Jeremy Gaffney recently opened up on the connection between WildStar's Paths and Richard Bartle's famous breakdown of playstyles. While Gaffney admits that WildStar drew inspiration from Bartle's categories, the team has tuned the four paths -- Explorer, Soldier, Achiever and Builder -- to fit the devs' vision for the game.
No matter which path you pick, Gaffney promises that there will be something meaningful for you to be doing at all times. The important part is that the game has a deliberate balance between path-specific activities and universal ones: "What we do is we take 70% of the world, and that's a mix of all the styles, and then about 30%, depending on the zone, swaps over and that's about you and about your path. So, as an Explorer you have your normal mix of stuff, but then an extra chunk on top of it that's all about exploring."
People from different paths have many ways, reasons, and incentive to interact as they progress through the zones. Gaffney says that WildStar will "pile on the layers" to keep players involved and active. He also assured fans that all paths will have plenty to do in the endgame so that the journey doesn't come to a crashing halt.
[Update: Carbine also released another WildStar Wednesday this afternoon; it features some community discussion all about events in MMOs.]
Reader Comments (13)
Posted: Nov 16th 2011 12:56PM hereafter said
That sounds like what I was expecting. I knew we wouldn't be pigeon-holed into a particular role and it would just be about picking a focus where you'd spend a bit more of your play time.
TOR's got my sci-fi fix covered, but I'm still really interested in this game. The design has some real heart to it.
TOR's got my sci-fi fix covered, but I'm still really interested in this game. The design has some real heart to it.
Posted: Nov 16th 2011 1:20PM tavtav said
Replacing Socializers with crafters is pretty weak, imo.
Posted: Nov 16th 2011 2:42PM (Unverified) said
@tavtav Well what would you suggest for a social class? Dancer? Nothing-but-chat?
Reply
Posted: Nov 16th 2011 1:32PM Braiks said
Nicely said. This is looking good.
Posted: Nov 16th 2011 1:40PM Lucidus said
What is this... innovation?
Posted: Nov 16th 2011 2:28PM rotcafnogaw said
this game looks really awesome and it popped out of nowhere for me
Posted: Nov 16th 2011 2:41PM FrostPaw said
I am intersted in this specificly because of this feature/mechanic.
Posted: Nov 16th 2011 3:12PM Vandal said
I'd be interested in hearing more about the interaction of the different paths. and examples of how that works.
Posted: Nov 16th 2011 4:28PM (Unverified) said
@tavtav Not just crafters, but Builders. Read up on them. Builders are the social path. They create in game elements that are used by all the different paths.
Posted: Nov 16th 2011 6:02PM EuchridEucrow said
Yeah, I think this is going to be the sleeper hit. If it weren't for Guild Wars 2 this game would have my full attention.
Posted: Nov 16th 2011 7:24PM Skyydragonn said
Must be careful not to get sucked in.
Depending on hwo this all play out I might find myself lost in a enw game for a long while....
Depending on hwo this all play out I might find myself lost in a enw game for a long while....








