Incorrect, with the exception of heroic raiding all instance content in wow is tuned down significantly so that the vast majority can clear content, this is in addition to several tiers of gear upgrades Per content patch and a mechanic that gives you a boost every time you wipe.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
These folks at Carbine are working their butts off. Thank you for a wonderful game that truly takes some skill and patience. Someone posted on redit few days ago.
"Where did all the people go" ?
Reply
All the people who thought they were Hardcore, elitist and super skilled found out they were wrong and went back to WoW.
That made my week.
Love the game!
Can we please stop with the "..it takes skill." BS? Wildstar's PvE doesn't require more skill than any other PvE centric MMO. What it requires is more time invested. It is the standard gear based progress deal like WoW and TOR. Once characters get their full pre raid set things in vet dungeons and adventures become much easier.
Agreed, wish people would drop the illusion that WildStar is somehow harder than other PvE progression games out there. It doesn't help the game at all when people log in and find out the game itself isn't hard so much as time consuming. Well, yea, the game is hard, when you are stuck at 20 FPS with clunky combat!
But seriously, hope they fix all of this soon before it's too late. Would like to be playing the game again in a few months once they have worked out this mess.
Currently Playing: ESO and FFXIV Have played: You name it If you mention rose tinted glasses, you better be referring to Mitch Hedberg.
Originally posted by Bladestrom Incorrect, with the exception of heroic raiding all instance content in wow is tuned down significantly so that the vast majority can clear content, this is in addition to several tiers of gear upgrades Per content patch and a mechanic that gives you a boost every time you wipe.
I thought the comparison was Heroic WOW vs Wildstar. Heroic raiding in WOW is still hardcore but WOW gives many more options for those who cannot play heroic. Whats wrong with that? Wildstar ONLY has the heroic option, doesnt mean it's more hardcore then WOW.
I thought the comparison was Heroic WOW vs Wildstar. Heroic raiding in WOW is still hardcore but WOW gives many more options for those who cannot play heroic. Whats wrong with that? Wildstar ONLY has the heroic option, doesnt mean it's more hardcore then WOW.
WoW splitting difficulties was one of the worse moves they ever made. There was no reason to do so and in fact the by doing so they destroyed certain aspects of the game, guild community being a major one. Anyone could have raided in TBC but those who didn't care enough to put the time in didn't. This meant that if you wanted to raid you had to be on for raids, pay attention, research encounters, etc, this also meant that you needed a community of people to tackle content with which also brought on a sense of camaraderie.
There was plenty to do in TBC and classic even if you didn't raid. You could explore, PvP, level professions which were quite tedious back then, it took months to save up money for fast flying, dailys, dungeons, heroic dungeons, etc. I never heard people complain that they couldn't raid, they did if they wanted to and didn't if they didn't want to. Somewhere along the line in Blizzards attempt to take over the world they decided to make everything accessible to everyone which is where people started complaining and the almighty nerf stick started being wielded. It was somewhere around the release of 3.2 I believe, dungeon finder, tier pieces for justice points, ToC, etc.
These folks at Carbine are working their butts off. Thank you for a wonderful game that truly takes some skill and patience. Someone posted on redit few days ago.
"Where did all the people go" ?
Reply
All the people who thought they were Hardcore, elitist and super skilled found out they were wrong and went back to WoW.
That made my week.
Love the game!
Can we please stop with the "..it takes skill." BS? Wildstar's PvE doesn't require more skill than any other PvE centric MMO. What it requires is more time invested. It is the standard gear based progress deal like WoW and TOR. Once characters get their full pre raid set things in vet dungeons and adventures become much easier.
yeah that's pretty much what i'm thinking.. atleast if they intend to follow the same path with gear progression.. granted i have'nt really experienced endgame in wildstar but from what i've seen in dungeons it's really not that much harder either.. it's just if you walk in there with crap gear and have no clue what the fights going to to be you'll get stomped.. no different from any of the other games i've played really.
I'm not understanding what the content of the article has to do with the game being labelled as hardcore.
It was all about class balance and performance issues, which aren't specific to a game catering to hardcore raiders.
The author never really articulates what the issues he brings up in the article have to do with whether or not carbine made a smart move by labeling the game hardcore, and the title was only selected based on forum chatter as a means of drawing more attention to the piece.
