When did you feel like you had "arrived?"

[the_kingfish 4]

I've been playing for a while on Serenity and now Xanadu with a pretty good sized break in between. Even after several months, I feel like I'm scrambling to keep my deed paid up and make a little cash for supplies.

 

I'm curious. At what point did your Wurm experience switch from scrambling for survival to thriving? How did you know? How did you get there?

Tell me your story.

 

[Old_Lando 178]

Accomplishing one goal leads to the next.  If you have ever arrived you probably stopped moving.

[conmcb25 378]

After I killed my first spider on Release wearing armor and using weapons I made myself.

 

After that the food scramble seemed to become less and less of a struggle.

[griper 535]

<deleted>

 

Edit: Lol! I completely misunderstood this thread.

 

I just pay the deed upkeep with my hardearned IRL "silver".

Edited March 18, 2015 by griper

[Hailene 362]

After I terraformed a good area (about a 20x20) and fenced it off.  Plenty of room to farm for food and I was safe from anything wanting to eat me.

 

After that it was just grinding, haha.  At least on Freedom (Pristine).

[Kegan 3,926]

I think he is more talking in terms of money not experience and a lot of players don't they just pay out of pocket to play. 

[Nomadikhan 2,196]

When i founded Port Benden on the East coast of Wild. We invited new players and grew to around 12. Tgether we got a trader and it paid for he deed upkeep as well as for project supplies. That town was our gateway to community and it was awesome. From that point on, I knew I had arrived.

[Xalorum 765]

... still waiting.

[Ripsipiirakka 104]

It was in 2009 when i made a small ranch with my friends, Food was plenty and i could make the tools i need. That was in golden valley.

Just few weeks after that i decided it was time to ramp up the game and go premium and into JKH. But after what i had done in GV i knew i would survive whatever wurm would throw in my direction.

[Corsan 199]

After I worked my behind off to skill up a bunch of skills, and built a bunch of boats and sold them. Now I'm less worried about having to do upkeep and more invested in just doing whatever the heck I want. It helps that I don't buy much at all because I'd rather do most things myself...

[pkerguy 69]

I started at the very basic a few years back, doing bulk duties and really whatever job i could amass, and finally made enough money to premium up but i stopped playing for quite a while due to RL commitments. After returning i had some silver left so i established my very first deed, which to this day stands still although much larger and built, then populated it with friends of all crafts and then we started putting our skills into work.

 

EDIT : i still can't figure my old forum account details haha

Edited March 18, 2015 by pkerguy

[joedobo 1,187]

This occurred once I learned the game. To me playing even a fresh noob toon is not survival. I don't think Wurm is survival at all (a good thing, imo). It would be nice if those who like survival could experience that and at the same time those who don't can not partake in such a system.  Toggles and scaling for the following things would help achieve this goal 1) severity of consequences from lack of food or water, 2) nerf on creation chance, 3) items destroyed on failure, 4) speed nerf so you can't run away from mobs. If we had these options survival and non-survival alike could have fun.

 

 

At what point did I acquire this game knowledge? Good question. Although, i think one could spend a few days reading the wiki and making a plan. With this preparation the game would feel much less survival and a lot of waiting.

Edited March 18, 2015 by joedobo

[the_kingfish 4]

Thanks all. I was thinking of both skills and silver but yeah, mostly silver.

 

It just occurred to me that there are many levels of player in this game, new players trying to figure things out, established players with few skills or holdings just trying to make ends meet (I count myself in that), and a whole level of sophisticated players who have the funds and flexibility to think nothing of dropping several silver on a tool, weapon, or boat.

I was sort of wondering when or how you made the transition to the latter group.
 

[Kegan 3,926]

Well for a long time that was mostly done with traders to be honest but that is not as lucrative anymore.  I guess the new thing is the sell feature as far as being new to the game that is the most accessible. Then it is just learning the game and figuring out your own path. There are many ways to earn money in the game it is just being able to spot them that i guess you need to learn and that only comes with time. 

[Valdor 1,426]

Somebody once said: "In Wurm, you are always doing one thing so you can do another thing so that you can finally do the thing you really want to do."

 

Ain't it the truth. I wanted to make a mine on my deed, but the bedrock was too low, so I had to excavate a massive chunk of ground to the rock, make concrete to raise that rock, cover it all and finally tunnel in. When I was digging the ground, I realized that I was doing something (digging), so that I can do something else (raise the bedrock), so that I can finally do what I want (make the mine). And the mine was just the start to making a deed!

 

But the above is also part of Wurm's charm.

 

I feel like the whole "arrival" question is very much like that. No matter where you get in this game, you always are just working to get to the next level. One of the most memorable moments in this game for me was when I finally deeded a piece of dream land. I landed. But I hadn't arrived. I imagined myself that to say "I have arrived", the following conditions would have to be met: my deed would have to be finished, my skills would have to be reasonably high, and I would be farming to make food for sale and making boats to sell as well. That revenue would help pay for my deed. That's when I felt my "arrival" would be complete.

