Etherdrifter

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Everything posted by Etherdrifter

  1. I think it's more a "we want to encourage players to consume food/drink made at higher skill levels, however rather than doing this by coming up with a fun set of mechanics we're going to cripple skillgain unless you do instead because its easier" (alcohol/caffination seems to be the only way to go these days)
  2. The real question is "where is best for a free player", since a player who enjoys the free game will stick around. Both clusters offer advantages, though I think the south wins out a little. Infrastructure is just better developed, and free folk can't really easily develop their own (try building a road using only a small cart). Coastal availability is a big one for free players, and based on perimeter alone the south has an edge here. Finally, "deed it or lose it" being the terrible idea in force, means that the lower population density of the south means less chance of random robberies.
  3. Farmers salve is a lightweight alternative to bandages made with garlic and fat, it focuses on poison and blunt damage and is something every free player keeps hold of (as well as a common tool for travelling healers). 1 garlic = 10 uses (light) or 5 uses (medium) at 0.1kg, which is vital when you MUST carry all you own for fear of a decay tick. The QL being capped by the fat QL also means making it at high QL is possible even for free players. A lot of new players find it useful (I used to mix it up often when wurm had a lot of new players), mostly because it heals those early game bumps. I'd say garlic is a healer's item more than a farmer's one!
  4. We're actually doing a study on new players as well, just waiting for spring to come around! So far, it's not looking good for the new system! Also, as someone who does frequent sabbaticals (so I can cut down trees again), and spent a LOT of time healing himself and others as a free player, yes I definitely think it is necessary as you fail a LOT. You get hit by a troll and escape, you're going to need a cover. Hellhound? Yup, a cover. A bear? Probably going to need a cover. Croc near your rowboat, time to get those covers out. Free players heal a LOT, and folks who rely on LT weapons often forget this! Wurm has a long standing issue with free players because they're treated so poorly - the only good new update for free players was donkeys and no longer deleating accounts. Every other update just ignores them or nerfs them. Just remember, a big castle is a nice thing to have, but it's even nicer if there are folks around to enjoy it. You may have made an amazing inn, but no-one is there to stay at it. Free folks help drive a world, and at the moment that drive has long ago stopped! Edit - also, fun fact, most new players don't use global chats
  5. So, a group of players who have little to no voice have been ignored here - free players. You don't often see them in the forums, but they're the lifeblood of the game. I've done some testing with a friend of mine, checking the limitations the new system imposes on newer players. Each node was lored by a high skill character, and a free (20 skill) character. The results are below: No Longer Obtainable by Forage/Botanise (Previously were) Sassafrass Black Mushrooms* (can be found as random spawns but rare) Tougher to Find Under New System (linked to one specific node, sometimes a rare one) Tea (Rare node) Coffee (Rare node) Paprika (Rare node) Potatoes (tougher to find but not impossible) Tomatoes (tougher to find but not impossible) Nettles (tougher to find but not impossible) Blue Mushrooms (tougher to find but not impossible) In essence, free players now have a tougher time with healing covers - the removal of Black Mushrooms especially hurts a lot! Sassafrass and paprika were decent mid-tier healing items and nettles (a potency 3 ingredient) being harder to find will definitely impact survivability. Overall, the new system also forces a lot more player motion; "useful" nodes (e.g. wildflowers, mints, and fungi) are generally gathered whereas useless ones (snow, mineral debries, rubble, and lichen) are left behind by everyone save skillers (who tend to dump the contents). Given that free players struggle with agriculture (farming is useless for free players really), often using forage/botanise as a main food source, this forces more mobility on a group of players for whome mobility is already an issue (a deeded cottage can be left for a week to roam, an undeeded one is another matter entirely as decay compounds quickly on lower QL items).
  6. I'd say avoid replacing spell effects, and avoid useless effects. Given that the material is generally gathered by people who travel a lot... Fo - Prevent decay of food items in a container (the container itself can still decay) Mag - Prevent decay of tools in a container (the container itself can still decay) Vyn - Prevent decay of materials in a container (including books/paper, the container itself can still decay) Lib - Precent decay of weapons and armour in a container (the container itself can still decay) Jackal - Reduces the decay of all items in a container (halves tick size)
  7. +1 A lot of spells are geared towards PvP (they rarely have more than situational use in PvE), and this is one that doesn't even work on PvE. Definitely a useful spell idea. Have it reversable with a dispel, and limit its casting on deed to permissions only just to avoid it being used to grief. Possibly give it a time limit (1 hour per 20 power) with the timer being reset by additional casts just to ensure that even players with no local priests are not vulnerable to griefing.
  8. It's currently a stub of a spell that is never cast on PvE as planting a flower does the same thing (no myc). It'd be nice if casting it on tile spawned a random resource node suited to that tile, since fo priests are supposed to be travelling nature casters. It isn't a major use, but it'd be a nice one to have.