The quality of the articles on this site have been going downhill lately, and it seems like you guys are resorting to more gimmicky writing in an effort to draw traffic.
Let me give you the ELI5 version:
Game markets specific portions to a hardcore audience (raiding, PvP, etc)
Hardcore audience arrives, complains that game is broken in several key areas
Studio says that updates will take several months to arrive. Raiders might get benched for a tier. PvPers might drag their team down or reroll.
Opinion: If you're going to call a game hardcore, you need to provide a solid foundation so that they can play hardcore. It's like asking for pro soccer teams to play in a stadium that's not finished, and with boots that don't fit properly.
The forum reference was specifically to accusations of a "broken, unplayable mess." The rest of it, a combination of direct play, discussions with other players, and other sources of information. I'm in WildStar almost every day, and write about what I see and experience, and conversations I have with others who play and used to play. I can only apologise that it isn't bland and uninspired enough for your particular tastes
Games been out two months, what game has balance down after even 5 years? Balance is a myth, it doesn't really exist, and you don't actually cite an inability of raiders to progress in the game due to broken classes.
Not one bit of what I wrote had a thing to do with the quality of your writing itself. It's pretty shameful for you to resort, literally, to flaming on a forum over a bit of criticism.
Ill leave you with a bit of artistic advice. Lashing out over criticism only shows insecurity over the work you do.
I'm not understanding what the content of the article has to do with the game being labelled as hardcore.
It was all about class balance and performance issues, which aren't specific to a game catering to hardcore raiders.
The author never really articulates what the issues he brings up in the article have to do with whether or not carbine made a smart move by labeling the game hardcore, and the title was only selected based on forum chatter as a means of drawing more attention to the piece.
The quality of the articles on this site have been going downhill lately, and it seems like you guys are resorting to more gimmicky writing in an effort to draw traffic.
Let me give you the ELI5 version:
Game markets specific portions to a hardcore audience (raiding, PvP, etc)
Hardcore audience arrives, complains that game is broken in several key areas
Studio says that updates will take several months to arrive. Raiders might get benched for a tier. PvPers might drag their team down or reroll.
Opinion: If you're going to call a game hardcore, you need to provide a solid foundation so that they can play hardcore. It's like asking for pro soccer teams to play in a stadium that's not finished, and with boots that don't fit properly.
The forum reference was specifically to accusations of a "broken, unplayable mess." The rest of it, a combination of direct play, discussions with other players, and other sources of information. I'm in WildStar almost every day, and write about what I see and experience, and conversations I have with others who play and used to play. I can only apologise that it isn't bland and uninspired enough for your particular tastes
Um, but isn't that the very definition of hardcore? Working against all odds? World firsts are done by those running in less ideal conditions. Their gear isn't top notch yet, there are bugs in the encounter, the fights aren't totally spelled out in a youtube video or wiki page yet. They trudge onward, ever onward in spite of all of this... aka hardcore. Pretty much every world first in every game ever made was accomplished in a stadium that was not finished and with boots that didn't fit properly.
Can I explain what hardcore is in this game, it is an artificial increase in hp.
You still dance the same old dance, but just for longer. It is as dull as shit. hit, hit, interrupt, dodge; there is nothing complex here, it just makes you take more time than most people can. Some people here argue that this is true difficulty and it is not, it is gated access and repetition.
Please stop telling people that it is hardcore to waste time on bad game mechanics. It emphatically is not.
Does hardcore have a universally accepted definition amongst MMO developers? Or is it something that is really open to interpretation? Does it specifically mean raiding? I've always considered it to be, but I think there is some lack of synergy between the players and developers when using these labels.
My main problem with the game is that group content in PUGs is about as fun as pulling teeth without anesthesia. Also all my friends don't seem to be interested.
Also pretty much all of the endgame progression is locked behind "hardcore" forced-grouping brick wall.
As a result i'm back to playing less "hardcore" games after my free month is over.
Games been out two months, what game has balance down after even 5 years? Balance is a myth, it doesn't really exist, and you don't actually cite an inability of raiders to progress in the game due to broken classes.
Not one bit of what I wrote had a thing to do with the quality of your writing itself. It's pretty shameful for you to resort, literally, to flaming on a forum over a bit of criticism.
