Funcom is ready to reveal more about their next MMORPG, The Secret World, at GDC later in March. In a 2008 financial report, Funcom stated plans to start pimping up TSW early in 2009, guess they are sticking to it! Hopefully we can look forward to some new media and plenty of news coming out of the event!
|
Comments (0) |
Ragnar Tornquist, Game Director for Funcom’s The Secret World, has updated his blog, in which he mentions a few little TSW tidbits. In the first blog post Ragnar mentions investing most of the next four weeks into The Secret World, stating that they have recently made some “Big Changes” to the game. While the story remains the same, the gameplay is going through a redesign… for the better apparently.
We want The Secret World to stand out and be remembered – obviously. To not be just another MMORPG, a WoW clone, of which there are already too many. We’re going to play up the strengths of our universe and differentiate ourselves in both the setting and the gameplay – and particularly in how players can become exactly who they want to be, their secret selves, both visually and in terms of powers. Everyday adventurers and superheroes; guardians of the secret world; champions of Gaia. Warriors. Explorers. Cryptologists. Cryptozoologists. Mystics. Magi. Demonologists. Storytellers. Historians. Travellers. Lovers.
In his second blog post, Ragnar talks about his surprise at how quickly the press picked up on his latest ramblings; and how some twisted his words up a fair chunk.
It is nice to see The Secret World grabbing some headlines again, and though ambiguity can easily lead to speculation – “sweeping changes” and “back to the drawing board” may be taking it a tad too far; we haven’t tossed all of our original design documents, far from it – we appreciate the fact that people are intrigued by what we’re working on…
And just because we’re not talking much about the game at this point doesn’t mean there’s no game, or that we’re going to take longer than planned to finish the game – it just means that we want to wait a little longer before we reveal our deepest, darkest secrets to you (yes, even you, faithful followers, although you will be the first to know – the reveal will, hopefully, begin here). Another year? No, certainly not.
In a new interview with Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas, GameIndustry.biz was informed that both the console version of Age of Conan and The Secret World are both still on track. They also get into the recent Funcom layoffs, and the CEO explains that the need for QA is normally reduced when the first six months of a live project is over.
“The changes in the US Customer Service operations are partly a result of certain functions being moved to Europe as well as adjustments to reflect the current subscriber levels. Improvements in the game have also led to less demand for Customer Service personnel, something we are of course very happy about.”
The evolution of Age of Conan since launch has been useful for the team working on The Secret World, influencing design and providing improved technical assistance, said Arne Aas.
“The development of The Secret World continues and we are expanding the development team at a steady pace.
“This is a very exciting project for us, and the team working on it has been able to draw on the innovations of Age of Conan for quite some time now – especially from a technological standpoint.”
You can read the full interview here.
I noticed some Funcom job updates on the Oslo Job Listings Page. They are primarily for The Secret World but also include a 360 programmer and a Text Coordinator for Age of Conan.
Art
Design
Other
Production
Programming
According to a post by Tulkas in the official TSW forum, Funcom’s ex-financial controller, Jan Inge Torgersen, is leaving the Funcom board, and is being replaced by Frank Sagnier. He used to be the European VP of marketing for Electronic Arts, and more recently worked for Double Fusion, which specializes in placing products in video games. So could Frank Sagnier be involved in guiding an in-game ad campaign for TSW? /Shrug. Personally I think in-game ads are rather fun if done correctly on billboards and such. You can read some community opinions in the originating thread and you can see an example of ad placement at Double Fusion.
Has anyone noticed that The Secret World Poster and Ragnar Tornquist’s Blog both use the Shaun of the Dead font? Hrm… yes, I told you it was a deep thought. Shoot me, it’s a Sunday.
If you’re of the Norwegian persuasion then stop by Gamer.no for a new editorial on The Secret World. In the official TSW forum, Memo has taken the time to do a quick ‘n dirty Google translation, so English folk can probably get the general gyst of the article there. A summary: No news. Status report, wishful thinking and what they think the game needs to succeed.
The hammering has almost stopped here on Funcom’s Secret, so it’s time to open the door a crack! This site is dedicated to following (or stalking if you prefer) Funcom and their newest project, The Secret World!
Slap us a bookmark or subscribe to the RSS Feed, I hope to bring you plenty of news, TSW updates and some feature lovin’. Stay tuned… In the meantime, feel free to make fun of my site design and what not.
I’d also like to toss out a thanks to Wiki TSW, since I used them to catch up on some screenshots I couldn’t find!
Funcom’s Oslo job opportunities are pretty hot right now with plenty of openings to work on The Secret World. Wasn’t too long ago that all of the vacant spots were for Age of Conan. If you’re looking to break into the game industry and have some mad skills then check out the ads below!
Assistant Art Director – The Secret World
Concept Artist – The Secret World
Environment Artist – The Secret World
Senior Character Artist – The Secret World
Web/ GUI Artist – The Secret World
Web Designer – The Secret World
Writer – The Secret World
Associate Producer – The Secret World
Funcom’s November 12 2008, Q3 2008 report is now out (.pdf). Some interesting stuff in there, check out highlights below:
Financial
Feature Updates
Sales and Marketing
The Secret World – Status
The Secret World – Backgrounds
: That\'s not just the best asenwr. It\'s the bestest answer!
: Z! Clearly not very active, but still here hehe. Hope things are good on your end too. 
: Hey Jube, you still hangin? Its been 4ever. Hope all is well.
: wall of secrets ? what's sp secret about this wall ? ) hope to pawn u guys in-game 
: So what will be the estimated Release Date?
: Can't wait fgs! ^^
: hopefully you don't have to make an asian character for dragon.. i was reccomended to them
: Cant wait to see you all in the game !
: lama1234
: Sooo, Dadu is still around trying to poke Jube.
| Search at TigerDirect.ca: |
