I used to play this game awhile ago, we're talking about 3 years ago. I've been keeping up with the games progress because I really do have a desire to play sandbox games, but I've had a hard to really getting into one. I think that one of the reasons I quit Wurm was because I could never be unique in terms of character appearance. There was no customization with the exception of choosing whether you were male or female. This is one of the reasons, and for a sandbox gamer it might seem shallow, but not being able to identify with your character in any means except for extreme roleplaying (which I dislike to do) sort of broke the experience for me in the manner I've mentioned. One thing that also stopped me from playing this game was the ceiling complex that others have discussed in this thread. For me, the game sort of went like this: - Log in completely clueless surrounded by a myriad of things to do (most people you don't want to play a game like this clear out now because they want the aforementioned pig mounts and big yellow checkmark) - Figure out the basic mechanics of the game - Build a shack on mud - See someone else's huge village and fancy things and get jealous - Get together with some friends and build one of your own - Kill most of the monster types in the game - Become completely self sufficient It is after this point that the game hits a ceiling, as it feels that there is nothing more to be done. There is no reward for continuing as you are already self sufficient, also there is no point in interacting with other villages because there is nothing that you really need from them. After a week of this, the game starts to feel more like a job because you are playing more and more because your walls need to be improved and your house needs to be repaired. Now you have accomplished everything and there are no in-game goals to accomplish. After this happens, the player will generally leave, except the few who play that remain faithful to the developers and or the project they have built. Then you have a situation where the game is in a sort of "limbo". In other words: S = Subscriber count. P = the players that are the exception to the rule, who remain faithful to the game. N = The amount of new players. L = The amount of leaving players. S = P + (N-L), where L=N and for short periods of time L>N or L<N Which basically means your player base generally stays the same and the games success is in the aforementioned "limbo" state. The major problem with Wurm is that there is no type of serious gameplay after you establish your village. There is no goals; nothing that you can really set yourself apart to do. The novelty of building your house and town wears off relatively fast, and there is nothing left to hold you in place. Adding aesthetics like customization characters and armor models/real animations would help immensely, but ultimately more post village material needs to be added to the game in order for it to be able to hold on to subscribers. This is the same reason that themepark mmos die, they are fun until you hit the maximum level, then the fun dies out. World of Warcraft is so successful because the developers have added tones of endgame content and have really built the game around it. There is a lot of discussion about people leaving because they get frustrated early. These people are not true sandbox fans. The problem at hand, I believe, is not that people get frustrated at the start of the game, but more so after they've established themselves, because there is a lack of things to do. This is just my opinion, take it or leave it, I think I have several valid points here.
