I might download it again. But id be crazy to spend any more money on the game at this point. Everybody kind of knows the game is struggling so it's going to be hard to get people to spend money on a game with an uncertain future.
First and foremost is that NCSoft simply doesn't know how to operate a Western MMO. GW2 is the exception because ArenaNet has enough insulation to keep NCSoft from doing their PHB thing.
Is that meant to imply it was just another NCSoft Korean port?
Because it really wasn't at all.... it was a western MMO from the ground up. The game / studio was formed by ex-Blizzard employees who say they didn't want to recreate WoW again and start over.
Wildstar is as full western as it comes.... and NCSoft kept their side they typically known for away from it.
Even for the F2P launch... it was nothing like their KR ports and most people would say they have given away too much for free, which is something you would never say about any NCSoft KR port lol.
Unless you mean they were wrong to operate it like an western mmo and should have done so like their KR ports.
All credit goes to NCSoft for allowing them operate as a western mmo and releasing their hardcore western mmo experience.
Game is on deathbed due to lack of players > Players knowing its on its deathbed wont spend money > Game suffers financially and population wise > Players avoid the game, etc...
First and foremost is that NCSoft simply doesn't know how to operate a Western MMO. GW2 is the exception because ArenaNet has enough insulation to keep NCSoft from doing their PHB thing.
Is that meant to imply it was just another NCSoft Korean port?
Nothing of the sort. Yes, Wildstar is very obviously a Western MMO. What I'm saying is that NCSoft simply doesn't understand how to handle them.
To me it's very obvious that the "hands off" approach was dead wrong. The Wildstar pre-release dev team clearly lacked a responsible adult to keep them on target and there are rumors of a lot of in-fighting. The final product was aimed a 2004 audience. They completely ignored ten years of QoL changes.
While the launch itself was relatively clean it became very apparent that their operational team and live dev crew were totally out of their depth.
Which comes back to NCSoft. At the very least they should have provided seasoned operations managers and made sure that Carbine's live devs were following enterprise production practices. One could argue that they should have stepped in a lot sooner to reign in the internal conflicts.
My fervent hope is that Carbine and Wildstar get spun off to another publisher with operational experience.
Ive played Wildstar off and on for a couple years now... Its a fun game with an interesting story.
Im curious though. I see several players here mention the game has its problems. Sure it doesnt have a cash shop worth anything. When it went F2P i half expected to see a full blown money grab rebuild Cash shop, and it didnt happen. Im not sure what else is wrong with the game.
IMO there's nothing really wrong with the game. We see much worse titles somehow staying afloat on the market today. Some people don't like this or that about WS, like the combat, artstyle and such. But that applies to just any game there is. Many people hate TAB target, other games' stylized cartoon graphics or games being less themepark/more sandboxy just the same way.
The problem is Wildstar is definately Carbine. They are pathetic amateurs that have no idea how to run a game at all.
Wildstar never made any money from the start -what is again not the game's fault, but Carbine's inability to estimate the market. You can't easily establish a totally new IP unknown to everyone for boxprice+ 12,99/month and not give casual players anything to do for their money, but instead make fun of them for being "cupcakes". Perhaps B2P or a lighter sub like 6,99 or 9,99 would have made more sense.
The game then went F2P, again with a model that didn't make any money and has a cash shop with mostly unattractive content. There have always been tons of posting on the official forums in which
players asked for costumes, mounts, housing stuff, pets, event items etc. to
be put into the item shop...-but Carbine never did sh*z.
People wanted to sub and yelled at Carbine to give them a reason to, but the benefits of subbing just weren't there.
It's not like it's a bad game that nobody ever wanted to spend a penny on. Folks wanted to literally throw money at this game, even for such stupid things like bunny ear hats or sparkling boots and other fluff. Carbine just never managed to give people an opportunity to do that and in about every aspect of running this game they just stood there totally clueless and borderline lethargic.
By time many people just came to frown upon this company and they have a point. Carbine's PR has been a desaster from the beginning, as well as how they always presented themselves. At first, we had this wannabe rockstar idiot in our face, screaming at us that we aren't hardcore enough, while then he was the first to bail out -and then at some point Carbine switched over to total silence about everything. Official channels are usually the last sources to get any info from. The guys doing the live streams had no idea WTF they were doing in that game(!!) or how to play any class and we saw broadcasts in which the host was just helplessly pressing random buttons on the action bar and not able to take the viewers through that new content at all. O-M-G.
