should wilson get a rework

[Terra B Welch]

Clearly wilson's rework should turn him into wilsun, dah gentilmon scuntist.

(Although to be honest, I'd like to see an "all purpose beard" for wilson's rework, the beard giving him heat resistance and water resistance in addition to its existing cold resistance.)

[Wilson-brb]

yes goddamit, he barelys has anything. wendy is more easy to new players than wilson. he definitely needs a rework.

[EthanTheMime]

I think what most people want or are expecting is a chemistry tab where he can craft potions and get wacky buffs and all that. I think that'd be fine, personally, but I'd really like to see them double down on him being a sort of tutorial character. He should be a medium through which you can learn the game effectively; when you play Wilson, you're pretty much experiencing DST in its rawest form.

Still, we're neglecting to ask what science means to Wilson. By definition, (albeit, probably over-simplified) science is pretty much the study of our world via observation and experiments. Back to the chemistry idea - he is a chemist, yeah, but I think what really defines Wilson is his determination to understand his surroundings, be it through mixing test tubes or throwing himself into the unknown regardless of the consequences. I think this is the reason that he, of all the survivors, was the one who actually completed Adventure Mode and sat on the Nightmare Throne. I'd like to see his perks have to do with experimentation - a huge part of learning the game - which ties back to him being a tutorial character.

[saintclover]

6 hours ago, Mike23Ua said:

Is this really valid though?

 Making it slightly easier for new players to learn about the game is valid. Just as valid it is to choose not to do so, and simply throw the newbie onto the deep waters with no hints whatsoever. Depends on what the creators of the game opt for, either way is acceptable. I believe Don't Starve (single-player) took the first route - they could've just as well skipped the whole 'unlocking' shtick, and leave the player to weigh between the vague perk descriptions etc. but they didn't. They chose to make it slightly easier (rightfully so, in my opinion) with 'forcing' you to play the most basic character (so you can focus on everything else, yada, yada). That 'harsher' route, however, was taken by Don't Starve Together. When you first open the game, you're given a set of characters, and it's up to you whether you'll pick the one with the highest stats, the most interesting perks, or the one that you just think looks cute. It obviously makes sense, 'unlocking' characters via experience doesn't sound right in a multi-player game, but the system does put a tad bit more pressure on the new players, I think.

7 hours ago, Mike23Ua said:

Here’s what happens in that scenario with DST- you Find a character you like.. rather than playing “Basic” till you get ready to trade in your training dummy for someone better. 

 That's up to the newcomers. Some will hop from one character to another, excitingly finding out what the vague perks and descriptions really meant while learning about the Constant and how to survive in it. Some will focus on one thing at a time. Again, either way is fine, whatever floats your boat.

 

 Ultimately, the choice comes down to whether you want Wilson to remain a vanilla character for people uninterested in elaborate perks and the 'training wheels', of sorts, for new players, who know of him from seeing his face everywhere the game is being mentioned, therefore expect him to be important or well-thought-out for beginners (which I believe him to be), so they're more likely to pick him as their first. OR whether you want him to gain (which, by the way, doesn't really sound like a 'rework' to me; you're basically adding new stuff, traces of which haven't been there before) a set of new perks and characteristics, to make him fit with the rest of the survivors in complexity status.
 I think that can be incredibly risky. It's common knowledge reworks haven't been received with 100% of satisfaction on every single aspect - there has been and always will be at least some people unhappy with the changes. There's one exception, though. I don't think you should be able to make Wilson dislikable. He's the main face of the game, and simply has to be (at the very least) tolerated. You can think he's boring, or has nothing interesting going for him, but there's nothing for you to actively dislike about him - it's not like he has perks like diet restrictions, special crafting tabs, or an exclusive follower, that you can complain about. He doesn't have perks*, that's the whole point. Can be seen as plain, but has to be, so there can always be that one simple and straightforward character - the standard of a playable character. That's not to say his 'rework' can't or mustn't happen, but (not to sound dramatic) to potentially 'ruin' (at best, partially) the face of the game, I don't know if it's worth it. Again, that's only my feelings towards the issue, I just wouldn't want anything changed with Wilson.

 

* His beard challenges that narrative slightly but I don't think it takes away from my main point.

[minespatch]

Can Wilson be last so other characters can be given exploration? Wolfgang, wx, and Wickerbottom still need lore. Maxwell and Wilson are probably held last for lore reasons.

[Mike23Ua]

Before there was the compendium (thank you for that btw Klei) the only way for a player to know the health, stats, pros/cons, etc of a character was by playing as them.

They used to have a very vague description but that was it- However, even Wes’s Rework shows that even stats on the Compendium are subject to change (his stats were all brought down to be the lowest of all survivors)

I would also like to bring up the fact that Maxwell & Charlie have both set on the Nightmare throne & they both gained weird shadow abilities in the process- Wilson so far has been the only exception to this rule, It’s like sitting on the shadow throne done nothing for him.. and I strongly feel that needs to be changed.

I do however think that a character with 400 hp or a character with a ghost A.I that wrecks everything is far better choices for a newer player then Wilson.. that’s only logical.

There’s also character skins that play a large part into who you may want to play as with DS solo all characters has only one basic look but with DST you can make them look the way you want.

Some people may enjoy Wilson’s skin choices, but hate how completely bland he is compared to everyone now (including my Ex least favorite character Wes)

Wes is now one of my favorite reworks, Thanks Klei!

[Cheggf]

7 hours ago, rafaelluismpalm said:

yes goddamit, he barelys has anything. wendy is more easy to new players than wilson. he definitely needs a rework.

Again, that's showing that Wendy's rework was bad, not that Wilson is bad. Also Wendy is a terrible character for new players simply because of how easy and powerful she is. Abigail can literally do most fights without Wendy helping at all, especially hound waves, and the fights that she can't do on her own she still makes incredibly easy compared to everyone else. People who play Wendy frequently never learn how to fight things simply because they don't have to, Abigail does it all for them. Her sisturn also frequently has people just sitting next to it wasting time, not sure if the sisturn is encouraging that or not though.

Wilson is the best character for new players because he doesn't have any gimmick to rely on, no downsides you have to manage. All he has is a beard that if used properly can either replace thermal stones completely for no item/repair/inventory cost, or stack with clothing items to allow him to go a very long time before needing to warm up (once again for no cost). Or, if used improperly, still adds a bit of time before you start freezing. Or, if used very improperly, does nothing because he died (Woe and alas).

If you take a Wilson player who can survive past winter and take his beard away, he can probably still survive. If you take a Wendy player who can survive past winter and take Abigail away, it's not so certain.