Anyone else looking forward to Wildstar?

[AyashiKaibutsu]

A while ago one of my friends went on a rant about how WoW and MMOS like WoW are "done" and the formula has been dead-horse'd to the point of no more. I thought he was crazy but he's pretty much spot-on: Wildstar does the formula better than any other MMO out there besides wow, if not perfect. That being said, it's still a B-rate game that will end up being just a small speck in the MMO market.

Bottom line is MMOs arent changing fast enough and its showing in the stagnation. MMOs don't want to risk moving from the WoW-style game design and thus end up being below WoW. I see more growth in the "make FPS games more like MMOs" market than the "Make MMOs less like WoW" market.

Yea, I've let myself get a little excited, but more than likely it's just the next MMO that steeply declines. Just seems like they're trying really hard to bring back that sense of achievement while still leaving a place for casuals sit back and have fun. So I think if anyone has a chance of rekindling MMOs it'd be Wildstar although even I'm skeptical. I think if it is successful though it might have a slow start and then a steady growth; it doesn't seem to have the following it deserves.

 

[Aikouka]

I think what makes it hard to play right now is that I need a "What's different about Wildstar" guide. Wildstar may be "WoW-ish", but it tries to do some things differently enough that it's a little awkward at first. For example, I talked about crafting earlier, which is very simplified in WoW. However, in Wildstar, you have to add in extra items that boost the stats, and you can adjust the effect, which changes the chance of success. For example, if I boost it up really high, I will have a 0% chance of creating the item. I normally just boosted it up so I had about 91%.

 

[HumblePie]

Ugh, that term WoW clone is so stupid.

Nothing is a clone of WoW as WoW isn't a genre defining game. Never was, and never will be. It is a very popular representative of MMORPGs, but it does not define the genre at all. Nor was it the first.

RPG games is really a bad name as well. It is more a misnomer as there isn't a "role" being played since it really should be defined as PPG or Play Progression Game is more accurate term. Long before these games were online, they were single player. WoW doesn't do anything different than the old single player PPG of the past. The only reason these games are called "role" playing games is because they are the electronic derivatives of the original Dungeon and Dragons pen and paper games. Where players played characters that not only "Progressed" in character development that was represented by stat numbers, but those players played roles in the story line of their character. The games were pure imagination within some limited structured guidelines. Video games can never reproduce anything remotely like pen & paper RPGs. So to call them RPGs has always been stupid.

But WoW wasn't even the first incarnation of online versions of PPGs. Hell, if the developers of EQ weren't so retarded with their "punishing the player" bullshit mechanics in their game WoW would never have been as popular as it was.

All WoW did was remove the stupid punishment mechanics other games before it tried to have. As well as add in a bit more story woven into the basic quest building block types. Nothing innovative, nothing genre defining, and nothing to be the comparison standard of.

No other game in this genre will ever be "innovative" because it must fit into the genre.

 

[ginfest]

I have a spare beta key for the European server if anyone wants it. First PM gets it. Beta weekend is Friday 4/25 to Sunday 4/27-not sure after that

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

They said they're sending out keys to everyone who ever applied next beta. It's going to be a stress test.

 

[Rinaun]

They said they're sending out keys to everyone who ever applied next beta. It's going to be a stress test.

It's a shame, too. Weekend stress tests turn me off so immensely. I'm not downloading the game to test it for two days.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

It's a shame, too. Weekend stress tests turn me off so immensely. I'm not downloading the game to test it for two days.

Yea, it likely isn't going to be fun but I appreciate them trying to figure out at least some of the launch problems before launch.

 

[smackababy]

It's a shame, too. Weekend stress tests turn me off so immensely. I'm not downloading the game to test it for two days.

Yeah! I'm entitled to something other than what is being offered free of charge to help make a game I might play a better experience at launch!

 

[Mandres]

I've played it the past couple of beta weekends and overall I find it pretty boring and uninspired. I've had more than enough of the WoW-clone style games. After Aion, TERA, SWTOR, etc etc this one just doesn't bring anything new and exciting enough for me to get hooked on or pay a subscription for.

It's competent in what it tries to do. The combat is fluid and somewhat novel. There aren't any huge gaping flaws in the game. It's just ... meh .. more of the same. At least the Korean MMOs have beautiful graphics and design. This one looks a whole lot like WoW graphically, and it tries way too hard to be funny. I think it's about 5 years too late.

 

[Renob]

Wildstar looks great... bit skeptical that 40man raiding will work.

looks like a good game and dang I hope the 40 mans work out so miss that when they removed it from WoW that was the most fun I have had playing WoW BTW have not played a mmo in years lol two kids are the new time sink

 

[Rinaun]

Yeah! I'm entitled to something other than what is being offered free of charge to help make a game I might play a better experience at launch!

