Wurm Online: New land opened, Free to Play tutorial server/sandbox

[Demonix]

If you do, try to join up with other F13 people.

Whoa, wait, f13 has a presence here?  I might reactivate my character for that, he's a smith/miner/coaler... I think my CC is over 50 at this point, and i did a bunch of work figuring out the best types of wood to use for piles and when, but the research was disappointing.  Turns out wood doesnt matter so long as you finish it with an oak log.

Mr. Bloodworth, do you know of any plans to make different types of wood alter CC production?

[Mrbloodworth]

If you do, try to join up with other F13 people.

Whoa, wait, f13 has a presence here?

Not that I know of, but I do know there is a handful of you playing (From this thread and PM's). My suggestion is do what other community do, make yourselves a f13 village.

[Demonix]

Ok then, lets get a roll call going.  my character was a bit of a generalist, but he can make largish wood structures, smaller stone ones, and has decent mining/BS/digging/Lumber skills.  Was a member of the freebears village before I put him in hibernation.  My biggest project there was creating an Oak nursery and a well organized mine layout.  Familiar with terraforming and exploratory mining techniques.  Has some silver and good tools for skill gain and speed.

[tgr]

:wtc: has happened to large carts? I've now seen them either stay right infront of me or to my right, instead of behind me.

Edit: Actually, it looks like it's stopped taking the direction I'm facing into proper account.

[Demonix]

Or send me a PM if you want to link up.  Most of the fun is in building this crap;  once you finish that it gets a little dull, so I'd be willing to move to new village project. :)

[Nebu]

I'm really more interested in learning the tech trees.  That's why I may go it alone.  I want to start with banging rocks together. 

[tgr]

Bzalthek: Found your old building areas. The second one was pretty darn impressive, and well-hidden.

[Mrbloodworth]

Stages 1-5 of the new tutorial are open for preview. To see it head to the new dawn castle and follow the instructions there.

[NiX]

Stages 1-5 of the new tutorial are open for preview. To see it head to the new dawn castle and follow the instructions there.

Talk to me when it's finished.

[Mrbloodworth]

Only releasing 1-5 initially to support the move to free players on the "Freedom" server change.

[NiX]

Fine, B. I'll try it, but it better be good!

[Pennilenko]

Does this game still stab you in the eyes with a ridiculous wait to get anything done?

[Mrbloodworth]

New Tutorial! Freedom server opens!

Written by Rolf   
Tuesday, 23 November 2010 20:06

    * The Freedom server has been opened for non-paying players! We think that it is best for the game if new players can play with the more experienced ones to learn the game and see the possibilities, and we have been taking a lot of precautions in order for this to work.
    * One of those precautions has been the creation of a new tutorial that will serve to guide new players and teach them the game in a good way.

The tutorial has been created by our sharpest minds:

    * Enki lead the work and has done most of the scripting together with the ingenious Manny and Spellcast.
    * Poseidon helped out massively with the island creation which is very befitting a sea god.
    * MrBloodworth created all those funny images and came with a lot of suggestions and ideas for a better user experience.
    * Wollschaf has coded client support like the mission button and has like MrBloodworth "been coming up with and adding new features and ideas left and right".
    * Almost the whole PA team has been involved in suggestions, testing and feedback.
    * Thanks to Epona for scouting and preparing the landing zone on Freedom.

This is a huge step in making the game a lot more accessible and attractive to more people and on behalf of the Wurm community I want to thank all of you involved for giving the game a bright(er) future!

Rolf Jansson

CEO Onetoofree AB
(It's the company that makes Wurm Online)

[Mrbloodworth]

Massively Speaking Episode 125

From about 4:20 for quite a bit he talks about some of the recent changes. Hes got some stuff slightly wrong, but, I'm glad his past and present feelings on the game have been changed for the better.

[CharlieMopps]

https://blogs.apache.org/foundation/entry/the_asf_resigns_from_the

Uh Oh... It looks like Java is falling appart. You guys concerned about this at all?

