Here is my 1 sentence review of what I have seen from Wildstar so far:
WoW clone with MUCH better combat and more and cooler options for leveling.
Now for the TLDR version. First off lets look at what I like about Wildstar.
In MMOs today you get a choice of targeted combat, non targeted combat or some mix of the two.
With targeted combat you lock your target on a mob or player and then as long as there is no line of sight issues and your target is in range you score a hit. The problem with this is its less realistic that many people want and its too easy. You are usually rooted to one spot while casting a skill also. The fight feels like a game of dodgeball instead of a fight. People who like to actually develop a skill in the game get bored because there is very little challenge.
With non targeted combat where your weapon swings or shoots then it hits whatever was in its way. The good part of this is that you can usually move while using a skill which makes it feel more realistic. The problem so far with this is that its hard to visually guess the range and swing arc so you never really know if you are gonna hit or not. Or if you do hit you can't rely on how much it will hit for. Age of Conan was horrible at this. It was a new way to fight but it worked horribly. Same with Chivalry which is built around being as realistic as possible, but the game interface lets down the non targeted combat. The other big issue is that to come even close to being accurate in your viewing window you have to be in first person view. Third person view works so much better for an MMO.
GW2 has done a good job of using both systems and has used one to shore up the downfalls of the other.
Wildstar uses only non targeted combat and I am excited to say that I think they got it right. What they did was implement a telegraph system. This system puts colored arcs and circles and other shapes on the ground that will show where the attack will hit. This solves the two big (in my opinion) problems with non targeted combat. Being in first person view, and not being able to accurately judge range and damage zone. If you watch any game play you will see lots of red or blue shapes on the ground and you can react while still moving and attacking or dodging. I think they have really nailed it for strict non targeted combat. We shall see.
The other thing I really like is the "Paths" they added in the game. On top of your usual questing for gaining xp and levels there are Paths which are kind of specializations in doing what you like in general in an MMO. Everyone gets the normal quests in an area but the Paths give you extra stuff to do at the same time. There will be 4 but we only really know about 2 so far. Soldier and Explorer. If you are the type of person who likes exploring maps and finding the cool out of the way things, explorer gives you extra xp and rewards for doing so. In fact there are areas that only explorers can unlock for themselves and others they bring with them. If you like killing all the things the Soldier Path puts you in scenarios that will give you (and people around you) more stuff to kill. Things like defend a thing from waves of mobs, escort quests, kill quests, etc. Everyone COULD level up just from questing and not need a path, but if you choose one you like then you get to level up doing more of the stuff you like on top of the normal leveling model.
I am personally never excited for housing, but its a major plus for some people. If it is integrated as more than just a glorified trophy case / place to hoard my stuff I may get interested. Still a plus for some and I'm indifferent so I'll put it in the like column.
The last thing I enjoy, although it isn't anything new or groundbreaking is the art direction and genre. Any game maker could set the game in a rebels vs empire, space cowboy setting with a pretty art style. I like it so I will give it a minor plus for catering to my tastes. Others may dislike the art direction.
What I am worried about:
I don't want to say dislike yet, because there isn't enough info out to make a judgement, but in the rest of the game areas it feels like a WoW clone. Saying WoW clone sounds like I'm bashing both WoW and those who copy the parts that they think will work in their game. Some parts do and some don't. GW2 dropped the whole WoW way of questing and I think they hit it pretty much perfect. I would love to see much less of "kill 200 things to collect 25 eyeballs from them and bring them back" GW2 has collection quests and kill quests, but does it in a way that takes out the tedium and backtracking. It looks like Wildstar may be doing quests in the WoW way and I feel like that is a step backwards. Questing hasn't been showcased yet so I will wait and see.
Having two factions can be highly unbalanced. I am not sure that 0 factions like GW2 or 3 factions like other games is the way to go either, but I am wary. After the love fest of GW2 I do like the idea of factions because I like competition and I love open world pvp (mostly me ganking others). Again we shall wait and see if they can get it right.
They brought back the Trinity and Raids. When I say brought back I mean I will be coming back to them after GW2's sprint in the other direction. All the same problems can arise from having the Trinity, but it could be a good thing. This will be most effected by how well the combat system works with healers and tanks. Raids (20 man and 40 man) will also be effected by this combat system. 5 man dungeons not so much imo. And Holy Crap! 40 man raids are back? Don't they remember how horrible it was to try to organize those? I feel a 20 man raid and 5 man dungeon group size are the perfect sizes and all that is needed.
I have heard almost nothing about economy and crafting other than a dev saying that it is a very robust system. Please give us something! I love crafting and selling.
Final thoughts:
I am hopeful for Wildstar. I want something in between GW2 and WoW and hope that this hits the sweet spot. Please take the GW2 questing system or something like it. PLEASE! On the other hand, it will be hard for me to be available for raids with my work schedule and I know I will want to do them. I like being able to do the hardest content and I know this group will be able to do that.
