Free to Play - The real secret to steam success

[Etherdrifter 2,518]

I'm going to put this out here as I very much doubt it will be implemented, but in terms of game design it is likely the cure wurm needs.

 

In essence, every player on wurm is an island; the only players who rely on others being free players WHO REMAIN FREE and people who solo priests.  The latter group is rare, but the former group need not be.

 

It's a small change, with wide reaching implication.

 

 

Players choose a "class" upon character creation.  This "class" unlocks skills for them when they are playing for free (i.e. if they went for a hypothetical "woodsman" class they'd find forestry, gardening, woodcutting, axe-based skill lines and all three body stats unlocked), and offers a skill gain as if an affinity existed during premium play.  No other changes (so existing premium just gets a slightly faster skillgain rate in a skillset/statline chosen by a class), skills outside of a class (for free players) are capped as they are now.

 

If you choose a class you don't like, 10s to change it.

 

 

This offers free players a longer developmental path while creating either the need to run a LOT of toons (and remember, not every skill need be unlockable in this way, things like magic and meditation should definitely be premium gated), or to interact with other players (some of whom will need to be premium to complete the skill gaps).  Also note, such "ever-free" players expire if not played for a while, so they (and all they are carrying) are removed from the game pool.

 

In terms of game design, it offers the interdependence an mmorpg needs without undermining wurm's key "do anything" design for those willing to pay a premium sub.  Also, fun fact, you're likely going to have more people willing to dink $10 for a 10 month deed than $10 for 2 months timed play.

[Finnn 3,320]

think of wu.. it did generate money, than it.. 'stopped', good short term, bad long-term.. meaning maybe killing the company in few years as there are costs which can not be covered with this 1 time purchase..

 

wurm's problem is that .. nobody wants to make money.. from microtransactions .. golden mirrors, fashion, more customization options, skins... and maybe exclusive recipes(doesn't have to be +30% damage.. could be skinned or passively buffed items by default.. to ease things.. alternatively.. same items could be achievable with a good crafter and priest..)

 

in the end it's money for convenience.. some have money, not time.. cater to their needs.. they'll scratch your back with few bucks, pretty much how business works.. the other issue is the lots of pissed off players who left.. retention or not working to lower that earlier proved to be bad for business.. now we see a lot more qols implemented.. hopefully it's not too late

 

there's more.. but don't want to get serious

Edited December 18, 2019 by Finnn

[kochinac 1,395]

No classes in Wurm please.  What makes Wurm unique and beautiful is lack of classes, even artificial priest class is too much already imo...

[Arishok 92]

I agree there should not be any restrictive class implementation for Wurm.  
 

Changes to the deed system and religion in a way that would favor a player’s Independently chosen direction - without hard limits to change - would be better suited to what you are describing.  
 

I also concur with kochinac that priests are too much in their current state. 
 

Well thought out, but I believe that would negatively change how I personally see, enjoy, and play Wurm.   

[Thalius 246]

6 hours ago, kochinac said:

No classes in Wurm please.  What makes Wurm unique and beautiful is lack of classes, even artificial priest class is too much already imo...

If I understand the OP clearly, his suggestion was that FREE TO PLAY players could choose one class that would be unlocked with no restrictions to it. Premium players would have access to all skills at no restrictions. Only free to play players would fall into classes that they would have to choose at some point early in their game.

Not sure how I feel about the OP at this point, but felt like that needed to be clarified.

 

[Seriphina 1,223]

I feel like the model you're describing would end up losing the game a lot of money in the long run. There's a reason the free to play model is only a temporary state: If you want to keep playing and advancing you need to pay for the game. If you can choose a skill and grind it for 10s all the way to whatever (let's say 70 since that might take about 3 months).

I buy premium, pay essentially 10s per month, grind to 70 pottery over 3 months - 30s paid

I'm a free to play, pay 10s to grind pottery - 10s paid - That's a 20s deficit from a regular player but similar gain. Essentially what you're describing is cutting premium revenue by at least 1/3 and expecting that to continue making a successful business model.

