negative feedback from steam

[Sidrat 1]

The most important aspect of any game is the UI.  It dictates the experience every single player will have with the game and if it's poorly optimized, badly implemented, too confusing or doesn't provide the feedback people need to connect with the game world they will get frustrated and/or confused very quickly and will remain so until they leave.

 

Game mechanics are important as well, but that's more...  Well you either enjoy the game mechanics or you don't.  There are improvements to be made but I can see why they were implemented the way it was at the time.

 

There's nothing wrong spending time iterating both of these elements especially after a decade of experience, new java capabilities and with more and more game elements being introduced.  In fact it's a good thing to do as it means you're keeping a cohesive experience and not tacking on new abilities in the same old environment.

 

I play Space Engineers and can't understand why we haven't had a quick key section for different commands.  Of course this means the game play is realized to be, very quickly that of a click fest with a bit of luck for Quality items.  Having a success based game mechanic also doesn't make sense in modern game play either. You either can make something or you can't, that should be what a skill level is for.

 

I guess I could re-write both UI and gameplay and while it would look like Wurms Unlimited or Wurms Online it wouldn't retain the spirit that players have experienced for the last ten years.  It doesn't make it a bad idea though.

[Tux 17]

The most important aspect of any game is the UI.  It dictates the experience every single player will have with the game and if it's poorly optimized, badly implemented, too confusing or doesn't provide the feedback people need to connect with the game world they will get frustrated and/or confused very quickly and will remain so until they leave.

 

Game mechanics are important as well, but that's more...  Well you either enjoy the game mechanics or you don't.  There are improvements to be made but I can see why they were implemented the way it was at the time.

 

There's nothing wrong spending time iterating both of these elements especially after a decade of experience, new java capabilities and with more and more game elements being introduced.  In fact it's a good thing to do as it means you're keeping a cohesive experience and not tacking on new abilities in the same old environment.

 

I play Space Engineers and can't understand why we haven't had a quick key section for different commands.  Of course this means the game play is realized to be, very quickly that of a click fest with a bit of luck for Quality items.  Having a success based game mechanic also doesn't make sense in modern game play either. You either can make something or you can't, that should be what a skill level is for.

 

I guess I could re-write both UI and gameplay and while it would look like Wurms Unlimited or Wurms Online it wouldn't retain the spirit that players have experienced for the last ten years.  It doesn't make it a bad idea though.

 

speaking personally I completely and totally disagree with those statements.

[Luceat 38]

Of course there are stuff to improve! I agree with the people saying that a "user error" is actually a design flaw.

 

Lets take for example a few tiny things when it comes to setting up a server:
1. Entering the correct IP-address
You can set this up completely automatically. At least, one way to make it simpler for the user is to make a drop down list of the available IP-Addresses that the WU server actually can bind to.

 

2. Firewall/NAT settings
A lot of the issues can be solved using something similar to a STUN or a TURN server. Keep the guides on opening firewalls for more advanced users that want to avoid using these servers.

 

3. Setting up server neighbours

When all the servers are local, why not have something that automatically fills in the settings? Most (all?) the settings are already set in another configuration in another folder.

 

4. Some bugs still exist with the server launcher, making changes not apply.

 

5. There should be a script to repair databases by sanitizing obviously bad entries without wiping the rest of the data. Why not run this script every time the server starts even?

 

6. Keybindings should be improved considerably. Something like https://github.com/mntnoe/wurm-bindings should be the norm already. 

TLDR;

When your grandmother can configure and start a WU dedicated server, the UI is complete.

 

I am not saying this to belittle the efforts that have been done. Creating an easy to use dedicated server takes a lot of work, which takes a lot of manpower, which CC doesn't have. But when my grandmother can host servers for herself and her friends, there are a lot more potential buyers.

 

(Yes, a TURN server is probably not feasible for CC, but a STUN server could solve a lot of firewall issues)

[Caduryn 129]

To be honest, Its Steam Reviews...... what do you exept. ^^

[robino 79]

I'm telling you guys.  I've mentioned it on numerous occasions.

 

The default control scheme of holding down LMB to look around and not having 'toggle mouselook' on the in-game keymapper is costing you many new customers.

[AlexLong 128]

I'm telling you guys.  I've mentioned it on numerous occasions.

 

The default control scheme of holding down LMB to look around and not having 'toggle mouselook' on the in-game keymapper is costing you many new customers.

I doubt it's that. When I started it was never something I even considered an issue. My biggest issue was trying to hit the space bar all the time to jump like minecraft.

As for neg reviews.

