124525-what-i-demand-for-halloween

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			Wildstar,wildstar,WILDSTAR! What are you doing? Easter passed and not even bunny ears for our toons, or strain egges just popping up everywhere? That's ok wildstar, I'll tell you what to do for Halloween. This is just a small suggestion but I do want a ACTUAL Halloween event. Jack O'Lantern rowsdowers. It's simple with the new pets system being introduced just make a rowsdower with a flaming jack O'Lantern on it's head. That's all I ask or not to be rude demand.	
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http://www.wildstar-online.com/uk/news/wildstar-wednesday-shades-eve/	
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Holidays need to quickly become a thing. (Frankly, I thought there would at least be a little something by now) I don't even RP and I still freaked out when Shades Eve was scrapped.
 
Holidays will happen in WS right?
 
I'll beg. I have no shame.	
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WS has not done anything for any holiday, so don't get your hopes up.
Meanwhile the april fools day in GW2 was epic with everyone running around with their arms spread making arirplane noises ><	
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I am somewhat curious about this.
 
Will Wildstar ever have any holiday events?	
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I'm fairly sure Carbine went on record to say they wouldn't be doing holidays for a year or so to focus on making the game better.
 
Search-fu is failing me.	
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I'm fairly sure Carbine went on record to say they wouldn't be doing holidays for a year or so to focus on making the game better.
 
Search-fu is failing me.
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			I want to toilet paper other peoples housing plots!	
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I'm fairly sure Carbine went on record to say they wouldn't be doing holidays for a year or so to focus on making the game better.
 
Search-fu is failing me.
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Ah, I see.
 
Thanks for the clarification.
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			Yeah, I think it's long past time this game started doing pretty much the same things every other game manages to pull off. The whole "Oh, we can't, we're fixing bugs" thing is kinda 6 months ago.	
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Yeah, I think it's long past time this game started doing pretty much the same things every other game manages to pull off. The whole "Oh, we can't, we're fixing bugs" thing is kinda 6 months ago.
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The whole "Oh, we can't, we're fixing bugs" will never end because this is an MMO.  More bug fixes plz.
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And yet, other games manage to fix bugs and have holidays at the same time. So the whole "we can't, we're fixing bugs" thing can in fact end and it's high time that our players stopped pretending otherwise.
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			Maybe the devil is in the details money. Perhaps other games have more money and are able to hire more artists to make holiday events. If budget is tight then there's only so many things you can do so you have to prioritize.	
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			The next (first) Event will be "Party Graw"	
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			I am 99% sure that they said we'd get Halloween this year and Christmas event since we didn't get them last year. 	
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Real life holidays in MMOs have always been weird for me. Here we are in this fantasy world and were getting pumpkin heads. Always felt out of place and anti immersive.
 
Not sure why people love it so much	
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Real life holidays in MMOs have always been weird for me. Here we are in this fantasy world and were getting pumpkin heads. Always felt out of place and anti immersive.
 
Not sure why people love it so much
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			Just a a side note, I believe Carbine has said one thing they wanted to do with holidays is not just throw some decorations around the capital cites and call it a day. Yes it's nice, but at the end of it, it's like 20 min of chuckles and then you move on. They wanted their holidays to exist in the nexus world. Hence why Halloween is called Shades, it was going to be more than just decorations, but an actual living, fleshed out holiday. 	
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Real life holidays in MMOs have always been weird for me. Here we are in this fantasy world and were getting pumpkin heads. Always felt out of place and anti immersive.
 
Not sure why people love it so much
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Because easter is about Jesus and Shit. LaSt I checked Jesus wasn't part of any lore in Wildstar.
 
Immersion is about living in the game world embracing it discovering it and it's history. 
So when you bring something in that is tied to real life and has nothing to do what so ever with the history of the game world it breaks immersion.
 
I'm all for holiday events as long as they are based on the game world story instead of real life.	
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Because easter is about Jesus and Shit. LaSt I checked Jesus wasn't part of any lore in Wildstar.
 
Immersion is about living in the game world embracing it discovering it and it's history.
So when you bring something in that is tied to real life and has nothing to do what so ever with the history of the game world it breaks immersion.
 