Or they could have sent me a proper time slot to test. Two days is a massive amount of time to you? I thank them for the offer but I'm not their free lead weight to hang on their server when needed. This game isn't the release of the century anyways, I'm not sure why they would pull a crappy 2 day beta event like this. Give testers a week or something, FFS. Again, Two days? There isn't much you are going to get done in 2 days so that to me signals the developer feels they don't have enough content but they need people to make sure the server will be stable upon release. That's what 2 day beta tests signal to me.


P.S. I'm not entitled to shit, but I'm also not going to be their unpaid tester (hence I deleted the email and moved on). I'm pretty sure in the past I got paid for that exact level of testing for games, but in the gaming industry for MMOs the developer now hypes up the game before release and gets free testing through events like these.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

There's going to be more beta weekends and an open beta besides this keep in mind.

 

[Aikouka]

I'm pretty sure in the past I got paid for that exact level of testing for games, but in the gaming industry for MMOs the developer now hypes up the game before release and gets free testing through events like these.

Umm... why would they pay you? They expect nothing out of you. You're not even required to submit anything as being part of the test! This is just a mass, informal, voluntary test.

 

[Rinaun]

Umm... why would they pay you? They expect nothing out of you. You're not even required to submit anything as being part of the test! This is just a mass, informal, voluntary test.

Exactly, which is why I threw away the email. I'm not sure what there is you guys aren't getting.....let me break it down:


Person is interested in game. Said person signs up for the beta test. He wants the game to be successful and grow. He watches streams and also watches people sell keys for profit. This person might even surf the forums and post on them in sheer excitement over this game. Months go by, no invite. Get random email months later that says "you are invited with everyone else who wanted to play ever, but only for two days during a lag-fest". Person has (hopefully) played MMOs before, knows the two days will be filled with thousands of players on-screen doing stupid things, person also has work/obligations.

So lets do the math, you are gaining what again for your hours spent testing their game? The opportunity to play a game that they are trying to make you pay monthly for? I don't know, maybe for you guys it works but for me I find it pretty horrid and that's why I don't participate in stress tests like this one. It's an insult in my eyes to the players who actually wanted to try wildstar and make it better than competitors. During a stress test, I'm not a customer....I'm just some character doing load tests for them and work out bugs, while on their time restrictions.

There's going to be more beta weekends and an open beta besides this keep in mind.

Are they not going to delete data when they go open beta? I know several MMOs did that, just to make sure the beginning was super-polished. It makes me a bit happier hearing that it won't just be a few stress tests. I just hate the fact that new MMOs don't have open beta tests but have stress test weekends. That's pretty much what the open beta is for.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Exactly, which is why I threw away the email. I'm not sure what there is you guys aren't getting.....let me break it down:


Person is interested in game. Said person signs up for the beta test. He wants the game to be successful and grow. He watches streams and also watches people sell keys for profit. This person might even surf the forums and post on them in sheer excitement over this game. Months go by, no invite. Get random email months later that says "you are invited with everyone else who wanted to play ever, but only for two days during a lag-fest". Person has (hopefully) played MMOs before, knows the two days will be filled with thousands of players on-screen doing stupid things, person also has work/obligations.

So lets do the math, you are gaining what again for your hours spent testing their game? The opportunity to play a game that they are trying to make you pay monthly for? I don't know, maybe for you guys it works but for me I find it pretty horrid and that's why I don't participate in stress tests like this one. It's an insult in my eyes to the players who actually wanted to try wildstar and make it better than competitors. During a stress test, I'm not a customer....I'm just some character doing load tests for them and work out bugs, while on their time restrictions.



Are they not going to delete data when they go open beta? I know several MMOs did that, just to make sure the beginning was super-polished. It makes me a bit happier hearing that it won't just be a few stress tests. I just hate the fact that new MMOs don't have open beta tests but have stress test weekends. That's pretty much what the open beta is for.

What I gain is trying the game out, today beta=limited time demo. I used to pay $15 per year for the gamespy premium account to get more access. I can't even guess how many really poor games that saved me from buying.

 

[Aikouka]

So lets do the math, you are gaining what again for your hours spent testing their game?

I'm confused as to why you're confused that this can be a good thing. The problem with MMOs is that they don't normally have demos... early on at least! So, if you think it looks interesting, you may have to do a ton of reading to see if the mechanics look enthralling enough to keep your attention, but even then, you may not be completely sure. Essentially, yes... the beta becomes a demo for people to try the game. By giving it out to plenty of people, they cast a wide net to try and catch those that are vigilant about trying to solve problems, but they'll also just catch those that want to play (they can sometimes inadvertently provide good metrics too) and those that don't really play at all.

