Because most MMOs are about compromise. You accept a few things that are shit, so you can enjoy a few things that are great. Still waiting on that perfect MMO btw.
This was not re-designed for that small hardcore crowd who still plays TSW 5 years later. What you guys wanted - and I don't blame you since you've been invested in this for a long time- is more intricate challenges, better end-game and a graphics and animation overhaul... for a a game that has become smaller and more niche over time. You wanted a near-bankrupt company to spend lots of development time and money catering to a very small audience, gambling that those changes would bring in the crowds and the money.
Funcom, OTOH, needs money now. So they're instead trying to appeal to a new crowd and bring new players, most of them casuals, into the game. It's no surprise really that the vast majority of the TSW hardcore hate the changes since these are not the changes you've been wanting. In many ways its the opposite of what you wanted.
Me? I only spent a few months in TSW back when it released and mostly enjoyed it but moved on and never really looked back. So I'm enjoying this stroll down memory lane and frankly, the simplification of weapons and abilities suits me just fine since needing to re-learn a complex system in order to experience the stories and world again would have been more of a roadblock for me than an inducement.
This new SWL is not perfect by any means - least of which the ham-fisted monetization and ill-conceived Patron benefits that barely provide any relief from that...
But all in all, I'm having fun with it and Funcom has managed to generate a lot of new buzz with an old IP. Enough buzz maybe that they may be able to stop bailing water and just sail on for a few more years... and that's not bad thing. A bad thing would have been TSW shutting down which is exactly where things were heading before this reboot.
Agreed. This is Funcom's NGE moment, for better or worse. AT least in their case they left the original intact if folks want that. I think the game is better now, I didn't like it much in beta, the scope simply makes more sense now, it's not a claustrophobic story heavy game trying to present itself as an MMO. ANd it's better for it IMO. I'd like to see what content additions they make going forward since the focus has changed.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
I don't understand why they changed the skillwheel into something this simple and lineair. The skillwheel wasn't what was bad about TSW combat. The problem was that every weapon felt the same and didn't feel like it had any impact. And bloody Aegis:/ Improving this would not need to be at the cost of skill diversity. That is just making it worse.
EDIT: I am beginning to think that the best game designers left the MMO market long ago.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I tried SWL out and overall enjoyed it. The monetization was enough of a turn off for me to decide to give it a pass for now. I will keep an eye out and if they decide to remove the restrictions for patrons I will sub and play. Right now way too much locked behind a pay wall and not enough relief from it for patrons.
Too many ,maybe MOST don't like to read long posts,so i'll make it short.
TSW was NOT well designed and combat was not well designed and too much restriction and prediction makes it like AOC,more a single player game than a MMO.I understand why devs tag on the MMO flag,it opens up the opportunity to make more money when a game does not deserve to make more money.
Yes i have played a LOT of games over the years,i have been spoiled by the best systems from all genres,so now a days it is tough for a half assed effort to win me over,i need to see a skilled knowledgeable director/producer making these games.
BTW i quit TSW after a couple days but was wanting out from the first few minutes,it looked that bad of a design.So to think some minimal changes to try and rehash the same old would at all interest me is a far stretch of the truth.Funcom needs to get serious about MMO game design or get otu and make single player games.FFXIV a game i was a huge fan of before release couldn't win me over with paltry changes so TSW most certainly would have to do a LOT better.
Yeah, while I get it's your opinion, I completely disagree. If you only gave the game a couple days (essentially a few hours) then you have no real idea what you are speaking about.
Your opinion is your opinion and I respect that you do not like the game (I am NOT trying to change your mind on that), it was not, however, bad design at all, nor was the combat bad. As someone earlier said, most people were just confused and too lazy to read for 2 minutes, so they left and went to the nearest game board to start spouting unqualified nonsense about how bad it was when in reality it was a pretty good game with a very deep and engaging story.
Also, it was absolutely an MMO. I had some of the best grouping experiences in any game in TSW and in some places you absolutely needed a group to accomplish. Calling it a single player game is again, your lack of actual knowledge of the game. (Same with AoC but that is a discussion for a different thread).
To say that FUNCOM has no skilled knowledgeable producer and directors is laughable. You can't qualify that statement in any way, other than of course your opinion, which in this case is flawed in the extreme.
