Oh WildStar. I told you so. I know that is very, very helpful. And to be fair, like many others, I am actually really sad it didn’t make it. I would often reinstall, play for a bit (I wanted to see/feel the story of Nexus), get wigged out by the colors and playstyle, uninstall. It…
Category: Carbine
Spring Cleaning: Old Post Drafts (Part 1)
All bloggers have a bunch of post drafts started that either get revisited and completed or sit in post purgatory, waiting to be further inspired or expanded. I hate letting those linger. I have a slew of them in my folder and for funzies decided to go through them and either finish them off or delete…
Half Pregnant
They say you can’t be half pregnant. Â This is what slows me down from blogging, the thought that you are either in or out. I’m on the line. It has been awhile since I have posted and like most excuses reasons, they are varied and plentiful. It was partly time, passion, focus, desire and gaming….
WildStar is Sinking
With NCSoft quarterly and full year earnings reports out the news is really, really glum for fans of WildStar. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I posted a lot about WildStar. It has decent chops. There just isn’t value in it for me as a subscription platform (or many, so it seems). What…
7 is (Not) Enough
Warlords of Draenor launching is having a bigger than I expected effect on WoW subs – although as TAGN points out, things aren’t really clear where those subs are coming from. Besides, WoW subscriber numbers are like the old McDonald’s signs from back in the day that used to list how many millions were served. Eventually…
Fly on the WildStar Wall
I finally got through the 2 hour and 15 minute marathon of the final WildStar Nation podcast. They add an extra special guest, Mattekay, who spent years working at WildStar. The podcast is a good listen, albeit a lot of profanity (more than normal) and they are having a few drinks along the way. It…
How to Lose a MMO Gamer in 10 Ways
In the romantic comedy “How to lose a guy in 10 days” A reporter is writing an article with that name – and wants to prove she can lose a guy in 10 days. On the other side, the guy, a big advertising exec takes a bet that he can make a woman fall in…
WildStar’s Fast and Dramatic Decline
I am getting the feeling my other report (Wildstar’s Slow and Undramatic Decline) was a bit too optimistic. Perhaps the sky is falling after all (at least on Nexus). Be prepared for some hard hitting journalism today on the final day of Blaugust. Exhibit A First – the President of Carbine, Jeremy Gaffney, announced this…
Ask and Ye Shall Receive (the 1%)
Below is an excerpt from a  post by Carbine Studios’ Jeremy Gaffney on why the 1% is important. Here’s some quick philosophy on the subject (still in the office at 6pm Sunday so I’ll have to be brief): We do believe in catering to the 1% (actually a few different 1%’s). We spend more than 1%…
Rally Caps
Murf and I chatted about baseball not too long ago, and I was recently treated to a 19 inning, walk off win marathon from my home team Toronto Blue Jays, against our dreaded rivals, the Detroit Tigers. It had a lot. A lot of intentional walks (the Jays lineup is down 3 starters so once you…
Au Revoir WildStar!
Zero surprise to anyone that reads hear semi-regularly that I was headed down this path. WildStar has some potential and the business model is pushing me away further than the game itself. IF it was buy to play +expansions or free-to-play I’d be exploring Nexus. It’s neither and I don’t feel right paying for a…
WildStar’s Slow and Undramatic Decline
This is not a “the sky is falling” Chicken Little recount of what I see going on in WildStar- this is a general feeling and mood about the game. Read a lot  blogs, forums, and even fan sites and there is an underlying thought that subs are bleeding and the bugs and hardcore nature of the…
Yes, Still Playing WildStar…
.. and my highest character is only level 18. This is where the sub fee can be frustrating -Â especially in a game branding itself as “hardcore” and not alt-character friendly. It is a long journey in WildStar and my limited playtime and wanting to understand WHERE to invest my time has lead me to a…
The Sub Fee is the Bane of my MMO Gaming
I paid a lot of sub fee dollars to EQ, DAOC, and WoW, so please, don’t get all uppity. I have spoken about this a lot. I am currently paying WildStar a sub fee. I have been travelling for work, and very busy with home and family. I get it – that makes it “my…
Guaging Success – WildStar Launch
WildStar head start drops tonight at 3am EST. Best of luck to their team and the players partaking in it. This will be interesting and fun to watch – there are a lot of eyes on WildStar. This is also the first MMO launch I have been a part of since Warhammer Online (and we…
Housing I Would Buy Into (or Rent/Lease)
Housing is all the craze and I’m loving the options. My first (and best) experience with housing in general was in DAOC. We had this nice, big, shiny Guild House! It had crafting, and portals, and trophies.. and was an awesome place where guildmates would spend downtime or whittle away at their trade skills. While…
40 Man Raids (Redux)
There is plenty of healthy debate about WildStar bringing back 40 man raids. This is also connected to a broader raid difficulty discussion. I will share my raiding experience and opinion. (Since you asked) EQ – I was on the testserver and as such, raids were a server wide event for the most part – there…
Refusing to Repeat Content
One challenge with all these fun beta and alpha tests (WildStar and Landmark, respectively) is that I don’t want to play too long or too far – because I know when the game launches, if I decide to play, I will have to do this all over again. Also, if the beta is a “doomed…
Flex Builds Ruining Immersion?
I am starting to feel that flexibility on my characters is hurting immersion. I am very flip-floppy on this subject so please help! In movies and high fantasy typically a hero is “good at one thing”. Legolas has short swords/daggers but really, he uses his bow. And he is famous for it. Luke Skywalker has…
Wild On WildStar
Another beta weekend gone by with WildStar and some significant time was spent within the game. The extended weekend was helpful as I had both Friday and Monday off of work *and* my wife was out of town so it was a perfect storm of gaming. The Medic I got to beta-max level (20) on…
MMO Information / Stats
I love information and believe that all MMOs should be regularly publishing information that is only available to them. This would get rid of the “what ifs” and curiosities of the general population. It would also get rid of the mis-information. Is 50% of the “tanks” a paladin in the end game? Why *not* share that…
WildStar Pre-Order Sales Slump?
Not sure if this is a bad sign, or if they are just trying to pump up box sales. I always thought launch time was the best time to get a full pop of box price? I only have a free CURSE account (used to help manage my WoW addons back in the day) and…
Ying to the Yang (Yo)
I have been playing EQ a lot. It’s a fun comparative after just playing WildStar for the weekend. I have recently spent time being nostalgic about starter zones in EQ, and decided it would be neat to try out EQ from a new player’s perspective. And that means starting off in Gloomingdeep Mines. I rolled an Enchanter (one…
Girls Gone WildStar
Well, my first WildStar “Beta” weekend behind me! I don’t do reviews but I love chatting about games so I am going to do a pretty simple format and some random thoughts below. What did I learn? Let’s run some rankings/meters! These meters are not in any specific order or weighting. Slick Rick Meter – 9.5/10….
I *Have* Been Living Under a Rock [Wildstar]
If you look at my “About ME” section you will see I have spent a lot of time in a lot of games testing prior to release – from genre changers (EQ) to huge flops (Earth and Beyond, Horizons) and so on. A couple of years ago I stopped focusing on trying to get in…