Wildstar Starting Experience

Welcome to WildStar is our column that focuses on the basics of WildStar in order to help new fans or just seekers learn more about our favorite MMO. Now that Kaam finally has his gaming laptop, he's finally been able to put some hours into the beta. This article is all about his first impressions of this experience. - Arawulf

At this point I have played every race and class in the Wildstar Beta up to at most level 7. I found that there are features in WildStar that make you stand up and take notice, kind of like these guys:

Here at the "Nexus Welcome Center" we have followed WildStar's development for a long time, since before we could even play the game. We also follow other games and are sometimes on the fence about whether a game's hype will live up to its actual play. Having now played the Beta with a focus on the early leveling game, I feel well qualified to tell you this:

tell you what? Find out after the jump!


. . .The Adventure Starts from the Moment you Click Play!

Immediately after clicking Play you hear a piece of music that sets the ambiance and tone for the entire game. While spending time working the levers on the myriad of options available to create a unique look and feel for your character (including newly announced body styles), the epic music tells you that you are about to begin an equally epic adventure. Selecting not just a race but also a path for your character adds an additional layer of character uniqueness. In fact, there are 136 race/class/path combinations in the game. That's a lot of alts.

After naming your character (no numbers allowed!) you click Create and before you know it the story of your character begins and you get introduced to

Cut Scenes that are Smooth and Smartly Paced

I enjoy a good cut scene . . . that's not too long and doesn't bog down the game. I thrive on quick pacing in my MMO. When diving into a new game I want action as soon as possible. Cut scenes that don't move along at a good clip make me say Uncle because they kill the pace and immersion. In WildStar, the cut scenes sprinkled throughout the game's content are quick, entertaining and visually cool. They heighten immersion, not detract from it. Also, thankfully the Eldan's technology is such that the loading screens when getting into the game and transferring to various areas are few and fast. The pacing of the game moves smartly along, and that keeps the player immersed.

Speaking of movement, I found that 

Character Movement in WildStar is Fun Fun Fun

Double jump FTW!

When I played the Beta  I found myself enthralled with character movement. Each race has its own unique movement animations that neatly fit their personalities. The Granok's movement is a powerful lumber while the Chua is delightfully springy. The Mordesh is the only race whose movement I found a little clunky.

Double-jumping is more fun to do than I thought it would be just watching a video of it. Performing a jump from a perch, watching your character float toward the ground then hitting double jump for an extra boost to hit the next ledge is enjoyment in and of itself.

Dashing, jumping, double-jumping and even sprinting with a reasonable length timer immediately upon setting foot on the Arkship (the initial starting area before heading down to Nexus) is MMO gold that never gets old. I found myself frequently using all of the movement abilities, especially sprint. Movement is also featured in several class abilities. All of these movement features helps make the game feel fluid and alive.

As I began moving through the game's first quests on the Arkship, I discovered that 

The Tutorials are Actually Helpful without Killing Immersion

Similar to long cut scenes, lengthy tutorials that become the focus of the early leveling experience rather than an occasional quick aid destroy immersion and pacing for me. Fortunately WildStar's tutorials, which can be turned off, are brief and helpful. When a tutorial pops up it typically has a visual aid that explains what's happening with a short, constructive blurb explaining the UI or game function. 

The first tutorial explains that you can click the quest title in your UI to see an arrow pointing you in the direction of the quest's goal. Some have written that the arrow makes questing too easy. I disagree. It's there if you want it but you don't have to use it.

Over this way!

If you aren't in the mood to waste time running off in the wrong direction for a quest and just want a nudge in the right direction, the arrow helps keep the questing pace neatly on track. As you head off toward the quest's goal your map is another helpful aid that can be turned on in ghost form so that you can see it while moving. 

After completing a few early quests, you will next find that 

Your Character's Path is Introduced from the Beginning

Your character's path is a big part of the personality of your character, your leveling experience and also for perks that will help not just yourself but your friends as you play the game. A couple of path quests on the Arkship show the basics of how each path plays; that may be enough of a taste for some to decide on a path for their main character, but the variety of path quests expands swiftly after arriving on Nexus so I recommend progressing until at least level 7 to get a sense of the different types of each path's missions. 

In addition to beginning to quest and discovering path missions on the Arkship, I was pleasantly surprised that even in the first hour of the game

Nexus Story Details are Everywhere
            
While still on the Arkship there are quests that involve finding pieces of WildStar, including the discovery of your first Datacube. The quests themselves are sometimes voiced and sometimes quest text, but as with the cut scenes they are short and sweet. You are not forced to read lengthy quest text (in fact they are limited to the size of a twitter post), listen to lengthy voice overs or read the lengthier Nexus story pieces you pick up along the way. If you're like me, you may read some of the story pieces you pick up here and there, but the nice thing is that they will all be inputted into your UI so that you can read them later when you have some downtime in your WildStar home.

While you don't get your home within the first seven levels, you do get questing action and for my money

Questing in WildStar is like a Cold Beer at a Baseball Game

Questing is questing. Yellow exclamation points. Missions to locate people, find stuff, and go places. The questing system in and of itself -- the picking up of quests and turning them in -- is not that different from other MMO's. And that's okay. It's not broke. After all, I enjoy a cold beer at a baseball game the same as the last one I had, especially when Felix Hernandez is on the mound.

WildStar's questing experience overall though is not just about plowing through standard quests. There are features such as optional challenges in each zone that pop up from time to time. Sometimes I did them and sometimes I bypassed them. I would like there to be an option to turn off the challenge timer that starts up whether I want it to or not so that I don't have to hear "Challenge Failed!" at the end when I didn't even try the challenge, but I liked the additional content. Path quests are another feature that rides on top of the main questing experience. 

I found the questing experience itself enjoyable comfort food. What really spiced it up for me in addition to the challenges and path quests was the beautiful scenery on Nexus, the quick pacing of the game, the addition of a new ability just as I was ready for one, and I have to tell you that

WildStar's Combat is Impressive

As you can see from the above, while on the Arkship for just the first few levels you are immediately engrossed in the game and your character's place within it. You receive your first weapon as well along with some quests to start wielding it.

I admit that I was a skeptic when I heard before Beta began that each class will only receive one type of weapon. After playing every class my skepticism has vanished like a Chua after being used as a Granok's football. It is true that the animations of the characters using their abilities are top notch and fun to watch again and again. The sound effects for each type of weapon are markedly different from each other such that without looking at your screen when zoning into a battleground, by listening you will know if there is a stalker, a warrior or an esper in the party. There is a satisfying fluidity to the experience of dashing, evading telegraphs, jumping, getting out of CC and firing off your own abilities.

I could not get enough of WildStar's combat and I only accumulated five or six abilities on any one class. The combat system enhances the early leveling and questing experience in a major way.