 

The math doesn't work.

 

[Flubb 773]

4 hours ago, Seriphina said:

The math doesn't work.

 

Because you're doing it on one person, which is missing the bigger picture. The premise of such proposal is obviously to lower the barrier of entrance to get more people playing at all, and even if all those people paid less individually, it's potentially more revenue overall the more people it can attract. A bigger player base in turn makes buying premium more lucrative as you're actually immersed in an interactable world where the freedom to skill whatever is beneficial rather than subscribing effectively to a singleplayer game. It's difficult to project how sucessful this method would be though and if it effectively offsets the revenue lost on individual players.

If it's just done as a sleight of hand and not communicated elsewhere (which CCAB usually does), it will just hurt the businesses' health because if it gets nobody new in and only the existing players buy their dedicated toons for all tasks, it will be exactly as Finnn said - a short term gain and long term loss. The best moment for this would be with the release of Steam WO then, as the thread title implies.

 

That being said, the proposal isn't bad and may work as part of a bigger overhaul of the business model (which I think will be prudent to consider for SteamWO), but I think it's incomplete; reclassing isn't something people will do often (enough), if ever, because in this system having multiple toons would be worthwhile even when you can't play them simultaneously. (I imagine Steam WO could have multiple characters tied to a steam account, but only one playable at the time. If Steam WO has 1 acc = 1 toon, OP might work there, but not in OGWO on its own.)

Edited December 19, 2019 by Flubb
Didn't acknowledge this thread had SteamWO in the back of its mind already

[Oblivionnreaver 5,175]

couldnt you just make a free character in each class and have all the skills

[Etherdrifter 2,518]

11 hours ago, kochinac said:

No classes in Wurm please.  What makes Wurm unique and beautiful is lack of classes, even artificial priest class is too much already imo...

 

12 hours ago, Etherdrifter said:

(so existing premium just gets a slightly faster skillgain rate in a skillset/statline chosen by a class),

Just to clarify, I was thinking in terms of free affinity-like gains.  Not classes that restrict premium characters.

 

 

2 minutes ago, Oblivionnreaver said:

couldnt you just make a free character in each class and have all the skills

 

12 hours ago, Etherdrifter said:

 (and remember, not every skill need be unlockable in this way, things like magic and meditation should definitely be premium gated)

I rather pictured key gaps being left (plate smithing, fine carpentry, stone cutting, jewellery smithing, meditation, faith, channeling, some weapons etc).  So definitely not.

 

Specific recipes could also be premium gated.

 

The core idea is to offer a very directed expansion of the free game while still maintaining a premium incentive.

[Finnn 3,320]

I do not like the class bull...

it's literally putting you in a tiny box and telling you that you have a window.. but there's no such on the walls..

 

Might sound fun to you to be a priest and a miner or shroom forager.. but some will be willing to have bigger variety of options to play...

There's a reason we're not playing classes in AA:re-whatever, right? Not a sandbox.. you can not just do what the hell you want, while here you could do anything.. but spells.. or spells-and-everything-but-improve.

That's your two classes, how does that work for you?

Currently every religion is like a new class.. because of the spell list, some have 1 priest.. and a crafter or one of the two.. while others have like 10 chars.. to bulk or be able to cast anything possible in the game...

In a way you already have classes implemented in the game... with the priests... how does that work.. have you seen many priests to work together? I have not. Sermons are odd way to waste your day around an altar with a chronometer(timer) and playing around the time when you have to be active to do your turn...

 

f2p could work with nerfing into the ground skillgains... and boosting fail rates, lowering improvement chance and ql per action..  that way.. you'll be able to be 99-100 on something but only able to do 85-90 item... nerfing that down to ~70ql for 100 skilled player.. when unpremmed.. could open some field to turn the game f2p.. and to really stimulate you to prem to not chew on that dirt low skillgains and debuffs... not all skills work the same.. so few more unpleasant fixes could be introduced when unpremmed..

