Population Data So Far

[Badvoc 204]

Its no surprise there's always a "boost" when a server is released, seen it time and time again over the years, why is that I wonder?

 

Could it be that the server feels alive and has people active that drives the boost and people really want to play with others in the main part, soon as it starts to go quiet people go back to old deeds or quit.

 

My personal time in wurm I have found the "new server" times some of the most enjoyable I have had but each new server has killed wurm a little more and more. A true paradox maybe its time to try something different than new land = new players. 

[SirMuttley 151]

It is interesting to note that WU servers offer almost everything being proposed to make wurm free players happy, and yet those populations are not exploding. Why? Free deeds? Check. Fast skill rate? Check? No riding restrictions? Check. QOL improvements? Check. No priest restrictions? Check. It's almost like there is no easy answer to this issue and simply pandering to free players isn't a silver bullet.

 

Maybe allowing the "base" skills like carpentry, masonry, and farming to be uncapped and allowing 0 speed horse riding for free would help, then gate the "advanced" skills like shipbuilding, fine carp, and AH behind membership. Runescape, everyone's favorite ftp example, does this. Also, maybe changing the initial deed cost to 1s and 30 days upkeep will make it easier for new players although without a code change that "under 30 days upkeep" stuff will immediately got into effect.

 

Many players I have known and experienced in the FTP games I have played are not committed to the games but are really just surfing their steam library looking for something to pass the time or are exploiters looking to min/max the rules, economy, and content. If the game fails, they just move on without a care in the world. Wurm being a long-term game isn't setup for instant gratification and as such will have a tough time drawing in steam library surfers, and it certainly isn't setup for free min/maxers exploiting the economy.

 

This isn't to say Wurm is perfect, it isn't and does have many areas for tweaking but any change needs to carefully balance the existing game with new ideas. As a cautionary tale, think back to what Sony did to SWG as an example of what listening to the immediate gratification crowd can do when dealing with long-term crafters and an invested playerbase.

[Etherdrifter 2,517]

2 minutes ago, SirMuttley said:

It is interesting to note that WU servers offer almost everything being proposed to make wurm free players happy, and yet those populations are not exploding. Why? Free deeds? Check. Fast skill rate? Check? No riding restrictions? Check. QOL improvements? Check. No priest restrictions? Check. It's almost like there is no easy answer to this issue and simply pandering to free players isn't a silver bullet.

 

Now this is a good argument; though I'd say that WU differs from WO in one key prospect - WU is not free whereas WO is.  This does make a huge difference in terms of potential playerbase since to get into WO no initial investment of any kind is required, whereas for WU a smallish initial investment is needed.  For my partner

 

One would not want to make premium play to go extinct; however there is a need for more life in the game world.  Runescape is often used as an example, but in runescape skilling has a much more social component.  A guy is sitting there skilling his melee on cows, a guy is gathering the leather for his crafting, another is gathering bones for prayer, and another is gathering meat for cooking.  These interactions are possible because free to play runescape is a LOT smaller than wurm online, and resources have a smaller impact upon the game world.

 

However, that does not mean that wurm can't learn from this.  Gating certain skills behind premium would definitely help, but creating a much stronger interlinking network of requirements between skills would also help.  Introducing components that require moderate skills to create that are used in useful constructs would be a good example here - so to create a large chest with noticeably extra capaciaty one must use "fine brackets" which require 50 blacksmithing to attempt to create; but also can only be created from materials whose quality is over 40 (failure results in a regular bracket).

[Spolmit 620]

I write the following as a person who loves Wurm, has played for a decade now and has paid premium throughout that time:

 

I sometimes play for two or three hours during every evening and most of that time I see no chat at all in my server. If I was a new player just trying out Wurm I would probably give it a few days and then try somewhere else without discovering the amazing game that we have here. I also write this as a person who is not a 'chatty' person myself but do enjoy the feeling of belonging to a community.

 

It is therefore surely evident that some things need to be tried out in order to encourage people to try Wurm and then stay.

 

As MrGARY stated earlier and elentari expanded on, free to play characters can in fact be just as important as those like me who pay. They help create the sense of community, they help with the 'imagination' of a vibrant active world that is simply waiting to be explored. In the real world, the VIP who pays more money for a better view of a sports event is no more important than the crowd in the tier furthest away from the action who in fact are the ones who create the atmosphere at such events.

 

What could be done? That is the great unknown but it will remain unknown until ideas have been tried out.  As a premium player I receive rewards every month that I can exchange for items that benefit me in-game. I would be quite happy if that was the main difference between f2p and p2p- I am sure that others would disagree!  I would also take a risk with substantially raising the levels achievable by f2p to at least 70. This would allow the 'free' player more time to get involved (hooked) in Wurm. I suspect that those who remain for longer will be more likely to invest in the premium side the further up-the-ladder they travel.

