The Secret World Has Petered Out

Guild Wars 2 launched at the ideal time.  The most recent MMO release was The Secret World, and Pandaria was a bit off.  The population of Secret World has steadily declined, and developers have commented that they are prepared for a Free-to-Play transition:

"...we definitely have the tools to turn The Secret World into a free-to-play game -- or even hybrid -- should we decide to do that somewhere down the line."

I love the depth in the Secret World, but I've been playing Guild Wars. What elements other than Guild Wars contributed to TSW's decline, and how can they right the ship?


1. Quest Pacing
Problem: MMO players consume content at a much more rapid rate than the average gamer. We're used to a grind, so we gobble it up. We skip cutscenes, ignore flavor, cut corners, move out of zones as quickly as possible, and maximize our individual progress. It's impossible to create quests faster than we'll exhaust them. The developers referred to MMO locusts prior to launch, and to some degree, I feel their description is apt. In the six weeks between the launch of TSW and Guild Wars 2, I had played through most quests, and become entirely bored with the twice-weekly repetition of quests. I started skipping every cutscene and following guide sites, and had been doing literally the same content loop for weeks. So much of TSW's development is tied up in voice acting and cutscene development, leaving much of what Funcom wanted us to see ignored in favor of progression.
Solution: Funcom needs to step away from their fully-voice-acted full-cutscene development and focus on creating quests -- quests that aren't puzzles, but rather quests that are more traditional MMO quests. The only way to keep players from ignoring the beauty of TSW is to provide more traditional MMO experiences on the side. Give me a text from Ms. Geary dispatching me to track an informant, or kill a rival. Add in a few dozen endgame "busy-work" missions to slow down player progression at the high end of the game.
2. Repetition
Problem: Similar to the pace we've devoured content, the holding pattern using end-game quests has lost its magic. The quests are no longer novel or intriguing -- they have been reduced to a grind, in the same way that the endgame of other games is a grind.
Solution: The Secret World needs repetitive quests for the players that are repeating content. Quests that rotate and aren't the same set of quests every few days, but are from a set of quests similar to end-tier dailies in World of Warcraft. The quests shouldn't be voiced or have cutscenes, similar to the "busy-work" missions that I suggested before.
3. Roleplay
Problem: Secret World launched with a huge potential for roleplay. It brought players into a world of intrigue and deception, and then proceeded to not have a working chat system for the first month after release. Players did not bother subscribing after their free month, leaving the roleplay venues completely empty. Two major MMO releases (Guild Wars 2, Mists of Pandaria) later,
Solution: While they lost a huge player base, they're not down for the count. Free-to-play would be a wonderful opportunity to rekindle this community -- even if it was only Free-to-play in the capital cities. Live events would help, in the vein of the Matrix Online -- give people a reason to fight for, and they'll take it. Give us weekly objectives or competitions outside of the standard quests. Give us something to talk about. We will. Have Miss Geary go out for a spin once in a while, or send Dragon operatives into London on a mission to sew chaos. Have the Illuminati start cracking down on Dragon. Give us a reason to talk. Give us a reason to distrust each other. Give us a reason to come back.
4. Meaningful Progress
Problem: At this point, we have nothing to push for. We got end-tier armor faster than we reached end tier. Sure, there are Nightmare modes, and the raid, but they're out of reach of the average player.
Solution: Live events. Have us run into Egypt to secure data for our faction and discover unique information about the nature of Orochi. Have us run to Innsmouth to discover a clue the Phoenicians left behind. Give us something to provide the flavor to your major content releases. Something more than your missions -- collection, extermination -- something repetitive.
5. Pricing Scheme
Problem: As much as I hate to say it, Secret World is struggling partially because it costs. Players can't come and go as they please, exploring content and then waiting for the next wave of content to be released. This is a game that thrives with more people playing it. Don't do yourself a disservice by alienating the populace.
Solution: Have a tiered subscription model. Don't pay at all? You can still hang out in London, and quest in Innsmouth. Buy the box, get everything available at launch, as well as repetitive missions. Pay a sub, get the auxiliary weapon, get the dungeons and raids, get "issue" content. Pay for clothes. The largest asset an MMO has is the player base. Do everything you can to bring them through the door.