I'm all for holiday events as long as they are based on the game world story instead of real life.
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Ooooooh that kind of easter egg xD 
 
I think theres a bunch in ws just more like references and not directly to holidays per say	
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Ooooooh that kind of easter egg xD
 
I think theres a bunch in ws just more like references and not directly to holidays per say
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Well yea, but they're directly related to real world stuff.  So why are those OK, but not holidays?  Granted, most games work the holidays into the lore and make them fit, but even with that people don't want them because immersion.  So why do the holidays break immersion but not the Easter Eggs/real world references?   General questions, not to you specifically :P
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Shade's Eve link:
 
http://www.wildstar-online.com/en/news/wildstar-wednesday-shades-eve/
 
Protostar Winterfest Extravaganza link:
 
http://www.wildstar-online.com/en/news/wildstar-wednesday-protostar-gala-winterfest-extravaganza/
 
I can tell you that both of these ideas have been around on the official site since at least 2012 but have never been in-game at any stage of either beta nor the PTR when I fiddled around there. Both events were cancelled this last year because of the SNAFU's taking place at Carbine post-launch. I don't even know if "cancelled" is the right word, because they have never existed, so it's more like they were never born than any "cancellation."
 
However, they have definitely said that holidays would be coming to Wildstar at some point - but they also gave no real time-line for it.
 
That said, I think not having holidays (or other, similar temporary and/or recurring content) is a huge faux pas. It's a welcome break from the usual, gives folks some casual-friendly content to jack around with for a few days, and generally makes everyone happy. Plus ... players come back for that stuff and stick around for a while afterward.	
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Like what? I seem to recall Vic having a similar argument, that "Galerade" is so obviously "Gatorade" that we all recognize it for what it is. Except that what it is is "Galerade" and not "Gatorade". We all recognize it as a Gatorade-like product that isn't literally the Earth product--it's close enough that we recognize the motif but not so close that they're claiming an Earth product exists on Nexus. That's why it's not immersion-breaking. It's close enough to evoke the concept through pattern completion, without literally being the same thing.
 
Similarly, we can all recognize Shade's Eve as a Halloween-like holiday that is not actually Halloween. It's why they wouldn't ever call a red hat with white trim a "Santa" hat even if it was obviously similar to the kind of hat worn by the jolly old elf.
 
A spring holiday on Wildstar that includes the Loppenok--an augmented Lopp/Ravenok hybrid who hops all over Nexus laying shiny eggs that must be collected before they hatch into random zone-appropriate mobs--would be a recognizably Easter-like motif with a distinctly Wildstar spin.
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I have a very hard time accepting "lack of immersion" and "inability to suspend belief" in a game that prides itself on being tongue-in-cheek humorous and takes place on an imaginary planet filled with imaginary lifeforms.
 
 
Oh oh!
 
I forgot Starfall and Foundation Day:
 
http://www.wildstar-online.com/uk/news/a-time-for-celebration/
 
That's the Summer/4th of July/Independence Day event.	
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A sleigh with a Chua pulled by frothing, stomping draken. 
 
I demand this!	
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			Honestly, anything we get for Halloween is an anniversary present for myself and the wife! :D	
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Real life holidays in MMOs have always been weird for me. Here we are in this fantasy world and were getting pumpkin heads. Always felt out of place and anti immersive.
 
Not sure why people love it so much
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			I just want more costumes and housing items that are holiday specific.	
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I just want more costumes and housing items ...
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Oh, hello! It's one of my favorite topics. Some new faces in here, so I'll go over some things I've said before -- sorry, old friends. But you'll get a few new tidbits. ;)
 
I lead the holiday team among my other duties, so that should tell you that there is, in fact, a holiday team at times. I'm no stranger to doing holidays and dynamic events in MMOs -- I've done them in one form or another in three previous games, so this is familiar territory for me. I can tell you from experience that holiday designers end up weirdly unseated in time; you're working at least three months in advance most often than not, as you're not the last stop in the production line and you want to make sure that everything is done, tested, and ready to go by the actual holiday window.
 
We were working on Shade's Eve last year, and got it to a decent place, but higher priority work came up. It would be wonderful if we had the luxury of having a dedicated team working on holidays alone but the truth of the matter is we've got a number of responsibilities, and ultimately our team was needed to make sure content that would be available 24/7 was in a good place first.
 
Time's passed, we did what we needed to do, we got veteran shiphands out to you folks, and holiday time rolled around again. While there were potential holidays that would be closer, it was a risky business to begin them -- while design works in advance, art needs to work even further in front of us so we have the assets we need to do our work (and yes, clever folks, there are some assets, but that's not everything.) We decided our best course was to go back to Shade's Eve and get it done, and that's what we did. I can tell you, then, that the first major holiday in WildStar should be Shade's Eve. 
 
