Real-Life

With Issue #7 A Dream to Kill inching closer and closer, my anticipation for the new auxiliary weapon coming to The Secret World is reaching near impossible heights. I'll admit it: As a pyro at heart, I am giddy with the thought of wrapping my hands around a permanent flamethrower! And I'm certainly not alone in that sentiment, either.

But an excitement for the new weapon doesn't diminish any of the current ones that are already in game; each auxiliary weapon -- the rocket launcher, the chainsaw, the quantum brace, and the whip -- is awesome in its own right with distinct skills and style. Is one right for you? Heck yeah! If you aren't taking advantage of an auxiliary weapon, you are depriving yourself of some extra oomph in your fights, not to mention an eighth active and passive skill on your hot bar.

How do you know which one is better for you? Honestly, you needn't choose just one; as with regular weapons, you can earn all four. But with a hefty price of 35 SP per weapon, payable all at once, it's impossible to get more than one at a time. So which do you choose first? And then how do you go about getting it? This guide will give a general overview of the four current auxiliary weapons and the paths to acquiring them.

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Last week's E3 reveal of Ubisoft's The Division MMO shooter was met with some oohs, some ahhs, and some WTFs as PC gamers realized that the software giant was ignoring their platform of choice to focus on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

What's a disgruntled gamer to do? Sign a petition, of course, and as of press time, over 50,000 disgruntled gamers have expressed their desire to see the Tom Clancy-style title find a home on the PC. According to Dark Side of Gaming and PC Gamer, Division developers encouraged potential players to "sign petitions, get on forums, and post their requests."

Here's another one for the is-it-or-isn't-it-an-MMO file courtesy of E3 2013. The Crew, a racing title from publisher Ubisoft, boasts a "persistent online world" that spans the entirety of the United States.

The Escapist reports that other drivers encountered by the player may be AI, but they may also be other player characters. Ubisoft's press conference revealed that the game has no lobby system, so players can chat, group, join crews, and play through group content in the game world proper. Vehicle customization is apparently a big deal as well, as is the ability to "infiltrate and take over a criminal organization one city at a time."

[Update: Joystiq reports that the title will be coming to PC and next-gen consoles. Click past the cut for a demo video. Thanks to Paul for the official website link!]

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Ubisoft has announced Tom Clancy's The Division, a "massive online" title about which very little is known. Game Informer labels it an "MMO shooter," but thus far there is no information about the number of supported or simultaneous players or whether or not the title will feature some sort of persistent world.

The website says that Ubisoft has "designed the title without classes and with solo play in mind," including a flexible build system, instanced encounters, and group content that encourages players to actually group due to a lack of difficulty scaling. Touch Arcade reports that tablet players can jump in as drones alongside regular players.

You can view a gameplay teaser after the cut.

[Thanks to Paul for the official link!]

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So apparently some of you have operatives who have successfully infiltrated the Massively secret lair because someone has gotten a peek at my master plan... I mean, to-do list... and jumped ahead to this week's topic without me! I know we've talked before about how the real-world setting of The Secret World makes it ideal for blurring lines between game and reality, but I wasn't expecting this. Well, no matter. You cannot thwart the master plan; it has already begun. *maniacal laugh*

This stage of my brilliant scheme involves taking a closer look at another little nugget found in the May Game Director's Letter. On the surface we see that The Secret World will be getting even filthier at the conclusion of Issue #7 as the nefarious filth will actually break through the Tokyo gate and begin to infect Agartha itself. But more than that, we are witnessing the implementation of a long-term event that will continue to give new content as it progresses. Could this be the harbinger of dynamic events to come that will breathe more life into the world? We can certainly hope!

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I've said it before, and I'll say it again: The Secret World just keeps getting better and better. While the horror-themed conspiracy game is obvious not perfect (heaven help the rest of the MMOverse if it were!), it is definitely traveling steadfastly along that long, dusty road of improvement. Every time Funcom delves deeper into the lives and plots of The Secret World's denizens by adding to the story, it gets better. Every time new experiences are offered through new missions or features, it gets better. Ditto every time more choice is added through new weapons or customization.

