124596-returning-trial-player-impressions

== Content ==
			
Edit 13 April: Good work, frands. You got me.
 
TL;DR: It's long, if you don't want to read a long post then turn back now!
 
Just a little background: I started playing this game during the closed beta in December 2013, bought the deluxe edition and was there when the servers went live for the headstart in May 2014. I've got two level 50 characters and a couple more over level 20.
 
I stopped playing this game for a variety of small reasons that just piled up over time. First of all, it didn't feel finished. Quest hubs and quests within zones were jumbled and there were a ton of bugs, up to and including extremely important story quests at the beginning of the game. The zones were a pain to navigate, and the quests contained an epic amount of mindless killing that MIGHT advance the progress bar by 1-3% per kill. Then I made it to the endgame and watched as my guild mates dropped like flies in a bug zapper as they encountered the grind that was GA attunement. PvP was a mess, as players win-traded their way to the top and got gear that made the rest of us look like toddlers trying to fight Mike Tyson. The grind was very real, and it wouldn't carry over between characters, so you'd better like repetition or like playing only one character. On top of all that, developers would randomly completely change class mechanics, nerf path abilities and drop rates, and even went so far as to change the mechanics on the bosses in DS while one of the tiny number of guilds that made it there was in the middle of progression. This led me to believe that the game would continue its flaming descent as whoever was at the helm piloted it into the ground like a scene from Dr. Strangelove, and I had enough. Eventually my CREDD lapsed and I moved on.
 
But that's not why I'm writing this post. WildStar has had about a million and one postmortems already and this doesn't need to be another one. The preceding statements are only there to give a little perspective to what I say later on.
 
So I was messing around on my account the other day and noticed that there was a "free trial" button just hanging out, so I clicked it thinking it would take me to a description of the trial. To my surprise it actually started a 10-day trial right then and there! I figured what the hell, I'll get back into this game for ten days of free time and see what difference all of these drops have made. I'm a returning player so my account is unlimited for those ten days. NEAT.
 
I have the following AddOns installed: Ayth, JunkIt, OptiPlates, and TapThat (yes, the simon game is not fun for me, nor is the F-bop mechanic).
 
First off, I made a new character because I wanted to see the game all the way through from the beginning. Exiles are the most populous, so Granok Warrior it was. From here on out, sentence structure may suffer and grammar can probably go to hell:
 
Gambler' Ruin, level 1-3: The game seemed a LOT smoother, so y'all must have been doing some serious optimization. The quests overall felt like they flowed together better and the expository dialogue bubbles added a nice touch.
 
Northern Wilds, level 3-6: HOLY CRAP. This was so much better than I remember the starting zone being. Again, it really felt like you brought the quest hubs together very well and gave us a nice explanation for things like imbuement.
 
What's this, A SHIPHAND ALREADY?? One of my favorite parts of the game! And, to top it off, I get to wreck skeech with a forcefield. I like.
 
So I made it to Algoroc pretty quickly, and immediately noticed something very new and very cool: the rental mount vendor. Whoever thought this one up needs a high five. Well done there. Not much else to say about the zone other than that the hubs again felt well put-together and I didn't get bored out of my mind jogging back and forth between areas. I also noticed that the gear drops and rewards were itemized much better. I could have easily put together a tanking set for the first instance if I had wanted to. I couldn't find anyone to run the Protogames Academy with me so I can't comment on that. In general, though, I think it's a fantastic idea to introduce players to the game's mechanics in a simpler way before smacking them with the barbed-wire baseball bat of Stormtalon's Lair.
 
So, Thayd. Well, it's still a dump. Don't know why Exiles like living in garbage so much, maybe it's because they're a bunch of dirty hicks. (Sorry, all of my other characters are Dominion.) BUT I finally don't have to run around from point to point taking in the sights, because you gave me a bike that drives me around! I literally sat there drinking fizzy water and giggling like a child as the bike ferried me around the city like a prince.
 
In Galeras I noticed for the first time that I could unselect individual AMPs. This is awesome, especially for somebody like me who enjoys playing around with my spec as I level. Again, well done there. And of course the hubs felt like they connected better and I didn't get quests sending me all over the crack of nowhere and back for no reason.
 
As of this post I'm working my way through Whitevale. It's huge, and I think it needs a few more taxi stops for the lazy people like me. Other than that, once again the questing is much better and the gear drops actually seem like they were designed by a human.
 
