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GDC 2012: Watch Funcom's full The Secret World presentation

Justin Olivetti — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Horror, Sci-fi, Video, Previews, The Secret World, Massively Event Coverage

If you found your appetite whetted for The Secret World after reading Jef's writeup from GDC, then make room in your life for 35 minutes of Funcom's full presentation from the conference! Senior Producer Ragnar Tørnquist, Lead Designer Martin Bruusgaard, and Lead Content Designer Joel Bylos take turns showing off in-game footage and discussing the game mechanics at play.

Topics covered in the presentation include character creation, the creepy/sexy Dragon starter experience, how achievements work, story, crafting, and the lands of Transylvania.

While the video isn't 100% pristine -- Funcom apologized for the less-than-perfect lighting during the presentation -- it's so chock-full of information and footage that you won't even notice. Give it a whirl after the jump!

Continue reading GDC 2012: Watch Funcom's full The Secret World presentation

GDC 2012: Watch Funcom's full The Secret World presentation originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Some Assembly Required: Is The Secret World a sandbox?

Jef Reahard — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Economy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion, The Secret World, Some Assembly Required, Sandbox, Crafting

I'm more excited than I thought I would be for The Secret World. After playing it at last week's Game Developer's Conference and getting a preview of the game's crafting system, I think it's safe to say my anticipation went up a few notches.

The real-world setting and horror-fantasy elements have always been appealing, but a general lack of info throughout 2011 -- coupled with Funcom's decision to add a cash shop to a subscription game -- conspired to knock The Secret World down a few pegs. Now I'm almost willing to forgive the business model faux pas because it seems like the game will feature significant sandbox elements.

Is it a sandbox, though?

Continue reading Some Assembly Required: Is The Secret World a sandbox?

Some Assembly Required: Is The Secret World a sandbox? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Secret World ends Illuminati Week with new interview

Matt Daniel — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Interviews, Previews, News items, The Secret World

The Secret World's Illuminati Week is drawing to a close, and to round out the excitement, the game's Lead Content Designer Joel Bylos sat down for an Illuminati-centric interview with IGN. Joel outlines what kind of players would find themselves most suited to a life with the Illuminati, what principles the society upholds, and even what sort of faction-specific abilities Illuminati players can look forward to. While he's not too forthcoming on that last point, he does reveal that "[Illuminati faction abilities] will reflect the Illuminati obsession with combing magic and technology to greatest effect." To get the full details and round out your Illuminati fix, just click on through to the interview below.

The Secret World ends Illuminati Week with new interview originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Secret World designers talk progression, hand-holding, and more

Jef Reahard — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, News items, The Secret World

The Secret World is up for discussion at Rock, Paper Shotgun this morning, and Funcom designers Joel Bylos and Martin Bruusgaard spend quite a bit of time going over various details of the upcoming horror-conspiracy MMORPG.

Those of you wondering how the game's classless skill-based advancement system is going to work will definitely want to read through the piece, as there is a lot of information in terms of both how the The Secret World feels and how it directs players in comparison to more traditional themepark titles.

"I believe World of Warcraft uses a very heavy hand to guide players. It says, 'pick up this stuff here, go and do these missions in this place here, do all the quests then go to this place here and do the quests there,'" Bylos explains. "In our game, we try not to be as heavy handed. It's much more of a light touch and comes through in the places you visit and the people you meet."

The Secret World designers talk progression, hand-holding, and more originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 28 Nov 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hands-on impressions of The Secret World

François Blondin — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Historical, Horror, Sci-fi, Events, real-world, New titles, Previews, PvP, PvE, Opinion, Hands-on, The Secret World, Massively Hands-on, Massively Event Coverage, Dungeons, Crafting

Last month, Funcom held a special hands-on event for The Secret World at its Montreal, Canada offices, where we sent freelancer François Blondin to cover all the exciting details. François also got to play the game for several hours, giving us a fresh perspective on what TSW has to offer MMO gamers.

In Funcom's upcoming The Secret World, the game's three factions -- Templars, Illuminati and Dragons -- face off, compete, and collaborate (all at the same time!) amidst the nightmarish creatures being revealed throughout the world. But choose your allegiance carefully: Your faction determines your path and special bonuses for the whole game, and faction-switching won't be an option. Join me for a hands-on look at the game's current incarnation!

Gallery: The Secret World

Continue reading Hands-on impressions of The Secret World

Hands-on impressions of The Secret World originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 21 Nov 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Funcom hosting The Secret World Templar Q&A on Facebook

Jef Reahard — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, Lore, MMO industry, New titles, News items, The Secret World

Want to know more about The Secret World's Templar faction? Aside from reading up on everything related to Templar Week, the best thing you can do is tune in to Funcom's next Facebook developer Q&A session.