[Mrbloodworth]

I personally have no idea what that means. But ill pass it along.

Also, still hoping for some F13 brand feedback on the new stuff.

[bhodi]

Sure, here's some feedback. It's not on the new stuff, though.

I won't play this game until the first 5 hours consists of more than chopping trees, building fires, and making planks. And I LOVE crafting.

I get that there is some sort of ingrained gaming crafting ideal that you should start off terminally retarded and grind out thousands and thousands of widgets to become barely competent, but the idea that you have to make absolutely everything - combined with a skill system that means most of the shit you produce early is of worthless quality - means you have to play in the dirt for weeks or even months before you can actually do anything worthwhile. Add to that the fact that the time investment involved to actually create something appears to be approximate to the time it takes to create them in real life, well, you can see my problem.

There are ways to make 'newbies' feel useful to an online community, ways to foster enjoyment, discovery, and group accomplishments and ways to make crafting/gathering something other than a mindless bar watchathon, and this game appears to have none of them.

I see no reason to actually play this game, not when the alternative is to load up minecraft and build the parthenon in an evening with a few buddies. You really need to go back to last page and think long and hard about what CharlieMopps wrote, because describing the steps to creating a house in Wurm is a more scathing indictment of the game than I could ever manage.

[Malakili]

I see no reason to actually play this game, not when the alternative is to load up minecraft and build the parthenon in an evening with a few buddies. You really need to go back to last page and think long and hard about what CharlieMopps wrote, because describing the steps to creating a house in Wurm is a more scathing indictment of the game than I could ever manage.

This is basically my opinion as well.  I will admit off the bat I haven't tried Wurm since...april or may...and that was my second go at it.  That was before I had played Minecraft but I still couldn't manage to get through more than a few hours without just wanting to go do something else.  I understand maybe its better since then. 

I think the difference between Minecraft and Wurm really crystalizes the problem.  I mean sure, maybe Minecraft isn't really going for the same kind of thing, and I'm not saying you necessarily need to be able to make a castle in a day or whatever.  There is certainly room for more progression than that.  But the barrier to entry really needs to be a bit more reasonable.  Maybe make a house something fairly easy to create, but make the higher end...higher?  If I can get into the game and make something neat on day1 even if its fairly simple compared to the high end, there is my hook.  If you want veterans to be able to make a lot better stuff, cooler stuff, bigger stuff, thats ok.  But if you're potential playerbase is only people willing to cut down trees for their first few hours of playing your game, well, its going to severely limit you.

[Nebu]

I'll add that having to maintain stuff that I had already built killed my interest in ATitD and likely has the same effect on the Wurm population.  When I log onto a crafting game, I want to build stuff... not spend an hour maintaining things before I can start to build stuff.  Playing ATitD I found it exciting to build a large and functional compound, but was quickly bitchslapped by having to spend hours keeping it functional.  My play sessions became more about logging on and feeding sheep/doing repairs, than enjoying the game. 

I have to wash dishes and vacuum my house in real life.  Don't make me do it in a game.

[Mrbloodworth]

Was hoping for feedback on the new stuff there. 

As for upkeep. Deeds negate decay, but thats a paid option, also note, new users no longer start on the golden valley server (that had 3x the decay rate), you start on the previously paid only "freedom" server. You even have the option of joining some ones deed/village/town/whatever now, where you did not before.

[Nebu]

Was hoping for feedback on the new stuff there. 

As for upkeep. Deeds negate decay, but thats a paid option, also note, new users no longer start on the golden valley server (that had 3x the decay rate), you start on the previously paid only "freedom" server. You even have the option of joining some ones deed/village/town/whatever now, where you did not before.

I appreciate you taking the time to note this.  If the crafting is fun, deeds may get me to pay to play this game.  I need a new drug right now and I'm tired of standard diku faire.

