Hey all,
So I stopped playing TSW a long, long time ago. Was looking to come back and it seems like everything has been wiped, things changed and a re-release of the game.
WHen I logged in, I was unable to use a name I paid to have put on hold when the game first launched, ect. What the heck is going on here? lol
Name reservations were only guaranteed for TSW, there was a chance last year when SWL was announced to reserve your name and transfer vanity items over but that was a only for a short time.
You can still get a second transfer but that will only carry over your clothes and pets from TSW.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings.
Names of inactive TSW characters were wiped about a year ago ahead of name reservations for SWL.
Classic TSW is still up and running and you’ll find your old characters there if you download the client from http://register.thesecretworld.com/.
I totally forgot about the Wipe. So much happened last year it was kind of hard to keep track. But yes, this also happened. 
First off, TSW is still up and running, and anything you had in it is still there. When you updated the launcher you automagically patched to go to the SWL version.
There are various places you can google about re-installing TSW if you want to check your old account, there is even a link on the bottom of the patcher iirc. One of the shorter versions is here :
http://massivelyop.com/2017/06/24/psa-how-to-play-or-restore-your-original-secret-world-install/
The old TSW forums are still there I think, and they will have info from a year or so back on the changeover.
https://forums.thesecretworld.com/forumdisplay.php?65-English-Forums
However it is also fine to just re-start in SWL and move along, the story and atmosphere are pretty much the same, most game mechanics are somewhat simpler and easier to work with. Join the Sanctuary channel for some tips on how to get rolling (/chat join Sanctuary).
Thanks for all the feedback.
Is the original still updated/active?
Whats the difference between the 2?
TSW is still running. No further updates. Almost none population.
Story is the same, game mechanics are quite different. If you ever want to play the game you don’t really have a choice.
Continuing withoutscratch’s list of things missing from SWL…
Nightmare areas in each zone
Superior crafting system
A challenge.
The old crafting system was overly complicated, had no proper tutorials, and required dozens of inventory spaces to store all the different materials you needed to make a single glyph or consumable.
More complexity does not automatically mean better.
By counting things that are missing you should also not forget to mentions that they are STILL missing and most of them will eventually be back once developers will find a proper way to re-do them and time and people to do it. Like:
Some stuff is less important for them for sure. Like, they said there’s little reason of working on faction missions since only 1/3 of players will see each of them.
And I personally would prefer them first to fix DW bugs and such before adding new dungeons with new bugs…
Also it just keep get on my nerves how salty people about this challenge thing. I played tSW about half-year and I hated Kaidan, I hated how much grind I need to get into nightmare dungeons, I never was able to do it and not really sure how long I’d last there. But here’s SWL that is a pleasure. Lot’s of chores but damn. For me personally this build thing is big struggle but I guess for those challenge people this is pleasure to find good ability combinations and weapons and they are who buy this ‘bis’ thing for millions of mofs. But it’s so annoying to feel unwelcomed only because you don’t like this things. Just stop it, please.
It felt weird at first in new game, and controls in both are not too comfortable but with some habit new one is better and I miss buttons way less now. Story is quite the same but they redid lots of missions so they have more proper order now to understand what’s going on. And also, yes, more missions coming and they coming only to SWL.
Getting into classic NMs (pre-Manufactory) in TSW was an absolute joke compared to SWL’s gear grind. I’m talking a couple of days between creating a new character and being able to run NM dungeons.
@Aeryl wait you mean you just saw tSW first time, opened it, and after 2 days you already was able to do nightmare stuff? Well, OK…
2 days is an exaggeration but there was no “grind” to get into NMs. you get to level 10, run every elite once and that’s it, you’re in NMs and unless you rolled 1 every time, you have gear for NMs. in SWL to get to ip 450 you need to run like, 150-200 dungeons
To be fair, that was the highly optimized I really, really, really know exactly what I’m doing way to get there.
Most players had no idea it was that easy to get into NMs. Because much of the community made it sound like it was much harder than it really was, unfortunately.
Yeah, it takes a bit of confidence to play like that, but I did gear one of my alts that way and was in NMs before I finished Transylvania story. The most inconvenient part was remembering to keep gear that could beat the Gatekeeper, cause it required a different set than actual dungeons do. (100% hp tank)
I would never claim that any new player with no help or experience could instantly jump into NM dungeons, but it was absolutely possible to do so if you knew what you were doing and planned accordingly. The same cannot be said for SWL. You can’t bypass the gear grind with skill or experience.