Agreed. Does that mean it deserves a failing score? I'm afraid not. And if you knew Funcom, you knew there'd be launch issues. Difference is, it's 10x better than their previous launches.
I love the Secret World, I would completely recommend buying it, though I acknowledge that it won't work for everyone (hardcore PvPers should steer clear, for example), and I have in fact purchased a lifetime subscription.
Every one of Tom's complaints above is both true and valid. I think it's reasonable to assume that the quest bugs will be fixed - a few already have been and every issue I've personally run into with more besides are listed as addressed in the notes for the next patch, due overnight tonight - but he is completely correct that with The Secret World's unique no handholding use-your-brain approach to quest design, quests that don't work as intended make it impossible to distinguish between you missing the intended solution and you hitting upon the intended solution but it simply not working. It's not that TSW is buggier than usual (chat server issues aside, it isn't, and might actually be one of the least problematic launches I've encountered). It's that it really can't afford the luxury of bugs.
(Edit: Actually, I think there's more to combat than Tom's giving it credit for, but it'd be well worth playing even if there weren't. Combat is not, IMHO, the draw in most MMOs, much less this one.)
A while back i remember reading from one of Funcoms pulls that 9/10 beta testers was "highly probable" to buy the game, once it came out! Probably to early to announce 700k (seeing the amount of hype prelunch) but it looks like people don't need to fear getting lonely in there!
Sadly though there are very few quests that are bugged/broken and none of them are " game-stoppers ". Since they are all side quests and can easily be ignored or bypassed until a fix is implemented.
Is it a hassle ? ofc but it doesn't detract from the other 99% of quests working as intended
Yeah, despite the low score, Tom's review made me interested in the game... at least maybe a while down the road when they fix the bugs. Unfortunately you can't fix idiots so easily, and they seem to be liking the game a bundle. Why do they think posting moronic fanboy responses will negate a low scoring review?
My comment about the number of quests completed wasn't meant as an accusation, but rather as an illustration of proportion. Four quests out of two hundred being bugged doesn't strike me as great cause for concern, especially when they don't block your progress through the main story. Your opinion clearly differs on that point, and that's fine. I just think you're overstating the issue in your review.
I still say the concerns about the business model are silly though. Nobody needs to spend money in the cash shop, and doing so doesn't give any benefit over other players. It's really just the equivalent of WoW's vanity pets and mounts.
Since I don't agree with those two issues, I'm just curious as to what, specifically, you didn't like about PVP and the interface, especially compared to other MMOs. You consider them major issues, but you haven't said anything about what makes them a problem.
As for the tutorial, what MMO has ever provided tutorials to that level? They tell you how to use the abilities and leave it to the player (and theorycrafters) to figure out the specifics. That has pretty much always been the case. The idea of focus, chain and channel attacks becomes quite apparent as soon as you use them, or even read the detailed descriptions of the abilities.
He can lose confidence whenever he likes. That wasn't my point. I just think he's overstating the problem, and I don't think it's all that unusual of one for a new MMO.
Did you not read the review, Stephen? Or did I just not express myself clearly?
Your point about proportion is specious when so many of the quests are simply "go here" or "kill this foozle" quests. The problem is that so many of the quests that make the game unique don't work. When Funcom expects me to sit down and figure out the order in which I'm supposed to light eight braziers, I have to trust that the solution will work once I figure it out. But when this happens after I sat down to figure out where Carrie Killian's ashes are, only to discover that they don't exist on my server, I don't have that trust. They have therefore undermined what makes their game special.
As I mentioned, broken quests in a conventional MMO aren't unusual. Secret World isn't a conventional MMO. Why is this so hard for you to understand?
And why should I break down my problem with less important issues when you're so willing to mischaracterize this main point?
If only there was some way to find out why these ratings were affixed to these reviews! If only the reviews contained some information or content other than the rating! Alas!
You should perhaps reread my comments when you're not so wound up over the general response to your review. I'm not misunderstanding anything, I'm just disagreeing. I'm not attacking you or labelling you or even downvoting your comments, I'm just asking why you feel the way you do.
Put the whole quest issue aside or the time being. You already said the issues you're now labelling as "less important" were major factors in your review. So, what didn't you like about them?
Dear Mr. Tom Chick,
I am writing you today to let you know you are retarded. See, you gave a game I like a poor score in your review. That makes me feel sad and inadequate. It calls into question my sense of taste and intelligence. You see my genitalia are oh so small, my back is covered in acne, I have a lazy eye, and I weigh 300 pounds. With all that working against me of course I am hyper sensitive to poor reviews of games I like.
