The Secret World: Syp Is So Demanding!

So Syp has "finished" The Secret World, or at least his Templar character has completed the Story and Main missions, through the Carpathian Fangs, the current end zone. He mentioned starting a Dragon and doing things a bit differently, and more power to him. I personally like the different flavors of each faction.

Anyway, Syp has some things he'd change about TSW if he were game-director-for-a-day:

1. A better way to team players up to do missions

Some of my most enjoyable evenings are when I realize that another player is doing the same mission and we gravitate toward each other to help out. It makes doing them a breeze and, y’know, adds a social component.

Between playing together with my lovely bride, and having friends from both Mercy Gaming and Beyond the Veil, I generally do not lack for companions as I run around in TSW. I am also one of those strange people who would just as soon solo my way through an MMO as play with strangers, though I am happy to help out random people I come across. However, for those who have different schedules but still want social interaction, I can see how a good open-world LFG tool would be important.

For me, a simple "I'm open for grouping in this area" tag would be sufficient, or something like the system in GW2 where everyone gets credit for "quests" regarding of grouping status.

2. Bring the slash commands in with the industry standard

It’s always felt clunky to me, and I hardly ever emote because it requires diving into a menu to do so.

I have to agree, it can be clunky. When I do use it for emotes, I usually type /help to get the list, then scroll through it. You can also type the beginning of the command (e.g., /da ) then Tab to get a short, selectable list of commands that begin with the letters you typed. It's still a bit clunky, but then I never knew more than a few /emotes in WoW or any other game, either.

3. A way to earn blue Q10+ gear that isn’t PvP/Dungeon related

I’m so not interested in running the endgame dungeon treadmill just to gear up. It’s not just something I tend to avoid in other games, but it also seems to go against TSW’s strengths [emphasis mine].

Hear, hear! My friends at Beyond the Veil are all about gearing up for "Nightmare" dungeons by farming Elites. I don't mind running dungeons more than once to help people out, but a major reason I left WoW and every other MMO I've left is the prospect of yet another gear grind at the end of my level progression. And make no mistake, they may not be discreet "Glow" moments, but TSW has a leveling game just as does every other MMO I've played. If you doubt it, just try walking through Savage Coast or even the eastern portion of Kingsmouth Town just after completing the tutorial.

Like Syp, I hope the Scenarios in the recently announced Issue 8 will provide an alternate gearing path to the current dungeon grind. On the other hand, Sylow pointed out in a lengthy comment on Syp's post that there is not much need for gearing up past QL10 green gear if you do not intend to run Nightmares and Raids.

4. A better crafting system

I wish that, if TSW had to have crafting, that it just went with the traditional recipes.

I gotta say, I completely disagree. I didn't realize just how sick I was of the "standard" MMO crafting system until I started crafting in TSW. Much like the various internet guides for solving investigation quests, outside resources help, they are not absolutely necessary. As long as you have an example (call it a template) to work from and the right level kit, you can make just about anything in the game. (I am seriously a broken record on this topic.) For the first time, it's about my skill (or memory) as a player and not the fact that my character spent however long at a forge making copper pants. On top of which, there are missions right in line with the story that require the use of the Assembly Window. Brilliant! The only other systems I am really OK with are the "Fire and Forget" systems of SWTOR, Neverwinter, and STO, where you send minions to complete the crafting tasks you need. Much like Syp's complaint about the dungeon treadmill, the crafting systems in other games are just grindy, imho.

5. Agartha overhaul

The further you get in the game, the longer you have to travel in Argartha just to get to the portal you need to use.

I agree with this one, too. There are "cheats" whereby you can jump off the main Agartha platform to reach the branches leading to the more advanced regions of the game. However, you run the risk of missing the target repeatedly, to the point where it would have been quicker just to slide along the branches. Was that what Tørnquist and crew intended? And what happens when they finally open Tokyo?

6. Housing

It would be so awesome to have an apartment or house in your home city that you could equip with the goods and trophies you find along the way.

I couldn't agree more here. I have never played a game that had any real housing feature (when I was playing), and I think I would jump into it whole-hog. One of the reasons I am looking forward to Wildstar is the promise of functional housing. I thought the ship interiors in SWTOR were going to be like that, but they ended up being set pieces for cutscenes and nothing more. Quite a few players seem to clamor for a decent housing system in every game I play, and I think Funcom has the talent to implement one for TSW, though it may cost us. ;)

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Well, it looks like Syp and I agree, more or less, on four of his six points. I'm neutral on one point and strongly disagree only with the need to change the crafting system. Anyway, that's my take. Joel, get'er done.