Ill leave you with a bit of artistic advice. Lashing out over criticism only shows insecurity over the work you do.
Two things:
The team might progress, but at the expense of the individual. MMOs are littered throughout the ages where underperforming classes are benched in favour of progression. It doesn't matter how hardcore they are, they're not taken because the tools they bring are broken.
Secondly, I'm a Brit. Poking at people who make grandiose statements about "going downhill" and "gimmicky writing" is pretty much a built-in response on the genetic level. With all due respect, if you're going to bowl the ball, you shouldn't act surprised when people play cricket with it.
Player of games, smither of words, former of opinions, and masher of keys. WildStar Columnist Currently playing: WildStar, Guild Wars 2, EVE Online, Vain Glory.
This article is using old information to fuel something that is just not true anymore. Wildstar does have bugs like all games but NONE of them are purely gamebreaking (unless you are a warrior). There are barely any BOTS in the game. Engineer pets barely have any issues anymore, they aren't meant to be pulled out and forgotten about, you have to constantly spawn them and use their abilities. The raids are hard, the attunmenet is hard, the game is hard. The game is hardcore. The servers are populated and if you sit next to the credit vendor you can literally heard someone every 10 minutes with the "You just bought yourself some fine CREED". That just means another 20 dollars went toward the game.
Carbine is updating the crap out of the game and they have some learning curves but people's expectation nowadays are just purely outrageous. You expect things now and cry when you don't get it. Stop looking for things wrong and just enjoy the game. It's pretty amazing. Not a wildstar fanboy because I have my issues with it, but the game meeting it's hardcore title just fine.
For me, playing Wildstar felt like I was dosed with an extreme case of ADHD, force fed extasy, and thrown into a forest with a paintball gun and hang glider.
It was intense, then that extasy wore off...then I acclimatized to my ADHD, ran out of paintballs, and a hole torn in my hang glider. I was left sitting there feeling dirty, sad, and hungover.
LOL, sounds like it was worth it! xD
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
I said it many times. The problem with Wildstar is that leveling is ultra casual and enf game is ultra hardcore, there is no middle ground and both player categories are not happy with the game.
I find it intensely irritating that people actually think being good at an mmo is born from anything other than having too much time and dedication to a form of entertainment.
I get so bored hearing the L2P elitist minority who treat a GAME like a job.
MMO's are simple, their mechanics are simple, Wildstar is simple if you have huge amounts of time to waste on it. Extract your heads.
I leveled two characters to 50 and a myriad to 15-25. I love, love, love the game. But sadly, Im realizing I don't have the desire, will power, or time to devote to finding a guild of like-minded people in order to raid. So, for me, theres nothing at max level in the game. I politely bowed out a week ago.
All of the people that say "theres more to do at max level than raiding...dungeons, pvp, crafting, adventures, etc ". ... come on. Its all run of the mill crap you find in any mmo. Theres ZERO for a solo player that is looking for progression on his own terms. I find myself skilled enough to be hardcore, but without the time to devote to it. I don't mind a dungeon run every night or so, but theres nothing else for me to do to push myself to the limit.
I cannot raid, I dont PvP. So progression wise for solo? Nothing.
Im still waiting for that type of MMO. GW2 had a good shot but blew it with living story. Sadly, I might just return to GW2 because of its relaxed endgame style. ESO, while ridden with bugs and problems, is not focused on a raiding endgame...maybe Ill give that a shot at some point.
Or maybe Im done with MMOs.
Overall, wildstar is a GREAT game and should be looked at for the future of raiding. Its just not the game for me.
Wildstar? The best thing you can do is get a REFUND like I did.
I won't pay a sub just to do dailies and walk on a empty(dead) server. 3-6 months playing for ONLY (one) a raid-instance-boss? No thanks, let me know when it became F2P next year
I find it intensely irritating that people actually think being good at an mmo is born from anything other than having too much time and dedication to a form of entertainment.
I get so bored hearing the L2P elitist minority who treat a GAME like a job.
MMO's are simple, their mechanics are simple, Wildstar is simple if you have huge amounts of time to waste on it. Extract your heads.
Im guessing you are not good at games then. I can pick up games I have never played before and destroy people easily. Its called skill, maybe something you dont have so you cant grasp the concept but other people do have it.