 

Events are often a source of great enjoyment in Wurm for older and some new players and there are those players who put a great deal of time, money and effort into creating things such as impalongs and unique hunts. Most of them seem to be the sort of person who does it for the love of the game but I feel that it would be good if such people received something not obtainable by others as a commemoration of their input into Wurm.

 

Are my ideas, comments and suggestions going to help? Quite possibly not and earlier Maiya wrote something that will ring a bell; 'Common sense- if too many people enjoy the free ride... and not enough people help pull, the wagon is not going anywhere' 

 

I would try to be a little more positive and say that if we had more people enjoying the ride some of them may be encouraged to get off the cart and start pulling. 

[Davih 1,340]

2 hours ago, SirMuttley said:

It is interesting to note that WU servers offer almost everything being proposed to make wurm free players happy, and yet those populations are not exploding. Why?

Most likely because people don't care about playing on someone else's private server, that could be closed any time the owner becomes tired, and with possibly fake economy and  favouritism.

[Reverent 282]

I agree a hybridized subscription model probably makes sense at this point. Look to Albion online as an effective implementation.

 

Ultimately I think the diminutive player count reflects a lack of ongoing content, being a direct result of the content being (comparatively) hard to implement. That is a structural issue.

[MrGARY 12,421]

On 3/13/2021 at 11:38 PM, SirMuttley said:

It is interesting to note that WU servers offer almost everything being proposed to make wurm free players happy, and yet those populations are not exploding. Why? Free deeds? Check. Fast skill rate? Check? No riding restrictions? Check. QOL improvements? Check. No priest restrictions? Check. It's almost like there is no easy answer to this issue and simply pandering to free players isn't a silver bullet.

 

you answered your own question by simply saying "wu".  its a no longer supported side game with no official servers and no official in game staff like there are in wo.  no one enjoys servers owned by other players that have ripe potential for so much abuse of power, no anti-cheat, no guarantee your work exists tomorrow, and so forth. 

 

On 3/13/2021 at 11:38 PM, SirMuttley said:

As a cautionary tale, think back to what Sony did to SWG as an example of what listening to the immediate gratification crowd can do when dealing with long-term crafters and an invested playerbase.

 

you can also look at how adding f2p at all to wurm improved the population vs when it was entirely p2p.  you also dont have to view it in such an overdramatic extreme way, giving more incentives for f2p to continue playing the game as f2p instead of leaving thinking the game sucks doesn't mean give them everything important which i dont even know how that relates to instant gratification

 

On 3/14/2021 at 12:05 AM, Etherdrifter said:

Runescape is often used as an example, but in runescape skilling has a much more social component.  A guy is sitting there skilling his melee on cows, a guy is gathering the leather for his crafting, another is gathering bones for prayer, and another is gathering meat for cooking.  These interactions are possible because free to play runescape is a LOT smaller than wurm online, and resources have a smaller impact upon the game world

 

the difference is runescape is only able to be social IN a local way because there aren't server or global chats outside of more private clan chats.  wurm makes up for the lack of the local social stuff by being able to talk to anyone on any (freedom) server at any given time without having to use an out of game method to do so

[RainRain 591]

On 3/13/2021 at 7:38 AM, SirMuttley said:

It is interesting to note that WU servers offer almost everything being proposed to make wurm free players happy, and yet those populations are not exploding. Why? Free deeds? Check. Fast skill rate? Check? No riding restrictions? Check. QOL improvements? Check. No priest restrictions? Check. It's almost like there is no easy answer to this issue and simply pandering to free players isn't a silver bullet.

 

Maybe allowing the "base" skills like carpentry, masonry, and farming to be uncapped and allowing 0 speed horse riding for free would help, then gate the "advanced" skills like shipbuilding, fine carp, and AH behind membership. Runescape, everyone's favorite ftp example, does this. Also, maybe changing the initial deed cost to 1s and 30 days upkeep will make it easier for new players although without a code change that "under 30 days upkeep" stuff will immediately got into effect.

 

Many players I have known and experienced in the FTP games I have played are not committed to the games but are really just surfing their steam library looking for something to pass the time or are exploiters looking to min/max the rules, economy, and content. If the game fails, they just move on without a care in the world. Wurm being a long-term game isn't setup for instant gratification and as such will have a tough time drawing in steam library surfers, and it certainly isn't setup for free min/maxers exploiting the economy.

 

This isn't to say Wurm is perfect, it isn't and does have many areas for tweaking but any change needs to carefully balance the existing game with new ideas. As a cautionary tale, think back to what Sony did to SWG as an example of what listening to the immediate gratification crowd can do when dealing with long-term crafters and an invested playerbase.

