The Secret World

The Secret World is an upcoming MMORPG from Funcom. According to Funcom, the game is set to be released for the PC in April, 2012^[1]. The planned business model for the game, as presently known, will be a traditional paid subscription model coupled with micro-transactions via an in-game store^[2].







The game is set in the modern day real world where every conspiracy theory, myth and urban legend that we've come to know is true. Yes, even the vampires, werewolves, demons and zombies. The players assume the roles of supernatural heroes who participate in the "war between good and evil", fighting dark monsters that threaten the modern world.







The Secret World is a game that has no classes and levels. Players get to choose from hundreds of different powers for their characters without ever having to re-roll, thus completely eliminating the need to follow a set path of progression throughout the game.

The player characters are customisable to a large degree, particularly in their choice of clothing, weapons (from shotguns to swords, all of which can be customised and upgraded) and the supernatural powers they acquire. As there are no classes or levels, there are no restrictions as to what you can or cannot wear (well...I'm guessing the only exception might be male and female clothings? Unless they decide to go unisex for all).

The abilities and powers that players can obtain and equip in The Secret World comes in the form of skills. Players can only have fourteen skills available to them at any one time, seven active and seven passive. However, the skills can be changed and swapped when out of combat.

Skill points are earned through gaining experience when a player completes missions and defeats enemies. Once the player's experience bar is full, he will be rewarded with a skill point. The skill points can be used to purchase new skills at outposts (some skills costs more than others). There are restrictions to some abilities though, for example, when acquiring some higher level skills, you might need to have some prerequisite skills first. Or there may be some skills that only work with certain types of items. Although a player can theoretically learn every power available to them in the game, it is expected to take a very long time to do so.

In The Secret World, factions come in the form of secret societies that hide behind the shadows of the real world. Players must become a member of one of the joinable factions in order to participate in the game. There are three factions that players are allowed to join, namely the Dragon, the Illuminati and the Templars.

Each joinable faction has a specific headquarters where players gather, find vendors and trainers. Headquarters for the Dragon lies in a monastery in Seoul, South Korea. The Illuminati have their headquarters in an underground facility in New York, United States, while the Templars have theirs in a grand mansion in London.

In Player versus Environment, all players regardless of factions are allowed to group together and finish missions. Player versus Player, however, will pit the factions against each other. When fighting, the players' factions are very distinctive as they will be wearing their faction's uniforms. As the player rises in their faction ranking, new uniforms will be made available for them to wear.

Interested in the game already? Then take your The Secret World Personality Test and perhaps win yourself a beta access.



What is your view about 'The Secret World'?

1. EA AND FUNCOM INVITE PLAYERS TO ENTER ‘THE SECRET WORLD’ IN APRIL 2012
2. Regarding new details on The Secret World's planned business model

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