There are very few games that make me feel both so happy and so sad at the same time as WildStar has in recent months. I don’t particularly like myself for my view of “the glass is half empty”, but I find it hard to shake this feeling off. The game has been in a downward spiral since its launch, the end of which I simply cannot see.
The recent changes: Easier raid access, faster progress
The prevailing motto of the developers “The devs are listening” led to more or less prompt responses to the biggest complaints. While they continue to maintain the actual difficulty of the raids, access to these contents has been significantly eased. Parts of the questline that felt particularly “grindy” have been simplified so that latecomers can also participate in the raids faster (to then complain about their difficulty in the forum).
Another change is the availability of VIP and skill points, which could previously only be painstakingly acquired through ancestral gems that could only be obtained in very limited amounts – this gave characters who played from the very beginning a significant advantage, especially in PvP. With the new system, all characters – at least theoretically – can unleash their full potential within a week.
All this unfortunately does not disguise the fact that quite a bit is not working smoothly.
WildStar: A rocket in free fall
I praised WildStar in review back then for many positive aspects (and still do today), but it seems that the target audience is simply much smaller than expected.
All the players who longed for the “hardcore” raids of the past seem to have disappeared, or – which is much more likely – are simply not as “hardcore” as the often glorified past when you still experimented for 4 evenings a week around Chromaggus in the Blackwing Lair.
What went wrong?
I believe one can state without much opposition that a lot went wrong with WildStar. There were virtually no advertising campaigns for the game, or they were so cleverly hidden that no one noticed them. While all promises made at the launch of the game were kept, like many MMOs before, WildStar also suffered from countless teething problems like bugs and balancing issues that simply ruined certain aspects of the game.
No two months after the release, it was announced that the original plan for monthly content patches could not be kept and that they did not want to commit to any fixed dates – sad, considering that the contents of Content Drop 1 and 2 were mostly playable during beta. Certain inconsistencies in PvP (such as the uselessness of healers for a long time) drove many players away, and whether they will return is questionable.
The future: What could happen?
In the near future, we can expect megaservers, a rescue measure to consolidate declining player numbers, so that content such as instances and raids can still be experienced. While this is good for most players, it is rather detrimental to role-players, as I have already adequately mentioned. I sadly doubt that megaservers will be the comprehensive salvation that Carbine hopes for. Pessimistically, this looks like a clear case of “too little, too late” to me.
WildStar as a F2P game?
A long-term solution would be the transition to the free-to-play model, as many other games have done. Such a switch has, for example, saved TERA and SW:TOR from certain doom and turned them back into worthwhile projects with rising player numbers. At the same time, such a change is, of course, associated with a severe loss of prestige, as the transition is generally seen as a “death certificate” for an MMORPG.
If the developers were to take such a step, a new form of the in-game shop would inevitably be added. Possible offerings could include various exclusive housing items or potions that allow for faster experience gain. Account services such as additional character slots, name changes, or special costumes could also be conceivable, similar to what GuildWars 2 (and many others) does.
What is good and will stay good?
My favorite aspect of the game has only improved since day one – the housing is still fantastic, extensive, and the possibilities are virtually endless. No matter what one wants to realize, whether gloomy, silly, sublime, or kitschy, in Nexus, everyone can realize their own dream. The already rather relaxed maximum limits for items will be significantly raised in the upcoming patch, so one can let their creativity run wild even more than before.
The second major point is the fantastic combat system. Even after three months, I still enjoy the PvE aspects of the game, mostly due to the challenging telegraph system – although a few new enemy types with new attack patterns would be beneficial for the game.
What worries me: The developers
One thing that makes me very sad is the fact that you still see the developers cheerfully smiling in their livestreams. Perhaps I’m just imagining it, but I try to put myself in their shoes: They have worked for nearly eight years on WildStar, and the game received excellent reviews – and then the hype dies within a few weeks.
And yet they keep in close contact with the fans, answer many questions, and hold the “Nexus Report” weekly – even when only 500 people worldwide are watching the livestream. And yet they smile. I wouldn’t know how I would feel if years of work, which one is so convinced of and which was promising in every respect, failed as WildStar has. I can only hope that the people behind the smile feel the same way, that they remain optimistic about the future, and continue to hold on to their vision of WildStar – because the game is great; it just lacks players. So paradoxical as that sounds.
WildStar is an excellent game with a target audience that has simply become too small over the years. The upcoming months will show whether Carbine remains true to this small player core and continues to deliver what they promised or whether they will bow and make WildStar more mainstream, inevitably drowning it in the homogenized mass of today’s MMO variety. Regardless of what they do, someone will disapprove.
