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[Editorial] WildStar: Too Much Hand-Holding?
BillMurphy
Former Managing EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 4,565
Before you condemn me, I will state that I absolutely have enjoyed my time in WildStar’s closed beta. It’s a rare MMO that has true personality and character, even if said flair can be over the top for some. It also has some of the most fun combat in recent memory. But there’s one thing that’s been plaguing my play as of late, and that’s a combination of the UI and the sheer amount of direction the game tries to give you. WildStar doesn’t hold your hand… it drags you by every body part in a million different directions and can leave you feeling absolutely torn on what it is you should be doing. My question for Carbine and you all is: does WildStar point the player in too many divergent directions or is more always better in an MMO trying to please so many playstyles?
Read the rest of Bill Murphy's WildStar - Too Much Hand-Holding?
One step in the right direction!
Try to be excellent to everyone you meet. You never know what someone else has seen or endured.
Comments
great article!
that said- at first is a bit overwhelming- and its because of this...
we are actually used to beign hand held in other mmos-and when they present you with multiple choices (something one isnt used too) it may seem like your beign pulled in many direction-especially after landing in the planet nexus!
but i welcome this, becouse you can make your choice of interest right fom the get go at level 1!!!- no need to level up cupcake to get to any point of interest!- thats not to say it wont be challenging!- it is!!!
and with many mmo vets short attention span-weve come such along way that we need diversion and other interest than just quest A--->to quest B..
it may seem like an overwhelming game from the get go- but once you figure that 'hey- i can do what i want!..no hand holding...' its a pretty badass feeling!
the beginning will only mold you for your endgame goal!
Wildstar just ended up feeling dull to me. The combat is a nice gimmick until it gets annoying and the quests are just bland. The end result is the game feeling like.. I don't know. I don't think I've ever felt as un-interested in a game after playing it before.
Of course that's just my opinion, I know a lot of people love the game. I agree with Bill in regards to the ESO questing feeling better. The quests in Wildstar just feel like filler to get XP.
I'm really tired of games filling 1-50 with "junk" to some magical "end game" that's the goal. The ENTIRE game should be the goal, not the content at max level.
It seems we didn't play the same game named WildStar. I never played a MMO with more hand holding than in Carbine's Sci-Fi project.
Elite: Dangerous - Space Exploration & Trading.
I will condemn you for the fact you are holding Wildstar up to different standards than TESO.
Both games hold your hand every step of the way, even in PvP. They are themeparks from start to finish. The very worlds are designed around handholding, from split faction lands behind walls to PvP behind walls.
Yet somehow TESO is praised and Wildstar condemned. But by the end of the article we can see why. This article basically was just about the games UI and not really the base game itself making the title misleading. Yet of course if you look at TESOs UI, there is nothing there, its near pointless. But the article lead me to wonder if it was only written so you could end it like you did. That you are enjoying the story telling in TESO more, a fopaux for such an article making it seem more like an endorsement for another game.
The problem is that Wildstar gets boring fast, whereas TESO gets fun after level 10. Wildstar is a neat game, but the writer is right, quests pop up at you every thirty seconds and you just get overwhelmed with boring stuff to do. TESO pve is just as boring, but still a little easier to navigate. They both feel like run from point-to-point games, but wildstar just seems to have 10x as many points as TESO.
"My question for Carbine and you all is: does WildStar point the player in too many divergent directions or is more always better in an MMO trying to please so many playstyles?"
Isn't the NDA still up for us common folk? I just had my first weekend with the Wildstar beta and there's so much I want to say in regards to this article, but alas, Carbine wants us to think that the other developers have no clue what they're doing with their game. So, the best answer I can give is:
*****************NDA EDIT*****************
Are there legal repercussions for breaking an NDA or just banned accounts?
Can I have some of whatever you are smoking?
If you think this article is condemning Wildstar, then I'd hate to see how you'd react to actual bashing. Not to mention the ~6months + of nonstop bashing of ESO these forums have been bandwagonning (which, btw, still haven't stopped yet). Honestly I've seen barely any criticism of Wildstar on this site. Most people, just say 'I didn't like it', or you have this article which is doing nothing more than asking for a minor 'UI change'.