People are people. Unfortunately not everyone has the required intellect and/or time to play and enjoy wurm.  

'Durp graphics suck. I quit11!1!!!'

What I see as an issue with the steam release is Wurm is known best for its ability to bug up, making it sometimes feel like a beta game. And the majority of main-streamers that buy steam games expect a game that isn't marked Alpha/Beta to work flawlessly 24/7/365.

Hell, they even expect Alpha games to work flawlessly.

Edited November 9, 2015 by AlexLong

[Tux 17]

I'm telling you guys.  I've mentioned it on numerous occasions.

 

The default control scheme of holding down LMB to look around and not having 'toggle mouselook' on the in-game keymapper is costing you many new customers.

[nextactus 15]

The most important aspect of any game is the UI.  It dictates the experience every single player will have with the game and if it's poorly optimized, badly implemented, too confusing or doesn't provide the feedback people need to connect with the game world they will get frustrated and/or confused very quickly and will remain so until they leave.

 

Game mechanics are important as well, but that's more...  Well you either enjoy the game mechanics or you don't.  There are improvements to be made but I can see why they were implemented the way it was at the time.

 

There's nothing wrong spending time iterating both of these elements especially after a decade of experience, new java capabilities and with more and more game elements being introduced.  In fact it's a good thing to do as it means you're keeping a cohesive experience and not tacking on new abilities in the same old environment.

 

I play Space Engineers and can't understand why we haven't had a quick key section for different commands.  Of course this means the game play is realized to be, very quickly that of a click fest with a bit of luck for Quality items.  Having a success based game mechanic also doesn't make sense in modern game play either. You either can make something or you can't, that should be what a skill level is for.

 

I guess I could re-write both UI and gameplay and while it would look like Wurms Unlimited or Wurms Online it wouldn't retain the spirit that players have experienced for the last ten years.  It doesn't make it a bad idea though.

 

 

I'm telling you guys.  I've mentioned it on numerous occasions.

 

The default control scheme of holding down LMB to look around and not having 'toggle mouselook' on the in-game keymapper is costing you many new customers.

 

I'm sorry what? Some of the best games I have ever played didn't even have a UI you had to type in everything you wanted to do or interact with in sentence form. The UI may be dated but of course in the word dated doesn't even mean what it meant 5 years ago. today dated is thrown around on stuff that is last year...let along 10 years ago. Hell I honestly like the UI...it is minimal (games today like to put the flashy ui in front of you that takes us half the screen), It shows you basically all you need. Its it is fully resizeable and movable(again how many games of today don't let you move things? they rely on mods/addons to do that), and i can hide any or all of it at any time. I honestly don't get it....does it rely on a lot of right click menu pops...of course but that is because of the sheer vastness of things you can do when interacting with one item depending on whats active. and if you don want the menu's most of it can be done via the crafting window...I don't know maybe im out of touch...or maybe UI really should not be that extremely important...we don't need flashy we need optimal and well i believe we deffinately don't have flashy and while we may have optimal...its fairly close..

 

 

And as for the LMB view.....that is again a personal preference. you can not state a personal preference as a fact no matter if there are others that like it...i personally, while having it set to spacebar, cant stand it bc it make interacting with anything impossible....hack even in games that have it key mapped (LiF for exapmple) i never use it...so to say that is what is driving "many new customers" away is well again personal opinion....not facts...

 

 

The fact is that Wurm is just not for everyone. There is absolutely nothing that CC can do to change that. If they made the changes you all are proposing who is to say that just as many current players quit as new ones you bring in bc of these changes. Yes i know having options is a good thing like having the mouselook in the keymapper...but that one thing is not going to retain those people. Unless society has really devolved into "oh no i have to hold a button to look around, this game is garbage". and it that is the case then well Wurm and all video games are sure to be doomed sooner or later because well where will it stop?  Every one talks about do this or do that and they will come...my personal opinion...they won't come no matter what CC does because they want a game that isn't Wurm...and i for one hope that Wurm stays what it is, an awesome niche game that is personally the best sandbox i have ever played in...

 

 

Now the bugs in the game on the other hand....totally another story...the game code is over 10 years old...some of these damn things should no longer exist...

 

 

"edit" i had to make a comment on "You either can make something or you can't, that should be what a skill level is for."  Huh skill level ups the chance...but it should never 100%. Even machines can't do 100% success so why in the heck would you expect a human to be able to?