Yes, open beta testing has changed quite a bit over the years, but look at it this way... MMOs are huge and complex. The more people you put into the game, the more variation you can expect out of the collective. Variation leads to things you may not have expected, which can lead to a more cohesive game.

Also, keep in mind that this is just one of their beta test weekends! They've had quite a few prior to this one (I've played in two of them so far), and they haven't been stress tests. Although, the servers have sometimes been too busy to play on.

 

[Rinaun]

Also, keep in mind that this is just one of their beta test weekends! They've had quite a few prior to this one (I've played in two of them so far), and they haven't been stress tests. Although, the servers have sometimes been too busy to play on.

I love that last line. So all those people did what? Download the client to attempt to play as they artificially limit servers? They won't open more, they'd rather test the crap out of one. That's fine, but don't give people WINDOWS in which they can do this. 1 week is acceptable. 2-3 days is a slap in the face. Some people in rural areas need 12+ hours to download the game. For me it wouldn't be too long (1 hour max) but from what you just posted I'm entirely glad I didn't bother with the tests.

What I gain is trying the game out, today beta=limited time demo. I used to pay $15 per year for the gamespy premium account to get more access. I can't even guess how many really poor games that saved me from buying.

Almost every good MMO I've played has had a REAL open beta. WoW, Warhammer, FFXIV, AOC. This whole stress test crap is usually before an open beta or some games go straight into production.

 

[Aikouka]

I love that last line. So all those people did what? Download the client to attempt to play as they artificially limit servers?

I think you misunderstood me. You could play on them... they were just a little laggy.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I think you misunderstood me. You could play on them... they were just a little laggy.

I didn't really have any problems at all although I was sick so I played a lot during off hours.

 

[Aikouka]

I didn't really have any problems at all although I was sick so I played a lot during off hours.

When I played during late night (past 12 AM), it was fine, but when I played during primetime, it was pretty laggy. Although, that was a couple weeks ago.

 

[HumblePie]

Played this weekend. Was enjoyable at least. Couple bugs were annoying like zooming to far out of the map breaks the map. Seriously? Oh well, a quick add-on reload works. I do like how much of the game functions are "add-ons" that can be enabled or disabled. I also assume replaced?

There was a decent amount of voice acting even if it wasn't word for word or in all dialogs. Gameplay overall was fun though even if a bit confusing. For example the first time I got a quest with an activated quest item it took me awhile to figure out to use the default "T" key to actually use the quest item. Why did it take me so long? Because the pop-up tip/tutorial window on using quest items with the "T" key didn't show up until AFTER I had completed the quest. LOL!

I didn't get very far though. Only reached level 10. Less bugs that I saw at least then ESO in the same relative development phase.

My only real beef with the game was the massive FPS spikes and dips. I'm using a pretty beefy system and I'll bounce from 120fps to 20 fps. It was really jerky when first starting the game in the newbie areas as well. There is a ton of complaints about this on the net. There were also some tips/tricks to help combat this. I managed to implement most that smoothed out the fps problems I was mostly having. Although I would still get the occasional dip below 30 fps, it wasn't happening every 3 seconds as it was before.

 

[Arsinek]

Nope. Art style looks stupid, like something for a 12 year old and it appears to be another WoW clone. No thanks.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Weekend beta invites be here:
http://www.mmorpg.com/giveaways.cfm/offer/510/Wildstar-Beta-Weekend-Key-Giveaway.html

 

[Hacp]

Played this weekend. Was enjoyable at least. Couple bugs were annoying like zooming to far out of the map breaks the map. Seriously? Oh well, a quick add-on reload works. I do like how much of the game functions are "add-ons" that can be enabled or disabled. I also assume replaced?

There was a decent amount of voice acting even if it wasn't word for word or in all dialogs. Gameplay overall was fun though even if a bit confusing. For example the first time I got a quest with an activated quest item it took me awhile to figure out to use the default "T" key to actually use the quest item. Why did it take me so long? Because the pop-up tip/tutorial window on using quest items with the "T" key didn't show up until AFTER I had completed the quest. LOL!

I didn't get very far though. Only reached level 10. Less bugs that I saw at least then ESO in the same relative development phase.

My only real beef with the game was the massive FPS spikes and dips. I'm using a pretty beefy system and I'll bounce from 120fps to 20 fps. It was really jerky when first starting the game in the newbie areas as well. There is a ton of complaints about this on the net. There were also some tips/tricks to help combat this. I managed to implement most that smoothed out the fps problems I was mostly having. Although I would still get the occasional dip below 30 fps, it wasn't happening every 3 seconds as it was before.

Yes, fps spikes are a huge problem in this kind of thing.

 

[HumblePie]

Yes, fps spikes are a huge problem in this kind of thing.

Didn't have any fps spikes and dips in ESO. I set it to ultra settings and it ran smooth as butta. Never dips below 35 fps.