[Column] WildStar: Learning from WildStar

SBFord

When it first launched, WildStar was met with a mix of praise and criticism from press and players alike.  Over time, Carbine Studios’ game has come under fire for a variety of issues, ranging from low server populations to deferred update schedules.  It’s quite possible that the phenomenal amount of hype for the game resulted in its initial acclaim, which tends to happen with large scale AAA titles.  It’s also not inconceivable that we gamers are a fickle bunch, and are a bit too quick to criticize a product that we praised when it was the new hotness.

Read more of Som Pourfarzaneh's Learning from WildStar.

Lord.Bachus

Soulless, played the game for a year and it felt like just a collection of things, the combat system also underperformed to my expectations.... 

OhhPaigey

I played the beta, and quit within a few days, poorly optimized, gimmicky combat, idk. Just a boring game lol.

Bladestrom

Soulless is actually how I would describe the game too, you got the sense that they started with an empty map then added content on top on every space they could find, content being 'exciting choices' every 5 steps.

mnemic666

The issue wasn't too much to do, the issue was that once you hit 50 that there was really only, "Get attuned and start hardcore raiding, cupcake." which turned a lot of folks off between the issues with grind in the attunement and the need to catherd 40 people (which lead to many top guilds calling it quits because the roster boss was harder than bosses in the game, and is thankfully being dropped to 20).

Cramit845

  I have to say that it just never grabbed me.  I played during open beta and I think I made it to level 4 or so before I logged off and uninstalled.  I will agree that at that time, it felt like there was way to much coming up on the screen information wise, completely agree with the reviewer on that.  Although in my case, it may just not have been a game for me. 

  Although now I'm back to wow for the moment enjoying WoD till AO comes out, but I am enjoying myself.  Which I find funny because I equate Wildstar to Wow just like the reviewer, so it surprised me that wow was ok but not Wildstar.  Like I said, it just never grabbed me, although I did find the combat to be more annoying than anything else, maybe that's it.  I hope it continues to get better, cause it really seems like the game got beat with the "bad stick" for a couple months there, time will tell but definitely some lessons for Carbine to learn with this title.

bcbully

too much to do? lol

Dragnelus

Worst mmo 2014 or archeage! Not sure.

Battlerock

Go through and scale the entire game for solo play and make the wworld's first ever, mmosrpg. Massive multiplayer online single player rpg - use a two companion system so trinity can remain in tact, - think dragon ages tactical view - then launch as f2p, allow Co op as well.

rodingo

The biggest thing I hope that is learned from Wildstar is how dull and overdone quest hubs are or questing that leads you to specific areas.   I guess we will see how EQNext does their level progression since they are one of the bigger upcoming AAA mmos.  Of course I'm still hoping I will find my next fix in games such as Elite: Dangerous or Star Citizen.

observer

I read more praise about it when it launched, then i did anything negative.  It was post-launch that people started criticizing the end-game hardmodes and attunements.

Uproar

I think they should learn not to ban a player within 5 hours of them having bought their game for doing nothing other than playing the game.  Then when they take 5 days to realize it was a mistake they should actually unban you rather than take another 10 days to actually do it.

Game sucked.  Staff sucked more.

 

DashiDMV

First mistake they made was having NCSoft be their publisher. It was all downhill from there.

IridescentJoe

This game shouldn't have been an MMO in the first place. The main storyline was poorly done. The blue vs red faction war wasn't believable. Another game to play and trash in 30 days and move on to the next.

Tykam123

I wont sit here and pretend the games awesome and everythings perfect, but they really are addressing everything. They are listening to the community. In terms of the gameplay, if you didnt like it, ya didnt like it. It just seems much more engaging then WoW, or swtor, or all those other 1-3 stand in one spot mmos. Idk if its lack of motivation to dodge stuff, or what. I just advise giving the game another go before you come on and trash it. The developers are working hard to fix the mistakes that were made. To see people come on and whine about a bumpy launch and dismiss the game from ever improving is really sad considering the team is making such an effort. I say give it another shot, if you dont like it, leave and then come complain again. But honestly. those butthurt from something about 6 months ago still, need to move on.

Kaladin

Originally posted by bcbully
too much to do? lol

Yes.

I'm a raider, and I still have tons to do in the game.  I made an alt because I enjoy having one of every role of the trinity, but I still have LOADS I could do on my first character.  And I play a lot more than most people.

 

The content is there, the point from the article is that if you don't like doing the other things in the game, the one thing you DO like, you will find lacking.  But for those that want to try out everything in the game.  It'll hold you down for quite some time.