But for all the advancements and added content over the past year, there are a few issues that, when addressed, would get the game really trucking down that road and make for one heck of a ride. Luckily for fans, it just so happens that one of those very issues appears to be getting some attention come Issue #8: replayability. Behold the hope that is scenarios!

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We already knew that Issue #7 would bring The Secret World a spy-like experience. And now, thanks to the Game Director's letter for May, we also have the title, snazzy cover art, and a glimpse at the climactic ending. We even get an expected time-frame for release; while an exact date is not given, it appears that it will hit the end of June, according to the cover art, and Director Joel Bylos himself states it will coincide with TSW's first anniversary.

Issue #7: A Dream to Kill ends with filth infiltrating Agartha itself through the newly discovered Tokyo entrance, and players will continue to fight this threat with group and solo content until Tokyo can finally be entered.

Bylos also reveals information about Issue #8, including the Virtual Training Scenarios and the Augment System. To prove readiness to enter Tokyo to the Council of Venice, players will have to complete training scenarios that will have random elements thrown in, making each experience different. The Augment system is a new advancement system that will allow players to improve their existing abilities by providing customization in the roles of damage, support, healing, and survivability.

The past few years have seen an absolute revolution in the games industry, with an explosion of studios securing funding through crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter. In a time when banks worldwide are tightening their belts, Kickstarter represents a lifeline for indie developers and a way for the bigger studios to work on their own projects free from the need for outside investors or publishers. But with the growing number of projects seeking funding each year, developers are facing stiff competition and the rising challenge of running a successful campaign.

Most developers don't release all of their stats or write up advice and insights following a successful crowdfunding campaign, and those who do are often lost on obscure blogs that don't appear when you Google for advice. But I'm in the unusual position of both being a games journalist and having successfully Kickstarted a small game project (unrelated to MMOs and my work on Massively). Six months ago, I ran a campaign for my new sci-fi 4X game Predestination, and in the process I learned some valuable lessons on what works and doesn't work on Kickstarter. We've since published the campaign stats and gone on to help a few other campaigns hit their goals.

In this article, I run down the lessons I learned the hard way during the Predestination Kickstarter campaign and give some advice for developers hoping to get funded.

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I spy with my little eye... a trend! With last month's announcement of The Secret World's next update, I noticed a certain motif. It appears that beyond just adding new content, the conspiracy game is getting in on the party planning business, throwing themed bashes for players to enjoy. And the players themselves get to arrive as iconic guests of honor! While not making you the exact person, the two most recent DLCs effectively give you the chance to participate in adventures with the persona of a beloved and/or well-known character: Indiana Jones headlined Issue #6, and James Bond will be the star of Issue #7. That leads me to wonder: What -- or who -- will we meet next?

We've already offered some suggestions for new locales for future TSW updates, so why not toss out a few ideas on the next major icons to represent? I know you all have some favorite role you'd love to slip into, so come add your suggestions to these possibilities.

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For all those who've been trying so hard to predict gloom and doom for The Secret World, I say Nyeh nyeh because the April producer's letter announcing Issue #7 pretty much flies in the face of all your it's-gonna-die whimperings. In fact, I can't believe we still hear them because TSW just keeps getting better and better. Where's the duct tape when you need it...

While it's true we don't have monthly updates anymore (and that's totally understandable, given the restructuring that devs certainly couldn't predict), Secret World fans are still getting frequent, and more importantly extremely fun, updates. Just look at The Vanishing of Tyler Freeborn and The Last Train to Cairo; both of these issues brought interesting new storylines and a decent helping of new features. Some even say these updates introduced the best content so far. With that track record, who can't help but be totally psyched for the upcoming Issue #7?

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One of The Secret World's most unique elements makes it ripe for producing immersive experiences, even outside of the game. Set in the modern real world (as opposed to the fantasy or even sci-fi themes prevalent in our MMOverse), a game can more easily blur the line between logged in and logged out. Players can, and do, generate ways to be a part of the game while still out and about in the real world. Today, I'm going to shine a spotlight on two of these projects that use very different methods to continue immersion beyond actual gameplay.