 

On the other hand... prem status could be having a boost over the current normal to further make the game more casual... downside ... more 70-100 chars... but playerbase should be easier to scale.. when somebody comes and sees that it's possible to do things even without knowledge... 1 of the problems in the game is that CA help - helps.. but rest is reading the wiki.. not all is up to date.. there's too much to learn.. and as ql just matters so much about anything.. it's hard to just persuade somebody that this it his/her game.. and that it's good to pay for prem to have fun. There are plenty of options.. if you can not afford the time or money or BOTH.. you'll be looking at the easier approach, as this is after all for some.. the point of games is to have fun.. not to add to bills, p2w or monetize... majority of the casuals just want a chill game after work.. which wurm pretty much covers pretty well.

Plenty of that public have some/good amount of time, and some money to spend.. maybe problem is motivation to do it.

[Arishok 92]

I very much support further analysis of the 0-20 experience.  
 

I don't have to be perm to make BSBs.  But I do have to be perm long enough to be able to learn to make crates and even load them.   
 

Crates have a limit.  But for a new player, a single BSB is a bottomless pit.  
 

BSBs start locked and hold a great deal.  Ok - nice QoL for the new player.  Now I am stuck where I first started - either I lose all this stuff, or I perm up and grind to 60 carp, with my low ql tools, and eventually make crates.   Wait, that grind barely moved my strength meter.   Ugh.  
 

Incentive to premium, sure, but a frustrating one, and one that a lone player might see as VERY far away.   
 

Of course the place I first put my secure BSB was clear of critters... now a week later I have wolves and spiders - oh hell a troll!  I wish I could move my crap I worked “so hard” to get.  
 

I get it is hard.  I expect that! 
 

But I would have preferred to make small crates at first - quickly realize I need better, more secure storage - then premium up to reach THAT goal.  By the time I reached that grind, the “crap” I started putting in there would be better.  
 

I would also much rather see deed bonuses (harvest, crafting, quality, rarity) and even my religion (read: free choices) affect which play style I preferred.  Takes effort on my part but freedom to choose A clearer path that aligns with my current goals.  
 

Consider also sleep bonus.  Its wurm crack.  Perhaps non-premium characters couldn't earn it through sleep.  Most cant make a bed for a bit or even know it exists.  Pop a few non-transferable powders (get em hooked) in the inventory.

GL Help:

Newb12: What is this sleep powder?

Green-text: Oh let me tell you about our substance abuse problem...
 

They could earn it all other ways - missions, purchase, downtime presents, etc.  

 

Apologies if I derailed.  

[Etherdrifter 2,518]

@Arishok

Some good points here; and it does capture my early game experience (except we had no crates, so it was large carts with rafts!).

My suggestion aims to make a vital change to that line of issues.

Lets say our player goes blacksmith.  They place their first BSB, and want to move.  There is a local carpenter who has been at it a while and hit 60 carpentry who can make the crates, but they want their tools re-imped to 40 in return.  Well, lucky for you, you wanted to be a blacksmith, so this is a game task you pretty much signed up for.  The carpenter makes you a couple of crates to move your essentials, you re-imp his tools (and get points in a skill you identified as having wanted), and then you ask around for someone to help you move.  Maybe they'll do it for a couple of QL40 tools?

The point here is that the QL40 tools have value to a free player who does not have smithing as one of their skills; getting there is not too hard at all, and it is in a skill a player wanted to level (they CHOSE the class).  QL40 tools have little-no value for a premium player, since they can just grind the skills themselves (and do so); for the premium player it's all about the silver.

[Arishok 92]

One mechanic that Wurm shares with Eve Online is buying premium with in game currency. 
 

So the buy in is that I could earn enough in game money to never have to pay real currency to continue my subscription.  Once you are working down that path, the realization is the large time investment to reach that status.  You grind your way through to that end and find you have experienced a large portion of game content! 

