WildStar Coming This Year

We finally have some news about WildStar, the MMO from Carbine Studios that promises to change the way you level up. They’ve finally decided that the game will release this year, some time in 2013.

If you remember it from my first look way back in August of 2011, WildStar characters have professions that change the way you approach the world. These’s sit alongside your traditional class and race choices, adding extra depth to your journey. Scientists gather information on flora and fauna, while settlers can create buff zones for other players.

Soldiers trigger events in the world with a series mission types. Here’s a video in which Content Director Mike Donatelli talks through what’s available to soldiers.

And for the explorers; these characters can unlock new pathways and secret doors that help other players climb to ground they otherwise wouldn’t reach.

Combat will be more than just a grindfest as well. In a blog post today, Carbine Studios revealed an interesting tidbit. “We have aimed to have a combat system that rewards you for playing skillfully, not repetitively,” said Executive Producer Jeremy Gaffney. “We are making creatures that don’t feel like differently-hit-pointed clones. Each type should not just look unique, but actually have different attacks and interactions with the environment, providing a new set of tricks you can learn when you come up against a new creature.”

That should provide a good reason to seek out different foes. It’s all great for when you’re grinding your way up but what about the endgame content? Gaffney continued, “We want epically hard raids, which reward you not only for managing to complete them – but that allow you to compete for truly epic rewards if you can prove that you are better than everyone else on the planet.”

For players who work together in clans, “[Our] tech lets you not just build a house, but modify the land around it in ways that truly matter.

We’ve used this to hand you the power to band together and build a full-on battlefield (your Warplot, we call it) – so that the best in the world at PvP have a way to build, invest, and show their dominance not just through cool armor or glowy swords, but by creating truly epic persistent fortresses to take to war.”

There’s endgame for solo players as well, which I greatly appreciate. I love MMOs but I don’t have the time to dedicate to a serious clan. This will apparently come in the form of frequent new story content for players at the level cap.

Here’s a final video introducing the different races in the game. If all the game is as filled with this much character, Wildstar will be a joy to visit.