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[Interview] WildStar: A Visit to Carbine Part 1

SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129

It's not every day that a reporter gets permission to visit a game studio and conduct multiple interviews of various developers, but Carbine Studios granted said permission, and we're here to discuss the results of this visit with the folks who make WildStar.  This is the first in a series of three articles so keep an eye out for parts two and three in the next little while. 

Read more of Jean Prior's WildStar: A Visit to Carbine Part 1.

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Comments

  • obocoboc Member UncommonPosts: 189
    Hard to believe any of this.
  • VolgoreVolgore Member EpicPosts: 3,872

    Interesting read....but i think that by now Carbine is at a point at which only actions matter. I guess only a few people still believe in their words only.

     

    image
  • parpinparpin Member UncommonPosts: 220

    as free to play this game might have chance to survive just like rift or swtor did, they need to change/improve a lot of things though.

    however as sub based game i do not believe wild star can survive, the game just does not worth the sub fee, like i said it might find small/medium player base who will keep it alive but nothing more than that. 

  • ConjureOneConjureOne Member UncommonPosts: 233
    and what exactly make wow sub worthy?
  • NitthNitth Member UncommonPosts: 3,904

    A visit to carbine studios...
    image

    image
    TSW - AoC - Aion - WOW - EVE - Fallen Earth - Co - Rift - || XNA C# Java Development

  • gunmanvladgunmanvlad Member UncommonPosts: 281

    I'm still amazed Carbine think that "spending more money on marketing" is a better tactic than "deliver a good product". Yes, fine, Apple pulls it off (at least it used to), but that's about the only example out there...

     

    I know MMORPG.com staff need to eat and stuff, so no blame on the writers ofc! Carbine would just go to another website, might as well use stupid people's money to fund a good website here...

  • WhitebeardsWhitebeards Member Posts: 778
    Originally posted by ConjureOne
    and what exactly make wow sub worthy?

    What kind of silly question is that? we can argue about it till everyone is blue in face but fact is that WOW has millions of players paying sub for 10 years where as WS which is few months old can not.

    Everything else is moot point.

  • PissedjediPissedjedi Member UncommonPosts: 31
    I wish a true pvp fan had asked far more serious questions and did not just allow them to slink by with that lame answer. Pvp had massive problems based on class balance,lack of player conduct rules to prevent cheating and lack of content. 2 10 man bgs and 1 15 man and a 40 man bg...is really skimpy. With that response i can state with confidence Carbine doesn't give a crap about pvp. And that is sad because if they truly did they would not have releases the game with pvp in the state it is.
  • ConjureOneConjureOne Member UncommonPosts: 233
    Originally posted by Whitebeards
    Originally posted by ConjureOne
    and what exactly make wow sub worthy?

    What kind of silly question is that? we can argue about it till everyone is blue in face but fact is that WOW has millions of players paying sub for 10 years where as WS which is few months old can not.

    Everything else is moot point.

    Nice evasion attempt :) still no answer what makes wow sub worthy or you can even add "in perspective to ws" to this question, dont bother answering if you dont have atleast one point to your argument

    i like that someone brought up apple in this argument, because the phone is total shiat (yes i do own one, in before the "you dont own one how can you judge" comment), its a perfect example how a product that once was good and popular established itself and pretty much occupied the market, making it hard for new and better products to compete with it just because their brands isnt known or people are brainwashed in believing in superiority of the said product just because ITS APPLE, NUFF SAID

  • jbombardjbombard Member UncommonPosts: 599
    Originally posted by ConjureOne
    Originally posted by Whitebeards
    Originally posted by ConjureOne
    and what exactly make wow sub worthy?

    What kind of silly question is that? we can argue about it till everyone is blue in face but fact is that WOW has millions of players paying sub for 10 years where as WS which is few months old can not.

    Everything else is moot point.

    Nice evasion attempt :) still no answer what makes wow sub worthy or you can even add "in perspective to ws" to this question, dont bother answering if you dont have atleast one point to your argument

    i like that someone brought up apple in this argument, because the phone is total shiat (yes i do own one, in before the "you dont own one how can you judge" comment), its a perfect example how a product that once was good and popular established itself and pretty much occupied the market, making it hard for new and better products to compete with it just because their brands isnt known or people are brainwashed in believing in superiority of the said product just because ITS APPLE, NUFF SAID

    I tend to agree.  WoW is a shadow of a shadow of what it used to be.  There are better games, it's just a lot of people are attached to their characters, and hanging around because of nostalgia.  That and the press lever get bacon gameplay, while extremely simple is somewhat addicting... well if you like those flash games where you just click over and over again to see shinies fly across the screen.

