Sagacyte's BG corner

What do The Elder Scrolls Online (TESO) and Wildstar have in common? Besides both being MMOs, of course. They both had their boxes recalled from stores - though one was on a much bigger scale. Rumors this morning mention that retailers in some part of the world have recalled Wildstar boxes from their shelves. What does this mean?

The short answer: absolutely nothing... yet.

Have a great day! See you in... what? You want a long answer?

The last time an event like this was news, it concerned TESO: Recalls of the boxed version of the game were the talk of the town. Now, if you weren't playing the game (or perhaps, even if you were) the impression you'd get from reading social networks or articles on gaming websites was that TESO wasn't as good as it could have been. It didn't help that it was a subscription based game - a kind of malady for some people, even though it can be a very positive thing if managed properly. The conclusion drawn by the media and gamers was that they were planning a shift to a "Free to Play" (F2P) model - a kind of malady for other people, even though it can also be a very positive thing if managed properly.

A few weeks later the suspicions were sort of confirmed: TESO was dropping it's model to switch to a Buy to Play (B2P) model, meaning the game still costs money to get, you just don't pay a monthly fee. MMOs in both the F2P and B2P models need resources to support themselves so they turn to selling diverse items in "cash shops". Whether this items are cosmetic, fun, or plain game-breaking is another subject entirely.

Back to the topic at hand, if rumors of Wildstar recalling boxes in smaller markets are true, and you couple that with an air of "it's not what it could have been" you sort of get from social sites, then it's logical (though not necessarily right) to think a similar fate awaits the space-cartoony MMO. So in the meantime, this is all mere rumor and nothing is going to change. For now. Calm your jets.

***

Before going back to reality, just wanted to touch on the social network aspect of this story. Remember that they are powerful tools. For both good and bad. This morning I've read people give their two cents on this Wildstar news, and that's cool: everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Just be mindful that Wildstar, like any other game, is both the work of someone and the home/hobby of someone. If you don't like the game, tell people why, so it becomes an educating experience or evolves into discussion worth reading; don't just go "lolz wildstarz going f2p cuz it suckz, all go to WoWzor git gud nubs" - that just makes you a troll (and a bad one at that).

Game on.

- Sagacyte

Look at all this rumors...