The Secret World is now free to play

Well, sort of.

Although the monthly subscription fee required to play doesn't exist, money still has to come from somewhere and there are a few things you should know. First, you now have to purchase the game client like you would a non-MMO retail product.

Second, like SWTOR, the subscription has been converted to membership plans available in 1-month, 3-month, 6-month and Annual flavours, and even a Lifetime option (where players become Grandmasters) that give you perks instead of limiting one's access.

All memberships give you:

• A “Time Accelerator” that doubles XP gain for an hour, with a 16hr cool-down (Members and Grandmasters only)
• $10 worth of bonus points to use in the in-game store, provided every month (each $10 stipend is valid for 6-month periods)
• An “Item of the month” gift, provided every month.
• A 10% discount for Members to almost all gear in the in-game store

But for Grandmasters, they get a 20% in-game store discount.

Third, whilst not all updates must be paid for, certain major DLC packs called “Issues” will need to be; however, the monthly points can be exchanged for these. Grandmasters can apply the store discount they receive to this DLC as well, whereas other paid Members cannot.

If the game is purchased and registered before Dec 31st, players will receive the Initiate Pack (including extra social clothing, a pet and stronger starter weapons) and Issue #5 releasing later this month for free. There is also a 30% discount through December on 3, 6 or 12-month membership plans…

So what’s the best part? Unlike SWTOR's tremendous leash on F2P players, there are NO restrictions on any of The Secret World's existing content, even if you don't purchase a membership.

 

I think if there ever was a division, some of the Officers would scream at us if it wasn't with the Templars... after all, Dragonwolves do like their red

I can understand that after briefly reviewing the "character decks" for the faction, though I haven't looked at the others yet.

 

Let's be honest; there are few sites out there who truly understand what TSW going free actually means - here are reactions from IGN and Gamespot...

The rest of them can be found here.