If Wildstar existed back when WoW had me pinned under its hulking gorilla girth, I think my head would’ve exploded. It has pretty much all the things every fiber of my hunched, addiction-ravaged being could’ve wished for – and then some. Player housing? You betcha. Customizable guild death lairs? Oh my yes. Highly mobile combat? Try standing still and find out. Bizarrely out-of-place anime bunny people? Well, they can’t all be winners. But you get my point. Its personality reminds me of less obnoxious 3D-animated kid films, too, and it definitely has heart. I can practically feel Past Me grossing up his portion of the space-time continuum with puddles of anticipatory froth. Current Me, though? He’s living in a post-WoW world, and he’s got a family of largely inconsequential desk cacti to be responsible for. Is Wildstar’s take on the tried-and-true MMO formula too little, too late, even with a generous helping of all the things? Perhaps the now up-and-running closed beta can help us find out.

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