[Mrbloodworth]

I was hoping that was clear from the original announcement. But I guess not :p

The last major update was really all about making life easier for noobs. That was a major part of it that maybe is not communicated well (ability to join, and benefit from paid users deeds). We have not gotten to what you guys are talking about above (houses and such).

With the change, we are having to get new hardware and hosting, as we are reaching capacity at a decent clip now. The amount of work just to get the the tutorial in, was a huge undertaking on a ten year old codebase that started with clients just being dumb terminals.   Not tooting a horn there, just saying, we are not AAA funded, stuff takes time. I had hoped someone here went through the new on ramp and could contrast it with the old.

[Malakili]

I had hoped someone here went through the new on ramp and could contrast it with the old.

I'll give it a try after wednesday when I get a bunch of free time.

[rattran]

Heh, I told some friends on IRC to give Wurm a shot. Best quote so far "All the beauty of Minecraft, with the simple fun of EVE"

[CharlieMopps]

Heh, I told some friends on IRC to give Wurm a shot. Best quote so far "All the beauty of Minecraft, with the simple fun of EVE"

Yea, I'd love to test it out for you, but there is no other game that comes any where near Wurm in regards to the soul crushing first few hours.

[tgr]

Actually, one thing that baffles me is how I can't purify lumps of metal, or smelt f.ex tools I really do not need back into lumps of metal (unless I've missed out on something).

Apart from that, the initial thought I had of having to forage for food, and seeing how little that returned, almost had me quitting. Now that I've figured out that I can fish instead, things became a bit better to live with. It's still rather annoying though, but I suppose that's part of the deal.

And just to bolster up under the beginner grind complaint, I was unable to make my very first spot because I literally couldn't dig a 20 inclination hill, or whatever it was. Things like that is annoying. Same is spending literally 2 hours whacking together a large cart because of all the failures.

I haven't tried out the tutorials though, so unfortunately I can't really comment on them.

[Demonix]

Actually, one thing that baffles me is how I can't purify lumps of metal, or smelt f.ex tools I really do not need back into lumps of metal (unless I've missed out on something).

Apart from that, the initial thought I had of having to forage for food, and seeing how little that returned, almost had me quitting. Now that I've figured out that I can fish instead, things became a bit better to live with. It's still rather annoying though, but I suppose that's part of the deal.

And just to bolster up under the beginner grind complaint, I was unable to make my very first spot because I literally couldn't dig a 20 inclination hill, or whatever it was. Things like that is annoying. Same is spending literally 2 hours whacking together a large cart because of all the failures.

I haven't tried out the tutorials though, so unfortunately I can't really comment on them.

oh DIGGING.

yeah, digging is very noob unfriendly. given the fact that there is so much dirt around and how hard it is to dig down to the rock layer its kind of a killer.  I had to plan and replan and finally call in a player with 90+ digging to get down to the rocklayer for my mine.

Mr. Bloodworth, while I understand that you want feedback on the new stuff, its kind of telling that the old stuff keeps coming up.  Putting a fresh coat of paint on an ultra grind doesn't make it any easier, and this is coming from someone who LIKES wurm.

[Mrbloodworth]

Some of what you guys are talking about is old info. For instance, crops now, at a minimum, 2 outputs (IE: two onions). You now get cotton balls instead of seeds when foraging (one less step to making a fishing rod) As for scrap and lumps, you can melt them back down. (the tools idea my be a good idea, but most sacrifice such things to the gods). We even adjusted the skill gain curve at low ends recently, coupled with a decrease in times for many common actions (also has the net effect of faster skill gain over time).

Clearly, we have a communication issue for new users, and that just what we were addressing with the tutorial (and will be with the rest of the parts).

So, recently addressed:

Early Food gain.
Early Skill curve.
Early bootstrap Annoyances.
Unnecessary times for timers.
Decay of non-paying users items.
More verbose Explanation of game mechanics and interactions.


