121482-the-7-day-topic

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First, id like to say hello to all of you guys.  I rarely post on these boards and none of you have any idea who I am, but I want you all to know that I frequent these boards EVERYDAY.  This is going to be a long post and I dont know if anyone will read it but I have to do this.  I bought the collectors edition of this game at launch, really with no reason because im a GW2 addict.  However something about this game appealed to me and I bought it anyway, as did my brother.  (Chua spellslinger for life).  I only made it to maybe level 14, while my brother got to about level 32 because we decided not to continue with our sub.  Now, since that day, I have been reading all the posts on these forums like the sicko that I am.  My brother and I had NO COMPLAINTS about the game that is Wild Star, the reason we stopped playing is because of the lack of population.  Granted, if I wasnt a GW2 addict I would of hit 40-50 in WS within that month, but thats is my own fault.
 
I havent been able to post because, when you dont have a sub, you cant post in the forums.  I have been so annoyed by this that I searched my e-mail and found an old guest pass I never used and applied it to my account so I can talk to you guys.  Now, as a GW2 player, that doesnt mean I dont like other MMOs.  I have tried a bunch of them and they all are more of the same, except WildStar.  This game is truly special, as most of you may know, but you also dont know how much trouble it is in.  All jokes aside, I have seen more people in 2 hours of GW2 in a low level area, than I did my entire time my brother and I played.  People in GW2 are actually interested in WildStar, ive spoken to a lot of people about the game and they all say its a shame no one plays it.  Now I dont want to leave GW2, nor do most of its players especially with the expansion coming out, but im a strong believer in supporting greatness and id like to try to put some life back into this game, as one day id like to really sit down and put more time into it.  Carbine is not good at marketing, nor does it seem to have any plan to further the market.  This game gets torn apart, much like ESO, on its own facebook and other internet media.  With ESO going B2P, they will survive when it launches on console.  WildStar, I really dont know what their plan is.  Theres a lot of passion and love for this game on your forums and I think you guys should spread it somewhere else, where people can actually talk and respond and hear what you have to say.  As someone that was locked out of talking to you guys forever, trust me, being able to talk would help tremendously.  The population will only dwindle down more unless YOU THE PLAYERS start bringing people into the world of Nexus.  
 
This game, although many of you may not believe it, is going to go B2P or F2P, and that isnt a bad thing as long as Carbine markets correctly.  Do you think they can?  If you dont, then you need to DO IT YOURSELVES and keep the game the way you want it.  I learned a lot from Arenanet, and that is that even though they may be silent, the developers are listening.  For you guys that think that the population isnt low, or isnt a problem, I promise you it is.  Log into GW2 and youll see what a living world looks like.  (granted we just had an unbelievable population boost due to the announcement of the expansion, its actually kind of scary).  WS can be just like this and id like to be one of the people there.  I plan on logging in later today and trying to speak with the community more.  If I have to resub and level to 50 to do this then so be it.  
 
Im sorry for how long and ridiculous this post is, but im a true gamer, and I dont like seeing great games die.  Also, there is one other misconception I see thrown around on this board.  Its about the success of FF14.  FF14 was a complete failure, a TRUE failure, beyond the low population of WS.  They had to rebuild it from the ground up to make people actually play the game, and it worked.  The crazy part?  its still not that good.  It has GREAT music and the graphics will grab you, but the game itself isnt anything new, its in fact... an older version of WoW.  FF14 had to do LESS to get people into it because it had its name to ride with it, which is the main reason picked it up, PLUS FF14ARR relaunched at 30 dollars, and on consoles, one month free.  Square loves to boast that there are 2.5 MILLION registered accounts, because there are, but there arent 2.5 MILLION subs.  Its far, far below that.  Many FF14 players went back to WoW when their expansion came out.  So please, when throwing around negative things about Wildstar and using FF14 as an example of a working Sub game, remember those things.  
 
Lastly I want to thank you guys for being a kind community.  The GW2 community, though nice, is more toxic.  We have GREAT people, but we also have a lot of people that wont let go of GW1 and abuse the changes in GW2 which is kind of funny.  I see a lot of people post on the forums that they are returning and the support given is great, it really is.  Anyway im sorry for the long rant and im not going to preview my post because im a Boss, so, Chua4life and deuces.	
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Well if you have noticed, a lot of original players are coming back. I see a coming back post nearly every day.......Has to be a reason for that.
 
"This game, although many of you may not believe it, is going to go B2P or F2P" If (and that's a big IF) this does happen, it wont be for a long while yet. Carbine has already come out and said they are not even considering the notion. Plus they have NCsofts backing - which has been confirmed on two separate occasions.
 
The game already has an element of B2P with the CREDD system.
 
"The crazy part?  its still not that good." - a lot of people will disagree with you there bud	
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Honestly, negative opinion is going to remain among MMORPG loyalists.  Honestly, it's not usually WoW players that heap hate on Wildstar (most of my friends that play WoW think Wildstar's satisfyingly brutal but a bit grindy with the RNG, which will hopefully change with Drop 4 coming out) but players from other free-to-play games.  A lot of people really want the game to go F2P in some way or another.  So you get weird posts that say that everything about the game is terrible, but they'll play it if it's free.
 
I think, in the end, there are three reasons NCSoft and Carbine aren't on a huge PR offensive:
 
-It means absolutely nothing to argue with people trolling their Facebook page.  As you said, they can't do anything to change public perception of the game outside of trying to make the game better.  The rest is on the players; it is only our opinion that other gamers will take seriously.
 
