The Secret World

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The Secret World - Launch Trailer

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The Secret World - Agartha


The Secret World - selecting opening weapon skills

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The Secret World update Digging Deeper delayed into September



The Secret World Issue #2: Digging Deeper, has been delayed into September, according to Funcom. Originally set to launch next week on August 28, the studio said it delayed the release in order to give the team more time on finishing it up. The delay was caused by recent redundancies and cost reductions after the MMO’s launch, which the firm said “naturally affected the production schedule as work on readjusting the team and our internal development processes,” continues. Digging Deeper will now release on September 11.

https://www.thesecretworld.com/news/issue_2_release_date

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The Secret World – Digging Deeper launch trailer and screens released





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The Secret World “is now a profitable operation”



“After the recent re-structuring of our internal teams, The Secret World is now a profitable operation and we expect it to be so for the foreseeable future,” new Funcom CEO Ole Schreiner told GamesIndustry, commenting that Funcom remains committed to monthly content updates.

“That’s also why we are committing to the ambitious post-launch update plan. We’re quite comfortable with where we are now and what we’re providing our players.”

The Secret World sold just 200,000 copies by Funcom’s last financials, and the company issued a round of lay-offs believed to have affected close to 50% of staff worldwide. The game’s designer was among the causalities and said some offices were almost totally closed.

Having clawed back to profitability, Schreiner said Funcom remains keen on the subscription model – although it can go free-to-play if required.

“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,” he 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. We did that with Age of Conan with significant success.”

The executive said Funcom is constantly re-evaluating its games and the market.

“I believe there is a market for free-to-play, subscription and hybrid business models. What’s most viable for your project depends on what sort of game you’re trying to make, what your focus is and how you’re going about putting it together. I do think that as that as free-to-play offerings keep raising the bar in terms of quality and longevity, it’s becoming more and more difficult for subscription games to live up to player’s expectations,” he said.

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The Secret World update adding reticule combat
The Secret World game director, Joel Bylos, has taken to the MMO’s forum to reveal the new features in the game’s latest update, Issue #4: Big Trouble in the Big Apple.



The upcoming update for Funcom’s The Secret World will feature reticle combat, a new weapon and raid content, game director Joel Bylos has revealed.

Issue #4: Big Trouble in the Big Apple, will introduce ” the first raid set in a devastated New York City where players must battle a towering Eldritch horror in the ruins of Time Square.” Helping you do battle with such a beast is a new auxiliary weapon, the chainsaw.

Speaking of the new addition reticule combat addition, Bylos wrote: “I am also happy to reveal that Issue #4 will be introducing one of the most requested features during Beta: reticule combat.

“This is something I wanted to bring into the game from the moment I put on the Game Director shoes as I feel it makes combat a lot more direct and exciting. We are not forcing it upon anyone, though. You will be able to freely switch between traditional targeting and the reticule depending on what you feel is best for you.”

The developer will be holding a live stream event on Friday October 12 with further details and to showcase the reticule combat, check The Secret World blog for more info.

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The Secret World 1.4 update overhauls PvP
Funcom will make a umber of changes big and small to The Secret World’s PvP in the next major update.



As detailed in a new post on the MMORPG’s blog, major changes are coming to the PvP Warzone Fusang Projects. Players will now be rewarded every three minutes based on faction objectives held; staying in the home base doesn’t offer rewards; and PvP missions do not generate black marks.

The White Marks of Venice currency is also being overhauled, and in fact, all totals will be wiped when the update is applied. White marks will now be tradable for black marks at a ratio of 100:1, making them significantly less useless.

Moreover, if a faction is struggling, it will be given the option to complete a mission called The Underdogs. Successful completion unlocks a special NPC called the Custodian, which battles enemies and has a heal aura.

The way Fusang treats characters from different servers has been changed, too, with Cerberus, Arcadia and Leviathan grouped together; Drac and Kobold in another; and Daemon, Grim and Huldra in a third. Funcom notes it can change the battlegroups at any time.

Sourcing PvP gear is going to be easier, and matchmaking will take a more casual approach so as to avoid players being stuck without others on their tier to compete against.

Hit the link above for full details. The Secret World: Issue #4 – Big Trouble in the Big Apple is expected this month.

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The Secret World: Issue #6 – The Last Train to Cairo releasing in early March
The Secret World: Issue #6 – The Last Train to Cairo, will take place in Egypt, and has players travelling back in time to “unearth powerful artifacts” and to uncover the “ultimate purpose” of the Atenists and their prophet, according to Funcom.



It looks straight out of an Indiana Jones adventure, at least going by the issue’s “cover art”.

The update will come with new missions to go along with the new storyline, side missions, it also gives players a new and unique Whip Auxilliary weapon to be used when making AoE attacks. It can also buff your team, or be used for crowd control.

Patterns found in Lairs can now be utilized to “instigate an epic confrontation with an immense foe,” teams of ten will be able to participate in a Raid to stop a “new presence” which has made itself known.

With the update, a new Veteran and Recruitment system will become available, and for each month you are or have been playing, you will receive points which can buy rewards. Every new person recruited also gives you an amount of points equal to a month of Membership.

A new ranking system will also be introduced to PvP, in which you will gain XP and rank when you or your team kills other players. New tokens are awarded for climbing the rank meter.

Issue #6: The Last Train to Cairo is scheduled for release in the beginning of March, with current embers receiving two days early access.