Is Wildstar a fail? Depends on what you define a fail. From indications (I don't have the figures) it appears they not only made their money back but have made a profit from the game so in that sense it is not a fail.
The game still exists, it hasn't shut down, so not a fail.
Does it have the population that the developers thought it would? I don't know, it might so saying it is a fail for population and merging into a megasever is not really a true statement.
I would say that only part of the mmo playerbase thinks the game failed, but I choose to believe that as long as the game is still active and hasn't been shut down then it is not a fail.
Is Wildstar a fail? Depends on what you define a fail. From indications (I don't have the figures) it appears they not only made their money back but have made a profit from the game so in that sense it is not a fail.
The game still exists, it hasn't shut down, so not a fail.
Does it have the population that the developers thought it would? I don't know, it might so saying it is a fail for population and merging into a megasever is not really a true statement.
I would say that only part of the mmo playerbase thinks the game failed, but I choose to believe that as long as the game is still active and hasn't been shut down then it is not a fail.
Which indications are you talking about?
The absolute best one we have - and the only one that matters - is NCSoft's recent quarterly report and that certainly didn't suggest it had made its money back. If you check it out you will see that marketing costs consumed nearly half of the revenue and physical production costs took another chunk.
On top of those costs of course you have the small matter of 7 years development costs + what they paid to buy Carbine who had started developing it 2 years earlier.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
This article talks of server mergers and such. i can defiantly see why there doing so. i played Wildstar for 2 months but not at launch. i do this now one to let the rush kill themselves thru and to see if the game has improved and from launch. that being said as for the server mergers i can see why there doing it. i tried two diff servers and man those things are ghost towns. one evening i played for 2 hours before i seen another soul.
Now the main question i have is, has Wildstar failed, or not? the game hasn't been out no time and servers are shrinking. this is obviously not a good sign. so what do you think. personally i think a buy to play option would have been better for this game at launch. at least then the players for the most part would still keep playing.
You can log into WoW on any given day and pretty much say the same thing. They've spread there playerbase across even more servers and their solution is to coalesce servers virtually in order to make them appear more full. Even doing all that they still can seem like ghost towns because there are so few really populated servers.
I agree that the subscription model was a bad choice... as it was for ESO.
I agree with this^
I've been lvling a new toon the past week on WoW, and I can honestly say that I've only came across 10-15 players in total from lvl 1 to 72. Every zone in WoW seems to be dead.
Of course it changes in Org and in the RP capitals.
The minor - as in obvious - difference being... Wildstar has ~30 servers, as a newly launched game and is clearly struggling to keep them if they're already talking merges.
Also, referring to what you're seeing out and about in the different zones is not really a reliable way to judge it. For one, again... we know the game has ~6 million people playing it. Those people are somewhere. Whether or not you happen to see many where you are at a given time doesn't really mean anything. I've been wishing there were fewer people around in my playtime. It took me 15 minutes to get a single drop for a quest the other night, because there were about 6 other people just in my small questing area, all hunting the same mobs; and that's been the case in every zone I've been in so far. I've seen people everywhere, in every zone. Every time I've played. So, again.. personal experience doesn't really mean much.
Also, considering how many people hang out in or around Towns and Cities, or are spending time in BGs or Instances... that's another big chunk right there. Want to see a high concentration of people in a lowbie area? Go to Goldshire at pretty much any given time. They're everywhere.
The fact that you're using WoW - a MMO that is still inarguably a giant - as the basis to judge the success of Wildstar - a brand-new MMO that just released and is apparently having some trouble boggles the mind. I get it.. you're saying "Well, even WoW is a ghost-town!" as a way to lessen the significance of Wildstar's situation. It's just not going to fly. You should really use a MMO that's more comparable to Wildstar in terms of playerbase and server number.
I was going to ask why it matters or not whether Wildstar failed or not. However, with all the posts in this thread, I guess it does matter. Personally I think its more important to gage whether the game is a success or failure for you in terms of if you are going to play it or not.
