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The Dragon roars: Funcom spies on The Secret World's most mysterious faction

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Horror, Sci-fi, Galleries, Screenshots, Previews, The Secret World

We don't care if you have the eye of the tiger -- this is the Week of the Dragon, darn it, and you're going to give respect to it or it will roast your noggin right off your neck! As part of the focus on The Secret World's least-understood faction, Funcom's released a quartet of artwork pieces to help give us an insight into the organization.

Perhaps the most eye-catching are the Mute Monks, an ancient order of scary-looking muscle men who have sewn their lips shut and baptized their bodies with tattoos. These monks are the recruiting arm of the Dragon, but are by no means the only members players will encounter.

The other pieces of concept art show off a temporary Dragon headquarters, a bang (cyber-cafe) that's a front for the group, and a possible outfit for a Dragon agent in the field.

What are you waiting for? Check them all out in the gallery below!

Gallery: The Secret World

The Dragon roars: Funcom spies on The Secret World's most mysterious faction originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 15:00:00 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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The Road to Mordor: Four more years, four more years!

Justin Olivetti — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, Interviews, Free-to-play, The Road to Mordor

While four years is not a nice round number -- or even a halfway number like five -- it's a substantial milestone for any MMORPG. Debuting in early 2007, Lord of the Rings Online introduced something we'd never seen before: a fully realized 3-D virtual Middle-earth where we could not only enjoy a deep MMO but explore the lands and meet the people we'd only read about before.

It might not be a universal truth that all LotRO players are big Tolkien fans, but I'm sure enough that it's a sizable chunk of the playerbase. There's something special about the IP that gives a weight and richness to the game, especially when a long-time reader of the books is given leave to actually go on adventures through Eriador, Moria and Mirkwood. It's a giant sight-seeing tour of lore, a thrill with every brush one has with the source material.

It's heady to consider that four years ago we were but starting on this journey, feeling out the mechanics of combat, crafting and pie-running. Four years later, LotRO has emerged to be one of the most significant MMOs of the past decade, growing strong with no signs of slowing down.

Hit the jump as we reminisce about the ups, the downs, and the off-the-beaten-path hikes of our beloved game as it celebrates its fourth anniversary.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Four more years, four more years!

The Road to Mordor: Four more years, four more years! originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 22 Apr 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PAX 2009: Dark mysteries of The Secret World

Kyle Horner — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: New titles, The Secret World, Massively Event Coverage

So, you may have heard: Funcom is taking famous myths, urban legends, pop culture, history and even things like the Rota Fortunae and blending it all into a game called The Secret World. We sat down with lead designer Martin Brusgaar and creative director Ragnar Tornquist at PAX 2009 to discuss the game and a few of its many secrets.

The Secret World has a vibe unlike any other MMO or really game currently out there. Its premise is simple -- all the legends, myths and more are true. Atlantis is rising, vampires roam the night, 2012 is the beginning of a new fourth age and so on. The world is a dark, scary and magical place. Although, it's more of the first two than anything else.

Gallery: The Secret World

Continue reading PAX 2009: Dark mysteries of The Secret World

PAX 2009: Dark mysteries of The Secret World originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GDC09: Interview with The Secret World's creator, Ragnar Tørnquist pt. 2

Seraphina Brennan — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: At a glance, Fantasy, Horror, MMO industry, New titles, The Secret World, Consoles, Massively Interviews

So, with expansions, you said that you'll be starting out with New York, London, and Seoul, right?

Yes. Those will be the first cities, the hub cities, available at the start of the game.

Now, the gameplay takes you beyond that, yes?

Oh yeah, absolutely. We're not doing all New York, or all of London, or all of Seoul. We are actually doing very tight and very constrained neighborhoods there. That's where you'll start your gameplay, but they won't be the large, huge open zones where you have tons of gameplay or tons of monsters. That will be left to areas like Egypt and New England, which will be more expansive and include more open-world mechanics and other things that we're not revealing quite yet. We will also be including more instanced and team-based areas as well.

Regarding expansion packs, yeah, we're going to expand beyond what we already will include. It's not like we're going to run out of content, the world is a big place.

Yes, I was going to ask if it will expand into more locations and cities throughout the world.

Yes, it certainly will, but it won't be limited to just that. We have more interesting locations but they won't be limited to just our world. We will be including locations throughout time and space itself.

I want to emphasize that this won't be something like Grand Theft Auto with magic, with a focus on huge, huge open cities. They are reasonably small places where you will start out and take the adventure from there. But one very important thing to note is that this sounds like a very fragmented world. London, New York, Seoul, those cities are a long way away from each other. But we are creating, or at least trying to create, a pretty seamless world. This means there are ways of getting from London to New York very quickly, and we are focusing on that. You won't be just walking up to a plane, clicking on it, and getting a red line that quickly points to where you're going and boom, you're there. You will be moving in real-time from London to New York, just a lot quicker.