So now I am going to show you Mr. "journalist". I am going to insinuate you are part of a scheme against the publisher of this fine MMO, then I will insult your writing ability though I have never been published in anything, after which I will misrepresent parts of your review so I can refute them and finally I will say that many other reviews have a different score, ergo you are wrong.
What I don't realize if that of course I am making myself look like a complete idiot to the 80% of people who read the reviews but don't usually post comments. Even though I am 29 I am as petulant as a child and throw a tantrum at the drop of a hat, or in this case, a game review. What a rich and fulfilling life I lead!
Oh I almost forgot, this is the guy who panned the original Deus Ex. So Obviously he is the evil spawn of Satan!
Do I have to wink or nod?
You bring up these other reviews like it means something. What do you think you are proving by saying that some other outlets reviewed this game more highly? Because if you follow that train of thought out to its final stop you end up in a town where all reviews have the same score of every book, movie, and album ever released. Is that a town you want to call home?
One thing I LOVE about Quarter to Three is that whether or not I agree with Tom's review I know he is giving me his honest opinion. He isn't censoring himself to keep sponsors happy and he isn't being censored by an editor. Unlike some other more independent review sites, I am thinking Ben Kuchera over that the PA Report, he is willing to call out developers and publishers when they are in the wrong. If we just have a bunch of cheerleaders then the industry doesn't get the feedback it needs to create better games and better serve the gaming community.
I have a theory about simple people and sarcasm...
Yes Amanda, stop posting, now.
I need to say something, and that is that I agree with tomchick. I have the game, and I've been playing it for several days, and those "Investigation Missions", the one's that you are talking about, are craptastically broken. 'Something Wicked' is broken on certain servers, and unless you can get in a group in a different instance, it's not going to EVER work for you. 'The Men in Black Vans' does something similar. The Only Investigation mission in the second area, 'Gravity' is also spectacularly broken in that the game doesn't let you click on parts of the map that need to be clicked on to finish the mission. I would have to say that the only investigation Mission, the thing that makes this game unique, that is not broken, is 'The Kingsmouth Code'. Not only that, but regular missions are broke as well. 'The Black House' is broken for many people, pending on server. 'Taking the Purple' is also broken. 'Ami Legend' is broken on some servers as well.
I was able to work around all but one of those quests by clicking in places that don't highlight, and trust me, things you click on are supposed to highlight in that nice yellow tint, even on those unique missions, or by leaving the area(three dozen times) and then returning to see if it works or not.
This game is Broken in all of the worst ways. I believe that is the point that is being made. I can only hope that all of these issues get fixed in the next few patches (it will take more than one), or its 50 bucks wasted.
It actually doesn't sound like you understand his complaint.
If a game has 100 quests and you've found 4 that are bugged, then any time you run into a challenging puzzle, you're going to have that doubt in your head, "Am I really missing something, or is this just bugged? " Being stuck for a while and then having an "Aha!" insight is the very best part of having puzzles in a game. But if you give up too soon because you suspect that you've hit a bug, you're probably never going to have that pleasure.
My god, you skipped cutscenes?
You made a fatal mistake my friend, this games story is one that will go down in the history books.
There is a saying: "Every time you skip a cutscene, Ragnar Tornquist cries."
Well I'm sure that if you knew what you were missing out on you'd be crying as well.
This games story is, well, indescribable. It is above legendary. It is a god among stories.
"A bad story tells. A good story shows. A great story implies, and makes the reader figure out what is going on."
This game's story is like a puzzle that has been shattered into a billion pieces. It is up to the player to find those pieces and put them together in a way that makes sense.
Every. Single. Bit. of this game is a piece, and every single line of dialogue is instilled with history about the world and what is happening.
You obviously glazed over the amount of care Ragnar put into this world. At the rate he makes per year, this story would be worth over 2 million dollars s it took him over ten years not only to craft this story, but connect it to the real world.
Yes, you have to work for enjoyment in this game. However, that enjoyment will be beyond your wildest dreams. As soon as you taste the sweetness of hard-earned gratification, you will never go back to the dullness that is instant gratification.
If you feel I've misunderstood your comments, I apologize. It sounds to me like you're asking me to reiterate the substance of the review. Namely, that the specific quests that are broken impact the quests that aren't broken, and therefore the game as a whole.
As for the issues I have with the interface, the documentation, the PvP, and the real-world money sales, I'd invite you to check out our message board where I've been discussing the game for the last week or so, or read the game diary I'll be writing over the next week or so. There's a lot to say about the game and I'm happy to discuss it further.