News Update: Work And Progress. Week 22

[Fooligun 591]

Just wanted some clarification on a few things but otherwise things look like they have potential.

 

 

The weight of the hides/scales be original or epic weight?

 

Traders changing on Xanadu affect the current traders on freedom and epic? If so will there be a refund?

[Redd 4,281]

So.... Chaos is getting screwed over again... why?

 

Also the dragon drop thing sounds dumb. 

[KanePT 699]

I was always excited for these posts but these days its all freedom/xanaru and decoration stuff xD

Poor us on epic

Well, its making up for the time when it was all about epic... Xp

Also the decorations and stuff also affect epic positively, its not like Wurm's best aspect is the combat, ever.

 

About the trader change, well, that's just cool to benefit people with multiple Premium characters. If i have 5 premium chars (which i do, well more if ex-premium count), then i ALONE (although my brother co-owns the things lol) will be getting more silver from traders than the 3 guy group next door. So basically nothing changes. Established players will be benefited new players won't.

Quoting Rolf: "GG"

[Corwen 164]

I can't see why they would waste time on a fake one.

Could be using test server map as a placeholder

[Tuanta 484]

Another very impressive post full of information.

Love the connection layout. Looks like there's room for future growth in there.

 

By the way, consider "hiring" Kegan and Kruggan as consultants. They both continue to offer excellent comments/suggestions.

[Kegan 3,926]

Could be using test server map as a placeholder

I don't think the map shown is the one we last tested there are things i could not find or the map is just so large it was not the area i thought.  I do think it is the one we will get but i could be wrong

[solmark 544]

Love the update, some great stuff.

 

However it does seem to me that Celebration and Chaos are the poor relations.

 

It seems like you can go from Celebration to Xanadu but not back the other way unless you go back to Deliverance from Xanadu then sail south through Exodus. So it will take 5 minutes to sail to Xanadu and hours to get back. No other server do you have to sail back via 2 other servers to get home except Celebration. As for Chaos, I don't play it anymore but it does seem to be in the worst location.

 

On balance this looks great but I really wish a better server crossing solution could be found like having a choice which server you cross to when crossing.

Edited May 28, 2014 by solmark

[Hussars 511]

Hi Red_Baron,

 

So with the dragons being the center of the questions (again), think you could ask the team to lift the veil a bit more on the new mechanics?

 

Looking at this blurb (my comments inserted in-line for "ease"):

 

As many are preparing for a big hunting party to kill the dragons for their huge drops of crafting materials for the highly sought after and prized dragon armor.

Currently the market as we see it is in balance and we do not want to further push towards the armor becoming to standardized.

-For some, it is already considered standardized to have drake for combat, just like it used to be plate/large shield/weapon on horses.  It was mentioned previously that the armor system was going to get reworked, maybe bump up the priority on that effort?

For that matter making the other armors increasingly redundant.

-Again, maybe bump up the armor system rework efforts priority?

So, the dragons will drop a lot less of the materials needed to craft the armor.

-Fair enough, but how will this deal with those few who are already the source of the armor?  This leads to an item you are admitting is out of balance (both in supply and effect) remaining under the control of a limited number of people, now with less resources (but not harder for those same people to maintain control of the supply of that resource) meaning the price vs. demand will only increase.  Hopefully you can see how this looks to be playing a bit of favoritism in this regard. 

Only one hide/scale will be produced and the weight will depend on success of another butchering check.

-Meh, considering that the same people make all of the drake/scale anyway, all this does is potentially reduce the number of new armor pieces being introduced into circulation (but will limit the number of new high ql pieces).  The rate of removal of the existing pieces needs to be brought into line so that the armors become an item only used for very specific/special occasions.

Aim being that we want to keep the market around the same quantity of dragon armor.

-Parse the item db(s), set a flag for when the count of dragon armor pieces falls below X level, host a dragon hunting event.

Therefore supplying only enough material so that the armors that naturally disappear due to decay and such will be replaced.