There's alot of traditional MMO components that are around now. We're kinda in a new generation of MMO, and people are tired of World of Warcraft model and they're looking for something new. This is certainly in that realm. Are you guys trying to get away from traditional models, like crafting, and moving to something new?

Ah, I can't really talk about crafting right now. What I can say is that while combat is a core focus, we really want other non-combat stuff in the game. We're just not going to be talking about them as of yet. But there will be gameplay that isn't all about fighting monsters or exploring. There will be other things that you will be able to do.

Like you said earlier, like mysteries?

That, yes, that also and there will be other ways for people to play in the game, to participate in the game, that isn't about traveling around the world. Exactly what that is, I can't say as of yet.

Now, will there be a player driven economy?

Well, I can't speak much about that now, but there will be ways for players to take part in the economy. Sorry for being so cryptic, but trying to keep this very focused and very narrow for now.

And player guilds?

Ah, we are going to have cabals, yes. There will be a point to making cabals, and it will play a very large role in the game, but exactly what that is I'm not going to say as of now.

We are a game and we are focusing on the social aspects of the game. We are, in some aspects, a story driven game and alot of it you can play solo, but we really want to emphasize that it is an MMO. There will be stuff that will require you to team up with people in small groups and also in larger teams, without me going into deeper detail.

I hate having to keep saying I can't talk about this stuff.

Oh, so what about in-game factions?

...and I can't talk about that. *laughs*

Ok, so what about the range between hardcore and casual?

Yeah, well, we always say we're going to cover all of it, but the fact is that you can't the game for everybody. So I think we're leaning towards... *sighs* I wouldn't say the casual, because when you talk about MMOs and casual you usually end up at Club Penguin or something like that, and we're really not there. We're somewhere between halfway, I think. There's tons of stuff for the hardcore MMO players, like the whole skill based system and the tweaking that you do to those types of systems with numbers and all the items we'll have, and that will be a hardcore player's dream. But I think in terms of time investment and what's required of you, we're leaning towards the middle ground. It will be fun for MMO players, but it will be equally fun for someone who just likes the idea of a world that has a bunch of other people in it, is completely open, you can play it online, and you can chat, but doesn't feel so unfriendly and unwelcoming as other MMOs.

So, would your target audience be someone who has played MMOs?

I think a large part of our target audience is who are playing or have played MMOs. We want it to be different enough for them to come back or a game that is different enough to have them come to play it with their friends. In addition to action/adventure gamers who play games like Fable 2 for the Xbox 360 and just want to try their hand at something that's online and not feel completely eliminated and have something that's recognizable to them.

We'd like to thank Ragnar for meeting with us at the GDC, and we're looking forward to more information on The Secret World!

GDC09: Interview with The Secret World's creator, Ragnar Tørnquist pt. 2 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gold farmers connected with $38 million money laundering bust

James Egan — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Economy, Events, real-world, Exploits, MMO industry, News items

We've heard about gold farmers tangling with the law before, but this is pretty extreme from initial accounts we've turned up. So while a few of the details coming out of Korea are still a bit hazy, it seems a money laundering operation (working with gold farmers and MMO account thieves) was busted this week while trying to move $38 million between Korea and China. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency stated the operation was headed by a man named Jeong who, with a number of other individuals in Korea, was caught wiring the $38 million in illicit funds.

Korean news site dongA reports: "Jeong and his ring reportedly sold the game money illegally produced in China using cheap labor and virus programs. They are believed to have taken a commission of three to five percent of the money traded to purchase game money."

Continue reading Gold farmers connected with $38 million money laundering bust

Gold farmers connected with $38 million money laundering bust originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Joystiq looks at South Korea's PC Baang culture

Matt Warner — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, MMO industry

No PlayStation, No Nintendo, No Sega. In a sprawling metropolis on the brink of a technological revolution what place would eschew console gaming? It was South Korea, and for the longest time there was an embargo against Japanese made imports. In the embargo's wake an unstoppable PC gaming utopia and a molding of an anomalous social culture evolved. With the government push for broadband access and the proliferation of PC Baangs, online PC-game rooms, a remarkable 70% of South Korean internet users have played some kind of MMOG.

The Korean MMOG invasion on the western market has spurned resentment but some MMOs like Nexon's Maple Story found a successful niche. What is fascinating, are not the endless failed imports or the lucky few that do succeed in the US but the radical differences in our gaming cultures. Joystiq's Geoffrey Brooks is residing in Seoul, South Korea for the summer. Indulging his senses in this part of the world Brook posits about South Korea's PC Baangs and the masterful technological wired revolution and contrasts it to the lagging-behind United States. It's a must read, especially if you know nothing of the PC gaming culture in South Korea other than asking "isn't Starcraft big there?"

Joystiq looks at South Korea's PC Baang culture originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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