negative feedback from steam

[Sila 339]

most positive was made anyway from ppl who do play WO already hehe

[nextactus 15]

261 positive reviews, 58 negative. That's not "nothing to worry about", seriously. Do the math.

 

Edit: I'm glad to see that the dev team is taking this issue far more seriously than the players are though.

58 negatives is a drop in the bucket. And as stated a lot of those are user error (yes not being able to start up a private server is user error not CC's fault) There is nothing wrong with setting the server up on cc's end it has all been on the users end. As for tutorials and all that, yea i do think that the tutorial in game should have been thrown into unlimited, but again Wurm has never and will never be a hand hold experience even in the beginning. And im sorry but no one can determine in an hour if they like a game or not. They may think they can but in reality its just them going...oo its not 2015 graphics...i don't like it. I bet none of those people even know its a almost 10yr old game, didn't bother to look into the game at all before they bought it and just blindly went hey something new and bought it.

 

WU aside i and most smart people NEVER buy a game without at least looking at extenal links and forums of the games to get a feel for what it is gonna be like. WIthout the buzzwords and crap that every single game on steam uses in its description. There are tons of videos of wurm online on you tube....3 seconds into any of them you see what the UI and graphics look like. Heck the trailer was made with in game captures so watching that will tell you lol...

 

So that being said every one of those "bad" reviews were made by people that would have known everything they griped about before even buying the game, or do not know how to set up a private server period no matter what game...oh and setting a private single player lan server only takes three mouse clicks if there is nothing wrong with the USERS end of things...

 

So "something to worry about" no not really. If they were informed people then those reviews would have never existed...but you know how it goes always blame the developers never the user right??? 

[Aeris 3,751]

Ok for those who refuse do the math here:

58 out of 319 (261 + 58) is roughly 18% of the current reviews. That's not a drop in the bucket, it's almost a fifth of all the people who've voiced their opinion so far.

The Steam players don't see the "number of sales" on a game when buying it, they see the reception.

Edited November 6, 2015 by Aeris

[Uberknot 327]

Ok for those who refuse do the math here:

58 out of 319 (261 + 58) is roughly 18% of the current reviews. That's not a drop in the bucket, it's almost a fifth of all the people who've voiced their opinion so far.

The Steam players don't see the "number of sales" on a game when buying it, they see the reception.

 

and negative people are more likely to post as well as disgruntled WO player who just bought and refunded the game to make a review the same type we saw spamming the WU steam forums early on because they dont want people to leave WO. 14k sales and still going is not bad at all when you think about it.  and getting an 80% plus clip on positive is great.  Looking at a lot of reviews you could say 50% couldnt figure out their own computer and blamed it on the game...lol.

Edited November 6, 2015 by Uberknot

[Aeris 3,751]

and negative people are more likely to post as well as disgruntled WO player who just bought and refunded the game to make a review.  14k sales and still going is not bad at all when you think about it.  and getting an 80% plus clip on positive is great.  Looking at a lot of rviews you could say 50% couldnt figure out their own computer.

If we're playing the "wuah wuah" game and pointing fingers at who posts their review we might as well point out that the positive reviews so far are most likely from WO Fans who would've given the game thumbs up even if they crashed every fifth second.

Edited November 6, 2015 by Aeris

[KunAlt 844]

Ok for those who refuse do the math here:

58 out of 319 (261 + 58) is roughly 18% of the current reviews. That's not a drop in the bucket, it's almost a fifth of all the people who've voiced their opinion so far.

The Steam players don't see the "number of sales" on a game when buying it, they see the reception.

 

Compared to other games on steam, 82% users score is not a bad figure.

 

Out of curiosity I did read most of the negative reviews, and while there is a handful of more than valid points, like bad ui, outdated graphics (compared with some of the modern games from big developers), bugs that should not exist in a game that is not a beta or a earlier release, etc, There is also a lot of nonsensical complains mostly because people don't really understand what sandbox means, something is not so rare seeing how the sandbox genre was bastardized by big companies and wen you see some heavy themepark games claiming being an open world or sandbox game.