Edited November 11, 2015 by nextactus

[Tux 17]

I'm sorry what? Some of the best games I have ever played didn't even have a UI you had to type in everything you wanted to do or interact with in sentence form. The UI may be dated but of course in the word dated doesn't even mean what it meant 5 years ago. today dated is thrown around on stuff that is last year...let along 10 years ago. Hell I honestly like the UI...it is minimal (games today like to put the flashy ui in front of you that takes us half the screen), It shows you basically all you need. Its it is fully resizeable and movable(again how many games of today don't let you move things? they rely on mods/addons to do that), and i can hide any or all of it at any time. I honestly don't get it....does it rely on a lot of right click menu pops...of course but that is because of the sheer vastness of things you can do when interacting with one item depending on whats active. and if you don want the menu's most of it can be done via the crafting window...I don't know maybe im out of touch...or maybe UI really should not be that extremely important...we don't need flashy we need optimal and well i believe we deffinately don't have flashy and while we may have optimal...its fairly close..

 

 

And as for the LMB view.....that is again a personal preference. you can not state a personal preference as a fact no matter if there are others that like it...i personally, while having it set to spacebar, cant stand it bc it make interacting with anything impossible....hack even in games that have it key mapped (LiF for exapmple) i never use it...so to say that is what is driving "many new customers" away is well again personal opinion....not facts...

 

 

The fact is that Wurm is just not for everyone. There is absolutely nothing that CC can do to change that. If they made the changes you all are proposing who is to say that just as many current players quit as new ones you bring in bc of these changes. Yes i know having options is a good thing like having the mouselook in the keymapper...but that one thing is not going to retain those people. Unless society has really devolved into "oh no i have to hold a button to look around, this game is garbage". and it that is the case then well Wurm and all video games are sure to be doomed sooner or later because well where will it stop?  Every one talks about do this or do that and they will come...my personal opinion...they won't come no matter what CC does because they want a game that isn't Wurm...and i for one hope that Wurm stays what it is, an awesome niche game that is personally the best sandbox i have ever played in...

 

 

Now the bugs in the game on the other hand....totally another story...the game code is over 10 years old...some of these damn things should no longer exist...

 

 

"edit" i had to make a comment on "You either can make something or you can't, that should be what a skill level is for."  Huh skill level ups the chance...but it should never 100%. Even machines can't do 100% success so why in the heck would you expect a human to be able to?

 

yeah I agree UI is not the (or even one of the) most important aspect of game play. A lot of those AAA titles I find terrible but they have good UI

[lilibat 0]

Well I just went and posted a good review, which I probably wouldn't have thought of doing if not for this thread because I never bother.

[Quiver 1]

Why is everyone worried about a few bad reviews on steam? Not everyone posts there comments there anyway. As pointed out in an earlier message they have sold 14k games so far and I don't see feed back from 14k users. Most of the negative feed back I have read are from those people that assumed since Wurm Unlimited is a stand alone version of Wurm Online that they could run the game from their hard drive or offline like so many steam games can.  I don't remember ever reading anywhere that you could do this. 

 

I personally love the game but I haven't posted my feedback on steam.  Its just not my thing.  And usually the only posts I make are bug reports to help the devs.  If you want to see some reviews go read those comments left on youtube for those doing tutorials on Wurm Unlimited for the new players. Like Gamester4life or Moot Red videos.  Tons of positive feedback there.  Loads of people saying because of the tutorials they bought the game and they love it. 

I do agree with those not being able to set up their servers as being user errors.  Never setting up a server before I wasn't really sure what the heck I was doing.  So I even made a stupid mistake and could not get my server running. I decided to start a creative dedicated server so my friend and I could play on it together.  When I tried setting the server up I not only filled in the information for the local server but I also filled in the information for the server neighbors.  I entered exactly the same information in the server neighbors tab as the local server tab.  Obviously this was not correct. As soon as I removed the neighboring server information it worked perfectly. I think there could be some clarity when it comes to setting the servers up.  Not everyone is technical or understands technical jargon.  So you need to find someone to type up or explain step by step how to set it up and the different options for setting it up, like single server, dedicated server, multiple servers, linking up servers to play with friends, in a way so that even a child could understand.  When you teach a child something you speak to them in a language or at a level they understand.  Well a lot of the new players are in a sense like a child to the game.  Its all new to them.  So you need to describe the setup in terms they will understand not using terms a developer or someone with technical background would understand.   Some people just need to be hand held. 
 

Well anyway that is my two cents and I will leave you to it.  Wurm is missing me.

 

 

[Eldurian 86]

I think most of the reviews at the top fall into the "not this game's target audience" category.