  9. I'm going to be investigating this quite heavily as I'll need to update my guide based on it. I'll likely do it on test where I can manually tweak skill levels to ensure consistent experiences...
  10. You know, this might be the real point (and it would definitely explain the level of salt from some players!). Maybe I put this one up a bit early - I'll necro it in 6 months if no reversion or grand change crops up.
  11. I think we've reached optimal derailment. Take the "old Vs new" to the thread for it. This is "merge Vs non-merge" thread, based on the assumption that the old system is but a happy memory.
  12. I mean, this is the crux isn't it? This was the alternate proposal, not the OP proposal. The OP suggestion was your skill is just set to the higher of the two. Just a tip, when you ask someone "A or B" they're generally implying it's a XOR. Which is why option 1 is unlikely - again I'll just point at fishing. I hope they do revert things to some degree, but I very much doubt they will, so I'll push towards a viable alternative.
  13. False binary at its best (well, false trinary). I'd say {1,3} is the option most people take - fight on for the best but hedge for the worst. This is a hedge that at least sees being able to skill consistently, this preparing for the inevitable worst. Or have you forgotten fishing 2.0? I mean, so far you've yet to offer any real valid counterpoint and degenerated to name calling so I'd say you're done. I agree, and what I propose does help resolve that a little. Let me pose the question: lets assume a weighted average score for both skills were given (with higher skills offering more of a pull effect to reflect the exponential progress gap). Would that satisfy your qualms? In this way the effort is rewarded, and the goalposts moved back towards a more favourable place. However, this would upset a fair few who were previously over a threshold for new resources if one skill lagged, and would likely harm players in terms of item ql found (not many have them exactly equal). You'd have a lot of angry players, but the easier skilling might help mollify this. Or you could just keep the skills separate and gated to "the old guard" who skilled them pre-change.
  14. I mean, I've been foraging/botanising for longer than you (nearly 11 years now I think?) - I've literally lived on those skills in the past as both a premium player and a long term free player. So, I really hope you take this the right way when you read it but please do stop thinking about yourself for a moment. Personally speaking, I've got the skills in both (more than enough for my needs with botanize slowly creeping up towards 85) and I'd lose out on this as well. I'm thinking in terms of a new player who joins up tomorrow and asks "why are there two separate skills for a gathering action?". In the past, there was good justification for this (oh, ok so it's completely separate resource pools from the same tile, one focused towards healing covers and the other towards farming starters/food), but the new system has no such justification. The new system is here to stay - the devs never roll anything back (remember fishing?). So, steering it back towards something that isn't so confusing is probably a good idea.
  15. With the old system, there was a reason for them to be separate (i.e. you could perform both actions on the same tile). However, under the new system, this just isn't possible. It might be better to merge the two, since there is nothing to really distinguish them now barring an artificial limitation on what you can gather that doesn't really need to be there anymore. How do we merge them? Simple, give players a new skill called "Wild Harvest", and set it to the highest of the two skill scores. Have it award both titles that were previously given as a fun quirk.
  16. I'm not a grinder, never was. The risks outweigh the rewards. My play times are inconsistent and are unlikely to line up with team-mates.
  17. +1 Stealth taxes are NOT welcome (also, this is another nerf to free players)
  18. Honestly, this is very much a nerf in its current form - it's a good idea, but the execution is just not there yet. Reducing coin income for free players (less rolls, less chances!). It's making it harder for new players to find specific resources (the "good" nodes will be picked, the "bad" nodes will remain and rot). "Balancing" the skilling loss with CoC is just cruel - it is a nerf for anyone who isn't going to pay a premium player for a 101 CoC cast. My mountain is one big snowdrift (it is winter, we shall see what spring brings), and the recompense for not getting gems is just snow. Nope, that's a straight up nerf to my home - that has existed since the day Xanadu was founded, and whose creation was a monumental effort in tunneling, terraforming, and travel.
  19. +1 for in-game solution Otherwise, more rng of item materials might creep in. Also, how will this work with rare materials?
  20. PvP has been dying for years, at this point it has been on life support for so long one wonders how it can be sustained. At this point, it seems almost cruel to keep it alive It has unique content and rewards (HotA and Kingdoms) that have failed to win over PvE players. In general, PvP in wurms style just doesn't appeal long term, especially with a core component of wurms progression being wagered (gear). However, merging clusters would set the stage for a PvP merge, and in this I see no harm. Give PvP its chance, see if it recovers this time, if only for the data it will generate.
  21. On second thought - swampy puddle might be unique, but the materials are nothing to write home about.
  22. [22:35:47] From most to least likely, the following resource nodes could appear here under current conditions: Swampy puddle, rotting wood, mints, mineral debris, umbellifers, nightshades, vines, and critter nest. Doesn't look like it
  23. 1 week without premium it is (or a year if the price isn't right!)
  24. Time to bump this, since the new update is going to have me travelling more and I really don't want to be casting "summon soul" to call a luggage alt every time I want to do some reports or take in-game notes.