The shindig happens tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. EST, when lead content designer Joel Bylos and writer Ben Schroder will be fielding your Templar-related questions. Funcom's press release says that interested gamers are free to submit their questions in advance, but the devs may not be able to answer everything.

Thus far Templar Week has served up some new screens, art, and a few mission details, and the dev Q&A looks to be the icing on the cake. Funcom also notes that the Illuminati faction will be getting a similar week-long publicity treatment in the near future.

[Source: Funcom press release]

Funcom hosting The Secret World Templar Q&A on Facebook originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Secret World announces group and raid sizes

Larry Everett — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Sci-fi, Game mechanics, New titles, The Secret World

As you may have heard, The Secret World gathers up modern-day legends and conspiracy theories and asks, "What if they were all true?" Of course, if these stories were true, then there would have to be a group of people preventing the world from crashing down in utter chaos, right? The Secret World has three such groups, in fact: the Illuminati, the Templars, and the Dragon.

That's the big picture, but what about smaller groups? In an interview with The Electric Playground, Lead Content Designer Joel Bylos explains the general idea behind the group dynamics:

We really feel that an MMO is a shared experience, right? It's very important that people work together to solve these problems. That's the greatest sort of feeling of achievement: when you work together with other people to overcome something.

He goes on to say that it may be possible for players with similar builds to actually be viable even when they're grouped together. He specifically mentioned a group of all tanks' being able to tackle a dungeon if they all had a self heal. But how many players are actually in groups? Bylos says five, and raid groups are 10. No more worrying about finding those other 30 people you would need for those 40-man dungeons, thank goodness!

The Secret World announces group and raid sizes originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 14 Sep 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Secret World designers talk optimal builds, travel, and more

Jef Reahard — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Video, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, News items, The Secret World

Funcom devs have been hitting the publicity circuit lately in support of The Secret World, and GamePro has a new video interview featuring lead designer Martin Bruusgaard and lead content designer Joel Bylos. The pair spend a good nine minutes talking about various aspects of their upcoming fantasy-horror MMO, with particular attention given to the game's skill system and the builds it makes possible.

"In certain areas, people will need to have the correct effects to be optimal," Bylos explains. "In solo play especially, you will want to have a certain build." You can still progress any way you see fit, though, and Bylos was quick to point out that Funcom's intent is to provide a flexible character building system. That said, it's clear that build flexibility can come at the expense of perfect optimization, and ultimately Funcom is striving for a balance between playing how you want to play and tweaking your build as you go in order to progress through content.

The interview also touches on travel in The Secret World, and Bylos drops a few interesting hints about the use of hollow-earth myths to facilitate the globe-jumping that players will experience when traveling between far-flung locales like New York, Seoul, or London. Check out all the details after the cut.

Continue reading The Secret World designers talk optimal builds, travel, and more

The Secret World designers talk optimal builds, travel, and more originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Jul 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New Secret World dev walkthrough delves into the Savage Coast

Matt Daniel — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Real life, Video, Game mechanics, Previews, News items, PvE, The Secret World, Dev Diaries

All right now, all you occultists, paranormal investigators, and conspiracy theorists, it's your turn to squeal with delight. Funcom has treated the world to a spankin'-new dev walkthrough of The Secret World's Savage Coast instance. You may remember we got our first look at the Savage Coast at the beginning of the month. Now, we get to go in for a first-hand look at just what makes this coast so savage.

The walkthrough -- which is so expansive it has to be presented in three parts -- begins with our dev tour-guides Martin Bruusgaard (Lead Designer) and Joel Bylos (Lead Content Designer) jumping into the dungeon linked to the Solomon Island zone, which they note is the first that players will encounter as they play through The Secret World. After a short preview of the quest-receiving experience (which includes voice acting that's rather good, especially for a game still in development), it descends into a rollercoaster ride into the mouth of madness.

The developers take on the Draugh (undead Norse warriors out for vengeance) and their masters throughout the course of the dungeon, which culminates in a scene straight out of Lovecraft's best. We'd hate to spoil the whole thing for you (and it's so long we really don't have the space!), but believe us, it's well worth the watch for any TSW fan. So head on past the cut for the full walkthrough videos!

Continue reading New Secret World dev walkthrough delves into the Savage Coast

New Secret World dev walkthrough delves into the Savage Coast originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 08 Jul 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Joel Bylos on building a better Secret World

Justin Olivetti — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Sci-fi, Previews, The Secret World, Post-Apocalyptic, Dev Diaries

If you were given the chance to build your very own world from scratch, how would you do it? What would you include? Would it be a world of beauty or dark dreamscapes? And would the inhabitants enjoy their stay or flee in terror?

To the team at Funcom tasked with fashioning The Secret World's... world, this isn't a hypothetical question, but a practical one. In a new developer blog post, Lead Content Designer Joel Bylos returns to share a behind-the-scenes view of how a game world is made.