[Drathania 49]

The scores not too bad, but there is a lot of things I agree on in neg reviews (UI/Combat mostly, and for what the game is, the graphics aren't too shabby on full, just needs some puz'ah in rendering - but hey, isn't there a new rendering engine on the horizon?). No matter how awesome the game is, someone will complain anyway's, especially in today's 'mollycoddled' gaming generation.

And yep, KunAlt, what big companies have done to the sandbox genre is appalling, often mis-interpreted. A lot of sandbox mmo's are themepark/open world and have little (if any at all) sandbox aspect at all to them, yet still flaunt the words "sandbox" openly.

 

Start really panicking when the reviews are Mixed or worse, that usually portrays a game you should avoid at all costs. "Very Positive" is good, very good for such an old game.

[Meldichoir 242]

If Wurm appealed to everyone, then I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like it. These 'user errors' result from the game's natural filters. Nobody needs neighbors like that.

[Aeris 3,751]

If Wurm appealed to everyone, then I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like it. These 'user errors' result from the game's natural filters. Nobody needs neighbors like that.

You don't need to have anyone as neighbour, it's the whole point of WU. Doesn't mean they shouldn't get to enjoy the game they bought, that's just selfish and immature.

[Meldichoir 242]

You don't need to have anyone as neighbour, it's the whole point of WU. Doesn't mean they shouldn't get to enjoy the game they bought, that's just selfish and immature.

 

I extend the term 'neighbor' to my fellow posters here on these forums (where we are discussing WU currently).

So if these people aren't going to be my neighbor, then why should I even concern myself with them? That's pretty much the message I'm reiterating here. That's as selfish as me minding my own business. There's nobody as immature as someone too impatient to research his purchase or to research solutions to PC issues (that he is responsible for). A lot of these people can't be helped, and they need to be left help themselves.

[nextactus 15]

I extend the term 'neighbor' to my fellow posters here on these forums (where we are discussing WU currently).

So if these people aren't going to be my neighbor, then why should I even concern myself with them? That's pretty much the message I'm reiterating here. That's as selfish as me minding my own business. There's nobody as immature as someone too impatient to research his purchase or to research solutions to PC issues (that he is responsible for). A lot of these people can't be helped, and they need to be left help themselves.

 

While i wouldn't use the word immature per'say I do whole heartedly agree with the bolded and underlined part of this quote. I just don't see how people this day in age, with all the available information at their fingertips(both figuratively and literally), do not make informed purchases or do their own troubleshooting before even pointing fingers at some one else(most likely the devs). It just boggles my mind. People back in the days of past made more informative decisions than we do today with a fraction of the available information. It seem the more info we have access to the less we actually use said information...

[Carnaxus 11]

I'd like to point out one very simple thing that several of those negative reviewers did not do:

 

PLAY.  WURM.  ONLINE.  FIRST.

 

Playing WO gives you the chance to try it all out FOR FREE and with hundreds of people who are probably more than happy to explain the very click-happy UI (which isn't what anyone expects from a modern MMO).  When I first signed up for WO, back in like 2009, I quit after a month because it was too grindy and tedious to do every action with a right-click menu of some kind.  The first time I came back I decided to make some keybinds.  I think every single key on my keyboard, with the notable exception of WASD, has at least two actions in WO and WU, and several have three or more.  I only see a menu now when I'm crafting something specific.

 

WO and WU are not for the "casual gamer."  They are for at least "semi-hardcore" if not "hardcore" outright.  I like WO and love WU, and that will never change.

[BadLuckBurt 51]

Steam reviews really are the last place I look if I want to decide wether to buy something or not. There are some good ones but most of them just devolve into the 10/10 would review again category.

[leverloos 8]

261 positive reviews, 58 negative. That's not "nothing to worry about", seriously. Do the math.

 

Edit: I'm glad to see that the dev team is taking this issue far more seriously than the players are though.

 

Like with every game. people with bad experiences etc are more spoken out. have you been on any forum recently for any steam game? It's all filled with cancer even with good games. People that enjoy the game are playing it, instead of wasting their time on a forum. The community of WO is diffrent from most other games. And this forum is pretty decent. But take a look on the WoW forum, or your avarage moba game forum. Take a random game out of your steam library that you enjoy and go to the steam community forum of that game. There is also very few games on steam with a user rating of 80% positive or higher.

