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KalinMenajin

Ascend to Epic

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The Epic cluster was created with the idea of being easier to jump in and play competitively, fast, for players with no interest to grind,
build, and grow animal farms. Yet for years, tweak after tweak, it failed to be anything special but a playground of grief. 
I was one of the players that considered Serenity my home. Never a hardcore PvPer, never well known or competitive. My only wish was to have
the ability to a more "real" life, being able to kill someone who wronged me, an unwanted neighbor, a guy who comes right next to
your deed and cuts that nice forest down that you considered your lovely landscape view. I wanted to have the option to do what I
want. Do I want to steal a ship? Sure. Attack a merchant? Why not. Be a helpful and kind protector of my realm? Yes sir!

 

Not PvP for the sake of the fight, just the choice a sandbox game should give me.

It worked for a bit, but then Kingdoms got the wrong ideas and it all went wrong. By mechanics, there weren't any safeguards on
raiding a Kingdom's homeland. On any other game with NPC Kingdoms, the King would have guards protecting his citizens.
On Epic our King was the one attacking us. JKE (Elevation) was soon just a different Kingdom than JKH (home) -and Home was left
without hardcore PvPers to defend them. Home had no super-fortress deeds constantly defended by 20 high geared, highly skilled and
vastly experienced guys. It was the target of them all. (Still, the kingdom's coffers filled from our transactions). 
Soon, many of us tried to join Elevation, wishing to join the 'strong ones' and keep progressing ourselves. -Only to be treated as 2nd
rate carebears from a Home server. Spend our time mine-hoping, building stuff for the deed, grind up certain skills on demand to be
"useful". Living behind walls for months on end because "we were too weak to roam outside" and be excluded from HOTA rewards or
Kingdom titles.
How is that any fun? How is that a semblance of a virtual life? Why wouldn't we move to Freedom? Why would players from
Freedom join Epic?

 

However, the Epic cluster has cool landmasses, beautiful home servers, and offers the option to BE anything you want -instead
pretend it. I mean, you can paint your caravel black, but it doesn't make you a Pirate. Assaulting other ships and harbors does ;)
And I Do still hold a special feeling in my heart for Epic, so I'll try a few proposals to Game devs and the community as a whole.

 

Ascension to Epic

 

Epic shouldn't be a set of islands with different rules within the game. It should be considered the EXPANSION of Freedom Isles.
The higher ground, where more seasoned players go to have fun and get rewards. I consider Ascension the proper word for it, even
though in Wurm it means becoming a Deity in Valrei. The ways it can become a thrilling and challenging place are several:

 

1. Higher hunting grounds.

 

The relatively recent ability to teleport back and forth Epic -Freedom Isles has a -yet- unrealized potential. Hunting on empty servers.
If only the skill gains can transfer, step 1 is done. Step 2 would be to upgrade all Epic mobs with their "conditioned" versions.
How often some Freedom player roams the land looking for mobs able to give him a sliver of FS gain? I bet that guy prays to all gods
to happen on a secret greenish troll spawn amongst the trees or a couple of Fiends in a cave. Why not make all Epic a hunting ground
with harder versions of the mobs? I'm sure the Epic residents won't mind either ;)
They surely don't need so many pigs, or cows or seals -am I wrong?
With a proper spawn tweak, the cluster becomes a heaven for adventuring hunters. Before anything else, we need those first.
Then maybe some of them decide to setup a hunting camp to stay over on their trips and slowly, share their time spent on both
clusters. Even if not, the hunters in Epic lands on any given day will surely be a welcomed population rise and maybe some other
'hunters' get to work...  (plays Def Leppard -Die Hard the Hunter) :D
No, really, it's a rather safe hunt (you'll know why further down).
I should also point out here that the old disbanded deeds on Serenity alone could grind your Archeology in GODLY levels. ^^

 


2. Proper Missions for the Gods

 

