If people flock to this game just because of the cost,then it really says a lot about gamer's in general.
If the game is not good enough to play as a sub,it is not good enough under any circumstances.
It is like someone hands you a rotten apple,you take a bite and say yuck.Then buddy says oh but wait,you don't have to pay for it ,i'll give it to you for free,oh yeah now that rotten apple sure tastes good..../not.
I don't mean to offend, but I don't really think that your analogy is apt in this case.
The reason for that is WildStar has changed since launch. It has changed in significant ways. We will need to see whether many people find those changes to be better now with f2p or not.
However, your apple has not changed except for the fact that it would have gotten more rotten.
I think WS had a lot of good qualities and would have been funner if more people were playing. If more people play and stay, WS will be one of the best f2ps on the market. Depending on the CS, too, of course.
Except they are late, again, to the party. Whether Wildstar has improved may well become a moot point, its trying to compete in a market where games like GW2, ESO, and SW;TOR have already achieved a great deal, is Wildstar good enough to compete with them, i think most will probably say it isnt.
Did not like the game with sub, and FTP will not change that at all. Still a pass no matter what they do.
While I could agree with you under normal circumstances. In Wildstars favor here is that they have changed the game since its launch. It's did about a 180 in regards to the fact that it is not just a hardcore focused game anymore. The entry to raiding has been simplified by a massive amount. They have started to focus more on other things then just raiding like they where at the start.
I think the real thing is it depends on why someone left if rather it being ftp or not will change there minds. If someone left because of the raiding / hardcore focused before then going ftp could change that. If it was the combat then I doubt even going ftp will change it for you.
What were these problems exactly? I never saw too much of an issue with the game. Well, I can't judge too much. I only beta tested it for a short time.
You know how communitys work. Everytime theres someone who lacks information. thats not a problem in this case. but sometimes some people not only lack informations, but they defend the game in their ignorance fiercly. thats why i saved this link. wildstar was a huge train wreck. i knew during open beta that it wasnt finished.
If the game still needs addons to fix all the bugs and they keep up the management style that made people who reserved their names lose them, and did nothing for RP players, then I'd say no it's won't do well.
I think a lot of people are going to be disappointed after it goes live next week for drop 6. I played it the last two weeks on pts and I've already wished I would of saved the money. The Stat revamp doesn't change the slow pace of combat and the experience from questing is still atrocious. It still takes you beating on a regular mob past the starting zones like 10 or more hits on most classes to kill. It's still snail pace action combat and slow gains that I imagine majority of players will never hit end game. By level 23 I'm so bored I just stopped logging in.
Last I read about it is that the game was catered to the hardcore crowd
but when it released the hardcore crowd wasn't as big as they thought
and they scared off most of the more casual players.
I believe that Carbine totally misread the gaming landscape while making
this game. They didn't understand that the people who loved the
hardcore MMORPG's from the past like UO, EQ and even Vanilla WoW to some
extent have all grown up, had kids, have jobs and don't really have
time for 40 man raids and a long grindy "keying" process just to get in
those raids.
Pretty much this, with the addition of those few who are stayed on the market with their former mindset and working as a vocal minority probably the reason behind Carbine's choice of: let's make one for all those hardcore folks out there, sure they're legion with all that noise and nostalgic threads about camping 6 hours for a spawn and such
How well will WS fare? For me personally, moderately, after the announcement I've said I'll go back for some housing, but then I played a month checking the changes, now I'm more like ""back for housing, and occasionally for some play too" It won't be one of my regular games, but it's ok.
More important I guess, how well the overall reception will be. Who left from the former players because of "not worths the monthly fee", that fee is gone, so they can come back. Who left because of the hardcore, the massive grind and such, some of them may return, there were a couple changes, but most of that is still there. I think what will make or break it, the newcomers. I think Carbine feels the same, most changes are happened in the new player experience part. It's a fairly smooth ride now, and fun (jumping puzzles with double jump+leap ). Already praised the Protogames earlier, that's a cool addition for explaining and teaching mechanics. I think it's much better to have good group play in game with a later added explanation, than go the other way around *coughw2*cough with saying, heck nobody is for group coordination nowadays, let's just build mindless zerging instead. WS has a few fun dungeons, cannot compete with AoC's ones (at least for me), but still fun.
So, my bet it has a decent chance to "do well" as the title asks. F2p model is friendly, housing is one of the best currently out there, and the gameplay is a pretty unique mix of old-fashioned mechanics (questing, character building, crafting and dungeons) and newer ones (action-esque combat, challenges, Path system).
First problem: getting the message out. They have already said that going b2p wasn't an option since the "brand" wasn't well enough; going f2p helps with this but only so much. Will NCSoft spend lots on advertising?
Then the test: was it the sub; was it the game or a combination of both. The hope - obviously - is that it was the sub. Not so sure. Be interesting to see
And then the problem: having abandoned the sub and decided b2p wasn't an option will it make "enough" money. Will it recover any new advertising costs? Will it cover basic costs - f2p CoH didn't we were told. And remember it is not just about covering costs but making a profit as well.
And the follow on problem: will people stick around. Accounts created is one thing; players another.
Will be interesting to see if we get any "infographics". The real test though will be the financial results. It has a chance but doubt the shift to f2p will save it; it will need time to establish communities and I doubt it will get enough time.
I played it a bit and it wasn't really anything I felt was ground breaking.
The question really comes down to why would I play this game over something like GW2 or Blade & Soul ?
I'll be playing fallout 4 soon . Couple of other games coming out as well.
Shadows of Mordor went on special and that is a ton of fun. Plus I bought Prison Architect and a few others . Suffice to say I don't have time to play Wildstar which feels grindy to me.