 

Also none of these reviews give any constructive citisism and are written in under 1 minute. While most positive reviews look like they took more then 15 minutes to write up. If not longer.

[Ronbalder 24]

You'll always get negative reviews, and if you take a look at them - most of them have a very little playtime in general which shows they gave no effort whatsoever into the game or even took a few hours to learn. Wurm got a steep learning curve and I remember when I first joined Wurm Online, I played for literally 30 minutes then left. A few years later, I tried it out and I spent a few more hours and I got hooked. Besides, Wurm isn't for everyone.

[BadLuckBurt 51]

I played for literally 30 minutes then left. A few years later, I tried it out and I spent a few more hours and I got hooked. Besides, Wurm isn't for everyone.

 

That reminds me so much of Morrowind, both games just toss you out there.

[Zekezor 3,188]

20% negative reviews isn't a good thing...

But even then you guys arent even factoring in the tremendous ammount of positive reviews comming from already excisting WO customers.

Look at the ammount of positive reviews of NEW players comparable to the negative ones.

[Redd 4,281]

20% negative reviews isn't a good thing...

But even then you guys arent even factoring in the tremendous ammount of positive reviews comming from already excisting WO customers.

Look at the ammount of positive reviews of NEW players comparable to the negative ones.

This ^ I'd be interested to know...

[atazs 965]

You don't need to have anyone as neighbour, it's the whole point of WU. Doesn't mean they shouldn't get to enjoy the game they bought, that's just selfish and immature.

Nobody is stopping them from enjoying it. Then again this game requires some brain cells and an attentionspan of an adult which most of those reviewers don't have. That idiot who was complaining that it took him minutes to kill a horse is a prime example. People came to this game expecting minecraft or one of those sandbox MMOs out there like Ark Survival or whatever, and instant gratification. They didn't get it and didn't bother playing further than ten minutes. This can't be helped. I agree that the UI could use some work but its nowhere near as bad as those people make it out to be. 

Edited November 6, 2015 by atazs

[DioSan 105]

Almost all negative reviews (and many positives) complains about the interface, UI, GUI, UX and interactions as the weakest point of the game.

 

like it or not, they are all correct.

 

I love the game, but i agree that the interface is dated, clunky, unintuitive and UGLY, yes, appearance is important also.

right click fest, lists, unnecessary options, disorganization, confusion, extremely text-based, poor visual elements.....

"But you can bind almost everything..." even this is dated, not everyone likes to play as if playing a musical instrument by pressing keys

 

A ravamped modern interface, looking more like a game instead of a business management software, with pretty and usefull visual elements instead of pure text and customization option (XML based) would do wonders.  A good game mechanics is important, but also the interface design that controls the mechanics

Many people have become used to play Wurm the way it is for many years and can not visualize that there are serious flaws with the interface. They find everything perfect and can not accept or visualize something that is different. "because the interface is perfect for this type of game, for Wurm" NOPE, this is just what is available and it is bad.

 

I agree with 100% of the reviews that complain about the interface and interactions, but I'm still enjoying the game. For some people this is not an enjoyable experience and it is totally understandable.

 

http://www.dtelepathy.com/blog/design/the-importance-of-ux-design-expanding-audience-of-video-games

 

Unlike computer programs and apps, a video game that is not usable is quickly rejected by gamers. Since video games are played for fun and entertainment, gamers have no incentive to adjust or accommodate poor user experience design. A game with poor usability is often criticized for being too difficult or too easy to play. The design should be easy enough for even new gamers to get used to manipulating the characters and progressing to new levels without a steep learning curve; however, the design should be difficult enough to challenge the player’s skill and abilities.

 

 

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/AnthonyStonehouse/20140227/211823/User_interface_design_in_video_games.php

 

Game UI has a key advantage (or disadvantage from some perspectives) in that players are often engaged with the narrative and/or game mechanic enough for them to learn new interaction patterns, or forgive bad ones. This is likely the reason so many games have bad UI, as testing needs to encompass the core game mechanic while UI is seen as secondary.

 

[Uberknot 327]

Wurm is not for your hand it to me type player and never will be the UI won't make a bit of difference what so ever.

 

I actually like having a UI I can resize move around where I want...so many games it's all fixed and can't move a damn thing.