A 'proper' mission should have a demand, a reward, and a followup. If the followup also has a better reward or a penalty, it becomes
an epic quest -of sorts. Lemme try an example:
Mission: Your God asks you to rid the land of the Sons of Nogump that (enemy faction deity) has spawned. I go out and find the
Nogumps (12 -not 700!) within a 100 tile area. I kill them and get reward a moonmetal and a shoulder pad. -Mission now changes.
The enemy Deity decides to conjure a Spawn of Utacha (tweaked, we can solo those easily and they're too big to spawn in numbers).
The Utacha moves to attack the nearest settlement and break walls and fences. If I join that settlements villagers and help kill it, I get
rewarded another moonmetal and a Potion of Carpentry (for example). I have a timer to attack the Utacha. If I don't, I am
considered a traitor by my God and Eaglespirits spawn to hunt me wherever I go, until I return to Freedom or enter Kingdom's
capital. 
Now, I sneaked in something nasty to unsuspecting settlers, right? Well, having a village on Epic, they should be with friends in the
first place and not leave their village undefended. But they also get moonmetal drops from the Utacha, and the situation forces
everyone involved to work together. It's also NOT a common scenario to happen too often, but a possible one.
The succession could be also Deathcrawlers looking for me. Or to kill a Sol Demon. As missions progress, my chances to receive a
Tome increase. Meanwhile, once I took up a mission (and killed the 1st Nogump) the Mission changes for everyone else and only 'I'
have that mission. If there are available missions like this on any given moment for a player or a group of players to pursue, things
start getting interesting. Missions on Epic should be about Gods fighting each other and they do this by using as pawns Valrei
creatures and players. So maybe another player on another mission can become the last thing I need to kill. The champion of 'this'
god against the champion of 'that' god. Some could also be reconnaissance missions, like sail to Elevation and check (examine) X tower.
I'm really just thinking aloud and coming up with examples, but you get my point I think.
Rewards for missions are the same I could get in a Rift participation, except I can do this alone and anytime I want. The difficulty is
the same really -if not harder- as killing Rift mobs with 20 other people.

 

 

3. Hunt of the Ancients -literally.

 

HOTA is a really boring "capture the flag" game. Basically, every 36h  various pillars spawn in a designated area and the first
kingdom to conquer four of them wins. Then HOTA statues filled with moonmetals and jewelry spawn at the token of that
kingdom's capital for the King, Mayor and their "pals" to split among themselves. Why would anyone from Freedom take part in
that? If it's a reward meant for the few that inhabit those lands, then that's what they'll be -a few inhabitants. Sorry guys, gotta give
some to get some.
What if Freedom players could join a Kingdom temporarily as mercenaries by using a choice menu when HOTA starts?
What if -instead- this thing was in the middle of HOTA area?

0bF2EZR.png

(A Portal locked for use only by the Kingdom that won HOTA)

 

The Kingdom that conquers the pillars gains access to the lost city of the Ancients. Then that Kingdom (and the mercenary allies) can
teleport to an underground dungeon that leads to the Sunken City of the Ancients. The Ancients are really the Rift mobs and a
Champion Battlemaster (randomly named) is their leader. The City is basically a shiny marble fort inside a huge cave, that we must
lay siege on (nothing too complex as designs go). As we crawl the dungeon and prepare our engines, the Ancients send waves of mobs
to stop us. Once inside we have to kill the Champion Battlemaster and sacrifice his heart on the altar to win the event. Participation
points work just like Rifts but King gets some bonus points. The top scorer gets an Ancient Artifact item (weapon or armor), named
after the Battlemaster who died. (Great Sword of Bazool -for example). The rest all get similar rewards as Rifts and 3 HOTA statues
are given randomly to participants (appear in inventory with lowered weight until dropped on ground for 1st time).


Also, for the duration till the next HOTA, that Kingdom can use the Ancient portal at any time as a safe hideout, and the next Rift
(that supposedly sends Ancients to avenge their defeat) spawns within Kingdom territory. This allows for safer Rift hunts within
familiar and protected land within the Kingdom. The Rift will still be open to all, but obviously, the Kingdom that won HOTA has
an advantage of playfield.
The same Portal can also be used to send everyone back to their homes after the event is over. Mercenaries end their "contract to a
Kingdom" once they teleport out of HOTA area.
This way HOTA becomes a major event (maybe turn it weekly) that involves a lot more people, way better rewards (you didn't forget
the named Ancient Artifact, right?), and is way more "epic" and fun. A worthy event to cross over and take part in. 

