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Wildstar Impressions -after 40h played the last two weekends
Greetings forum dwellers! Here are my impressions from having tried every class, leveled three of them to cap and having tried out dungeons, adventures and pvp. I'll list things in the categories "Pros", "Cons" and "Beta Issues".
PROS
1 Combat
I just love the combat in this game. It's very actiony without sacrificing the RPG aspects of stats and the like. The telegraphs are a godsend, not only do all mobs in the world have their own attack patterns that you need to watch out for (and these get more and more complex!). But all your abilities have their own telegraphs which make it so that no longer do the developers have to add a buff or dot component to an attack to differentiate it from the "standard" attack. They can now have the attack use a diferent telegraph. Just so many dimensions along which you can create new abilities: mobile/stationary, type of telegraph, dot component, spender/finisher. I really see how they can add abilities going forward without rehashing, something I like.
All classes also have a distinct feel to them in combat, both because they favor a type of telegraph but also because every class has their own class resource.
2 Gear
It's evident that Carbine has given alot of thought to their gearing/stat system. There are lots of stats available and lots of gear slots to fill. The runes is where you get set bonuses from, and there are tons of different sets! This will make gearing really intresting. And the milestone system makes it so that stacking your best stat is not always the right way to go. You actually will have to min/max to get the most out of your character.
3 Dungeons
I love these! The fact that there are DPS, healer and tank checks in the first dungeons available is awesome! The bosses are also unique with nice concepts and generally need solid execution to take down. I foresee that pugging the first set of dungeons is going to be painful, but hopefully people will realize that they need to look over their characters' gear and build before they enter dungeons going forward.
4 Character customization
Lots of gear choices, a talent system in the form of AMPs, a limited action set of 8 and individual skill levels make for fun choices when building you character!
5 Paths
You all know about them, and I like their concept. They do need to give character level xp in addition to path xp though. Once that is fixed they're going to be a 100% pro for me.
6 Crafting
Crafting talents and a tech tree to work your way down makes crafting quite fun. Right now I consider it too much of a gold sink however, and I hope they make it a bit less punishing to craft.
7 Auction House
The fully featured Auction House with both sell orders and buy orders is coupled with a commodity auction house that works closer to a regular stock market. Complete!
8 Questing System
Now the quests themselves are rarely super intresting, but whatever the objective is they always have gameplay associated with them: use quest items, playing minigames, regular combat, etc. I always had fun questing and once you realize you don't have to do them all it's even more fun and relaxing. I like how every zone has a rep grind through quests in it. So you have a goal to your questing. Once I get rep enough for the AMPs I generally move on to the next zone.
9 Modes of Progression
There are MANY ways to get experience. Questing, mob grinding, dungeoneering, adventure grinding or PvP. I like the choices.
CONS
1 Graphics
I just don't really like the esthetics of Wildstar. It's all a bit over the top and sometimes feel like you playing on drugs...
2 Map Design
The map layout makes the game feel like a 3d platformer more than a world which for me is an immersion breaker. A game like WoW also has very "gamey" maps, but somehow still manages to maintain the illusion that your running around in a real world.
3 Into
The new player experience is plain aweful! Enough said.
4 The Setting
The space cowboy setting does little to suck me in. I guess it's ok, but not enough for me to be really into it. At least not as of yet.
BETA ISSUES
1 Health Bars
Health bars on mobs or group members randomly not appearing is really game breaking. I solved this by downloading the addon Bijiplates. Worked wonders!
2 FoV
The default FoV in the game is 50 which basically forces you to zoom out so much that your character is barely visible on the screen! Luckily there's an addon that lets you change this setting (I recommend 70, it's so much better!).
3 Dash Responivity
I have my dash keybounds to a mouse thumb button. Sometimes however it doesn't register (no matter what mice I play with). Responsivity is KEY to combat and everything else is quite smooth, but this needs to be fixed or I won't play the game.
4 UI in general
Tons of issues with UI 2.0. It's being beta tested right now so I hope they can fix the issues quickly!
TL;DR:
Lovely game with focus on lasting, will thought out and deep systems!
Comments
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I would say this is a fair review.
While I have bought the game and will play it, I would disagree that the graphics and setting are bad. At the same time, I would put quests and paths as negative things because I think the quests are not very creative, while paths are more or less only a gimmick while questing.
