Victor

I should be easy enough to put server downtime and scheduled maintenance on the news portion of the launcher. Then, its no surprise.

With the advent of the new character customization, I find myself thinking back to the days of Ultima Online and having a barber. In UO, your hair (and beard, if male) would grow over time and you would need to go to the barber to get it cut. In Wurm, we could have a barber skill, that would allow players to not only groom other players, but also change their hairstyle. What do you think?

They day I don't look like everyone else will be a great day. Off to the suggestions section...

I for one love all the development that is going on. As far as the art direction being consistent and looking like it all follows one "style", I don't see the problem with having some things look a little different, as long as they all fit into Wurm's mythology and not just tossed in because it seemed "neat" to do.

Thanks for all the decent and constructive replies. In short, Wurm for the most part isn't fun. For something to be called a game, it needs to be fun. Wurm is more like work, and that defeats the definition of a game. Sorry Rolf, but I seek greener, funner pastures elsewhere. I wish you the best of luck.

Please be aware that I am not writing this post to be rude or insult the design staff in any way. This post is so you (Rolf mostly, as you are the one in charge of such things) can read it and get an idea s to why I left Wurm and is perhaps why many do in the beginning after trying it and after playing a while. Not many will tell why they left, but I see great potential in the game and would like to see you succeed. Note that my play experience was on Freedom, so some parts of this post may seem silly to those on Wild, and rightly so. Had I played there, perhaps my departure would have been delayed for a bit. Maybe. Let's get to the nitty gritty of why I left and won't be coming back. Also please note that I had played on the MR Home server for months before the surprise change over to raiding was made (which caused me to leave then as well, I played Meridius). First and foremost, the main reason I left Wurm is that it is un-engaging. Quite frankly, the game is pretty dull and doesn't offer much in the way of player interaction. Let me be more specific. Let's take the most engaging aspect of most games: combat. In Wurm, for most, combat consists of targeting the enemy and then watching the text roll up the combat chat window. You might try and focus, but that's the extent of the interaction most will see and judge this game on. For high skill and good weapons, you are offered the option to try and target other parts of the enemy's body, but in all honesty, that doesn't add much to making combat 'exciting'. On the topic of un-engaging still, we go to crafting. For the most part, crafting consists of watching a progress bar. Not very exciting. Queue up three long actions and go make a sandwich. Now, I know that the world is supposed to belong to the players and NPC presence is kept to a minimum, but eventually, once you are out of projects (and some have projects to go on for ages, kudos to you) there's not really anything else to do in the game, except maybe wander off exploring and get killed after you get completely lost in the wilderness. Lastly, the waste in the game, as I have posted before, is completely ridiculous and out of control. Don't call it “wurm logicâ€, because destroying an item that in all common sense should NOT be destroyed in a crafting attempt is very, very frustrating. Now, instead of most that will post all complaints and shot-comings they found in a game, I am going to offer up my suggestions to fix them as well. Combat: Add moves you can do in combat, moves anyone can try at any skill level. These are moves like Feint (faking the enemy out to get a better chance to hit with the next attack), Disarm (well, would only work on trolls right now). Heavy Attack (a powerful attempt at an attack that would cause double damage at the cost of more stamina and can't be attempted when exhausted). More moves can be thought up and added, but put something in for the player to DO more than watching text. Crafting: Get rid of the scrap and waste for things that don't logically get ruined when trying to attempt to make an item (i.e. an anchor when you try and attach a rope, or sword blade when you try an attach a wooden handle) and add in steps in the crafting process (I saw this in EQ2 and would make for more engaging crafting) that require the player to interact with the process like checking the heat or adding spice or catching a knot in the thread. Content: Beyond crafting, and maybe hunting a unique, there are things you could add to the game that wouldn't require NPCs to give quests. On each server, how about a few ancient ruins where an old civilization dwelt that has spawns of some monsters and perhaps treasure scattered here and there, the ultimate prize as an artifact maybe at the center guarded by a unique of immense fighting skill. Another idea is a huge underground complex of caves no one ever dug, that maybe leads to an underground area with mysteries to be discovered, or maybe a portal to someplace else. Lastly, how about allowing the players to craft epic items or rare things that require rare reagents and materials that can be found in the above places, or are found in certain regions. Well, that's all. I wish all of you that are still playing Wurm to try and find your enjoyment where you can. To Rolf and the client team, keep up the good work and I hope it all turns out in the end.

