[I guess if you hated this game, you might not be answering this post]. I’ve just discovered TSW, and so far I’m impressed! And when I’m impressed with a game, I start to consider throwing money at it — which has often proven to be a mistake. But before I do that here, at what level did you guys decide this game was right for you? I’ve just entered Portsmouth, and aside from the depressing ‘fog’, I think the game is well-crafted, the story is engaging, and the leveling and weapon upgrading process is exciting. I visited the AH and am tempted to start putting money into uber weapons and jewelry, which at lvl5 might be a bit premature — maybe it’s better to let the weapons and stuff come to me? Any advice would be welcome.
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I admit it became obvious as soon as I walked into Temple Hall and was greeted by the amazingness that was Richard Sonnac.
…
I’m a fangirl, what can I say?
As for advice… Don’t worry that much about gear unless you want to go into Endgame. It’s important, but if you’re here for the story, you won’t have to get the greatest gear ever.
That’s my view on it, anyway. I admit I am not an Endgame type of person.
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I was hooked as soon as i entered Kingsmouth back in the early stages of TSW. and i’ve pretty much been subscribed ever since:)
I love the modern style of it, it’s very unique. Not to mention the atmosphere and story is amazing.
if you want to go for end game gear i suggest you look up some dungeon gear (red backround) They have extra effects on them:)
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It was Andy, talking about missing his cats. It was that story that drew me in.
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I was unsure of the moderne setting back when game was behind a sub to play. When it went free i tried it… And loved it from the moment i got to my first missions =) i have been on a monthly sub ever since =P. Highly recommend leaning back and taking it slow, enjoy the little details…they are manyfold
As mentioned for the story content dont worry about gear too much =). Even if you want endgame. When your green gear hits lvl 20 you need another of the same item type to lvl 20. You combine them through fusion to blue. Fusion happen a couple times, and is a good time to change your old item to a better one… Game pops a guide when you get that far =)
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Weirdly, I don’t remember much of my first playthrough aside from the fact I hit the wall at BM and quit for ages. When I came back I know I was concerned it was another zombie game but when I started going into all the side quests and investigation missions, that’s what hooked me. I think it was the Black Vans one in particular when you have to go track down the Orochi website. Those quests give such a sense of achievement that I think it was from that point that I realised how much I loved the game and would never drop it.
I think if you have played through Kingsmouth - doing the majority of missions while paying attention (not skipping cutscenes or ignoring text) - then you’ll know for sure if you love it or not.
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I pretty much fell for this game right away. I’ve known about it since even before TSW launched (participated on the old forums for a while), and so jumped at the opportunity to experience it as SWL.
I have to admit, I was expecting a story of mundane mortals against the darkness, so the premise of the player characters being super-powered kind of rubbed me wrong at first. But that fell aside pretty quickly once I saw Kingsmouth and the Savage Coast, started delving into Investigation missions, and the like. I don’t have a very strong stomach for horror, so I was pretty much in a state of low-key fear throughout much of Solomon Island; the Atlantic Island Park in particular gave me a bunch of scares! Then I earned my Templar uniform, and it felt so good wearing it out in the field that I didn’t take it off for God knows how long…
I could go on and on. But suffice to say that it was the early game experience that captivated me, and while the rest hasn’t quite recaptured that spark, the game plays smooth enough (and has an RP community friendly enough) to keep me here.
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When you descend that last set of steps in the Tokyo subway and see the void of space opening up beyond the platform’s edge.
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Tricky one. You don’t really need anything fancy until the MMO-style endgame. That said, some rather nice 3 pip extraordinary talismans have come so far down in price getting them early on probably does qualify as a good investment into your SWL future.
As for love and hate, I’m guessing I know I loved the stories being told about when I first met Madame Rogêt back in TSW.
Story is what’s keeping me around now, too, because I knew I hated the SWL gear system back when that was in beta, I hate how alt-unfriendly SWL is (largely due to said gear system), and the aforementioned endgame is arguably the worst I’ve ever seen in a MMO.
Yeah. On second thought, you might want to pass on spending on gear until you’re sure you’ll stick around for the endgame.
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The first time I ran Polaris, the week of the original TSW launch. Nobody knew anything about anything. A bunch of baby Bees just bumbling about, and me in some dinky leech healer build. (I can heal with an Assault Rifle, NO WAY!)
It was nice twist from WoW that there was so little trash, and we bounced from boss to boss just marveling at everything.
And then we punched C’thulu in the face.
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The first time I played this game (well, TSW) was kind of messy. A couple friends were streaming it and I’d decided to join in last minute since I already owned it…but waiting for the download meant I was far behind them and never really caught up before they were done for the night. Even being all distracted and flustered from that, there was something about the atmosphere that made me decide to restart my character from the beginning the next day…and I think that was when I fell in love. As soon as I was free to really pay attention to the story, atmosphere, and NPC’s I got sucked in completely.
