(MMO) The Secret World | Launch Week + Tips

[strummer]

Maybe I am missing something, but isn't the chat problems limited to the custom channels? In other words, cabal, faction, etc still work OK?

If so, is the ability to create cross faction, cross server text chat channel so common that we cannot enjoy this game without it? Of all the other MMOs I've played, I have never utilized this functionality, in fact I don't know if it exsits at all. If you wanted to communicate with others not on your server or in a different faction, you'd have to use an outside application.

I certainly understand the frustration with a feature not working, but how are you able to enjoy any other game where this feature doesn't even exist?

My suggestion if you must communicate with other qt3 players is to make sure you join one of the various qt3 cabals on the specific dimensions and set up a teamspeak/ventrilo/axon/[nsert name of chat program of your choice here] channel like any other MMO we've played.

[instant0]

Well, the thing is that it worked when we started playing, and there was usually 5-15 people in the channel so you could have little talks ongoing, cross-faction and cross-dimension.

Now you have Cross-server Cabals that are tied to a particular faction.

And as we all know by now, General chat is a cesspool, although the one in TSW hasn't been to bad.

[Oghier]

Maybe I am missing something, but isn't the chat problems limited to the custom channels? In other words, cabal, faction, etc still work OK?

You're correct, except that /say is also broken. That is pretty rough on roleplayers.

[Swordchucks]

My suggestion if you must communicate with other qt3 players

If it's not a big deal to you, good for you. It's a big deal for me, and you're coming across patronizing.

If nothing else, it's yet another glaring example of how TSW makes it to the two yard line, drops the ball, and does a little dance. This game has the potential to be excellent. It has a lot of great stuff... but there's always a "but" lurking.

The broken quests? I wasted hours trying to get that damn bird to move in something wicked. I trusted them to give me hard puzzles and let me solve them. Instead, they gave me hard puzzles with one piece missing from them, making them impossible to solve.

The chat bugs? I've hit them all. For long periods there, I couldn't even get general to work.

The complete lack of info on how things work in the game? In the tooltips? TSW, more than any MMO I've played seems intent on telling you nothing and then punishing you for it.

I'm just starting to get fed up. If they'd launched even a week later, after ironing out the server/shard related bugs, it would have been so much better. Instead, they stubbornly dole out one patch a week, even when there are major issues to be addressed.

[MrPerson]

The chat problem is a major issue for me, in part because I can't really chat with the qt3 folks, and in part because the cluster of people with whom I run Nightmares covers all three factions and multiple servers, and Funcom decided, incorrectly, to not support cross-faction/server cabals. Working custom chat would get us around most of the issues from not having a cabal.

[Wolff]

Cross server same faction cabal definetly works. I am in one.

While some of the bugs are annoying or even frustrating you are hearing this frustration from people that have spent ten if not hundreds of hours in the game already.

If the core gameplay is attractive to you the few bugs (most minor, custom chat major I guess) is not a reason to stay away.

TSW is the best mmo experience I've had since walking up to stormwind in wow. That feeling of exploring the unknown in mechanics and lore.

Is it perfect, no. Is it great, yes.

[strummer]

You're correct, except that /say is also broken. That is pretty rough on roleplayers.

Yeah, /say not working would be rough for rping. Is it always broken or just in "unlucky situations" similar to quests that can be fixed via dimension switching? I could have sworn I've seen text in /say recently, but I may be misremebering.

If it's not a big deal to you, good for you. It's a big deal for me, and you're coming across patronizing.

Well, it isn't a big deal for me so I guess it is good. As for how I'm coming accross I can't speak to that other than to say my intent may differ from the outcome.

But my point is about how the cross-server/faction text chat is a new feature to MMOs and they have presumably been enjoyable. So I am surprised to read that being the reason for not continuing with the game.

Though it is a kick in the shorts to have it working, as instant0 states, and then have it not work.

If nothing else, it's yet another glaring example of how TSW makes it to the two yard line, drops the ball, and does a little dance. This game has the potential to be excellent. It has a lot of great stuff... but there's always a "but" lurking.

The broken quests? I wasted hours trying to get that damn bird to move in something wicked. I trusted them to give me hard puzzles and let me solve them. Instead, they gave me hard puzzles with one piece missing from them, making them impossible to solve.

