Retrograde

This isnt a elve vs home servers argument. While there is obvious desire to make those who enter dangerous lands to complete missions to be rewarded more, We do not wish to punish those who choose to live on home servers. We want to allow all kinds of playstyles, not force one or another

Reduction of SotG and removal of archery penalties would mean using a huge axe would be quite vulnerable considering. true strike and equipment timers in combat has also been raised

This idea has been scrapped for now. Originally it was not intended to be introduced with this round of changes, I must have forgotten to move it to the other list. There are a lot of plans to look at current raiding mechanics and working out how we can improve them into a more strategic, defensive and fluid system, but those will not be touched without a long time of consideration and observation.

These were mentioned as possibilities, but not promised, we will look at it though, I'd like to see magic chests be a little more worth their cost. Amphoras slow liquid decay by quite a lot, dyes stored in them havent taken a tick in 3 months outside

Or just have leaving the world drop you from the boat, there is always that

True strike has been something raised and is being looked at, I havent spoken with the dev team about it yet but I feel a cooldown at the very least is in order

If insanity is still the "better path' it's not really balanced. this will take time to work on, it will not be the first change coming, just something that needs longer term looking at and to put the 'nerf sotg" arguments to rest

I've gone through and removed some of the more negative ones in the OP, and also added bold text explaining a few better, as well as adjusting them compared to the original premise Please bear in mind this is not all the changes. For the sake of structuring I have split the many changes we intend on bringing in into smaller sprints in order to continue to actively improve pvp. Each change or addition will then be monitored. Widespread balancing involving combat, weapons, armour, mounts, spells, priests, meditation, karma, sorcery will take time, the aim of this is to address key long standing mechanics issues, and allow us to then view what needs to balance and plan accordingly. no changes to mechanics will go live without the information being made available prior Changes Remove expanded Information minister functions removal of "x enters your territory" Remove all teleportation forms on PvP servers (including home servers). Cooldown on exiting local of enemy players, crossing servers, disabling teleporting into enemy presence and alerted deeds Remove archery penalties or scale according to individual armour pieces. Disable embarking on vehicles or mounts while in combat with an enemy players.5 second timer to embark, disruptable Addition of Archery keybinds. Remove stun/throw from valrei mobs.Until throwing/stun mechanics can be addressed Make nolocate on bodies work similar to jewellery with power determining % blocked. Cooldowns on searching for same person.30 second cooldown when Nolocate is effective, no nolo, no cooldown Creation of a “verbose” combat tab option, including extra information such as Area of Effect spells, Direct target spells, karma and meditation buffs, etc Scale scenario point rewards according to mission type (sacrifice, drain, traitor, tree) then modified by whether server is friendly, enemy, or elevation (varied scenario points per part of mission, multiplied by .5, 1 or 1.5 according to server, this would mean a hard mission on a home server is still better than an easy mission on an enemy server, move timers may be adjusted accordingly) Make uniques focus points of missions, or giving kingdom based rewards for slaying Neutral mission to slay x unique in x region, slaying faction receives god move reduction as if they completed a mission for said god Change battle rank to only be given through kills, not through missions or capping towers/camps Make chaos and possibly home server merchants tauntable (perhaps require killing of all guards, or a drain similar to disintegration) Remove speed bonus from logged off alts on boats on PvP servers (dont want to remove this from pve servers as sailing is slow enough, on pvp it should be vulnerable though) Have tower guards target whoever is trying to capture the tower. Require killing of guards before tower is captured. Removal of action timer and requiring a certain amount of guards killed within a ten minute timeframe Remove interruptable action timer and be reliant on triggering the capture, then requiring a certain amount of guards required to be slain in order to capture the tower, or simply all guards slain within the timeframe, possible to scale according to local player count SOTG reduction to 25% DR until time for total meditation balancing is possible. Meditation should add flavour or slight benefits, not allow a path to be the dominant path

