148845-did-i-start-playing-this-at-a-bad-time

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First of all, I'd like to introduce myself here. I'm Lan Sukasa, and I don't blame you if you have serious trouble trying to pronounce my alias because many people on Halo 3 back in '09 had that problem too. Anyhow, I was reminded of this game's existence once again when someone on Miiverse (Nintendo's social network type of place) told me about it when I was talking about debating on what MMO I should play since I was getting burnt out on MapleStory ever since the Reboot server launched a month ago, and I had totally forgotten that this game had gone F2P back in September. Heck, I pretty much forgot about it's existence entirely about a several months after launch. So I downloaded it to see if I'd like it.
 
I'm currently level 17 and I'm liking this game quite a bit. The combat feels fresher than the whole "use this rotation over and over again" setup that WoW and other games use, and it feels a bit less clunky than TERA's combat. Only issues I've had are some of the challenges feel like they were poorly-designed and vary way too much in terms of difficulty, with some being extremely easy and others being almost impossible, and the UI is kind of a mess (thank goodness for addons.) But yeah, I feel like this could become a personal favorite of mine and one of the MMORPG's that I'll regularly switch between (I normally switch between WoW, MapleStory, RuneScape, and Final Fantasy XIV.)
 
However, I'm now debating if I really want to invest in a whole lot of time into the game, considering all of the gossip about an impending doomsday of the game (which has seemingly been around since launch,) the amount of "I'm quitting" threads in the first several pages of this board, and the game is a tad bit quiet, though I assume like many lower-pop MMORPG's like FFXI, most of everyone is doing the endgame content. Unlike that game, I did see at least a few players in the starting zones rather than seeing like, one a week roaming around in Ronafaure or Gustaberg, which was usually most likely a veteran player leveling up a job they just started working on. It surprised me a little to see that the game only has two servers, whereas at launch, it supposedly had ten or so. I'm also aware that Carbine seems to operate in a similar manner to Nexon of America, where they refuse to fix major issues of the game that have been there for a long time. Just look at the Global MapleStory forums and you'll probably see a few threads discussing Nexon not properly listening to the community, outside of the complete miracle that is them listening to the massive outcry when they nearly put a pay-to-win element into Reboot, a server that was meant to be non-pay-to-win.
 
So, did I start playing at a bad time? Is it a good idea to invest time into a game that's supposedly dying?	
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My best advice is to ignore the doom-and-gloom and just enjoy yourself. There are TONS of people playing this game on the PVE servers at all hours of the day. There are very active guilds, circles and other in-game communities doing every level of content from casual RP to ultra-hardcore raiding.
 
If you're enjoying yourself, then keep enjoying yourself.
 
This game is no more "dying" than any other MMO on the market today. It's got it's positives and it's negatives. It's got die-hard fans and die-hard haters. For every person complaining on the forums, there are a dozen (or more) people logged into the game having fun.
 
Welcome to the community.
			
				
	Edited January 11, 2016 by Tex Arcana	
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I assume like many lower-pop MMORPG's like FFXI, most of everyone is doing the endgame content
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			Totally worth playing. Plenty of people to play with, and existing content is good. You'll be glad if you stick with it.	
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Note that all the people posting quitting threads are a small population of the game, and that most people don't come onto forums to post "Im having a great time!"  People only talk when they're frustrated :P
 
And yeah, you should def. invest into WS.  It's a great game that has a ton of depth and fun to it.  If you're having fun - have fun and play it!  If it ends up going south it'll be a bummer, but it's there for the fun, no? (and hey, F2P means you don't have to 'waste' money)	
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Now's probably as good a time as any to play it. WildStar is a lot of fun on the initial trek up to 50 (at least I found it to be.) The only problem is that you might find there aren't a lot of interesting things to do at endgame unless you're willing to dedicate time and effort to get into the raiding scene.
 
There's a WildStar related announcement in a couple of days which no doubt will be the feature list for drop 7. I'm expecting some quality of life improvements and possibly a new dungeon or two, I doubt it'll be too exciting.
			
				
	Edited January 11, 2016 by Nyoro~	
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{| class="blockquote"
My best advice is to ignore the doom-and-gloom and just enjoy yourself. There are TONS of people playing this game on the PVE servers at all hours of the day. There are very active guilds, circles and other in-game communities doing every level of content from casual RP to ultra-hardcore raiding.
 
If you're enjoying yourself, then keep enjoying yourself.
 
This game is no more "dying" than any other MMO on the market today. It's got it's positives and it's negatives. It's got die-hard fans and die-hard haters. For every person complaining on the forums, there are a dozen (or more) people logged into the game having fun.
 