Preferably, the content or experience was such that you enjoyed the ride more than your free play goal.   

 

By the time players typically fall off, they are enticed to provide content by presence, and assisting the world economy by draining in game currency - where they otherwise would simply not play or subscribe - by being able to efficiently earn enough in game currency to burn.  
 

Both games, of course, diverge considerably at some point in that commonality.  The potential exists in wurm for a free to play player to earn enough to premium, and for a late game player to struggle with both content and earnings.   
 

I agree with Oblivionreaver in that players will seek the most efficient way to achieve a goal... by themselves.  
 

I am afraid it would encourage more players to F2P box to satisfy their needs (just like priests) and/or try it and get frustrated at the experience.  

I believe cooperation in Eve, for example, exists in that a singular player cannot achieve great reward without other players.  But the continued benefits directly affect the many who cooperated - and is completely out of reach for the single player.  
 

As an aside, the greatest rewards then can be taken away by the efforts and cooperation of other players.  
 

Given time, what can be achieved in Wurm that a singular player (with or without alts), or a handful of players, cannot?

 

I am not yet certain that is a negative thing for Wurm, but comparisons - and more importantly expectations - are influenced by it.  
 

In your experience, is there any MMOs that have offered anything similar to what you propose?

[Locath 533]

47 minutes ago, Arishok said:

 

In your experience, is there any MMOs that have offered anything similar to what you propose?

 

I'm not sure if this would be fair at all, Wurm is unique in many aspects.

I don't know many other games where the further you get up the skill ladder the more sense it makes to deliberately break your limbs so that you can progress faster.

It's one of my pet peeves in Wurm, you get the skill really high, you get the supreme/fantastic tool with high casts on it and that whole investment is like shooting yourself in the foot. Go for the 1ql tool with no timer reducing casts or never see a gain again. It's illogical. On top of that many people build jump houses for the purpose of hurling them self from whatever floor, hoping to get a medium wound so the grind becomes easier (!). I have a path of thorns for that, it's ridiculous. 

 

On the other hand, if you don't care for gains and you do want pure speed so you invest the same money in that fantastic tool with ultra high WoA, a lot of the time you hit what seems to be a hard cap (or close to because of some curves, not sure) on the timers.

Can this be compared to any other game? Where the further you get, the "better" tools you can make and the better the tool, the more it hinders your progress? 

 

On topic:

What this idea could be turned into is "pick one of the master skills (Carpentry/Cooking/Fighting/what have you)" and you can raise this and the sub skills to -insert a reasonably high number here- without paying premium. Bundling some of the orphaned skills in the list in to groups is a possibility as well.

Go back to having to be premium to create a settlement as it used to be, if prem expires, can't invite new villagers.

Once premium is paid, it works as it does now, no limitations on skills. If it expires, effective skills back down to 20, except the chosen "path" or master skill with it's sub skills.

 

In this scenario, people can try the things they are interested in past the 20 skill which in a lot of cases limits the player significantly. If they like resource gathering, Skills without sub/master skill could be someone's choice as well, there are people who love gathering resources and that's exactly what they are looking for in a game. Fair enough if someone wants to try mining, you'll get the full flavor of it well before reaching 20 but what about ship building or carpentry or archaeology? 

If they want to be a cook, they can do HFC and Baking and so on as part of it. No harm in that because they will have to rely on other players to get materials of higher than 20 quality so it's either encouraging collaboration or premming up to be able to get their own materials. 

They aren't locked behind the level 20 cap for everything though, they get to try the game, unlock new things to build, new items to craft, there is something past the cart and rowboat for them to try.

 

Some possible scenarios:

Currently someone who is interested in shipbuilding can build a rowboat and tell their friends "there is this game where you can build a row boat, i saw other boats, i don't know how to make them, they want money to let me build them" - this will be someone who is trying out the game they found, might stick around for a week, might stay forever.