 

Yes, this game is hard too learn and the tutorial only shows so much, but this probably has one of the best wiki's of any MMO in it's class. It's easier to learn than Mortal or Darkfall and probably about on par with EVE. The graphics are outdated but the depth is unsurpassed by any other MMO. Even EVE and Mortal Online aren't as detailed as Wurm in most regards.

 

Sure this game would be way the heck better with modern graphics, voxels, or a complete combat overhaul and I've even urged them to consider kickstarting a Wurm 2, but so far this game is really the only title to go to if you are looking for certain things such as a crafting system that actually takes time to produce great items AFTER the materials are gathered. I'm tired of games where being a "blacksmith" is 99% mining and 1% smithing.

Edited November 15, 2015 by Eldurian

[Tux 17]

I ended up having to write a bad review for this game. I think its the only bad review I have written for any game in my Steam Collection. I just wrote it now. I do wish the community was a bit better around my explicit concerns I think it would have made the entire experience better for everyone involved but I cant in good faith write a good review at this time

[Uberknot 327]

I ended up having to write a bad review for this game. I think its the only bad review I have written for any game in my Steam Collection. I just wrote it now. I do wish the community was a bit better around my explicit concerns I think it would have made the entire experience better for everyone involved but I cant in good faith write a good review at this time

 

Daily troll bump.

[Trake 360]

I ended up having to write a bad review for this game. I think its the only bad review I have written for any game in my Steam Collection. I just wrote it now. I do wish the community was a bit better around my explicit concerns I think it would have made the entire experience better for everyone involved but I cant in good faith write a good review at this time

 

You're not even good at it, Tux. Obvious makes it not funny.

[Tux 17]

You're not even good at it, Tux. Obvious makes it not funny.

 

makes it not funn...what? sorry I only understood your first comment

 

I have never said anything on these forums that I can think of that was meant to be anything other than dead serious.

Edited November 16, 2015 by Tux

[OzHawkeye 0]

Ok, so I'm one of those low-play time negative reviewers people are talking about. 63 minutes play time.

 

However, add to that anouther 3 or 4 hours of watching Youtube tutorials and the one incandescent thought I had throughout my time in the game and watching the tutorials was this:

 

The UI - Are. You. Kidding. Me!?

 

Look, I love the cocnept of the game. I'd love to get into the game. However, this is EASILY the worst UI I've ever seen in an MMO and possibly the worst UI I've seen in any game, anywhere.No amount of key re-binding could save it for me and that was a large part of the 63 minutes I spent in the game. Trying to work a key-binding that could overcome this trully awful UI.

 

The number of actions I had to perform to begin cutting down a tree, the menus to be opened, inscrutable inventory lists to be searched and then repeated multi-step menu selections before it finally fell left me astonished. It got no better after the tree was down and I went to collect the wood.

 

I could refund the game. At 63 minutes played time I could do it. I'm not going to though, becuase for all the negativity of this post, I can see there has been a mountain of work put into the game, and the concept is, as I've mentioned, one that I could really get into.

 

I'll keep an eye on the game, and hope the UI improves, but after 30 years+ of gaming my (negative) Steam review was - for me - spot on and thoroughly deserved.

 

I hope the Devs take this as the constructive feedback it is intended as. If the UI makes it out of the 1970's, I'll be the first to cheer, and would only too happily amend my review accordingly.

[Meldichoir 242]

this is possibly the worst UI I've seen in any game, anywhere...after 30 years+ of gaming...

[Tux 17]

Ok, so I'm one of those low-play time negative reviewers people are talking about. 63 minutes play time.

 

However, add to that anouther 3 or 4 hours of watching Youtube tutorials and the one incandescent thought I had throughout my time in the game and watching the tutorials was this:

 

The UI - Are. You. Kidding. Me!?

 

Look, I love the cocnept of the game. I'd love to get into the game. However, this is EASILY the worst UI I've ever seen in an MMO and possibly the worst UI I've seen in any game, anywhere.No amount of key re-binding could save it for me and that was a large part of the 63 minutes I spent in the game. Trying to work a key-binding that could overcome this trully awful UI.

 

The number of actions I had to perform to begin cutting down a tree, the menus to be opened, inscrutable inventory lists to be searched and then repeated multi-step menu selections before it finally fell left me astonished. It got no better after the tree was down and I went to collect the wood.

 

I could refund the game. At 63 minutes played time I could do it. I'm not going to though, becuase for all the negativity of this post, I can see there has been a mountain of work put into the game, and the concept is, as I've mentioned, one that I could really get into.