Steam won't help the game to survive, it's this friggin amateur company dragging it down. NCSoft should have shut down that studio long time ago (except for the art and design people who do an incredible job) and given the game to a different dev. But then, what do they care for a western title.
Comments
That was the original release date. This will be the 3rd attempt at launching this game. LOL
Wa min God! Se æx on min heafod is!
Because it really wasn't at all.... it was a western MMO from the ground up. The game / studio was formed by ex-Blizzard employees who say they didn't want to recreate WoW again and start over.
Wildstar is as full western as it comes.... and NCSoft kept their side they typically known for away from it.
Even for the F2P launch... it was nothing like their KR ports and most people would say they have given away too much for free, which is something you would never say about any NCSoft KR port lol.
Unless you mean they were wrong to operate it like an western mmo and should have done so like their KR ports.
All credit goes to NCSoft for allowing them operate as a western mmo and releasing their hardcore western mmo experience.
Hope it will bring lots of new people in.
Game is on deathbed due to lack of players > Players knowing its on its deathbed wont spend money > Game suffers financially and population wise > Players avoid the game, etc...
New players can get a welcome package and old/returning players can also get a welcome back package and 7 days free subscription time! Just click here to use my referral invitation
To me it's very obvious that the "hands off" approach was dead wrong. The Wildstar pre-release dev team clearly lacked a responsible adult to keep them on target and there are rumors of a lot of in-fighting. The final product was aimed a 2004 audience. They completely ignored ten years of QoL changes.
While the launch itself was relatively clean it became very apparent that their operational team and live dev crew were totally out of their depth.
Which comes back to NCSoft. At the very least they should have provided seasoned operations managers and made sure that Carbine's live devs were following enterprise production practices. One could argue that they should have stepped in a lot sooner to reign in the internal conflicts.
My fervent hope is that Carbine and Wildstar get spun off to another publisher with operational experience.
Im curious though. I see several players here mention the game has its problems. Sure it doesnt have a cash shop worth anything. When it went F2P i half expected to see a full blown money grab rebuild Cash shop, and it didnt happen. Im not sure what else is wrong with the game.
Played: UO, LotR, WoW, SWG, DDO, AoC, EVE, Warhammer, TF2, EQ2, SWTOR, TSW, CSS, KF, L4D, AoW, WoT
Playing: The Secret World until Citadel of Sorcery goes into Alpha testing.
Tired of: Linear quest games, dailies, and dumbed down games
Anticipating:Citadel of Sorcery
The problem is Wildstar is definately Carbine. They are pathetic amateurs that have no idea how to run a game at all.
Wildstar never made any money from the start -what is again not the game's fault, but Carbine's inability to estimate the market. You can't easily establish a totally new IP unknown to everyone for boxprice+ 12,99/month and not give casual players anything to do for their money, but instead make fun of them for being "cupcakes". Perhaps B2P or a lighter sub like 6,99 or 9,99 would have made more sense.
The game then went F2P, again with a model that didn't make any money and has a cash shop with mostly unattractive content.
There have always been tons of posting on the official forums in which players asked for costumes, mounts, housing stuff, pets, event items etc. to be put into the item shop...-but Carbine never did sh*z.
People wanted to sub and yelled at Carbine to give them a reason to, but the benefits of subbing just weren't there.
It's not like it's a bad game that nobody ever wanted to spend a penny on. Folks wanted to literally throw money at this game, even for such stupid things like bunny ear hats or sparkling boots and other fluff.
Carbine just never managed to give people an opportunity to do that and in about every aspect of running this game they just stood there totally clueless and borderline lethargic.
By time many people just came to frown upon this company and they have a point.
Carbine's PR has been a desaster from the beginning, as well as how they always presented themselves.
At first, we had this wannabe rockstar idiot in our face, screaming at us that we aren't hardcore enough, while then he was the first to bail out -and then at some point Carbine switched over to total silence about everything.
Official channels are usually the last sources to get any info from.
The guys doing the live streams had no idea WTF they were doing in that game(!!) or how to play any class and we saw broadcasts in which the host was just helplessly pressing random buttons on the action bar and not able to take the viewers through that new content at all. O-M-G.
Steam won't help the game to survive, it's this friggin amateur company dragging it down. NCSoft should have shut down that studio long time ago (except for the art and design people who do an incredible job) and given the game to a different dev. But then, what do they care for a western title.