One thing I've noticed overall is that a lot of the quests have had their kill requirements toned down, which I like. This was especially noticeable for me when I got to the Redmoon base outside of Wigwali Village and didn't have to kill approximately infinity of them to finish the quest. Then I took on the Lopp wedding quests and again didn't have to kill infinity plus one slugs and rootbrutes. Kudos to Carbine for that.
 
There also seem to be a lot more appearance modificators around, and the rune stations in towns encourage me to actually USE those runes that I salvage rather than just sell them to the junk vendor.
 
So that's where I am right now. There's a lot that I haven't taken in yet. I haven't tried out the commodities exchange to see if it's become easier to buy stacks of items. I haven't played around with my housing at all. And I haven't seen what's at the end game because I've been playing my new character, so I don't know how that looks today.
 
Anyhow, thanks to anybody who read this, maybe you could share your impressions of the new changes. Overall I am impressed with what Carbine's done!
 
Edit: just remembered that the map now appears underground! FINALLY. Must have switched to a new carrier for the datachrons.	
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I have to agree with your giving a high five to the mount rental thinkerupper. I really enjoyed having that option.
 
And just a heads up, if you haven't read anything about the patch currently on the PTR, appearance modificators won't be needed after it goes live! Weee!
 
I also recently came back and just want to echo most of what you said. So much feels smoother and better put together overall.
 
I think my favorite addition was the renown vendor. You mentioned you haven't checked back in on housing, but a vendor was put where you teleport in so that you can buy SO MANY THINGS including, my favorite for leveling, experience flasks haha. (I love you leveling but sometimes I just need to get through it because I'm enjoying a class so much I want to play it in endgame). 
A few dungeon/adventure runs got me enough renown to buy 5 or 6 flasks I think.	
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I have to agree with your giving a high five to the mount rental thinkerupper. I really enjoyed having that option.
 
And just a heads up, if you haven't read anything about the patch currently on the PTR, appearance modificators won't be needed after it goes live! Weee!
 
I also recently came back and just want to echo most of what you said. So much feels smoother and better put together overall.
 
I think my favorite addition was the renown vendor. You mentioned you haven't checked back in on housing, but a vendor was put where you teleport in so that you can buy SO MANY THINGS including, my favorite for leveling, experience flasks haha. (I love you leveling but sometimes I just need to get through it because I'm enjoying a class so much I want to play it in endgame). 
A few dungeon/adventure runs got me enough renown to buy 5 or 6 flasks I think.
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			I'm waiting on support to remove my 2 step authentication so I can finally log in again with the free trial. Hoping the game has more people than the last time I played, its pretty much the reason I stopped since I liked everything else about it. GW2 and SWTOR weren't doing it for me(though I did spend way too much on swtors cartel packs so I should've just re-subbed to WS :/ )	
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As a returning player I'm also having tons of fun:)
 
I'm level 45 now and i think i started my new toon a few weeks ago so thats pretty good and fast progress:) 
 
I absolutely love the dungeons in this game. They are rock solid cool looking and the bosses are great:) But we need more than 5!!!!! Come on devs..make us more dungeons!!! And make them VALID at end game.
 
As a casual player i realy like they way they are going foreward with raiding, with different difficult levels of the raids. YES..casuals wanna raid too!!!! 
 
I also had the 2 step google auth....but that 3 party auth thing...it kinda scared me shitless and made me paranoid.....	
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			By the way, as far as dungeons/attunement/etc, players dropped like flies because they were highly under educated on how to interrupt on top of other multiple issues. It was not because the dungeons were over-tuned or whatever excuse people used. So just for future reference if you're doing group content eventually, nothing has changed as far as difficulty. 	
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			ppl dropepd like flies due to bugs and the fear for the insane attunement needed back then. Since then the attunement is as far as I have read quite doable even for casuals:)	
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By the way, as far as dungeons/attunement/etc, players dropped like flies because they were highly under educated on how to interrupt on top of other multiple issues. It was not because the dungeons were over-tuned or whatever excuse people used. So just for future reference if you're doing group content eventually, nothing has changed as far as difficulty.
 
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As a returning player I'm also having tons of fun:)
 
I'm level 45 now and i think i started my new toon a few weeks ago so thats pretty good and fast progress:) 
 
I absolutely love the dungeons in this game. They are rock solid cool looking and the bosses are great:) But we need more than 5!!!!! Come on devs..make us more dungeons!!! And make them VALID at end game.
 