I've gone through and removed some of them ore negative ones in the OP, and also added bold text explaining a few better, as well as adjusting them compared to the original premise Changes Remove expanded Information minister functions removal of "x enters your territory" Remove all teleportation forms on PvP servers (including home servers). Cooldown on exiting local of enemy players, crossing servers, disabling teleporting into enemy presence and alerted deeds Remove archery penalties or scale according to individual armour pieces. Disable embarking on vehicles or mounts while in combat with an enemy players.5 second timer to embark, disruptable Addition of Archery keybinds. Remove stun/throw from valrei mobs.Until throwing/stun mechanics can be addressed Make nolocate on bodies work similar to jewellery with power determining % blocked. Cooldowns on searching for same person.30 second cooldown when Nolocate is effective, no nolo, no cooldown Creation of a “verbose” combat tab option, including extra information such as Area of Effect spells, Direct target spells, karma and meditation buffs, etc Scale scenario point rewards according to mission type (sacrifice, drain, traitor, tree) then modified by whether server is friendly, enemy, or elevation Make uniques focus points of missions, or giving kingdom based rewards for slaying Neutral mission to slay x unique in x region, slaying faction receives god move reduction as if they completed a mission for said god Change battle rank to only be given through kills, not through missions or capping towers/camps Make chaos and possibly home server merchants tauntable Remove speed bonus from logged off alts on boats on PvP servers Have tower guards target whoever is trying to capture the tower. Require killing of guards before tower is captured. Removal of action timer and requiring a certain amount of guards killed within a ten minute timeframe Remove interruptable action timer and be reliant on triggering the capture, then requiring a certain amount of guards required to be slain in order to capture the tower, or simply all guards slain within the timeframe, possible to scale according to local player count SOTG reduction to 25% DR until time for total meditation balancing is possible

bump! I see lots of new houses, looking great! I'm on the test server now if anyone needs anything!

thanks for everyone who has jumped on so far, it's been great! Its past my bedtime so I need to head off, if you need support, jump on IRC and a Gm should be able to help! Be sure to fill out the survey for your chance to win some sleep powder or the silver pickaxe!

I've also stated several times that those changes are coming, but are longer term changes that require much more time spent balancing and testing. I'd like to see some core concerns of pvp mechanics and meta addressed in the short term while we work on the loinger term project

The teleport is now open!

Hi, I've often thought of this myself, and will be more than happy to raise it with the dev team to allow an "always lit" flag for lamps on heritage sites

Updated the OP with some clarifications and removed some items! There's always been a vocal group for sotg, but in order to achieve any terms of game balance it needs work.

This is not a year before changes, but I was extremely adamant that large scale balances would take time, this current discussion is for short time frame changes that allow us to prepare for the longer term large scale changes.

Pending feedback some changes should start coming in the next few weeks, with the aim for all changes to be FULLY discussed and shared prior to their implementation. nothing will be implemented without discussion and details

scaling doesnt stop it being overpowered. There's two issues a) its overpowered, and it's a hard requirement for effective pvping, this only solves b 50% Dr vs 25% skillgain, it's not really the same try fighting with a 50ql longsword, 1fs and 30ql armour, it's not an issue Once again, it means a champ is a powerhouse at the forefront of fighting, without being simply an equal to sotg fighters Having to back off to heal with bandages would mean an increase in strategy of fighting. Enlightnement made it too easy to skip paths, meditation takes time, it should be removed entirely not a means of skipping cooldowns sotg change #1 would make cloth and leather viable, equvilent protection to plate with much more movement speed the cooldown would be something discussed and given prior to implementation i've seen a few no's to some ideas, raised costs, requiring the person capping the tower to be targetted, embarking on vehicles, and the usual expected flak of any change to sotg, but most of them seem fairly positive further down the line, this is a public feedback scenario, I want players from all factions to talk openly, I've been through individual kingdom discussions, now is the time for all players to talk together raiding should not be a battle against boredom, we need to address mechanics to promote that on both sides, and will most likely be something addressed at a longer timeframe than most of these changes. A server reset, and a merging is something that is simply not on the cards, that is extreme long term, and we need to address other core concerns within combat and PvP before even putting these ideas on the table, they are out for the foreseeable future Honestly I'd like to see face shots removed entirely for the meantime, they are far too potent and only serve to remove potential armour combinations. Alternatively any helm for sotg could count as a full helm Just because something is impossible does not mean it is intended or something that should stay. yes it is, if its to the point that you require it to be effective It doesn't include the portals, but teleportation as a whole needs to be addressed

If multi story longhouses are no defence there will be less work in building them Also a possibility, I'd rather see meditation add flavour as a whole, but it is clear that it will need addressing down the line as a whole, we do not wish to let sotg continue to dominate pvp requirements in the meantime however. Again, meditation as a whole needs reworking, this is just to address the clear and obvious imbalance

The Hall of the Mountain King will be waiting!

the suggestion about increased deed costs would be for founding only, probably a revert back to the 2c per tile vs the current 1c per tile a non prem can place

Why is it bad? should raiding be harder because you have to do more tedius work?

