WildStar Online

[zaprobo]

Okay, I know I may be considered as opening up a can of worms by posting this here but I feel that a lot of ex-CoHers could find a welcoming home in WildStar (if their anger at NCsoft subsides a little or can be put to one side to take the game on it's own merits). While I play PS2 for the PvP, when WildStar comes out it's going to be my MMO for the PvE and story aspect I enjoy in gaming!

Setting-wise? Two (playable) Factions (Exile and Dominion) are making a land grab for the newly rediscovered planet of Nexus, strewn with the magic and technology from the former occupants - the Eldan. The story revolves around this conflict and discovering what happened to the Eldan.

The current state of development is shown in this recent video which also shows you some of the new innovations for the MMO-space - including a Path (Explorer/Soldier/Settler/Scientist) on top of Class and Tradeskill choices.

Here's the Official Trailer...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-NXdWk9sm8

And here's a trailer for the housing system...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScEliEh2_Xo
(done completely with ingame animations, to give you an idea of the graphics the new custom engine they are using outputs)

Interested? Then you're not alone - there's a fledgling fan community already and developer interaction with the community is high - through weekly Community Uplink conversations on Twitter and even in more esoteric ways (read the comments - this was a fan-made poem, turned "official" song). There's also a new dev blog every "WildStar Wednesday".

Here's a few links to get you going...

( Apply for Beta )
( Join the Fansite )
( Read the Official Blog )

[zaprobo]

And as an aside, a bunch of WildStar fans are being flown out to California in a couple of weeks to meet with the developers, play the game, and discuss features in individual panels. I know I'm taking video equipment to capture as much detail as Carbine will allow me!

They've also recently (last week) held press/distributor presentations in San Francisco and Brighton (UK) that reportedly went very well.

So expect lots of new news, soon.

[Adelante]

I'm still interested in Wildstar, but I'm not sure it'll be the MMO for me.  Looking forward to more information as it is released.

[FatherXmas]

For those who think Wildstar isn't going to be released it sounds like that in the investor conference call they pointed at Wildstar as the next GW2 in the west.

[DarkCurrent]

LOL... oh ok.

What was in the water cooler?

[TimtheEnchanter]

Nice housing.

Sheesh... the closest thing to SWG that will probably ever happen and it ends up being a frigging NCsoft game. Figures.

[DarkCurrent]

I'm not sure when Wildstar will release, but there's already a Sci Fi MMO coming out in April from Trion:  Defiance.  It has tie-ins with SyFy Channel tv show, which is an interesting spin.  That game is pretty cool and I imagine is going to draw a lot of early customers.  Who knows about its staying power.

So if NCSoft thinks they're just going to corner the western Sci Fi MMO market they had better think again.  They can't afford to simply shift customers from GW2 to Wildstar.  They need fresh customers and also considering a large chunk of their former customers of CoX are not going to bite and will do their best to generate negative press, I don't see that happening.

[Lightslinger]

I'll be looking into WildStar when its released, if its good I'll play it.

Yeah, I dislike the way NCsoft ended CoH, but I'll give 'em another shot, I will be weary about becoming too invested however, and that will definitely translate to spending less in WildStar.

[Kaiser Tarantula]

Not only will it not run on my computer as CoH would, but I wouldn't play it anyway due to NCsoft's involvement.  If I get a computer upgrade, and Wildstar pulls itself out from under NC's fat ass, I'll consider it.  Until then, no thanks.

[Feycat]

So if NCSoft thinks they're just going to corner the western Sci Fi MMO market they had better think again.  They can't afford to simply shift customers from GW2 to Wildstar.  They need fresh customers and also considering a large chunk of their former customers of CoX are not going to bite and will do their best to generate negative press, I don't see that happening.

I'm not sure why you think players from GW2 would be the ones to shift over. GW2 is a fantasy game - Wildstar is SF, there will be a Venn overlap between gamers who like both, but that's not GW2's audience. It's much more likely to strip players from SWTOR (what few that pos still has) and STO than GW2.

