WildStar: Die Prognose zum Headstart

Since Saturday morning at 9 a.m., the Nexus planet has been open for settlement and conquest in the SF-MMO WildStar. At least for pre-order customers. The MMO from Carbine is polished and ready to compete for players. But what does the endgame look like?

Old wine in new bottles?

“Not another MMO,” some may think at first glance. “And also a game with a payment model?” Those were actually completely out and outdated. And now, such a theme park MMO in 2014 is supposed to make waves? With 40-man raids, a linear quest system, with tanks, healers, and DPS? With a focus on items? An MMO with arenas and battlegrounds? Yes, it is supposed to. And it’s not nearly as outdated as some players might suspect and allege.

Already with the payment model, one notices that WildStar is not just another WoW clone, but attracts with new ideas – or adopts and further develops successful models from other games. For instance, they took EVE Online as a model for the payment model; game time can also be indirectly paid with in-game currency in WildStar.

The raids indeed remind one of a World of Warcraft, but of one from many years ago, with large hordes of players and a difficulty level that – according to the developers – is not to be consistently lowered.

Evolution instead of revolution as motto

In housing, one can even recognize slight sandbox elements, like those that a long time ago existed in Star Wars Galaxies. In the combat system, they go a step further than action-based systems like in Guild Wars 2 or The Secret World have done. They also take this step with the items: Even the most powerful weapons, the artifacts, can still become a bit stronger afterwards if players overcome insane challenges and achieve raid successes.

But this should just be a brief overview of the features that the game offers. Those who want to delve deeper into one of the aspects of the game can find reading material in our Link list.

Does WildStar have what it takes to be a hit?

The actual thing, the certain something that is supposed to distinguish WildStar from some competitors, is the long maturation process the game has gone through. The game was in a development phase of almost 9 years. Developers from Carbine state that there were two other designs of the game that were completely scrapped and discarded. Moreover, the game benefited greatly from a long closed and finally open beta phase. Throughout the whole process, the communication both ways was exemplary. Sometimes it even felt as if the devs were a bit too communicative. You won’t find many development teams in MMO history about which one could say such a thing.

In total, approximately 4 million characters are said to have been created in the beta – regarding player numbers, one suspects – there are no exact figures – a value between 500,000 and 1.5 million players. How many of those beta players will ultimately embark on their journey to Nexus this morning or in a few days at the official launch is uncertain. The publisher expects a large release and speaks of WildStar as “THE” summer title of the year. They have high hopes for the MMO.

Doctor, what is the prognosis?

WildStar could be one of the few games to actually break the cycle that many MMOs fall victim to: after initial excitement at the launch, there quickly follows disappointment due to too many unfinished aspects. Players come in droves and leave the game with the expiration of the free month, hopping on the next hype train. This very cycle has been analyzed and described by Carbine themselves – and they want to offer players from the start the “full” MMO experience.

Whether the launch and the first months succeed and run smoothly is – as always – a crucial matter for an MMO and a very delicate issue. From the beta, it is clear that one can play smoothly up to the endgame. WildStar offers a truly unique gaming experience in this regard. How it looks in the endgame and the raids is another question. According to reports from beta players, there is still quite a bit of polishing to be done here.

We at Mein MMO will definitely continue to follow the development of WildStar. It remains completely open whether in the end some gaming journalists of the older generation will be right who speak of WildStar and TESO as the last gasp of an outdated model. Maybe the fans of Carbine have been right, who have been beating the drum for the SF-MMO for months. Maybe it really is the new big thing. The fragmented MMO market needs such a game now more than ever…

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[intense_testimony_text]Not enough informed yet? Then we warmly recommend our Link list for WildStar:

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