Wildstar Launch Thread - Server: Stormtalon | Faction: Dominion

Anomander Rake_sl said:

Isn't harvesting (thumping) the only thing about Firefall?

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That is why in a sense, it is better than in other games(even though they added other types of random events and some quests too last time I checked). Their core game is about thumping. It however also links everything about harvesting with killing stuff. Thumping is basically generating your own "random" PvE event, in the manner of Rift's rifts or GW2 dynamic events, all of which have the same objective(at least last time I checked, I haven't played Firefall in months so maybe there's more now), defending your thumper for a set amount of time so you can be rewarded with crafting materials. I don't believe that inherently makes the system better, it is however more fun because the combat is fun and if you like fighting stuff in mmos. A lot of people would argue that the non combat aspect of gathering and crafting is part of why it's fun, even though for high end crafting pretty much every game ties in combat by adding rare drops or recipes on mobs for example.

But simply adding thumping or a similar mechanic to replace your gathering won't magically make your combat not suck, and would annoy some people who would rather gather without fighting or like to play in very small sessions often interupted(which the thumper duration based event completly ruins). Not that the archaic wow gathering system is any better, it's fairly terrible, even though it's been improved or changed quite a few times(personalized gathering points instances so no competition, randomization, crafted gear to increase the chance of success/critical, better tracking, less time needed to gather etc).

Overall as a non crafter, I'm partisan of the least annoying and least intrusive gathering system. I liked SWTOR gathering for example, even though I'd make changes like longer queues and possibly bots to queue stuff on their own while offline(with downsides and what not). If it's to be combat based, then I'd rather everything become a gathering source, as in every mob you kill for any reason, and not have to be forced to specifically do gathering events or kill specific mobs in specific places only to gather materials I can personally use. For example extracting "life force" from any mob you kill, then it is refined automatically by your gathering skill into appropriate materials and can be further refined by your crafting for your needs. Same system but instead of having to hunt boars to skin them for leather, I can hunt ghouls or ghosts.

Anyway this is the kind of shit that don't make or break games for me, you can have the shittiest boring gathering system ever and I don't really care, I just won't gather. I care a lot more about the combat, char progression, endgame, content. The housing thing looks decent enough that I might actually own a house that's more than a glorified bank box though. Waiting for a beta of some sort to see how it plays.

Gotta give them that though, their communication/advertisement/PR team is really good. At the same time, overhyping your game is a sure way to crash and burn if your game isn't good enough(even if it's just average).