You can't compare WU, an experience where 1. moderation quality is extremely variable 2. population counts are split across many servers and are ALL over the place, 3. server quality is also extremely variable and 4. the mods chosen per server also vary wildly. And that's not even mentioning the game isn't even being updated anymore at all lol

If WU was a single server that was modified to implement everything "everyone wants and makes free players happy" this would make sense as an argument, but what people want is a very vague concept, and there are dozens of (mostly inactive) servers, not to mention lots of people just decide to make their own server and play alone. Considering how bare wurm's actual community gameplay is, there isn't a whole lot of reason to play on a community server unless you 1. want people to talk to (which you can do over like, dozens of other programs instead of via the wurm client) or 2. want pvp, in which case all wurm pvp is dead both wu and wo, so it barely matters.

Edited March 15, 2021 by RainRain

[Silberry 27]

What if the sub was dropped but instead the price for deeds was raised a little bit? This way the game would be really f2p but there would still be limitations and a source of income. For people with huge deeds on many servers this could be more expensive, but at the same time they wouldn't have to prem any alts for priesting etc. Just wondering.
On the other hand this might be bad for people like myself who has only one prem char at a time but a couple of smaller deeds on different servers.

Edited March 15, 2021 by Silberry
typo

[SirMuttley 151]

11 hours ago, RainRain said:

You can't compare WU, an experience where 1. moderation quality is extremely variable 2. population counts are split across many servers and are ALL over the place, 3. server quality is also extremely variable and 4. the mods chosen per server also vary wildly. And that's not even mentioning the game isn't even being updated anymore at all lol

I get it and I know why many, including myself, play WO *and pay for it*. 

Anyway, I've said my piece so I'll let ya'll bicker about how to run the company, offer stability, and put out new content with a majority of players being ftp.

[Zahnweh 51]

@elentariI agree with this so much.  People draw attention, attention brings in money, and money helps keep things going strong.  F2P can easily draw in a market, and some communities in MMOs have done better going F2P over P2P or monthly subs.  If people like a game enough, they will want to contribute to its growth.  One case in particular that I love is Path of Exile which doesn't require you to spend a dime on the game, but if you want to pay for cosmetics, it is open to you.  Money doesn't give you an advantage, it only gives you aesthetics.  Yet, people will pay for it.

 

It's just something I think that Wurm should think about.  Making the game open for free players can make it more appealing and increase likelihood to draw in more money. 

[Finnn 3,302]

that will hardly work.. ccab will need several art devs to print new skins and new items every month or few.. and even if the game had room to grow.. we'd bottleneck and get into problems soon enough with the performance issues, servers do not seem ready for mass amount of players, and the game currently have no mean to handle this problem, no new worlds, big events can kill a server performance.. we've seen this with rifts and 'slayings'.

 

Maybe it's time for a new client + renderer and some tougher server able to handle more items, players and actions.. current mechanics seem to have a limit and we can 'easily' reach it when we're having too much fun.

poe might be free, but without extra tabs, or the flashy graphics from skins for your char/pets/abilities.. it's not as fun, same could be applied here.. probably, similar example with warframe f2p, it's just slots and ez mode to just play anything if you pay, but power overall is the same and any f2p can get the same stuff by just playing the game a lot.

[elentari 2,660]

16 minutes ago, Finnn said:

servers do not seem ready for mass amount of players, and the game currently have no mean to handle this problem, no new worlds, big events can kill a server performance.. we've seen this with rifts and 'slayings'.

 

Completely agree on that one. I've been of the belief ever since we had big pvp fights on epic 3000 years ago gandalf, that the game needs to prioritize optimization of player count in local above many other considerations. How many pvpers remember crashing when local pop hit 50+ players? How many of us had 2 clients on standby, pre-opened when we crashed so we could quickly log back in?

 

Isn't it a crying shame we cannot have cities in wurm? We have small forts, villages, outposts, etc but nothing resembling a sprawling city filled with at least 100 unique citizens.

 

Why? Because it doesn't matter just how beastly your PC is, your fps is gonna plummet, you're likely to crash, it's going to be a slug-fest and I don't mean that in a fun way, I mean slug speed fps at best.

 

Why in 2021, having 50+ players in local puts the client in near suicide mode? 

 

Devs should prioritize ways to optimize this issue instead of adding too much "new content". What are the code/java limitations regarding players in local? How is data transmitted that causes such a massive lag spike for all? Is it hosting services related? Server related? There's gotta be a fix somewhere. I think one of the reasons wurm has an insidious subsconcious "ghost town" feeling in meeting only few people at a time is due to this issue. We can't have too many players. I'm not implying it should happen tomorrow, but somewhere we gotta start looking at the broader picture and start somewhere.

