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WildStar Wednesday: Carbine's community team goals for 2013
Welcome to 2013, settlers! Carbine Studios' community team has big plans for WildStar this year -- resolutions, if you will. To begin with, the team is committed to bringing the conversation to players' turf. That means being active and engaging on social media, gaming forums, "or even your guild's website." The team's second goal is to give players a voice in game design, which will involve stuff like turning livestreams into design discussions. Resolution number three is to experiment with new ways to interact with an MMO community. That will mean, to be specific, "trying new things." Finally, the team's planning to use beta testing as a safe environment for useful feedback, rather than releasing a beta when the game's too late in development for meaningful changes. We noticed that "launch the game" wasn't among those resolutions, but the team did finish off the post with a call for 2013 to be "the year of WildStar," so maybe all hope is not lost.
The Nexus Telegraph: Who's afraid of the WildStar Dominion?
From where we are now, it's hard to see a whole lot of good about the Dominion. Everything we've heard about WildStar's other faction thus far has been that it's made up of pure evil, absolutely the antithesis of everything you would ever want to stand for. These are not good people, to the best of our knowledge, and it comes as a bit of a surprise that they make up a playable faction in the game rather than a helpful organization of mooks in need of a good face-punching. Those familiar with my past work will know that I love rooting for the team that looks like the transparent bad guys. Unfortunately, right now we plain don't know enough about the Dominion to be sure of exactly what its deal is. Could be that it's as evil as it looks; could be that we only have half of the picture. So I'm going to go ahead and look at both possibilities.
WildStar hints at future holiday content
The final WildStar Wednesday of the year is an interesting beast, to say the least. It's a humorous advertisement for something called Protostar's Gala Winterfest Extravaganza, which looks suspiciously like a thinly veiled preview for a future holiday when the game launches. The Gala Winterfest Extravaganza is "a pleasantly vague and non-threatening holiday event" put on by the Protostar Corporation. It involves an artificial winter makeover of the landscape and plenty of shopping. Seriously, shopping is mentioned like 16 times. Carbine's developers also posted a new holiday card for its fans in addition to the following promise: "We can't wait to introduce you to the Dominion, reveal the other classes, and get you guys into beta next year! Have a Happy New Year from everyone at Carbine!"
The Nexus Telegraph: WildStar style
There's no two ways about it: The way that WildStar looks is just plain going to turn some people off. And while I'm hesitant to say those people are wrong, exactly, I think they're missing the mark something fierce. When the game's first trailer hit, the look was what immediately attracted me to the game. Not that it had a whole lot of competition; back then, we knew the name, we'd seen a couple of vague concepts, and we had a wonderfully animated trailer. Picking the last item out of those three was almost just choosing the more substantial option. But I won't lie -- I loved the visual style, and when it became clear that the game was bearing that out all the way along, that just made me pleased as could be. Some aren't as fond of it, that's for sure. But I can think of some good reasons for the game to look how it does and at least one major flaw in the arguments against the look. I might be wrong, but heck, I'd be doing a disservice not to speak my mind on the subject.
The Nexus Telegraph: A WildStar community roundup
Let's talk about WildStar. Do you want to? I'd reckon you do, considering that you're reading this now. A lot of people want to talk about it, after it showed up more or less from nowhere with a striking look, spectacular setting, and the promise of several interesting gameplay systems, all from a studio that looked from the outside to have been catatonic before this came riding onto the scene. The point is that WildStar is kind of a big deal. It's novel, it's exciting, and it's as different a take on the science-fiction genre as you could ask to have. Unfortunately, it's also still not released. But we've had a year of solid information to chew on, and as a result I'm happy to present the first installment of Massively's new column, The Nexus Telegraph. This week we're going to kick things off with a look at some important links, just to start things from a solid foundation... albeit a smaller one.