As a casual player i realy like they way they are going foreward with raiding, with different difficult levels of the raids. YES..casuals wanna raid too!!!! 
 
I also had the 2 step google auth....but that 3 party auth thing...it kinda scared me shitless and made me paranoid.....
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I have a different theory... :)
 
I really don't feel the game has materially changed. And that's not a slight to Carbine, but the few tweaks here and there... I mean, it's still WildStar!
 
Instead, it seems players who are coming back or new players coming in are doing so without the same hype and over-extended expectations that existed launch time. This means they're approaching it much differently, without a race to the top or other weird pressures that come along with the launch of the game. In turn, this allows them to enjoy the game at face value, and if you allow yourself to do that, you see it's one of the best out there!
 
Just my opinion mind you... but I've seen this in other games as well, and I think it's sort of natural behavior. Sure, there are always tweaks to be made, but for the most part I think the renewed success WildStar and other games have post-launch has more to do with how players approach it than actually changes.	
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I have a different theory... :)
 
I really don't feel the game has materially changed. An that's not a slight to Carbine, but the few tweaks here and there... I mean, it's still WildStar!
 
Instead, it seems players who are coming back or new players coming in are doing so without the same hype and over-extended expectations that existed launch time. This means they're approaching it much differently, without a race to the top or other weird pressures that come along with the launch of the game. In turn, this allows them to enjoy the game at face value, and if you allow yourself to do that, you see it's one of the best out there!
 
Just my opinion mind you... but I've seen this in other games as well, and I think it's sort of natural behavior. Sure, there are always tweaks to be made, but for the most part I think the renewed success WildStar and other games have post-launch has more to do with how players approach it than actually changes.
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			Phandaal is my hero. :lol: :wub: :ph34r:	
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Go back to your #hardcore echo chamber, please. I may have been gone for a while but I've been here long enough to know where any conversation with you goes: it's the player's fault that they couldn't handle the awesomeness that was WildStar at launch. Get it, got it, good, moving on.
 
Fortunately, CS lives in reality here on planet earth, and I am still very impressed by the changes they've made for the better! Looking forward to seeing what they've done with Farside.
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Look, I'm a returning player, too - and I was here a lot longer than the OP both pre- and post-launch.
 
While the basics of the game haven't changed, there are most certainly parts of the pre-Whitevale questing areas that have been smoothed over. I noticed mob densities had been thinned out in places, quests had been moved/removed/altered completely and other minor things that DID make the questing out there significantly more pleasant.
 
Notice, the OP wasn't talking about dungeons or attunement or gear modding - he was mostly discussing the flow of quests and how much better the leveling felt.
 
And he's right. It *has* changed for the better.	
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Look, I'm a returning player, too - and I was here a lot longer than the OP both pre- and post-launch.
 
While the basics of the game haven't changed, there are most certainly parts of the pre-Whitevale questing areas that have been smoothed over. I noticed mob densities had been thinned out in places, quests had been moved/removed/altered completely and other minor things that DID make the questing out there significantly more pleasant.
 
Notice, the OP wasn't talking about dungeons or attunement or gear modding - he was mostly discussing the flow of quests and how much better the leveling felt.
 
And he's right. It *has* changed for the better.
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I'm not debating that.
There have been minor tweaks all over like this. Mobs being moved, thinned, changed, or simply removed from specific spots.
A few trickle quests have been added as well here and there for better guidance.
 
These things however are minor.
Needed, but minor changes overall. I agree they improved the QoL in certain zones, but the impact of them is minimal to all other changes we have seen (and listed)
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Go back to your #hardcore echo chamber, please. I may have been gone for a while but I've been here long enough to know where any conversation with you goes: it's the player's fault that they couldn't handle the awesomeness that was WildStar at launch. Get it, got it, good, moving on.
 
Fortunately, CS lives in reality here on planet earth, and I am still very impressed by the changes they've made for the better! Looking forward to seeing what they've done with Farside.
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Aw shucks Tex. You'll make me blush.
 
Olivar, you are right that the game still fundamentally is WildStar. It doesn't necessarily feel easier, just more accessible. And as I mentioned I've taken two characters to max level already so I most assuredly do NOT want to stop and smell the roses.
 
