Sadly Funcom has made a radical move and forces the player ot use Face Book to play their new MMO Secret World I had been looking foward to it for i love Ragnar Tornquist's story telling but i am NOT going to be a zombie clone internet chatter on Face Book for anyone. That was a disgusting example of modern Yuppiesm rampant in our culture and a sad demise of a good game studio. I will never buy another Funcom game again and i intend to condemn this move to my international Game Developers Group of over 800 leading industry members in harsh words..for it is an example that must be stopped if we are to have freedom and indivudal choice in gaming in the future.

I have no idea where they got that idea that that might be popular or fun, and it is a terrible sign of the times

RIP Funcom and may your Facebook to to hell.

you could always make a fake facebook account?

If they were to make it into an ARG, then that would be pretty interesting (as in an "alternative reality game", along the line of EA's old Majestic (which was an early experimental ARG) not an "augmented reality game") considering its conspiracy theme, and then the facebook connection would make sense. But that might be a bit too much to hope for. 

Well boo, hiss and phooey.

I don't care for being strong-armed into doing something I don't want to do in order to do something I want to do. It really irks me, in fact.

But it's Funcom's game and Ragnar is free to do whatever he wants with it. By the same token, I'm free to play it or not play it, as the case may be.

Sorry Ragnar. I was looking forward to The Secret World. But as long as it carries a FaceBook mandate, I won't be playing it.

Is there a news article about that?

They use Facebook for "Secret War", sort of a game where you pick your faction and do... stuff, I don't know, it never worked for me. You can 'unlock' early access and possibly win a beta key, but I wasn't aware the actual /game/ required it.

Originally Posted By Dona (17 MAY 2012 1:50pm)

Is there a news article about that?

 

They use Facebook for "Secret War", sort of a game where you pick your faction and do... stuff, I don't know, it never worked for me. You can 'unlock' early access and possibly win a beta key, but I wasn't aware the actual /game/ required it.

It seem to be a companion game, similar to that of the many Mass Effect 3 games. Play one, gain something in another (and not just beta access), though one does not seem to need to play one to play the other. 

I decided to do some snooping about the Facebook issue.

According to the Beta Registration/Secret War Experience FAQ page in The Secret World Official Forums at http://www.darkdemonscrygaia.com/showthread.php?t=21157:

Q.:  Is there any other way to register that does not require Facebook Connect?

A: The second phase of the experience will rely heavily on social networking functionality such as the ability to recruit friends and turn them into agents. But if you only want to signup for the beta without taking part in the second phase of the Secret War, you can go to https://register.funcom.com/tsw_beta/ where Facebook is not required.

And there you have it.

Personally, I think there should be a third title: The Secret World War. It could come with a third set of requirements. That way, they could really confuse people.

Thanks for clearing that up, Karla!

I think I did sign up for that. I've been on the newsletter pretty much since they launched the website. Anyway, I just remembered that I have a few "Facebook disconnect" extensions installed, that's probably why Secret War didn't work for me XD;

All in all, it seems like an interesting game, but it's WAY too expensive. Those who played say it feels like it should be free2play. Too bad, I LOVE the idea of urban setting, high character customisation and no levels.

NOT A GOOD MOVE IMO !

I have never belonged to FaceBoog and have no intention of doung so !(

Seems I may have to give this gasme a miss despite Funcom & Ragnar !!!

I am not even buying any of theirnUS$38 shares even if that;s the biggest ever share flotation - and i=the Company is worthth 1,04 **BILLON**

A careless mistake of mine !

100.4 BILLION dollars of course !!!

Ya it is too bad as i have liked the images i have seen, Funcom has a long history running MMOs Anarchy Onlie of their is one of the oldest..  but no way will i be forced into the modern fad of gossip sharing. I look forward to the time when enough people get together and work to ban such trivial misuse of the internet which is NOT unlimited in capapacity.

Wow, such hostility towards both Facebook and FunCom.

Facebook is a very popular social connectivity app that many of us enjoy. 

It hasn't ruined my life or anything.  I travel a lot for work, and Facebook helps me feel connected to my life when I'm on the road, particularly if I'm in Asia or Europe where I cannot use my cell phone.

It also seriously helps me organize my life socially.  It provides a free shorthand space where I can communicate with individuals or groups. 

Facebook also gives you the ability to control who can and cannot view your content. 