Anyway, I do agree with one point you accidentally made and that is; a weak re-hash and too quick release will ultimately (in my opinion) spell the end of TSW. Which, again imo, is sad as it was a great idea and a solid game before they decided to 'dumb it down'.
If you want a new idea, go read an old book.
In order to be insulted, I must first value your opinion.
Personally, I had to "repair" the client 3 times already since they launched Legends, last one yesterday when they somehow even managed to overwrite the read-only config file and started to reupdate it into Legends. And while it is a routine now (registry clean, TSW install, RDBs move over, add new config) and I don't have to redownload the 50Gb each time, it still takes more than an hour every time while it checks / patches the resource db.
I only play nowadays to grab all the remaining cosmetics I can for the buddy who will buy my GM, but if they break the client a few more times, even I will stop logging in - I believe that's exactly what they want, to chase away everyone so they could pull the plug with the least uproar possible. That's why they never commented the patcher issue so far, since it isn't an issue, it is their deliberate activity.
I never played the original so I can't compare. But at 10 hours in and level 15 in SWL I'm having fun with it. I thought the combat was terrible after trying Blood Magic and Hammer, but after switching to Sword it got much better. I just wish we could have more quests active at a time. As it is now, there's a lot of running back and forth to the same locations over and over.
Here's the thing for me - I didn't give a flying fuck about the combat in SW.
But in order to progress the story, you needed to spec and gear right. Because if you didn't you eventually hit a wall. The skill wheel was confusing and crafting was a nightmare.
That's gone now - and I couldnt be happier. Skills are easy to understand, and slot in or out, and crafting is basic as fuck. Tbh its barely crafting - just a glorified powrup system. Combat is still janky as all crap tho. That han't changed.
BUT.... I can now just concentrate on the story, lore and atmosphere, which is as awesome as ever. I've been doing all sorts of side quests and dungeons.
I'm still not sure how they'll make money, as I have had no need to spend any.
overall I've been happy with the changes, I like the combat more now (at least with pistol and shotgun) I always hated that the gun type weapons built resources on the target and if that target dies all that build up was for nothing. because of that I didn't enjoy using those weapons. Now they feel really good. I'm not happy about everything though, I really think some of the changes to make quests easier were really unnecessary. like , for example, when you have to follow blood and it throws this futuristic tracking system down that makes them glow blue and sparkle so you can see the end of the trail from miles away. the blood is easy enough to follow by itself without a 2nd highlight for it. and I haven't spent a dime on the game so far (I'm not gonna sweat opening the caches).
Maybe I'm lazy for not wanting to set up xpadder just right, but the devs seem even lazier to me, that they would not incorporate native gamepad support. Is it really that difficult or expensive a feature that Funcom can't spare the resources? It seems like a no-brainer with this action based re-launch.
I tried setting up the original with Pinnacle Game Profiler but it always felt too cumbersome, even with the forum guides. I briefly tried SWL, but with carpel tunnel, no reason to tread over the same ground while in pain.
I'm still not sure how they'll make money, as I have had no need to spend any.
Don't worry, the time of spending will come. They are gonna open Tokyo in a few weeks i bet, as many people will be 50 with nothing to do (some of them are already). Then you'll need to repeat quests to progress, and you'll be forced to buy patron or wait 68 hours for reset. Ah, by the way, you'll need to carry lots of stuff with you. Inventory upgrade? The first 10 slots come with Marks, but after that, aurum. Bank slots are aurum from the start.
I don't see how the 68 hour cooldown is a problem. AFAIK all zones from blue mountain onwards reward 2 talis/1 weapon on completion. Considering the average zone has 40-50 quests, that's 300 quests every 3 days between BM and carpathians. BM quests are 5k xp whereas transylvania ones are like 7,5k but the earlier zones have weaker monsters so the xp/hr would average around the same.
I hated the combat then and i hate the combat now, only for a different reason. All classes play the same with slightly different graphics. There's no exploration, you just follow the quest markers and press 'f' on a right place.
I'd have loved to play the game only because of the story but got bored before the tutorial was over.