I think the changes are more noticeable to me because I haven't seen the gradual progression. It's like when I see my neice and nephew. To my brother they're just growing up but to me it's HOLY CRAP YOU'RE BIG NOW!	
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Ah yeah, I'd looked at the vendor a bit but since I'm not in a guild with my Exile I forgot about it. I just like that I can sell junk without having to add a vending machine to my plot. I remember reading about the wardrobe earlier, but I'd forgotten about that too. Guild Wars 2 did something similar so players wouldn't have to keep items in storage forever hoping to use them some day. Definitely a good change!
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			QoL changes, how do they work?  :P  :D	
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QoL changes, how do they work?  :P  :D
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1. Get discouraged playing a game.
 
2. Quit.
 
3. Come back six months later.
 
4.  ??
 
5. PROFIT!
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{| class="blockquote"
1. Get discouraged playing a game.
 
2. Quit.
 
3. Come back six months later.
 
4.  ??
 
5. PROFIT!
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{| class="blockquote"
1. Get discouraged playing a game.
 
2. Quit.
 
3. Come back six months later.
 
4. ??
 
5. PROFIT!
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Pretty much, it's amazing how much an MMO changes in a year.
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1. Start Playing
2. Keep Playing
3. Welcome Tex Back
4. Profit
 
Much easier :P
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The biggest problem these days is that games need to prove themselves within the first month or else its a fail. The second problem are the gamers, they want everything and they want it now. If it doesn't deliver they will make sure that via every possible medium they will say just how terrible the game is. 
 
They tried the game at launch so it sucked then so obviously it stlll sucks now, without ever trying it again. ESO pretty much had the same problem. I swear honestly to god it infuriates me, I spend a few months playing ESO and the amount of work they spend after the launch trying to fix the game was crazy, even changing core gameplay at a fast place, every article that got posted on Massively the people where going "oh its a fail, and it will be F2P and it sucks big time " every damn article. Then the game went B2P and suddenly everyone is telling how great the game is and how much has changed. 
 
In  the end they just want a game to fail just so they could change the payment model to F2P. Which is funny because then  the next thing they whine about is how item mall is P2W. 
Oh the age of self entitlement. 
 
*I have the worst form of dyslexia and it gets even worse when I want to say something about subjects like these lol*	
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The biggest problem these days is that games need to prove themselves within the first month or else its a fail. The second problem are the gamers, they want everything and they want it now. If it doesn't deliver they will make sure that via every possible medium they will say just how terrible the game is. 
 
They tried the game at launch so it sucked then so obviously it stlll sucks now, without ever trying. ESO pretty much had the same problem. 
Then you have blogs like Massively where everyone want the game to fail just so they could change the payment model to F2P. 
 
Oh the age of self entitlement. 
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The biggest problem these days is that games need to prove themselves within the first month or else its a fail. The second problem are the gamers, they want everything and they want it now. If it doesn't deliver they will make sure that via every possible medium they will say just how terrible the game is. 
 
They tried the game at launch so it sucked then so obviously it stlll sucks now, without ever trying. ESO pretty much had the same problem. 
Then you have blogs like Massively where everyone want the game to fail just so they could change the payment model to F2P. 
 
Oh the age of self entitlement. 
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I actually didn't want the game to fail. As in, really didn't want it to fail. I own the deluxe edition and I was a big cheerleader for this game to my friends at launch. In my case it wasn't entitlement at all. I don't feel like I'm entitled to anything that I haven't earned or paid for.
 
I am just not the kind of person who likes to do things when I feel like it's a waste of time. What I saw was that the developers were making the game worse instead of better so I finally cut sling and dropped. That was then, this is now, and I'm pleased and impressed with where this game seems to be going now.	
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I actually didn't want the game to fail. As in, really didn't want it to fail. I own the deluxe edition and I was a big cheerleader for this game to my friends at launch. In my case it wasn't entitlement at all. I don't feel like I'm entitled to anything that I haven't earned or paid for.
 
I am just not the kind of person who likes to do things when I feel like it's a waste of time. What I saw was that the developers were making the game worse instead of better so I finally cut sling and dropped. That was then, this is now, and I'm pleased and impressed with where this game seems to be going now.
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stop being so entitled!
 
*runs away fast*
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Darn you Chuaaaaa! *shakes fist, adjusts monocle*
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It really hasn't changed that much, I still feel it has much more to do with player psyche.
 
But of the changes that *have* been made (in any game) there's really no way for the developers to be informed about them other than to launch the game and let the player feedback loop begin. That's why I wish players wouldn't judge a game in a week or 30 days.
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Another HUGE change was the overhaul of the rune system.
 