The chat bugs? I've hit them all. For long periods there, I couldn't even get general to work.

The complete lack of info on how things work in the game? In the tooltips? TSW, more than any MMO I've played seems intent on telling you nothing and then punishing you for it.

I'm just starting to get fed up. If they'd launched even a week later, after ironing out the server/shard related bugs, it would have been so much better. Instead, they stubbornly dole out one patch a week, even when there are major issues to be addressed.

And that is much different than your previous statement of "If chat remains broken, I'm going to cancel and sit out a bit."

I can certainly understand frustration with many aspects of the game. And I can understand how those frustrations, cumulatively, may outweigh any enjoyment experienced, which would lead not playing any longer. Obviously for a number of players that tipping point has been reached.

Again, I was just surprised to to see that the cross-server/faction text chat issue was the single driving issue for cancellation.

[Swordchucks]

Well, if it had never worked, it would be one thing... but it did work. It was amazing when it did, too. Then to be suddenly told to go back to the old ways when the new ways are so very much better... why do you wish to tear down nirvana?

Admittedly, it's not just the chat issue that has me more elevated than I should be.

Like I said, the frustrating thing about the game is that it's so very close to wonderful, but falls just inches sbort on so many fronts.

I'll come back in a month or two when they've fixed the issues, the mod community has grown, and they've added more content.

Or, a week from now, I might flip-flop. I'm not a politician, so I'm allowed.

[MrPerson]

The cross server Cabal is a good tip Wolff. I remember reading that they were single server, and people seem to recruit for them that way, but now that i think on it I'm pretty sure that the qt3 templar cabal has folks from multiple servers.

The single faction thing is still pretty blowful though. I get it from a lore perspective, but at the same time it's nonsense from a game mechanics perspective.

[triggercut]

If so, is the ability to create cross faction, cross server text chat channel so common that we cannot enjoy this game without it?

Here's what you're missing here: in the weeks and days coming up to launch of TSW, folks here at QT3, folks who post at Broken Forums, folks who post at OO, and folks who are in The Wanderers all briefly debated on whether or not to join the same faction and Dimension. When it became apparent that the game was going to offer cross-dimension, cross-faction chatting, that debate became moot. Friends who post here who wanted to go Dragon could do so. Friend who wanted to go Illuminati could do so. Friends who wanted to go Templar could do so....and we'd all still get to talk together and set up groups for dungeons together and Cabal chat would be hardly used.

Until last Wednesday, it worked, more or less, albeit with a 5 days span there where all chat was not functioning properly. We all made characters. Leveled them up. Used chat frequently. Put together groups for dungeons and just general questing.

And then it didn't work. If we'd all joined the same faction and Cabal at launch, we'd be fine...but we didn't because it was unnecessary. And now if I get on the game, I can talk to about 9 of the 33 people on my Friends list in Cabal chat, but that's pretty much it.

So. That's a big problem, n'est-ce pas?

[strummer]

Well, if it had never worked, it would be one thing... but it did work. It was amazing when it did, too. Then to be suddenly told to go back to the old ways when the new ways are so very much better... why do you wish to tear down nirvana?

I agree that it makes it worse to experience something only to have it taken away than to never have had it at all.

Or, a week from now, I might flip-flop. I'm not a politician, so I'm allowed.

If you were, I'd fully expect to see you back in a week.

The single faction thing is still pretty blowful though. I get it from a lore perspective, but at the same time it's nonsense from a game mechanics perspective.

My hope in that is there might be more fleshed out 3-way Faction vs Faction action in the future.

[MythicalMino]

I really do not like their payment/billing system. I cannot get it to take my credit card...at all. And then if I go through paypal, it takes 3+ days. I bought the Initiate Pack, 2 days ago...and still the payment has not cleared.

Then I tried buying something through their in-game store...an outfit. I needed to add funcom points. So, I try to purchase them, but for some reason, it will not process the payment, even through paypal. It keeps taking me to paypal to ok their company to preauthorize payments. I have ok'd that, but it still takes me to that screen. And if I go to my account screen for TSW, I get an alert to complete a payment, which then takes me back to paypal to preauthorize them to take out payments.

