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Etherdrifter

Wurm, Timers and Free to Play

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As many of you have noticed, wurm is currently at an all time low for player numbers, the hoped for steam influx never occuring.  Whether this number will continue to decline or stabilise is anyone's guess, hopefully there will be a summer influx as usual each year.

 

To better improve the odds a change in tactics might be in order for wurm.  Currently wurm is a subscription based game with a free play option, a very limited free play option which cannot compete with other games in the genre as it stands.  What I am proposing is a fundamental change in the way free to play works that allows wurm to maintain its premium options:

 

1.  All players start with 24 hours of premium time (this time only goes down while the player is online and does not qualify the player for event items)

2.  Players with premium time recieve a 25% reduction in timers with a corresponding 33% increase in skillgain (thus allowing premium players faster growth than the current norm).

3.  Free players recieve a 50% increase in timer duration with a corresponding 50% decrease in skillgain (thus making them gain skill at a slower rate compared to the current norm).

3a.  A note more than a change, this would mean that a free to play priest would have a MUCH slower mana regen rate than existing priests (which are already horrifically slow).

4.  All players recieve an increased sleep bonus buffer (10 hours total).  2.5 hours of this is stored in a "free" buffer, the other 7.5 is stored in a "premium" buffer.  The premium buffer fills after the free buffer.

5.  Free players may only ever use sleep bonus in the "free" buffer and their sleep bonus fills at half speed.

6.  Remove the skill level cap entirely

7.  NO other changes to premium/free play barrier (so no free alt sermons, no free player dragon blood farms etc)

 

The aim with these changes is to open up the free play experience of wurm to encourage new players to join and stick around, but provide additional incentives to "prem up" to ensure that the premium population does not drop as a result of this.  The theory being that wurm skillgain is already slow at later levels, insanely so.  Players who reach this noticably slow phase are likely to be much more invested in the game and much more likely to invest in premium, especially after their initial 24 hours taster.

 

Thoughts?

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1.  All players start with 24 hours of premium time (this time only goes down while the player is online and does not qualify the player for event items)

-1  There are very very few skills you could get to 20 on your first day, unless you're a veteran wurm player just looking for a day of free playtime on a duplicate account.  Pay for your premium like everyone else.

2.  Players with premium time recieve a 25% reduction in timers with a corresponding 33% increase in skillgain (thus allowing premium players faster growth than the current norm).

-1  Faster timers mean higher QL tools and enchants don't matter, as well as people suddenly being able to tolerate making their own mats.  This would be bad for the economy.

3.  Free players recieve a 50% increase in timer duration with a corresponding 50% decrease in skillgain (thus making them gain skill at a slower rate compared to the current norm).

-1 This would not change anything.  Anyone that knows how Wind of Ages works knows that performing the same actions for a set amount of time, with or without an increased speed timer will yield roughly the same skill gain.  If your intention is to make non-premium accounts skill slower, I disagree, as it would ward off what few new players would stick around.

 

3a.  A note more than a change, this would mean that a free to play priest would have a MUCH slower mana regen rate than existing priests (which are already horrifically slow).

There is no such thing as a free to play priest.  Oh sure, you're a priest, but you can't cast spells when you are not premium.

4.  All players recieve an increased sleep bonus buffer (10 hours total).  2.5 hours of this is stored in a "free" buffer, the other 7.5 is stored in a "premium" buffer.  The premium buffer fills after the free buffer.

These "buffers" are unnecessary.  New players take time to understand how to fully utilize their sleep bonus anyway.

5.  Free players may only ever use sleep bonus in the "free" buffer and their sleep bonus fills at half speed.

-1  #Retarded

6.  Remove the skill level cap entirely

-1 Never gonna happen.

7.  NO other changes to premium/free play barrier (so no free alt sermons, no free player dragon blood farms etc)

Given.

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No.
Number 1.  That's easy as hell to abuse.
Number 3.  That is VERY punative to free players and if anything will act as a disincentive to even play.
Number 4.   Kinda pointless to divide SB into free and prem amounts.
Number 5.  Same as number 4 plus it furthers penalizes f2p
Number 6.   No, removes any reason to prem, essentially makes Wurm completely free to play.  Gives reason for already high skilled players to stop buying prem.

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8 minutes ago, Wargasm said:

1.  All players start with 24 hours of premium time (this time only goes down while the player is online and does not qualify the player for event items)

-1  There are very very few skills you could get to 20 on your first day, unless you're a veteran wurm player just looking for a day of free playtime on a duplicate account.  Pay for your premium like everyone else.

 

 

I think you've misread that?

 

8 minutes ago, Wargasm said:

2.  Players with premium time recieve a 25% reduction in timers with a corresponding 33% increase in skillgain (thus allowing premium players faster growth than the current norm).

-1  Faster timers mean higher QL tools and enchants don't matter, as well as people suddenly being able to tolerate making their own mats.  This would be bad for the economy.

 

What economy?  Currently the wurm economy is so far into the toilet that it's already reached the sewage purification plant.  Actually this is more likely to benefit the `economy' since the "use free alts to mass chip/produce" would be less effective.

 

8 minutes ago, Wargasm said:

3.  Free players recieve a 50% increase in timer duration with a corresponding 50% decrease in skillgain (thus making them gain skill at a slower rate compared to the current norm).

-1 This would not change anything.  Anyone that knows how Wind of Ages works knows that performing the same actions for a set amount of time, with or without an increased speed timer will yield roughly the same skill gain.  If your intention is to make non-premium accounts skill slower, I disagree, as it would ward off what few new players would stick around.

I'll just pretend that meditation and faith don't exist shall I?  Longer times without a skillgain reduction would actually be beneficial since it would give larger ticks for less resources.  It's ok that you missed that though,most people do ;)

 

It would reduce player retention more than a "pay x amount to advance" does?  I would argue otherwise and so would the gaming market.

 

8 minutes ago, Wargasm said:

4.  All players recieve an increased sleep bonus buffer (10 hours total).  2.5 hours of this is stored in a "free" buffer, the other 7.5 is stored in a "premium" buffer.  The premium buffer fills after the free buffer.

These "buffers" are unnecessary.  New players take time to understand how to fully utilize their sleep bonus anyway.

 

On the contrary, if changes were made sleep bonus would become much more useful than it is now and this is aimed at providing an incentive for players to prem up.

 

 

 

 

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25 minutes ago, Etherdrifter said:

 

I think you've misread that?

 

I think his point is, what use is 24 hours premium to a new player? What are they going to achieve in that time beyond what they currently can with a free account.

A new player isn't going to sit and grind mining for 24 hours...They are lucky to have any skills hit 20 in their first 24 hours, even the fast ones like digging/woodcutting/carpentry.

 

Wurm is already and extremely cheap game (although you can choose to spend a lot more if you wish) compared to almost any other MMO. (Even the 'free' ones)

For 16 euro, you're getting 2 months playtime and enough silver to set up a deed and buy a bunch of high ql tools. (Say 5s for the deed and 5-10 tools with decent CoC casts)

 

It already has a cheap monthly fee, no barrier to entry (unlimited free trial) and the software is extremely fast to download. (Many MMOs are 10gb+ these days...with some going way higher...that is a huge barrier to entry for a lot of people in the world with slow/capped internet)

 

Wurm is a niche game. Always has been, always will be. That is why the playerbase is small... not because of the cost.

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He wants to knit-pick to support his suggestion.  That's OK.  I've said my peace, it's a stupid suggestion.

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