Also, go hit up the vendbots and crafting vendors near any crafting stations, you can buy for cheap weakened runes to prop up your gear.	
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Another HUGE change was the overhaul of the rune system.
 
Also, go hit up the vendbots and crafting vendors near any crafting stations, you can buy for cheap weakened runes to prop up your gear.
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			Thanks a ton to the OP and to those sharing your experiences with returning to the game. It's tremendously valuable for us to get your impressions as previous players coming into the game after a hiatus, and of course it makes me happy to hear that the efforts we're putting into improving the game aren't going unnoticed :). I hope you find a group to play Protogames Academy with so we can hear what you think!!	
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It really hasn't changed that much, I still feel it has much more to do with player psyche.
 
But of the changes that *have* been made (in any game) there's really no way for the developers to be informed about them other than to launch the game and let the player feedback loop begin. That's why I wish players wouldn't judge a game in a week or 30 days.
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I agree with the second part of your post a LOT. I disagree with the first part though.
 
Having read a lot of your posts, I think you and I actually come from a similar point of view; however, I think what you miss is that while the changes haven't been big in terms of how much they've changed the game, they've made big changes into how much people are enjoying playing it. Or to say it different, small changes to large effect.
 
It's like the grain of sand in your shoe. It's a super small thing, and fixing it isn't that hard, but it can make life so unpleasant that you don't want to walk.
 
I really, REALLY like where runes are now. It didn't bother me back in the day, but I know it bothered a lot of others. Really, it was a small thing. They threw something out there and it didn't quite hit the right balance in terms of effort reward. So the tweaked it. But that balance being off was the grain in the shoes of a LOT of players.
 
Effort/reward is actually a pretty big "grain of sand" in an MMO. I understand why people left because of it. People who left because of the challenge? Well, they probably don't need to give it another shot. But those who felt like the were doing a lot of work and not getting much reward, those players certainly should give it another try.
 
Carbine has addressed a lot of bits of sand, and it's paying off. The new WS is clean, polished, and better than ever (from a PvE standpoint). Has a lot change? The core hasn't- but the experience for a lot of players has been made a whole lot better.
 
For me, there was never enough irritation with the game to move on. And things that did irritate me, I had faith that Carbine could address. They tried some things and took some risks. With that you got some failures (40 man raids, most of the adventures imo, and a monthly drop schedule), some crazy good successes (combat system, housing, shiphands), and some things that actually weren't bad, but needed to be tweaked (the rune system). That's reasonable to expect from any MMO launch, and they should be lauded for the risks they took.
 
Anyway, I think there are plenty of good reasons for players to return, and I'm seeing players who gave it up come back and really like it this time around.
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Oh, see ... I did not know that. I've just been not runing while I level like usual.  I didn't wanna "waste" my bits on low-level gear.
 
Thank you, Elo!
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Evade and Jeff, I agree. The little QoL "grains of sand" make a huge difference, especially when taken as a sum total. And Elo'naa, thanks for the heads up! I didn't know that resource was there.
 
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Thanks a ton to the OP and to those sharing your experiences with returning to the game. It's tremendously valuable for us to get your impressions as previous players coming into the game after a hiatus, and of course it makes me happy to hear that the efforts we're putting into improving the game aren't going unnoticed :). I hope you find a group to play Protogames Academy with so we can hear what you think!!
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Evade and Jeff, I agree. The little QoL "grains of sand" make a huge difference, especially when taken as a sum total. And Elo'naa, thanks for the heads up! I didn't know that resource was there.
 
 
I hope more people let you know what they think of the efforts you've put in. I'm sure there are a bunch of things that I'm missing like what Elo'naa brought up.
 
I can rally down to the Protogames Academy, right? I have a good feel for the combat system already, but it would be cool to see what it's all about.
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I agree with the second part of your post a LOT. I disagree with the first part though.
 
Having read a lot of your posts, I think you and I actually come from a similar point of view; however, I think what you miss is that while the changes haven't been big in terms of how much they've changed the game, they've made big changes into how much people are enjoying playing it. Or to say it different, small changes to large effect.
 
It's like the grain of sand in your shoe. It's a super small thing, and fixing it isn't that hard, but it can make life so unpleasant that you don't want to walk.
 
I really, REALLY like where runes are now. It didn't bother me back in the day, but I know it bothered a lot of others. Really, it was a small thing. They threw something out there and it didn't quite hit the right balance in terms of effort reward. So the tweaked it. But that balance being off was the grain in the shoes of a LOT of players.
 