"For WildStar, the truth is actually somewhere in the middle ground."
My sentiments exactly!
Some people act like there's nothing wrong, while others seem to think the game is dead. Personally, I've had horrible luck with this game, yet even I would not resort to the doom and gloom of some posters. However, the game does have its share of problems.
For one, the game was horribly optimized! It is just now just starting to show signs of life in that regard. For the longest time the game kept crashing my PC with 'referenced memory' errors. I couldn't play the game for more than 15-20 minutes at a time during the whole first month without it crashing to the desktop on me. As someone that had just plunked down for a 6-month sub, I was a bit nervous for most of July.
Worse was when I decided to contact Carbine Support about it and was given the run-around that it was my graphics card. Soon after chatting with them, I did some research of my own (which didn't take more than 10 mins) which lead to finding that there were loads of other players experiencing the same issues. Graphics card my ass! Apparently Mr. Gaffney's "No BS!" policy doesn't extend over to the Carbine Support team -- not cool Carbine, not cool!
Luckily for me, however, I finally was contacted by someone over in Carbine Support with some reasoning skills. He told me that there was an issue the team was looking into and to give it a bit. Thankfully he was right and one of the latest patches seems to have resolved that performance issue.
I questioned the 'graphics card' excuse from the beginning, as my rig is by no means a slouch and I haven't had any issues in the dozens of other MMOs I play or have played throughout the past few years.
Case in point is ESO, which let's face it, runs circles around WildStar in the graphics department yet causes zero problems for me. Say what you will about ESO, but one thing is for certain, that game is optimized!
There are other issues with WildStar as well, like those mentioned in this thread, so to act like nothing is wrong is absurd, but I don't feel like it is game breaking either -- except for that crashing of course, which seems to be resolved now.
I like WildStar, I really do. The classes, skill-sets, and combat can be a lot of fun, particularly when compared to the old-school tab-targeting. Now when I go back to the other MMOs I play that use tab-targeting I find myself getting bored with combat.
Do I think WildStar needs some work? Of course! The shiny is just starting to rub off and those of us with some common sense realize that MMOs are works in progress, unlike more mature games in other genres. While the MMO should be at least functional and playable, we as players can't expect it to be fully polished at release. There are just too many variables for that to be possible these days -- most of which may be a result of greedy investors looking for an immediate return on their investment. - See Pathfinder Online for a breath of fresh air in this regard!
Games in other genres are like getting a new dog in it's middle to late years that's already been trained. It does exactly what you want and makes for a great companion, but it's lifespan is limited. MMOs on the other hand are like getting a puppy that you have to work with for a while. Eventually it will get to where it needs to be, but it will take time and patience. However, the reward is that it typically carries with it a much longer lifespan and can be enjoyed for years to come.
I feel WildStar will eventually get over the hump, much in the very same way SWTOR seems to be doing now. Unfortunately for Carbine however, most players are extremely impatient, fussy and extremely unforgiving; so it very well may hurt them financially if they don't adjust well to the hits they've taken from these struggles they are currently going through. Time will tell, but certainly dividing your audience via this 'hardcore' deal is not what I'd like to call a great business strategy.
Which brings me to the following: It always amazes me with these multi-million dollar MMO undertakings when you get these marketing strategies like "Hardcore", that seem to derive from people with zero marketing skills! Talk about shooting your company in the foot by alienating a major audience! Who are these immature imbeciles and how do they consistently find suckers to provide them with work?
The question I'd ask, "Why not both?" But alas, that is a story for a different day!
To answer the question this article proposes, I'd say, 'more than likely' as to whether or not WildStar hurt itself by preaching hardcore. More than likely!
Great game, great gameplay. Far too much rubbished being posted on sites just to get traffic. Players know what they like. If it has a healthy community then its going well. Simple.
There are more than enough games who appeal to casual players. Being a casual player is FINE. People get busy, life happens. That being said, we should look at the whole spectrum. They have made their choice, at times I love it, at times I hate it. At all times I RESPECT it. It's a great game, with a great attitude, and a great challenge to it. Embrace it, enjoy it, don't be discouraged by failure.
