The Indie Game Magazine December 2015 | Issue 56 | Page 9

Enter the

Winter Nexus

by: Ryan Noble

W

elcome, one and all, to IGM’s monthly WildStar column.
For regular readers who have joined us before, we’ll get
things going in just a moment. For those who are new
to the segment, perhaps brought here by either the free-to-play
update or general great taste in gaming magazines, we’re happy
to have you.

hard to choose, but the winners were deserving, from what
I’ve seen. There was everything from spooky mansions and
caves to laboratories and graveyards. Someone even created a
WildStar version of Halloweentown from A Nightmare Before
Christmas, my personal favorite Tim Burton film, recreating the
town square, Jack Skellington’s tower, and the iconic swirling hill.

Time really does fly when you’re getting insane in the
mainframe (quest reference, I’m sorry), because the end of 2015
is nearly upon us. If I know Carbine Studios, and I like to think I do,
we may have some festivities coming to Nexus this month;
possibly some cheery mounts, accessories or décor. If Halloween
was anything to go by, maybe even a competition. In order to
prepare for this entirely hypothetical scenario, let’s take a look at
recent events.

Winners then received WildStar signature status for free, the
duration of which was dependent on their top three placement,
and a brand new Midnight Equivar mount. If you’re not quite
sure what an Equivar is, I’d say its closest Earth equivalent
would be a horse. If that horse were also crossed with a dinosaur.

At the end of October, Wildstar got a little spooky, and prizes
were available for Nexians that got a little spooky along with it.
Players were tasked with creating Halloween scenes using
one or more Shade’s Eve décor items to decorate their
housing plot. This is probably the biggest restriction for
newer players, as you must be at least level 14 to own a
housing plot, not that a couple of sessions wouldn’t get
you there. Carbine then judged these scenes on their
creativity, spookiness, and the quality of screenshots sent in.
Of course, there were loads of great entries. It must have been

That’s not all, though. A purple Equivar mount was also
announced, alongside a new pet, the Trask Tenderling, a four-legged
lizard-dog hybrid that is probably as deadly as it is cute.
In addition, Carbine released flame dye, allowing players to add
a fiery touch to their attire, and a “dragoon costume,” which
fulfills a dream I’ve had since childhood - shoulder armor
with missiles. They may be superficial, but they look pretty cool,
nevertheless.
As you can probably see, there hasn’t been anything
ground-breaking to hit the world of Nexus this month; but given
that the game is still settling into its largest update ever, by
giving free WildStar goodness to gamers globally, I’d say that is
probably a good thing.

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