-Even if they could manage to bring a lot of people back, there's still a contingent which would just as quickly leave because of other outstanding issues.  PVP is probably the biggest issue right now.  Imagine if they went on a PR offensive, people got in to play Warplots, hear all the PVP player feedback (and many of those issues are legitimate complaints, found out it's hard to even get into a rated arena match with the current system, and those people just left.  That's more negative publicity, even if they do make gains.  I imagine they wouldn't even attempt it until they feel the game is in a state that simply adding pure content is a good idea, and the earliest that might happen is Drop 5.
 
-It's really damn expensive.  Wildstar has NCSoft's support.  It is presently profitable (at least last we heard).  But advertisements can run up easily into the millions of dollars.  NCSoft isn't throwing that kind of money around (rightly so, I should add) until they're absolutely sure it will be made back as an investment.  They could also do other things to advertise the game, like killing the box price (EVE style), instituting a broader free trial, etc.  These all cost money to some degree.  The only thing that's free is our feedback.
 
That's where I really agree with this post.  People come to forums with complaints, which is fine.  However, if nobody thinks you enjoy the game, they won't play.  You have to be honest about the drawbacks, but you need to hype the positives.  Eclips earlier posted that he ran a simple Twitch stream showcasing the combat, and he desperately needed a few free trials to get those people into the game (since he can't just send someone to a "TRY THE GAME FREE" button anywhere).  My brother bought into the game solely because he saw me running a Stormtalon's Lair and he loved how it looked and felt.  That's what we can do when a better trial system is implemented, just show the combat.  Show the raids.  Show the dungeons.  Show what you like to do.
 
Let people know what you like about the game.   It doesn't make you a mindless fanboy to post about the things you like alongside the changes you want.  We aren't going to win any fights on the public Facebook (because that's just a wasp-cake), but a good word on your own Facebook about things you like and look forward to can go a long way.  If everyone brought a new person into the game, we'd instantly double the game's population.
 
Hopefully, the actual implementation of Drop 4 leads to an even larger population bump than we've seen already.  A drop like that for PVP that makes improvements on that level might be where this game needs to be before they're really primed for a population explosion.	
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Well if you have noticed, a lot of original players are coming back. I see a coming back post nearly every day.......Has to be a reason for that.
 
"This game, although many of you may not believe it, is going to go B2P or F2P" If (and that's a big IF) this does happen, it wont be for a long while yet. Carbine has already come out and said they are not even considering the notion. Plus they have NCsofts backing - which has been confirmed on two separate occasions.
 
The game already has an element of B2P with the CREDD system.
 
"The crazy part?  its still not that good." - a lot of people will disagree with you there bud
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  CREDD has literally nothing to do with B2P so ill just ignore that one. 
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While I can't speak for everyone I can say that I have not needed to pay a sub once since launch and have enough banked credd to pay my sub till 2017.
 
I don't farm and I barely get around to doing dailies and I have terrible luck on drops. Since launch I've found 1 ability point, 1 amp and 1 equivar mount. Still though, When one ability point can pay your sub for 4 months it's pretty darn good.
 
Anyway game can be free to play if you choose to sell some of your lucky drops	
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That's technically not true - since with CREDD you actually never need to pay for a subscription. There are quite a few people on the forums that have WS paid for with CREDD for the next 12 months plus.
 
I do see your point though 
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While I can't speak for everyone I can say that I have not needed to pay a sub once since launch and have enough banked credd to pay my sub till 2017.
 
I don't farm and I barely get around to doing dailies and I have terrible luck on drops. Since launch I've found 1 ability point, 1 amp and 1 equivar mount. Still though, When one ability point can pay your sub for 4 months it's pretty darn good.
 
Anyway game can be free to play if you choose to sell some of your lucky drops
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Your subscription is still being paid. Maybe not by you, but someone is paying for the CREDD you are using.
 
So for the player it could be perceived as B2P, but not for NCSOFT. To them Wildstar is still very much a subscription based game.
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Your subscription is still being paid. Maybe not by you, but someone is paying for the CREDD you are using.
 
So for the player it could be perceived as B2P, but not for NCSOFT. To them Wildstar is still very much a subscription based game.
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The publisher is usually responsible for marketing, not the developer. Hence, the bigger the publisher (Activision for example), the bigger the marketing (Destiny's live-action commercials). 
 
You talk about comparing WS to FFXIIII like it's something of a taboo and yet you barely went 1 complete sentence without comparing WS to another NCSoft published game, GW2.
 
Hearsay is the greatest form of marketing there is. My whole guild now plays Smite and H1Z1 all because our GM told us about it, streamed it, and convinced us to play. Now we have something else to do as a guild after a majority of the raid has to go to bed for work in the morning. At the end of the day, I couldn't care less what marketing they provide the world because I don't have cable and frequent stores only to buy essentials and search for deals during "family day". No commercial, well-placed internet ad, or cardboard cutout at my local GameStop has ever convinced me to purchase a game. I hear about X game from someone, do some research, and make an informed decision. I've been following Turtle Rock ever since they announced Evolve sometime during E313. This is how a majority of "gamers" (people I generally consider to pick up a game and play it to completion and then some) pick up games vs "people that play games" (people that will buy a new game to decide if they like it or will buy a game because they are bored).	
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I haven't really realized the exclusivity of the forums, by requiring an active account in order to post. I can completely understand Carbine doing so, as the forums are mainly a place to discuss issues and experiences between players and developers. 
 
One part of the OP that struck me was the need of conversation in other places other than the forums to foster goodwill towards the game. The only other place I could think of would be the subReddit, which has been a lot better in the past few months that it was closer to launch. It's getting better and I find I'm visiting the page more than I was.
 
As far as population and marketing are concerned....I think we're not going to see a big marketing push till after Drop 4 and maybe Drop 5.  By that time, I'm sure Carbine will have a free-trail account or something to entice people to try it. That coupled with the Quality of Life improvements and new features in those drops would make returning to, or purchasing, the game a much easier decision. 	
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