Next person: "there is this game where you can build ships, i bought premium to be able to make bigger ships, spent a week on making a sail boat, then tried to make a Corbita, saw what's required and logged off. I have played a total of 10 days before i got hit in the face with thousands of required materials, i'm never going back and i'm telling everyone about this."

 

With this idea implemented the same 2 people who are interested in building ships get to do it within the constrictions of the materials because they picked carpentry/shipbuilding and not resource gathering or specifically wood cutting. This means that they can build some of the bigger boats of low quality and they get to talk to the rest of us for much longer than just asking some basic questions in CA Help, while building those boats. They get to see more of the world as well, they will need some basic crops to make sails/ropes, they are likely to prem up if they want their dream of ship building and maybe living on a boat to be realistic on their own or they could join a community and that has made many of us stay in Wurm for years better than anything else. 

 

Then the rest of us has to be considered as well, not only new players. If this is for WO and not the Steam version, it's pretty much guaranteed that hundreds of new miners and masons would appear out of nowhere and start pumping out those bricks on free accounts with premium timers. On Steam this would be limited to those who have multiple Steam accounts and the patience to juggle them so probably not as many.

 

It's one of many ideas on how to enrich the potential new player's experience and make them stay. There are other good ideas out there, it's a matter of someone analyzing them and making a call which parts of which suggestion are feasible for both, player/user experience and business continuity. If staff reading this gets in to a train of thought based on reading those suggestions and come up with something better or mix a few of them, that's the suggestions doing a good job. 

Keep posting suggestions.

 

[Finnn 3,320]

7 hours ago, Arishok said:

I very much support further analysis of the 0-20 experience.  
 

I don't have to be perm to make BSBs.  But I do have to be perm long enough to be able to learn to make crates and even load them.   
 

Crates have a limit.  But for a new player, a single BSB is a bottomless pit.  
 

BSBs start locked and hold a great deal.  Ok - nice QoL for the new player.  Now I am stuck where I first started - either I lose all this stuff, or I perm up and grind to 60 carp, with my low ql tools, and eventually make crates.   Wait, that grind barely moved my strength meter.   Ugh.  
 

Incentive to premium, sure, but a frustrating one, and one that a lone player might see as VERY far away.   
 

Of course the place I first put my secure BSB was clear of critters... now a week later I have wolves and spiders - oh hell a troll!  I wish I could move my crap I worked “so hard” to get.  
 

I get it is hard.  I expect that! 
 

But I would have preferred to make small crates at first - quickly realize I need better, more secure storage - then premium up to reach THAT goal.  By the time I reached that grind, the “crap” I started putting in there would be better.  
 

I would also much rather see deed bonuses (harvest, crafting, quality, rarity) and even my religion (read: free choices) affect which play style I preferred.  Takes effort on my part but freedom to choose A clearer path that aligns with my current goals.  
 

Consider also sleep bonus.  Its wurm crack.  Perhaps non-premium characters couldn't earn it through sleep.  Most cant make a bed for a bit or even know it exists.  Pop a few non-transferable powders (get em hooked) in the inventory.

GL Help:

Newb12: What is this sleep powder?

Green-text: Oh let me tell you about our substance abuse problem...
 

They could earn it all other ways - missions, purchase, downtime presents, etc.  

 

Apologies if I derailed.  

Not really... You can skill up to 60 carpentry in 1-2 days, not joking, some of the op op freaks could do that in few hours. I ******** burnout at 25-30-35 skill in a day.. either I just continue to 50 on next day or do a 2nd session later same day once my mind "forgets" I'm forcing myself to get it done... usually takes me 1-2-3 sessions to 50 something from scratch, even though it's really easy and relatively fast with the knowledge, tools, sb, pok, food buffs, faith... all stacks up to get you crazy good boost, it can not be helped that it's a bore...

 

You should be able to load/unload if your char have reached 23-30 body.str... now f2ps which have reached 20-30 skills, keep their body statistics capped at 30.. or whatever inbetween 20-30 they had during prem; being killed by a mob have a chance to lower several stats of yours.. so.. either do not die.. or do not just grind to 23.00 if you plan to not prem for a while and always be able to load stuff...