This game has all the features you could ever want from a themepark mmo, great personality, amazing customization, and housing(instanced but amazing). It has launch issues sure, but so did EVERY SINGLE OTHER MMORPG TO EVER LAUNCH IN THE HISTORY OF THE GENRE, and about a year later(some of) the game(s) gets drastically better but too many people have already moved on... and it is too late.
Let's break the cycle... Wildstar is the best mmo available on the market right now with the most honest transparent developer's (not saying much) I've seen in a long while. To anyone who can't support them and help guide the game in a direction you'd enjoy, I pity you and offer you welcome and assistance on the server of Widow(dominion). Just whisper Maelzrael. I will give you some form of cookies.
Disclaimer: Obviously there are better mmo's out there for different people.. My real life current schedule suggests that the best mmo on the market for me right now is WoW, as playing with one hand would have it's benefits while holding a newborn and a 2 year old. But I'm a sucker for a hoverboard, housing and the double jump.
Comments
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
Agreed, wish people would drop the illusion that WildStar is somehow harder than other PvE progression games out there. It doesn't help the game at all when people log in and find out the game itself isn't hard so much as time consuming. Well, yea, the game is hard, when you are stuck at 20 FPS with clunky combat!
But seriously, hope they fix all of this soon before it's too late. Would like to be playing the game again in a few months once they have worked out this mess.
Currently Playing: ESO and FFXIV
Have played: You name it
If you mention rose tinted glasses, you better be referring to Mitch Hedberg.
I thought the comparison was Heroic WOW vs Wildstar. Heroic raiding in WOW is still hardcore but WOW gives many more options for those who cannot play heroic. Whats wrong with that? Wildstar ONLY has the heroic option, doesnt mean it's more hardcore then WOW.
WoW splitting difficulties was one of the worse moves they ever made. There was no reason to do so and in fact the by doing so they destroyed certain aspects of the game, guild community being a major one. Anyone could have raided in TBC but those who didn't care enough to put the time in didn't. This meant that if you wanted to raid you had to be on for raids, pay attention, research encounters, etc, this also meant that you needed a community of people to tackle content with which also brought on a sense of camaraderie.
There was plenty to do in TBC and classic even if you didn't raid. You could explore, PvP, level professions which were quite tedious back then, it took months to save up money for fast flying, dailys, dungeons, heroic dungeons, etc. I never heard people complain that they couldn't raid, they did if they wanted to and didn't if they didn't want to. Somewhere along the line in Blizzards attempt to take over the world they decided to make everything accessible to everyone which is where people started complaining and the almighty nerf stick started being wielded. It was somewhere around the release of 3.2 I believe, dungeon finder, tier pieces for justice points, ToC, etc.
yeah that's pretty much what i'm thinking.. atleast if they intend to follow the same path with gear progression.. granted i have'nt really experienced endgame in wildstar but from what i've seen in dungeons it's really not that much harder either.. it's just if you walk in there with crap gear and have no clue what the fights going to to be you'll get stomped.. no different from any of the other games i've played really.
I had fun once, it was terrible.
Games been out two months, what game has balance down after even 5 years? Balance is a myth, it doesn't really exist, and you don't actually cite an inability of raiders to progress in the game due to broken classes.
Not one bit of what I wrote had a thing to do with the quality of your writing itself. It's pretty shameful for you to resort, literally, to flaming on a forum over a bit of criticism.
Ill leave you with a bit of artistic advice. Lashing out over criticism only shows insecurity over the work you do.
Um, but isn't that the very definition of hardcore? Working against all odds? World firsts are done by those running in less ideal conditions. Their gear isn't top notch yet, there are bugs in the encounter, the fights aren't totally spelled out in a youtube video or wiki page yet. They trudge onward, ever onward in spite of all of this... aka hardcore. Pretty much every world first in every game ever made was accomplished in a stadium that was not finished and with boots that didn't fit properly.
Can I explain what hardcore is in this game, it is an artificial increase in hp.
You still dance the same old dance, but just for longer. It is as dull as shit. hit, hit, interrupt, dodge; there is nothing complex here, it just makes you take more time than most people can. Some people here argue that this is true difficulty and it is not, it is gated access and repetition.
Please stop telling people that it is hardcore to waste time on bad game mechanics. It emphatically is not.