 

Wurm literally can't succeed if too many players show up all at once in one place, yet most of us are screaming for new wurmians to play with. < Insert ironic Darth Sidious meme>

 

It's a big shame that in the trailer we can see a towering city towards the end of the video but let's face it...that reality is a lie and non existent in wurm for a reason. Wurm client limitations discourage us from having a beautiful city to live in and fresh recruits to populate the game.

[Zexos 468]

One of the main reasons why new users might not be staying is because of how slow wurm is.  Many new users want instant gratification or at least as a faster progression then what wurm currently has in place.

Also because it is a sandbox game.  There are no set directions and lets face it, alot of people when they are new to a game want to know what they SHOULD do.  These ideas though would change the feeling of wurm and make it more in line with other MMO games.  I mean, hand holding is one thing but too much hand holding is going to far in my view.

 

What I would suggest for a start is to have the home cities on each server, actually have some substance.  Where players can get special missions/events from NPCs. That and also make each of those home cities have some design flare to them.  Like if a home city is surronded by desert then how about sandstone buildings to create a kind of desert vibe.  That and also a bit of background about the game like some story would be good to.  I know that wurm is a sandbox game where the players are meant to create everything and that is good and all but we can't be expected to create everything.  It is good to have some building blocks or a frame work to well, work with.

 

That and also push the idea that you CAN'T rush to a so called END GAME.  If you want wurm to be slow and grind filled then best to spell that out to players.  Cause then you get people who come to the game thinking that they can create buildings nice and fast.  Then getting bored that things are taking to long. 

Oh and of course the other issue is that from what I've heard, the longer a task takes to complete (With the timer bar) the more skill you get.  Along with using low ql tools.   Now should it not be the other way around?  Otherwise, why would you spent the time to improve your tools ql up so high when it does not give you that much skill?  (If you only focus on skill gain that is)

The great thing about wurm though is how expansive it is.  How much you can actually do and change. I really like being able to build things and change the world around me.  Though more content, more fixes, not to much hand holding and oh!  Maybe some new monsters!  or even some new mini games please would be cool.  Really liked the checkers mini game.
 

[Ame 99]

15 minutes ago, Zexos said:

Oh and of course the other issue is that from what I've heard, the longer a task takes to complete (With the timer bar) the more skill you get.  Along with using low ql tools.   Now should it not be the other way around?  Otherwise, why would you spent the time to improve your tools ql up so high when it does not give you that much skill?  (If you only focus on skill gain that is)

You have alot to learn still. 

 

Quote

There are no set directions and lets face it, alot of people when they are new to a game want to know what they SHOULD do. 

They could follow Journal and those who try wurm propably knows they are about to enter sandbox.

 

Quote

If you want wurm to be slow and grind filled then best to spell that out to players.  Cause then you get people who come to the game thinking that they can create buildings nice and fast.  Then getting bored that things are taking to long. 

Its good its like that, turns away alot of griefers and impatient persons. And its good Wurm doesnt have so much people like some games. I feel like after few thousand players same time online would be enough but 10 000 same time online would be propably way too much same time online. 

 

Quote

Where players can get special missions/events from NPCs.

That would be nice addition but nothing that would make you instead do those. Just so its more like direction giving method for new players to get into game better. But that system would take good long time to implement propably and i would rather they would use that time to more wurm-like things.

[Ame 99]

On 3/15/2021 at 1:32 PM, Silberry said:

What if the sub was dropped but instead the price for deeds was raised a little bit? This way the game would be really f2p but there would still be limitations and a source of income. For people with huge deeds on many servers this could be more expensive, but at the same time they wouldn't have to prem any alts for priesting etc. Just wondering.
On the other hand this might be bad for people like myself who has only one prem char at a time but a couple of smaller deeds on different servers.

@SilberryI dont think this would be good idea as its quite possible to live without deed with just premium. And i dont believe subs are reason for lower number of players ( got to remember there were much less players, 200-300 for few years same time online before steam release and it was enough to pay wurm for it to survive).

[Etherdrifter 2,517]

1 hour ago, Ame said:

That would be nice addition but nothing that would make you instead do those. Just so its more like direction giving method for new players to get into game better. But that system would take good long time to implement propably and i would rather they would use that time to more wurm-like things.

 

I'm going to disagree here; I think it might not be the worst idea in the world since all it is is npcs with a message box and a mission, both of which are systems we have already.  It would not be hard to implement a series of missions, the trouble is what missions would get people into wurm without being un-wurmish.

 

1 hour ago, Ame said:

You have alot to learn still. 

