The Secret World: Choosing your faction flavour of choice

Although initial suggestions from Funcom about an open beta for The Secret World before the holidays proved to be incorrect, Funcom has confirmed that an open beta will happen before the launch of the game in April 2012.

If you’re an obsessive type, like me, you’ll probably already have started to dive deep into the factions of The Secret World, trying to make up your mind as to whom you should throw your lot in with.

You can’t swing a pentagram in The Secret World without hitting a member of a secret society. Whether they’re mystical warrior philosophers, cold manipulating power mongers or aristocratic defenders of the old “proper” ways.

Personally, I’m all about the mongering of power, which is represented by the nefarious Illuminati faction, but both the Dragon and Templars have a lot going for them, and making a choice isn’t easy. But let’s take a closer look at them and you can make up your own mind!

The Dragon

The Asian secret society of the Dragon is a group without structure or hierarchy. They abhor control and their actions are often hard to understand for outsiders, as the Dragon understands how seemingly random and insignificant events can come together to create great results.

I really dig these guys almost nihilistic approach to their own organization. The Dragon society has apparently collapsed and been reborn many times throughout history, going through the natural cycles of birth and death that form the basis of existence.

Other than that, the Dragon society are skilled martial artists, and in many ways I see playing a member of the Dragon as a chance to play a Shaolin monk in an MMO.

However, a wise man once said something about hokey religion being no match for a good ranged weapon, so I think I would prefer something a little more modern.

Looks like someone brought a hammer to a gun fight. How awkward

The Templars

The Templars then, are not at all squeamish about using some firearms to resolve their conflicts. Yet at the same time, being a society based on an old knighthood, and having their headquarters placed in London, they also understand the importance of showing proper etiquette when filling your monstrous enemies with unhealthy amounts of hot lead.

Not ones to be all wishy-washy about their world view, they know what is good and what is evil, and they are on a crusade to obliterate all evil in a winner-takes-it-all grudge match with the baddies of the world.

I really like this straight forward approach of the Templars, and having lots of guns is always a great selling point.

Templar problem solving: Add more guns

Still, perhaps this is a bit *too* in-your-face for my liking.

The Illuminati

Which leaves us with the Illuminati.

The Illuminati will also happily use guns to kill their enemies. In fact, they’ll use any weapon they can find, and they’ll often achieve their goals without even killing anyone (radical, I know). As masters of manipulation and subterfuge, the members of this secret society are the puppet masters behind the worlds decision makers.

Information is power in the world of Illuminati, and by harnessing this power the Illuminati have access to advanced technology and powerful “New Magic”.

So.. that’s cool gadgets, puppet masters of the governments of the world… Oh, and they wear wicked looking gas masks!

The Illuminati are the secret manipulators of world governments and gas mask prices

I think the choice is pretty obvious, right?

For more info on the secret societies of The Secret World, check out the official website

2 Comments

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