I believe it has failed. One reason why is because I see guilds (including my old guild) struggle to maintain players. Many players just stopped signing on. I also read on that forums that even the top raiding guilds are struggling to find new players. I know the mega servers will help but if players are already leaving then its not because of server issues but game mechanics. Not to mention, I personally stopped my sub last month.
Originally posted by sumdumguy1 I was going to ask why it matters or not whether Wildstar failed or not. However, with all the posts in this thread, I guess it does matter. Personally I think its more important to gage whether the game is a success or failure for you in terms of if you are going to play it or not.
I agree.
Every recent game has "failed" in one way or another. The only real successful game anymore is one that releases and doesn't lose a single player. All games lose many players after release and those players that remain are usually loyal fans, and the game becomes a niche title. IMHO WS hasn't failed anymore than ESO or FFXIV:ARR. The only game that fails is the one that has the plug pulled from it, and even then it doesn't mean that it is a bad game.
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
First, I just want to say to those that compare WOW with WS is a dumb ass... (That goes with comparing any game with WOW...) WOW not only has YEARS of bug smashing, system polishing, and class balancing .... but it came out when there wasn't that many MMOs to choose from... So it was able to gain a HUGE following and loyal players. I mean WOW has had its set backs and has over come them ( take that wonderful "Corrupted Blood" Bug and people still b*tch about the classes being unbalanced...). Anyway, I believe any MMO, if the company really cares about their game, can make a come back.
On to my option about WS... I wanted to say that I don't think WS has completely failed... I mean, the game has a lot of good points going for it. I truly believe that they tried to do too much and were pushed to release it too early. Playing it from Beta until last month, I can say that the main reason for the lack of players is because they are not fixing the big problems that matter more to the players. I mean the poor Spellslingers should have been fixed as soon as they knew they had a problem.. But instead they released a whole new zone... I haven't seen anyone on the forums or in game say that they didn't have anything to do once they hit end game... So WS could have held off until they fixed the problems they currently had. I think their focus needs to be on making the game that they do have better before adding too it.. (tho from the last time I looked at the forums, they don't seem to be understanding that... In fact, they seem to be planning more new content...)
Anyway, new company or not, I hope they pull their heads out of their butts while they still have a chance to recover... or they really will fail... Sux too.... I really enjoyed the game T_T
B2P works fine for GW2, they pump out the content (well at least re roll content) often enough for it to feel steady.
But for Carbine, they wanted to do once a month patches, but we see now that isn't going so well.
So maybe true free to play with content once every three months maybe ?
I really hope they have a plan.
Except the fact that GW2 had store accomadies that people would buy. Keys to lock boxes, skins, boosts maybe... who knows what else as I played a bit at launch and been away for a year plus some change. Does WS even have a store beyond the CREDD?
As long as they are pulling revenue then one cannot say its a failure, even if the profits are much lower than anticipated. Well Carbine got their niche crowd, just don't think they realized how niche of a niche it was going to be. Go figure, people have been saying ever since Carbine stated their intentions, Blizzard went away from 40 man raid for good reason and very few but very vocal wanted Vanilla raiding brought back.
Big question is going to be what or if NCSoft will do if profits are not up to par in their eyes.
First, I just want to say to those that compare WOW with WS is a dumb ass... (That goes with comparing any game with WOW...) WOW not only has YEARS of bug smashing, system polishing, and class balancing .... but it came out when there wasn't that many MMOs to choose from... So it was able to gain a HUGE following and loyal players. I mean WOW has had its set backs and has over come them ( take that wonderful "Corrupted Blood" Bug and people still b*tch about the classes being unbalanced...). Anyway, I believe any MMO, if the company really cares about their game, can make a come back.
On to my option about WS... I wanted to say that I don't think WS has completely failed... I mean, the game has a lot of good points going for it. I truly believe that they tried to do too much and were pushed to release it too early. Playing it from Beta until last month, I can say that the main reason for the lack of players is because they are not fixing the big problems that matter more to the players. I mean the poor Spellslingers should have been fixed as soon as they knew they had a problem.. But instead they released a whole new zone... I haven't seen anyone on the forums or in game say that they didn't have anything to do once they hit end game... So WS could have held off until they fixed the problems they currently had. I think their focus needs to be on making the game that they do have better before adding too it.. (tho from the last time I looked at the forums, they don't seem to be understanding that... In fact, they seem to be planning more new content...)