     

    Back to the topic at hand though, as much as I enjoyed my time in WildStar, their post launch behavior caused me to lose all trust in anything they say.  So I too will judge them only by their actions not by their words.   Unfortunately for them, all I see is content on a slower schedule with no marked improvement in quality.  To me that doesn't look like they are trying to improve the game, it just looks like they are cutting costs.

     

  • WhitebeardsWhitebeards Member Posts: 778
    Originally posted by ConjureOne
    Originally posted by Whitebeards
    Originally posted by ConjureOne
    and what exactly make wow sub worthy?

    What kind of silly question is that? we can argue about it till everyone is blue in face but fact is that WOW has millions of players paying sub for 10 years where as WS which is few months old can not.

    Everything else is moot point.

    Nice evasion attempt :) still no answer what makes wow sub worthy or you can even add "in perspective to ws" to this question, dont bother answering if you dont have atleast one point to your argument

    Like i said if  even i give you 10 reasons why WOW is more subworthy it is still very subjective coming from me. So i ask again whats the point? will it suddenly change the reality where WOW has 10 million subscriber and WS doesn't? why sky is blue? why water is wet? this is that kind of pointless discussion.

    i like that someone brought up apple in this argument, because the phone is total shiat (yes i do own one, in before the "you dont own one how can you judge" comment), its a perfect example how a product that once was good and popular established itself and pretty much occupied the market, making it hard for new and better products to compete with it just because their brands isnt known or people are brainwashed in believing in superiority of the said product just because ITS APPLE, NUFF SAID

    Yes you got that right ..'Blizzard has brainwashed everyone into thinking that their game is fun'. Wow!! lol

    I see another case of grapes are sour. I am sorry that WS isn't doing well but you are taking out your anger on wrong game considering WS wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for WOW.

    Carbine is ex WOW devs and where they derived their inspiration from is quite clear. And that makes everything you say extremely ironic and sad .

    Moreover you compare WOW to Apple then talk about WS as a new and better product even though it copies Apple (WOW) do you even read what you type?

  • ConjureOneConjureOne Member UncommonPosts: 233

    I dont need 10, give me one :) for now i only hear "bla bla bla"

    Its hard for me to talk to people who cant understand what I am saying and intentionally or unintentionally (i think this is your case) put things upside down... where did I say that blizzard brainwashed people? As a matter of fact where did I say that Apple brainwashed people?

  • WhitebeardsWhitebeards Member Posts: 778
    Originally posted by ConjureOne

    I dont need 10, give me one :) for now i only hear "bla bla bla"

    Its hard for me to talk to people who cant understand what I am saying and intentionally or unintentionally (i think this is your case) put things upside down... where did I say that blizzard brainwashed people? As a matter of fact where did I say that Apple brainwashed people?

    its a perfect example how a product that once was good and popular established itself and pretty much occupied the market, making it hard for new and better products to compete with it just because their brands isnt known or people are brainwashed in believing in superiority of the said product just because ITS APPLE, NUFF SAID

    I know exactly what you are saying. Now if you want to pretend that you didn't use the term 'brainwashed' then go ahead. If WOW is apple maybe here is a thought..maybe Carbine shouldn't try to copy APPLE? how about that?

    I know it is gonna be a futile attempt so i will give you the reason why WOW is sub worthy

    It is sub worthy simply because of the quality and polish Blizzard brings to the WOW. Whether it is the fluidity of combat, rich lore, the world, back stories ..just put any feature here. That is what separates WOW from other MMOS and players know that they are getting best bang for their buck. WOW is the only MMO where i have never regretted paying 15 bucks a month for the same reasons. And i still have to play a MMO which has same quick response and combat fluidity of WOW's combat. 