[Ecrir 887]

DioSan is spot on. The interface of Wurm has always been one of the weak points. The crafting window certainly helped improve it but more steps can be made.

 

Here's an example of how some of my keybinds have been set up for years:

When I press ctrl+D it sets the following keybinds:

G: Dig

6: Flatten

7: pack

8: Cultivate

9: Level

 

When I press ctrl+M:

G: Mine

6: Mine

7: Mine Up

8: Mine Down

9: Prospect

0: Tunnel

 

When I press ctrl+C:

G: Improve

F: Repair

 

 

You can't set such keybinds in game, the keybinds menu doesn't support a setup like this as each key can only be bound to one action at a time. Instead you've got to dig around in the wiki to find out how to get the above to work: http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Quickswitch_hotkeys

 

 

Now imagine the following: There are a set of default actions for each tool, in this case lets go with 5 actions (some tools have more, but this is just an example), Action 1 through Action 5. Depending on which tool you have active these actions are different, for example with mining:

Action 1: Mine forward / Mine surface

Action 2: Mine down

Action 3: Mine up

Action 4: Prospect

Action 5: Tunnel

 

Similarly for digging:

Action 1: Dig

Action 2: Pack

Action 3: Dredge

Action 4: Level

Action 5: Flatten

 

Instead of binding each of those 10 activities to different keys you can now bind Action 1 through Action 5 to keys (and perhaps the player could customize for each tool what is bound to which of the above Actions). Whenever you switch to a tool it then updates for you which actions are bound to which key.

For example:

Action 1: g

Action 2: f

etc

 

Preferably there'd even be a toggable hud item which shows which activities are bound to which keys. So when you activate a shovel it shows that Dig is bound to g, while if you activate a pickaxe it shows that Mine is bound to g. This way you don't have to learn a ton of different keybinds, instead you only have to learn a few and the game automatically sets things up for you whenever you switch to another tool.

 

 

In essence this is similar to how many games have a key, usually F, which is used to execute the one single function a item which you are looking at can execute. Or how in MOBA games your skills are usually bound to qwerty no matter which skills you have. Then as a comparison look at warhammer 40k retribution's last stand game mode, every single ability your character can have is bound to a different key even though you will never have more than 5 or so abilities. It's incredibly annoying to play that mode as you need to use different keys for every character/build.

Edited November 6, 2015 by Ecrir

[Uberknot 327]

In a game with so many tools and so many different type actions....the user is going to have to select and input what they want.

 

They have a simplified window that shows all the actions you can do when you click on something it actually works if you use it....

 

They could make key binding easier that would help some, but with so many tools and actions it would still lead to...... how do i do this...... what can i use..... what do i do?

 

The simple fact is Wurm is not going to be easy to learn with so many skills and things you can do.  No complicated game is...you have to play it to learn it and that takes time.

Edited November 6, 2015 by Uberknot

[Ecrir 887]

true, I use that window with actions all the time, but for me it's not showing which keys are bound to the actions (the "toggle button hotkey text" button seems to do nothing).

 

The amount of tools in Wurm with many different action types actually isn't much of an issue at all, as I can't remember any tool which tops 10 actions specific to that tool (few even top 5 as far as I know). So with 10 Action binds (so double what I put in my above example) what I described above could work fine. I've got it working just fine at the moment for my most important tools already; shovel, pickaxe, hatchet and anything used to improve items (hammer, pelt, lump, log, etc, etc). So if I can do it with a couple of text files then it can certainly be automated in a configurable way, because the only thing missing from my setup is that I still need to press ctrl+D after activating my shovel, everything else already works. What's missing is being able to configure this entire thing in the interface instead of having to use text files, and automatically loading the right keybinds depending on the activated item.

 

Only needing to use 5-10 tools to do almost everything in game might not sound like it will make much of a difference, but it's how most games work these days and what most players are thus getting used to. It would certainly help Wurm if it offered something similar, so that right mouse menu is needed far less often.

[Tux 17]

I actually noticed the large amounts of negative reviews as well.

 

Then I noticed all of them have about an hour or less of gameplay. Don't take them too seriously.

 

to be completely fair when was the last time you played a game you really didn't like for more than an hour?

 

I am not trying to defend it but this idea that you have to play something you don't like for more than an hour to be fair is a bit silly