Something that we'll be looking at later down the line when we come to addressing combat! Rising deed costs The issue with the current cheap deeds is the ability to place a deed and convert, taking all the towers in the area, deeds should be strategic in their placement and not a cheap way to snatch land, raising the prices may not be the right way to go, but there is something that we need to address collapsing houses Currently houses stay through the use of floors, walls and parapets, the intention of this change will be requiring just the ground floor to be removed, from there the building would collapse and we would not be left with untouchable houses. Tower capping. Currently an easy way around it is simply kiting the guards around while one solo person caps the tower, if the action cannot be interrupted, we could simply require that the guards be killed within the time limit, SotG changes The ability to change paths to an equal level would be a part of ANY change. again, none of this is set in stone, so please do give actual feedback on WHAT you find is the issue That's also on the cards for discussion, thanks! Easier raiding The counter of this would be mechanics to make sticking around much more difficult, increasing guard difficulty over time or other such features. Any changes to raiding will most likely be longer term, and are simply included here because feedback is always good

Hi Everyone! It's the Easter long weekend here, and I hope everyone is having a good time! We've got a lot in this weeks news, and I'm sure you're all itching to hear about it, from the PvP changes to cave dwellings, so let's get stuck in! But first... JAVA SECURITY WARNING This week it was announced that there was a security issue in the current version of java, we highly recommend you update as soon as you can, for more info, check here: http://www.zdnet.com/article/oracle-issues-emergency-java-patch/#ftag=RSSbaffb68 Patch Notes: Wurm Online Wurm Unlimited PvP changes After a week of discussion with the dev team, we have compiled a list of changes that we feel help improve the current mechanics on PvP servers, as well as paving the way for a larger update later on in the year. These changes are now open for discussion and feedback, and we will work with you over the following week to ensure that they are positive changes! The full list of proposed changes can be found in our feature feedback thread here: Easter! Easter is upon us, and that means several things, namely, the Easter bunny! The bunny will now spawn automatically on easter, rather than requiring being summoned. They will spawn around the starter deed, so keep your eyes peeled! Easter Impalong. There's an impalong at the amazing Hill of Swedes deed on Deliverance this weekend, with Daash and co. putting on a tremendous setup, one of my favourite impalong locations so far (Okay, I'll admit, they've all been my favourite). Already some strange mobs have been sighted, as well as the sound of GM's chuckling as they assault the poor Wurmians. I'll be popping in from time to time over the weekend and hope to see you all there! Cave dwellings public testing! This weekend is the launch of our public testing for cave dwellings! I've been working hard this week on setting up a huge cavern for you all to jump in and build your very own home underground, but thats not all... We'll be hosting a special giveaway for those who have jumped on and tested it out, upon testing, you'll be able to fill in a quick survey about your experience and ensuring that it all went smoothly. Five lucky testers will be selected to win a prize of five sleep powders, with 1 winner receiving a grand prize of a beautiful rare 90quality silver pickaxe, with a cast of 100 Blessings of the Dark! Perfect for getting your cave ready for the mansion you'll be building! The thread with all the info will go live early tomorrow in the public testing board, so make sure you check it out! I spy with my little eye, something beginning with T, it's a treasure hunt! Enki has put together a wonderfully fun hunt for next weekend on Pristine, I tested it myself and it proved to be quite entertaining. If you're a professional Treasure hunter, or a master at I spy, or just awesome at jigsaw puzzles, this hunt is bound to be your kind of thing! The hunt starts on March 33... You'll have to ask Enki about that one. Weekly question Weekly user content This week we look at the first of a long range of tutorial videos made by Moot Red, a streamer who has spent his time teaching new players to both Wurm Unlimited and Wurm Online how to survive in the complicated in-depth world that is Wurm. I thoroughly advise checking out his entire series! That's it from me for this week, I'll be around on the forums and at the impalong, as well as spending Easter with family, I hope you all have an awesome Easter weekend, and may you spend your days grinding in the sweet spot! Retrograde & the Wurm team.