We have not just been painting a turd :p

Some things I have been contemplating adding (if my influence can sway it):

Log cabins, limited in tile size, however do not require planks or nails or high skill.
Wheelbarrows, the smaller, slower, less material required cart.
And a number of other things as well as adding more things to make at the low end, and many more options with those things (Visuals).

Same is spending literally 2 hours whacking together a large cart because of all the failures.

Insane early failure rate is something I rally against a lot. So is requiring a hammer, to finish a hammer.


believe me when I say this. When you guys post complaints, you are preaching to the choir. literally.

[rattran]

I think the phrase you wanted was 'polishing a turd' Not painting. And the problem is, people who have already tried the game found it grindy and unfun. Getting those people to try again is a lot harder than finding new people. And the friends of mine I pointed toward it recently found it grindy and unfun.

And 'literally' preaching to the choir? Sing, monkeyboy, sing!

[Mrbloodworth]

Just trying to make it more assessable, less cockpunchy. No one is under the impression it will magically change to a mass media hit, the niche is fine.

However we do have a new server rule set coming. Scenario based, accelerated skill gain, event driven server that resets.

[Pennilenko]

Just trying to make it more assessable, less cockpunchy. No one is under the impression it will magically change to a mass media hit, the niche is fine.

However we do have a new server rule set coming. Scenario based, accelerated skill gain, event driven server that resets.

I would give this a fresh re-tryout except that my registration information is gone from the first time i registered, I was pretty sure I paid for a year too or not but I am sure I paid something. So I say screw a company that can't remember that I am a customer.

[Mrbloodworth]

Just trying to make it more assessable, less cockpunchy. No one is under the impression it will magically change to a mass media hit, the niche is fine.

However we do have a new server rule set coming. Scenario based, accelerated skill gain, event driven server that resets.

I would give this a fresh re-tryout except that my registration information is gone from the first time i registered, I was pretty sure I paid for a year too or not but I am sure I paid something. So I say screw a company that can't remember that I am a customer.

We have not purged any users. PM me some info and I can see if I can assist.

[CharlieMopps]

The biggest problem I had with the game was the deed system.

Basically it worked like this when I played:
If you build stuff, it decays rather quickly... unless you had a deed (basically like owning land)
The only place to get a deed is at a Trader.
There was only 1 public trader in the ENTIRE WORLD when I played. That was at the noob camp.
Settled land is obviously more dense the closer you get to the noob area.
If you wanted to settle a decent plot you'd have to go really far from the camp, usually the other side of the game world. Hours of travel, literally.

Now, if you have a large village you get a trader along with it. You can buy and sell stuff to this trader.
The way wurm works is, you pay real money on the wurm website for in-game silver. Then you use this silver to either buy a deed or pay rent on your deed.
Another way to get silver is to make goods and sell them to the trader. But the trader gets an allotment of silver every month. When he runs out, hes out.
Village owners want this silver for themselves. So the hide their trader inside a building so other people can't sell them stuff.
But this also means that you can't buy anything from them either.
End result? The only place to buy a deed is the noob area on the other side of the world.
If your deed runs out while your in africa (which in fact happened to me) you have to traverse the globe to buy a new one.

Even if there were traders other players made available (I'm sure there were a few) there was absolutely no way of knowing where they were.

The sole point of paying for wurm was to buy and maintain a deed. But they've made even that part of the game really annoying. You'd think to yourself, I want to give wurm some money and keep playing... but if I do that I'm going to have to spend 3hrs finding the trader to use it. Screw that.

[tgr]

One thing I keep wondering about, and that is how am I supposed to bootstrap myself up to actually having a steel+flint? I can start campfires, but I can't make coal in there, so I can't seem to make steel. Am I missing some magic way of setting fire to a pile?

Also, I think there really should be some way of reclaiming f.ex the metal in a large anvil, also some way to improve on metal quality as well through a purifying processes of some sorts.

[Mrbloodworth]

The above two issues are something I have brought up recently. I have suggested a summon deed trader ability.

But just off the top of my head. Coal is made using coal piles.