Ugh…world…too bright.
What can I say? I had fun in The Secret World “One Month Celebration” weekend. Maybe a little too much fun.
Yep, one month into TSW and still going strong. Pretty big deal for a game I had initially written off as “just something to pass the time.” Like some blind date set up by an obscure yet well-meaning relative, I never expected my stint with TSW to lead anywhere, but it just goes to show again that anything can happen.
As we wind down from the game’s first month celebration, I even find myself suffering a little from “lifetime sub envy”, wistfully contemplating the wisdom of my friends and fellow players who have upgraded to the Grand Master Pack. And let me tell you something: I. Don’t. Do. Lifetime. This is why feeling this way is kind of a shock.
My struggles with the decision of getting my own LTS notwithstanding, I will definitely keep playing into a second month. I see a lot of potential in TSW and I think it’s a quality game, which is why in an age where more and more MMOs are switching over to a free-to-play model, I will still readily and happily pony up the monthly subscription fee to support this Funcom project. Developers of niche and creative games which think outside the box deserve some love.
Plus last month’s State of the Game report about monthly new content doesn’t hurt. We’ve already seen Funcom successfully deliver Update 1.1, which gave us more than half a dozen new missions (oh, “Hell and Bach”, how you tortured me. This mind-bending quest occupied my brain for two nights, but the high I got after completing it on my own is something I have never gotten from any other MMO). When asked if Ragnar Tornquist and Co. can keep up with this ambitious update schedule, their answer was a resounding, “Yes, yes we can.” That remains to be seen, but if time shows they can walk their talk, I may be sticking with TSW for longer than I thought.
I spent the first night of the celebration weekend running through Kingsmouth again doing my 30 missions for my bonus Funcom points (which I ultimately spent on the “Hardcore Punk” clothing set, seen above) and in-game shirt reward. I thought I’d been quite thorough the first time I played KM, but it’s a real testament to the exploration aspect of this game that I still managed to find two side quests I’d never done. The last few days also saw me finishing up the Egypt zones, which means I’ll be heading into Romania (more specifically, Transylvania) very soon and I’m very much looking forward to that.
By all accounts, the celebration weekend was a great success, minus a few hours on Sunday morning where the load got to be too much for the servers to handle, prompting some downtime (which Funcom made up for by extending the event for 6 hours). Did anyone else participate? And if you did and also completed the 30 quests, sorry, the fashionista in me just has to ask: What did you buy/are you going to buy with your points (it better be an outfit!)? Any new players take advantage of the free weekend? What did you think?