That doesn't help define it, of course, since you haven't seen a major holiday in WildStar. We're doing more than just tossing a few dailies down and calling it good. We made sure to focus on a solid chunk of new gameplay and plenty of cosmetic goodies. As you can see with TexArcana's links (and thank you for that!) each holiday is steeped in our lore. Shade's Eve is about remembering the Shades plague that swept through the humans. Protostar's Winterfest is a celebration of pure consumerism, Protostar-style. They should be solid events that feel rooted in WildStar's flavor.
 
Now I know that there's always the criticism that we shouldn't do "Halloween in WildStar" etc. I'll explain why we do (and indeed why most games do in some form or other). In American culture, we have four (well, five, counting Thanksgiving) major holiday-ish times that roughly coincide with the quarters of the year. People are in the spirit of the given real-world holiday around that time, and it's great to use that energy. Depending on the holiday, they can coincide with time off, which is a great chance to hold a limited-time event as you know you'll have more folks around. Also, using elements of a given real-world holiday help draw players in and make it more relatable. These things combined make doing holidays in this way a smart move.
 
So! All that said, I hope that you enjoy the holidays when they come your way. No rowsdower with a pumpkin on its head for Shade's Eve, I'm afraid, but our offering is a bit more substantial than just a pet. ;)	
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Oh, hello! It's one of my favorite topics. Some new faces in here, so I'll go over some things I've said before -- sorry, old friends. But you'll get a few new tidbits. ;)
 As you can see with TexArcana's links (and thank you for that!)
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Now I know that there's always the criticism that we shouldn't do "Halloween in WildStar" etc. I'll explain why we do (and indeed why most games do in some form or other). In American culture, we have four (well, five, counting Thanksgiving) major holiday-ish times that roughly coincide with the quarters of the year. People are in the spirit of the given real-world holiday around that time, and it's great to use that energy. Depending on the holiday, they can coincide with time off, which is a great chance to hold a limited-time event as you know you'll have more folks around. Also, using elements of a given real-world holiday help draw players in and make it more relatable. These things combined make doing holidays in this way a smart move.
 
So! All that said, I hope that you enjoy the holidays when they come your way. No rowsdower with a pumpkin on its head for Shade's Eve, I'm afraid, but our offering is a bit more substantial than just a pet. ;)
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 "Sol - Earth - North America/European - JudeoChristian" holidays
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Holidays in MMOs are something I've always had a problem with, going back to WoW, and it has nothing to do with importing real world holidays into a fictional universe. My criticism is much simpler than that: Why do game developers use time and resources on weak content that only appears once a year?
 
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Because it's fun and gaming should be fun? :huh:
 
I don't look on *any* content that I enjoy as "weak."
 
Temporary events also make a game world feel like a living, breathing thing, y'know? Nexus is pretty static outside of the players themselves. I've captured that Dominion Airman outside of Thayd countless times. He's always there. He never moves. Next time I go that way guess what? He'll still be there.
 
But when a holiday comes to town, the decorations go up, new quest givers appear, things look DIFFERENT  - and in a few days, things go back to the same-old, same-old.
 
And Caydiem explained the rationale behind tying them to real world holidays. I know, I know, Nexus isn't Earth ... but you know when I have extra time to dedicate to video game events? Christmas break, Spring break, the long 4th of July weekend, Thanksgiving weekend, Easter, etc.
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			Then all I can say is, "I am glad Carbine does not share your opinion and I, and apparently a lot of other folks, eagerly await the day when holidays come to Nexus!"	
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Holidays in MMOs are something I've always had a problem with, going back to WoW, and it has nothing to do with importing real world holidays into a fictional universe. My criticism is much simpler than that: Why do game developers use time and resources on weak content that only appears once a year?
 
I understand the psychological argument, I just don't understand why a developer would want to create limited access content in a game genre that is often critically defined by how much endgame it offers. If it takes you folks three months of advance just to get this Shades' Eve done, why bother? There are plenty of fixes and updates that would be substantially more beneficial to the game right now (imo as random internet guy, obviously ;) ).
 