My main problem with the game is that group content in PUGs is about as fun as pulling teeth without anesthesia. Also all my friends don't seem to be interested.
Also pretty much all of the endgame progression is locked behind "hardcore" forced-grouping brick wall.
As a result i'm back to playing less "hardcore" games after my free month is over.
Two things:
The team might progress, but at the expense of the individual. MMOs are littered throughout the ages where underperforming classes are benched in favour of progression. It doesn't matter how hardcore they are, they're not taken because the tools they bring are broken.
Secondly, I'm a Brit. Poking at people who make grandiose statements about "going downhill" and "gimmicky writing" is pretty much a built-in response on the genetic level. With all due respect, if you're going to bowl the ball, you shouldn't act surprised when people play cricket with it.
Currently playing: WildStar, Guild Wars 2, EVE Online, Vain Glory.
This article is using old information to fuel something that is just not true anymore. Wildstar does have bugs like all games but NONE of them are purely gamebreaking (unless you are a warrior). There are barely any BOTS in the game. Engineer pets barely have any issues anymore, they aren't meant to be pulled out and forgotten about, you have to constantly spawn them and use their abilities. The raids are hard, the attunmenet is hard, the game is hard. The game is hardcore. The servers are populated and if you sit next to the credit vendor you can literally heard someone every 10 minutes with the "You just bought yourself some fine CREED". That just means another 20 dollars went toward the game.
Carbine is updating the crap out of the game and they have some learning curves but people's expectation nowadays are just purely outrageous. You expect things now and cry when you don't get it. Stop looking for things wrong and just enjoy the game. It's pretty amazing. Not a wildstar fanboy because I have my issues with it, but the game meeting it's hardcore title just fine.
LOL, sounds like it was worth it! xD
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
Doesn't feel that long ago MMORPG articles were singing all the praises of this game, now its doom and gloom.
Personally I am not surprised the population is dying in Wildstar.
I find it intensely irritating that people actually think being good at an mmo is born from anything other than having too much time and dedication to a form of entertainment.
I get so bored hearing the L2P elitist minority who treat a GAME like a job.
MMO's are simple, their mechanics are simple, Wildstar is simple if you have huge amounts of time to waste on it. Extract your heads.
Judging from how low pop the servers are, yeah, it has worked from a hardcore perspective.
And chased off the other 99% of the community that isn't hardcore in the process.
Enjoy your 1% Carbine, you earned it.
I leveled two characters to 50 and a myriad to 15-25. I love, love, love the game. But sadly, Im realizing I don't have the desire, will power, or time to devote to finding a guild of like-minded people in order to raid. So, for me, theres nothing at max level in the game. I politely bowed out a week ago.
All of the people that say "theres more to do at max level than raiding...dungeons, pvp, crafting, adventures, etc ". ... come on. Its all run of the mill crap you find in any mmo. Theres ZERO for a solo player that is looking for progression on his own terms. I find myself skilled enough to be hardcore, but without the time to devote to it. I don't mind a dungeon run every night or so, but theres nothing else for me to do to push myself to the limit.
I cannot raid, I dont PvP. So progression wise for solo? Nothing.
Im still waiting for that type of MMO. GW2 had a good shot but blew it with living story. Sadly, I might just return to GW2 because of its relaxed endgame style. ESO, while ridden with bugs and problems, is not focused on a raiding endgame...maybe Ill give that a shot at some point.
Or maybe Im done with MMOs.
Overall, wildstar is a GREAT game and should be looked at for the future of raiding. Its just not the game for me.
Wildstar? The best thing you can do is get a REFUND like I did.
I won't pay a sub just to do dailies and walk on a empty(dead) server. 3-6 months playing for ONLY (one) a raid-instance-boss? No thanks, let me know when it became F2P next year
Im guessing you are not good at games then. I can pick up games I have never played before and destroy people easily. Its called skill, maybe something you dont have so you cant grasp the concept but other people do have it.
"For WildStar, the truth is actually somewhere in the middle ground."
My sentiments exactly!
Some people act like there's nothing wrong, while others seem to think the game is dead. Personally, I've had horrible luck with this game, yet even I would not resort to the doom and gloom of some posters. However, the game does have its share of problems.