 


4. Kingdom Vs Kingdom -Resources and Favor, a prestige that can be earned and shared.

 

Throughout Elevation there are 2 Special mines. The only 2 mines that have Utmost veins of metals. All other Utmost veins are
removed. Each mine is secured by 6 Spirit Guards and 10 tower guards (what any small deed could have). In the center of the camp
is a Kingdom flag. The Kingdom that destroys the last flag and plants their own controls the mine. They can mine the best Q ores with
quantity bonuses X2 and either trade with other Kingdoms or starve them from resources. Another Kingdom may have stored large
amounts of these resources to last them a while, but eventually, they will deplete. Besides, control of these mines is a sure proof of
Prestige. It's no longer "I killed you" -"Yes, but I killed you last week" trash talk. We Own the mines -period. Deal with it and pay up
if you need imping ores. (I don't have to mention the need that will arise with the new metal's properties coming to game)

Likewise, 2 Shrines guarded by 10 spirit guards offer favor bonuses to priests of the kingdom. Controlling one shrine enhances Favor
regeneration. Controlling both gives bonus to all priests similar to the King's Priest (no need for linking for difficult spells).
Effort and reward. Reasons to fight for. Consequences. Team play. Do your best with it.

If you grab a group and go out, you will do something. Be it PvP or a camp conquest. Or both.

 

 

5. Server Raids and the Watchers.

 

No matter how it sounds, Home servers should be somehow protected. They are supposed to be governed by a milder PvP ruleset, one
that involves going hunted if you kill another member of the same Kingdom and where your home can't be randomly raided
overnight and razed to the ground by enemies you can't defend against. At least not without a warning.
It's also supposed to be a hunting ground for all kinds of players. And they have the need to -at least- know when to bail out.
So in order for any Kingdom to raid a Home server, they need 1st to attack the 2 HarborMaster towers (Archery towers) at the shores
of Elevation before crossing that border. The towers give out server wide warnings to both Elevation and the Home server, so that
citizens can mount up defense forces or go into hiding. Furthermore, all guard towers in the land act as Watchers. If an enemy comes
within 80 tiles of a tower, it gives off a server-wide msg "Enemy forces are spotted near..." So name your towers properly.
Naming a tower by map grid is a nice way to locate enemy presence. Similarly, a raiding force cannot just sail next to Strongbox
undetected and start bashing down walls or stealing ships so easy. They have to plan ahead, scout, plot a course and maybe even
prepare a hideout in case the Kingdom's citizens give chase. A raid on wildlands is supposed to be quite different than raiding the
capital of a Kingdom.
If there's a semblance of reality in this, Home servers become rational frontier lands. Calculated risk and reward. This isn't the wild
west. Elevation is. And you can't expect people to start over or move to epic without some safety measures any organized Kingdom
would have. Furthermore... isn't JK on elevation supposed to be the same Kingdom as JK Serenity? If not, with all the PMKs going
on, then a new King is supposed to be appointed at Home. And a new JK area must be assigned around HOTA. Right? Because that
part became confusing for a time... If JKE players attack JKH they must become hunted enemies of the Kingdom, can't be both JK
and JK-PMK. (setting an old record straight)

 

 

6. The Night of Enki -the Lich King

 

Once a month, on a full Jackal (so to speak), the night fills with terrors. Worgs, Liches, Skeletons and Fog Spiders replace normal
creatures of the land. (wolves, crocodiles, trolls, and spiders respectively). Every other aggressive monster is replaced with its undead
version.
That's just an event night, enhanced FS can be gained by killing those mobs, but GMs can also run competitions on that night.
I truly believe an event like this is reason enough for people to hop over and join the killing spree- err the fun  >.>

 


7. A new Epic player born.

 

New accounts that decide to just start on Epic cluster and accelerate their PvP oriented game, should get 50 skill upon Prem on all the
following:
Fight Skill
Longsword
Shields
Archery
Bow
and 30 skill on all Body Stats.
No more skills crossing on 1st time for anyone, ever. They get this boost just to play on Epic. If they choose to move to Freedom, they
can do so after 1 month of playing on Epic and 10 points are removed from all the above skills.
This will help players that just want to PvP as soon as possible, reach that point faster, but not imbalance anything else.

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

These are just a few ideas that can work individually or combined. (maybe the HOTA dungeon is filled with utmost veins and for a week the winning Kingdom can mine in them) and we don't need the Mine Camps or Shrines (4th suggestion).

But they are ideas that elevate the whole cluster into an end-game playground. A theme park of adventure. And I feel that players from all over would love to -at least- visit it once, if not move to live there. I see no reason why we should leave the old things as they were and try find ways to "send new meat" to Epic. It shouldn't be about this.

It should be an advanced demanding land that anything can happen. A frontier that we can visit whenever we want (or move there) and find something to do for every taste.

 

That's my opinion anyway, I'll monitor for opinions of the community.

