Let's check in with Wildstar—an MMO that, despite being pretty damn good, has struggled to maintain a regular post-launch update schedule. Despite the problems developer Carbine has faced, last week the studio published their plans for 2015.
"Even though it took some doing," writes Wildstar's product director Mike Donatelli, "Carbine was able to transition from a launch studio to a live studio. Why is that important? It’s important because we’ve learned a lot and nailed down the processes that will help us deliver solid high-quality updates."
Donatelli says the following features will be arriving in the first half of the year:
- We will be adding lots of solo and group content to the game, including new Shiphands, Adventures and dungeons.
- We are focusing on revamping our customization systems and adding new ways for players to add personality to their characters.
- We are improving the Elder game experience, offering players lots of opportunities to find new and exciting loot!
As for the MMO's next update, it's called the Protogames Initiative, and will feature the following:
- Protogames Academy – a training dungeon to prepare lower level players for telegraphs, interrupt armor, and boss mechanics.
- Ultimate Protogames – an exciting new dungeon for upper level players.
- They Came from Fragment Zero! – a level 6 shiphand that introduces players to group gameplay at a much earlier level.
- LFG upgrades – currently, some shiphands, adventures, and dungeons are intentionally hidden or need to be unlocked. Unfortunately, this keeps many players out of the content. Moving forward, all of this content will be added to an expanded LFG tool.
- Datascape 20 – the 40-person dungeon wasn’t getting played as often as we hoped. Not only was the content challenging, but roster management was painful. In the next update we will lower the player requirement down to 20.
Donatelli says that all upcoming updates are based on player feedback and activity. Looking further ahead, he talks about tweaking many of the existing systems around levelling and end game. To see all of the planned features and changes, head to full post on the Wildstar blog.