The settings and esthetics are obviously not objectively bad. I'm just not a fan:)
I agree to most of it, especially to your cons 1 and 2.
While i'm ok with the graphics in general (it took several beta weekends until they grew on me), i still can't tolerate certain aspects that are just too far over the top. Everything close looks ok, but mid to long distance the textures are just too cheap and low res for my taste. I'm also not a fan of the "zone surrounded by mountains+skybox" design.
http://i.imgur.com/F4lUQRb.jpg
In some zones the colors are just screaming at you and the color palettes aren't always well tuned, especially these "orange" zones. I hope that later on SweetFX works and we can at least give our own touch to the colors or apply some filters.
As to the map design, the zones are just as busy and cluttered as everything about the game. The whole game has a very agitated vibe to it and every aspect is so stuffed by design, incl. the map. I missed the quiet places i know from other mmos, locations that are rather relaxing. Or quiet nights with fireflies, crickets and a breathtaking nightsky with meteors etc.
Too bad that instead of a "wonderful alien world" the went for a "crazy planet on steroids" setting, which can be a bit too much at times.
I agree with you, especially on the "crazy planet on steroids" comment. It feels like every map I'm playing is similar to Orr in GW2.
But, when I look at some gameplay videos like this one, it doesn't seem that bad.
Definitely agree with this.
To me, UI 2.0, ingame fonts (and that design decision) are the only problems. I sincerely hope for a ElvUI kinda thing is in works for WildStar.
Stages of a new mmo: 1) It's just beta. It still has plenty of time before release. 2) It just launched. Give it time. WoW wasn't built in a day. 3) We don't need you anyway. 4) F2P announced. 5)Huge influx of players. 6) Look how much has changed. 7) Cash shop is the only thing developed lately. 8) It has been a long journey and we thank everyone who was part of it. Shutting down in 3 months. (Courtesy of Robokapp.)
I actually like the game has a lot of 3d platforming. Makes quests much more fun to play.
All quests in MMO's are as generic as they come storywise let's face it. Its how you complete them and the gameplay associated with them that makes it fun. In this aspect Wildstar has done a good job, sometimes I feel like I'm playing a platformer like Jak & Daxter.
Most gamers my generation were born with platforming gaming, sonic, mario etc, its good to have movement and jumping matter so much in a MMO.
I still prefer another setting besides the space cowboy thing. One thing I've noticed about games is that, when they provide a big challenge that you need to overcome with great effort, you start "respecting" the game.
With vanilla WoW and TBC, the game was tough, even though it was a very cartoony game I respected it because I know I would get my ass kicked if I tried to be the lone hero. WoW was cartoony but had some serious aspects about it that gave it a more epic feeling. Alliance vs Horde, all that Lord of the Ringish theme.
Wildstar is just cartoon goofyness all around, I wonder if that changes later on. I know that the game is challenging in endgame raiding, but I wonder if it will provide the same level of epicness that WoW provided just by presenting the game as that kind of lord of the rings theme.
good review man.
I will address character customization first. There is about as much in WS as there is in Rift - as in not much at all. Players see all these choices and think "cool, I can truly build a setup to suit my play-style". While true in theory it doesn't jive with end-game reality. Classes will be pigeonholed into pre-set builds with pre-determined rotations. WS is even more extreme than wow in this regard due to the limited action set. Classes will be forced to play a certain way depending on the boss fight. You will be expected to take X and Y build in Z dungeon because it is the optimal way in which to down said boss. If you don't, gtfo.
(Think TSW nightmare mode dungeons in which players need to switch builds from fight to fight in order to complete the dungeon.)
Paths and questing are just mind numbingly boring. I realize this opinion is subjective, but it seems to be the overwhelming opinion of the gaming community. So you kind of lost me after adding these two to the 'pros' list.
I wouldn't say that "the overwhelming opinion of the gaming community" is that questing is mind numbingly boring. It's not very inspired nor innovative. But to me it's miles ahead of ESO questing for example. To each her own, eh!?
I can see what you're talking about in that screenshot, but strictly from an artistic viewpoint, that's a very cool pic, the red hair with the yellow and brown colors on the character really make it stand out against the background and shaded rocks, and then the higher res grass area next to her stands out too.
