third major content updates which in turn have added dozens of missions to the base game. New avatar customization options are also available, as is an improved lair system and a new weapon (the rocket launcher).

[Source: Funcom press release]

Well, I think The Secret World has been out long enough for me to start listing some things the game needs. No, I haven't cleared Transylvania yet. In fact, I'm still happily lost in the latter portion of the game's Egyptian area, so this isn't a column full of complaints about endgame or the lack thereof.

Good MMOs are virtual worlds, though, and Funcom's got plenty of options for expanding immersiveness and gameplay potential going forward. Oh, and fair warning: If you're one of those lulz-we-don't-need-no-stickin'-fluff types, this week's column isn't for you.

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Besides various tweaks and fixes, The Cat God offers two new missions: The Binding and Dogs of War. The Binding is an investigation mission that takes you to the City of the Sun God in Egypt, while Dogs of War focuses on the conflict between the vampires and their allies. For full details about the changes, check out the patch notes.

The Cat God, for whom the update is named, will make a personal appearance in October closer to the Halloween holiday. A special Halloween event will run through the end of October and the first week of November and will include the beginning of a new storyline and a new villain. We'll keep you updated as more information becomes available.

You're darn tootin' I'm going to end them! That's me, taking up arms against the hordes of zombies. Or more accurately, chopping them off, along with legs, heads, and anything else that gets in the way of my blade! If you have zero interest in fighting reanimated townsfolk with flesh dripping off of them, then The Secret World is probably not the MMO for you. However, if you don't mind dicing, slicing, slashing, shooting, chopping, blasting, or otherwise obliterating said undead, then Kingsmouth really is the place to be! If zombies were a cash crop, that little town would be swimming in the moolah Scrooge McDuck-style.

For the second act of our co-production, Choose My Adventure undertook a massive scenery change. Instead of the concrete jungle of NYC where we began, the story played out in the sleepy streets of a quiet new England town. Well, quiet if you don't count the lip-smacking of the zombies gnawing on everyone. Armed with my rifle, my sword, and of course, your directions, I set off to explore, ameliorate suffering, and eviscerate the hordes of evil in The Secret World.

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Funcom's finally named a replacement for The Secret World's game director spot: Joel Bylos. Bylos is moving up from his previous position as lead content designer, and Ragnar Tørnquist is pulling back from his role as senior producer to pour his energies into being creative director.

Bylos is psyched at the move: "Being given the opportunity to lead the game into a bold, new future is definitely a dream come true for me. I am very proud of what we as a team have created with The Secret World, and it is truly a brilliant canvas that will allow us to create more groundbreaking MMO experiences for many years to come. The Secret World is only really getting started, and with a game world that draws upon our own, real world, there is no limit to what sort of amazing stories we can tell and fantastic locations we can visit in the upcoming content updates."

Bylos and Tørnquist are hard at work leading the team through the next two patches. Funcom announced that this month's Issue #3 is titled The Cat God and Issue #4 will feature the New York City monster raid.

[Update: We've now learned that Issue #3 releases tomorrow. Thanks to Dalazar and Elania for the tip!]

Have you been curious about The Secret World, perhaps after hearing about it from a friend or from reading our Chaos Theory column? Well now Funcom's got the scratch for that itch: a three-day free trial of the game.

The free trial allows players to do anything they'd like to in the game during that three-day timeframe, and it comes with special bonuses for the super-ambitious. Participants who complete 30 missions will see their free game time be extended to a total of five days and be treated to 1200 points to spend in the game's store. Additionally, anyone in the trial who tackles and beats the Polaris dungeon will receive a Whispering Demon Ring for free.

The signup for the trial is on the front page of the official website.

These last few weeks have not been full of good news for fans of Funcom or its nifty modern-day horror-fantasy mashup called The Secret World. There were some layoffs. There was a content delay or three. There were hints of free-to-play (which, despite all the in-roads made over the past year, is still seen as something approaching failure by portions of the gaming populace). And let's not forget the requisite comment section naysaying that accompanies any MMO.

Join me after the cut and I'll tell you why none of that stuff worries me.

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It is a tale told by an Illuminati member, full of sound and fury, signifying... something?

The stage was set. An air of conspiracy permeated the theater as trappings of The Secret World hung from the balustrade and peeked from the corners to taunt the audience. Discerning eyes could spot a triangle here, a cross there. A soft buzzing could be heard, an undercurrent of sound. But something was missing. The show couldn't go on without... aha! The star!

The final task before starting this Choose My Adventure production was the selection of just who will bask in the spotlight. As director, you took on this task. Would it be a martial artist from the Orient or a proper English knight? Would the stage ring out with the sound of shots or metal upon metal? After much deliberation, you finally found the one. With her hair aflame, a sword in her hand, and a rifle within reach, the young Illuminata was perfect for the lead role.

Now, it's opening night. A hush falls. The curtain rises. All eyes turn to the stage as you start to wonder, "What on earth did I get myself into?!"

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After a number of delays, first because of company restructuring and then because of a serious potential exploit, The Secret World's second update is finally live and ready for players to experience. Digging Deeper introduces TSW's first new weapon -- a rocket launcher -- as well as new missions and new nightmare modes for two dungeons, The Facility and Hell Eternal dungeons. Characters interested in a new look will also be able to change their 'do at Ockham's Razor in London and get a facelift from Dr. Anton Aldini in Brooklyn.

Players will also see new loot bags dropping from all region bosses. These include various goodies like blueprints to summon the boss, epic items, and unique raid puzzle pieces. More information about this update can be found in the official patch notes.

Our recent post on The Secret World's potential F2P conversion featured a sub-discussion about lifetime subscriptions, and it got me to thinking about how such deals are valued and whether they're ultimately worth it. Prior to TSW, the only lifetime purchase I'd made was a Lord of the Rings Online account way back in 2007. Since I played the game heavily for over two years, and since the free-to-play switch happened well after the 14 subscription months it took to recoup my initial investment, I got (and continue to get) a far better deal out of the lifetime than Turbine did.

With TSW, Funcom would have to hold off on F2P for another year in order for me to get the full monthly sub value out of the $199 up-front charge. Even if it doesn't make it, though, I'm glad I supported the game out of the gate. The Secret World is that rare MMO with the courage to do things differently, and personally that's worth a whole lot more than 200 bucks.

What about you, dear readers? Are lifetime passes worth it even if the game goes F2P?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

Funcom's new CEO is tackling tough questions about the future of The Secret World, saying that the studio is prepared to take the title free-to-play -- if need be. In an interview with GamesIndustry, Ole Schreiner said that TSW was developed to be subscription-based with the options to change the model down the road.

"We tried leaving our options open during development so that we could launch with a different model should we have decided during development that's what we wanted, but eventually we did settle on the subscription model and that's what informed much of the game's design," Schreiner said. "That said we definitely have the tools to turn The Secret World into a free-to-play game -- or even hybrid -- should we decide to do that somewhere down the line."

Schreiner admitted that it's become difficult for subscription titles to thrive in a F2P-dominated field. He added that The Secret World is now a "profitable operation" following the studio's restructuring: "Despite the obvious challenges, I definitely think we're heading into a promising future for Funcom."