Tuesday, January 15, 2013

1 for 6

A bad record for the week. I suppose I should go weigh in, I'm not particularly looking forward to this.

224.6 pounds. Not as bad as it could have been, but not really the intended destination. I will just have to knuckle under and get back to work.

This weeks hook is the setting. The Planet Nexus, please look past the words to the pretty art behind them, that is the planet Nexus and it is the setting for Wildstar. So what makes Nexus special in the Wildstar universe, or different from any other MMO planet? Well I guess it's story time.

A thousand years ago, or more, the technologically advanced race the Eldan disappeared from the galaxy. Their home world was a thing of legend and mystery. It was outside the map sectors of galactic civilization and explorers, treasure hunters and archaeologists have been searching for it for centuries. Well someone finally got lucky. Now all sorts of people want in on the action. The planet was initially founded by mercenaries, rebels and refugees. They got their first. The Dominion, a powerful empire in this region of space has decided they want it all for themselves and have declared war on the settlers who have banded together under the banner The Exiles. Additional factions are trying to stake their claims in the chaos, Pirates, Corporations, and other malcontents just looking for a fight.

In the thousand or so intervening years Nexus has become overgrown and run down. Navigating this lush wilderness and uncovering the secrets of the Eldan while solidifying your faction's hold on the planet seems to be the core of the game. Do to the fantastical nature of the Eldan technology and magic the planet is likely to be incredibly diverse. Quoting the blog entry from Chad Moore dated 9/21/2011 "Crumbling Eldan ruins lie hidden within majestic forests, towering mountains, and murky swamps, containing arcane magic and ancient technology of unimaginable power. The rusting wrecks of giant robots lie half-buried in shifting desert sands, and strange and deadly alien creatures prowl in the shadows of extraordinary monolithic machines."

How the world is going to be put together is something we haven't seen yet. Will it be a vast open expanse like World of Warcraft, where all the zones brush up against each other and  just transition as you pass a zone line? Or will it be more like City of Heroes or Guild Wars 2, where the zones are all boxes that are interconnected, bur require a load screen to pass between them. Also possible, although unlikely is the Hub model where you are based in a certain location and can travel to a number of combat zones from there. This is kind of a old model, so as I said, unlikely. We could see a Star Wars the Old Republic model, where travel between zones is done via some personal craft. There are benefits and draw backs to each of these styles. There are things people like about them and things people hate about them. It will be interesting to learn how they plan to segment out this world.

This world is a very interesting setting with potential for some extraoridinary story telling. Another strong hook.

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