I will provide clarifications if needed on ideas, but I must disclaim, these are all rough ideas. None of them is something I been thinking for days. I will not engage in debates and arguments about them. Just hear you all out and see what you think of the OVERAL concept.

 

 

 

PS. (sorry for typos and bad formatting. I'll be trying to remedy, but my browser doesn't work well with post editing and I lost 2 very large posts already. Expect editing)

Edited by KalinMenajin
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Epic shouldn't be a set of islands with different rules within the game. It should be considered the EXPANSION of Freedom Isles.

 

Hmm. I'm not liking that. :) I'm not looking for a theme park, playground, or instant, on-demand PvP; I want Epic to be a real world, with real kingdoms, engaging in real power struggles.

 

To be honest, HOTA itself feels contrived to me; I'm not fond of the concept. HOTA seems to be an artificial attempt to solve the more fundamental problem caused by Wurm's uniform resource distribution: without HOTA and the rush of PvP itself, there's really nothing to fight over. Food/resources/arable land/etc. are all plentiful. Epic is a like a 4X game where nearly all resources are infinitely available in the home system, and there's no real reason to expand.

 

So, to me, really fixing Epic means more than the commonly clamored-for map reset: it means climate change. :) We can't grow everything everywhere, or find everything everywhere. Scarcity should be a big deal; finding land on which even some crops will grow should be a big deal.

 

That in itself will provide PVP pressure, without any other changes.

 

As to moonmetal, HOTA seems to be the primary source, and again, that just feels contrived. I'd scrap it for something like temporary moon portals to small moon islands, where skills are reset and everyone has to fight on an even footing (skillwise) to bring back moonmetal to Wurm.

 

So, anyway, let me go through your list:

 

1. Higher hunting grounds.

 

I think I've expressed how I feel about re-designing Epic as a playground for Freedom. :)

 

2. Proper Missions for the Gods

 

It almost sounds like you want personal quests, which is interesting. Dropping Valrei mobs on a village sounds like griefing, though, since there will be no guarantees anyone will be on to prevent destruction, or that if they are, they will be able to do anything about it (a good way to discourage newbies). Maybe if that were only on Elevation?

 

3. Hunt of the Ancients -literally.

 

Yeah, I've already expressed my feelings on HOTA. :) I'll say I don't like the idea of making HOTA even easier for one kingdom to dominate, though.

 

4. Kingdom Vs Kingdom -Resources and Favor, a prestige that can be earned and shared.

 

I like the idea of resource scarcity, but this feels contrived and abusable.

 

5. Server Raids and the Watchers.

 

I kinda like this, but I suspect it will simply result in no one raiding home servers, ever. The reward won't be worth the risk.

 

6. The Night of Enki -the Lich King

 

Now this one I like. :)

 

7. A new Epic player born.

 

Pretty sure skills don't come across to Freedom for new players at all now. Anyhow, spotting new players that much skill: hmm. That's 75 effective on quite a few, and with 2-silver prem toons, that would be easy to abuse.

 

Also, the early skills are easy to get, and easy to get skillgain is a lot of fun. Spotting newbies that much actually takes away easy progression fun. Body stats, on the other hand, are annoyingly hard to get (21 body control!), and there's no curve. I could see spotting newbies more body stats (although we'll see what the update does).

 

I actually wouldn't be opposed to curving body stats on Epic. It seems odd that a newbie can get reasonably good weapon/shield/fight stats in a relatively short time, but has to grind far longer to get anything halfway decent in body stats. That feels fundamentally unbalanced.

Edited by Roccandil
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8 hours ago, KalinMenajin said:

The relatively recent ability to teleport back and forth Epic -Freedom Isles

 

?? this has been possible since epic was created more than 7 years ago

 

the rest seems all weird and unnecessarily convoluted, and not going to fix epic especially having mobs spawn to grief villages how does that keep players on epic lol

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15 hours ago, MrGARY said:

 

?? this has been possible since epic was created more than 7 years ago

 

the rest seems all weird and unnecessarily convoluted, and not going to fix epic especially having mobs spawn to grief villages how does that keep players on epic lol

Not with your skills, it wasn't :)

 

You both seem to stand on a simple example for a mission -and consider an Utacha griefing? :D 

It's the easiest of all Valrei mobs. 

 

16 hours ago, Roccandil said:

 

Hmm. I'm not liking that. :) I'm not looking for a theme park, playground, or instant, on-demand PvP; I want Epic to be a real world, with real kingdoms, engaging in real power struggles.

