This was an announcement I was waiting for - The Secret World pre-order info!

For pre-ordering The Secret World you get special pets, an in-game shirt item, and an item that boosts experience. But that's not it - you also get access to Beta Weekends, which is what the devs are calling special windows for pre-order players. They say they're doing it to keep rewarding those who have earned the right to be in the ongoing beta (which makes sense). But probably the nicest thing is how they're giving those with pre-orders early access to the game, enough time for them to reserve a hotly contested name (like "Mirai", for example).

We already had a preview and a breakdown of how advancing will work in The Secret World, but now the lead designer of the game tells us all about it. And I mean he tells us all of it. 

There's not much I can say that I didn't say when MMORPG.com had their exclusive preview, but greater detail is gone into. Passive and active abilities and how they work with gear, how you can build your character, specific skills you can invest into, power progression in the game, and the like. It's all fascinating, and that's primarily because the custom-kit character you can assemble is starting to sound like Star Wars Galaxies done extremely right. And man, would I love to play that.

There's a huge and expansive breakdown for anyone interested in The Secret World - and man, why aren't you interested in The Secret World - over at MMORPG.com, explaining the freeform progression system in The Secret World. 

For the most part, it looks like a weird fusion of the original system from Star Wars Galaxies combined with World of Warcraft. The former is due to the wide array of abilities you can put points into, separated into categories such as Pistols or Blades, and how you gain experience with them based on use. The latter, however, feels like how you can swap specializations to fit your party's needs in World of Warcraft.

For the complete breakdown, plus more on how you gain experience and skill points, head past the hotlink!

Hot damn! The highly anticipated MMO The Secret World - a crazy and fascinating blend of modern-day visuals, Lovecraft, ancient mythologies, and magic - had a presentation at Game Developer's Conference 2012. Up until now, this was all left under wraps, but Funcom finally put it on Youtube in its entirety. And it's a real blast to watch.

The entire video is a real treat, but I am absolutely in love with the way they built the hub cities - just a small peek at the city in Seoul, South Korea is fascinating. The way he talks about it and builds it, it looks more like Troika Games' masterwork Vampire: the Masquerade: Bloodlines, with the dense urban environment and multiple important locales. And Joel Bylos, speaking at the time, says that was on purpose.

Funcom's team at GDC covers everything - storytelling, backstory, world building, hub cities, items, experience, hacking, monsters, leveling up (as there are no 'levels' and relies on skills'), combat, and the like. Even if you aren't excited for the Secret World - and I don't know why you wouldn't be - you should watch this video.

Be sure to check out ZAM's hands-on preview with The Secret World from last week!

Two weeks ago, I went up to Montreal for a second exclusive hands-on preview of Funcom's The Secret World. In comparison to my first visit, this event was more about getting more in-depth with the game to see its inner mechanics at work. Of course, this also meant that I needed to step up the depth of my interview questions, so when I sat down with Lead Designer Martin Bruusgaard, I knew this was my opportunity to get as many discussions going as humanly possible. What follows is an extensive in-depth interview on some of The Secret World's inner mechanics, including a run-down on crafting, TSW's international server architecture, persistent warzone PvP, and PvP rewards. It's a bit of a lengthy read, but trust me when I say it's packed full of information! Onward!

A week ago, I flew to the Funcom Studios in Montreal to get my second dose of hands-on time with The Secret World. Initially, the press embargo was set to drop on Tuesday, but Funcom pushed it back to today, so I've had time to marinate in my experiences for over a week. At this point, if you haven't heard much about The Secret World, I'd like to refer you to my first hands-on preview with The Secret World, as this month's event was all about delving deeper than ever before.

So let's get started.

The Secret World just got a little less... secret! Funcom announced today that its highly anticipated MMO will launch on June 19th, 2012. This might come as a blow for some, as we were previously expecting this game in April, however, it's important to note that Funcom delayed the launch to invest in more development time and polish before it was released.

Creative Director and Senior Producer Ragnar Tørnquist said, "The additional time will also allow us to carry out even more quality beta testing, and soon we will also be announcing several public beta events where hundreds of thousands of gamers will get to test the game prior to launch." So while we may have to wait a little longer for the actual release of the game, it seems there will be a lot more opportunities for players to get access to the beta.

The Secret World's approach to ability choice and character creation can be a daunting task for some when trying to build an effective class. With five hundred plus abilities that can be taken in any combination to create a customized character all your own, starting with a good "base" can be a great first step for beginners. 

With that in mind, Funcom has posted a dev diary at MMORPG.com and put together a few decks for players in the hope that they use them for inspiration to create their own custom classes. The Witch Hunter focuses on big damage hits for the Templars, the Warlord embraces the art of sword fighting for the Dragon faction, and the Thaumaturgist is a gunmage that bends science to invoke demons and turrets for the Illuminati.

In the end, however, the way the player adapts, changes, and customizes their class is a major selling point of the game, but thanks to Funcom's pre-built starter decks, at least you won't be starting from scratch.

Say whatever you want about The Secret World (mostly good things), but Funcom sure puts together cool trailers. Today's video offering comes a Blue Mountain location reveal, courtesy of Gamespot. It's creepy, it's got plenty of atmosphere, and boy does it make me want to play the game. Is it just me, or does everyone see that Asian girl in the short shorts everywhere? Regardless, check out the chilling trailer below!

Last week was Illuminati Week, and that means the gang over at The Secret World got to end the week by hosting a big Illuminati-themed Q&A session on Facebook. Most of the questions and answers are fairly tame, but for those of you excited about joining the Illuminati, consider popping by to take a look.

At least you get to read Joel Bylos, Lead Content Designer for The Secret World noting that we need to "keep in mind that the world has recently gone batshit."