When I see the box on sale for $10 or less, I’ll pick it up. $30 though seems high for what most agree is a flawed game. If it turns out that they’ve fixed their problems, I’m happy to pay for future expansions or DLC or whatever. But a relatively high upfront cost makes it a no sale.
I think the game would definitely benefit from re-reviews. The early reviews had to endure broken quests which took a lot of the shine off the experience. But, last time I played, it was much much better about that. And the storytelling remains superb.
My main beef with the game remains the forced solo instances. The good thing is that they force you to play smart. the bad thing is that they split you from your friends and force you to abandon your build for a build which works better in those specific circumstances. And when I’m playing with my wife or regular group, I’m not so keen on having to disband and trying to find a solo build that works.
I hope we’ll see less of those in the upcoming content.
Wendelius
This. When the client is $5 or $10 I’ll think about it. Preferably $5, because I have to buy a copy for my wife, too.
malkav11
1664
Okay. We are talking about a game that just came out this year, in a market where other games are currently charging anywhere from $40 to 60 to buy in, if not more, and some of whom then expect you to pay another $15 a month ongoing, and a one time up front $30 is “high”?
I mean, I guess you pay what you’re interested in paying, but some of you have expectations I would define as highly unrealistic.
Oghier
1665
Agreed. The ‘mixed reviews’ that people see are largely based on quest bugs. The overall number of such bugs was relatively small, but many of them appeared in the most important quests in the first few zones. Between those and the short-lived but horrifying chat problems, TSW looked like a dud early on.
It isn’t. It’s an excellent game with hundreds of hours of top-notch questing. It’s solo-friendly. There is group content, and small group content as well. Crafting is a bit primitive, and the endgame is pretty grindy/ samey. But there is a ton of great gaming to be had here. This is not a charming indy with 15 hours of gameplay. This is a AAA game that had a bad launch.
Expecting this to cost less than lunch at Wendy’s does not seem reasonable to me.
Telefrog
1666
Yeah, it’s high. The reason those other games (WoW) can charge for the client and an ongoing subscription is because reviews are positive, the communities are strong, and the player numbers remain steady enough to command the price. In contrast, The Secret World got mediocre to low reviews, lost players like crazy, the staunchest fans admit that the flavor and mechanics may not be for everyone, and the competition now is F2P all over the place. So, yeah, $30 up front is a bit of a risk. I’m not sure why that’s controversial to some of you.
malkav11
1667
Because I’m not just talking about things like WoW and GW2, though I think TSW for the length of the existing content is largely on par with or better than those games at the specific things it’s doing, and they’re charging significantly less. I’m also talking about things like Rift, which just came out with a $40 expansion, or Everquest II, which has faded into the background but continues to roll out annual $40 expansions. I’m talking about plenty of singleplayer games with $40-60 pricetags and far less to them. And TSW’s negative reviews were, as Oghier said, mostly about launch era issues. Tom’s 2 star review, for example, was entirely based on bugged quests and chat issues, not the actual game content. I did and do think it was perfectly fair, but those issues have been fixed.
I think a demo or limited duration trial would be a good idea if only because I consider it to always be a good idea in the MMO market. But TSW is a steal at $30 w/ no sub. Nobody at all is offering a better deal in the current MMO market.
Nephrinn
1668
I was just thinking the same thing. People are actually complaining that you have to buy the box to play the game? You’re getting a TON of (IMHO) quality content without a sub fee. We should be praising the fact that MMOs are finally starting to drop sub fees and go the route of a one-time box purchase that can be played whenever and however long you want.
blah
1669
One of the best MMO’s out there drops it’s subscription, gives players everything they’ve released to date for free, and all they have to do is buy the box…and people are still complaining? /boggle
Seriously, this is probably the best F2P model ever for an MMO worth playing. If you can name a better one, feel free.
Telefrog
1670
I’m happy you guys enjoy the game, but subjective stuff like “one of the best MMO’s out there” and “no better deal in the MMO market” isn’t exactly helping to sway anyone when there’s an endless selection of articles and player posts that list a bewildering array of issues and criticism. $30 up front and the rest free forever on a game I install and play for 2 hours and wind up hating is still $30 wasted.
Telefrog, it’s a solid game now. You can find complaints about Guild Wars 2 as well.
Anyway, it was as low as $10 and I believe was briefly was on sale for a bit less than that recently. Now they’ve put it back up to $30 but you can use a discount code at GMG and get 35% off that price.
malkav11
1672
You can find a bewildering array of criticism and hate about virtually any MMO, including plenty from people who have never actually played the game in question. The Secret World has developed this narrative of being a walking dead game, a failure from out of the gate, which does have roots in real early issues but is vastly overblown. It’s true that you may not like it. That’s true of any other game.
Telefrog
1673
Thanks to Razgon, I’ll be trying the game. I promised him I’d give it at least a week of play before I post my impressions here.
You may want to wait for the Steam sale. It’s possible it could be half off then. I think the sale starts in the 20th. Or, like I said, you can probably grab a 35% off code and get it at GMG. That should drop it to $19.50.
red_guy
1675
There’s also a high probability that it’ll be 50% off on Origin on Christmas day - they’re rumored to have a “50% off everything” day. (Well in Europe anyway.)
Telefrog
1676
Miscommunication guys! Razgon is giving me a code, so I’m going to try it out.
This game is so full of character and atmosphere, with some great writing. Good luck to Funcom in keeping it alive. Personally I enjoyed this a lot more than the bland GW2 stuff. I couldn’t tell you an NPC name from that game if you paid me - not so with TSW.
I bought at release and played through all the solo content and dungeons, which is rare for my short attention span. Even re-subbed a couple of times before the value in doing so dropped for me (not big on end-game pvp).
Loved it. Even the combat that others seem to pan was satisfying. I really enjoyed how the later maps were basically puzzles in skill builds, as well as training you up for the harder dungeons. Excellent flexible skill system and unique investigation missions mean you spend a good amount of time pondering. Helpful community and friendly people willing to group. Yes, I am just talking myself into loading it up again. :)
GMG’s coupon code will put the game at $19.50, as Mark says.
That’s a steal. Play it as a single-player game, take your time, enjoy the scenery, read the story bits, listen to the outstanding voice acting…
…you’ll get as much as 100 hours out of what ended up as a pretty special experience, warts and all.
Yeah, I was thinking they were a good example of a not-particularly-blockbuster game that still feels they have the market pull to charge $40 for an expansion, not even the game, but an expansion.
And, um, guess they don’t! Which is too bad - I did like Rift - but I still think Secret World is a better deal for the money.