-Given the pack rat nature of the player base, if you believe that this will reduce the number of dragon armor parts without modifying the decay mechanics for said armor, it'll be an interesting couple of months.  If it becomes more difficult/expensive to repair/re-imp, people will stop using it when they ride to market, but not get rid of it.  So over time, the dragon armor parts are more likely to increase in number.

In lines with this I would further want to hint that instead, the uniques will start dropping materials that can be used to improve items.

-Hints are great, but unless those new parts bring the old armors closer in-line to dragon armors, still means all-of-jack.  There is a reason so many feel they need dragon armor to be effective/competitive.  Again, look at actually reworking the armor system.  Dragon armor was introduced after the basic system was put in place, it was never part of that system's balance, it has always been on top of it.

This is to better be able to compete with the dragon armor. Making them all more valuable and viable once more.

-see previous comment

That however, and how it will further expand, will be the part you can explore for yourself and we are quite certain many will enjoy!

 

Edited May 28, 2014 by Hussars

[Kegan 3,926]

I am not sure why everyone thinks drake is the best armor plate is better the only reason drake is relevant over plate is the walk speed. You can wear your drake set full time and not be hindered that much but if you are out hunting you are on a horse most of the time anyway so if you dont want to play the price for the drake just use plate.  (Keep in mind this is all PvE i have no idea how they compare in PvP)

 

I also don't understand why everyone is upset over the players that have killed dragons in the past and have hide they worked to get it. Everyone had the same chance as the rest to find the dragons when the new servers opened up but most players were more concerned in what spot they wanted over the dragons. The players that were seeking the dragons found them they worked to do that instead of finding the "best" spot for a deed. 

Edited May 28, 2014 by Kegan

[MattSquare 426]

Some people consider Indy to be Wurm's best map.

Not that we need another server, but since we're getting one, I am happy to see rugged topography on the new map. If you want to play on a flat server, you have five others to choose from.

Desertion is the best map IMO. The rest of the Epic maps suck.

Also Kegan, you are not entirely correct. Drake and plate have the same damage reduction at a given quality. The differences are as follows:

> Plate glances arrows like toothpicks hitting a tank, while drake lets a lot of arrows past. Even if you manage to get a hit past someone's shield (which isn't very likely unless they have low skill, are facing away, and/or are out of stamina), it will most likely glance on plate, but it will probably still do some damage through drake.

> Drake is much lighter than plate and has less of a hardcoded speed penalty. This alone is why most people prefer drake over plate.

> The drake cap does not protect the face, while the great helm and basinet helm do protect the face.

Scale is superior to drake and scale and is the same as adamantine plate in terms of damage reduction, while seryll plate and glimmersteel plate have the highest damage reduction of any armor in the game.

Edited May 28, 2014 by MattSquare

[Ayes 3,715]

Another interesting Weekly Update. Not too much to comment upon from me, will just have to see how this all plays out from Xanadu opening forward. As usual, I see a lot of speculations from others that seem skewed into distortions not based upon facts yet to become clear.

 

Something that struck me to be of interest was the wave goodbye upon GV statement. Will this mean that the ability of others to live upon GV will finally be eliminated. Seems a long time coming will finally have come, if this is the case. Will the whole server of GV be wiped then and only the new tutorial area remain upon it after this final goodbye ability is enacted. Looking forward to seeing how this will be worked out.

 

Also, as per the map with travel arrows from other servers to and from Xanadu, I get the distinct impression that players will be able to sail directly from any server to Xanadu without needing to travel through any of the others. In this way at least it will allow a somewhat faster way of ship transit to and from it, which seems then not too onerous. 

 

Drake and dragon armor I would never spend a cent of game coins or RL funds upon, so for me whichever way that goes will matter little to effect my personal game enjoyment. Still it does have a detrimental effect on the game economy and the shaping of the game to encourage others to play for profit, which I have never viewed as being a good thing. Drop Trader draining into the equation and the game economy is further distorted into favoring those who structure their game play to use coins which cost them a fraction of the amount that others would have to purchase them from the Wurm Shop for; but, this is old news to those who have a clearer insight into how the game operates from a financial standpoint.

