When talking about The Secret World, one topic that can’t help but come up is the contemporary setting. As far as MMOs go, TSW pretty well corners the market on having a modern-day, real-world environment — which is awesome! It’s definitely a plus in many ways, from immersion to relatability. However, there is more to it than just feeling like you can fit in the world: There’s also actually becoming a part of the world. And since TSW can already seriously blur the lines between reality and game, making players a permanent part of it is not a stretch.

In a way that few others could emulate, Funcom has found seamless ways to give players ways to make their mark on the game, to naturally incorporate them into the world. Back in 2013, this started with a musical contest that brought the winners’ compositions to the in-game airwaves; to this day players wandering into Kingsmouth’s The Ravens Knock and Susie’s Diner, Seoul’s PC Bang, and London’s The Crusades nightclub (just to name a few) will hear these melodies piped out of radios. Later that year was the introduction of a clothing design contest to introduce new fashions into the mix. More recently, players were able to enter a contest to craft the 2015 August item of the month. Beyond this, you can find plaques and banners emblazoned with player and cabal names, and there are even fashion magazines — with players characters as the models — to peruse scattered in certain establishments in New York and Seoul.

And now, there’s the new monster t-shirt design contest.

The contest

What is the new contest? It’s a way for artists to get their designs front and center (literally on the chests of players) in The Secret World. Who hasn’t had an idea of a T-shirt or two they’d love to see in game? I still think I deserve a “I survived a dev tour” T-shirt! This contest is specifically about monsters, however, so unless I am going to call the devs monsters, I am out of luck. But with so many inspirations in game about all our myths, legends, and lore, there are ample specimens to use.

The contest started on May 9th, and entries will be accepted until 2:59 a.m. EDT on May 23rd. Players will submit their artwork by uploading their file to a file sharing service of their choice, then send an email with their name, address, and the link to the file to contest@funcom.com. The following statement must also be included in the email:

“I certify the work submitted is my own original creation and does not infringe on any 3rd party rights. By submitting my work, I freely transfer all rights to the art to Funcom Oslo AS. I understand that my work may or may not be used in the game and that my sole compensation will be limited to an in game virtual prize valued at $2 USD“.

A complete run-down of all the rules and requirements can be found on the official site, but here are a couple of important points. One, the monster design must only have one monster family represented, so you can’t put ak’ab, vampires, and the Filth-infected together. Additionally, while the contest is open internationally, those who reside in Cuba, Iran, New Jersey, North Korea, the Province of Quebec, Sudan, Syria or Vermont are not eligible to enter. Don’t blame Funcom: This happens when laws of areas do not allow this type of contest. All entrants also must have reached the age of majority for their jurisdiction, so it’s basically an adults only-kind of thing. That said, offensive, obscene, pornographic, or inappropriate stuff is not OK and will be disqualified. Devs will be the judges of what falls in those categories, and will judge the contest as well. Winners, who will receive a complimentary in-game shirt of their design in a color of their choice, will be announced on or around May 26th.

New feature?

In the midst of this contest is the announcement of “our latest feature,” an “as-of-yet unannounced feature!” Ummm…. OK. New content? Yes, please! Now the question is, what is it? Here’s what we know: These shirts will be used as a reward for this feature. Yah, not much to go on, huh? So, let the speculation begin!

I think this reward would fit well building on an existing feature. You know how you get an achievement announcement when you kill a certain number of specific critters? That little ding at five, 25, and whatever? Well, this T-shirt could be a reward for hitting an giant milestone.

This would fit in pretty spectacularly with The League of Monster Slayers, no? After dispatching a certain number, you get bragging rights and your name added to a book or score card in the tree house. The Chronicle already keeps track of how many kills you have of each creature, so this shouldn’t be too hard to implement. Or maybe the league can sponsor week-long contests to see who can kill the most of each monster family, and various winners earn the T-shirts. Better yet, anyone who earns over a certain threshold for that week earns one for the corresponding monster!

One fan has suggested that this new feature could be related to a bestiary, which could also fit into this idea well. We have no idea how a bestiary would work in TSW, but I’d love to see an actual in-game tome like the Spooky Stories book, reminiscent of Warhammer’s Tome of Knowledge (man the MMOverse needs more of that!). This book would add/unlock pages the more you learn about certain creatures, and you could flip through and read up on your findings. Once you’ve learned a certain amount — be it through killing, or maybe having to sneak close and study it a la EverQuest II’s creature cataloging feature, or even finding books and lore and reading up on it — you earn the T-shirt of it as an achievement.

These are just a couple of ideas. What do you think this new feature could be, or what would you like it to be? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below!

Is it real? In The Secret World, rarely is it not. Conspiracies, ancient legends, paranoia, secret societies, chaos — they all swirl together in a cacophony of reality. In Chaos Theory, MJ Guthrie infiltrates this secret world, exposing the truths that lurk beneath the surface. The big question is, can you handle the truth?