I play about an hour a day now. Mostly for the story and see what changes were made. I get some benefits that carried over from TSW. If I do get to the point that I have to use the cash shop to progress that's probably will be the end of that but so far so good.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
I don't see how the 68 hour cooldown is a problem. AFAIK all zones from blue mountain onwards reward 2 talis/1 weapon on completion. Considering the average zone has 40-50 quests, that's 300 quests every 3 days between BM and carpathians. BM quests are 5k xp whereas transylvania ones are like 7,5k but the earlier zones have weaker monsters so the xp/hr would average around the same.
Well, after Transylvania, the next zone is Tokyo. It is not available in the game now, but they will have to open it soon (many people are 50 with decent gear already). With Tokyo comes the highly acclaimed AEGIS system. In Tokyo, mobs have shields, and you need special weapons to be able to damage them. Those weapons can be improved only in Tokyo. In order to progress, you need to do Tokyo and only Tokyo quests. There are two possibilities: they leave Tokyo as it is now, and the game becomes subscribe or quit, or they totally change Tokyo and remove AEGIS, which means good geared people rush through and the game simply... ends. There's no content, no story past Tokyo. There is no WoW-like endgame. There is only a slow and boring grind to improve gear, to beat the content you already beat, just faster. That's why TSW on rails, without the magic of the wheel and synergies, is bad.
I came back and gave the new version a try, I just finished the Egyptian area and became very bored with it and uninstalled the game. I do think it's much better than before but it lacks something which I cant quite put my finger on. I do think it is worth trying if you have not played it before.
I came back and gave the new version a try, I just finished the Egyptian area and became very bored with it and uninstalled the game. I do think it's much better than before but it lacks something which I cant quite put my finger on. I do think it is worth trying if you have not played it before.
I came back and gave the new version a try, I just finished the Egyptian area and became very bored with it and uninstalled the game. I do think it's much better than before but it lacks something which I cant quite put my finger on. I do think it is worth trying if you have not played it before.
Yeah Egypt is killing it for me too.
Interesting comments. I enjoyed the original version of TSW until the 2nd Egypt area when I burned out.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Interesting comments. I enjoyed the original version of TSW until the 2nd Egypt area when I burned out.
Well, it is called the scorched desert for a reason, it burns...
Ok, that was a weak one, my bad.
(on a more serious tone, CotSG was hated by many, probably because it was a mixed zone, without a clear "path" of playing it through. Which is interesting, because it was a really well-designed zone, for the story and for the narrative. A nice example of TSW's unique nature, design and narrative over easy and straightforward gameplay. Lot of players loved CotSG for it.)
Interesting comments. I enjoyed the original version of TSW until the 2nd Egypt area when I burned out.
Well, it is called the scorched desert for a reason, it burns...
Ok, that was a weak one, my bad.
(on a more serious tone, CotSG was hated by many, probably because it was a mixed zone, without a clear "path" of playing it through. Which is interesting, because it was a really well-designed zone, for the story and for the narrative. A nice example of TSW's unique nature, design and narrative over easy and straightforward gameplay. Lot of players loved CotSG for it.)
I always wondered if it was my build that burned me out. I didn't spend any real time learning what works well together, just did some sort of hammer/tanking build and by 2nd Egypt I was really worn out from having to grind my way through so many mobs to go anywhere.
Definitely would look for more of a ranged/ kiting build if I were to try it again.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Comments
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Improving this would not need to be at the cost of skill diversity. That is just making it worse.
EDIT: I am beginning to think that the best game designers left the MMO market long ago.
Joined 2004 - I can't believe I've been a MMORPG.com member for 20 years! Get off my lawn!
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I will keep an eye out and if they decide to remove the restrictions for patrons I will sub and play.
Right now way too much locked behind a pay wall and not enough relief from it for patrons.
Just a bit too greedy for me atm.
Your opinion is your opinion and I respect that you do not like the game (I am NOT trying to change your mind on that), it was not, however, bad design at all, nor was the combat bad. As someone earlier said, most people were just confused and too lazy to read for 2 minutes, so they left and went to the nearest game board to start spouting unqualified nonsense about how bad it was when in reality it was a pretty good game with a very deep and engaging story.
Also, it was absolutely an MMO. I had some of the best grouping experiences in any game in TSW and in some places you absolutely needed a group to accomplish. Calling it a single player game is again, your lack of actual knowledge of the game. (Same with AoC but that is a discussion for a different thread).