 

To play the game for the enjoyment it provides while commenting upon situations that seem to impose negative impositions upon this, is about the best resolution that I can come up with; therefore, this is the path that I follow. To each their own to choose. Yet from this and other Weekly Updates, I find the path leads to much more enjoyment to be had that is yet to unfold from footsteps placed one before the next. Tis a long and winding road, to be sure.

 

Safe Travels

=Ayes=

[watkins141 994]

hmm dragon drama, too bad i didn't make a few bets about that.....

[Slickshot 1,195]

Almost everyone has drake armour already.

There is no one on the old servers that can sell studded leather or chain armour, because there is too much drake in circulation already.

Making some very large, and even more false, assumptions there.

[Archentar 20]

Really i had hopes  that I could go to Xanadu start my new village there and turn around  my ship 180 degrees and be back on my old deed on Cele.. but nooo.... it would be illogical, instead i will be facing loooooong trip through deliverance  exo and half of cele... so i think i will pass on Xanadu and stay on empty cele.

[Hussars 511]

I am not sure why everyone thinks drake is the best armor plate is better the only reason drake is relevant over plate is the walk speed. You can wear your drake set full time and not be hindered that much but if you are out hunting you are on a horse most of the time anyway so if you dont want to play the price for the drake just use plate.  (Keep in mind this is all PvE i have no idea how they compare in PvP)

 

I also don't understand why everyone is upset over the players that have killed dragons in the past and have hide they worked to get it. Everyone had the same chance as the rest to find the dragons when the new servers opened up but most players were more concerned in what spot they wanted over the dragons. The players that were seeking the dragons found them they worked to do that instead of finding the "best" spot for a deed. 

It doesn't have anything to do with people being against the work to make the dragon armor, it's the perception that changes to the crafting/resource dynamics are being made to "protect" the real world monetary value of that armor.

 

People can argue about how it's a personal attack against those able to craft it or took the time to secure the dragons (which is a completely different argument), or introduce a hyperbole argument to undermine the point.

 

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter that the armor may not be better or worse than other armor types.  Only the dragon armors sell for 70+ euro, and often only for that out-of-game currency.

 

Why?

 

And why maintain the system that supports this out-of-game value?

 

So even if the drops do boost the other armor types, you're not making the base armors better, or better balanced, you're introducing a new tier of armors, just like WoW.  Wurm now has "raid gear".

Edited May 28, 2014 by Hussars

[KunAlt 844]

As a side note I don´t understand how a market controlled by probably not more than 3-4 individuals it is balanced.

 

And is not like i´m worried, since i have a set and for me the less like that one exist the more the price can go up, etc.

 

But honestly you should either think on better excuses or just give no words at all.

 

All in all some good news for the people wanting to live on Xanadu, or even for people in the closest server, since the new server probably will open a nice opportunity for sell and deliver some bulk materials, provided you don´´t have to expend 2 days going back to your base jumping trough 3 servers. In the other hand some disappointing news for Celebration people, but at least we are used to be always the low priority and is not like all starter towns got revamped but TD or something like that.

 

I´m still have some hopes to find I´m wrong, Seara post as lowered our chances a tad bit, but since a map have 4 borders maybe there is a sligth chance of connecting the south border of Xanadu to other server.

[Trake 360]

Why don't they just connect the east side of P&R with the west side of Chaos...?

 

1) make the world 'round'

2) it's now pointless to live on the east coast of P&R or to live or protect the west coast of Chaos...

 

This. 

[RockyBalboa 565]

ok my 2 cents...  uniques  im ok...  but traders?   public one will be fine... but personal one are just waste then

[Kegan 3,926]

Every game on the planet has top tier armor types and from what i read in the post Seryll will be the best armor soon anyway. If my speculations are right they were talking about seryll with the comment about material to improve with. I am just sad i sold my plate seryll set back when i had it. I think i sold it to cheap now with all this new information we have now.