Back to the game you are so bitterly decrying.  Part of the whole vibe of The Secret World is that it takes place in "our" world (sort of), and that world includes the internet. 

It's a shame that you're so dead set against even trying the game, because there has NEVER been an MMO so adventure-friendly as this one.  Many of the quests are just like those in adventure games; they are puzzles that are solved by exploration and problem-solving.  Some of these quests require online "research" on Google or other sites.

Remember what a good storyteller Ragnar is.  That talent informs and enhances this game.

Maybe it's not for you.  But I think it's a little harsh to talk like Ragnar has just sold his soul to Satan or something.  Jeez.

"Modern Yuppyism"?  Seriously?  People still use the 1980s term "yuppie"?

How is Facebook "yuppie"?  "Yuppie" means Young Urban Professional.  People of a wide variety of ages and economic conditions use Facebook.  And not all Facebook users are in urban environments.  I don't see how you could apply the term "yuppie" to Facebook.

I have many friends on Facebook.  Not one of them is a zombie.  I'm not one, either. 

"Freedom of individual choice"?   You DO have COMPLETE freedom in this situation:  Play the game or don't.  Ragnar isn't knocking on your door and saying YOU MUST PLAY THIS GAME.  He's also not saying ALL GAMES MUST CONTAIN A FACEBOOK COMPONENT.  This is ONE GAME.  Perhaps it's not the game for you.  

Facebook is not The Great Satan.  It's not like FunCom has gotten into bed with some REALLY reprehensible organization, like N.O.M. or P.E.T.A.  

This is not the apocalypse.

I abhor Facebooko and all such social wasting of time and life. There is absolutely no justification for bundling a game with use of it, and i detest the very idea. Ragnar has deeply disappointed me, if you have studied his games and his great Dreamfall Longest Journey story line you will relaize that he himself has warned against the very form of network dependency that hs trying to force us to use Facebook symbolizes, i guess Funcom is just desperate to sell games and thought they would jump on the same social wave that others seem to be following out of fear.

No independently minded and sane person that I know uses such idiotic gossp based virtual dependency in their lives or in their entertainement, and if i want to think poorly of Ragnar for making this choice i have every right to do so, i have supported him and encouraged him for years and really do love much of his past work. After checking our Secret World a bit more, i can see that I am not missing as much as I might have, there is a very dark side to it and the use of violence and forms of abuse are widespread in the game to gain thrills and make the story "exciting" which is another sad sgn of the errosion of values from Modern Yuppiesm and shallow thrill based consumerism and marketeering.

And I would much prefer people not spam my threads saying the same thing over and over, you said what you needed to say in the first post, thanks.

There's no forcing of it's use, heck the game is even over now.

All it was was a simple tie-in face book "arg" (Alternate reality game) that fans could take part in and it rewarded them with in-game items when the game was released (they even had a raffle to give some prizes away to people who didn't play it, I was lucky enough to get one of them too).

I don't see how this is bad, they didn't force people to play it or anything.

Ubisoft did it with Assassin's creed, and many other game companies use it for tie ins and publicity reasons (EA used it for Dragon age also as another example).

If they forced people to ues it for some reason I'd agree, I don't like facebook games either, but it's not really like that.

Originally Posted By markornikov (11 MAY 2012 5:34pm)

you could always make a fake facebook account?

I have a fake FB account for this very reason so it doesn't post a bunch of crap to my real one and also for privacy protection. I used a fake email when I signed up for my real FB and every time I log in it freaks out and asks me what my email is. As if no thanks Spamm masters. 

Bioware made a game called Dragon Age Legends, I think. And it could only be played through Facebook. Bioware akso made it so that if you clicked like on Facebbok, you could get something for the Dragon Age or Mass Effect games. And my big sister, my big brother and the rest of my family play games on Facebook. Just to make the point that many game developers and people like using facebook.

"No independently minded and sane person that I know uses such idiotic gossp based virtual dependency in their lives"  

Really?  

You don't know anyone who uses Facebook?  No one?  Well, you must run with an exquisitely elite, "independent-minded" group of enlightened individuals.  

I think you are trolling.  Your views are so extreme that they're comical.  Facebook is not the antichrist.  Keeping up with your friends and family with an easy online free application does NOT merit the unbelievable negativity you are spewing.  s

Plus, social networking is so popular now that major game developers ignore it at their peril.  I don't blame Ragnar one bit for including this TOTALLY OPTIONAL social networking element into his huge new game.