Adventures in WildStar

I hadn’t planned on purchasing WildStar. MMOs and I haven’t had long relationships in quite some time. GW2 had the most promise for me, being the best leveling experience I’ve had in many years.  It also contains 2 of my 3 favorite classes of all time – Guardian and Mesmer.  However, I bailed several months ago over the lack of persistent PVE content via expansions or campaigns like GW1.

My patience for mediocre game play has run dry.  If a game isn’t fun right out of the gate, then I’m out.  I have too many real life responsibilities, stresses and balls in the air to suffer subpar excuses for entertainment in games.  I’d just as soon read a book, watch TV or catch a movie.  As far as gaming was concerned, I was content waiting for modules of Star Citizen to be released.

Warrender and Sarzan suggested I give it a try.  I wasn’t able to use the Guest Pass from Warrender the weekend it was available but took the opportunity to look around during the open BETA and was pleasantly surprised.

Mixed Bag of Nuts

One thing WS does really well is atmosphere and tone.  I enjoy sarcasm and snark, of which there is no shortage in WS. The art style is a more punched up version of Allods that is more visceral - lots of moving parts, things going on everywhere and IN YOUR FACE! 

There’s only but so much variety in questing and the various delivery mechanisms.  WS does all of them – every kind of quest mechanic you can think of and the recent passive means for starting and completing quests, have ALL been included.  You’d think that would make for a cluttered mess but it doesn’t.  There is of course the standard vertical climb in levels and crafting professions.  However, they’ve added other paths in parallel which are also vertical but the variety makes the game feel like it has horizontal depth.  In the end, that is smoke and mirrors, all of the options are vertical ladders. It’s the variety and the ease at which you can switch focus from one thing to another that makes it appear to have more depth than recent MMOs.

What I like Most

• Class variety and their unique twists
• Active combat
• Target not required damage and healing (at least so far)
• Feels like Allods + Rift + GW2 + WOW had a science fiction baby
• Meaningful player housing out the gate – nice features which will only improve over time
• Paths let players temporarily impact the world for other players – this is awesome
• Farming and crafting options built into player housing – love the shorter growth timers vs. WOW
• Humor – quests, NPCs, zones don’t take themselves too seriously
• “Ship hand Mission”, the best small group instance I’ve seen in many years. For 1 to 2 players. If you’re a fan of the Alien series this instance is A MUST!!! It’s easily overlooked.  Here’s a video of it I found on YouTube. 
• You can set permissions on your property so that others can farm it and share in a percentage of the produce. Say what??? It’s an option for maximizing the crop generation if you’re not going to be around or have other things to do. It's not clear to me how players will know which properties offer this option but it's a great idea.

What I like Least

• Location of primary vendors can be inconvenient – getting to a bank can be a PITA
• IN GAME 24 hour cool down on portal to capitol city is retarded especially when it’s one of the few places where you can access the bank
• 10G mount that people on foot can sprint passed is a kick in the nutz.  Granted sprint can be used while mounted which then makes you faster but still, no one on foot has EVER been faster than me mounted before. And 10G isn’t easy to come by at level 10.
• I had to download a mod to fix the issue with name plates not displaying.  It was so annoying trying to locate particular mobs and NPCs when the damn names don’t show.  And no, full screen window mode didn’t work for me.  I got tired of doing /reloadui every 10 mins.
• Mini game for cooking profession feels broken.  Crafting items is similar to GW2 recipe discovery except that you must kind of “re-discover” every single time. I’m meh on it but do understand what they are attempting to eliminate (botting).  It works fine for my other professions but I swear cooking is bugged. The failure percentage is much too high since every attempt consumes your resources.  I max cooking in every game where it’s available but for now I’m parting ways with it in WS.

As you can see, the dislikes aren’t overwhelming and can be easily resolved if enough people are complaining about them.  I think I’ll be playing long enough to hit max level.  Whether or not I stay after that depends on end game, new content and the longevity of player housing/crafting as a focus. 

I’m “playing” WS.  For all of the things I like about it, I don’t feel an emotional connection to the game or my character, which are hallmarks of longevity for me.  It may be the humor that makes the game endearing is simultaneously detrimental to me taking it seriously.  *smile*  I’m still expecting the next game where I develop a long term persona to be Star Citizen.

 

Comments

[Winged Nazgul]

Awesome! I was wondering if you were going to give Wildstar a try. Yeah, Cooking doesn't seem worth it at the moment. Too many options for healing/buffs to waste time and resources with the RNG crafting.

Unfortunately, Architect shares the same form of coordinate crafting as Cooking. At least I can make useful stuff for my home but the rage it induces when it looks like there is no way to bend the RNG to create the item you want is maddening.

[Alysianah aka Saylah]

Yep. So far, so good. Am almost level 20. I got caught up in the crafting and housing for a few days. I also find harvesting in MMOs relaxing so between the plants, trees and settler resources I can wander around doing that for long stretches without being bored. Decided to ease back on the crafting though until I hit level 30.