WoW clone with MUCH better combat and more and cooler options for leveling.
Now for the TLDR version. First off lets look at what I like about Wildstar.
In MMOs today you get a choice of targeted combat, non targeted combat or some mix of the two.
With targeted combat you lock your target on a mob or player and then as long as there is no line of sight issues and your target is in range you score a hit. The problem with this is its less realistic that many people want and its too easy. You are usually rooted to one spot while casting a skill also. The fight feels like a game of dodgeball instead of a fight. People who like to actually develop a skill in the game get bored because there is very little challenge.
With non targeted combat where your weapon swings or shoots then it hits whatever was in its way. The good part of this is that you can usually move while using a skill which makes it feel more realistic. The problem so far with this is that its hard to visually guess the range and swing arc so you never really know if you are gonna hit or not. Or if you do hit you can't rely on how much it will hit for. Age of Conan was horrible at this. It was a new way to fight but it worked horribly. Same with Chivalry which is built around being as realistic as possible, but the game interface lets down the non targeted combat. The other big issue is that to come even close to being accurate in your viewing window you have to be in first person view. Third person view works so much better for an MMO.
GW2 has done a good job of using both systems and has used one to shore up the downfalls of the other.
Wildstar uses only non targeted combat and I am excited to say that I think they got it right. What they did was implement a telegraph system. This system puts colored arcs and circles and other shapes on the ground that will show where the attack will hit. This solves the two big (in my opinion) problems with non targeted combat. Being in first person view, and not being able to accurately judge range and damage zone. If you watch any game play you will see lots of red or blue shapes on the ground and you can react while still moving and attacking or dodging. I think they have really nailed it for strict non targeted combat. We shall see.
The other thing I really like is the "Paths" they added in the game. On top of your usual questing for gaining xp and levels there are Paths which are kind of specializations in doing what you like in general in an MMO. Everyone gets the normal quests in an area but the Paths give you extra stuff to do at the same time. There will be 4 but we only really know about 2 so far. Soldier and Explorer. If you are the type of person who likes exploring maps and finding the cool out of the way things, explorer gives you extra xp and rewards for doing so. In fact there are areas that only explorers can unlock for themselves and others they bring with them. If you like killing all the things the Soldier Path puts you in scenarios that will give you (and people around you) more stuff to kill. Things like defend a thing from waves of mobs, escort quests, kill quests, etc. Everyone COULD level up just from questing and not need a path, but if you choose one you like then you get to level up doing more of the stuff you like on top of the normal leveling model.
I am personally never excited for housing, but its a major plus for some people. If it is integrated as more than just a glorified trophy case / place to hoard my stuff I may get interested. Still a plus for some and I'm indifferent so I'll put it in the like column.
The last thing I enjoy, although it isn't anything new or groundbreaking is the art direction and genre. Any game maker could set the game in a rebels vs empire, space cowboy setting with a pretty art style. I like it so I will give it a minor plus for catering to my tastes. Others may dislike the art direction.
What I am worried about:
I don't want to say dislike yet, because there isn't enough info out to make a judgement, but in the rest of the game areas it feels like a WoW clone. Saying WoW clone sounds like I'm bashing both WoW and those who copy the parts that they think will work in their game. Some parts do and some don't. GW2 dropped the whole WoW way of questing and I think they hit it pretty much perfect. I would love to see much less of "kill 200 things to collect 25 eyeballs from them and bring them back" GW2 has collection quests and kill quests, but does it in a way that takes out the tedium and backtracking. It looks like Wildstar may be doing quests in the WoW way and I feel like that is a step backwards. Questing hasn't been showcased yet so I will wait and see.
Having two factions can be highly unbalanced. I am not sure that 0 factions like GW2 or 3 factions like other games is the way to go either, but I am wary. After the love fest of GW2 I do like the idea of factions because I like competition and I love open world pvp (mostly me ganking others). Again we shall wait and see if they can get it right.
They brought back the Trinity and Raids. When I say brought back I mean I will be coming back to them after GW2's sprint in the other direction. All the same problems can arise from having the Trinity, but it could be a good thing. This will be most effected by how well the combat system works with healers and tanks. Raids (20 man and 40 man) will also be effected by this combat system. 5 man dungeons not so much imo. And Holy Crap! 40 man raids are back? Don't they remember how horrible it was to try to organize those? I feel a 20 man raid and 5 man dungeon group size are the perfect sizes and all that is needed.
I have heard almost nothing about economy and crafting other than a dev saying that it is a very robust system. Please give us something! I love crafting and selling.
Final thoughts:
I am hopeful for Wildstar. I want something in between GW2 and WoW and hope that this hits the sweet spot. Please take the GW2 questing system or something like it. PLEASE! On the other hand, it will be hard for me to be available for raids with my work schedule and I know I will want to do them. I like being able to do the hardest content and I know this group will be able to do that.