One must also look at the server populations. Rolf wants numbers, as do all developers. And the current fail and wreck system of crafting is not rewarding and very, very frustrating. New players see that, combined with the look of the game (I look like every one else, low quality items look like high quality) and go play another game. The current system is highly unrealistic (sorry I used that term in an MMO, but unrealistic [i.e. wrecking an anchor attaching a rope] but the point is valid due to reality as the familiarity reference point to the player), and incredibly frustrating. Defending the system is putting blinders on the the problem. Wurm's population is small because of how frustrating and unengaging the game is. There's not a lot of time = reward in the current system to keep new players (or even veteran players in many cases) interested in continued subscription, or to subscribe at all. One method to removing the waste and frustration and to add value to high skill is to instead of having a player be able to make anything from skill 1 to have to learn how to make more 'advanced' tools and things from either an NPC trainer, manuals made by other players, or players teaching them how to make said items. This would promote both a money flow from the Wurm shop as well as interaction between players AND eliminate a lot of the insane frustration in the game crafting creates. I also agree with Mr Bloodworth on all accounts. He 'gets it'. Aesthetics do play a huge role in player reward systems. I would be more apt to grind a tradeskill to max level if the items produced not only were of very good quality but also looked that way too.

I am sorry Spellcast, I do not agree. Ruining something for the sake of making it so higher skilled people have some benefit for gaining that skill isn't in any way a good reason to ruin and completely destroy something that, in all logic and common sense, shouldn't be when trying to make an item. Though I DO agree that a change to have to have a certain skill to make certain tools would be acceptable.

No, I have been playing for 6 months now, played when MR Home was not pvp. Also, I don't mind difficult, but come on, the waste is terrible and unreasonable. It makes no sense.

Also a good idea.

Damaging an item needed to make it is far more reasonable than destroying it entirely. I can see ruining, say nails. But not a headboard, or a sword blade, or an anchor.

Just tried my second attempt at attaching a headboard to a bad frame and....ruined the headboard. Who's brainy idea was it to completely ruin a piece when you fail an attach? Try and attach a sword blade to a handle....scrap. Try and fail attaching a rope to an anchor...turns 20kg of crafted anchor to scrap. What? How do you make scrap by failing to attach a wood handle? Or a rope? I don't get it. And don't defend the system by saying "Its Wurm logic" because that's not a valid point. The waste is incredibly unrealistic and frustrating, because not only are you wasting a lot of resources, but our time that we will never get back playing this game. Games are suppose to be fun, not frustrating and feeling like a waste of time. Change it.

I never underestimated it for a second, as I have stated before that I have worked in 3ds max and know the undertaking that it is, just from that standpoint. I thank you for your reply, but my question as to if new character models and such are being worked on was not addressed. Yes, tools move with your hands, that's awesome. But when do we stop looking like each other? Is there a way the community can help? "I think I'm a clone now...there's always two of me just a hangin' around..." I'd be happy to lend any help to such a grand endeavor as I have no job right now (stupid economy) and tons of free time. I know some Java, and can pick any software up pretty fast and learn it. I have also glanced at OpenGL code and am pretty certain I can work with that as well, as I have a grasp of C, C++, Java and C#.

There are ways to do it in OpenGL, I would just like to know if its being worked on at all. Rolf will have less to do with the models and such as the client coders and devs will.

With all the new additions (rugs, puppets, trees, grass, lamps, children....) the question that I haven't seen answered is: Who, if anyone, is working on updating the character and creature models? We need customization, visible armor, animations, weapons that move when we swing them, shields that show on our arms, mounted poses and animations, creatures that look better and animate far better, etc. Is anyone working on this? If so, how far along are they? If no one is working on this, then why haven't you said anything so the community can step forward and see what they can do? I have dabbled in 3ds max, I am sure I could figure out whatever 3D software is needed to re-vamp the living side of Wurm as it needs to be. Any information is appreciated and I would really like replys from Rolf or any developer. Thanks

Staying until I get bored. Then I may go and see what havoc in the name of MR I can raise.

