15 May 2012 | |
Mike
The first beta weekend is over for Funcom’s The Secret World and if you happen to be one of those gamers that didn’t receive a beta key yet, you can step away from the ledge, we’re here to help
Lorehound has received five beta keys to give out, one of which was given out yesterday on our Facebook page, with the other four being handed out this Friday, just in time for beta weekend #2.
So how do you get a key? Simply head over to our Facebook page, like us, and tell us why you’re excited about The Secret World. We’ll select our four favorite comments early Friday morning and send out the keys via Facebook.
Good luck to everyone.
12 May 2012 | |
Pherephassa
Eeek! I’m late I’m late! I must beg forgiveness to anyone looking forward to my weekly summary; a vacation combined with the opening of The Secret World‘s beta weekend sent me spinning off into the land of distractions. But it’s been another pretty exciting week here at LoreHound! We’ve got item giveaways, MineCraft goodies, news about a few betas and several lengthier pieces that go into more detail than just providing news. I love the longer pieces, as an unabashed MMO addict there’s very little that I love more than long talks about gaming. Game theory, character building, analyses of subscription numbers and playerbase makeup, how to guides – I love it all.
And of course, my favorite topic – The Secret World! The open beta! Yes, it’s here at last! I have a ton of screenshots that I’ll be posting up later as well as a preview. I’ve been spending way too much time with this game, wanting to squeeze out every possible moment while the servers are up. I think I was up playing until 5am, my eyeballs feel like they’re about to fall out, but I’m still looking forward to later this afternoon after I’ve finished up my errands when I’ll be able to play again! Here’s a screenshot to keep you all entertained until I’m able to put up the full review:
And now, on with the show!
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8 May 2012 | |
Mike
Today, Funcom spilled the beans about The Secret World‘s first beta weekend, revealing what factions and areas will be available to players.
This first beta weekend, titled “Kingsmouth Calling”, will restrict players to the Templar faction, allowing them to explore the small town of Kingsmouth and the city of London, one of the three hub cities in the game.
The beta begins this Friday on May 11th at 9am PDT, and runs until Sunday May 13th to 11:59pm PDT. The non-disclosure agreement has been dropped as of Friday, so players will be able to post information, pics, and videos of their experience over the weekend; which means you can expect us here at Lorehound to have you covered with first impressions galore.
4 May 2012 | |
Pherephassa
Another week has come and gone … it seems like time flies much more quickly since I started writing these weekly summaries! And what a week this has been, not only has TERA launched, but there was some excitement as a long-rumored Elder Scrolls MMORPG was announced. For years, Bethesda has been denying there will ever be a TES MMO, but it seems the temptation was too sweet to pass up and we shall soon have one! I’m of mixed minds about it, I’ll admit. Several years ago I would have jumped in excitement, but I haven’t enjoyed any of the Elder Scrolls games since Morrowind so the prospect of an MMO based on the current state of the series leaves me somewhat uninterested. But I’ll definitely be watching in case I’m surprised.
I was reflecting last week that we were in a sort of golden age of gaming, the announcement of a TES MMORPG seems to continue that trend. Guild Wars 2, The Elder Scrolls, Diablo 3, Torchlight 2 … a lot of heavy hitting franchises are on the horizon. I’m wondering, will we be seeing more announcements for MMORPGs and sequels for other games? Personally, I’d love to hear there was a Yakuza MMO in the works, although I suspect I’m doomed to disappointment there. But next week my enthusiasm will return – keep an eye out, I’ll be reporting on The Secret World‘s first public beta weekend! And on with the show!
20 April 2012 | |
Pherephassa
It’s been another great week here at LoreHound. More PAX interviews have appeared, we’ve had a few exclusives, and there’s even been some game industry mudslinging. I was terribly excited to see news about Torchlight 2, and I’m sure there’s even more excitement about Diablo 3. I won’t be playing either game as I’ve got weekend plans, but I’m sure between TERA and Diablo 3 there’ll be lots of beta testing going on this weekend.
This week seems to have flown by so quickly! Maybe it’s because I’ve been sleeping through a nasty flu, or wasting lots of time on The Secret War. Actually, given that I’m ranked #2 for my state on the leaderboards, I’d say I’ve been wasting entirely too much time on The Secret War. What can I say, I’ve got not-so-hidden dreams of world conquest, although I’ve been contenting myself with doing my best to keep Brasil and China in the hands of the Dragons. In any event, I feel like no time has passed at all since I wrote last week’s rundown. But enough about me, I’m sure the week’s news is much more interesting!
- PAX East Interview with Jared Gerritzen of Zombie Studios, who discussed Blacklight: Retribution with iTZKooPA. New maps, game modes, heroes and more!
- PAX East Interview with Chris Rippy of Robot Entertainment where iTZKooPA gets the scoop on lots of gameplay footage for Orcs Must Die 2.