WildStar Wednesday looks at the state of the game
What is the holiday season all about if not thoughtful introspection? We reflect on our lives and how we've changed and grown, and we look forward to our hopes and dreams for the future. WildStar's Executive Producer Jeremy Gaffney recently got into the spirit of the season with a look at the state of the game. Raid playspaces have been getting some attention as the team goes through to make sure that the areas are big enough for the large amounts of people they'll be playing host to. Friends and Family testing has been ramping up in preparation for closed beta tests in 2013, while "small scale" PvP tests of up to 24v24 have been going on. Races and classes that are still under wraps have been getting love and care to make sure they'll be ready for the public eye. Most importantly, the game now has flamethrowers. 2013 looks like it'll be a busy year of testing, announcements, and excitement. Hop on over to the official blog to read the full state of the game.
Get a heaping helping of lore in this week's WildStar Wednesday
This week's WildStar Wednesday is a bit of a history lesson -- a tale of refugees, daring rescues, and fragile hopes. As the exiled races came together to hide from the Dominion's watchful eye, they found themselves increasingly short on food, water, and functioning ships. As every good sci-fi/fantasy fan knows, it's in the darkest moment that a glimmer of light appears (after which it is no longer the darkest moment). Just as the members of the Exile Fleet began to lose all hope, Dorian Walker brought glad tidings of a planet where they could settle and start anew: Nexus. The announcement would mean nothing if the races couldn't all band together. You'll have to read the official post to see whether they could put the past behind them for the greater good. (Spoiler alert: They could and did!)
From mind to ear: The journey of sound creation in WildStar
A rustling of brush behind you. The click of a gun safety switching off. A low growl off to the side. While seemingly minor details, even the smallest of sounds give us important information about the world around us, especially when we're playing our favorite MMOs. Two weeks ago, WildStar's weekly dev blog delved into the pairing of sounds to actions in-game. Today, WildStar Wednesday revisits the realm of audio to discuss the actual process of building the sounds that bring the sci-fi game to life and enhance the player experience. So how do the distinct in-game sounds come about? They start with an idea. WildStar Audio Director Charley Lanusse detailed how the team members move from idea to reality: They take smaller sound bytes from a large collection of sounds, manipulate them, and then arrange them together to create the more complex and organic soundscapes. He also explained how the game engine will rearrange the sounds into different orders to change how the sound effects play depending on the exact real-time situation in game. You can read up on more details -- as well as get a few hints from Lanusse if you want to break into sound production yourself -- in the blog.
WildStar Wednesday spins the sad yarn of the Aurin
For players who are considering the Aurin as their WildStar race of choice or just anyone who loves a bit of lore, Carbine Studios released the bitter tale of this nature-loving people and why they ended up on the fleet of Exiles traveling to Nexus. It turns out that the Aurin, much like the Ewoks, lived in harmony with the big trees of their homeworld. Their new friendship with the Humans had a pretty severe downside, as it brought down the wrath of the Dominion upon their heads and their land. Before long, a bulk of the Aurin had to evacuate in order to avoid extinction, and thus joined the Humans on their star trek. Of course, that's the short version; for the full-length soon-to-be-a-major-motion-picture version, you're probably going to want to read Carbine's chief storyteller's efforts.
WildStar's development team thanks the fans with a song
The fanbase for WildStar has only grown since the game's initial announcement, and the team behind the game knows that this is the hardest time to be a fan. The game isn't out yet, after all, and that means that all fans can really do is chew on bits and pieces of interviews and previews. So in honor of Thanksgiving, the team found a special way to say thanks to the fans. A couple weeks ago, WildStar Wednesday outlined the lore behind the Exile/Dominion factional split. The story of Brightland's rebellion caught the imagination of a fan by the handle of Dyraele who penned a poem about the event. The team was so taken by the poem that they sat down, grabbed some instruments, and made a song out of it. Now everyone can enjoy a little musical adaptation of the game's lore in the video just past the cut, which we can all agree is a pretty effort-intensive way for the developers to thank fans for their devotion.