Im sure alot of others are thinking the same as me. If WS was good I wouldve paid for it . It's not about the money it's about having the time.
I don't feel it will last. The problems that made the game unfun are still going to be present. F2P will mean that you'll have more people rotating through, but I'd be surprised if more than a handful actually kept with it. Wildstar is actually about the only game I've ever had regrets purchasing.
What were these problems exactly? I never saw too much of an issue with the game. Well, I can't judge too much. I only beta tested it for a short time.
Last I read about it is that the game was catered to the hardcore crowd but when it released the hardcore crowd wasn't as big as they thought and they scared off most of the more casual players. Not sure if there have been any other issues pop up since I haven't really been following it but will give it a try once f2p hits
I believe that Carbine totally misread the gaming landscape while making this game. They didn't understand that the people who loved the hardcore MMORPG's from the past like UO, EQ and even Vanilla WoW to some extent have all grown up, had kids, have jobs and don't really have time for 40 man raids and a long grindy "keying" process just to get in those raids.
It's a completely different crop of kids these days. They are saturated and inundated with hundreds more titles on the market. Picking a game and sticking with it for a long time is "lame" and "boring". Doubly so if the game has a long grind before the player can even get into the "end game".
I've heard they back-tracked on a lot of this stuff and have reduced the "keying" grind and even reduced the player size for raiding which should probably help. I think it will survive for a while after going F2P, but I also think that the ship sailed for it becoming wildly popular. Most kids will only give a game one shot and move on forever.
I completely agree with you about the new gamer "kids" nowadays and how much different the online community was 12-15 years ago. This is the main reason I always laugh when I see someone yelling at the top of their lungs that games like Pantheon are going to be the next big thing. The majority of gamers today will not put up with what we put up with 15 years ago.
It's very hard to say what makes a game a hit. Sometimes you play a game and absolutely dislike it but it turns out others love it. We cannot decide what is fun for others and I think a space MMORPG was a super good idea. I also loved the art style that Wildstar employed much to the chagrin of others as evidenced but constant complaints of its cartoony look and ugly characters.
I cannot answer your question OP because I liked how the game looked and I enjoyed the humour and I loved the little things you could observe someone must have spent time and effort creating only to be glossed over by people who do not look,read or observe and then dismiss the game as shallow.
I think we are game weary. So many games in the market now that games lose their chance to be given a fair shake and the problems plaguing this game did not help it one bit either. I disliked one thing the combat was something I personally disliked but everything else clicked with me.
I wish this game my absolute best and hopes it succeeds.
Comments
I think the real thing is it depends on why someone left if rather it being ftp or not will change there minds. If someone left because of the raiding / hardcore focused before then going ftp could change that. If it was the combat then I doubt even going ftp will change it for you.
enjoy: (cheetoh is a known raider)
https://www.reddit.com/r/WildStar/comments/380uby/what_happened_to_the_game_early_onwhy_isnt_it_an/crrg3k6
Pretty much this, with the addition of those few who are stayed on the market with their former mindset and working as a vocal minority
How well will WS fare? For me personally, moderately, after the announcement I've said I'll go back for some housing, but then I played a month checking the changes, now I'm more like ""back for housing, and occasionally for some play too"
More important I guess, how well the overall reception will be. Who left from the former players because of "not worths the monthly fee", that fee is gone, so they can come back. Who left because of the hardcore, the massive grind and such, some of them may return, there were a couple changes, but most of that is still there.
I think what will make or break it, the newcomers. I think Carbine feels the same, most changes are happened in the new player experience part. It's a fairly smooth ride now, and fun (jumping puzzles with double jump+leap
Already praised the Protogames earlier, that's a cool addition for explaining and teaching mechanics. I think it's much better to have good group play in game with a later added explanation, than go the other way around *coughw2*cough with saying, heck nobody is for group coordination nowadays, let's just build mindless zerging instead. WS has a few fun dungeons, cannot compete with AoC's ones (at least for me), but still fun.
So, my bet it has a decent chance to "do well" as the title asks. F2p model is friendly, housing is one of the best currently out there, and the gameplay is a pretty unique mix of old-fashioned mechanics (questing, character building, crafting and dungeons) and newer ones (action-esque combat, challenges, Path system).
Then the test: was it the sub; was it the game or a combination of both. The hope - obviously - is that it was the sub. Not so sure. Be interesting to see
And then the problem: having abandoned the sub and decided b2p wasn't an option will it make "enough" money. Will it recover any new advertising costs? Will it cover basic costs - f2p CoH didn't we were told. And remember it is not just about covering costs but making a profit as well.
And the follow on problem: will people stick around. Accounts created is one thing; players another.
Will be interesting to see if we get any "infographics". The real test though will be the financial results. It has a chance but doubt the shift to f2p will save it; it will need time to establish communities and I doubt it will get enough time.
I played it a bit and it wasn't really anything I felt was ground breaking.
The question really comes down to why would I play this game over something like GW2 or
Blade & Soul ?
I'll be playing fallout 4 soon . Couple of other games coming out as well.
Shadows of Mordor went on special and that is a ton of fun.
Plus I bought Prison Architect and a few others . Suffice to say I don't have time to play Wildstar which feels grindy to me.
Im sure alot of others are thinking the same as me. If WS was good I wouldve paid for it . It's not about the money it's about having the time.
I cannot answer your question OP because I liked how the game looked and I enjoyed the humour and I loved the little things you could observe someone must have spent time and effort creating only to be glossed over by people who do not look,read or observe and then dismiss the game as shallow.
I think we are game weary. So many games in the market now that games lose their chance to be given a fair shake and the problems plaguing this game did not help it one bit either. I disliked one thing the combat was something I personally disliked but everything else clicked with me.
I wish this game my absolute best and hopes it succeeds.