Anyway, new company or not, I hope they pull their heads out of their butts while they still have a chance to recover... or they really will fail... Sux too.... I really enjoyed the game T_T
Released too early?! Just how incompetent does a development team need to be to not be able to release a polished product after a 7 year development period? My god it was actually delayed by almost 9 months because the early alpha testers told them the questing was abysmal. And guess what, they spent 9 months re-working the quests and they were still abysmal.
This cow pat of a game has so many things wrong with it, from art design to game mechanics that its almost tragic. Did they seriously think with the average age of mmorpg players these days that Saturday morning cartoon style graphics and humor would work?
I imagine NCSoft and other investors in this game would be pissed. But we all should be angry. I love mmos and I want to see millions of dollars to be continued to be invested into mmorpgs, but crap results like this will scare investors off from the genre.
Every recent game has "failed" in one way or another. The only real successful game anymore is one that releases and doesn't lose a single player. All games lose many players after release and those players that remain are usually loyal fans, and the game becomes a niche title. IMHO WS hasn't failed anymore than ESO or FFXIV:ARR. The only game that fails is the one that has the plug pulled from it, and even then it doesn't mean that it is a bad game.
In Wildstar's case, however, the possiblity exists that maybe it really IS just a bad game. Or... perhaps it's a good (or at least, decent) game for some parts (the journey from level 1 to level 50) but a bad game after that. Maybe.
There are just sooooooo many problems with the game that it becomes questionable if you can call it a good game. Yes, some people might like it overall but when you look at the various posts of people who left or didn't even bother before the free month expired, you'll find such a huge myriad of issues that "Is Wildstar REALLY a good game?" becomes difficult to answer in my opinion.
Decades old hardcore raiding mixed with seizure-inducing effects, carpal tunnel gameplay, and abominably optimized custom engine.
What possibly could have gone wrong?
So basically, you're saying it's to hard for you. Got it.
More to the point; Wildstar haven't failed... Yet. Let the doors close, and then you'll know. Don't be that guy who goes after the widow AT her husbands funeral. That's just not classy.
Empty games are a strange new phenomenon that we're seeing not just in MMOs but across many games. Look at Titanfall on the PC for example, even during the recent free weekend it was hard to get a round with the matchmaking system.
I believe the problem is market saturation. We have many often free choices and premium AAA titles to choose from. Anything that offers only cookie cutter bog standard and doesn't hook people in quickly tends to be forgotten, ignored and bleeds players fast.
With Wildstar I think they attempted to appeal to the wrong audience (hardcore raiders) with the wrong methods (cartoony graphics and many levels of boring ass gameplay). They forgot who pays the bills (30-something casuals with responsibilities) and didn't do nearly enough to hook them in early enough. A lot of people called them out on it online on sites like MMORPG.com during beta. Sadly they didn't listen or were too far along to change things and Lonelystar is the result.
This article talks of server mergers and such. i can defiantly see why there doing so. i played Wildstar for 2 months but not at launch. i do this now one to let the rush kill themselves thru and to see if the game has improved and from launch. that being said as for the server mergers i can see why there doing it. i tried two diff servers and man those things are ghost towns. one evening i played for 2 hours before i seen another soul.
Now the main question i have is, has Wildstar failed, or not? the game hasn't been out no time and servers are shrinking. this is obviously not a good sign. so what do you think. personally i think a buy to play option would have been better for this game at launch. at least then the players for the most part would still keep playing.
You can log into WoW on any given day and pretty much say the same thing. They've spread there playerbase across even more servers and their solution is to coalesce servers virtually in order to make them appear more full. Even doing all that they still can seem like ghost towns because there are so few really populated servers.
I agree that the subscription model was a bad choice... as it was for ESO.
