In spring of next year, players will get to enter The Secret World and start facing off against all of the horrors lurking just beneath the surface of modern life. But if you're intent on delving into the game as soon as possible, you probably want to be in the beta more or less yesterday. Funcom is giving players a chance to do just that after they sign up for the beta via the Secret War ARG, which will let players explore the factions and start to rise in ranks... and, of course, secure a beta spot.
Following the registration process, players will be taken to a portal that offers a personality test to determine which of the three major factions fit their outlooks. (Or said players can pick outright.) From there, the game is on... but in the shadows, as always. You don't need to do anything else, but you can start taking part in your society's efforts to recruit others, and players who reach the highest rank in the chosen society will be granted automatic access to the beta when it goes live. Sounds mysterious and underhanded -- just the sort of thing you'd expect from a game about the dark days ahead.
Reader Comments (28)
Posted: Aug 25th 2011 8:25PM sodapop777 said
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Please let me get into Beta!
Posted: Aug 25th 2011 8:28PM Interitus said
I don't like the fact the ARG uses facebook.
Posted: Aug 25th 2011 9:06PM Wild Colors said
@Vgk That used to be the point of the beta test, but since 2005 or so that's changed. The alpha test is now supposed to catch most problems, and the beta test is used for marketing and stress testing.
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Posted: Aug 25th 2011 8:45PM Skyydragonn said
FYI,. that site has been live for almost a year now with the same "early beta" carrot dangled before it. This really isn't anything new.
Posted: Aug 25th 2011 8:53PM tk421242 said
Nice... except I did the 'which faction are you test' over a year ago at least. I think that was supposed to be the beta registration if I recall that far back. I might have gotten a few emails ever since then. Certainly hope this will not take place over that.
Did anyone else remember that, it was like a multiple choice survey that determined what faction you would fit best with.
Did anyone else remember that, it was like a multiple choice survey that determined what faction you would fit best with.
Posted: Aug 25th 2011 8:59PM Wild Colors said
@tk421242
There have now been half-a-dozen or so ways to "get into the Secret World beta" over the years.
You could get a token from participating in ARGs back in 2007 or 2008, you could get access by subscribing to AOC for at least 3 months back in 2008 or 2009, you could get access by taking the faction personality test in 2009 or 2010.
On the TSW forums, Funcom has stated that they haven't forgotten these other methods, and that each additional method you use may increase your chances of getting into the beta at an earlier phase. Or something like that.
Reply
There have now been half-a-dozen or so ways to "get into the Secret World beta" over the years.
You could get a token from participating in ARGs back in 2007 or 2008, you could get access by subscribing to AOC for at least 3 months back in 2008 or 2009, you could get access by taking the faction personality test in 2009 or 2010.
On the TSW forums, Funcom has stated that they haven't forgotten these other methods, and that each additional method you use may increase your chances of getting into the beta at an earlier phase. Or something like that.
Posted: Aug 25th 2011 9:03PM Apakal said
@tk421242
The 'Which Faction Are You Test" has been around for a long time and has been available as part of the convention booth for some time now as well. Its basically part of their advertising and they want as many people to get into it as possible.
However, I can only assume this time around that the test is step one, where upon after that the rest of the ARG kicks off. But I'm only guessing. I guess we will know tomorrow.
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The 'Which Faction Are You Test" has been around for a long time and has been available as part of the convention booth for some time now as well. Its basically part of their advertising and they want as many people to get into it as possible.
However, I can only assume this time around that the test is step one, where upon after that the rest of the ARG kicks off. But I'm only guessing. I guess we will know tomorrow.
Posted: Aug 25th 2011 9:06PM Apakal said
@tk421242
I don't play that game. I whittled my friends list down from 300+ people I don't give a crap about to the 50 people that I'm actually interested in on a semi-regular basis. And part of my criteria is that they don't play any of those stupid Mafia Wars-esque games. I won't have it. If that's the price of not getting into beta, I'll happily wait for release.
Reply
I don't play that game. I whittled my friends list down from 300+ people I don't give a crap about to the 50 people that I'm actually interested in on a semi-regular basis. And part of my criteria is that they don't play any of those stupid Mafia Wars-esque games. I won't have it. If that's the price of not getting into beta, I'll happily wait for release.
Posted: Aug 25th 2011 8:57PM Wild Colors said
Hmm...I'm a bit nervous that I'll need to convince 100 of my closest facebook friends to join my faction (on Facebook) in order to get ranked highly enough to get into the beta.
But overall, I like the idea of prepping us for faction conflict before the game even launches.
But overall, I like the idea of prepping us for faction conflict before the game even launches.
Posted: Aug 25th 2011 9:23PM (Unverified) said
Facebook? To hell with that, not interested. That is what you call a failure in promotion. Facebook is not the way to promote your game. Know who and where your audience is. It's not there.
Posted: Aug 26th 2011 12:08AM DeadlyAccurate said
I just deleted my Facebook account the other day, so I guess I'm out of a chance at the beta. :-(