    I find it really funny though that you would say i am talking 'blah blah' coming from you i would take it as a compliment. image

  • V_i_OV_i_O Member UncommonPosts: 55
    Originally posted by Whitebeards
    Originally posted by Kaladin
    Originally posted by fyngerbang
    Impossible to believe any of this. This is now so far past ridiculous, its just insulting and embarrassing. Senior management of Carbine started jumping ship BEFORE the launch (e.g. their head of operations). Does anyone remember that? Who does that? Only people that know they're about to drop a steaming pile of crap and they don't want it on their resume. Then right after launch the senior management was practically wiped out. Who is dumb enough to believe Jeremy Gaffney had "family issues?" Seriously? How about the rest of them? All family issues too? LOL! My god people, open your eyes. How about the "megaservers?" Its called a server merge for a dying game. Megaservers, LOL! Canceling holiday events, idiotically timed drops right before WoW, begging for subs with 7 day free trials, massive layoffs across Carbine and NCSOFT, people jumping ship left and right... Its over. How about the fact that there still is no studio head? Really!?!?!? NCSOFT is a major publisher and they have NO ONE in the company to take the helm even temporarily? Here's your evidence, any big company manages a transition like getting rid of Gaffney by putting in another high visibility person to do damage control. They didn't. Its all quiet. Do you know what that means? Its over. My favorite quote from another post is "we had 270 people at launch, we still have hundreds of people here." No you don't. 270-70=200. Yes, I guess that is "hundreds" since there is two of them, but don't BS us with "we have hundreds." You have a couple hundred, TOTAL, which is very few actual developers - very few. How about the NCSOFT quarterly numbers? WS revenue is down by 40% in just one quarter! Look at the revenue chart, its posted here on MMORPG. The category of "other" made more than Wildstar. Hey, look at our two top new awesome products, Wildstar and "other." LOL! Wildstar's revenue this past quarter is less than GW2. Think about it, GW2 is 2+ years old and living off just gem sales. Wildstar is only 6 months old and is still presumably selling boxes, subs, and game time. Compare Wildstar to GW2 numbers in their first 6 months. Compare the cost to bring Wildstar to market with the numbers its making and its current trajectory. There is NO way for NCSOFT to recoup its losses. NO WAY. Wildstar is a flop. Sure you can argue with any one of these points, but all of them? Seriously? Its all just coincidence? One thing after another after another, and Carbine and fan boys have excuses for all of them. At what point does everyone just add it all up and just admit it; its over. If all that isn't good enough, there are articals all over the place taking about the Glassdoor reviews for NCSOFT and Carbine and it reads like a horror story. Read them yourselves. Hey Carbine, game over. Turn the freaking lights off, call it a day, and stop embarrassing yourselves - cupcake.

    Grats on your first post!

    I suggest you not make a 2nd though.  You've really pieced together one hell of a conspiracy theory with this one.  Some perspective would do you a world of good.

    Everyone has to start somewhere right? you yourself started posting in 2013.

    I however think you have lost complete grip on reality. The fact that you make snide comments about WOW's subs and then one up a failure like WS in every post tells me everything i need to know about hidden agendas and conspiracies.

    failure and is still sub ? guess they are so dumb to make a fail game sub until now or you are so dumb to think it is a failure while it is still sub  ? i don't know, i think i will leave this question to be answered by the audience or by obviously logic ....

     
  • jbombardjbombard Member UncommonPosts: 599
    It's not a fail game, but to say something is better just because it sells more isn't necessarily true.  More people eat McDonald's everyday than filet mignon.  WoW is McDonald's of MMORPGs.  It isn't bad, but it isn't great either, it's just quick and easy and good enough.
  • RazeeksterRazeekster Member UncommonPosts: 2,591

    If anyone knows my post history, I'm not one to usually advice a F2P transition, but I honestly cannot see how else WildStar will be able to survive. It doesn't offer anything unique or new to the themepark genre and thus I can't see it surviving with the subscription model. The only themeparks that can survive with a subscription model without offering anything new to the genre is WoW because it just has such a large and lasting player base (and no, I'm not a WoW fanboy, before anyone shouts that), and MMORPGs based on well known IPs, such as Final Fantasy 14 or/and Elder Scrolls Online.

     

    Knowing NCsoft though, this game will be put down to rest before it goes F2P  as the cost to rework a game to F2P on the hope of saving it, isn't as cheap as some would believe.