WildStar's problem wasn't the payment model, it was their design decisions.
ESO's problem wasn't the payment model, it was trying to be something it was.
First, I just want to say to those that compare WOW with WS is a dumb ass... (That goes with comparing any game with WOW...) WOW not only has YEARS of bug smashing, system polishing, and class balancing .... but it came out when there wasn't that many MMOs to choose from... So it was able to gain a HUGE following and loyal players. I mean WOW has had its set backs and has over come them ( take that wonderful "Corrupted Blood" Bug and people still b*tch about the classes being unbalanced...). Anyway, I believe any MMO, if the company really cares about their game, can make a come back.
On to my option about WS... I wanted to say that I don't think WS has completely failed... I mean, the game has a lot of good points going for it. I truly believe that they tried to do too much and were pushed to release it too early. Playing it from Beta until last month, I can say that the main reason for the lack of players is because they are not fixing the big problems that matter more to the players. I mean the poor Spellslingers should have been fixed as soon as they knew they had a problem.. But instead they released a whole new zone... I haven't seen anyone on the forums or in game say that they didn't have anything to do once they hit end game... So WS could have held off until they fixed the problems they currently had. I think their focus needs to be on making the game that they do have better before adding too it.. (tho from the last time I looked at the forums, they don't seem to be understanding that... In fact, they seem to be planning more new content...)
Anyway, new company or not, I hope they pull their heads out of their butts while they still have a chance to recover... or they really will fail... Sux too.... I really enjoyed the game T_T
Released too early?! Just how incompetent does a development team need to be to not be able to release a polished product after a 7 year development period? My god it was actually delayed by almost 9 months because the early alpha testers told them the questing was abysmal. And guess what, they spent 9 months re-working the quests and they were still abysmal.
This cow pat of a game has so many things wrong with it, from art design to game mechanics that its almost tragic. Did they seriously think with the average age of mmorpg players these days that Saturday morning cartoon style graphics and humor would work?
I imagine NCSoft and other investors in this game would be pissed. But we all should be angry. I love mmos and I want to see millions of dollars to be continued to be invested into mmorpgs, but crap results like this will scare investors off from the genre.
Wildstar is the Ishtar of the gaming industry.
First of all, when I said released too early I meant that it was not ready to be released because they were trying to do too much. So yes, the game was released too early and if they had developed the game differently the time frame they had would have been fine. Next, you really can't bit*h about the art style as if everyone (or most everyone) doesn't like it because that is in the eye of the beholder. In fact, that goes for the humor in the game too. I, for one, enjoy both of those things and find them a refreshing change to the "realistic" and "anime" graphics and the boring story telling most MMOs seem to have now a days. At least this game has character even if they are having issues with their problem solving skills. So I still have hope for this game and if they do resolve their issues then at least I know you won't be there to ruin the game
Decades old hardcore raiding mixed with seizure-inducing effects, carpal tunnel gameplay, and abominably optimized custom engine.
What possibly could have gone wrong?
So basically, you're saying it's to hard for you. Got it.
More to the point; Wildstar haven't failed... Yet. Let the doors close, and then you'll know. Don't be that guy who goes after the widow AT her husbands funeral. That's just not classy.
I'm not sure how you're reading 'it's too hard' from his post.
Those are all legitimate and often repeated complaints from players. I guess in your small world, l33tness overcomes poor engine performance
Decades old hardcore raiding mixed with seizure-inducing effects, carpal tunnel gameplay, and abominably optimized custom engine.
What possibly could have gone wrong?
So basically, you're saying it's to hard for you. Got it.
More to the point; Wildstar haven't failed... Yet. Let the doors close, and then you'll know. Don't be that guy who goes after the widow AT her husbands funeral. That's just not classy.
I'm not sure how you're reading 'it's too hard' from his post.
Those are all legitimate and often repeated complaints from players. I guess in your small world, l33tness overcomes poor engine performance
Didn't you realise that if you don't like a game that was served up moribund due to many and glaring fundamental flaws, astonishingly inept design choices and mind-numbingly tedious gameplay, then it must be too hard for you?