They do need to get a few "quiet/peaceful spots" in the game, hopefully in the first couple of content patches.
Worked for WoW... Graphics does not always need to be the best to make the game fun and worth playing. The Lego series is another one that falls under so much fun I dont care what it looks like.
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=dopctg&s=5
Here's a much shorter and succinct synopsis:
WildStar is a well executed WoW clone. That is all. F2P within a year. Same old formula, different setting and marginally different interpretations of the basic elements.
Add in CREDD, which is gold for cash, and you already have the very worst of F2P - facilitated cheating for the worst of losers - already built in.
Might be fun for a while, but it's not an MMORPG for the long haul. Again. Just like with ALL the other clones.
...with some bonus rambling...
Other than the CREDD trash that doesn't belong in a premium and sub-based game, I find WildStar to be ok. Maybe it'll be better at end game once one suffers thru the solo idiot mode garbage. Doubtful. But maybe.
I'm really hoping the WoW clone formula era is coming to and end and would much rather see a return to more classic MMORPG gameplay featuring full on grouping and challenge. I could care less if some people don't like it - it's what "the real game" is in all of these clones anyways and why so many bail so fast (ie, the soloists who should be playing the many single player games out there continually buy in to MMORPGs because of the solo idiot mode content, then bail once they realize that as with all good MMORPGs, the core of the game, the "real game," is all about grouping).
I'd just rather the focus of "the real game" be the WHOLE game instead of having the solo idiot mode and instanced pvp mini game garbage that detract from developers putting full focus on "the real game"
Premium MMORPGs do not feature built-in cheating via cash for gold pay 2 win. PLAY to win or don't play.
Probably one of the better right ups Ive read.
Not a fanboi perspective, yet not a hater either.
Seemed pretty straight forward with both good and bad points.
Con 1) I agree about the graphics. I almost didnt buy the game because of them. However after playing several beta weekends, I was hooked.
Con 2) I dont care for the map system either, especially when you have a ton of quests.
Pro 1) Absolutely love the combat. It feels alive. Keyboard Turners are going to hate life in Wildstar.
Pro 2) Agree. The gear feels like it was not an after thought. That the devs gave you choices on stats. I want to see how hard caps and soft caps affect it the gear also. I think the Artifact questing is my favorite thing about the gear.
Pro 3) Even the first ones are somewhat challenging. Cant wait for the higher ones.
Pro 4) Here is where I agree and disagree. The Character Creation portion of the customization is HORRIBLE. Limited choices across the board.
However the Talent System and Amp system is fantastic.
Pro 6) havent gotten to far into crafting, but so far I love it.
Thanks again for a solid review.
Lets see your Battle Stations /r/battlestations
Battle Station
I honestly don't get how anyone could claim Wildstar is a WoW clone. I suppose there's a very, very, extremely vague similarity in the art style, but otherwise? They're not even remotely alike in actual gameplay.
Wildstar is a lot closer to a Ratchet and Clank clone -- high praise as far as I'm concerned -- than a Wow Clone, IMHO.
There's nothing stopping you from creating or finding a guild that doesn't require all of that from its members. I'm sure you're not the only one who feels that way, as I feel that way too. I'm sure there's at least 40 people that would love to raid without any character build restrictions.
When I watched the game-play video in this thread, my thoughts were the same as yours towards questing. It just looks so similar to most MMORPG's post-WoW. Run around and grab quests, do quests, and then turn in quests. Rinse and repeat until you get a quest that leads you to the next area. I'd just rather play nothing at all than play a game where you spend your leveling experience doing that, especially when the art style is not to my taste, and the graphics are below par.
I'm pretty sure he doesn't mean that due to the art style. He's probably talking about the game-play. Meaning, you solo quest the majority of your leveling experience, with a smattering of dungeons, raiding at the end game, with instanced PvP. All things that WoW streamlined and made so popular that almost every MMORPG since WoW's released has copied.
People say that in contrast to games that aren't quest-centric solo experiences to max level. Albeit the alternative used to be gathering a group and choosing somewhere to grind mobs for hours. Of course, exploring the world with said group usually preceded the hours long camping of mobs, but ultimately that was the end goal to maximize xp gain per hour.
Thanks for the write up. Been watching videos on line and am really waiting for this and Black Desert. Both games look great.