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Some Assembly Required: The sweet sorrow of choosing a new sandbox
Late last year I penned a piece that looked ahead to 2013's most promising sandbox titles. Recent developments have necessitated that I add to that list, which is simultaneously staggering and somewhat stressful. My new MMO home is lurking in one of these games, but I must choose, and choose wisely! Help me out after the cut.
The Daily Grind: Do you care about pre-launch lore?
So I'm kinda interested in WildStar now, and I'm completely obsessed with Star Citizen. What the heck do these two games have in common? Well, not much aside from the fact that both of those wily dev teams are drip-feeding delicious bits of lore to ravenous fan bases. On the one hand I love that Roberts Space Industries and Carbine are devoting time and energy to fleshing out their respective backstories and doling out small details while we wait. On the other hand, there's something to be said for absorbing all your world lore in-game via quests, cutscenes, and the like. So how about it, Massively crew? Assuming you care about MMO lore, do you scarf up all the pre-launch tidbits on your next big thing, or are you holding off until you can actually play? 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!
Everyone's a potential traitor... even you: WildStar's Dominion faction
Last week, we revealed WildStar's Exile faction -- a Firefly-esque group of rebels, pirates, and vagabonds. Today, we're finally able to put our eyeballs on the game's Dominion faction, including three of its four races, plus a newly unveiled class, the Stalker. My instinct was to assume that the Dominion faction was meant to be a parallel to Firefly's Alliance -- space cowboys versus authoritarian aristocrats. But having explored them in more detail, I saw a lot more of Star Wars and Allods Online than I expected, and that's brilliant. Allods also has two factions, the "evil" one of which is a unique blend of Imperial Russian industrial dieselpunk and high-society technocracy. Blend that with Human High Culture propaganda from the Star Wars Extended Universe and maybe a dash of Brazil's dystopian humor and you've got WildStar's Dominion. But don't take just my word for it. Let's have a look at the videos!
You can't take the sky from me: WildStar's Exiles
You can't dip into a setting like WildStar's without hearing the familiar chords of Firefly's opening theme, and it's no accident; the game's two factions were surely set up to mimic that IP's rustic space cowboys and refined imperial aristocracy. Today, the embargo drops on a truckload of information, screenshots, and videos about the Exile faction (the Dominion faction, I fear, won't be fully revealed until next week).
The 'biggest game on the planet': WildStar's boundless ambition
Jeremy Gaffney runs on Diet Coke. A lot of it. He's boundless energy, and he's got boundless ambition to match. "We are trying to be the biggest game on the planet," the executive producer of Carbine Studios declared boldly to the handful of people in my WildStar demo in San Francisco last month. But he's clearly no fool: "Our goal is to have the biggest game on the planet, not to have a crappy game that we shove out early." He's at ease when discussing the studio's two-year live plan, PAX East demo (there will be one), and the upcoming business model reveal ("fairly soon"), but even with closed beta coming in the next three months or so and a launch window targeted for the end of 2013, he clings to the mantra he must have learned from fellow NCsoft studio ArenaNet: "It's ready when it's ready." It's not completely ready yet, but I did get a little tour of what is.%Gallery-178086%
Slap a rocket on a pig: WildStar's modding and PGC community
At January's WildStar press event, I had the opportunity to chat with several of Carbine's developers about something near and dear to my heart: modding. During my personal demo, Jeremy Gaffney remarked offhandedly -- twice! -- that people don't really want to play the UI; they want to play the game. I know that he's right about some people, and I'm glad game developers are devoting resources toward designing a seamless blend of UI and gameplay that makes actually healing party members as fun or more fun than playing Grid-style healer whackamole. But whackamole or not, I do want to play the UI. I want to tinker. Fortunately, WildStar intends to accommodate me in a huge way. Read on for the scoop on WildStar's planned modding tools, player councils, and player-generated content.
