Interview with Ragnar Tørnquist (April 2011)

JeuxOnLine : Hello Ragnar Tørnquist. You are the Producer and Creative director of The Secret World, the next MMOG from Funcom. Thank you for taking the time to answer these few questions that will be published with the opening of our TSW fansite on JeuxOnLine.

The last trailer reveals the atmosphere of the game while many fans were expecting the Illuminati trailer. Why has it still not been unveiled?

Ragnar Tørnquist : We’ve been waiting for the perfect time to unveil the latest CG trailer…and that time is getting closer. The third trailer features another of our ‘poster characters’; characters that you actually meet and interact with in the game. You can read more about this character on our website, at www.thesecretworld.com.

Clothing customization promises to be substantial and varied. Can you tell us more about that? Will clothing have an impact on the character stats or could it influence powers – like fire resistant clothes?

Clothes don’t affect your stats, and players are free to wear anything they want at any time – although some future locations may require players to wear special clothing.
There will be plenty of clothing and customisation options for players; from clothes purchased in London stores, to outfits awarded for special missions and achievements, and kick-ass PvP uniforms required for participation in the secret war. In addition, players can apply tattoos and wear accessories in order to make their characters look completely unique.

You haven’t revealed yet how the crafting will work except that it will use anima. Can you tell us more about this?

We’re not ready to talk about crafting just yet, but we will reveal more details at some point after the summer. I can say that crafting will play an important part in the game, and will allow players to create powerful items that can be used or sold for profit.

What is the limit between weapon and power? For example, is a katana an item or a power? Can a power change the behavior of a weapon or are they independent? Conversely, can a weapon change the behavior of a power or is it only cosmetical?

Weapons and player powers are tightly connected and integrated, and specific powers influence how weapons behave and what effects they have, both mechanically and visually. Players can carry up to two weapons simultaneously, and there’s also plenty of interplay between various weapons. The combination of weapons and powers a player brings into the game will decide how he or she performs in a given situation, and it’s a big part of the tactical approach needed to handle the toughest content in the game, particularly when it comes to group gameplay.

It was announced that the game would allow groups of 4 players. Can you explain this choice? We also know that some situations will require bigger groups. Up to how many players cooperating will be needed to take care of such a situation?

Our group size is actually five players, but in some cases – our outdoor lairs, for example – several groups can work together in order to deal with the occult threat. Five is a pretty standard size for MMOs, and outside of PvP, players can team up with members of other factions. As we say: “Divided in pursuit of power, united against darkness.”

The preview of the GDC showed a third person view and the possibility to zoom to a first person view and the use of a MMO traditional targeting system. Will you also allow the possibility of playing with a fps-like system, with no automatic targeting, as proposed in some other games?

The Secret World is primarily a third-person game, and targeting is similar to that in other RPGs and MMOs. We want the combat system to feel familiar, particularly since the player needs to think tactically and react fast. Anyone who’s played an MMO will instantly understand how the mechanics work, but they’ll need to adjust to a more dynamic and intriguing way of playing, with seven active powers and up to two equipped weapons.

Do you plan to have live events animated by GM to make the plot evolve? If so, at what frequency?

We’re not planning any GM run events at this point, but that doesn’t mean the game world will remain static. The story and content will evolve over time, and there are tons of surprises in store for players. Having said that, some characters in the game may not be who they seem to be at first glance, and you would do well to keep an eye out for The Eight…

ARGs have been a big element of your communication. Investigation quests are a real innovation for a MMO and attract a lot of players. Can you tell us at what frequency can we expect to encounter enigmas in game?

Investigation missions, where players need to dig deeper into the story, solve puzzles, explore mysteries and expose conspiracies, are quite frequent, although they never block your progress. If you don’t like investigations, or want to hold off until you can play them with friends – crowd-solving puzzles is a big part of these missions – you don’t have to play them. There’s plenty of other content to occupy your time, including hundreds of side missions, and a lot of the missions can be replayed.

Don’t you fear TSW to be too targeted? Some enigmas need days or weeks to be solved, some players could flee the game because of that. Will enigmas be easier in game that the ones we got up till now? What are you planning to attract and keep the players?

While The Secret World won’t cater to everyone in the world, it will have something to offer most MMORPG players – from the more casual to the completely hardcore; from explorers and adventurers who play because of the story and the setting, to achievers and ‘min-maxers’ who play because of our unique, free-form ‘no-levels-no-classes’ role-playing and combat systems, to dedicated PvP gamers intrigued and excited by the secret war between the three factions. Like I said earlier, if you don’t like investigations or puzzles, you don’t have to play those missions. If you don’t like slaying monsters, you can skip the action missions. If you’re not interested in the story, you can skip the faction-themed story mission that takes you through all the content in the game. It’s all up to the players themselves, and The Secret World offers plenty of gameplay opportunities for almost everyone.

One of Age of Conan criticism was the size of its zones and their instantiation. As you have the same engine, do you have the same constraints? Can you give us an estimation of the average size of the zones in TSW?

Most of our outdoor areas are huge. Solomon Island, for example, features not just a small town – Kingsmouth – and the surrounding areas, it also features an abandoned amusement park, a large boarding school for magically talented kids, a terrifying forest populated with hideous creatures, a Native American community, an old mining town, a large construction site, a haunted mansion, and so on. And this is just one of the areas in the game. Players will also be able to explore a hidden valley in Egypt, the Carpathian mountains of Transylvania, three hubs, PvP areas, and tons of other content that we haven’t yet revealed. Instancing will also be kept to a minimum, to ensure that this world is a true massively multiplayer world where anything can happen.

Another criticism about AoC was the number of bugs and that some features promised during development were missing. As you have said in an interview,
Rift has raised the level for the quality of a game at its release. Is this level your goal for TSW?

Definitely. Our technology is very mature at this point, and we’re putting a lot of focus on polish and the player experience. I’m confident that The Secret World will play well, feel good, and look great at launch. It already does!

An optional question to mark the launch of our fansite: Can you tell us an (exclusive) anecdote about the game or its development?

The coolest thing for me is how close to the original vision of the game we’ve managed to make it, even after almost six years in development – and longer than that on a conceptual level. Looking back on what we started producing in 2006, it’s definitely the same game, the same unique world, the same story, and mechanics that stay true to the idea of an open, inviting, engaging and original experience.
Not exactly an anecdote, but definitely something we’re happy about, since The Secret World has become the game we all wanted to play – and I hope everyone out there will feel the same way!