Valdor

This is actually a very important point, so I want to echo it. When you watch respected, widely followed Youtubers who explore MMOs and give them ratings, one criteria seems to be prevalent among their varied viewpoints. That criteria is how easy and how exciting the game is for new players. Now, I know YouTube personalities may not be the sole experts on games, but in this particular situation, I agree with them completely. Josh Strive Hayes - in his years of seeking and playing all the MMOs that he can get his hands on - often makes this sentiment: It doesn't matter how good your mid-game or end-game content is. If your early-game content cannot promise new players a great experience, they will just leave. They will never experience the later content, nor will they even know it existed. To me, Wurm has fantastic mid-game and end-game content. That's what keeps me engaged after all those years and I honestly cannot find a game I like more. But no matter how much I try to sell this experience to potential new players, they will first have to go through their initial two or three weeks in game, and it will be during those weeks that they will decide if they are sticking around, or not. Of course, I am preaching to the choir here. I am perfectly aware that both the players and the developers know this. And the developers have tackled the early-game experience many times by now. All I am saying is that we cannot stop tweaking that till we are all satisfied that we have a good early-game experience and till we see players stick around in numbers after their initial weeks on Wurm. This, of course, means that we - the veterans - need to become very patient. We are often the ones that push the devs for new stuff on regular basis. As much as I am always overjoyed to see new features added to the game, the new-player-experience may have to take the precedent here for a bit and we simply must be fine with that. In my view, if we want more new players and a healthier game population, we must focus on the new player experience for a bit. Us - veterans - have to sit tight, be patient and be content with the sandbox we already have for a bit. Because we are very good at dividing the developers' attention, and there are only so many of them to go around

This is actually a very complex subject. For instance, I do agree that larger population density would do the game some good. And I do realize that the number of maps is what contributes to the low density in the first place. However, merging maps, or getting rid of some of the continents, would be a measure that is too drastic, in my opinion. While a number of Wurm players enjoy starting over in new locations and building new deeds, an equal amount is quite the opposite. They like what they have and would absolutely hate to lose it. I am one of those players. Some of the deeds are very elaborate and have taken a long time to complete... especially the ones with sculpted cities under the surface of the earth. Many players put a lot of time and sometimes even money into them. The deeds become bases for the players to explore the world from, but always have a feeling of "home". It's hard to let a home go, especially if there is an emotional attachment. I think that a lot of players - those who do not thrive on starting over - would be very unhappy if some of the continents were to go away. Many would not want to start over and would probably leave the game. I'd be on the fence myself, as I love my deed and the thought of spending all this time again to get a new one (especially since this one is exactly how I want it and in the exact location I love) may be just not appealing enough. So, it's very likely that a merger of servers may create the opposite effect of what it would be designed to do. One can argue that a more concentrated population would compensate for that, but we have to remember that Wurm is a niche game and a lot of players who play it have been here for a long time. Those are the players that sustain Wurm today. Replacing those, given the fact that Wurm is not widely known, would be very hard. There are also two more aspects at play here. First is the fact that some people actually like the low density of players. Many play for the solitude of the experience, where on daily basis they carve their little piece of Wurm in a frontier-like isolation, while exercising the option of visiting their friends and travelling whenever they feel. The low density of players is actually what draws some players to the game and to their hand-chosen locations. The second is the exploration bit. Many continents and much wilderness means that Wurm is a mecca for exploration. I, for one, love exploring in Wurm. I have been doing that for years, and the fact that there is so much land out there means that even after those years there are many, many places I haven't yet seen and each trip is a new adventure. I like seeing other players' secluded locations, ruins of old settlements, terraformed land that is being reclaimed by nature, new vistas, mountains, coasts, etc. The point I am making is that while I do understand the desire of some to condense the Wurm experience to create a more robust community, and can see some of the benefits, there are many different playstyles in Wurm and not all thrive on a condensed, economy-based gameplay. Solitude, distance, exploration, nature and other aspects are equally important to many. So, combining or limiting servers is a mixed bag and may drive many people away. I believe that a better option would be a more skillful and more sustained recruitment campaign. This should - at least in theory - slowly rise the numbers and make the continents a bit more populated. I don't think this will fully achieve the results that the proponents of a condensed community would hope for, but in today's MMO world, where options are plentiful and attention span is at a premium, that may be the best way to give all the playstyles a boost and sustain Wurm for years to come. My 2 cents

Fantastic! Can't wait to have this system. Great work, devs.