Their system refuses my credit card for some reason...I am not sure what else to do with it.

I do not remember when the last time was that I had so many problems and issues trying to give a company my money....

[malkav11]

I'm taking a break until they resolve chat issues, but I fully expect they will (it's kind of important) and I'm in it for the long haul otherwise. Lifetime sub and all.

[Chris Gwinn]

Where did you find it on sale? And how much was it?

One of the non-amazon sellers on Amazon had it for $30.

[Tom Chick]

I just picked this up on sale. What's the best way to play with qt3 people?

Once custom chat channels are fixed, you'll be able to find people that way. Until then, you'll have to go through this thread and friend a whole mess of those folks. There are a few cabals (guilds) you can join. If you're a Templar, hit up me, triggercut, or McMaster ingame for an invite.

-Tom

[Wolff]

Their system refuses my credit card for some reason...I am not sure what else to do with it.
.

They are not a us company so many cards will auto lock. You need to call your card company and specifdically allow that merchant.

[Sean Tudor]

My visa card has the same issue. I had to switch to PayPal. Isn't the blocking occurring at Funcom's e-commerce provider? If the transaction is being blocked my bank wouldn't even see it?

[MrPerson]

I had to deal with a GM regarding having a bugged item reverted last night, and was told they would only resolve this sort of problem once per 30 days. When I suggested it was inappropriate to place such a restriction on the player when the root cause was their bug, I essentially told; too bad, it's policy.

When I attempted to escalate to a Senior GM, the GM flat out refused, claiming he was the "highest authority" and after going around on that told me to file a complaint, and that he'd be "corrected" if he'd done anything wrong.

Lovely.

Yes, the words "highest authority" were literally used by the GM.

[Sepiche]

When I suggested it was inappropriate to place such a restriction on the player when the root cause was their bug, I essentially told; too bad, it's policy.

Not that it's a good policy, but you're really complaining to the wrong guy about it... he's just doing his job.

[MrPerson]

Not that it's a good policy, but you're really complaining to the wrong guy about it... he's just doing his job.

I don't believe pretending he has no supervisor is part of his job.

Part of a job of a GM is also realizing things like "Oh yeah, that IS our bug, probably I shouldn't screw over the customer further since they're already annoyed by our fuckup." Item restoration policies in MMOs are to prevent players from filing a ticket every time they purchase the wrong item, or accidentally delete their shit, not to prevent them from having game bugs resolved.

Edit: Come to think of it, what is it with you white knighting crappy customer service? I recall you doing the same in the SWTOR thread.

[Tom Chick]

The ingame assistance in Secret World is horrible, which is particularly insulting given the state of the game. I filed four petitions in the game's first week, all of which were ignored. I finally got a response for a petition to get past the broken part of Black House, and they made a point to tell me they could only fix this quest once per account until the fix was implemented.

That was two weeks ago. The quest is still broken*.

-Tom

* Although I haven't checked since the patch two days ago.

[Sepiche]

I don't believe pretending he has no supervisor is part of his job.

Right, but he was also probably instructed not to send simple complaints up to his supervisor.

Now, if you had been needing whatever it was done a second time in 30 days, the GM refused, and you asked for a supervisor, that would be reasonable and I hope one would have talked with you, but as I understand it you were basically preemptively complaining about their policy and not actually asking for something to be done which is a different story.

Edit: Come to think of it, what is it with you white knighting crappy customer service? I recall you doing the same in the SWTOR thread.

hehe Yup, guilty. I worked as a customer service supervisor for The Disney Catalog for a number of years and I just see things from their point of view a little better than most people I think.

[MrPerson]

Yeah, normally I try not to gripe about the individual agents. I had one a few days ago who could not resolve a problem, because he simply had not been given the tools to do so. I made sure when interacting with him to be clear that while I was frustrated that my issue could not be resolved, my complaints were directed at the developers of his tools who had failed to give him what should be a basic support function (a quest didn't pay out ~500,000 xp it should have, and I asked to have it granted manually), that I recognized it was in no way his fault, and that I was grateful for his taking the time to answer my petition.