Effort/reward is actually a pretty big "grain of sand" in an MMO. I understand why people left because of it. People who left because of the challenge? Well, they probably don't need to give it another shot. But those who felt like the were doing a lot of work and not getting much reward, those players certainly should give it another try.
 
Carbine has addressed a lot of bits of sand, and it's paying off. The new WS is clean, polished, and better than ever (from a PvE standpoint). Has a lot change? The core hasn't- but the experience for a lot of players has been made a whole lot better.
 
For me, there was never enough irritation with the game to move on. And things that did irritate me, I had faith that Carbine could address. They tried some things and took some risks. With that you got some failures (40 man raids, most of the adventures imo, and a monthly drop schedule), some crazy good successes (combat system, housing, shiphands), and some things that actually weren't bad, but needed to be tweaked (the rune system). That's reasonable to expect from any MMO launch, and they should be lauded for the risks they took.
 
Anyway, I think there are plenty of good reasons for players to return, and I'm seeing players who gave it up come back and really like it this time around.
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Do these steps and you will never been groupless again
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I left the game right as megaservers where launched, my guild left the night before they launched. I just came back myself a few weeks ago and decided to level a new character to get the feel for the game again/. I must say that there definitely has been a smoothed out leveling experience all the way to Malgrave, from there on still feels the same. 
 
I have to say that for max level the new vet shiphands, rune changes, glory gear really make things great for a solo player like me. TBH, all that I need now is just a guild to raid with. I think that some of the very small changes they made did create a smoother gameplay experience and lessened a lot of that "brick wall" feeling I know many of my fellow guildmates had. And the things I've read about coming in drop 5 just seem even better. I think the game is in an upswing and needs more people in it to really thrive.
 
That and some sort of way to see the raid content story stuff (not gear or w/e, please don't have a fit over this, save it for the other thread) without doing the raid for solo players.	
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I left the game right as megaservers where launched, my guild left the night before they launched. I just came back myself a few weeks ago and decided to level a new character to get the feel for the game again/. I must say that there definitely has been a smoothed out leveling experience all the way to Malgrave, from there on still feels the same. 
 
I have to say that for max level the new vet shiphands, rune changes, glory gear really make things great for a solo player like me. TBH, all that I need now is just a guild to raid with. I think that some of the very small changes they made did create a smoother gameplay experience and lessened a lot of that "brick wall" feeling I know many of my fellow guildmates had. And the things I've read about coming in drop 5 just seem even better. I think the game is in an upswing and needs more people in it to really thrive.
 
That and some sort of way to see the raid content story stuff (not gear or w/e, please don't have a fit over this, save it for the other thread) without doing the raid for solo players.
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I left the game right as megaservers where launched, my guild left the night before they launched. I just came back myself a few weeks ago and decided to level a new character to get the feel for the game again/. I must say that there definitely has been a smoothed out leveling experience all the way to Malgrave, from there on still feels the same. 
 
I have to say that for max level the new vet shiphands, rune changes, glory gear really make things great for a solo player like me. TBH, all that I need now is just a guild to raid with. I think that some of the very small changes they made did create a smoother gameplay experience and lessened a lot of that "brick wall" feeling I know many of my fellow guildmates had. And the things I've read about coming in drop 5 just seem even better. I think the game is in an upswing and needs more people in it to really thrive.
 
That and some sort of way to see the raid content story stuff (not gear or w/e, please don't have a fit over this, save it for the other thread) without doing the raid for solo players.
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Well, get your old guildies to come back. :)
 
Raid content story stuff? That's a thing? Raids aren't really like the dungeons, where you have several logs and datacrons scattered about.
 
Have you tried Omnicore-1? I think that's as much story as you get out of the raids?
 
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They're so uninterested it's not worth my time. They're PvP oriented and went straight back to GW2 and such.
 
And yes, I've done Omnicore 1, but there something to be said about facing Ohmna/Avatus and the like that are part of the story that I think the solo/story hungry would enjoy. Ohmna is discussed a lot in logs and datachrons and Avatus.. well you face him everywhere. In Omnicore 1 you don't even really face him, just a robot of his as he's "busy" with the raid group. While I get that Omicore 1 was an attempt to cross that bridge, your super important task wasn't even important enough for Avatus himself to face you. Beyond getting in on a raid team, I'd like to think that some people would enjoy facing Ohmna/Avatus in some capacity.
 