The endgame progression (raiding 20 man and 40 man) was too hard to be sustainable. I quit not long after my well-geared guild kept wiping several nights.
Yeah I know everyone in here is a pro and most of you will say "if it's too hard then that content isn't for you, stick to the 5-man dungeons", but whether you like it or not, that is what caused that massive nosedive with the population. People want their endgame raiding progression to be slightly challenging, and not like Kripparian would describe in one of his videos "old school where you had to do everything exactly right timed right in the perfect direction".
It just doesn't cut it in 2014. People want to relax and be "casual raiders", they're willing to wipe a few times, but really they just want it to be time gated and not require some uber guild being super-stressed about it all in the evening after they're done with work/school and are slightly drained and just trying to relax a bit. WoW understood this and accordingly took its game in a more casual direction; Wildstar, on the other hand, was idealistic, and they've paid for it.
Decades old hardcore raiding mixed with seizure-inducing effects, carpal tunnel gameplay, and abominably optimized custom engine.
What possibly could have gone wrong?
So basically, you're saying it's to hard for you. Got it.
More to the point; Wildstar haven't failed... Yet. Let the doors close, and then you'll know. Don't be that guy who goes after the widow AT her husbands funeral. That's just not classy.
The game was "too hard" for most peoples tastes, and yes, it failed.
Originally posted by sumdumguy1 I was going to ask why it matters or not whether Wildstar failed or not. However, with all the posts in this thread, I guess it does matter. Personally I think its more important to gage whether the game is a success or failure for you in terms of if you are going to play it or not.
Well it matters because when an MMO fails -- really fails -- you don't get to play it any more, however much you liked it. Like SWG or Warhammer. Gone.
For all the hype about Wildstar... I tried it and went back to my f2p games, Neverwinter and Marvel Heroes. They have better aesthetics and more fluid gameplay.
Aesthetically, Wildstar seems too close to WoW, it's not as new as I was hoping. That said, I'll give it one more try.
Comments
Is Wildstar a fail? Depends on what you define a fail. From indications (I don't have the figures) it appears they not only made their money back but have made a profit from the game so in that sense it is not a fail.
The game still exists, it hasn't shut down, so not a fail.
Does it have the population that the developers thought it would? I don't know, it might so saying it is a fail for population and merging into a megasever is not really a true statement.
I would say that only part of the mmo playerbase thinks the game failed, but I choose to believe that as long as the game is still active and hasn't been shut down then it is not a fail.
Which indications are you talking about?
The absolute best one we have - and the only one that matters - is NCSoft's recent quarterly report and that certainly didn't suggest it had made its money back. If you check it out you will see that marketing costs consumed nearly half of the revenue and physical production costs took another chunk.
On top of those costs of course you have the small matter of 7 years development costs + what they paid to buy Carbine who had started developing it 2 years earlier.
Can't really call it a failure until it closes down, and even then after enough years has it really failed?
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Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
The minor - as in obvious - difference being... Wildstar has ~30 servers, as a newly launched game and is clearly struggling to keep them if they're already talking merges.
WoW has... oh hell I'm not about to count all of them lol... and still around 6 million players... after 10 years in service.
Also, referring to what you're seeing out and about in the different zones is not really a reliable way to judge it. For one, again... we know the game has ~6 million people playing it. Those people are somewhere. Whether or not you happen to see many where you are at a given time doesn't really mean anything. I've been wishing there were fewer people around in my playtime. It took me 15 minutes to get a single drop for a quest the other night, because there were about 6 other people just in my small questing area, all hunting the same mobs; and that's been the case in every zone I've been in so far. I've seen people everywhere, in every zone. Every time I've played. So, again.. personal experience doesn't really mean much.
Also, considering how many people hang out in or around Towns and Cities, or are spending time in BGs or Instances... that's another big chunk right there. Want to see a high concentration of people in a lowbie area? Go to Goldshire at pretty much any given time. They're everywhere.