Heck, this article is even framed in such a way as to be a humble complaint. It's not that the author has a problem w/ the game. It's that the game 'offers too much' and we can't handle it. I don't disagree with his criticisms of the UI, but when it come to criticism, you can't get much more 'kid gloves' than this article.
Dear Bill..
Wildstar is aiming at the gogogo crowd, the once not caring about the content but only interested in the completion..
I think they will love the experience.
for everyone else that actually cares about content.. There is ESO. ( this was meant as a joke) and i love jokes.
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
for the record- i like my glowing arrows!
as ESO feels too distant from its new player- i get it= you want us to explore- but no sense of direction isnt too good of a thing-to get your point across as a dev in anew game with so much lore.
Those were my thoughts exactly... Got a second invite to the beta this last weekend and logged in for about 2mins then logged out and had no interest in logging back in whatsoever.
It just didn't do anything for me at all. Like the article says far too much hand holding and not enough freedom imo.
Who would condemn you for this..?
Wildstar is freaking Guild Wars 2 levels of "Happy time friendship is magic, don't worry about leveling, or pvp, we don't want anything to be hard for you!" and the like..
There's no denying it..
There should be ZERO hand holding,it should be the players role playing and the players adventure,not the developers.All the developer should be doing is supplying the world,tools,assets.
As for quests,they should feel like a quest,not some quick errand or hit a couple obvious triggers run through some wall opening ,hit a few more triggers fight Boss,rinse repeat.
Creatures should move around,Bosses should move around,nothing should be a static play ground of connect the dots.
Game design has stooped down to very low standards,single player game designs meant to entertain for about 1-2 months.Then everyone starts talking about END game like there is some new magical game about to begin.Grinding gear progression is NOT a game nor end game or anything else you want to call it.
There is even worse in the hand holding department.I see these ugly colored hues around mobs when we click them,sorry there is no colored hues in my world and i don't need them colored to know what mob i am fighting either.
Also the red carpet is another weak Hand holding gimmick copied from FFXIV a game i play.I find my self NOT enjoying the combat but merely waiting for that red carpet to flash then i side step or dodge back,nothing skillful just a waiting game for it to pop up.
Markers over NPC's ,idk there is no markers in my world,go figure who thought of that hand holding idea?
FFXi is the only game that got it ALL correct,no hand holding at all,a game world designed to be like a real world,up to you to discover everything for yourself.
Too many games copying SOE and Blizzard,two devs that yes do some things right but the hand holding is all wrong.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Yea and we all know that graphics alone make or break a game.....THAT is laughable.
"You should never underestimate the predictability of stupidity!"
If WildStar was limited to the content we've seen in GW2 or ESO, then I would understand the complaint. However the open world leveling is only 50% of what WildStar offers. Finding the balance between confusion and hand-holding will always be debated, what can't be debated is that WildStar holds no hands in dungeons or raids (from what we've heard ahem). 50% of WildStars resources are being directed toward endgame where people will forget about the easy clickies and wonder how they're going to beat veteran Skullcano, Sanctuary of the Shield Maiden, Genetic Archives or Datascape.
What do expect when studios cater to horrible players who couldnt figure out the most simplest things about the game?
I have to agree with Bill here.
Maybe it's the fact that ESO and Wildstar are ending their beta's and launching near each other. Because the way the two games are designed there are sharp contrasts that come to light when comparing the two games.
Had I not been just testing ESO, I may have seen Wildstar's beta in a different light. But playing both so close together just emphasized the difference approaches to quests, UI's, and exploration.
In this case, I personally find ESO more to my taste. I think it's also good for Wildstar to see this contrast before launch. This gives them time to refine the experience to cater to a larger audience, and I believe they really want to do this.
Haha! Great post. I agree 100%. The only time I don't find questing to be a chore is when it is 100% optional and not the primary focus of the game.
Oh I thought you had actually tried ESO?
ESO was even more linear than SWTOR, and made Rift seem like a sandbox. And no, I am not talking about the starter islands.