We all do; especially those who think they already know everything.  Jabs aside, wurm's current situation (longer timers=more skills and low QL tools are best for high level skilling) is a very "unique" (avoiding dev bashing there) design decision.  I can see the logic (gives every player a hand in the economy and balanced skillgain) but the reality is it fails to do this.  People game timers by hopping off buildings, and create alts for mandatorialy low QL items.

 

1 hour ago, Ame said:

@SilberryI dont think this would be good idea as its quite possible to live without deed with just premium. And i dont believe subs are reason for lower number of players ( got to remember there were much less players, 200-300 for few years same time online before steam release and it was enough to pay wurm for it to survive).

 

Now this is an interesting one, since a lot of games go free to play as one last cash grab, so it's hard to find reliable figures.  HOWEVER, a lot of negative reviews on steam were due to the fact that the game is not "free to play" as advertised and a lot slated the game for hiding this from players (and not to go against the crowd, but wurm is EXPENSIVE compared to a lot of games on the market).  If wurm upped land upkeep to match lost revenue from premium, it would be hard to predict what would happen since a lot of existing wurmians are hermits (the only kind of player really left).  However, if wurm kept premium but expanded the free game; that I would be willing to bet would expand player numbers to a much higher sustainable level.

[elentari 2,660]

44 minutes ago, Etherdrifter said:

HOWEVER, a lot of negative reviews on steam were due to the fact that the game is not "free to play" as advertised and a lot slated the game for hiding this from players

 

This. I keep coming back to this. I need to vent about this. I apologise for the textwall. 

 

I cannot for the love of anything (maybe my brain is broken) fathom how you can claim something is free yet you have to pay for it.

It's really a black or white situation we encounter 1000x in our lives. 

 

Something is either free

 

or...

 

It's free but...

 

The sentence "it's free but..." is one of the most disingenuous phenomena in the world. Lot of marketers base their entire sell point on making things seem free but there's that teensy weensy skeptical voice in everyone asking...ok..."what's the catch?" ... "AHA!! knew it wasn't free! Lies again!" . 

 

So wurm needs to really ditch the entire "free" thing and people need to stop arguing that you can enjoy wurm as a fremium player. Nope. You can't. All of the game's important content is locked behind prem. Can't build bigger houses, can't fight anything stronger than a bear, can't ride a horse, can't priest, etc. I dare any player that argues "you can enjoy wurm without subscribing once" play for an  entire year having all their skills locked at 20 and play with those limitations. Let's see how you handle rifts. Or unique hunts. Or running from a troll on your 5 speed cow. 

 

You cannot make the statement that a pack of gummy bears is free but after you eat 2 gummy bears, the pack autoseals itself and doesn't open unless you shell out 5 bucks. 

 

So Wurm is either free or "it's free but" in which case that sentence alone will trigger those cynical synapses in people's brains and associate wurm with just another one of those games that seems like a "pay to play" or "pay to win" kind of scheme. 

Fyi I have read all of the steam reviews by now out of curiosity, there aren't that many. A lot of the negative ones are aimed at : 

 

1. The slow pace of wurm.

2. The fact that it advertises itself as free but it isn't. 

3. Outdated graphics/ animations. (can't really fix that, it's a subjective taste)

4. Clunky interface (here again, it's subjective, I've met people who couldn't even manage a basic phone app interface and had to ###### about everything)

5. Jabs at devs (can't comment at those either, since it just might be trolls or situations that I don't know about)

 

The 1st can be fixed and made more dynamic. After all Epic has 2x timers, I can't see why we can't speed up freedom timers by say 30% to make it more appealing. Not everyone has years to dedicate to a game. Wurm is incredibly unrealistic in the expectation its turnover will be good enough to absorb new players as older ones quit. 

The 2nd can be easily fixed by changing either the description of the game on steam and removing its "free" tags. Or just update wurm;'s monetization model to attract a greater freemium base that can add value to the game's quality by having a livelier world. 

 

The rest are subjective points of views. 

[Ekcin 2,406]

Just a not because that upsets me every time, the alleged "outdated" or "clunky" graphics. This is the babble of technically inept and intellectually challenged persons without any clue about technology, and with questionable taste. Obviously there are a lot of them as often as this babble occurs, and sadly it is even repeated by people who should know better.

 

Wurm is a high resolution graphic environment where you can place thousands of objects at your own decision, where you can shape the environs at your will, and where scores of items like trees change over time and seasons. It is more detailed, despite that, than a lot of other MMOs, not so many of them seamless open world. Any comparison with single user games with their nearly photorealistic, but almost totally pre cooked and invariable, carefully shaped graphics, even movie sequences with real actors, just reveals lack of understanding. I compared Wurm to most popular MMOs, recent as well as older, and fail to see where its graphics are backwards.