I suppose that holiday content has always seemed like a gimmick to me. It doesn't offer much in terms of gameplay or sustainability, it just pulls at the heartstrings of players who actually care about these holidays... which are mostly empty of any cultural relevance now anyway. :mellow:
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Now, you haven't experienced our holidays yet. As I mentioned earlier, we did a smidge more than just slappin' down a couple of dailies and calling it good. I think we're bringing a decent amount of content in this... instance. ;)
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*snip*
Now, you haven't experienced our holidays yet. As I mentioned earlier, we did a smidge more than just slappin' down a couple of dailies and calling it good. I think we're bringing a decent amount of content in this... instance. ;)
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Blarg, Mozilla crash ate my reply. I need to remember to post first then edit... ^_^
 
 
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Than all I can say is, "I am glad Carbine does not share your opinion and I, and apparently a lot of other folks, eagerly await the day when holidays come to Nexus!"
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It's weak because there's little gameplay value in holiday content. Easy quests, generally requiring no effort or learning, and often gimmicky like the Simon Memory design. :P
 
You might think it's great because it's 'fun', but sadly, there is no objective measure for 'fun'. Some people think Candy Crush Saga is fun. I still don't want to see that crap in WS. ^_^
 
I don't think a bit of short-lived environmental change justifies the obviously long process required to produce this content, or the time it takes away from QA. It reeks of Western holiday sentimentalism and I also don't see that as justification for months of preparation. :(
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Esper ya old Scrooge  :ph34r: (just kidding)
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Blarg, Mozilla crash ate my reply. I need to remember to post first then edit... ^_^
 
 
 
This is basically what I was probing to get, that holiday content is real life fan-service.  It's not a huge deal but that's something I can't get on board with unless the gameplay is solid. But across my experiences it rarely has been, especially with WoW's holiday events, which I considered pure fluff. And I'm just not a fan of fluff in MMOs. :(
 
 
 
This goes back to what I just mentioned. And I can understand appealing to your audience, even if I don't like the direction sometimes.
 
So that said, I'm not trying to make any judgements about Shades' Eve or anything Wildstar has prepared. I'm wary because of what I've seen in other games (again, primarily WoW), but I'm going to try what WS offers. Trust me, if there's decor of any kind you can expect to see me lurking at all of the events . :ph34r:
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Me personally, I just want the DYES!!!
 
 
Oh wow, that's obnoxious :lol:
 
Oh, and to add, maybe because it's mirroring Earth Halloween, sexy costumes finally? :ph34r:  Please? ^_^	
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Hey, I don't hate Western sentimentalism! Or holidays, really. I've just got this instinctual dislike for lite game design in MMOs.  :lol:
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Me personally, I just want the DYES!!!
 
 
Oh wow, that's obnoxious :lol:
 
Oh, and to add, maybe because it's mirroring Earth Halloween, sexy costumes finally? :ph34r:  Please? ^_^
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It's true that there isn't an objective, mathematical formula for fun one can apply to every instance to ensure that the content you deliver will be considered fun to the maximum number of people. That's why us designers exist as part of the process. ;) I may have had my fingers in the creation of the events you didn't find thrilling, Esper, but that doesn't mean I plan to repeat 'em, either. As designers, we learn what works and what doesn't as we try various things in our careers and observe what other games do. I keep a sharp eye on holiday and limited-time content everywhere, even if I wasn't involved in the creation of it. Our design for holidays in WildStar is tailored for WildStar and its audience.
 
I've been doing events in MMOs in some capacity or other since 2000, so I've got a decent amount of experience under my belt on this subject. :P	
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Other than a place to soak up rested XP(which you can get in the city, though not as quickly) and some mini-games to play, IMNSHO housing serves no purpose and is weak.  But there are a ton of people that will vehemently disagree with me.  I don't have fun with it.  As you say, there is no objective measure for fun, I don't find housing fun, and even though others do, I don't want to see that crap in the game.  So why should something that's not fun for me be in the game, taking away resources for what I do find fun?  And you can try to convince me all you want that housing holds a lot of value, but the simple truth is, I don't like it so it doesn't hold value to me.
 
In all seriousness though, I don't think housing should be taken out, I'm just using that as an example to show a different perspective of what you're saying.  You don't like it, so it shouldn't be there, regardless of the people that do like it and want it there.  That's kinda  :blink: , don't you think?
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@Caydiem
 
Can we expect to see Party Graw this year? Those decor items look fantastic!	
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@Caydiem
 
Can we expect to see Party Graw this year? Those decor items look fantastic!
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Haven't had the time to work on spring shenanigans, alas. As I said, the first holiday should be Shade's Eve, which is in the fall. :)
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Haven't had the time to work on spring shenanigans, alas. As I said, the first holiday should be Shade's Eve, which is in the fall. :)
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and what are you working on ? most of what i am seeing coming out is basically what was suppose to come out a few months after launch but that is now being spread over 3 years instead.
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Would love to see a party this year, maybe when WS is here for 1 year?
 