- PAX East Interview with Tor Egil Andersen and Erling Ellingsen of Funcom, talking about character progression in The Secret World. Part Two is where iTZKooPA asks tougher questions, like when will we see more ARGs.
- itZKooPA talked about the new content patch in Champions Online, and how it put the game back on his radar.
- PAX East Interview with Victor Kislyi , CEO of Wargaming.net about the upcoming flying MMO World of Warplanes. If you want to take to the skies, there’ll be a public beta in June!
- Mike told us about Yet Another Free SWTOR Weekend. How many of these do they plan on having? I agree with Mike, they should just get it over with and open up a fulltime free trial.
- I was excited to see the launch of The Secret War, the Facebook app that’s paired with The Secret World, and discussed the unexpected success that shut it down for a few hours. My wild speculations turned me into a laughingstock – I honestly expected the app would be down for days or weeks instead of hours!
- The first beta weekend for Guild Wars 2 was announced!
- TERA‘s open beta weekend kicked of yesterday. Everyone can play this weekend, even if you’ve not purchased the game.
- SWTOR‘s subscription numbers may be declining, according to analyst group Cowen and Company.
- Bluehole Studios called NCSoft a corporate bully, and said they won’t back down. TERA will be released, even if they have to fearlessly stomp through the grist of rumors and lawsuits.
- PAX Interview with Stefan Ramirez of Bluehole Studios. iTZKoopa got the scoop on how the “holy trinity” will play out in TERA, as well as more details about the lauded political system.
- The Diablo 3 open beta stress test weekend is underway, allowing anyone to get their hands on the game. I haven’t had much interest in this, but I’ll admit to being slightly disappointed it’s this weekend when I won’t be at home to play.
- PARTY!! It’s the five-year anniversary of Lord of the Rings Online, and iTZKooPA spoke with Aaron Campbell, Senior Producer of LotRO, about the exciting events happening within the game to celebrate. Fireworks, mounts and costumes are just a few of the goodies available during the festivities.
- PAX Interview with Max Schaefer of Runic Games about co-op, quest sharing and other exciting tidbits in Torchlight 2.
19 April 2012 | |
Pherephassa
… and has been shut down. Talk about poorly planned game launches. The Secret War isn’t an actual MMORPG, but it’s been in the works for months as a part of Funcom’s upcoming game The Secret World. You can win goodies your character will be able to use once the MMORPG launches, such as weapons, clothing, potions and titles. You can also win prizes like a trip to Montreal, and the use of your name in-game (I’ll admit it, I don’t really care about the trip. But I would love to have my name somewhere in the game!).
It’s been a topic of controversy since its announcement many months ago – as it was originally the only way to apply for TSW’s closed beta and required Facebook. Eventually after much forum screaming, Funcom added in a way to apply for beta without having to go through this app, but it seems as though misfortune has continued to shadow The Secret War. The first official launch came and went, and ended with a delay of unknown length. A few days ago, The Secret War was finally launched like a thief in the night, without fanfare or announcement. If there’s one thing that’s certain in the MMO world, however, it’s that fans of a game will discover any tidbit related to their game of choice, and it wasn’t long before people were playing like mad. So like mad that the day after the app launched, Funcom changed the points required to progress from one level to the next, leaving many people – myself included – having to earn their ranks twice.
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18 April 2012 | |
Pherephassa
Remember this long fabled Facebook app for The Secret World? The great countdown to nothing, when it was supposed to have launched months ago? Many fans stayed online for the countdown and anticipated start to this Facebook game, and all we got was an image of broken glass on the main Funcom page. The wait is finally over! The Secret War has finally launched! If you’re willing to spam your friends with advertising for Funcom’s upcoming modern day, conspiracy-themed game The Secret World, you can play and win prizes such as a trip to Montreal, beta access, and goodies for use once the actual mmorpg launches. Take over the world! Or at least, help your faction do so.
As you can see, currently the Dragon is in the lead, although this is a very recent development and the numbers are changing rapidly. When I first took a peek at it this morning, the Illuminati had taken over most of the world. If you’re interested in world conquest, you can sign up, or join in on the discussion on the official The Secret World forums.
17 April 2012 | |
Mike
We’re back with round two of our interview from Pax East 2012 with Tor Egil Andersen, the Jr. Communications Manager, and Erling Ellingsen, the Director of Communications for Funcom’s, The Secret World.
This time iTZKooPA grills them on crafting, character customization and the possibility of real-world puzzles out-side of the game.
Let’s start with crafting, where we learned that TSW has no recipes or levels for crafting, which allows players to craft anything they want as long as they have the resources for it. We also found out that all items in the game can be broken down into crafting materials, so if you find gear or a weapon you don’t need, you can still get materials from it. It seems crafting will be a guessing game and players will have to experiment to figure out what material combinations make the best items.
For character customization, there will be none past the character creation screen at the time of launch. So no barber shops or other cosmetic stores, but possibly later on they might be added.
Check out the full The Secret World interview below.
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