Actually I think the point of why Wurm is lacking has been missed by everyone. Its not graphics, or sounds, or customizable characters. Its excitement. Wurm has only one real draw: The ability to make anything and plan huge projects. But yes, the learning curve is huge and you fail...a lot, in the beginning. That's frustrating enough. Then there's finding food and materials like clay and making tools you need. But the big thing that keeps people playing other MMOs is a game that's engaging. Wurm is pretty dull. Most content is double-click a tool, right click something else, select the menu item, and watch a progress bar go up. Then you fail and do it again. Combat is pretty much the same. Target, get in place, focus a few times and...go make lunch. Combat at higher skill has some interaction, but that's not until much later and is in no way a feature to keep players in the first few months. The game isn't engaging. Its plain dull. That's why the maps are littered with abandoned settlements and projects because it got boring. Spruce up combat at least, fix the fighting system and you have a solid base of a game to build on to attract new players.

And what would happen if I hit YOU with a hatchet? you'd have a nasty gash and bleed a lot. Don't defend a silly set of systems just because you like the game. I like the game as well, but this is rediculous.

Right, I know. Which is very wrong. Hence my post. And to those that said "Get a sword or real weapon" seem to have not read where I lost everything. Point is that with a small axe in hand, I shouldn't have had such a rediculously hard time with a calf. A calf.

There's a serious problem with the Wurm combat system. Here's the deal: I was near Samling, and after having lost everything to a bear attack for the second time (losing things to death, not to the same bear), I decided to start over at the top of the map. I had nothing, made a few tools at the public mine and found a nice spot to build. Then I was hungry with 10% nutrition and there was a young calf. I had no 'real' weapon, so equipped my hatchet in my right hand, put my wooden shield on my left arm and set off to kill the cow. I had a 18.65 fighting skill, so I thought a cow would be cake. A young cow at that. Sure, I had no armor, but it was a cow. The fight begins. The hatchet, though an axe, kept doing very light wounds. Calf fights back vicously. The fight goes on...and on....and on.... I get the calf down to Wounded and I am at 50% health. Now I am really starting to see a poor design either in combat, the weapons or the super calf. The fight goes on, and on, and on. 40% health (me) and its still alive. I am using a hatchet, and a good cleave to the head should kill a cow, but no, all I am doing is its nails apparently. Finally, the calf hits the dirt after 12 minutes of fighting. 12 minutes! I have 35% of my health left and wonder why that is. So there it is, my adventure to kill a calf. A CALF! And I thought taking 5 minutes to hack a pheasant to death was obscene. Seriously Rolf, fix the combat system before you add anymore systems to the game. /endrant

How are clocks 'against tech setting'? Are firearms against 'tech setting' based on what is currently in the game? May I point out that both clocks AND guns were around before full plate armours were seen on the field of battle? An absolute lie. Plate armor has been around LONG before gunpowder was, and I can't believe you are even trying to argue that. Actually you are wrong unless you meant to say that plate was around before guns, not gunpowder. I don't see clocks in Wurm, they were invented in the 1500's unless you count water clocks made by the ancientEgyptians (source: http://www.arcytech.org/java/clock/clock_history.html). Guns and clockwork clocks aren't period to say the least. Also, why do you need a clock when you can hit F6 and get the exact time?

While a monrach of some kind is usually a given in a medieval setting, you can only have such a thing on a pvp server where you can whack each other with sticks for not listening. We aren't on a pvp server so the idea isn't viable. Making more threads about the idea is pointless.

Yeah, I don't think so.

I say no. There is no need to travel back and forth. Once a choice is made, you should be happy with it. When the doors open to travel, talk goes to what restrictions to place, maybe what to do about resources and so on. If you like or want pvp, pivk Wild, if you don't, pick Freedom. If you don't like where you are, make a new character on the other server. My two cents.