 
 
I got a warrior to level 50 in around 5 days and geared him out. He's already got some 2700 AP with some decent gear,and that's playing solo. The gearing process is very nice and very smooth, the accessability to all the content save the raids is very good and very well explained. Same thing with leading to the daily zones and new daily quests, save the small 4 square that offers the daily vet dungeon/shiphand/pvp/adventure. If someone didn't tell me, I wouldn't have known about it. 
 
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Yea that is in a bad spot for returning players. New toons should see it during the Thayd tour I think. I believe the next drop moves all that stuff into a more visible spot.
 
Raids are a ton of fun, but aside from the fact that you fight Ohmna, you don't learn anything new.
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Another one from starting player, QoL changes are impressive, almost everything that turned me off in beta is gone -- can't point my finger to one thing specifically but overall feeling is a lot better.
 
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Thanks a ton to the OP and to those sharing your experiences with returning to the game. It's tremendously valuable for us to get your impressions as previous players coming into the game after a hiatus, and of course it makes me happy to hear that the efforts we're putting into improving the game aren't going unnoticed :). I hope you find a group to play Protogames Academy with so we can hear what you think!!
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Thanks man, I really appreciate it.
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Also, you can grab my add on, LFG Board, and it will store LFG chat messages you may have missed while doing other stuff.
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			Still the same as I left. So far i'm not impressed and will most likely go back to GW2.	
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			Question,  there is any PvP at low level??  :(	
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Question, there is any PvP at low level?? :(
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			no PvP till level 50.... that will make really HARD to make ppl return.... maybe they should make like other MMOs make BG 1-49 and Bust the player stats to the max	
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no PvP till level 50.... that will make really HARD to make ppl return.... 
 
maybe they should make like other MMOs make BG 1-49 and Bust the player stats to the max
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They realy realy need to open up warplots to the casual masses..make it a big 40vs 40 battleground or something, cause 3 BG's are WAY to little to keep pvp interesting in the long run. World PVP is shit in any game...so THAT is not the way to go. My personal Best game ever would have been GW2's WWW maps/system merged with the wildstar toon, graphics and combat. Although GW2 combat is also rock solid. So pleae Carabinoes..LEARN pvp from GW2...and copy it for success.
 
Dungeons in Wildstar is the best dungeon experience I have had in any game, but its WAY to few dungeons. Pleaeese..make more dungeons:)
 
I think someone mentioned a daily dungeon quest? THIS I love! That is the right way to do things....make running VET dungeons at max level valid as end game...meaning. Give currency that can by raid gear etc...
 
And Last..open up raids for the masses. ALL mmo players want to raid some form or another. Very few ppl are content with being denied to raid. Raid is the (if you dont have gw2's www) ultimate end game that all players want to dip into!	
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They realy realy need to open up warplots to the casual masses..make it a big 40vs 40 battleground or something, cause 3 BG's are WAY to little to keep pvp interesting in the long run. World PVP is shit in any game...so THAT is not the way to go. My personal Best game ever would have been GW2's WWW maps/system merged with the wildstar toon, graphics and combat. Although GW2 combat is also rock solid. So pleae Carabinoes..LEARN pvp from GW2...and copy it for success.
 
Dungeons in Wildstar is the best dungeon experience I have had in any game, but its WAY to few dungeons. Pleaeese..make more dungeons:)
 
I think someone mentioned a daily dungeon quest? THIS I love! That is the right way to do things....make running VET dungeons at max level valid as end game...meaning. Give currency that can by raid gear etc...
 
And Last..open up raids for the masses. ALL mmo players want to raid some form or another. Very few ppl are content with being denied to raid. Raid is the (if you dont have gw2's www) ultimate end game that all players want to dip into!
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Have you SEEN warplots? Because I don't think 95% of the people who've played Wildstar ever have seen it, hardcore or casual.
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Have you SEEN warplots? Because I don't think 95% of the people who've played Wildstar ever have seen it, hardcore or casual.
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Have you SEEN warplots? Because I don't think 95% of the people who've played Wildstar ever have seen it, hardcore or casual.
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I've been here two years and I have yet to see a Warplot. :(  And honestly, that's all I wanted to do here.
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I love how their slogan for hyping warplots has become a meme of it's own. How I remember the jokes in chat/TS anytime someone brought up warplots.... "I mean.... Have you SEEN warplots?" Hehehehe.
 