Welcome to the community.
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I would say it's a good time. You're late enough that you've missed the dark days last year when updates were sparse and in-game activity was low (at least on Dom), but early enough that you've arrived not long before the next content drop (I'm guessing 3-4 weeks, maybe a bit longer, but there are a few events before then that should improve activity).
People complain all the time and Wildstar is no exception. I recall that the last year or two I played of WoW was filled with glossing over strongly negative posts on their forums, with plenty of quit threads and poo-slinging. The only real difference is that the population of WoW was so large that there was no chance of the game shutting down. With Wildstar, our population is noticeably low enough that people who think/see negativity are comfortable correlating that negatvitiy to a pretty baseless prediction of game closure.
 
MMOs require thick skin to really enjoy. That applies both to the jerkwads that exist in every community, and the spasms that happen with ongoing development/PR.	
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Just had a quick look at the WoW forums and at the top of the General Discussion forum is a (currently) 3 page thread titled "WoW is dying". You can't read about any MMO without also reading about how it's nearly dead!
 
http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/17288989668
			
				
	Edited January 11, 2016 by Rakaposhi	
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			You should have been here on the F2p release, warhound is dead now. The pvp community has also shrunk. You missed out on the glory months :S	
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			Look at it this way, even if the game shut down tomorrow, would you have had fun playing it today? 	
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The game is amazing for the most part and definitely worth playing, especially if you genuinely enjoy it. Your timing is likely very opportune as we're about to receive news on the upcoming game content for the next drop - hopefully featuring quite a bit of new stuff. 
 
The doom and gloom you hear seems loud due to outrage people tend to feel over questionable decisions made and trying to make an impression on the studio to "do better". This is very common for any MMO out there and you shouldn't feel discouraged by public criticism, weather justified or exaggerated. People react because they care, which is mostly a good thing.
 
As long as you're having fun keep at it!	
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I have a friend who avoids the forums in any MMO he plays because he is sick and tired of all the doom and gloom that goes on in them.  So although there are people quitting I wouldn't worry too much as am still seeing enough people especially whilst leveling my alts that you should just keep doing what your doing and enjoy the game. 
 
I can sympathize with you on the UI front as it has caused no end of frustration to me but like you I have taken to using addon's which help paper over the cracks and make it bearable to use. There is also meant to be an announcement on the 13th so you have come in at the right time as hopefully they are about to announce some new content for us to enjoy, even though I haven't experienced everything in the current set.
			
				
	Edited January 11, 2016 by Scarran	
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			Being that it is free the only real investment that you have to make is time.  and if you are enjoying your time in the game i would say it is well spent for you.  you will see doom and gloom regularly on these forums but in game is a whole different reality.  PVE servers are doing well, PVP servers returned to their previous state, but i think there is much more at issue with pvp in this game than pve.  especially at f2p launch.  if you are hesitant about investing into this game just do not put any money into the cash shop.  it will not limit your game play in anyway save being able to create a guild or a circle, but a small amount of money spent will take care of that.	
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			Every game is dying from the moment it starts. If you have fun, keep playing until they toss the servers out the window.	
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I started playing this game, finally, on Christmas day. I liked it so much, I bought a boxed copy on Amazon for the 30days and goodies. I'll be buying the deluxe unlocks and going ahead with a subscription at the end of January. I really like the art style and humor, the classes I've played are quite different and fun in their own ways and there is challenge to be found all over the place. There is plenty of stuff to keep my OCD completionist side busy for the near future and I still have the level 50 content to look forward to. Only five levels to go!
 
Anyway, here's to hoping for a fun and fruitful new year on Nexus!	
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Every game is dying from the moment it starts. If you have fun, keep playing until they toss the servers out the window.
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If you enjoy the game and can find similar people that also enjoy it, then keep on playing!
 
The forum is a very vocal minority, when it comes to any MMO, and every MMO has doomsayers. Some of the "better populated" MMOs such as FF:ARR, WoW and ESO all have massive amounts of negativity in their forums, and always have had.
 
I find it's easy to wade through the crud and find likeminded people on these forums though, there are still a lot of passionate wildstar lovers here as well as jaded vets and discouraged newbies.
 