Bylos says that there are four aspects to world-building: identifying purpose, research, building flow, and prototyping and production. Because The Secret World takes place on our planet in the here-and-now, the team has a reference point to begin, but layers a "secret history" on top of it. Bylos explains by saying, "This is the history of an area as only a member of The Secret World can experience it; the footprints of the secret societies and their past conflicts; the truth behind the local myths and legends; the echoes of ancient magic and forgotten rituals."

Of course, it's one thing to design something what you think is interesting and fun -- it's another to see if it works out in practice. All of this planning on paper is just the first stage of getting it in the game, which Bylos promises will come in an upcoming post.

Joel Bylos on building a better Secret World originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 23 Jun 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively Exclusive: Joel Bylos talks The Secret World's endgame (and a bunch of other stuff)

Jef Reahard — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, News items, The Secret World

Funcom is ramping up the publicity for The Secret World this week, and Massively's getting in on the action via an exclusive interview with lead content designer Joel Bylos.

Earlier we told you how TSW's devs are hard at work putting a supernatural (and conspiratorial) twist on some of the world's most well-known cities, and we recently sat down with Bylos to talk about everything from using Google Maps to navigate Funcom's version of New York, to the nature of the term "open world," to the use of random game objects by the player.

Bylos also has some interesting things to say about The Secret World's sandbox elements and its endgame, and you'll find all that and more after the cut.

Continue reading Massively Exclusive: Joel Bylos talks The Secret World's endgame (and a bunch of other stuff)

Massively Exclusive: Joel Bylos talks The Secret World's endgame (and a bunch of other stuff) originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 03 Jun 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Funcom building a bridge between the real and the fantastic in The Secret World

Jef Reahard — Tue, 31 May 2011 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, The Secret World, Dev Diaries

Funcom has released a new dev blog focused on The Secret World, and today's entry is penned by lead content designer Joel Bylos. Much like with yesterday's video teaser, the focus is on the game's environments, and in particular, its localization in the real world.

Bylos, who also served as a content designer on Funcom's Age of Conan expansion before moving to The Secret World, says that the game aims to capture the essence of the modern era while adding a supernatural and conspiratorial twist to places you think you know. "Above ground, New York looks just like the New York you have visited in real life. If you really wanted to, you could find the exact same area depicted in the game on Google Maps. But beneath the streets sprawls the corporate-industrial juggernaut of the Illuminati, known only as the Labyrinth," Bylos explains.

The dev blog goes on to mention the game's mission system as another tool for grounding the narrative in reality. Whether you're burning zombies, performing an exorcism with a vacuum cleaner, or chasing ghosts with mirrors, The Secret World looks to use the mundane as a window into the fantastic. Check out the game's official website for the full dev blog.

Funcom building a bridge between the real and the fantastic in The Secret World originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 31 May 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Secret World dev diary talks story, context

Jef Reahard — Mon, 30 May 2011 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Video, MMO industry, New titles, News items, The Secret World, Dev Diaries

Sleuthing for more story-centric info regarding Funcom's upcoming horror-conspiracy MMORPG? Look no further than The Secret World's latest video dev diary featuring commentary from designers Ragnar Tornquist and Joel Bylos as well as lead writer Dag Scheve.

The trio highlights The Secret World's use of the real world as both location and character, with Bylos calling it "the greatest resource of all." The video shows a few new clips courtesy of the game's cinematics, but Tornquist is quick to point out that cinematics don't tell the whole tale when it comes to The Secret World's narrative. In spite of the fact that every character in the game is motion-captured and fully voiced, the story is "embedded into the world. You have to look for it, you have to search for it. The story is exploration and the story is discovery," Tornquist explains.

Funcom also seeks to challenge gamers in ways that depart from the traditional MMORPG paradigm, and Bylos says that "we're not just asking them to click a mouse button over and over again, but to think about what they do." Put on your thinking caps and click past the cut for the full video.

Continue reading Secret World dev diary talks story, context

Secret World dev diary talks story, context originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 May 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engaging the brain: Funcom talks about the immersiveness of story in The Secret World

Justin Olivetti — Fri, 27 May 2011 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Horror, Sci-fi, Video, The Secret World, Dev Diaries

"No designer could ask for more to draw upon," The Secret World's Joel Bylos says. "This world, our world, is the greatest resource of them all."

And so begins a fascinating trip down the dark alleys of storytelling in Funcom's upcoming MMO. In a dev diary posted at MMORPG.com, The Secret World team suggests it's more interesting to set the game in our world instead of in rehashed fantasy lands. By embracing the concept of "everything is true," the writers open the door to every conspiracy theory, every urban legend, and every branch of pseudoscience known to man.