    Smile

  • Entris38Entris38 Member UncommonPosts: 401

    Great article, thanks for the info. This game is on my "come back to " radar, so I will be looking forward to part 2 of this. Hopefully they can give some more concrete answers of the direction they intend to head.

    On a side note, if the thought of F2P arises, I doubt I will touch it unless they give a sub option with "Rift" type perks and where subscribers aren't stuck behind ANY pay walls.

  • WhitebeardsWhitebeards Member Posts: 778
    Originally posted by V_i_O
    Originally posted by Whitebeards
    Originally posted by Kaladin
    Originally posted by fyngerbang
    Impossible to believe any of this. This is now so far past ridiculous, its just insulting and embarrassing. Senior management of Carbine started jumping ship BEFORE the launch (e.g. their head of operations). Does anyone remember that? Who does that? Only people that know they're about to drop a steaming pile of crap and they don't want it on their resume. Then right after launch the senior management was practically wiped out. Who is dumb enough to believe Jeremy Gaffney had "family issues?" Seriously? How about the rest of them? All family issues too? LOL! My god people, open your eyes. How about the "megaservers?" Its called a server merge for a dying game. Megaservers, LOL! Canceling holiday events, idiotically timed drops right before WoW, begging for subs with 7 day free trials, massive layoffs across Carbine and NCSOFT, people jumping ship left and right... Its over. How about the fact that there still is no studio head? Really!?!?!? NCSOFT is a major publisher and they have NO ONE in the company to take the helm even temporarily? Here's your evidence, any big company manages a transition like getting rid of Gaffney by putting in another high visibility person to do damage control. They didn't. Its all quiet. Do you know what that means? Its over. My favorite quote from another post is "we had 270 people at launch, we still have hundreds of people here." No you don't. 270-70=200. Yes, I guess that is "hundreds" since there is two of them, but don't BS us with "we have hundreds." You have a couple hundred, TOTAL, which is very few actual developers - very few. How about the NCSOFT quarterly numbers? WS revenue is down by 40% in just one quarter! Look at the revenue chart, its posted here on MMORPG. The category of "other" made more than Wildstar. Hey, look at our two top new awesome products, Wildstar and "other." LOL! Wildstar's revenue this past quarter is less than GW2. Think about it, GW2 is 2+ years old and living off just gem sales. Wildstar is only 6 months old and is still presumably selling boxes, subs, and game time. Compare Wildstar to GW2 numbers in their first 6 months. Compare the cost to bring Wildstar to market with the numbers its making and its current trajectory. There is NO way for NCSOFT to recoup its losses. NO WAY. Wildstar is a flop. Sure you can argue with any one of these points, but all of them? Seriously? Its all just coincidence? One thing after another after another, and Carbine and fan boys have excuses for all of them. At what point does everyone just add it all up and just admit it; its over. If all that isn't good enough, there are articals all over the place taking about the Glassdoor reviews for NCSOFT and Carbine and it reads like a horror story. Read them yourselves. Hey Carbine, game over. Turn the freaking lights off, call it a day, and stop embarrassing yourselves - cupcake.

    Grats on your first post!

    I suggest you not make a 2nd though.  You've really pieced together one hell of a conspiracy theory with this one.  Some perspective would do you a world of good.

    Everyone has to start somewhere right? you yourself started posting in 2013.

    I however think you have lost complete grip on reality. The fact that you make snide comments about WOW's subs and then one up a failure like WS in every post tells me everything i need to know about hidden agendas and conspiracies.

    failure and is still sub ? guess they are so dumb to make a fail game sub until now or you are so dumb to think it is a failure while it is still sub  ? i don't know, i think i will leave this question to be answered by the audience or by obviously logic ....

     

    Yes because a game is only a failure when it goes F2P right? lets ignore all other factors like people being fired from their jobs, those in lead of development leaving Carbine, downsizing of their team and obvious issue of very low population along with lackluster sales and low profit they made for Ncsoft.

    So you were saying something about 'logic'? if WS is a success then i guess we understand that term very differently.

  • WhitebeardsWhitebeards Member Posts: 778
    Originally posted by jbombard
    It's not a fail game, but to say something is better just because it sells more isn't necessarily true.  More people eat McDonald's everyday than filet mignon.  WoW is McDonald's of MMORPGs.  It isn't bad, but it isn't great either, it's just quick and easy and good enough.