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However, metrics have shown that players look forward to limited-time events. This sort of content brings back people who haven't played in a while and also lends new visibility to the game. 
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Would love to see a party this year, maybe when WS is here for 1 year?
 
Wouldn't those people not have cancelled their subscription?
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10 day trial.
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Some might have used them already, might be a nice idea to have a free day for everyone that has an account.
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Holidays in MMOs have always been a big selling point to me. I feel they add to the world's immersion, even if it is just decorations and a few tacked on quests (FFXIV). The NPCs of the world feel a bit more alive to me knowing that a holiday is coming up.
 
I'm a big IRL holiday person, so I'll gladly take any extra holiday interactions I can get.
 
Just my 2 cents.	
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I'd be incredibly disappointed with a game if it didn't have holidays of any sort. Whether they're tied to RL themes or warped to try and match the game. I'm big into holidays IRL, myself, so it's nice to see that feeling reflected in the games I play. Sure, it's really awesome that players took Christmas into their own hands, but I want to see the actual game do something for it.
 
I don't mind if it's cheesy, or gimmicky, or even just little mini-games. I enjoy those things. There's also the chance to earn Holiday rewards, too. They might add a temporary shiphand or adventure or dungeon, or some quests, something to farm, or presents, decor, dyes, costumes, etc. I don't care if it's not 24/7, I enjoy it anyway. My own guild had a holiday housing contest, it was incredibly fun to build wreaths and trees, etc. It would also be fun to have actual decor pieces, to add to the experience.
 
Again, this is just my opinion. I'm looking forward to Shade's Eve!	
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Holidays in MMOs are something I've always had a problem with, going back to WoW, and it has nothing to do with importing real world holidays into a fictional universe. My criticism is much simpler than that: Why do game developers use time and resources on weak content that only appears once a year?
 
 
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impressed.
 
the most sincere post from a dev in a long time. nicely written,
 
thank you.	
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*claps hands excitedly* YAY! We get holidays this year. WOOT! Makes me happy :D Shade's Eve sounds so cool. I can't wait to see it!! Holiday events don't have to be just a few daily quests or a couple of fun items. TSW probably did some of the best holiday events I've seen in an MMO. For example, one Christmas they put a Krampus up in various zones, so you could participate at any level.You started with a quest to explain the legend of Krampus. Then, you had to hunt them and kill them. They dropped costume pieces and such, but they also sometimes opened a portal. The portal led to a dungeon. The dungeon dropped items that let you call up a world boss who dropped gear, costumes, potions, etc. It was quite entertaining. I posted a few screenshots below to show what I mean.
  Krampus opening a portal
 
 Too many Krampus - send help! (See, every game has a few bugs! LOL)
 
It's dungeon time!
 
 The World Boss Emerges
 
They even did a Mayan holiday themed dungeon one year.
 
Even PVP got in on it. Randomly, someone became something of an elf, and your skills were replaced with things like exploding presents and freezing snowballs! If you killed the person with the buff, you became the next elf. Was too funny!
 
 
Anyway, I guess my point is that holidays can offer really cool content that is fun and looked forward to by lots of people. I am super excited to see what a Wildstar holiday looks like!!! :D
 	
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Holidays in MMOs are something I've always had a problem with, going back to WoW, and it has nothing to do with importing real world holidays into a fictional universe. My criticism is much simpler than that: Why do game developers use time and resources on weak content that only appears once a year?
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It breaks up the same ol' same ol'. Gives people something new to look forward to they can be assured of each year.
 
Calling WS's holidays weak is a bit jumping the gun, though. None of us have seen them, and Carbine seems pretty proud of what they will be.
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Keep in mind that I was calling holiday content weak, a judgement made mostly through my experiences with WoW (which I acknowledged). I didn't specifically say WS's holiday content is going to suck... I'm just hoping it won't be like the holiday content I've seen in every other MMO. :P
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Keep in mind that I was calling holiday content weak, a judgement made mostly through my experiences with WoW (which I acknowledged). I didn't specifically say WS's holiday content is going to suck... I'm just hoping it won't be like the holiday content I've seen in every other MMO. :P
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Heh, yeah, you opened up a can of worms with that assertion, didn't ya? :lol:
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Yea, I knew when I wrote the first few posts they'd be unpopular. I'm used to that, and living in a straight-edge hockey-obssessed political city as a sports-averse political skeptic pseudo-art guy has made me OK with having unpopular opinions.
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Hey! As a left-leaning, liberal Democrat who lives in Texas, I totally know those feels.  :lol:
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