I wish you all the luck in wildstar, it has many fantastic things to do!  :)	
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			Sorry to dissappoint you, but in this game you do the same rotations over and over just like in WoW you just need to dodge some shit sometimes	
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Having played FFXI for over a decade, I don't think you have much to worry about. Carbine merged all the servers onto region specific "megaservers", which is why there are just 2 PvE and 2 PvP servers (one each per region). The gameplay is very different from XI as I'm sure you've noticed, for the better in my opinion. Believe it or not, the Devs here are the most receptive to player feedback I've ever personally seen (through EQ, FFXI, WoW, SWTOR, etc). There are still some bugs from launch, but I can't think of a single MMO where that's not the case. You'll frequently find Carbine staff on these forums and on reddit and twitter responding to players and discussing problems pretty frankly.
 
As for the future of W*, its earnings haven't been as high as other NCSoft titles the past few quarters, but this quarter things appear to have taken a turn for the better. Rather than the doom and gloom posts, I look to the fact that Carbine is hiring as a pretty good sign that W* will be here for quite some time longer.	
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Remember, if population ever feels low, you only help it feel better by sticking around.
 
Same with those people who say the game is gonna die, if you leave the game dies a little bit. That's how this all works, so if you like it, stick around.	
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If you're liking it at low levels, well it only gets better :D
 
Population wise depends on server, Entity is packed. Warhound not so much	
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Well, that was awkward. While reviewing this post, I managed to rest my arm on the rightmost Enter key and hit the post button like, three-hundred times, thus, capping my daily post limit as a new user. Obviously, the mods rejected the four other duplicates of this thread. This is why you don't have me posting in forums when I'm tired.
 
Anyhow, thanks for all the replies. Every MMORPG seems to have that extremely vocal minority that sticks around for the sole purpose of trying to prevent others from enjoying the game all because of one change or two that didn't make 'em happy. I still remember the days on RuneScape where I used to see people setting up an autochat program to mutter doomsday predictions in the middle of the Grand Exchange, which started happening again once it was implemented into OSRS. Some people are just way too over passionate about their favorite games. (Looking at you, /r/SmashBros...)
 
{| class="blockquote"
Just had a quick look at the WoW forums and at the top of the General Discussion forum is a (currently) 3 page thread titled "WoW is dying". You can't read about any MMO without also reading about how it's nearly dead!
 
http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/17288989668
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It is an awesome game.
 
Probably one of the most enjoyable games I have every sunk hundreds and hundreds of hours into.
 
What ever you do, don't roll on the pvp server or else you will be stuck like me. Paying monthly for a game for 18 months and not being allowed to transfer with the rest of the population unless you open your wallet again.
 
So, until they let me transfer for free, I canceled my subscription and don't que up for dungeons or any content in protest.
 
Other than that, it is a great game when there are actually people to play with.	
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Yeah for the love of god don't go on the pvp server, if you're eu you'll be stuck with me :P when i cba to log in (broken pvp)
 
And only me, and about 10 others XD	
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Yeah for the love of god don't go on the pvp server, if you're eu you'll be stuck with me :P when i cba to log in (broken pvp)
 
And only me, and about 10 others XD
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			It's something with MMOs that has a group of people who will say "This game is dying" or "This game is still around? LOL". People love to hate MMORPGs these days. They'll all hype it up and then tear it down. 
			
				
	Edited January 14, 2016 by zombiechan	
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			Enjoy the game for what it has today but keep your money in your wallet.	
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First post, and I juuuust started playing, so I'm not claiming to know anything specifically about Wildstar's future.  But I will say that you should always, always take doomsday predictions with a huge grain of salt. 
 
Most of my online gaming experience comes from MechWarrior Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Star Trek Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, War Thunder, and World of Warcraft.  Without exception, there is always a small, albeit LOUD, contingent of players crying that the end is near, that the devs have really done it this time, that everybody they know has left the game, that things have never been worse, that F2P freeloaders are destroying the game, that they'll personally starve the devs by not spending another dime until it's fixed, etc.  Sometimes it's the same people keeping it up for years, sometimes it's a rotating roster of malcontents upset by the latest patch, but the death watch begins before launch and never stops.  Without exception, all those games I've named above are still going, and the doomsayers have been wrong.  It can certainly be argued that all of them, including WoW (but excluding, oddly enough, MWO) are beyond their golden age and have certainly declined, but none of them have died.  Yet.  The doomsayers will eventually be right, because only Keith Richards lives forever, and on that day they'll point and jeer as if they've been validated., but don't forget that up to that point they were wrong.  Trust only your own instincts and observations, because haters are gonna hate.	
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			Wow's been dying for 11 years, I think this game is gonna be just fine.	
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			Wildstar..Doom and Gloom warning, once you stop reading the internet and start enjoying this fantastic game, you'll get that doom and gloom feeling when you play any other MMO	
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