In January, one TSW fan ran an Alternate-Reality Game (ARG) for fellow players. Using Twitter, the forums, email, and even in-game characters, this player orchestrated a full-on investigation for participants to work through. And just recently, a new site offering to immerse players more deeply into the game through imagery was beta-launched. Both projects further player involvement in the world of the game -- the stories, the conspiracies, the histories, and the surroundings -- beyond the actual game. Both received support from Funcom in their efforts to expand the fans' experiences. And both are definitely worth checking out, so I sat down with the creators to get the scoop on the why, the how, and the what's next.

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Heroes and Generals is a new browser-based game set in the wonderfully bright and shiny world of... World War II. OK, so it's really a gritty game, and it's sluggish at best, but I have a feeling that combat during that amazing time was from the "two steps forward, one step back" school of warfare anyway. I tried to keep that in mind as I slogged through round after round of being shot in the head.

It's not that the game is boring. It's fun-ish, but when I compare it to many other MMOFPS titles, I find it small and slow. It's an instanced-based lobby sort of design. That's not normally a bad thing, and we certainly cover that style of game here on Massively, but this one just sort of felt a bit too small. There's more coming, I hear, so maybe in the future, the game will feel larger.

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April's Game Director letter for The Secret World is hot off the presses, and in it Joel Bylos shared some juicy morsels about the next issue in store for the horror and conspiracy-laced game. He revealed that whereas Issue #6 was spiced with an Indiana Jones flavor, Issue #7 will be sprinkled with a distinct 007 zest. Yes, Bond. James Bond.

Set in Transylvania, Issue #7 directs players to investigate the presence of the werewolves in the area, which ultimately leads them to an Orochi facility secreted away below a glacier in the Carpathian Fangs. Along the way, players get to experience adventures as a secret agent, complete with daring chases (a snowmobile one at that!), dare-devil jumps from exploding bridges, and close shaves with laser beams near sensitive areas. There's also a new auxiliary weapon to brandish -- the flamethrower.

But the new goodies don't stop there. Bylos introduced a new feature that allows for custom streaming of radio stations or playlists directly into the client as well as a some PvP changes including tweaks to the matchmaking system. He concluded with some teasers about Black Ops and Issue #8. For all the details, check out the full letter.

It's no secret that The Secret World is just a wee bit different than the majority of MMORPGs out there. Hallelujah for that, right? And one notable area it differs from the rest is how it treats gear and classes. As such, players can't necessarily bring habits and know-how from other titles and translate that into immediate success in TSW. It's no wonder that even good players can sometimes feel stumped or at a loss when navigating through builds. For that very reason, Chaos Theory brought you the first episode of What Not to Wear, a live makeover that focused on sharing hints and tips that non-theorycrafters (like yours truly) could use as a base for forging their own path.

It was a simple makeover really -- just minor changes in my focus and equipment using gear I already had in my bag and abilities I already had access to. Did it help? Did my effectiveness as a damage-dealer increase? The outcome was rather surprising.

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War Thunder, a new instanced-based WWII flying battle, uhm, thingy, didn't really seem that appealing at first. It looks nice, and yes, the planes can be controlled in a few different styles ranging from an FPS twitch style to a more "realistic" mode, but I was worried it would be just another slogging grind until I was able to have any fun. There's some truth behind my worry about the grind, but overall I had an incredible time in the game. The only real shame is that I didn't get to put as much time in it as I would have liked. The game had infrequent connection issues, but when they cropped up, they lasted a while. Even so, each match lasted long enough to give me a pretty good taste of combat.

I stuck with the "arcade" style of gameplay. It's a simpler way to control the planes that allows players to point the mouse pointer for control. You might need to land for repairs and take off again, but it's as simple as slowing down until you touch down. I started to take the more realistic mode's tutorial, but as soon as it told me I had to manually control much more of the plane's controls, I gave up. Call me a wimp, but I just wanted to shoot planes.

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