See You Nexus Cowboy!
( Or my Final Thoughts on Wildstar)
It is with a heavy heart, and a bit of sadness to be writing the final bit of content creation for the
MMORPG Wildstar.
Made by Carbine Studios hands down in my opinion encapsulated all what I felt should have been perfect for this type of game. I don't even say this lightly, I'm not young, nor jaded, nor a fanboy, I simply have a level of respect a game project and those involved deserve. Let me get a bit more intricate and explain why I feel this way. So I've been a gamer since I was roughly 7 years old, waaaaaaaaaay back in 1985, as I said I'm not young lol. I just got into computer gaming though roughly around 2008-2009 through a Mountain Dew Promo for "another" MMO...I doubt I have to name it to be honest. I went through A LOT of MMOs and I mean alot...If there's one I haven't played I'd be surprised and some I enjoy and some I do not.
When the pre-Alpha/Beta news began appearing for Wildstar I saw it and had doubts, it was sci-fi for one and most sci-fi games don't work, I love sci-fi books and movies but many games just are broken. So even though I signed up for the beta I was a bit disillusioned at that point from a dozen or so sub par MMOs I'd already tried. I don't want to praise this game as perfect, nothing is or ever will be, but I can point out a couple things that some may know, others may not. First is the dedication for the core of what I feel no MMOs do that they should, but simply fake it or skip it....community. It seems fundamental for a Massively Multiplayer situation where community can drive the game, but it's a funny thing really.
Now I want you to understand something, I've seen communities in other games, plenty, but mostly toxic, or lackluster, and especially simply driven by greed or hollow thoughts permeate these places often. Little did many know that back in pre-beta, before even the game was playable hard working people at Carbine did things above and beyond to promote their game. Joining and talking on fan made sites forums and boards, talking on fan podcasts, and joining people in weird little chat rooms having silly talks and discussing future possible game items. This was all unnecessary things with already fans invested in the game. I was involved in MANY and I mean many forum posts, and discussions and even DMs on Twitter with people like the music composer who I seriously consider a friend to this day. This wasn't some "oh hey look we are cool, play our game please!" It was people being people proud of their jobs and wanting to share in the fandom.
These devs, and community staff, and voice actors never "had" to do any of the personal talks, autographs or the company didn't have to make a plushie simply because a couple hundred people were like "That would be an awesome thing to have" but they did. All this and I'm not even getting into the game itself which while I could go on for days about i'll simplify it. In a world of half finished, sub par, "early access", and mediocre games Wildstar launched 100% complete, as much content and some areas more than most on the market and it continued to produce valid content for years. That's it, it's not perfect but if people can say anything the level of work ethic had to be close.
Why did people like or dislike it is a strange question. There are the fanboys I'm sure and there are the haters but I can say based on my personal interviews (In this very blog actually) it came down to likely 3 categories. The first being a love for the work accomplished and proud to play the game. The second falls in the middle was the difficulty, some relished the hardcore-ish aspect but others were like "forget this I die less in the other game...see ya" which makes me laugh but I digress. Third is the other end of the spectrum who want something that does not exist and therefore "Wildstar Sucks" is the best they can say, whether they whine on things like the graphical style or the combat or whichever flame of the week those situations are unavoidable.
What this comes down to is a weird situation I fail to fully understand. The game is fun, tons of content for various play types, Likely the most creative cinematics I'd have a hard time believing anyone could argue about. and as I said a development team so connected and approachable it all meshed into an unreal situation. In the end I know that many "gamers" are fickle and a bit odd at times, only latching onto either brand loyalties or "the next big thing" so how some...games....continue that I feel don't deserve it and others don't may be a bit of a mystery, wrapped in an Enigma, that maybe just maybe sits in a case in a museum on Nexus that someday a crazy Chua finds and finds a way to blow up the Universe. Hey until that day to all my fellow Wildstar fans, Nexians, I suppose you Exiles, and those proud Dominion of Domination members, yes even the Chua, The Sun may be dipping below the horizon for a final time but Nexus shall never truly disappear.