I am happy. The way I look at it, the sled was the main gift and the rest were all nice additions to make it more of an event. I also like how botanizing/foraging was used in the event. It's always a good idea for any game to include a new mechanic in some sort of event or contest, to get people to try that mechanic.

That's one festive wall. Well done!

You raise some interesting points. Like I said in my post, I don't min/max things in Wurm and perhaps don't look as close at the code as some, so I may not be fully aware of some behind-the-scene details. However, you mention that in the old system "if you do this or that here or there you can get more or this because of a higher chance for such loot". If I understand you correctly, you say that by knowing a few tricks, you could raise a chance of getting certain things from certain spots. Well, in the new system, it's the same, isn't it? You can raise a chance of getting certain drops by going to the right node. You don't need to know the behind-the-scenes details anymore... you can just rely on a visual to get more of what you are looking for. Or did I misunderstand your example? As to your argument that we had 100% of the map where spawns could happen, while now we have maybe 20% at best, you are quite right. I agree. The amount of spots where one can find things has definitely decreased. I guess it has been replaced by visual identification instead. I would argue that this makes the system more enjoyable, but this is - of course - personal preference. The botanize/forage area in Wurm has definitely decreased.

I know that some players have issues with the addition of the new foraging/botanizing system, and in all fairness they may have some good points. For me, however, I finally got a chance to play with this new system and I have to say... I absolutely love it! If the system is not optimized or needs some tweaking, I wouldn't know - because I don't min/max many things in Wurm. But from the pure experience of it, I think the addition is very fun. Having different nodes produce different things is really something I like. The old system of clicking on the ground for the foraging/botanizing lottery was just too simple and boring. Most of all, however, what I absolutely like is how much it adds to the landscape. It makes the underbrush, meadows and ground textures of Wurm so much more interesting, with various different visual nodes that seem to fit well into their tiles. I love seeing all those extra shrubs, patches, flowers, etc. And even the odd metal deposit or abandoned cargo near the shore adds some wonderful clutter to the world. After all, clutter is the natural state of the world So, for me, this update rocks. I know I am late to the party, and I know that some players brough some good points about optimizing the system, but I finally get excited about botanizing/foraging now and can see mee doing this from time to time. +1

Wesołych Świąt i szczęśliwego Nowego Roku! Translation: Happy Holidays and Prosperous New Year! (Polish) Merry Christmas to all the Wurm players. May your holidays be memorable and the upcoming year the best you ever had! We are such an international community that now I wonder... what does Merry Christmas sound like in your language?

I have been building my deed since 2013. And it's till not finished!

Such decisions - especially after the happy time you put in - are always hard to make. I had to make it once, so I can somehow sympathize. Best of luck in your new ventures. I hope your next twenty years brings just as good experiences.

Thank you Dracaa and Gang for another wonderful Impalong. I can only imagine how hard they are to pull off and how much time and resources they take. But as always, this Impalong was full of fun, memories, tomfoolery and some good, old fashioned work. And getting stuck in the maze for an hour and a half was fun too. Really Already can't wait for next year!

Ah, okay. Not a problem. November Impalong will be just as fun

Is it me, or did Childecho lose some weight since the original posting? I think he looks different in the initial picture and in the last one, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Solid purchase, though. The deed will never be the same and the other horses will love him.

So, this year the Impalong is in November, not December?

Great project... useful for people like me, who like to sculpt their green spaces and use precise plants in their deed decor. Looking forward to the updates.

Perfect. One thing I have not yet done is to publicly keep you in line on your birthday. Looking forward to it. Bring it on, sister!

Wouldn't miss it for the world. Put me down for my usual leatherworking and pottery. Let's have fun! PS: If you have never been to an Impalong, don't miss this event.

Sold! In all seriousness, best of luck, bro

Very excited about all these changes, especially the resource nodes and the action-bar/toolbelt. That said, can we still keep the ferns in the game? Perhaps as some form of decoration, or perhaps as a graphic for one of the resource nodes? I absolutely love ferns and they add so much to the landscape. Can we keep them in the game in some form?

Ha! I just noticed the tiny feet on the chicken. Priceless. My favorite is still the pheasant. That's a proud neo-dinosaur in its colourful glory!

Thanks for all your work over the years, Iyhrinae. Wurm is so memorable because of the dedication of people like you. Good to know you are not leaving us, though, but just moving from admin project to full time deed projects. Here is to many more years!

Wow, that's incredible. Congrats!

Gorgeous shield!

I would totally hit that! Er... hit WITH that!

It's a great community. Part of the reason I love this game. And yes, there are a few weirdos out there... but in my defense, I am getting better!