Massively Exclusive: An interview with WildStar art director Matt Mocarski
WildStar doesn't look like anything else out right now. We're not just talking about the game's mechanics; the game's stylized graphics make it look distinct. There's a lot of unique visual elements in the game, from its opening cinematic to the most recent screenshots, and while you might not like the more stylized approach, you can't say that it lacks personality. This comes with its own set of challenges, though. After all, creating stylized graphics for a game means you're not just making the best-looking environments possible; you're also creating a whole new aesthetic and making environments that make sense within that style. We had a chance to ask WildStar's art director Matt Mocarski a few questions about the process of putting the game's unique look together, and he provided us some excellent insights into bringing the visuals from concept to reality. Whether you're a fan of the game in specific or stylized art in general, take a look at the full interview past the break.
WildStar explores the nuance of sound
Sounds aren't often something you think about within a game. A one-second audio clip that plays when an ability activates isn't a major draw of your attention. But it's also more relevant than you might think in the long run -- that sound is what draws your attention, lets you know what's going on, and creates the illusion of the world around you. It's also a very complicated process to build sound effects for a game, as demonstrated by WildStar's Senior Sound Designer Greg Meader in this week's WildStar Wednesday. Meader uses a specific ability to walk through the process of making a sound to fit the on-screen action, in this case an ability deployed by the Skug Queen. The process starts by identifying individual sounds that fit the overall theme, then layering them together and adding additional effects as needed until the whole package sounds right. For all that it's easy to miss in the midst of the action, it's clear that the designers are paying a lot of attention to what you hear during battle and elsewhere.
WildStar Wednesday details the split between the Dominion and the Exiles
When you're not dealing with the chaos and madness of the planet Nexus in WildStar, odds are good you'll be dealing with the game's main factional conflict between the Dominion and the Exiles. But how did this split come to pass? What are the Exiles exiled from in the first place? The latest WildStar Wednesday tackles exactly this issue, explaining how one man led a rebellion against the largest military power in the galaxy and won -- or at least came close to winning. The Exiles, as it turns out, were originally citizens of the Dominion's capital planet, Cassus. Unpopular Dominion policies led to riots on Cassus, which culminated in the retired Admiral Serrick Brightland stealing his flagship from drydock and leading several other traitors on military raids against Dominion holdings. Brightland succeeded in hurting the Dominion, but without a home base to fall back on, his fleet was forced to flee, becoming the Exile fleet scouring the fringe of the galaxy for a new home. Take a look at the full article for details about Brightland's last stand and the core of the conflict between these two factions.
The Daily Grind: Do you like stylized visuals?
I really want to like WildStar. I mean come on, it's a sci-fi MMO and it'll have player housing at launch. What's not to love, right? Except for that whole cartoon aesthetic. Sci-fi to me is cold, dark, and grungy with a side of heavy metal, and while I don't know what the proper artistic label for WildStar's visual palette is -- maybe "stylized" -- I know it's not my first choice. If the gameplay and feature sets are solid, it will likely grow on me. As it stands now, though, it's uncomfortably close to World of Warcraft and the cringe-worthy look of those Star Wars' Clone Wars shorts. What about you, folks, do you like stylized MMO visuals or do you prefer a different approach? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
WildStar Wednesday - Shade's Eve
WildStar may be a ways off, but that's not stopping the team at Carbine Studios from participating in traditional end-of-October MMO festivities. The devs have released a spooky lore entry for this week's Halloween edition of WildStar Wednesday, and it seems the sci-fantasy title has its own spin on the holiday called Shade's Eve. As the story goes, the original settlers of the planet Cassus became infected with a virulent spacer's plague that decimated their population. The plague has since been personified as the sinister Jack Shade, and the young girl whose blood was used to make a vaccine became known as the Angel. Read the full story after the cut.