To say that FUNCOM has no skilled knowledgeable producer and directors is laughable. You can't qualify that statement in any way, other than of course your opinion, which in this case is flawed in the extreme.
Anyway, I do agree with one point you accidentally made and that is; a weak re-hash and too quick release will ultimately (in my opinion) spell the end of TSW. Which, again imo, is sad as it was a great idea and a solid game before they decided to 'dumb it down'.
If you want a new idea, go read an old book.
In order to be insulted, I must first value your opinion.
https://forums.thesecretworld.com/showthread.php?99263-WARNING-Do-not-patch-TSW-right-now&s=dfb7d3c6b062ab95510b6414871e2873
Personally, I had to "repair" the client 3 times already since they launched Legends, last one yesterday when they somehow even managed to overwrite the read-only config file and started to reupdate it into Legends.
And while it is a routine now (registry clean, TSW install, RDBs move over, add new config) and I don't have to redownload the 50Gb each time, it still takes more than an hour every time while it checks / patches the resource db.
I only play nowadays to grab all the remaining cosmetics I can for the buddy who will buy my GM, but if they break the client a few more times, even I will stop logging in - I believe that's exactly what they want, to chase away everyone so they could pull the plug with the least uproar possible. That's why they never commented the patcher issue so far, since it isn't an issue, it is their deliberate activity.
Joined 2004 - I can't believe I've been a MMORPG.com member for 20 years! Get off my lawn!
But in order to progress the story, you needed to spec and gear right. Because if you didn't you eventually hit a wall. The skill wheel was confusing and crafting was a nightmare.
That's gone now - and I couldnt be happier. Skills are easy to understand, and slot in or out, and crafting is basic as fuck. Tbh its barely crafting - just a glorified powrup system. Combat is still janky as all crap tho. That han't changed.
BUT.... I can now just concentrate on the story, lore and atmosphere, which is as awesome as ever. I've been doing all sorts of side quests and dungeons.
I'm still not sure how they'll make money, as I have had no need to spend any.
I'm not happy about everything though, I really think some of the changes to make quests easier were really unnecessary. like , for example, when you have to follow blood and it throws this futuristic tracking system down that makes them glow blue and sparkle so you can see the end of the trail from miles away. the blood is easy enough to follow by itself without a 2nd highlight for it.
and I haven't spent a dime on the game so far (I'm not gonna sweat opening the caches).
Redneck Gamer Youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC59QVuMC0suY-jjTHneKYgAMaybe I'm lazy for not wanting to set up xpadder just right, but the devs seem even lazier to me, that they would not incorporate native gamepad support. Is it really that difficult or expensive a feature that Funcom can't spare the resources? It seems like a no-brainer with this action based re-launch.
I tried setting up the original with Pinnacle Game Profiler but it always felt too cumbersome, even with the forum guides. I briefly tried SWL, but with carpel tunnel, no reason to tread over the same ground while in pain.
I'd have loved to play the game only because of the story but got bored before the tutorial was over.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
Well, after Transylvania, the next zone is Tokyo. It is not available in the game now, but they will have to open it soon (many people are 50 with decent gear already). With Tokyo comes the highly acclaimed AEGIS system. In Tokyo, mobs have shields, and you need special weapons to be able to damage them. Those weapons can be improved only in Tokyo. In order to progress, you need to do Tokyo and only Tokyo quests.
There are two possibilities: they leave Tokyo as it is now, and the game becomes subscribe or quit, or they totally change Tokyo and remove AEGIS, which means good geared people rush through and the game simply... ends. There's no content, no story past Tokyo. There is no WoW-like endgame. There is only a slow and boring grind to improve gear, to beat the content you already beat, just faster. That's why TSW on rails, without the magic of the wheel and synergies, is bad.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Ok, that was a weak one, my bad.
(on a more serious tone, CotSG was hated by many, probably because it was a mixed zone, without a clear "path" of playing it through. Which is interesting, because it was a really well-designed zone, for the story and for the narrative. A nice example of TSW's unique nature, design and narrative over easy and straightforward gameplay. Lot of players loved CotSG for it.)
Definitely would look for more of a ranged/ kiting build if I were to try it again.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon