Gamescom Mechanics Walkthrough: I like their combat system. Seems like they're trying to combine the dynamic element of a game like TERA with tab-targeting. Their class system also seems interesting, with different quest paths for each class. No mention of anything PvP related at this point. Edit: Low-level gameplay minus the dev talking...
Looks kind of interesting but NCSoft games usually cant hold my attention for too long, usually because they lack endgame content or it takes too long/too little time to get to the maximum level.
Bit more info First of all, go watch this trailer! Seriously, it's 3 minutes of your life and it will make you so much more pumped for this game. It's a trailer so it's not actual game footage, but it gives a great feel for the setting and atmosphere. Go! Then come back. is a terrible name. What is it? It does sound like a 90's all-girl pop band, but isn't! Wildstar is an upcoming fantasy/sci-fi hybrid MMO. From images released so far, that means an illustrated, slightly cartoony aesthetic combining huge swords, giant robots, magical beams of light and girls with bunny ears. From hype released so far, it also means a spirit of "high adventure" where players "lay claim to a mysterious planet on the edge of known space". What makes Wildstar different from every other MMO? Good question! Although information is scarce right now, the game seems to be based around the choice of four playstyle paths, totally separate from race or class, that determine how the world unfolds for you. These Paths help tailor the game to give you experience, loot, and levels for what you enjoy doing through something called "Momentum Mechanics". The four paths are: Combat (aka the Soldier Path): Everyone may get quests to kill a few bad guys that are annoying a quest giver. "Everyone" doesn't manage to incite a wave of them to action, eventually leading to the Biggest Baddest guy coming out to try and slaughter you back though! You can also choose to defend outposts, beer cans and cigars optional (but highly recommended). Collecting (aka the Scientist Path): Do you read all the books in games? You are already a Collector then- it's a state of mind, man. Now you'll get extra XP and loot for delving deep into the game's lore and secrets, using a droid scanner on weird and mysterious places, things, and creatures around the world. Building (aka the Settler Path): This Path has the least available info so far, but it's apparently going to involve a mix of helping the locals establish villages that "grow up around you", and being Nexus' Miss Congeniality and participating with other players in some fashion. "You’ll be able to create new settlements for fellow players, but you wont just be limited to houses and towers, you’ll get to build social relationships as well." How will this actually play out? We'll see! Exploring (aka the Dora Path): Besides Combat, this is the other path currently available at Gamescom. It involves wandering, trying to get to the top of that mountain, nosing through every nook and cranny in a cave, and y'know, exploring. To facilitate this, you get a Locator device that gives hints on nearby, otherwise inaccessible areas. Explorers aren't all just traipsing through meadows though- after placing one beacon, a team of snipers moves in to attack the enemies below. I don't get it. The four classes are Combat, Collector, Builder, or Explorer? You didn't read that last paragraph at all, did you? Sometimes I think you're not even trying. Wildstar has races, like every other MMO. It has classes, like every other MMO. And then it has Paths, which determine how your Race Class progresses through the world. One Human Spellslinger (more about that later) that favors Combat may look similar and cast the same spells as another Human Spellslinger that chose Explorer, but they will not be doing the exact same things. One will be diving deeper into Combat, seeing new challenges, and the other will be Exploring, though both will gain experience and loot for their efforts. Basically, the game's developers think that most players already fall into one of these four camps, and want the world to react to and reward that. Okay, enough about Paths and random capitalization. What races and classes are available and are they suitably fantasy/sci-fi hybrid-y? We know about three races so far! There may be more, there may not. They are: Human: You've probably heard of them. They're kind of lovable douches who tend to get in a lot of trouble all the time. Aurin: Are those... rabbit ears? Yes they are! Do we know any more about them other then that they're weird and cute? No we don't! Granok: Granok smash! Okay, Granok object to this hurtful stereotype. Just because they are huge golem men and/or women doesn't mean they don't have feelings too. Feelings and tons of weapons. We also know about three classes! Perhaps more will be revealed in time, but so far they are: Warrior: You've probably heard of them. They're kind of lovable douches who tend to get in a lot of trouble all the time. Warriors utilize technology, such as using fuel cells to power a "saw blade" and grenade attacks. They can take on big crowds of enemies with just their GIGANTIC SWORD though too. Spellslinger: They use magic and pistols. Magic pistols. Some of you are sold right there. Spellslingers imbue their guns with magic effects and can "carefully aim" or shoot more quickly using both guns. They have a lot of animation and twirls going on because it's not just shooting- it's shooting with style. :clint: Esper: This is not a lisp. They are telepathic/kinetic sorts. A esper did it. Espers can summon swords to fling into enemies, stomp them with a giant hand that pops out of the sky, and when they're low on health, make them explode into a shower of ghosts. I like what I'm hearing. What world is this set in? These questions are so convenient! The game is set on the planet of Nexus. Nexus was home to the Eldan, aka this setting's super advanced geniuses that have now mysteriously disappeared. Their world is, of course, full of weird and dangerous magic science