    I am sorry but it is a failure. Lackluster sales coupled with low profits and dwindling population. In the end 'profit' is all that matters and if anyone has seen the latest NCSOFT earning reports they know where WS stands. Right now it is just a burden on their shoulder and nothing more. For how long they want to carry this burden is upto Ncsoft.

    As far as WOW is Mcdonald analogy i am not even going to touch that. I will let someone else comment on this as to why this is a completely wrong analogy.

  • JeminaiJeminai Member UncommonPosts: 151
    this site really goes to great lengths for the benefit of wildstar...
  • ConjureOneConjureOne Member UncommonPosts: 233
    Originally posted by Whitebeards
    Originally posted by jbombard
    It's not a fail game, but to say something is better just because it sells more isn't necessarily true.  More people eat McDonald's everyday than filet mignon.  WoW is McDonald's of MMORPGs.  It isn't bad, but it isn't great either, it's just quick and easy and good enough.

    As far as WOW is Mcdonald analogy i am not even going to touch that. I will let someone else comment on this as to why this is a completely wrong analogy.

    ofc you wont, because you cant

    and regarding my brainwashed comment, i will chew this down for you, but only ths once, start using your brain yourself, you were given with one for a reason. People who are chasing after "the next big fad" are brainwashed by their friends, neighbours, wives etc, people who own an iphone go on and on how good it is, making you want to buy one aswell (especially when you are a weak-willed individual) and you become part of the mob without your own opinion instead with a planted one from outside

    peace out bro, dont bother answering, i dont like arguing with not so bright people, thanks

  • WhitebeardsWhitebeards Member Posts: 778
    Originally posted by ConjureOne
    Originally posted by Whitebeards
    Originally posted by jbombard
    It's not a fail game, but to say something is better just because it sells more isn't necessarily true.  More people eat McDonald's everyday than filet mignon.  WoW is McDonald's of MMORPGs.  It isn't bad, but it isn't great either, it's just quick and easy and good enough.

    As far as WOW is Mcdonald analogy i am not even going to touch that. I will let someone else comment on this as to why this is a completely wrong analogy.

    ofc you wont, because you cant

    and regarding my brainwashed comment, i will chew this down for you, but only ths once, start using your brain yourself, you were given with one for a reason. People who are chasing after "the next big fad" are brainwashed by their friends, neighbours, wives etc, people who own an iphone go on and on how good it is, making you want to buy one aswell (especially when you are a weak-willed individual) and you become part of the mob without your own opinion instead with a planted one from outside

    peace out bro, dont bother answering, i dont like arguing with not so bright people, thanks

    Not because i cant but because the horse is dead. And i don't want to beat it anymore. 

    I see i have hit the nerve with you now...hence the name calling. For someone who outright denied using the term 'brainwashed' few minutes after making the post shouldn't be calling me 'not so bright' or anyone else for that matter.

    The biggest fail of argument is when you start throwing personal insults, that means you have run out of relevant material to talk about.

    What you call 'brainwashed' is what us normal people called 'good word of mouth'. I suggest learn and understand the term 'brainwashed' before you start an argument. When i tell my friends or cousins that there is a MMO called WOW and you should check it out that is not brainwashing..lol. 

    Even if i force my friends and family into buying WOW i can not make them stick to it. To say that millions of people who have been playing WOW for 10 years now have been coerced or brainwashed into is just insane.

    I bet no one has ever told their friends about Wildstar..right? if they did i am sure that is brainwashing too by this logic? or that logic applies only to WOW? 

    Please stop typing. Thank you.