My advice has always been to take your time like that - hit all the missions you can, even the side missions are almost always interesting. And if you do that, there’s no reason to worry about AH at all for solo play - you’ll build up your gear naturally as you progress. If you want to get into raids and dungeons, or just have some more firepower in later areas go for it then (personal opinion, I didn’t poke around into it myself until I was in Kaidan). And I’d def make sure you really like what you’re using and that it works for you before investing in higher level stuffs, get a feel for more of the game than just the first area.
(EDIT: I just realized I ought to mention I had Grandmaster in TSW, which carried over here as a lifetime sub. I don’t think you “need” to sub to enjoy the game (played though quite a bit before linking my accounts), but I do think it’s worth doing if you enjoy the game.)
I also feel like being too OP takes away something from the game at times. I like having to be careful what I aggro for most of the game, adds to the horror aspect. YMMV, as always! Glad you’re enjoying it, it’s one of my all-time favs. 
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When I saw this many, many years ago:
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If you mean by “this game” SWL, I have no love nor hate. It does not mean anything to me anymore.
I do log in and try to do something, but I have done all content so many times before in TSW, but more challenging and rewarding. And I miss Fusang.
I hope all the new SWL players, who havent played TSW, feel the same love what I felt years playing TSW.
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How have I never seen this?
When I heard the words Funcom, mmo set in modern times, and Lovecraft I knew I would love this game before my download was complete. One of the original devs for this game also wrote The Longest Journey, Dreamfall, and the first mmo to hook me: Anarchy Online, so I had high expectations story-wise. It’s been my main game since.
Since I started with TSW, I can tell you about that.
It was two things: The Polaris and customer service. I’d been told about it by a friend, but seeing it? After going through much of Kingsmouth, Polaris was the cherry on top of the tentacle sundae.
I also had lost an item in the UI and customer service was extremely friendly in helping me find it, even though it wasn’t actually lost but misplaced. Somewhere around then I picked up the Grandmaster sub and never have regretted it.
I knew I’d love this game the minute the trailer dropped. That being said I waited 2 years after its launch before giving it a try (reviews were mixed at the time and I was playing around with other MMO’s). When I jumped in the very first cutscene piqued my interest and the rest is history. I bought my Grand Master status before it was discontinued and don’t regret it one bit. This is probably the only MMO (Shared Action RPG at this point) that I was willing to commit to long term. That said I feel Funcom’s dropped the ball many, many times and at this point I’m really not as invested in the game as i used to be (still see the potential though, just staring at me).
I just hope the future holds a lot more than just the game’s potential and we get to experience some great new story content (the way it was meant to be). New Dawn is a good (not great) start.
As for dropping money on the game. I would say definitely not. Before even considering dropping a dime, wait until you hit lvl 50 and have experienced a variety of things the game has to offer, including group content like dungeons, lairs and Raid (Can’t say raids anymore, since there’s only the one for the time being). After you’ve had a taste, then I think you’ll have a better understanding of what you’re paying for and more importantly if any investment is really worthwhile given the state of the endgame. The story content really doesn’t justify you having to spend money for anything in order to be effective combat wise. This of course is just my humble opinion and as others have stated YMMV.
So sit back, relax and have fun. Take your time with the game and enjoy the great setting, characters and story. Check under every nook and cranny. There are many stories that are told and they all feed into the greater whole.
My first playthrough was so-so at best.
A Templar, right at the Pre-Launch (I think, like a week or so before hand?).
I had played around in Beta for a while, not really connecting. But work was slow, the weather was awful, and I was bored, so stuck with it.
I ground through most of the available content with that first Templar. It was different enough from other games to keep me going. Then I hit a wall. I wasn’t progressing, I didn’t really understand why, and it stopped being fun any more.
I stopped for a couple of months at that point.
Then I found myself stuck around the house WAY too much again and thought I’d give it another go.
This time I tried The Illuminati.
I got to Kerstin, listened to every dialogue option. Listened to them again. I’ve never looked back.
I never had the stalling problems again. Everything went smoothly. I made a creepy/cool looking toon and managed to actually achieve some of the more difficult milestones. I had a ball. And it all started with that crazy/creepy/ridiculous/serious conversation with Ms. Geary.
As far as spending money goes, I would say that, perhaps starting out with a Subscription would work well for you. It has quite a few nice perks that make starting out a lot easier. You can complete challenges to earn Marks Of Favor. One day’s worth of these will be enough to buy you a full set of normal three pip Talismans and most likely your normal three pip weapons, as well. That will give you a good enough head start and a chance to decide if you really like your gear before dumping lots of resources into high end stuff you might not eventually want.
Kingsmouth missions sold me on it, they are just produced at a much higher quality than any other mmo.
Modern setting is what got me in the door though, I don’t really do medieval/fantasy games.