[TimtheEnchanter]

Btw has anyone seen the combat video of the fox/bunny character (what IS it with NCsoft and these big floppy-eared races anyway)? Seems all her attacks are centered around summoning ethereal swords and then commanding them to fly at a target in different attack patterns. There's just something REALLY annoying about watching it and I'd tear my hair out after 5 minutes of playing that character.

[DarkCurrent]

I'm not sure why you think players from GW2 would be the ones to shift over. GW2 is a fantasy game - Wildstar is SF, there will be a Venn overlap between gamers who like both, but that's not GW2's audience. It's much more likely to strip players from SWTOR (what few that pos still has) and STO than GW2.

The point I was making is that their other releases have all just cannibalized their earlier games and they can't afford even a chance of that happening again with Wildstar.  Not when Wildstar won't be the only western-targeting scifi MMO out there.  Defiance is launching in April and will pull in that audience.  NCSoft is going to have to hope Wildstar is so great and that Defiance is so bad that the scifi player chooses them.  I don't see that happening.  So where are they expecting this huge influx of player to come from?  Their other games like they seem to with their fantasy releases?

[TimtheEnchanter]

If you go by the overall mood, the one they seem to be trying to sell anyhow... you'd think they were trying to grab Team Fortress players.

[FatherXmas]

The point I was making is that their other releases have all just cannibalized their earlier games and they can't afford even a chance of that happening again with Wildstar.  Not when Wildstar won't be the only western-targeting scifi MMO out there.  Defiance is launching in April and will pull in that audience.  NCSoft is going to have to hope Wildstar is so great and that Defiance is so bad that the scifi player chooses them.  I don't see that happening.  So where are they expecting this huge influx of player to come from?  Their other games like they seem to with their fantasy releases?

You are honestly thinking an MMO tied to a SyFy TV series will actually last, at all.  Sure it's interesting to tie events in the series to an evolving story in game but I honestly not expecting a lot here.  Wildstar is less "western" and more ... well two factions after artifacts of a lost race.

[General Idiot]

Honestly, if it looks promising after three months or so then I might consider it. And by promising I mean less about the quality of the game itself since from what I've seen it does sound pretty good, and more about its chances of survival and pace of content releases going forward.

And to be honest, given who's publishing it and that to my knowledge it's a US/EU only game, I fully expect both of those to be quite low.

[Feycat]

Wildstar actually gives me a feeling like an anime crossed with Firefly. I'd totally give it a try if I thought it was going to last, it looks like great fun, but my plate's full right now, and SWTOR and TSW were both immense disappointments. Not going to jump into another brand-new MMO anytime soon unless I've been in the beta

[DarkCurrent]

You are honestly thinking an MMO tied to a SyFy TV series will actually last, at all.  Sure it's interesting to tie events in the series to an evolving story in game but I honestly not expecting a lot here.  Wildstar is less "western" and more ... well two factions after artifacts of a lost race.

The tie-in is exactly what makes it unique and thus why people who are fans of the genre would give it a try.  Staying power?  Who knows.

[General Idiot]

Not going to jump into another brand-new MMO anytime soon unless I've been in the beta

You know, I can't help but wonder how much better a lot of MMOs these days would do if people didn't wait three months or more to see how it goes. Not that I'm suggesting you don't, as I plan to do the same thing especially with this case. But I still can't help but wonder if the loads of people I keep seeing saying they'll wait on any new MMO coming out is a significant enough impact to initial sales to convince some companies it isn't worth it, leading to what we saw with TOR, for example, where post-release support just drops away almost completely.

[UruzSix]

You know, I can't help but wonder how much better a lot of MMOs these days would do if people didn't wait three months or more to see how it goes. Not that I'm suggesting you don't, as I plan to do the same thing especially with this case. But I still can't help but wonder if the loads of people I keep seeing saying they'll wait on any new MMO coming out is a significant enough impact to initial sales to convince some companies it isn't worth it, leading to what we saw with TOR, for example, where post-release support just drops away almost completely.

TOR's a bad comparison, though, they sold something like 2.4 million boxes right out the gate. And then something like two thirds of of them found the experience less than impressive and bailed out over the coming months, and it started snowballing from there.

[Heroette]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fn8648VGMKM

I found this on Facebook today.  It looks like a totally awesome game.  Yes, I will try it out, even though NCSoft is involved.