And yea Tex, my guild was a WvW guild from GW2 and we were super excited over Warplots and it disappointed us immensely that it never really got off the ground (more like buried it's own grave).
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Sadly, they were the "40 Man Raid" of PVP and met the same ignominious end. Warplots should have been an Endgame Battleground from the outset. Honestly, if I was the Dev who spent my life creating that content, I'd be seriously ticked off.
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			Lol, I've also been here for 2 years now and never have seen a warplot.	
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Then you weren't trying :)
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Sadly, they were the "40 Man Raid" of PVP and met the same ignominious end. Warplots should have been an Endgame Battleground from the outset. Honestly, if I was the Dev who spent my life creating that content, I'd be seriously ticked off.
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Lol, I've also been here for 2 years now and never have seen a warplot.
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Me and 95% of the population  ;)
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no PvP till level 50.... that will make really HARD to make ppl return.... 
 
maybe they should make like other MMOs make BG 1-49 and Bust the player stats to the max
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Well, I know you were here through early beta (which counts for the two years) so there were plenty of playlists to at least have seen and played through the Warplots!
 
I actually think the Warplots concept would be excellent as almost a standalone game... some re-thinking of progression and stuff, but for a game mode it was pretty cool.
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			I've never seen warplots, though I've been here since the betas myself. xD That's largely because by the time I was 50, they'd pretty much... ended.	
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I've never seen warplots, though I've been here since the betas myself. xD That's largely because by the time I was 50, they'd pretty much... ended.
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OK, just finished Farside and Deep Space Exploration. I can't comment on the Shiphand because it's actually the first time I've done it on any character.
 
I have to say, you guys took Farside and made it better! I didn't think it was possible to improve on my favorite zone, but you applied the same QoL changes there that you've applied elsewhere. My only complaint is that it's over too fast! I need more low-g zones!
 
So, since Carbine has obviously got their heads in the right place, I've resubbed for 3 months! Hope end game is as improved as your leveling experience.
 
Now, one big concern for me: PvP! Please don't make a gear creep happen there. Listen to your engaged community members who've been providing valuable feedback over on those forums. If I'm going to get stomped I'd rather it's because I'm a noob and not because I haven't spent long enough on the gear treadmill. That is all.	
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			I finished farside today as well, god dammit it was so strange to come back to gravity. As an Engineer I have this cool skill that makes me jump back and do a snare, so it was 10 times as epic at zero grav. 	
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I finished farside today as well, god dammit it was so strange to come back to gravity. As an Engineer I have this cool skill that makes me jump back and do a snare, so it was 10 times as epic at zero grav. 
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I've never seen warplots, though I've been here since the betas myself. xD That's largely because by the time I was 50, they'd pretty much... ended.
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Agreed. I wish their pvp system was more like GW2. I haven't played it since I came back for the free trial, but pvp in this game was a lot of fun for me with the combat system. I'd encourage you to get a character to 50 and then give it a shot.
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I did, but still I want redo the leveling to see the changes :)
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Me too haha. I figure if the leveling sucks then there isn't much hope in the long run. What I've seen so far is that it's way better!
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Me too haha. I figure if the leveling sucks then there isn't much hope in the long run. What I've seen so far is that it's way better!
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I am almost to level 40, after having started over when I resubbed. Dudes ... even Wilderun doesn't suck, and from me, that is high praise for the zone dubbed "Subscription Killer" ...
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I am almost to level 40, after having started over when I resubbed. Dudes ... even Wilderun doesn't suck, and from me, that is high praise for the zone dubbed "Subscription Killer" ...
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I love the music in Wilderrun... but last time I played it I felt like I was committing genocide on those poor animals I killed so many. Gonna give it a whirl this evening while the wife is out at a friend's bday party, you've made me hopeful that those maniacal requirements have been toned down a bit.
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Yeah, I think the Big Game Hunter quests are like ... six or seven mobs instead of the five dozen million we used to have to kill. Even fewer if you're macho enough to tackle some Primes. Which I am. Because I'm macho like that.
 
And the big-ass sword helps.
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Yeah, I think the Big Game Hunter quests are like ... six or seven mobs instead of the five dozen million we used to have to kill. Even fewer if you're macho enough to tackle some Primes. Which I am. Because I'm macho like that.
 
And the big-ass sword helps.
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			A litte question . I the big character I can change the Holomarks positions, but in the new char I can't put the holomarks near the body , is this a bug?	
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			If you  mean your guild tags, the customization options are global for all characters, so you might have a glitch there.	
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