WildStar reveals 2013 launch window, ambitious plans to make MMOs fun again
WildStar has won Massively's "most anticipated MMO" award for the past two years, even edging out Guild Wars 2 for the title in 2012. No pressure or anything, right? Fortunately, the game won't have an opportunity to go for three: As announced in this morning's state of the game letter, we can expect WildStar's closed beta within the next three months and a launch at the end of 2013 if all goes well during the testing process. To mark the occasion, Carbine Studios invited press to the equivalent of a video game debutante ball in San Francisco to see just how much the sci-fantasy sandpark MMO has grown since our last tour (nearly two years ago). I escaped my Editor-in-Chief cage to attend the event and play the game, interrogate the developers, and judge whether those anticipated awards were well-deserved after all. Enjoy the fruits of my sneak peek! The 'biggest game on the planet': WildStar's boundless ambition Who better to explain WildStar's philosophy and mechanics than Executive Producer Jeremy Gaffney? I give my impressions of his talk, the demo, and my hands-on, then ruminate on the game's iterations, innovations, and ambitions. Slap a rocket on a pig: WildStar's modding and PGC community Carbine's Troy Hewitt outlines WildStar's grand plans for a massive modding community, a UI developer tool for the masses, player advisory committees, and player-generated content. "Social" is clearly not just a buzz-word. You can't take the sky from me: WildStar's Exiles You can't dip into a setting like WildStar's without hearing the familiar chords of Firefly's opening theme; the game's two factions brazenly mimic that IP's rustic space cowboys and refined imperial aristocracy. Here's a look at the Exiles.
WildStar Wednesday talks turkey about core testers
What is a core tester? Despite what you might think, it's not someone who tests your central muscles for overall wear and endurance. No, it's an elite group of testers that WildStar is employing to check out features that aren't ready for more public consumption, things lacking little bits of polish like "textures" or "fully functional mechanics." It's a group that Carbine Studios freely admits to copying from ArenaNet, and it's also the subject of the most recent WildStar Wednesday penned by community director Troy Hewitt. Hewitt explains that core testers are meant to be people clearly passionate about the game who are willing to sit through long lists of known issues to test features very early in the development process. The goal is to get outside feedback from an early point to see if some major idea needs a major overhaul now instead of after much of development has been finished. For more information on the testing process and some information about getting noticed by the WildStar team for this elite group, check out the full article.
WildStar Wednesday: The return of Tester Man
This week's edition of WildStar Wednesday wraps up the tester tell-all that started last week. The anonymous Friends and Family tester made a heroic effort to answer another round of questions. He states that Nexus feels like a place ("albeit a semi-hostile one") rather than simply a video game location. He said that while leveling, it's difficult to want to rush through things, given how engaging the story and environment are. "While you can ignore content and proceed through the zones," he says, "I would feel like I missed out on something if I did." With refreshing honesty, he said that not all of his expectations have been met ("YET") but that he's been pleased with how some features are "way better than [he] had even imagined." He also said that the level of communication between testers and developers is "unprecedented." Tester Man's favorite class and race were both redacted. To let him speak for himself, go ahead and read the full Q&A.
WildStar tester talks about his experiences
Don't worry, this isn't some hideous NDA breach -- it's this week's WildStar Wednesday! Way back in the long-lost time that was known as 2012, WildStar fans were asked to submit questions for Friends & Family testers. This week we've been treated to part one of the responses to those questions, courtesy of one intrepid tester. The anonymous tester says that his favorite part of the game so far has been "delving into the mystery that is Nexus," while his least enjoyable experience has been on the Settler path. He's finding the double jump feature challenging due to its general finickiness. According to this tester, while mobs' telegraphs will tell you where you need to not be standing, knowing the best response to telegraphs comes with fighting the creatures and getting to understand them. When asked about any one thing he would like to see improved, Tester Man called out the map interface. "In a world where space travel is possible, control on what and when you see things on a map should be a given."
The Perfect Ten: New MMOs to watch in 2013
Oh, I had a great Perfect Ten prepped as the first list of the year, but my meanie-face editor slammed on the veto button and told me, point-blank, that I was going to be counting down the best MMO prospects for the year. Then she drove a lawnmower through a Nordstroms while huffing paint thinner and throwing empty cans at the security personnel. Even so, her idea is probably more interesting than what I had. Let me give you a few notes on today's list because I sense that I'm going to tick more of you off than normal here. My goal was to sift through the possible releases for 2013 and pick the 10 most promising, both in "will it actually launch this year?" and in its potential for success. The combination makes it a tough call because some of these will undoubtedly be delayed to 2014 or beyond and some of these we still don't know as much as we'd like about them. But who cares? Let's have some fun and kick this year off right. Here are my picks for new MMOs to watch in 2013.
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.
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: 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.