stuff. "Nobody... touch... anything." There are also some eeeevil guys called the Dominion. Their likes include invasion, taking over other peoples' planets, and being tyrannical. This is all pretty interesting, but ambitious. Who's behind this? Wildstar is being made by NCSoft's Carbine Studios. Not up to date on your developer trading cards? Neither was I, but the more astute among you already know that NCSoft is a developer and publisher of online games with a plethora of development studios. ArenaNet is one of them, and they make Guild Wars stuff. Paragon Studios is another, and they're responsible for City of Heroes. Game Production is yet a third, and they're the brains behind Lineage, Aion, etc. Carbine Studios was founded in 2005 and Wildstar is their first, and only announced project at this time. Wildstar's lead is one Jeremy Gaffney, who co-created Turbine (Asheron's Call, DDO, etc.). You may also recognize Tim Cain, the design director, who created Fallout. PM me for trade details on a mint condition Tim Cain card. This sounds great! I get the Paths thing! I like rabbit ears! When can I give these guys my hard-earned money?! Er... um... see, the thing is Wildstar was just announced, and shown at Gamescom. While apparently there is a playable demo there, there's also a lot of stuff still cooking... That wasn't an answer. What is the point of this annoying format if there is no- Okay, that isn't a question either! The stuff being played at Gamescom has been designated "pre-alpha". So it might be a while. In the meantime, you can sign up for the future beta here! I hate you for this. Did you watch the trailer? The trailer's really good! Pretty pictures: Other stuff: NCSoft has a livestream at Gamescom! The Wildstar schedule is: Thursday: Demo/walkthrough (4pm CEST or 10am EDT); Q&A with Lead Creative Designer Chad Moore (4:30pm CEST or 10:30am EDT) Friday: Demos (12:30/2:30/5:30pm CEST or 6:30/8:30/11:30am EDT); "Live drawing"/Q&A with Senior Concept Artist Andy Cotnam (3pm CEST/9am EDT); Q&A with Lead Quest Designer Mike Donatelli (6pm CEST/12 noon EDT) Saturday: Demos (11am/1:30pm/4pm CEST or 5/7:30/10am EDT); Q&A with Executive Producer Jeremy Gaffney (11:30am/4:30pm CEST or 5:30/10:30am EDT) Sunday: DEMOS (12 noon/2:15pm CEST or 6/8:15am EDT); Emote contest I don't even (12:30pm CEST or 6:30am EDT); Creating Creatures with Lead Concept Artist Andy Cotnam (2:45pm CEST or 8:45am EDT) Whew. I think all these times are right, but you may want to check the schedules yourself to convert it into your own local moon time. Looks like the official Wildstar people are posting some very short videos of Gamescom action. There's various members of the team talking about the fan reaction so far, cut with footage of them throwing out free swag, cut with some brief glimpses of actual gameplay. You can check them out here: Video 1, Video 2, Video 3 (the best so far, 8 minutes of real gameplay from the demo!), Video 4 The official site! Read the official blog! Officially! (The studio also has its own site/blog, but it looks like the news is exactly the same.) Naturally, they also have Facebook and Twitter accounts too- do you think they're some kind of savages? Rock, Paper Shotgun's preview. Much of the info here came from there. More stuff on how it actually felt to play, and try out the Explorer path. "They’re onto something here: the populist MMO I can choose how to play." A blog post from art director Matt Mocarski about Wildstar's unique visual style. "...as for the style itself, I'd describe it as "hand-crafted."" A 2009 interview with Executive Producer Jeremy Gaffney about Carbine Studios' history and their design philosophy. "...one of our core mantras is "play how you want, when you want, with whom you want". More to come!
erm bc lets seeeee... most of them come from Korea? where as Wildstar seems to be made here in West and not East
In the mechanics walkthrough the dev guy confirms there'll be both more races and more classes announced in the future.
Yes, both of those are covered in the thread. The post was written before those came out. I don't see any real need to change the semantics of the post as of yet. It's a damn good post. Unfortunately you got here before me so I wasn't able to make it the OP, which is what it was written for.
I watched the trailer. Looks like it's designed and produced by Disney, for a Disney target audience. Sad because it looked pretty serious at first, until the retard busted into the scene with a lame "woo-hoo".
LOL, I wouldn't have imagined a Pixar-quality cinematic trailer could be a bad thing. They actually address your concern, though, about 3min 12secs into this video... Q&A #1: A look at the current merchant/inventory UI:
Q&A #2: They're being so [understandably] tight-lipped about everything it makes me think they should just not do any Q&As, lol.
Excatly. Because the majority of MMO's is a giant costume party. Who has the coolest looking gear? That guy looks BADASS he must clear all that upper level content. All about the looks, and I EAT IT UP.
WildStar Gamescom 2011 Exclusive Presentation Part 3: + Per-person and zone-wide phasing depending on what quests have been done. + Partial reveal of lvl 6-12 Defiant zone [z-axis usage ]. + Confirmation of "raid" content. + "Full PvP in a variety of styles." + Guilds? "Yea." [I didn't embed parts 1 & 2 'cause it's the same newbie zone + walkthrough that's everywhere else on the net, and in this thread already.]
i enjoyed playing it. sadly the pax computers were junk and the game overheated and crashed often. I loved how the game treated all enemies like they were bosses and wanted you to learn what the did.
wasn't a heat issue is was an issue with the game causing the computer to reach capacity when the avalanche happened and you jumped into it or got trampled by it, but yes i loved actively manuevering around my enemies when they started performing skills only to sweep around the back and put them into the downed state to do double damage, not to also count the fact that i was the 2nd person to make it through the PAX demo in its entirety woot woot!