 

And, btw., if "unmodern" graphics were an issue, why is WoW classic a success, why Valheim?

[Griffith 362]

 

Quote

2 hours ago, Ekcin said:

Just a not because that upsets me every time, the alleged "outdated" or "clunky" graphics. This is the babble of technically inept and intellectually challenged persons without any clue about technology, and with questionable taste. Obviously there are a lot of them as often as this babble occurs, and sadly it is even repeated by people who should know better.

 

Wurm is a high resolution graphic environment where you can place thousands of objects at your own decision, where you can shape the environs at your will, and where scores of items like trees change over time and seasons. It is more detailed, despite that, than a lot of other MMOs, not so many of them seamless open world. Any comparison with single user games with their nearly photorealistic, but almost totally pre cooked and invariable, carefully shaped graphics, even movie sequences with real actors, just reveals lack of understanding. I compared Wurm to most popular MMOs, recent as well as older, and fail to see where its graphics are backwards.

 

And, btw., if "unmodern" graphics were an issue, why is WoW classic a success, why Valheim?

 

 

ill be a devils advocate and say, he clearly said it was a subjective opinion from people commenting in reviews.

i personally think wurm has beautiful graphics and when people complain about graphics

they really mean clunky interface and controls and timers, but its also my subjective opinion.

 

Quote

2 hours ago, elentari said:

 

This. I keep coming back to this. I need to vent about this. I apologise for the textwall. 

 

I cannot for the love of anything (maybe my brain is broken) fathom how you can claim something is free yet you have to pay for it.

It's really a black or white situation we encounter 1000x in our lives. 

 

Something is either free

 

or...

 

It's free but...

 

The sentence "it's free but..." is one of the most disingenuous phenomena in the world. Lot of marketers base their entire sell point on making things seem free but there's that teensy weensy skeptical voice in everyone asking...ok..."what's the catch?" ... "AHA!! knew it wasn't free! Lies again!" . 

 

So wurm needs to really ditch the entire "free" thing and people need to stop arguing that you can enjoy wurm as a fremium player. Nope. You can't. All of the game's important content is locked behind prem. Can't build bigger houses, can't fight anything stronger than a bear, can't ride a horse, can't priest, etc. I dare any player that argues "you can enjoy wurm without subscribing once" play for an  entire year having all their skills locked at 20 and play with those limitations. Let's see how you handle rifts. Or unique hunts. Or running from a troll on your 5 speed cow. 

 

You cannot make the statement that a pack of gummy bears is free but after you eat 2 gummy bears, the pack autoseals itself and doesn't open unless you shell out 5 bucks. 

 

So Wurm is either free or "it's free but" in which case that sentence alone will trigger those cynical synapses in people's brains and associate wurm with just another one of those games that seems like a "pay to play" or "pay to win" kind of scheme. 

Fyi I have read all of the steam reviews by now out of curiosity, there aren't that many. A lot of the negative ones are aimed at : 

 

1. The slow pace of wurm.

2. The fact that it advertises itself as free but it isn't. 

3. Outdated graphics/ animations. (can't really fix that, it's a subjective taste)

4. Clunky interface (here again, it's subjective, I've met people who couldn't even manage a basic phone app interface and had to ###### about everything)

5. Jabs at devs (can't comment at those either, since it just might be trolls or situations that I don't know about)

 

The 1st can be fixed and made more dynamic. After all Epic has 2x timers, I can't see why we can't speed up freedom timers by say 30% to make it more appealing. Not everyone has years to dedicate to a game. Wurm is incredibly unrealistic in the expectation its turnover will be good enough to absorb new players as older ones quit. 

The 2nd can be easily fixed by changing either the description of the game on steam and removing its "free" tags. Or just update wurm;'s monetization model to attract a greater freemium base that can add value to the game's quality by having a livelier world. 

 

The rest are subjective points of views. 

 

 

dont worry, it will all eventually be fixed by pulling an ace from up their sleeve, by... adding more servers. /s

[Sindusk 2,448]

Was wondering what the overall trend looked like since the start of the Steam launch. I updated the sheet I had made on the first page with all the new data up until this point. Thanks @Etherdrifterfor providing it in readable format each month.

It ended up kind of ugly, so I opted to remove all the major outliers (due to updates, server restarts, etc.) to avoid them affecting the trendline, as well as adding some tick marks for notable updates.

[elentari 2,660]

Seems those updates didn't kick up a lot of dust, player count wise.

 

Perhaps those types of content isn't what wurm needs at the moment. Don't get me wrong about combat updates, I just think it wasn't done fully.

 

There's been a lot of jabber about how many of us want actual numbers and statistics to work with in game.