 

But along the way, something interesting has happened. I fell in love with that piece of virtual land I own. Oh, it's nowhere near completion... the deed is still under perpetual construction and may be forever. There is no industrial size farm yet, nor is there a shipyard. There is a spot for a vinneyard, but no vines there yet. There are many plans in my mind and they are precious, but not done yet. Heck, the mine is not even finished yet! And I am definitely not making any silver to pay for anything. Still, every time I log in on my deed, I feel at home. I know my few animals, all the trees, bushes and their growing patterns, I like my coastline. I know the regions around my property and I patrol them frequently. I say "hi" to my neighbor and catch up with the community over the server channel. Heck, I do more activities that have to do with living than building. And I was supposed to be living AFTER I arrived.

 

But the thing here is that I am stilly very much enjoying all this. Yes, in my mind I still see myself sitting on my finished, beautiful deed, farming and making ships for money. I see myself spending my time online in my stone cutting studio, or pruning my vines. And while I am slowly heading in that direction, the urgency has diminished. Somehow, by a stupid stroke of luck, I learned to enjoy the journey. And I no longer feel like I will "arrive" when all those conditions are met. I am living more in the present, trucking along slowly to some goal that will probably change seven times till summer. And I am still paying for silver out of my own pocket. But you know what... it's not so bad. It's just a few bucks a month. I've spent more on less.

 

So, that's my story. But hey, I am Valdor. Go figure.

[RockyBalboa 565]

When i stock my first merchant

[NeoAnderson 242]

When I sold my soul to Libila for her blessings - now I'm rich in favour o/

[Hailene 362]

If we're talking about making money, then when back in...September of '13 when I had hit 55ish WS and started pumping out 60QL weapons for sale.  Took me a month to get there (started grinding WS in August).  This was about 3 months after I had started Wurm (late June).

 

This was back when Pristine was still locked away from the main servers, so 55WS actually meant something.

Edited March 18, 2015 by Hailene

[Propheteer 7,139]

Like, after my first month on Chaos i'd say.

 

Don't have to pay for any tools, enchants, or gear. Always have a community, regardless of the kingdom, that is supportive and helpful with my own endeavors such as me building my own deed.

[joedobo 1,187]

Thanks all. I was thinking of both skills and silver but yeah, mostly silver.

 

 

Keep in mind there are several people in Wurm who think nothing of dropping 50, 100 or more euros a month. For these people its not about game knowledge or skill, its about pay to win.

 

 

In my case I didn't gain the ability to consistently sell things for probably the first 4 or 5 years of my Wurm experience. I'm probably not a good example as I'm not some awesome power gamer that can say hit 90 weaponsmithing in 6 months. I'd say the point where you can sell things is getting more and more difficult. As time goes on more an more people hit the multiple 90's skill level and that becomes the level needed to compete. I'd guess you can always do bricks, mortar, and dirt. 

[As_I_Decay 1,592]

 

I was sort of wondering when or how you made the transition to the latter group.

 

[Kammerz 69]

I feel your pain...

 

I've been playing on and off for about a year but due to my patience/perseverance level I don't ever seem to progress...

 

I think Wurm is about efficiency. When you first start off you have very low efficiency, everything takes a long time in terms of skill, timers, movement speed, distractions, mobs etc

 

Here is my list of hurdles that improve efficiency (Note: I am still a noob... )

 

1) The digging complex, and understanding it..

2) Prospecting complex (lot of complexes in Wurm lol)

3) Finding that first iron ore!

4) Finding clay..... (ugh)

5) At this point you've probably enjoyed Wurm enough to go Premium and probably have placed a small deed.

6) GETTING 21 BODY CONTROL (The first hardcore grind you've experienced)  {'o.o}

7) You're still being killed by wild cats.... {-.-} including every other mob (without the help of guards)

8) Building a FRICKIN Guard Tower... wow.. just wow.... My fingers were sweating from clicking 'continue' and failing 20 times.

9) Getting 23 Body Strength (So you can be a bad azz)

10) You've probably still not got enough skill to make yourself a good weapon.. so thus you still can't kill anything.. 

11) You end up buying silver and buying everything you need just to kill a damn Lion...

 

 

That's pretty much all the hurdles I've half made it over... :/

[Sirdirty 6]

I would say the day I got dropped on Noob Island hit the portal to xanadu and took my first step..

[Torgrim 403]

When I got my first trader, definitly, they were very profitable a few years ago. Now they are not anymore, so that option is pretty much gone. But now a few years later with pretty good skills I earn most of my money from selling gear on a merchant. You do need 2 active accounts to make good money though, crafter + priest, so there is an investment in RL money for premium time. But I think the game developers are worth that I bought 10s once, to start a deed and maybe 5s more at some point in the beginning, but after that I haven't bought anything in the shop. Just premium time. 

 

Starting out today, you have to rule out traders, but on the other hand there are other means of earning money now, like selling to token, foraging and hunting. So, a combination of that + working for people should be enought to maintain a small deed. If you want to earn monet quickly, try to focus on your skill grinding rather than deeding though, if you can do t without getting too bored.

 

Oh, yes and scavenging can be really profitable too. Or at least you can find some tools laying around that are much better than what you could craft yourself in the beginning. 

 

Other than that, try to make some friends, socialize. Trying to make it all on your own will be far more work than woking togehter with a few others or getting help from some nice people, there are plenty of helpful people in this game that could help you get started. For experienced players it's really not much effort to supply a new player with some tools or in other means help them out. 

[the_kingfish 4]

Thanks, all. Great responses. At least I know I'm following the same path that pretty much everyone else travelled.