Funcom has released a new developer's diary video that features member of the team discussing The Secret World's story and missions. The video showcases quite a bit of gameplay footage, so check it out below for a taste of the game's modern day setting.

One of the developers featured in the video is Lead Content Designer Joel Bylos. He just published his first blog entry, which features even further insight into the game's story. He explains how the game's modern setting allows them to do things like use a "vacuum cleaner scrawled with arcane symbols to perform a temporary exorcism" and have characters check their phones and e-mails for messages.

"What makes a good MMORPG?"

Ever since I started working as a video game journalist, I've been rather obsessed with this question, throwing it out in candid phone interviews and studio visits whenever I could. In particular, I love to ask this when I hear of a new MMORPG being developed, because when launch day rolls around, that's when it's time to see if the vision matches the product. Unfortunately, I don't think I ever realized what a loaded question I was asking until someone asked me the very same thing and hundreds of different answers popped into my head. Fact is, for every stellar MMORPG we run across, there are probably a dozen mediocre ones waiting to be launched. So just what is it that makes for a good MMORPG?

I've decided to devote a bit of my time and a few articles to exploring this.

Lead Writer Dag Scheve recently wrote a blog entry emphasizing that NPCs will be memorable in The Secret World. Well, you can now get a glimpse at some of these NPCs in the new characters section that was just added to the game's official site. Here are some of the colorful characters you can read about:

• Daniel Bach is an asshole with a death wish.
• Like many young doctors, Vasile Varias doesn't sleep a lot.
• Ronelle Washington had always wanted to be a performer.
• In many ways, Tanis is like the viper she claims made her.
• Half human, half demon, Akma was born of love.
• Zamira Vata joined to take a stand, to do her duty.

There was a time when we'd have to rely on cryptic tweets and forum posts to satiate our hunger for news surrounding The Secret World. That's all changed since Funcom showed off a live demo at GDC last month. The floodgate has opened, and in the last couple weeks we've seen official blogs on the story and characters, a new trailer and a monster reveal.

But wait, there's more! We now have a couple new interviews to read thanks to Gaming Nexus and Massively. Gaming Nexus got an overview of the game from Senior Producer and Creative Director Ragnar Tornquist, while Massively spoke with Lead Writer Dag Scheve to get a closer look at the team's storytelling techniques.

When asked how Funcom is dealing with the design conundrum of players repeating content after a certain amount of time, Scheve said, "our story is more about piecing a puzzle together than it is about moving a certain narrative forward. It's about uncovering a world filled with myth, magic and conspiracies, not necessarily about making a permanent change to that world with every mission."

Funcom is obviously invested in infusing The Secret World with an in-depth storyline, and we're looking forward to seeing how it all comes together when the game launches.

Little by little, Funcom is revealing more details about The Secret World. A couple weeks ago, Senior Producer and Creative Director Ragnar Tornquist published a blog entry about the game's story. To continue that discussion, Lead Writer Dag Scheve had written an interesting blog entry that focuses on the purpose of NPCs in the game. Here is the team's mission statement:

"We want our characters to provide an experience beyond that of a mission terminal. We want them to be memorable in their own right, and to be a mirror to the world they inhabit."

Throughout the article, Scheve emphasizes that the characters are a key to good storytelling. "We care deeply about our characters and we are placing a big emphasis on populating the world with hundreds of fully voiced and motion-captured individuals," he said. Read the full blog entry for more of Scheve's thoughts on NPCs in The Secret World.

Funcom just revealed the Revenant, one of the many monsters you'll face in The Secret World. As one might expect from this mysterious modern day MMO, Funcom has sent players on an internet scavenger hunt to pick up all the clues about the enemy.

For your first stop, The Secret World Facebook page contains two screenshots of the Revenant, as well as some concept art. You can view them all after the jump.

Then you can head over to MMORPG.com for some more screenshots and a look at the lore behind the creature. Here's a taste:

"Amongst the ranks of the living dead, the Revenant holds a special place. No mere reanimated corpse, the Revenant has formed from the restless fragments of those who, in life, did great evil. Devious and clever, the Revenants serve no master, no greater plan or intelligent design. All they crave is misery, pestilence, agony and death. They feed on terror and pain, and their presence is always an omen of impending doom."

To wrap things up, visit Game Trailers to watch a video of two characters battling the monster.

Funcom just released a new Secret World trailer that was shown to members of the press, including ZAM, during the live demo at the Game Developers Conference last month. The video is comprised mainly of text with some gameplay footage thrown in for good measure.

The main theme of the video is "everything is true," which pairs up perfectly with Senior Producer and Creative Director Ragnar Tornquist's recent dev blog entry on the importance of the game's story. Funcom truly seems to be building a detailed world for this modern day MMO, and you can catch a glimpse of it in the trailer after the jump.

Following the premiere of a live demo at the Game Developers Conference and the launch of a new site, Funcom is finally starting to lift the curtain and unveil bits and pieces of The Secret World. Senior Producer and Creative Director Ragnar Tornquist has written a lengthy and interesting blog entry on the game's story, and it's certainly worth a read. Here are the highlights:

• There is definitely room for storytelling in MMOs.
• "The story in The Secret World is a giant jigsaw puzzle" that you'll begin to piece together through every aspect of the game, from missions and monsters to signs and graffiti.
• The mystery surrounding some of these jigsaw pieces have already been distributed to the game's community.
• Everything in The Secret World is infused with story, and you'll see it continue in content updates and expansions.
• The team has "taken a multiplayer approach to the storytelling." This game isn't about The Chosen One, it's about an army of heroes.

Read the entire blog entry for Tornquist's detailed views on storytelling in The Secret World. Also, check out our overview of the GDC demo for more information on how the storyline plays a major part in the game.

Fantasy fans rejoice! Funcom announced today, April 1, that it is ditching The Secret World's modern say setting (who wants to play a game set in the real world?) and switching to a world full of forests and dragons. Funcom realizes that MMOs are based on subscription numbers, and the fantasy genre could always use more games. Senior Producer and Creative Director Ragnar Tørnquist explains the new direction:

"After several intense rounds of closed testing we have identified that people just love orcs and elves. Helicopters, assault rifles, government conspiracies and real-world monsters of myth and legend are simply no match for the sword-wielding knights of old. After much internal debate we have decided to move away from the modern-day setting and head in a pure, high-fantasy direction. I am particularly looking forward to playing my Illuminati night elf."

Also, remember Secret World's classless progression system? That's gone. Get ready to level to 50, with another 10 levels of content planned for an upcoming expansion. Sign me up!

If you want to reminisce about The Secret World's real world setting, check out our preview of the game from the Game Developers Conference.

Funcom has released the first newsletter for The Secret World, and it focuses on the new website, screenshots and videos that were released this month. It also includes a list of press previews from the Game Developers Conference, including our own first look at the live demo that was shown at the convention.

You can check out the generic newsletter online, which is sent to everyone who is not affiliated with a secret society. If you'd rather receive newsletters that branded for the the Illuminati, the Templars or the Dragon, take the initiation test on the game's official site. Choosing a secret society will also make you eligible to win beta access in the future.