Wurm is quite literally the only game i know of in 2021, that doesn't display any sort of number to guide you. Which is really ironic since everything about wurm is statistics in the end. Every player eventually asks what's the formula to best grind a certain skill, using certain tools with certain enchants. Everything about wurm boils down to statistics and math and yet..

 

We don't have statistics for combat. At all. We have some minor vague references on the wiki and sindusk's post regarding how combat works but let's face it. How many people have time to read those? A lot of games use the approach of either giving you a combat tutorial or you learn by experience. Sadly without actual numbers, it'll take months to figure out how wurm combat knows. Again I feel this is setting the bar too high when something as combat in a game should be straightforward.

 

And that kind of thinking is perhaps why the combat update didn't kick up a stir as much as it should have. It's not too late though. Devs can always implement having numbers in wurm to help people figure out what's the best way to fight. I think that will go a loong way to satisfy wurmians.

 

Hope the devs will begin considering shoring up wurm player pop by giving the freemium model more room to make it viable and rework monetization overall. This player pop trend doesn't look healthy at all.

[Finnn 3,302]

HIRE this guy!

Spoiler

9 hours ago, Sindusk said:

Was wondering what the overall trend looked like since the start of the Steam launch. I updated the sheet I had made on the first page with all the new data up until this point. Thanks @Etherdrifterfor providing it in readable format each month.

It ended up kind of ugly, so I opted to remove all the major outliers (due to updates, server restarts, etc.) to avoid them affecting the trendline, as well as adding some tick marks for notable updates.

 

 

SteamCharts shows same trend.. (not ideal tracking, and it's only for steam client users) - https://steamcharts.com/app/1179680#All 

[Etherdrifter 2,517]

Alright, first things first...  The new data!

 