"The story is exploration. The story is discovery," Bylos promises. He says that the ultimate goal of the storytelling team is to get players to stop mindlessly clicking and to start engaging the story on a conscious level. This includes investigating events, hunting for clues and solving puzzles. No, this isn't Scooby-Doo Online (although that would be awesome).

It's also interesting to note that every character in the game has full voice-over and motion capture as a way to pull you into the story instead of jolt you out of it. Bylos also outlines the different types of missions, which include stealth and infiltration, action, investigation, and story.

[Thanks Even!]

Engaging the brain: Funcom talks about the immersiveness of story in The Secret World originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 27 May 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Funcom hints at Secret World death penalty, sabotage missions

Jef Reahard — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Game mechanics, Interviews, New titles, News items, The Secret World, Miscellaneous

All is very hush hush around Funcom's The Secret World. While a good bit of new info surfaced at last month's GDC, there are still more questions than answers regarding the firm's followup to Age of Conan.

That said, occasionally the devs will dangle a tasty morsel, and in a new interview at Game Snafu, Funcom designer Martin Bruusgaard does just that with regard to TSW's death penalty mechanics. "We will not implement a death system that can be exploited as a fast travel system, because dying in The Secret World should be a sign of failure, and not optimization in any way. We don't want to punish the players in a form where they can lose stuff, neither items nor experience, but rather penalize on time," he explains.

Designer Joel Bylos also chimes in with some interesting bits about the game's questing mechanics, chief among them a hint about new sabotage missions. "These missions share a similar gameplay style to the original Deus Ex game -- avoiding security cameras, disabling traps and hacking computers, etc. Generally the traps are dynamic only in the sense that players can disable/enable them in the world. This becomes interesting when other players can accidentally trigger an alarm in the camp you are sneaking through," Bylos says. Check out the full interview at Game Snafu.

Funcom hints at Secret World death penalty, sabotage missions originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GDC 2011: Funcom talks The Secret World's PvE, PvP, and ARG

Jef Reahard — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Events, real-world, MMO industry, New titles, Previews, News items, The Secret World, Miscellaneous

Many of you are no doubt as anxious as we are to get your hands on Funcom's new The Secret World MMORPG (with a new website!). The skill-based end-of-the-world riff has been shrouded in a good bit of mystery for a good long while, but we've finally managed to snag a few minutes of face time with the title. This year's GDC marked the first opportunity for anyone outside of Funcom's alpha team to lay eyes on the game, and we've got some pretty juicy details to pass on.

Join us after the cut for the new trailer as well as a recap of Funcom's presentation, which was spearheaded by Ragnar Tornquist and featured designers Martin Bruusgaard and Joel Bylos. Discussion topics include PvP, PvE missions, and character progression.

Gallery: The Secret World: GDC 2011

Continue reading GDC 2011: Funcom talks The Secret World's PvE, PvP, and ARG

GDC 2011: Funcom talks The Secret World's PvE, PvP, and ARG originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What's to come in Rise of the Godslayer

Seraphina Brennan — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: At a glance, Betas, Fantasy, Age of Conan, Previews, Massively Event Coverage

Tigers, PvP, corruption, and more are coming with Age of Conan's next expansion, Rise of the Godslayer. Xfire has hosted a sneak peek live broadcast hosted by game director Craig Morrison and lead expansion designer Joel Bylos, and the two have shown off some of the inner workings of the expansion, including some of the changes and additions players will find.

We here at Massively were watching closely and taking notes, so if you didn't get the chance to watch the video then no worries! As we said before, we have your back and we're ready to take you headlong into the blood and corruption of Age of Conan's expansion.

Continue reading What's to come in Rise of the Godslayer

What's to come in Rise of the Godslayer originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Age of Conan offers streaming expansion demo Monday

Eliot Lefebvre — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Age of Conan, Expansions, Previews

If you're playing Age of Conan, the odds that you're looking forward to the upcoming Rise of the Godslayer expansion are... pretty much one to one. The news on the expansion has been fairly slow in coming since its announcement earlier this year, but it looks like we're due for a big burst of new information on Monday. Funcom has announced that the developers will be hosting a streaming demo of the game on December 7th via Xfire.

The demo, hosted by game director Craig Morrison and the expansion lead designer Joel Bylos, will begin at noon PST (3 PM for those of us on the other coast). Scheduled to last for an hour, it promises to cover both the content in the demo -- which is all slated to be new material -- as well as the expansion in general, which is targeted for release in the first half of 2010. Both the developers and their hosts at Xfire are excited about the chance to show off a live demo, and odds that the game's playerbase is excited are, again, probably one in one. So clear some time to catch the broadcast on Monday, and see what's in store for Age of Conan as it journeys into the eastern empire of Khitai.

[ via WarCry ]

Age of Conan offers streaming expansion demo Monday originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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