WildStar's Jeremy Gaffney discusses sandboxes and themeparks
While WildStar has been offering a lot of previews to eager fans, that hasn't stymied player questions. It's been known for some time that the game aims at being a sandpark-style game, midway between themepark and sandbox principles, but what does that mean in execution? Executive producer Jeremy Gaffney penned a piece today responding to player discussion on the topic and explaining how the team at Carbine Studios is trying to offer something for everyone. Gaffney explains that the team wants to ensure that players aren't lost or unsure of what to do next while at the same time not keeping the entire game on rails. The main method of doing this is by having coherent quests and missions coupled with more spontaneous content dependent on the state of the zone -- so while there might always be a quest hub to the north, more dynamic events are roaming to the south that you won't always encounter. Read the full article for more on the game's content layout and the importance of zone-by-zone player feedback.
WildStar rocks out with the Granok
Stone is patient, stone is durable, and stone hurts a whole lot when applied to someone else's forehead. WildStar's Granok follow a philosophy they call the Way of Stone, and all of those principles apply to the race as a whole. The latest installment of WildStar Wednesday takes a look at the slate-skinned giants, explaining the race's culture and how they went from their isolated and primitive existence on the planet Gnox to being starfaring mercenaries. The Dominion originally approached the Granok hoping to use them as durable shock troops and laborers, but the Granok as a whole refused the offer, prompting a war with the superpower that the Granok quickly began losing. It was only when a leader emerged willing to fight dirty that the tide began to turn for the Granok, setting into motion their eventual exile from Gnox. Take a look at the full article for all the details on these stony soldiers of fortune and the war for their planet, one that ended with a victory almost as bad as defeat.
WildStar reveals the State of the Game in October
It's been anything but a quiet month for the development team behind WildStar. Sure, the game isn't out for you to play at the moment, but there's a lot that goes on behind the scenes. According to the latest WildStar Wednesday by executive producer Jeremy Gaffney, part of the trouble with an MMO is that you simultaneously have to deliver more content than a normal boxed game while being more flexible to player feedback. So what's been going on behind the scenes? The development team has been working on designing the game's mid-level zones, distinct from the low-level zones that have been previewed thus far. There's also more work being done on the game's second faction and the earliest implementations of raids, PvP matches, and instanced dungeons. If you're an avid fan of the game, you'll want to check out the latest dispatch for a few more teases of what you can expect from future Wednesday reveals and the game's eventual launch.
Looking at the wildlife of WildStar's Galeras region
If the pirates, bandits, ancient machines, and military forces in WildStar weren't bad enough, players are going to be contending with a lot of the native wildlife. Last week's WildStar Wednesday focused on the top-level overview of the Galeras region, but this week is focused on the local flora and fauna, which are just as dangerous as the invading armies with gunships. More so, in some ways, as a stemdragon doesn't care why you're on its land, just that you are. Stemdragons have been seen by fans before, having starred as the antagonist in the game's first trailer. Buzzbings and Scrabs are new, however -- the former is an insect the size of a small car that traps its enemies with honey, the latter is a cross between a beetle and a crab with thick armor and a propensity for burrowing. Read more on the tactics of these monsters and the lore surrounding them in the full article.
WildStar Wednesday introduces us to Galeras
Interested in setting up shop in the middle of a war zone? The latest zone preview from WildStar is all about Galeras, a set of windy plains that have become the focus of a military campaign by the Dominion's Crimson Legion. Led by Colonel Audras, the Crimson Legion is hard at work trying to cut off and annihilate Exile settlements all across the region, leaving players to turn the tide and prevent the valley from falling to the Dominion. Of course, there's more to the area than just fighting to save the settlements. There's also an Eldan ruin known as the Focus of Air tucked in a canyon surrounded by vicious whirlwinds. Scientists have moved into the area to try to study the ruins and the phenomena, but they've hit unpleasant resistance along the way. Take a gander at the full preview for more shots and details about the zone, which looks like a fine place to live if you like being shot at and bombed.