 

Anyway i believe the staff has a good grasp of what they are doing and it will not affect me that much as the drake sets i have are personal ones. I do have one extra set but it can sit on an alt if need be.  

 

I would like to know who these few players are that control the drake armor market though.

Edited May 28, 2014 by Kegan

[Xandra 353]

Hi,

 

It was this line which made me think of the above:

In lines with this I would further want to hint that instead, the uniques will start dropping materials that can be used to improve items

(bold by me)

 

I read it as:

 

They'll drop Seryl or any other stuff for the new armors-to-come, additionally to the reduced scale/ hide drop.

And it might not be dragons only, he said "the uniques", not "dragons".

 

A good thing I guess. And bad news for the troll kings ;-p

 

Have fun!

 

 

[Milosanx 716]

There is so much potential and cool things we could praising or condoning....and all people want to do is dwell on dumb dragon armor. Geez, I hate dragons.

 

 

In other issue, that map kinda scares me. It looks like its going to be very hilly. To be fair zoomed out images aren't to great at communicating detail. I would have thought Wurm learned its lesson from Indy. A lesson that shows excessive amounts of really steep land greatly reduces what people consider a settleable.

 

Learned a lesson from Inde, seriously? Do you know how much relatively flat land there still is on inde? places that nobody ever goes. It's still and adventurers paradise. Ill say it again...building on a mountain is the best thing in wurm.

 

I do think Chaos need to connect to the other side of P/R, should be hard to code at all. Atleast P/R can now get to Chaos, that's a pretty substantial population now with access.

[Hussars 511]

[...] 

 

I would like to know who these few players are that control the drake armor market though.

 

Tempted to risk the warning/forum ban to list names and links (as it could be deemed "shaming"), but simply do a search in WTS forum for "drake", then hit the auction forum doing a similar search.  There are two or three names starting a decent number of those threads.  As well at least one longer term selling character that has continued through at least 1 or 2 owner changes.

 

There is also post history from some of those names openly stating how they don't want the dragon armor's value to drop because they have invested real world money into them specifically, and want to sell/resell those armors later.

 

So lets not play coy on it.

 

Again, mechanic changes for gameplay should not worry about the value an item can generate for any player's wallet.  If you are changing the system to benefit the entire playerbase/the overall game, fine.  But do it right and actually make changes that do benefit the larger playerbase.

 

Or get rid of the official sanction for out-of-game transactions, and start banning of those accounts that continue the practice moving forward from that point on.  It won't stop everyone, but risking the loss of everything if caught will curb a lot of it.

 

Otherwise, become the middleman and do secure transaction for a percentage of the fee.

Edited May 29, 2014 by Hussars

[Milosanx 716]

Scale, A different story, but id wear plate over drake any day. tbh, most people wear Drake cause it looks cool. I think Plate looks cooler. People need to stop complaining about the dragon thing, its ridiculous prices are the fualt of the people that play wurm, if it gets change you only have yourselves to blame.

 

Arrow damage is a big part is pvp damage. I know people that wear plate and hold there own against scale and drake and still keep up. 

 

Its o's and 1's people. If you are stupid enough to spend thousand of dollars on a game that has item costs like this that's your choice, but don't complain when the o's and 1's get changed.

 

Remember, look out for no.1 /sarcasm

[kingkiller 79]

Our estimate is at the very least one week after the initial release pending traffic and unforeseen circumstances needed to be taken into account.

Players on the Epic cluster are not going to be able to use portals to get there before the general connect.

 

Sounds like a cash grab to me not a land grab since if players want to deed there spots they have to buy gold and prem from the shop.

[Tikki 65]

great update and thanks , also, i would love some drake , so someone please carry me hunting =) for dragon's ! and also kegan mail me some drake , just to be kind , i have never seen a dragon or had any drake so help a poor person out , hugs n stuff..