Diremongoose
iSpy
I tried out Wildstar for the first time this weekend past, mainly for the Alttabme competition and love of game-related toys to litter my desktop with, but also because they actually sent me a beta key.
I devoted a around 14h to playing the Spellslinger class, to get as much of an idea as possible about the game in case I didn't get another chance.
My first complaint occured as I messed around at character creation, "Why can't we be Dominion guild, Chua animations are soooo awesome." This complaint was only answered a little later "Well, ok, the Dominion are completely clueless about PvP."
Next, I very nearly quit the beta/the game entirely over questing. My picking the Aurin starting area was a bad choice apparently, as I found the questing banal and repetitive. The saving grace was the combat - something that was entirely unexpected for me.
While I briefly tried the Esper, the lack of a moving basic attack made me lose interest VERY quickly. I arrived at the conclusion that Spellslinger was the choice for me even before I'd downloaded the game, and it turned out to be the right one. Coming from GW2, I NEED dynamic combat to keep my interest, and the Spellslinger, with their narrow attack cones, snares, slows and movement skills, combined with the double-tab dodge and enemy telegraphing, not only made the class fun, but addressed much of what I hate about MMOs in general.
The ability to lose mobs quickly when running away is very important to me in an MMO - you only fight what you want to fight. In my limited WoW experience, as well as TSW, you had to run a half-marathon to get enemies to leave you alone. In Wildstar, you have the sprint button from the start, and the Gunslinger has Gate to GTFO and Void Slip to pretend you were never there.
Next, enemies actually die quickly. Woah...I expected them to be a massive time-sink. Even as a starter character I can grab a hoard of level-appropriate enemies and fry them in seconds. Colour me impressed.
After the banal levelling, the light at the end of the tunnel was PvP. It was seriously slick, fast and minimal, and I loved it. Also the opposition was shit every time I played, with 4+ enemies trying (and mostly failing) to kill me while my team stole all the objectives.
Housing. I want a house in space. I cannot afford a space-house. I cannot afford too many things. Knives are cheap. SPACE!
So what didn't I like? Lack of GW2 waypoints. Yeah, I was spoiled, but I'm not a fan of Taxis. I do like the transmat systems and Scientist group summons is both easy to obtain and really handy to use. The questing arrow was good to have, but a bit annoying that you couldn't keep it active...then I installed mods. I like mods.
So, at the end of the beta, I wanted to play more (more PvP specifically). I wasn't sure if I wanted to pay a subscription or not (that's always been a big hangup for me, subs + triple A game cost).
This morning I got a message from PsionicFox telling me to get online (for what I assumed was a new beta key). I now have THE FULL GAME without paying for it, thanks to Psionic's generous gift, which means I'm prepared to pay subscription for a few months.
So...I'm back, see you on the battlefield!
I devoted a around 14h to playing the Spellslinger class, to get as much of an idea as possible about the game in case I didn't get another chance.
My first complaint occured as I messed around at character creation, "Why can't we be Dominion guild, Chua animations are soooo awesome." This complaint was only answered a little later "Well, ok, the Dominion are completely clueless about PvP."
Next, I very nearly quit the beta/the game entirely over questing. My picking the Aurin starting area was a bad choice apparently, as I found the questing banal and repetitive. The saving grace was the combat - something that was entirely unexpected for me.
While I briefly tried the Esper, the lack of a moving basic attack made me lose interest VERY quickly. I arrived at the conclusion that Spellslinger was the choice for me even before I'd downloaded the game, and it turned out to be the right one. Coming from GW2, I NEED dynamic combat to keep my interest, and the Spellslinger, with their narrow attack cones, snares, slows and movement skills, combined with the double-tab dodge and enemy telegraphing, not only made the class fun, but addressed much of what I hate about MMOs in general.
The ability to lose mobs quickly when running away is very important to me in an MMO - you only fight what you want to fight. In my limited WoW experience, as well as TSW, you had to run a half-marathon to get enemies to leave you alone. In Wildstar, you have the sprint button from the start, and the Gunslinger has Gate to GTFO and Void Slip to pretend you were never there.
Next, enemies actually die quickly. Woah...I expected them to be a massive time-sink. Even as a starter character I can grab a hoard of level-appropriate enemies and fry them in seconds. Colour me impressed.
After the banal levelling, the light at the end of the tunnel was PvP. It was seriously slick, fast and minimal, and I loved it. Also the opposition was shit every time I played, with 4+ enemies trying (and mostly failing) to kill me while my team stole all the objectives.
Housing. I want a house in space. I cannot afford a space-house. I cannot afford too many things. Knives are cheap. SPACE!
So what didn't I like? Lack of GW2 waypoints. Yeah, I was spoiled, but I'm not a fan of Taxis. I do like the transmat systems and Scientist group summons is both easy to obtain and really handy to use. The questing arrow was good to have, but a bit annoying that you couldn't keep it active...then I installed mods. I like mods.
So, at the end of the beta, I wanted to play more (more PvP specifically). I wasn't sure if I wanted to pay a subscription or not (that's always been a big hangup for me, subs + triple A game cost).
This morning I got a message from PsionicFox telling me to get online (for what I assumed was a new beta key). I now have THE FULL GAME without paying for it, thanks to Psionic's generous gift, which means I'm prepared to pay subscription for a few months.
So...I'm back, see you on the battlefield!