Over the past two months I've sat down and talked with various kingdoms and factions in PvP, both on Epic and Chaos. Over the course of that time I have collected large amounts of feedback regarding issues within PvP and Wurm, and condensed that feedback for discussion with the development team. It's clear that Epic and Chaos, while both PvP servers face different challenges, what benefits one server may have little to no effect on another, so there's always the effort to ensure that balance is achieved across both clusters. The following is a list of changes planned for the short term, with a longer term overhaul of combat, meditation and priests being planned for later in the year. This list is by no means complete, and the aim of this thread is for open discussion on the upcoming changes. As always, please keep it civil, regardless of what kingdom you are from, we all seek to make PvP more enjoyable in Wurm, so avoid bashing other players or kingdoms. This is a Feature feedback thread, that means please provide actual feedback, negative comments or comments with zero input will be removed. Changes Remove expanded Information minister functions "x enters your territory" Remove all teleportation forms on PvP servers (including home servers). Remove archery penalties or scale according to individual armour pieces. Disable embarking on vehicles or mounts while in combat with an enemy players. Addition of Archery keybinds. Remove stun/throw from valrei mobs. Make nolocate on bodies work similar to jewellery with power determining % blocked. Cooldowns on searching for same person. Creation of a “verbose” combat tab option, including extra information such as Area of Effect spells, Direct target spells, karma and meditation buffs, etc Scale scenario point rewards according to mission type (sacrifice, drain, traitor, tree) then modified by whether server is friendly, enemy, or elevation Make uniques focus points of missions, or giving kingdom based rewards for slaying Change battle rank to only be given through kills, not through missions or capping towers/camps Make chaos and possibly home server merchants tauntable Remove speed bonus from logged off alts on boats on PvP servers Have tower guards target whoever is trying to capture the tower. Require killing of guards before tower is captured. Removal of action timer and requiring a certain amount of guards killed within a ten minute timeframe Shield of the Gone SotG has been a long term issue with PvPers, and it is quite clear that it is too powerful in its current state.We currently have two proposed changes, which are listed below: Reworking SotG to only work with Cloth or Leather armour, moving a SotG character to being lighter without sacrificing protection (being slightly more than steel plate, but lower than scale/moon plate) yet not be the current tank that it is. Alternatively, remove the ability to heal from Life Transfer and all healing spells. This moves the SotG character into a strong fighter in a short melee, but in drawn out conflicts becomes very fragile. Feel free to provide feedback on which scenario you'd prefer to see, either of these changes will also come with the ability to swap from Path of Insanity to another path with no cooldown. Other changes that have not yet been discussed include Removal of oakshell from mounts (player targets only). Resistance to healing spells/cooldown. HotA changes. Many many more, feel free to ask about them! When providing feedback, for the sake of clarity and easier cataloging, please provide which server you play on, if you play on both feel free to say so, but also indicate your main server. A lot of mechanics may be delayed until we have a longer time frame to address balancing across a whole range of issues, such as priests, all meditation paths, weapons, armour, stats and combat in general. The initial aim is to improve PvP in the short term, and then address more balancing issues with a way of testing them out thoroughly, challenge round 3 is quite possible.... Update The old saying is no plan survives contact with the enemy, and it's much the same in Wurm. Some of these changes we will need to pull back to the drawing board, but I'm thrilled with the amount that have widespread support Of the changes that have mostly negative feedback, we'll pull those from the list along with a further explanation of what the aim is to achieve with them. This doesn't mean they are gone, but we will be looking at addressing the concerns mentioned. The way current deed mechanics work is something we plan on addressing, though this may need to come with a later update again, this needs to be part of a total raiding and combat overhaul, it's added here to gauge feedback early on, as well to get players thinking about how it could change. Nothing in PvP should be safe, safemines and other defences aimed at wasting time vs active defending need to be reworked, raiding windows is something that has been suggested as well, though again, all a little down the track Other issues such as cooldowns on locate casts are aimed at avoiding locating being a simple matter of spamming, it defeats the purpose of the no locate ability. Capturing towers could be more than just an action timer, requiring killing x amount of guards within a timeframe, requiring staying within x distance of the tower while doing so. Vs the current someone caps the tower while others have the guards chase them for ten minutes Embarking on vehicles is to stop the easy vehicle hopping raised by many players, perhaps a short timer or something allowing players to stop it, the disabling would only be during melee combat with an enemy player, not a mob or enemy kingdom npc.