 

 

FD4eCVw.png

Ok?

Edited by KalinMenajin

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i think its time to pull the plug on epic, maybe find a way to give people there a gracious exit, bring some stuff or merchants or something...

i dont like it but i dont see epic bouncing back.. not likely for years now. and if those servers end up costing the game more then it makes then i prefer them to stick the efforts in chaos rather then epic.. for pvp i mean.

 

 

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Epic is an opportunity to do big, new things to attract -new- people. Pulling the plug on Epic is conceding that the current player base is all Wurm Online is ever going to get.

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7 hours ago, KalinMenajin said:

and consider an Utacha griefing? :D 

It's the easiest of all Valrei mobs. 

 

if i wake up to find that my village was ravaged by a giant slug that breaks into smaller but more giant slugs several times overnight im pretty sure that classifies as griefing

 

if you can't see how leaving bashing up villages to pve mobs is a horrible idea then this is beyond saving

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15 hours ago, MrGARY said:

 

if i wake up to find that my village was ravaged by a giant slug that breaks into smaller but more giant slugs several times overnight im pretty sure that classifies as griefing

 

if you can't see how leaving bashing up villages to pve mobs is a horrible idea then this is beyond saving

 

Well... yeah, ok -_- I KNOW you're right on this, for a Freedomer's point of view. Epic villagers have known Spirit mobs for a long time and Eagles or Drakes are even worse to be on your deed. I just don't want to stand on a single off-my-head example. The point is to evolve missions into group activities. And engage ppl. I also mentioned it being just one rare scenario.

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Sorry I double post, just making it easier for quoting me.

 

Guys the facts are these.

  1. Epic is empty.
  2. PvP is stagnant both on Epic and Chaos.
  3. Having a land /world of higher difficulty adventures and missions and HOTA is not affecting anyone badly. An open world where anything happens. Freedom players don't HAVE TO go if they don't want to, and Epic players don't HAVE TO leave. But both can benefit.
  4. It's easier to take a portal to go to an event than sail around Freedom Isles (or travel inland Xanadu)
  5. Sentiments like "I want Epic to be repopulated into a living, thriving world of its own" are considered 'romantic' at best. They have also been expressed 4 years ago when it still had a chance. These times all Wurmians we must find ways to live together.
  6. Having played for a long time on both clusters, I know Epic players think Freedomers will come with higher skills because they play 'long' or don't lose skills by dying as much. And Freedomers think that Epic players have better skills because of the Curve and the ease they gain them with. -Both are not true.

These are facts. Not points of view.

We all want a new influx of players into Wurm, but it isn't a new game -not for many years now. Without major changes or rebranding, it is hard to even get old Wurmians back. From a developers point of view, it isn't easy to make big game-changing choices at this state. We must do what we can with the population we have and hope for one thing only: that the random returners from time to time will love all the minor changes and want to stick around once more. Tell their friends Wurm got better, invite them to join. Start a little buzz of how Wurm changed in the latter years and maybe then new players might want to give it a try.

Even this is difficult as all games have a declining curve.

 

So let's take a hypothetical example... You have stopped playing Wurm and moved on to another game. Your memories are bittersweet of what Wurm offered you and what it couldn't. Suddenly you hear you can log back in with your old toon and play wherever you want. Freedom and Epic. New mini sieges have been added, something you can do within an afternoon with your 4 friends. Also, missions from the gods just for you to do. Weekly and monthly events that don't need you to be in game every. single. day. And Epic, has a new face, a bit more anti-griefing, more open frontier adventure kind of land. Would you check it out?  -I would.

 

That's what I'm thinking -and the ideas I present up top are just examples of how this could work.

Edited by KalinMenajin

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We all want a new influx of players into Wurm, but it isn't a new game -not for many years now. Without major changes or rebranding, it is hard to even get old Wurmians back. From a developers point of view, it isn't easy to make big game-changing choices at this state.

 

Big changes could be made to Epic without hurting the Freedom population, and by design, Epic is a place for new players to catch up to old ones. I see that as an opportunity to attract new players (which doesn't mean old-timers wouldn't be lured back).

 

Like I said, I'd love to see portals to temporary, small PvP moon islands as the new way on Epic to get moonmetal, where everyone is reset on skills to an equal footing, and skillgain is exceedingly quick. That would give new players a virgin island experience (and a place to learn and test game mechanics), while also providing a venue for the devs to do wildly new things.

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