As for crate creation, etc... can't be helped for items with skill requirement, you usually need the prem... if not.. having it and having higher skills or materials to work with... makes the game a lot more enjoyable.. and easy.. you still curse all gods and some devs for the fake 99% creation though.. that can't be helped.. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

For str.. grind mining/wc/etc.. there's suggestion for that on the wiki/ca-help could maybe suggest a 'meta' if you get the right person to share a well working method(action) that gives better results when you're mainly after body.str grind.

 

Quote

Of course the place I first put my secure BSB was clear of critters... now a week later I have wolves and spiders - oh hell a troll!  I wish I could move my crap I worked “so hard” to get.  

Err.. what stops you? Ask a friend/neighbor.. to make you 3 crates.. trade some 'spare' planks or something with the person to exchange 1 work for another, plenty of people will just make you some crates to load in a large cart for free instead.... You could fit 3x large crates in a large cart I think.. or 2 large and 1 or 2 small ones.... maybe size-runed large cart .. could fit more..(sry.. I don't really use more than 1 crate on cart... if I need more I'd use a wagon usually..)

Whatever you have in the bsb far of your place... clay/sand/etc... which could be combined.. you could pull out to max weight you could carry, combine, and dump in the cart.. even without a crate.. to use better the 100x item limit in the empty cart.

Alternatively... large wagon with size rune.. should be able to load a bsb, given.. if you have the b.str to load, and size-runed wagon.. + hitched bisons/hellhorses to pull it... one of dumbest ideas in the game is to have 4x 1-5speed horses on a wagon... speed is **** and will get you killed.

 

Quote

I would also much rather see deed bonuses (harvest, crafting, quality, rarity) and even my religion (read: free choices) affect which play style I preferred.  Takes effort on my part but freedom to choose A clearer path that aligns with my current goals.  

- Harvesting bonuses with a rune.. but ONLY works for grains when harvested with a scythe sadly... no other crops get such bonus; grazing bonus alone + tending.. +... get you good enough boost.. anything more is going to draw normal per tile yield to be 20/+ crops per tile... no need to further boost harvesting imo... maybe QL for the non-grains... could be a good fix.. but could be intended to eat a bit rotting(not 100ql) veggies, who knows.

- Crafting... unsure what deed age/knowledge buff on deed's info means.. but doesn't seem important.. even if it is; afaik it's not explained anywhere... or even if I've heard what it does.. I've ignored it.. 

- QL.. only higher ql tools, skill or imbue for this..; alternatively.. think it was Tin items.. which get bonus creation ql for the TIN metal items which are created.. pretty STUPID to have it as the metal is retarded(durability-wise), and such bonus for creating tin items is practically useless... but maybe somebody could use it as intended some day... If tin-metal pieces were usable.. in the creation of something.... tin-rivets.. for gear/boat/stills... having their ql higher could speed up the action and chance to apply, IF TIN metal ones work.

- rarity deed bonus is a thing.. and it works, also rare tools give their 1-3-5ql bonus to creation.. up to a specific QL..than it lowers it's buff power to created/generated items/resources, runes alone have proven to be way better than rare tools.. but rarity adds a bit of spell protection(chance) or durability.. which is nice.

- religion.. have it's deity altar range and power boosting priest's 'luck' to cast spells, etc..

* Most to all of the things you want.. are there.. maybe with small exception or workaround, but you can't just have all or best things for free...

 

Quote

Consider also sleep bonus.  Its wurm crack.  Perhaps non-premium characters couldn't earn it through sleep.  Most cant make a bed for a bit or even know it exists.  Pop a few non-transferable powders (get em hooked) in the inventory.

NO. Let new players stop being STUPID, and learn that they could improve by... making a sh** shed being 1 or 2 tiles... and make a bed to logout at... takes not that much time... maybe 1st house is a big thing to create... but it's where you'll store and protect your stuff... it's kind of a must to have anyway...

