Now that convention season is coming to an end MMORPG is slowly getting back to the normal routine. This means we’re back to our every other week schedule! And just in case you missed it I got to
interview Joel Bylos about all things related to The Secret World. This of course happened before he released his August Game Director’s letter which came out at the end of last week.
In it Joel outlines some of the things that are coming up soon. The most exciting news for the moment is that a new Sidelines mission pack is coming in the new couple of weeks. It includes a couple of investigation quests, a bank heist, and a bit more fun. All of it takes place in Tokyo which is a bit unfortunate for me as I am about to roll up a new character. More on that in a little bit though.
The Orochi have developed wormhole based teleportation to help players get to and from Tokyo from anywhere in the world. While it sounds awesome, I think I’ll let a few more redshirts be the guinea pigs before I try using one. There’s just something about them I don’t trust. Not with my own life at least.
While they’re putting in the mission pack and new wormhole technology Funcom will also be putting in a few Quality of Life changes. AEGIS system changes will be expected, but perhaps most excitingly there will be a new notification system. This will allow events to big triggered by notifications, NPCs will be able to send messages to the players, and I imagine there will be many more uses for the system in the future.
And finally, there was the big news that made roleplayers squee in glee. They’ve now made it so emotes, hairstyles, and makeup can be individually unlocked. That means you can get them as rewards for completing content. Which hopefully will also mean that we’re going to see a ton of new stuff coming out for it. The first of which has already been announced. A new dance! Of course Joel finished his letter off with a tease, reminding us that the holiday season is coming. Only 106 days until Christmas guys! (Please don’t hate me.)
So now that I’ve talked a bit about Joel’s letter, pimped my interview with him and eluded to a top secret project I’m working on…oh…I haven’t done that last one yet. Um…forget I said anything. Moving on!
Starting Over
Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about this project. I’m starting over. I love my main character Penny, I do, but I feel like starting TSW all over again. I’m going to roll up a new character. I’m sort of leaning towards Illuminati at the moment. Maybe go with Shotgun. Why am I doing this? I’ll be completely honest with you, it has been two years since I last started a character. I’ve forgotten a lot of the early story. Plus with all the new things that have been added in…well, I’m ready to see how all the newly added things play in to the story if you’re starting from the beginning as anyone new to the game would. Yes, this means I’m missing out on Tokyo which is the big thing at the moment but I’m ok with that. I like to think that by doing this I’ll have a better appreciation for Tokyo when I do get there.
Most excitingly of all I would like to invite all of you to join me! I’m a roleplayer and I walk everywhere but you don’t have to! I’ll create a Cabal for all of us, which again you don’t have to join. And you can’t join if you want to roll up a different faction. Or even if you just want to hang out while I explore the world again I’m game. I guess what I’m saying is, lets get a weekly play group going.
I’ll document our adventures in the column from time to time, you just have to show up and be your totally awesome selves. Here are the details on it all as they stand right now:
- Kingsmouth to Tokyo
- Date and Time: Every Saturday at 8PM London time, 3PM New York, 4AM Seoul (Real life times not in game, sorry Seoul.)
- Faction: To Be Announced
- Server: Arcadia
- Begins: October 4th, 2014
If you plan on playing with us, or even if you have a favorite faction, let me know in the comments below! I need help deciding what to play. I’ll also be starting an in character blog once I get some details worked out. By the time the next column goes live the blog will be going and I’ll have a presence on Twitter as well.
I’m really looking forward to doing this, and I hope you all enjoy it as well. Until the launch of the event I’ll be discussing details of it in the article comments below. So join in the conversation! In two weeks I’ll have all the details smoothed out on the project and, with luck I can tell you a bit more about that top secret thing I’m working on. If you don’t hear from me again, well…you can assume the Black Watchmen got me. Good luck out there my friends, see you in Agartha.
(8 hours ago) 
When Funcom brought The Secret World back online this morning, there was a twist in the announcement of the contest winners on the launchpad: Every player who participated in the End of Days special event will be granted the contest rewards! Instead of the top 1,000 players receiving the unique "Hero of Ages" title and the top 100 getting the Hatchling pet, every character who took part in the event will collect both. Note: The miniature bug pet is delivered to the character and not to the item store claim area.