  • FrodoFraginsFrodoFragins Member EpicPosts: 6,050
    As someone else mentioned it's about actions and not words for them now.
  • V_i_OV_i_O Member UncommonPosts: 55
    Originally posted by Whitebeards
    Originally posted by V_i_O
    Originally posted by Whitebeards
    Originally posted by Kaladin
    Originally posted by fyngerbang
    Impossible to believe any of this. This is now so far past ridiculous, its just insulting and embarrassing. Senior management of Carbine started jumping ship BEFORE the launch (e.g. their head of operations). Does anyone remember that? Who does that? Only people that know they're about to drop a steaming pile of crap and they don't want it on their resume. Then right after launch the senior management was practically wiped out. Who is dumb enough to believe Jeremy Gaffney had "family issues?" Seriously? How about the rest of them? All family issues too? LOL! My god people, open your eyes. How about the "megaservers?" Its called a server merge for a dying game. Megaservers, LOL! Canceling holiday events, idiotically timed drops right before WoW, begging for subs with 7 day free trials, massive layoffs across Carbine and NCSOFT, people jumping ship left and right... Its over. How about the fact that there still is no studio head? Really!?!?!? NCSOFT is a major publisher and they have NO ONE in the company to take the helm even temporarily? Here's your evidence, any big company manages a transition like getting rid of Gaffney by putting in another high visibility person to do damage control. They didn't. Its all quiet. Do you know what that means? Its over. My favorite quote from another post is "we had 270 people at launch, we still have hundreds of people here." No you don't. 270-70=200. Yes, I guess that is "hundreds" since there is two of them, but don't BS us with "we have hundreds." You have a couple hundred, TOTAL, which is very few actual developers - very few. How about the NCSOFT quarterly numbers? WS revenue is down by 40% in just one quarter! Look at the revenue chart, its posted here on MMORPG. The category of "other" made more than Wildstar. Hey, look at our two top new awesome products, Wildstar and "other." LOL! Wildstar's revenue this past quarter is less than GW2. Think about it, GW2 is 2+ years old and living off just gem sales. Wildstar is only 6 months old and is still presumably selling boxes, subs, and game time. Compare Wildstar to GW2 numbers in their first 6 months. Compare the cost to bring Wildstar to market with the numbers its making and its current trajectory. There is NO way for NCSOFT to recoup its losses. NO WAY. Wildstar is a flop. Sure you can argue with any one of these points, but all of them? Seriously? Its all just coincidence? One thing after another after another, and Carbine and fan boys have excuses for all of them. At what point does everyone just add it all up and just admit it; its over. If all that isn't good enough, there are articals all over the place taking about the Glassdoor reviews for NCSOFT and Carbine and it reads like a horror story. Read them yourselves. Hey Carbine, game over. Turn the freaking lights off, call it a day, and stop embarrassing yourselves - cupcake.

    Grats on your first post!

    I suggest you not make a 2nd though.  You've really pieced together one hell of a conspiracy theory with this one.  Some perspective would do you a world of good.

    Everyone has to start somewhere right? you yourself started posting in 2013.

    I however think you have lost complete grip on reality. The fact that you make snide comments about WOW's subs and then one up a failure like WS in every post tells me everything i need to know about hidden agendas and conspiracies.

    failure and is still sub ? guess they are so dumb to make a fail game sub until now or you are so dumb to think it is a failure while it is still sub  ? i don't know, i think i will leave this question to be answered by the audience or by obviously logic ....

     

    Yes because a game is only a failure when it goes F2P right? lets ignore all other factors like people being fired from their jobs, those in lead of development leaving Carbine, downsizing of their team and obvious issue of very low population along with lackluster sales and low profit they made for Ncsoft.

    So you were saying something about 'logic'? if WS is a success then i guess we understand that term very differently.

    yup a failure got 2 ways whether you like it or not it is either transition to f2p model to survive (SWTOR) is a huge example for that, it was a sub fee then it dramtically failed cuz 200$ million dollars on a game with low pop is HOLY CRAP they had to do something to get their moeny back and the only way was f2p to survive (actually they couldn't shut down the game or it would have ended to be the biggest loss of all time) or shut down like many other games did ( CoH and tabula raza), that is logic so speak by it , continuing to be a sub while being failed is stupid and dumb and i don't think they are stupid enough to do such thing, unless they are really profiting, they will continue the sub , nothing else to say and no negotiation on that, it is a simple fact whether you like it or not and the fact is the game is sub with a first time must buy from $60 to $40 after 5months + , and again transition to f2p model won't happen until another 6 months upfront (my speculation) if it goes so badly, so nope the game isn't dead nor failed but you can say it didn't succeed the way it should be

     
  • IanpactIanpact Member UncommonPosts: 13
    Thank you for the articles, Jean.  :D
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