August 2012

Healing Polaris #TSW #TheSecretWorld

stargrace August 20, 2012 2Comments

I’m still making my way through Kingsmouth, it feels like I’ve been there forever now. I’ve actually been having issues with the ‘feeling’ of The Secret World, and no I don’t mean the game play but of course once again, the genre. I decided that the best way for me to play it would be to turn off as many sounds as I could, leaving combat on because it’s really difficult (I find) to battle if you can’t hear anything and are used to. Thankfully there are usually visual clues on what you should be doing for each encounter if it requires it.

With most of my gear upgraded to quality 3 (a few pieces still at 2) and a decent supply of AP under my belt, I decided I was ready for my first run through Polaris. Ogur provided me with a pretty handy guide about Fist healing – while I am working towards the Exorcist deck, let me mention that it’s because of the outfit, and not because it’s the ‘greatest heal spec’ or anything like that.

The path I’ve been taking for healing so far was written up by Escalith on the TSW forums, and it’s very clear and easy to follow. The instance itself was a lot of fun and thanks to Ogur having already run it a few times before he was able to explain to the group what was going to happen. Actually I think I was the only person who had not been there before.

[Early Game – 69 Points] – Able to heal Polaris

Actives1. (Fist Tier 1) – Nurture
2. (Fist Tier 2) – Surgical Steel
3. (Fist Tier 2) – Empathy
4 ?
5 ?
6 ?
7 ?

Passives

1. (Fist Tier 1) – Nurturing Gift
2. (Fist Tier 1) – Out of the Woods {E}
3. (Hammer Tier 1) – Brawler
4 ?
5 ?
6 ?
7 ?

Very basic; that’s all you really need to keep your team alive in the first Dungeon.

I still enjoy the game play and the world as much as ever, but just can’t seem to wrap my head around the genre. I suppose being afraid of my own shadow doesn’t exactly help in this case. Because I’m reluctant to give up on a game that I do enjoy (at least the basics of) I’ve been trying this and that to get ‘comfortable’. So far it only works for brief stints. There’s just too much of a heavy feeling to the game for me to feel light and care free as I play it, which is how I tend to play. Turning off the gnashing of zombie teeth and the slurps as they devoured a meal certainly helped briefly, but it doesn’t take away the shadow of “something is out there.. waiting.. FOR YOU!” I understand that it’s the entire point of The Secret World, but I find it hard to see the game as anything but niche because of that fact.

So will I keep playing after my 30 days is up? Undecided. Unless I can find a way to be ‘comfortable’ with the genre, I don’t think I will. I’ve been known to change my mind (many times) before, so we’ll just have to see. After all, I didn’t think I’d even play the game or enjoy it either, and here I am.

On the brighter side of things, Guild Wars 2 does release this week, and MOP is not that far away. I’m also still playing EVE Online, so it’s not like I don’t have a nice round selection of games to choose from. What a great time to be a gamer.

It Takes Two To Tango #TSW #TheSecretWorld

stargrace August 18, 2012 3Comments

Well, it looks like the fates aligned for me when it came to The Secret World. I had held off purchasing the game and was making my way through the free trial when Amazon put it on sale, 50% off. That dropped the price down to $25 USD. As it would happen, I had $15 in Amazon coupons, left over from a Christmas gift so the entire game cost me roughly $11 total. Unwilling to pass up a deal that was less than even one monthly subscription, I of course purchased it and am now enjoying the 30 days the base game comes with. Enjoying it quite a bit more than I ever thought I would.

I’m still working my way through Kingsmouth, and have managed to get myself geared for Polaris, the first dungeon in the game. I haven’t been there yet but I do hope to some time this weekend. In order to be ‘geared’ for the first dungeon you’ll want to be wearing QL3 in most slots (or at least this is what general channel has told me). I’ve got mostly QL3 and a piece or two of QL4. I purchased some vendor sold gear for little tokens that you get while doing missions which has helped me out a lot.

I’m working towards my first deck which is the exorcist deck I believe (I may have the name wrong, I’m not in game and I’m not looking right at it) which is a blood magic / fist healer deck. Combat and skill sets and gear is pretty easy for me to understand, so I have been able to simply enjoy the game which I really like. I also love how minimal the UI is, I basically only need my offensive target, defensive target, and instead of having 6-9 hotbars jam packed with crap I have 7 buttons + a small bag with consumables to use. The game really makes you pick and choose which skills you want on those 7 hotkeys, and it’s just refreshing not to have to worry about which skill out of 50 I want to use during a fight.

So far I’ve loved every single NPC interaction I’ve come across. The cut scenes are fantastic, each character has a story and a history and it’s just amazing how much I feel a ‘part’ of it. Though I am wondering, if the church is ‘free’ of zombie ghouls, why doesn’t everyone just hole up there. I suppose those who are incredibly opposed to religion may not want to even if it’s safe from zombies. I’ve also noticed pretty much everyone in the town has blue eyes. In fact one NPC I was speaking to at the airport had orange eyes and it caught my attention – until I spoke to them in the next clip and they had blue eyes too. Weird. Probably some sort of graphic glitch but I still noticed it.

I’m not sure what my favorite parts have been so far. I really liked helping out at the Scrapyard and the Airport. I’ve gotten used to marking my map filled with little “Q” icons, for quests I find that I don’t have time / space to pick up when I run by so that I can return later. I haven’t done any stealth quests yet but that will be my goal for today I think, to attempt at least one.

I’m STILL not a giant fan of the genre. I have to take a break every so often because I find it very dark, and playing while I’m alone at home in the dark is just not fun. So long as I’m with friends, or my house isn’t empty, or it’s day time, it’s not so bad. For $11 you sure won’t find me complaining at all.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!