 

I believe the game's biggest design flaw is waiting too long to begin the Eldan story.  It starts in the 30s, only REALLY gets going at the high 40s and at 50, and is the best selling point for immersion and is a very enjoyable story.  I've never been into the lore of a game, but Wildstar has me begging for more.  The end game delivery is unique and I think is very spectacular, particularly for solo players.

 

Alverant

It was the combat that turned me away. I thought it was fun at first then it became too much work and not enough fun. The challenges popping up when you least expected (or wanted) them was another big turn off. I only made it to the mid-30s before my guild dissolved and I left MMORPGs for the time being.

 

It's really a pity because I had so much fun in the beginning and I'm convinced the setting has so much potential. Unfortunately you can't fix my major problems without reworking combat completely and that's just too much to expect from a company.

Kaladin

Originally posted by Alverant

It was the combat that turned me away. I thought it was fun at first then it became too much work and not enough fun. The challenges popping up when you least expected (or wanted) them was another big turn off. I only made it to the mid-30s before my guild dissolved and I left MMORPGs for the time being.

 

It's really a pity because I had so much fun in the beginning and I'm convinced the setting has so much potential. Unfortunately you can't fix my major problems without reworking combat completely and that's just too much to expect from a company.

If the issue is something as core to the game as combat, then yeah, the game is just not meant for you.  Nothing wrong with that either, plenty of other games out there.

Bladestrom

@tykam ths problem is that they are aiming th game at a really odd demographic : likes space cowboy style, childish humour, but at the same time requires mature experienced organisation at end game. Really odd combo. Stick on top of that a style that requires you to stare at you feet and you have big problems I think. On top of all that is a world design that is basically constant 'stuff' every few yards, and bad game performance. On a positive, housing is excellent!

Albatroes

couldn't stand the combat

popezaphod

I tried the beta and wasn't sucked i . I think "soulless" is the right wor . There are bells and whistles but nothing underneat .

Kaladin

Originally posted by popezaphod
I tried the beta and wasn't sucked i . I think "soulless" is the right wor . There are bells and whistles but nothing underneat .

As I had mentioned previously.  the "soul" takes too long to get to.  It could be the major critical flaw.  The story isn't gripping until mid 30s.

lordoffiling

Bottom line, the game just bored the piss out of me. No aspect of it gripped me for even a minute. The combat was clunky, the quests were mindless, if it's not fun to play and the story isn't engaging then all you've got is a big wad of nothing. That's just all there is to it.

Arawulf

Yup, there is no question that the game has some glaring weaknesses: Mid-levels are too grindy and non-hardcore endgame isn't rewarding enough. Along with tons of bugs, poor optimization, and a PvP game that still is a WiP certainly caused many to look elsewhere. Mediocre sales, staff reduction and a publisher that is known for nuking non-profitable titles all multiply the concerns of many. I certainly can't blame some MMO players to write it off completely.

Yet, strangely- here I am, after playing Destiny, Rift: Nightmare Tide, WoW: WoD to max level I find myself returning to a new default game - WildStar. These days I'm simply playing without regard to reward or progression. I'm just looking for the fun and finding it everywhere. 

I'm glad to see Carbine re-focusing it's approach toward the lore and story. The Nexus narrative is the core of what the game is. Drop 4 includes tons of quality of life improvements and overall seems to be some huge steps in the right direction. While it's easy to shout, "I told you so" when it comes to the switch to 20 man raiding, I still believe that the game is good enough to last for the long haul. 

LoganKai

A previous poster called it soulless. That hits it best for me also. It has game features checked off a list titled "How to get the most funding for an MMO". Action combat? Check. Hardcore high their group content? Check. Player housing? Check.

For me, their biggest mistake was having white damage on an action game. Imagine a game where attacks are telegraphed by animation and not glowing floor shapes. Where a boss will attack the closest played with telegraphs only.

Distopia

Originally posted by rodingo
The biggest thing I hope that is learned from Wildstar is how dull and overdone quest hubs are or questing that leads you to specific areas.   I guess we will see how EQNext does their level progression since they are one of the bigger upcoming AAA mmos.  Of course I'm still hoping I will find my next fix in games such as Elite: Dangerous or Star Citizen.

Rather the lesson should be that much like AA, WIldstar is an example of questing done wrong from the ground up.. Questing is fine if it's handled well in both presentation and tasks, you just have to have other things of interest as well, which most tend to lack that extra incentive to play... an inherent problem with themeparks in general, most only offer something for extremely niche audiences once questing is said and done (PVP or raiding).

Questing isn't the problem, nor quest hubs.

Stale presentation, lore no one really cares about, themes few care about, tasks that offer little more than collect or kill with little reason or interest to be doing so.. etc.. That's what has got to go, hence why titles like TOR remain at least semi popular, people have a connection to the story(stories) and wish to see it through, that alone can make a huge difference.