The fact that you're using WoW - a MMO that is still inarguably a giant - as the basis to judge the success of Wildstar - a brand-new MMO that just released and is apparently having some trouble boggles the mind. I get it.. you're saying "Well, even WoW is a ghost-town!" as a way to lessen the significance of Wildstar's situation. It's just not going to fly. You should really use a MMO that's more comparable to Wildstar in terms of playerbase and server number.
Might give it a go again after megaserver just to see.
I believe it has failed. One reason why is because I see guilds (including my old guild) struggle to maintain players. Many players just stopped signing on. I also read on that forums that even the top raiding guilds are struggling to find new players. I know the mega servers will help but if players are already leaving then its not because of server issues but game mechanics. Not to mention, I personally stopped my sub last month.
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I agree.
Every recent game has "failed" in one way or another. The only real successful game anymore is one that releases and doesn't lose a single player. All games lose many players after release and those players that remain are usually loyal fans, and the game becomes a niche title. IMHO WS hasn't failed anymore than ESO or FFXIV:ARR. The only game that fails is the one that has the plug pulled from it, and even then it doesn't mean that it is a bad game.
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
Warning, first paragraph is a rant...
First, I just want to say to those that compare WOW with WS is a dumb ass... (That goes with comparing any game with WOW...) WOW not only has YEARS of bug smashing, system polishing, and class balancing .... but it came out when there wasn't that many MMOs to choose from... So it was able to gain a HUGE following and loyal players. I mean WOW has had its set backs and has over come them ( take that wonderful "Corrupted Blood" Bug and people still b*tch about the classes being unbalanced...). Anyway, I believe any MMO, if the company really cares about their game, can make a come back.
On to my option about WS... I wanted to say that I don't think WS has completely failed... I mean, the game has a lot of good points going for it. I truly believe that they tried to do too much and were pushed to release it too early. Playing it from Beta until last month, I can say that the main reason for the lack of players is because they are not fixing the big problems that matter more to the players. I mean the poor Spellslingers should have been fixed as soon as they knew they had a problem.. But instead they released a whole new zone... I haven't seen anyone on the forums or in game say that they didn't have anything to do once they hit end game... So WS could have held off until they fixed the problems they currently had. I think their focus needs to be on making the game that they do have better before adding too it.. (tho from the last time I looked at the forums, they don't seem to be understanding that... In fact, they seem to be planning more new content...)
Anyway, new company or not, I hope they pull their heads out of their butts while they still have a chance to recover... or they really will fail... Sux too.... I really enjoyed the game T_T
Decades old hardcore raiding mixed with seizure-inducing effects, carpal tunnel gameplay, and abominably optimized custom engine.
What possibly could have gone wrong?
Playing: FFXIV, EVE
Except the fact that GW2 had store accomadies that people would buy. Keys to lock boxes, skins, boosts maybe... who knows what else as I played a bit at launch and been away for a year plus some change. Does WS even have a store beyond the CREDD?
As long as they are pulling revenue then one cannot say its a failure, even if the profits are much lower than anticipated. Well Carbine got their niche crowd, just don't think they realized how niche of a niche it was going to be. Go figure, people have been saying ever since Carbine stated their intentions, Blizzard went away from 40 man raid for good reason and very few but very vocal wanted Vanilla raiding brought back.
Big question is going to be what or if NCSoft will do if profits are not up to par in their eyes.
Released too early?! Just how incompetent does a development team need to be to not be able to release a polished product after a 7 year development period? My god it was actually delayed by almost 9 months because the early alpha testers told them the questing was abysmal. And guess what, they spent 9 months re-working the quests and they were still abysmal.
This cow pat of a game has so many things wrong with it, from art design to game mechanics that its almost tragic. Did they seriously think with the average age of mmorpg players these days that Saturday morning cartoon style graphics and humor would work?
I imagine NCSoft and other investors in this game would be pissed. But we all should be angry. I love mmos and I want to see millions of dollars to be continued to be invested into mmorpgs, but crap results like this will scare investors off from the genre.
Wildstar is the Ishtar of the gaming industry.
