Layered onto this, however, is the secret history.
Funcom developer Joel Bylos has written a new blog about the process The Secret World team is working through when creating the game world players will inhabit. The team starts with identifying the purpose for any zone and moves on building the game flow through prototyping and production.
Because our locations exist in the real world, the history of a region is often already well established. Solomon Island, for example, has to adhere to the general history of Maine and the United States.
The writing team goes to work, digging through dusty online articles and reading by flickering LCD light to compile a comprehensive guide to the back story of an area.
Layered onto this, however, is the secret history. This is the history of an area as only a member of The Secret World can experience it; the footprints of the secret societies and their past conflicts; the truth behind the local myths and legends; the echoes of ancient magic and forgotten rituals.
Every Arcane Formula will require three Reagents as ingredients.
Long ago, so long ago that even the gods don't quite remember it, ancient scribes found a way to tap into the primal power of language itself. To name an object, after all, is to define it; to create a language is to create a world. They created a language so dangerous that no one scribe was allowed to learn more than half a dozen words in it, and together, teams of scribes sat down carefully arranges runes. Today, only a select few know how to interpret these Arcane Formulae. These few are Enchanters, the last of a vanishing rare breed.
When you find an Arcane Formula, whether it's sewn into the shirt of a dead monster or towards the bottom of some dusty treasure chest, bring it to the closest Enchanter to learn what you've found. Each Arcane Formula teaches the user how to manufacture one of the rarest and most powerful magical items in the world: An Artifact.
Every Arcane Formula will require three Reagents as ingredients. These Reagents may be completed Relics, Scrolls, Monster Charms, or even other Artifacts. When you find three Reagents, bring them and a sizeable quantity of gold to an Enchanter, and he'll bring the Arcane Formula to fruition.