[Wildstar] Wildstar impressions

[Jaerin]

So I heard about Wildstar while playing Neverwinter. I hadn't heard of Wildstar until someone mentioned it in global chat because of their discontent with something or another in Neverwinter. Being a NCSoft game I had some suspicion as to whether this would be very good, but whomever their video editors are should be commended. The demo videos they have released for the game are very well polished, funny, and captivating. They have some very sound principles of fun, rewarding gameplay, but only time will tell if they can deliver on those promises.

The first observation is that they are taking a page right from one of the more known psychological studies of gaming, The Bartle Test. This test essentially measures the priority that you set for different aspects of game play, specifically, Social, Explorer, Killer, or Achiever. Now you can have different levels of interest in each of these aspects of gaming, but at their core you will generally prefer certain ones more than others. Whether you are the intrepid adventurer that wants to find every nook and cranny and tell all your friends about it or the super competitive PVPer that loves destroying their foes.

In Wildstar, your character is made up of not only a "class", but also a "path". Unlike the class of your character your path determines more about what gameplay you would like to focus on in the game. Now they've stated that other paths will have opportunities to play the content, but selecting a certain path will unlock more access to that type. These paths are the Warrior, who specializes in killing, Scientist, who specializes in understand the lore of the world, the Explorer, who can find fun and secret paths throughout the world, and finally the Settler who will provide building and support to the world. Each aspect brings with it a different type of gameplay.

I recently had the opportunity to see some gameplay footage that many others did not get the opportunity and I would like to comment on that. The game is very much in beta and the outcome of the recent Stress test did reveal that the game is still very much being polished, but has very nice potential. The fluidity that the game seemed to have in movement and interaction with the world seemed very responsive and fun. Due to technical issues the combat aspects were very minimal and fraught with lag, but that is what they were looking to demonstrate. With that in mind, what I saw in game gives very high promise. If Carbine Studios can deliver on their promises this game very well could be the next big hit! I would definitely keep an eye on this one, Wildstar

[DrakeFish]

I want to add a few thoughts I had while looking through their current released info and their game client.

The developers really seem to be putting a lot of effort into this game. They are adding brand new concepts (at least new to me, who only played popular MMO's) like the paths system, and are claiming that they have a lot more to offer that they won't talk about yet. They apparently had a playable alpha two years ago as they were already showing off gameplay back then, and that means that they passed a lot of time polishing the game.

There is something else that really impressed me: their addons engine and designer. They programmed a very complete lua API that uses objects-oriented programming (classes). The best part of this addons engine is that they provide their own very complete addons designer called Houston instead of letting the community struggle at making their own. The fact that they put time and energy in such things shows me that they want their game to be as complete and user friendly as possible.

I see a lot of potential in this game, and I too think that it could be the next big thing if they succeed to deliver.

[Bsmunban]

From my first impressions it does seem rather impressive. One thing I've felt all these new MMO's from SWTOR to Aion haven't done to deliver is add some serious depth to the game, the basic grind or gather 10 of these quests really have become a drag and despite SWTOR's story line feeling rather epic, I personally felt it would have had much better success as a single player game. The way this game looks is fantastic, they seem to want to immerse the player in the environment which right now is looking pretty beautiful. Also, it seems they're actually making a direct effort to listen to the players feedback and implement changes that we want which most games fail to live up to.

One thing that has caught my eye though, is the player housing. It's one of those little perks that I really find enjoyable and to know that you actually gain benefits from it and it's not purely aesthetic is pretty awesome. It's likely those benefits would even go as far as a scientist being able to create laboratory's and I saw that warrior's could make training camps and other nifty things.

We shall have to see though. Whilst looking impressive, as DrakeFish said we'll have to see if they can deliver properly but it's definitely worth a try.

If anyone was interested, there was an interview/showcase of some parts of the game which is really cool at PAX East here: PAX East 2013 - WildStar Presentation - YouTube

[xfly01]

Also, if im not mistaken a few of this game's devs worked on WoW as well. Despite all the haters that sounds like a great background for a new mmo

[Mistysouls]

I really looking at fan sites and other places that this will be the WoW successor as it has same art style, the combate is the classic press '1' and do damage but the tele graphes etc makes it A LOT better, and seems more to do, WoW engine is just too old now.

[DaSoul]

Also, if im not mistaken a few of this game's devs worked on WoW as well. Despite all the haters that sounds like a great background for a new mmo

Actually Carbine Studios was founded by 100% ex-blizzard employees that all worked on classic wow.

[phyrex]

Actually Carbine Studios was founded by 100% ex-blizzard employees that all worked on classic wow.

Makes sense.. WildStar has a very similar look and feel. Which to me is a great thing! I havent played WoW in years, but I must say I had some great times in that game and this looks like a refreshing new storyline. I must say I love Carbine Studios humorous take on their Dev Speaks etc. after all, it's all about having fun! I'm genuinely excited for this game =)

[Mirabai]

Well it looks great but it has a limited action set. A MMO with just 7-8 spells?! I dont know - but it has to fail :/

[Mistysouls]

Well it looks great but it has a limited action set. A MMO with just 7-8 spells?! I dont know - but it has to fail :/

Well, that bight be better... as its easier to make sure everything is balanced for PvP.

& it has open addon support so... you can change all that and have more open slots... only thing that worries me is the pay model... i want it to be subscription based. as i can see them selling house parts fro 25$ +- and that crap

[Loftite]

a comic style does not mean it is like wow ... the art styles are actually different.