I've played MMORPGs for nine years, so I know better. Don't play a new game at launch. Wait at least 90 days to let the developer work out the bugs. But I just had to find out how C.R.E.D.D. would work at launch, so I violated the rule and pre-ordered Wildstar. Probably not the best decision I've ever made.
My initial problems with the game were mostly my own doing. Carbine added two-factor authentication in the form of Google Authenticator. Google Authenticator? If Carbine had come up with their own app, I would have downloaded immediately. But I'd never heard of Google Authenticator before and was wary of how it worked and what getting the app would mean, so I delayed getting the app until I could do some research. Unfortunately, my account was hacked while I was at work less than 12 hours later. To add insult to injury, the hacker put Google Authenticator on my account so I couldn't get back in. That cost me two days.
Okay, now I'm playing for a weekend. But the following Friday, I leave my iPhone at work. I'm not about to make the round trip into Chicago just to pick up my phone. Sure, my fault, but that was another two days not playing the game. Good thing I'd set up my computers at home so I didn't need the authenticator for logging into Google.
Not playing because of my own stupidity, no problem. But last night was ridiculous. After playing EVE I decided I'd log into Wildstar for 30 minutes and knock off a couple of quests. So I downloaded the patch, logged in, got to the character select screen, and couldn't enter the game world. Apparently Wildstar misplaced my cryo-pod. Not just my cryo-pod either. A lot of people had the problem.
Look, I know that MMORPGs have issues at launch. Having to log out every so often because the bruiserbot on my Engineer was bugged was irritating. Opening the AMP window on my Medic and seeing no tool tips, I was able to work around (I think). But creating a patch that introduces a bug that keeps a large number of people playing? That's really poor QA.
Another thing I did last night was watch Alikchi stream Crusader Kings 2 on the TMC stream. I'd seen a video for the game on Steam and Alikchi's stream allowed me to check out the game for an hour. Alikchi is pretty good and I was interested in buying the game afterwards. Imagine my surprise when I checked out Steam for the latest bargains because I couldn't play Wildstar to find Crusader Kings 2 on sale for 80% off. Needless to say, I quickly snapped the game up.
Now I'm in a bit of a quandry. I'm absolutely playing EVE this weekend because I need to do some practical experimentation of some theory crafting I did. But if I only have time for one other game, I may not choose Wildstar. The new car feel is wearing off fast.
