WildStar is setting itself to be something completely different, a world that players like to be in, not just for game play mechanics, but because it's a fun place to be. Check out our latest WildStar column and see why we think it may succeed and then leave your thoughts in the comments.

MMOs are in desperate need of more flair, more often.  Why must every game be so gritty, dark, and “epic” all the damn time? I don’t think it’s too much to ask that we try to have a little fun in the worlds we’re asked to spend hundreds of hours with.  Not that games which try to take themselves seriously aren’t without soul.  Don’t get me wrong.  But what ends up happening? When every world is filled with heroes against some dark and malevolent rising evil? Well, what happens is they cease to be discernible from one another.  They all become some giant high fantasy goop we muddle through until something better comes along to capture our imaginations.

Read more of Bill Murphy's WildStar: It’s All About Soul.

I agree with this article, Rift, SWTOR etc felt rather soulless once the new-mmo smell wore off, my character and his enemies felt and looked generic, and as a result I couldn’t get attached, though swtor's cut scenes did add to my character, the gameplay took it away again. Wow, and some of the Korean mmos keep pulling me back as I genuinely miss my troll hunter, and forsaken warlock, partly due to  the personalities I imagine they have but also what is brought out  in the stylised look and bold culture s they are from. Wildstar has this charm in it’s races as well, the Cassari and Draken are right up my ally.

Originally posted by Yamota
I dont know, this game claims to be a hybrid but so far what I have seen are mostly traditional ThemePark MMO elements. And like the author said, the game feels like WoW in its early days which is exactly how it looks like. A casual MMO, not to be taken seriously, that is exactly what WoW was so without saying i, we all know what type of MMO this will be...

 

Casual doesnt always follow from light tone, besides, competitive 40 man raids and warplots for pvp does not sound casual to me.

"Our game is going to be different"

Just stop right there. I've heard it a hundred times before and I've long since tired of hearing it and never getting results. GW2 was the last straw

Originally posted by Deeter

"Our game is going to be different"

Just stop right there. I've heard it a hundred times before and I've long since tired of hearing it and never getting results. GW2 was the last straw

This is rather based on your expectations not the developers promises. They promise to make an MMORPG that is different, they are limited by the boundaries of player base and the genre itself, they wont make a puzzle game out of it.

I get the same feeling looking at WildStar as I got from playing vanilla WoW all those years ago (and even again the other day going from 1-10 in the trial version). It is hard to say what it is exactly, but there is just something about the way the world is constructed, and the characters in it, that make it seem 'whole'; most MMOs, to me, just feeling like a bunch of parts.

Like most games these days I'll reserve my final judgement until I've actually played it (come on beta invite), but I can't help but feel that tiny not quite explainable spark of excitement for WildStar.

Originally posted by Firnwind
You sure about seamless travel? Because I read that regions are zones and are instances and to change a zone you have a loading screen ...

Yes, the world is entirely seamless. The only time you will run into a loading screen is for the battlegrounds/warplots (PvP), housing, and the dungeons/raids.

And for those saying that the game is mostly a themepark, it's due to the fact that they haven't talked much about the sandboxish elements that much. The one today we just got a bit more information on was the warplot system (sandbox PvP in letting the players design the battlefield):

"WildStar Flavor" also means giving you choices. This is where Warplot PvP shines. In Warplot PvP, Warparties (formal guild-like structures – you can be in a Warparty and you can be in a guild!) will be able to own large plots of land in which they can add modifications to build up their base. The Warparty can then queue up for Warplot PvP and be matched against similarly skilled/built-out opponents. Warparty players will be able to damage and destroy modifications, repair their own modifications, and lay down mines, traps, and much more. There’s nothing static about that!

Originally posted by Joekra

Originally posted by Deeter

"Our game is going to be different"

Just stop right there. I've heard it a hundred times before and I've long since tired of hearing it and never getting results. GW2 was the last straw

This is rather based on your expectations not the developers promises. They promise to make an MMORPG that is different, they are limited by the boundaries of player base and the genre itself, they wont make a puzzle game out of it.

So it's not different. What are you disagreeing with exactly

looks like it's a slightly evolved WoW... 

all i've seen that differs from WoW is the combat. and you can get the same thing with many other games that also have 10x better graphic.

different and unique? no. 

will it succeed? no. maybe if it were released in 2006, but not 2013

should add that they have said that "you will only get to know bits and pieces of the story during leveling and once you htit cap, then you'll get to know more about the world etc"

so basically they have taken any interesting knowledge about the world and used it as end game content...

Not saying they are remotely similar styles, but one thing that has made me return to Atlantica Online off and on is that it is faily silly  There is humor, there is just pure silliness there.

When I ran my NWN and NWN 2 persistent worlds, I had like 2 complaints about how now and then the epic darkness was interrupted by a purely silly quest.  But I had like 100 compliments in it's favor.  I think people like some humor in their lives too and I also have pretty high hopes for WIldstar, though I am still having fun in everything I play, GW2 included.  So personally I hope they really take their time and really get it right!

sorry for the blather, fevers cause such things hah

I can not wait! I am going to fully support this game as I feel it deserves it :)

Go Team Wildstar!

I am looking forward to this IP and I agree with the article. I think that some who think Wildstar will be a themepark are basing that only on its stylized art as if it were WoW. Which its not of course because for one thing WoW doesn't have housing and Wildstar will. 

Which is part of the reason Wildstar might have soul because housing adds to the immersion in a game and helps a player want to be in that world and not just mash a bunch of buttons for a shiny item that does nothing for the longevity of the IP. 

That is also why games like WoW, GW2, & SWTOR will not last longterm-wise against next gen IPs because of their lack of immersion. Rift as well falls into that category because of limiting housing only to end-game players. 

So what the market needs is another cartoony "lighthearted" WoW type MMO. Got it.

Because the market is already flooded with hardcore bloody realistic looking MMOs...