I just want to say that the third beta is going now, and I got a chance to play for a few hours today. All of the bigger problems that I experienced with the previous beta seem to have been fixed, so that's a relief. I've gotten into the main quest but discovered that if you follow it too soon (which apparently I did), it takes you to really nasty places before you are really prepared to go there. In any case, the more I've been playing, the more I've liked it. But since I'm following the main storyline, I'm getting more and more reticent to continue as I don't want to ruin it for myself. I've played enough to really get into the story a bit more and I'm liking what I'm seeing. I'm guessing, though, that I need to really concentrate more on the miscellaneous other quests. Anyway, just thought I'd give you an update.
The difficulty ramps up fast. This has some people up in arms, but it's one of my favorite aspects - getting a friend or two is not a bad idea for some quests. Hardly required, but it really does help when one of you swaps in a few heals to keep the two of you up on quests.
TSW is great by default, coming from norwegian lutefisk loving Funcom origins, so eh.. I guess this should come as no surprise eh ? A friend of mine who I played a bit on Beta 4 with also preordered the game and has been playing it since the early access stuffs, and spotted none other than Lutefisk himself on his ventures tonight! For the record I loved beta 4 and would buy this game in a heartbeat if my PC was anywhere near strong enough to play it properly! Its very, very rare I come across a game that pushes me hard towards getting some hardware upgrades, but TSW's done it. Next week I predict cross game lutefisk hats between DoD and TSW, TF2 style!
I'm loving the game also. It's really grown on me (as the bugs and problems have gotten resolved). I have to say that it is a very Tough game -- I will admit that I have had to resort several times to seeking help in several spots. But with the exception of a morse code signal which was too fast for me to hear properly, much less transcribe properly, I've been trying my best to solve them on my own. I will say that although I struggle, I have been getting a little better at solving them. Either that, or they are getting easier.
BTW, I found this on youtube, linking it here so that you know what I'm talking about. Out of courtesy, please don't post a translation for those who still may want to solve it on their own:
Dead Air seems to be a stumbling point for a lot of people. I love the puzzles in this game, glad to see I'm not the only one. If anyone wants a hand with the game, drop me a line. My only character thus far is Grootslang. I'll be out of town for a week and a half come tomorrow but I'd be happy to help out with quests and instances once I'm back.
I'm Robert "Rabbi" Steinmetz on the Arcadia (RP) server -- Dragon faction. I think I've done all of Kingsmouth except for the Orochi faction quests (though I may have missed a couple, seeing as how I accidentally stumbled across one or two that I might normally have missed). Also did the first Dragon faction quest (that was really tough as well). He's primarily a blade/chaos build but starting to branch out a bit into Elemental as well, to give him some flexibility. He's SO much better than any of the builds I tried in beta.
We should totally meet up! It's so awesome how their One Server Tech allows all players on all shards/dimensions to hook up and play together effortlessly I am also Dragon, also Arcadia (not that it matters much). Codename "Narvek". I have a busy life AND I like to take it slow so have not progressed that far yet. Absolutely loving the game though, upgraded to a lifetime sub The investigation missions, the action ones, the sabotage ones: the perfect mix for me, as sometimes you want to stop and think, and sometimes you want action, and sometimes sneaking is fun! Solved the investigation missions on my own. They are really cool, and the way you search for clues IN THE GAME instead of in the HUD makes you drawn in the game so much more. The ingame browser rocks so hard, and the PvP, even when taking down an enemy guardian with 30 people, is smooth and cool, even if a bit hard for me as everyone outgeared me. The crafting system is very promising and I long to start it seriously: http://crygaia.com/raithwoods-crafting-guide-release-version/ EDIT: took a better look at that screenshot: ... WHAAAT?! O_O Cool! I gotta meet that guy
I agree with a lot of what you say, though I'm not that interested in PVP so I haven't tried it. As far as crafting goes, the problem I have with it is that the drops don't currently supply enough goods to craft the stuff you need. The stuff you CAN craft always seems to be below your skill level. The problem should lessen once the AH goes live, of course. Currently I have an overabundance of Water resources, and really need Fire (for DPS Talismans) and Metal (for weaponry). The other problem I have with crafting is that it is needlessly obscure (I use that word as it is more apt than saying 'complex'). I for one do not like Minecraft's style of crafting. As an older person who's memory feels like a sieve nowadays, I really need a guide in front of me at all times to craft anything other than a sword or AR (as those shapes are the only ones that I can ever remember). The best crafting system I've ever used was from Fallen Earth -- in that game, just about anything and everything you found could be used as a crafting resource and almost anything in the game could be crafted (including horses, although that was actually 'training' horses -- just used the same interface, but the skill was different). The game was flawed in other ways, but I felt they got crafting exactly right. You had to actually do research or buy/find a book in order to figure out how to craft different things, but once the formula was researched, you did not have to rely on your memory to bring up the formula -- it was added to your crafting interface. Also, it was almost the only game where I actually participated in PVP (mostly because it was integrated in an inobtrusive way with PVE with conflict towns).
BTW, I have not been able to play for the past 2 days -- well let me be more explicit -- I CAN play, only my chat doesn't work. I'm trying to finish Polaris before I go on to The Savage Coast, but I'm one of many people who have absolutely no access to chat other than 'say'. The other chat channels do not exist for me at all -- can't even hear nor communicate in 'general', 'Help', or LFG. I contacted Funcom, and they said that they are aware of the problem and it's their top priority, but they don't currently have a fix for it. I could just solo in SC -- we'll see.
I have to agree with you Haldurson on the TSW craft interface. No doubt it makes millions of minecraft players squee with joy but I see no reason they couldn't have implemented a much more practical solution for it. TSW is not a low budget indie-game. My beta friend also had that chat problem you're having. We spoke to game masters about it who knew nothing of this at the time, but after a few minutes on the technical support livechat it was suddenly fixed for him. Hope you get that fixed, not being able to communicate is kinda dire in a mmorpg. ^^
Chat came back all by itself this evening and I managed to find a group and complete Polaris succesfully. /edit also added Narvek as a friend as well
BTW, I may have mentioned in another thread about a visual focus problem I have... I had a bunch of SP saved up and somehow I accidentally added it to Blood Magic instead of Blades. I didn't realize what I had done until after the points were committed. For future reference, any idea IF or how I could undo this? Because there didn't seem to be a way. Maybe I should just wait and see if I do it a few more times -- then I can just claim that I did it on purpose and change to some kind of Blood Magic build lol, and not seem like such a complete incompetent. Unfortunately, I've done stuff like this so many times in the past because I thought I was on one line, and actually was on another, that it was probably inevitable. That's just part of life as me. Doctor says that I have managed to compensate for it in a lot of ways, but it still happens. I do a lot better when I focus and try to do things slowly and carefully, but my mind has a tendency to race, so that's not easy for me sometimes.
I don't believe there's a way to respec, no. Mainly because with the skill system you can eventually have maxed out every skill.
Just a heads up, in celebration of 1 month since launch and also the first monthly (!) content update, TSW is free to play this weekend. All you need is to register a profile at their site, then download the game client (kinda hefty download size) The free weekend can be used on all types of accounts including beta and inactive ones.