 

I'll keep an eye on the game, and hope the UI improves, but after 30 years+ of gaming my (negative) Steam review was - for me - spot on and thoroughly deserved.

 

I hope the Devs take this as the constructive feedback it is intended as. If the UI makes it out of the 1970's, I'll be the first to cheer, and would only too happily amend my review accordingly.

[Reylaark 1,100]

Honestly, I'd be suspicious of a game with no bad reviews.  I'm sure I'm not the only one to look for reviews by other sites like pcmag, or something similar, when considering a game.  Just because 90% of the people on steam like something, it doesn't mean I'm going to like it.  What if 90% of steam's population is 15 years old and doesn't realize games actually existed before screens were in color.  Oh, and yes, there was a time when the color range on our screens was black, and green.  Not many shades of green, one shade of green.  I would guess that while their opinion is very pertinent to players similar to them, my taste might be very different from theirs.

 

It seems to me that many games with graphics that would appease those who complain about Wurm don't actually have anywhere near the depth, complexity and richness of Wurm.  Still great games, and we all love eye candy at some point, but if people can't tell the difference between different genres that emphasize eye candy over brain candy... well, their reviews are bound to be rather shallow and limited.

 

The UI has a lot of information to display.  Rather than knock it, show me an alternative that actually displays the same amount of information.  Eve Online might come to mind for me, and I'm sure there are plenty for whom that UI appears too complex and too busy.

The Wurm UI is relatively malleable.  I think screensize and resolution make a big difference in how comfortable a layout you can create, at least that's been my experience.  I guarantee I've organized the information I need to see quite differently from friends who play.  That is a huge plus to the UI imho.  In a game like Wurm, efficiency is far more important to me than pretty.

 

Graphics.  Does every game need to be Witcher 3?  Did anyone seriously come to WO or WU because they read somewhere that the eye candy was amazing?  If I buy a 1969 Land Rover that could get me across the Himalayas and then complain it doesn't drive like a Porsche 911, well, duh.  No, really, duh.

 

Combat.  Ok, ain't no Mount and Blade.  Bout as old school as I'd care to get.  How different does Wurm look today than it did 5, 10 years ago?  One of the beauties of this game is the commitment to continued development.  I wouldn't be surprised at all if combat sees a number of overhauls in the future.  No, people shouldn't buy the game today if combat is the only thing they care about.  In fact, anyone with such a specialized interest should know enough to seek a game specializing in their interest.  Rover vs. Porsche.

 

I'll take one of each please, and will enjoy them for what they are each designed to do.

[PWreset 66]

Tbh, too many people today want the easy way of gaming, they don't want to spent time anymore. Start a game, play it and shoudl work. and they expect next gen graphics.

 

Worst are these people ranting about graphics. I mean seriously that is at least what you can see in the videos and screens before buying.

 

0,5, 0,6, 1.1 hours on record? These kind of "feeback" is of people not havign palyed the game. Kinda invalid unless these people bring up ranst about not abel to run a game due to soem technical issues.

 

the game has an ingame help and we even have a crafting window unless back in the days. Someone buying a game not even putting 3 hours into it tryig to understand it, that is not a real problem. You will always find people ranting, some reasonable, some just not. And who doesn't have the patience for trying to figure out for 2 hours how the game works, won't have any patience with what wurm requires anyways. So its better for thes people to get their refund and leave anyways.

 

P.S. Imagine they had to play the wurm where heatign up ore took 30 minutes xD shitstorm guarantee for wurm being too much No life gaming.

 

Wurm is simply not casual enough for the mass to be "loved", I quitted WO because of just not being able to have the time for the no-lifing it required. I am glad for WU appearing it doesn't puts that steady time preasure on you to achieve and maintain your stuff.

 

Wurm UI is something new generation games are unfamiliar with, but I like it at all, because you can rather much customize it unlike most other games where oyu have the given UI and "deal with it"

So if Rolf wants to cater the current gamer generation, he needs to put up an alternated simplified UI

 

 

nah, if you cant get the server running youre either dumb, or having isp/router/firewall probs, which will happen in any game where you set up your own servers

 

 

dont get me wrong though, i completely understand the negative reviews lol

 

 

then  guess me and a friend are dump, because we didn't managed to play together on a local run game. But we managed to do so in every other game, like LiF, PE, Terraria before it had the friendinvite thingy and Starbound. All had a bit starting troubles and adjusting Firewalls and stuff, but wurm just didn't worked after trying fro 4 hours and tons of settings. Even after asking in the Wurm irc.

Edited November 20, 2015 by PWreset