In Wildstar's case, however, the possiblity exists that maybe it really IS just a bad game. Or... perhaps it's a good (or at least, decent) game for some parts (the journey from level 1 to level 50) but a bad game after that. Maybe.
There are just sooooooo many problems with the game that it becomes questionable if you can call it a good game. Yes, some people might like it overall but when you look at the various posts of people who left or didn't even bother before the free month expired, you'll find such a huge myriad of issues that "Is Wildstar REALLY a good game?" becomes difficult to answer in my opinion.
So basically, you're saying it's to hard for you. Got it.
More to the point; Wildstar haven't failed... Yet. Let the doors close, and then you'll know. Don't be that guy who goes after the widow AT her husbands funeral. That's just not classy.
Empty games are a strange new phenomenon that we're seeing not just in MMOs but across many games. Look at Titanfall on the PC for example, even during the recent free weekend it was hard to get a round with the matchmaking system.
I believe the problem is market saturation. We have many often free choices and premium AAA titles to choose from. Anything that offers only cookie cutter bog standard and doesn't hook people in quickly tends to be forgotten, ignored and bleeds players fast.
With Wildstar I think they attempted to appeal to the wrong audience (hardcore raiders) with the wrong methods (cartoony graphics and many levels of boring ass gameplay). They forgot who pays the bills (30-something casuals with responsibilities) and didn't do nearly enough to hook them in early enough. A lot of people called them out on it online on sites like MMORPG.com during beta. Sadly they didn't listen or were too far along to change things and Lonelystar is the result.
Good luck Carbine.
WildStar's problem wasn't the payment model, it was their design decisions.
ESO's problem wasn't the payment model, it was trying to be something it was.
So I double posted... Yay... And it ont let me delete one or edit it with out typing a whole lot of words...
First of all, when I said released too early I meant that it was not ready to be released because they were trying to do too much. So yes, the game was released too early and if they had developed the game differently the time frame they had would have been fine. Next, you really can't bit*h about the art style as if everyone (or most everyone) doesn't like it because that is in the eye of the beholder. In fact, that goes for the humor in the game too. I, for one, enjoy both of those things and find them a refreshing change to the "realistic" and "anime" graphics and the boring story telling most MMOs seem to have now a days. At least this game has character even if they are having issues with their problem solving skills. So I still have hope for this game and if they do resolve their issues then at least I know you won't be there to ruin the game
I'm not sure how you're reading 'it's too hard' from his post.
Those are all legitimate and often repeated complaints from players. I guess in your small world, l33tness overcomes poor engine performance
Didn't you realise that if you don't like a game that was served up moribund due to many and glaring fundamental flaws, astonishingly inept design choices and mind-numbingly tedious gameplay, then it must be too hard for you?
The endgame progression (raiding 20 man and 40 man) was too hard to be sustainable. I quit not long after my well-geared guild kept wiping several nights.
Yeah I know everyone in here is a pro and most of you will say "if it's too hard then that content isn't for you, stick to the 5-man dungeons", but whether you like it or not, that is what caused that massive nosedive with the population. People want their endgame raiding progression to be slightly challenging, and not like Kripparian would describe in one of his videos "old school where you had to do everything exactly right timed right in the perfect direction".
It just doesn't cut it in 2014. People want to relax and be "casual raiders", they're willing to wipe a few times, but really they just want it to be time gated and not require some uber guild being super-stressed about it all in the evening after they're done with work/school and are slightly drained and just trying to relax a bit. WoW understood this and accordingly took its game in a more casual direction; Wildstar, on the other hand, was idealistic, and they've paid for it.
The game was "too hard" for most peoples tastes, and yes, it failed.
Well it matters because when an MMO fails -- really fails -- you don't get to play it any more, however much you liked it. Like SWG or Warhammer. Gone.
For all the hype about Wildstar... I tried it and went back to my f2p games, Neverwinter and Marvel Heroes. They have better aesthetics and more fluid gameplay.
Aesthetically, Wildstar seems too close to WoW, it's not as new as I was hoping. That said, I'll give it one more try.