The one last night was just kind of a dick. I still thanked him specifically for resolving the immediate issue though ;)

I also gave him a high mark for his response time on the feedback form, as I filed the ticket at the start of an instance and he responded by the third boss, which I was not expecting at all. Overall ticket turnaround time is MUCH better now than initially, which may be more CS, fewer players, or fewer bugs. Except Black House, which will apparently be bugged forever.

[Mark Asher]

So I don't know anything about graphics cards anymore. I see that the minimum requirement for Secret World is an Nvidia card (NVIDIA 8800 series 512 VRAM or better). I have an AMD Radeon HD 6620G. How do I know if that card will work? And why wouldn't Funcom list the AMD cards the game would work with? They have some kind of deal with Nvidia?

Between the bugs I see people complaining about and Funcom listing only Nvidia cards as part of the requirements, I'm really thinking I need to hold off until there's a free trial.

[TheWombat]

So I don't know anything about graphics cards anymore. I see that the minimum requirement for Secret World is an Nvidia card (NVIDIA 8800 series 512 VRAM or better). I have an AMD Radeon HD 6620G. How do I know if that card will work? And why wouldn't Funcom list the AMD cards the game would work with? They have some kind of deal with Nvidia?

Between the bugs I see people complaining about and Funcom listing only Nvidia cards as part of the requirements, I'm really thinking I need to hold off until there's a free trial.

Well, the game starts up with one of those Nvidia logo/add things, so I'm guessing that was the GPU of choice for Funcom. I haven't heard one way or another about using it with AMD cards though.

[MrPerson]

The main compatibility issue of which I'm aware is a memory leak that causes no end of trouble on 32 bit systems, with their limited address space. Supposedly there are SLI issues too, but there are ALWAYS SLI issues and honestly, people are crazy to build SLI systems because that shit never works right.

There are certainly people playing with AMD cards, as I see their gripes about trying to enable certain settings that aren't directly supported in the game (basic shit, like vsync.)

I'd offer you a buddy key to check it out, but Funcom doesn't seem to get how buddy keys work. You only get 1, there were for a very limited time, and only were good for 24 hours real time once activated. Yay! My buddy was not enamored of the game in that period :(

[Tom Chick]

They have some kind of deal with Nvidia?

Secret World is supposed to be the first game to use the Nvidia's new TXAA antialiasing voodoo. And wouldn't you know, it's not actually in the game yet. Yet another thing waiting to be patched in.

-Tom

[Razgon]

Secret World is supposed to be the first game to use the Nvidia's new TXAA antialiasing voodoo. And wouldn't you know, it's not actually in the game yet. Yet another thing waiting to be patched in.

-Tom

You make it sound like the game is a failure - Its tons better than most MMO launches, especially Funcoms own previous launches.

So I don't know anything about graphics cards anymore. I see that the minimum requirement for Secret World is an Nvidia card (NVIDIA 8800 series 512 VRAM or better). I have an AMD Radeon HD 6620G. How do I know if that card will work? And why wouldn't Funcom list the AMD cards the game would work with? They have some kind of deal with Nvidia?

Between the bugs I see people complaining about and Funcom listing only Nvidia cards as part of the requirements, I'm really thinking I need to hold off until there's a free trial.

I use a laptop with an ATI mobility radeon 5850 and the game runs great in 1600x900.

Get the freaking game already! You have posted in this thread what...5 times about wanting the game but being worried about the bugs, and most people (Tom aside) has told you afterwards that you are likely to never encounter most of the quest bugs ever.

Yeah - chat is bugged right now, but its doable to work around it and to enjoy the game a lot anyways since its very much built for a single player experience.

I am confident you will enjoy the game!

[Mark Asher]

Razgon, I am sure I will get it sooner or later. The only reason why it might be sooner is because I'm really into the whole premise of the game, and all the great things I've been hearing about some of the quests really makes me want to play it.

I don't mind waiting, however. I thought a recent patch was fixing chat, but it seems like that's not the case. The only harm that comes from waiting is I miss out on the 20% off code that expires, but that's only $10 in savings.

Anyway, I have until July 31st to use the code. I'll wait until then and see what's going on with the game.

[Razgon]

Well, thats good to hear, because I really think the game is worth every penny one spends. With an MMO you will *always* get the negative talk no matter what time in its life cycle you look at it - There will always be issues and upcoming patches and things to look forward to. One just have to dive in eventually :-)