For one, the game was horribly optimized! It is just now just starting to show signs of life in that regard. For the longest time the game kept crashing my PC with 'referenced memory' errors. I couldn't play the game for more than 15-20 minutes at a time during the whole first month without it crashing to the desktop on me. As someone that had just plunked down for a 6-month sub, I was a bit nervous for most of July.
Worse was when I decided to contact Carbine Support about it and was given the run-around that it was my graphics card. Soon after chatting with them, I did some research of my own (which didn't take more than 10 mins) which lead to finding that there were loads of other players experiencing the same issues. Graphics card my ass! Apparently Mr. Gaffney's "No BS!" policy doesn't extend over to the Carbine Support team -- not cool Carbine, not cool!
Luckily for me, however, I finally was contacted by someone over in Carbine Support with some reasoning skills. He told me that there was an issue the team was looking into and to give it a bit. Thankfully he was right and one of the latest patches seems to have resolved that performance issue.
I questioned the 'graphics card' excuse from the beginning, as my rig is by no means a slouch and I haven't had any issues in the dozens of other MMOs I play or have played throughout the past few years.
Case in point is ESO, which let's face it, runs circles around WildStar in the graphics department yet causes zero problems for me. Say what you will about ESO, but one thing is for certain, that game is optimized!
There are other issues with WildStar as well, like those mentioned in this thread, so to act like nothing is wrong is absurd, but I don't feel like it is game breaking either -- except for that crashing of course, which seems to be resolved now.
I like WildStar, I really do. The classes, skill-sets, and combat can be a lot of fun, particularly when compared to the old-school tab-targeting. Now when I go back to the other MMOs I play that use tab-targeting I find myself getting bored with combat.
Do I think WildStar needs some work? Of course! The shiny is just starting to rub off and those of us with some common sense realize that MMOs are works in progress, unlike more mature games in other genres. While the MMO should be at least functional and playable, we as players can't expect it to be fully polished at release. There are just too many variables for that to be possible these days -- most of which may be a result of greedy investors looking for an immediate return on their investment. - See Pathfinder Online for a breath of fresh air in this regard!
Games in other genres are like getting a new dog in it's middle to late years that's already been trained. It does exactly what you want and makes for a great companion, but it's lifespan is limited. MMOs on the other hand are like getting a puppy that you have to work with for a while. Eventually it will get to where it needs to be, but it will take time and patience. However, the reward is that it typically carries with it a much longer lifespan and can be enjoyed for years to come.
I feel WildStar will eventually get over the hump, much in the very same way SWTOR seems to be doing now. Unfortunately for Carbine however, most players are extremely impatient, fussy and extremely unforgiving; so it very well may hurt them financially if they don't adjust well to the hits they've taken from these struggles they are currently going through. Time will tell, but certainly dividing your audience via this 'hardcore' deal is not what I'd like to call a great business strategy.
Which brings me to the following: It always amazes me with these multi-million dollar MMO undertakings when you get these marketing strategies like "Hardcore", that seem to derive from people with zero marketing skills! Talk about shooting your company in the foot by alienating a major audience! Who are these immature imbeciles and how do they consistently find suckers to provide them with work?
The question I'd ask, "Why not both?" But alas, that is a story for a different day!
To answer the question this article proposes, I'd say, 'more than likely' as to whether or not WildStar hurt itself by preaching hardcore. More than likely!
Edit: typos, wording
This game has all the features you could ever want from a themepark mmo, great personality, amazing customization, and housing(instanced but amazing). It has launch issues sure, but so did EVERY SINGLE OTHER MMORPG TO EVER LAUNCH IN THE HISTORY OF THE GENRE, and about a year later(some of) the game(s) gets drastically better but too many people have already moved on... and it is too late.
Let's break the cycle... Wildstar is the best mmo available on the market right now with the most honest transparent developer's (not saying much) I've seen in a long while. To anyone who can't support them and help guide the game in a direction you'd enjoy, I pity you and offer you welcome and assistance on the server of Widow(dominion). Just whisper Maelzrael. I will give you some form of cookies.
Disclaimer: Obviously there are better mmo's out there for different people.. My real life current schedule suggests that the best mmo on the market for me right now is WoW, as playing with one hand would have it's benefits while holding a newborn and a 2 year old. But I'm a sucker for a hoverboard, housing and the double jump.