- Bed - tutorial should teach players what sleep bonus is.. and how to get it...

Alternatively.. tutorial .. could be offering new players a poll... to figure what suggestions to give the player... but that should be pulled RIGHT.. to help the player and not annoy it.. Such thing.. could be used to define the ONLY tips or mechanics the player might want to learn, also could be used to give the player something like 'quests': Starter's journal - first steps in wurm... make a shed, make a bed, logout at the bed(explain how and why..), kill 1 of each easy to kill mobs.. to get fur, pelt, as these are needed for bed and carpentry/smithing, leather is a bit of luxury item at first.. unless you have many cow/bull/etc mobs.. but low butchering makes it still tough to get... clay jar for water is easy to carry water around... alternatively.. making small bucket/barrel and a large barrel later for water supply, large cart, etc.... all that could be made in progressive order for new players.. to make 1 of each item that s/he'll eventually (maybe)need to survive or progress faster and easier in the game.

Working for these goals... making batches of 5-10 goals.. could be rewarded with 30-60min sb.. no powders...

 

Problem is not that game's hard... it's the inadequate way of introducing all mechanics to new people.. and that there's such variety of mechanics to learn, there's ca-help to ask for tips.. but not all people who start a game.. want to join the "game's help center" to learn how to play.... for some this is the main goal in the game.. to play and learn... but with wurm and wogic.. some things are just not easy to figure on your own. 

Workaround for this.. is just trying the game.... checking the wiki for the small things... joining a community to bug with questions... or ca-help after that... to learn the mechanics, metas or best practices when it comes to doing something. (maybe this is the most common practice.. I do not know, but I've seen a fair share of few hours/1-week accounts which never login again; who knows why - after registration... and some offline time/inactivity of accounts... a poll could be sent... maybe small bonus could be offered to the player... 1-2hours sb... to pull their attention back into the game... if somebody baits.. it's 2sb hours.. they get it offline in a bed in 2days~, if it's one time... and it's a coin toss to hook a new person into the game... what's to lose doing this? So far nobody chases the early quitters though...)

[Arishok 92]

Well, these aren't current issues I am having, these are issues I have had in the past.

 

Meaning... I churned through it to reach my goals, figuring ALOT out on my way.  My wife did not.  

 

As far as asking a neighbor for help... there are no neighbors.  It is far and few between, and there is no indication once a player picks the portal to a starter town - what is waiting.

 

That is a good thing, but the experience is vastly different.  Issue is, some players get stuck on an island with no money in the coffers... or no neighbors... or starter town with no basic items to help get your feet on the ground.  While others offer better odds.  Player doesn't even know that is something to know before teleporting out.

 

In my perspective there is only two main reasons for F2P players in Wurm:

 

- Test drive.  The suggestion here was to give them MORE of the premium taste, and at a penalty if they choose wrong.  If we chip away at what most of us are already paying for... then why pay at all?  The bar is set really low to get your first month of premium.  No real money needs to even be used in most cases.  The trick is getting them hooked, like it did for many of us.  So a F2P player can experience a great deal of the game, if that isn't selling them at the skill cap... then there is the problem: that experience.

- Alts for players.  No need for explanation there I presume.

 

Forcing players to rely on other players to progress in a game always had led to failure.

 

Creating a system that encourages players cooperation to achieve something that absolutely could NOT be achieved on their own... works.  Given the effort vs reward is balanced.

 

I want to move away from the deed bonus discussion as I am being somewhat obtuse, and that would be a separate suggestion on its own.

 

Too often, when critiquing the low to mid range experience, the resulting advice is generally -- oh just do this or do this... its really easy.  Possessing that knowledge is not what players have when they are in their first days and months.  You hit on it in your last paragraph, Finn.

 

This is the identity crisis.  Are we all just racing to the "end game"?  I am not in a rush.  I want to enjoy the content, and the content I create, along the way.  I want to taste my food.