Spoiler

234,387,2021-03-11,18:0:1
301,425,2021-03-11,19:0:1
300,431,2021-03-11,20:0:1
291,419,2021-03-11,21:0:1
264,424,2021-03-11,22:0:1
241,391,2021-03-11,23:0:1
234,361,2021-03-12,0:0:2
235,331,2021-03-12,1:0:2
242,357,2021-03-12,2:0:2
229,347,2021-03-12,3:0:1
222,337,2021-03-12,4:0:1
200,311,2021-03-12,5:0:1
155,266,2021-03-12,6:0:1
150,267,2021-03-12,7:0:1
131,252,2021-03-12,8:0:1
126,243,2021-03-12,9:0:1
126,250,2021-03-12,10:0:1
132,249,2021-03-12,11:0:2
161,256,2021-03-12,12:0:2
194,279,2021-03-12,13:0:2
12,32,2021-03-12,14:0:1
174,233,2021-03-12,15:0:1
219,305,2021-03-12,16:0:1
259,353,2021-03-12,17:0:1
239,417,2021-03-12,18:0:1
266,410,2021-03-12,19:0:1
283,432,2021-03-12,20:0:1
290,459,2021-03-12,21:0:1
333,457,2021-03-12,22:0:1
296,466,2021-03-12,23:0:1
263,433,2021-03-13,0:0:1
259,404,2021-03-13,1:0:1
243,394,2021-03-13,2:0:1
249,354,2021-03-13,3:0:2
223,339,2021-03-13,4:0:2
193,333,2021-03-13,5:0:2
167,312,2021-03-13,6:0:1
146,293,2021-03-13,7:0:1
147,269,2021-03-13,8:0:1
152,275,2021-03-13,9:0:1
159,253,2021-03-13,10:0:1
165,263,2021-03-13,11:0:1
213,259,2021-03-13,12:0:1
219,280,2021-03-13,13:0:1
251,306,2021-03-13,14:0:2
274,367,2021-03-13,15:0:2
323,408,2021-03-13,16:0:2
355,452,2021-03-13,17:0:1
403,461,2021-03-13,18:0:1
510,466,2021-03-13,19:0:1
417,484,2021-03-13,20:0:1
372,489,2021-03-13,21:0:1
348,452,2021-03-13,22:0:1
299,450,2021-03-13,23:0:1
277,394,2021-03-14,0:0:1
280,351,2021-03-14,1:0:1
261,356,2021-03-14,2:0:1
246,359,2021-03-14,3:0:1
218,346,2021-03-14,4:0:1
199,341,2021-03-14,5:0:1
179,320,2021-03-14,6:0:1
164,272,2021-03-14,7:0:1
178,283,2021-03-14,8:0:1
175,266,2021-03-14,9:0:1
177,285,2021-03-14,10:0:1
181,290,2021-03-14,11:0:1
193,305,2021-03-14,12:0:1
206,327,2021-03-14,13:0:1
229,360,2021-03-14,14:0:1
275,411,2021-03-14,15:0:1
311,450,2021-03-14,16:0:1
330,482,2021-03-14,17:0:1
340,501,2021-03-14,18:0:2
350,501,2021-03-14,19:0:2
358,536,2021-03-14,20:0:1
352,525,2021-03-14,21:0:1
339,507,2021-03-14,22:0:1
309,505,2021-03-14,23:0:1
270,444,2021-03-15,0:0:1
247,379,2021-03-15,1:0:1
243,346,2021-03-15,2:0:1
221,340,2021-03-15,3:0:1
181,302,2021-03-15,4:0:1
159,286,2021-03-15,5:0:1
146,249,2021-03-15,6:0:1
132,243,2021-03-15,7:0:1
131,228,2021-03-15,8:0:1
130,228,2021-03-15,9:0:1
144,234,2021-03-15,10:0:1
154,270,2021-03-15,11:0:1
165,266,2021-03-15,12:0:1
174,291,2021-03-15,13:0:1
201,299,2021-03-15,14:0:1
232,330,2021-03-15,15:0:1
248,363,2021-03-15,16:0:1
288,438,2021-03-15,17:0:1
320,437,2021-03-15,18:0:1
315,455,2021-03-15,19:0:1
348,501,2021-03-15,20:0:1
343,475,2021-03-15,21:0:2
342,459,2021-03-15,22:0:2
274,417,2021-03-15,23:0:1
258,388,2021-03-16,0:0:1
246,376,2021-03-16,1:0:1
241,377,2021-03-16,2:0:1
200,373,2021-03-16,3:0:1
171,328,2021-03-16,4:0:1
158,285,2021-03-16,5:0:1
143,246,2021-03-16,6:0:1
139,229,2021-03-16,7:0:2
133,234,2021-03-16,8:0:2
149,235,2021-03-16,9:0:2
140,265,2021-03-16,10:0:1
139,274,2021-03-16,11:0:1
158,270,2021-03-16,12:0:1
179,298,2021-03-16,13:0:1
177,341,2021-03-16,14:0:1
188,346,2021-03-16,15:0:1
208,369,2021-03-16,16:0:1
265,402,2021-03-16,17:0:1
305,434,2021-03-16,18:0:1
343,448,2021-03-16,19:0:1
339,465,2021-03-16,20:0:1
328,465,2021-03-16,21:0:1
328,446,2021-03-16,22:0:1
302,428,2021-03-16,23:0:2
259,402,2021-03-17,0:0:2
243,382,2021-03-17,1:0:1
238,389,2021-03-17,2:0:1
209,357,2021-03-17,3:0:1
186,332,2021-03-17,4:0:1
166,290,2021-03-17,5:0:1
140,269,2021-03-17,6:0:1
142,259,2021-03-17,7:0:1
147,244,2021-03-17,8:0:1
141,263,2021-03-17,9:0:1
134,285,2021-03-17,10:0:1
154,298,2021-03-17,11:0:2
184,291,2021-03-17,12:0:2
209,288,2021-03-17,13:0:1
193,332,2021-03-17,14:0:1
227,358,2021-03-17,15:0:1
247,377,2021-03-17,16:0:1
276,411,2021-03-17,17:0:1
307,454,2021-03-17,18:0:1
340,447,2021-03-17,19:0:1
343,475,2021-03-17,20:0:1
333,468,2021-03-17,21:0:1
306,467,2021-03-17,22:0:1
298,434,2021-03-17,23:0:1
264,433,2021-03-18,0:0:1
261,410,2021-03-18,1:0:1
239,394,2021-03-18,2:0:2
201,365,2021-03-18,3:0:2
185,335,2021-03-18,4:0:2
158,272,2021-03-18,5:0:1
137,275,2021-03-18,6:0:1
139,251,2021-03-18,7:0:1
135,260,2021-03-18,8:0:1
136,259,2021-03-18,9:0:1
142,268,2021-03-18,10:0:1
146,279,2021-03-18,11:0:1
168,306,2021-03-18,12:0:2
44,67,2021-03-18,13:0:2
134,256,2021-03-18,14:0:1
183,317,2021-03-18,15:0:1
225,327,2021-03-18,16:0:1
264,369,2021-03-18,17:0:1
278,406,2021-03-18,18:0:1
285,456,2021-03-18,19:0:1
309,462,2021-03-18,20:0:1
304,476,2021-03-18,21:0:1
273,463,2021-03-18,22:0:1
249,427,2021-03-18,23:0:1
252,402,2021-03-19,0:0:1
257,388,2021-03-19,1:0:1
226,372,2021-03-19,2:0:1
221,360,2021-03-19,3:0:2
192,342,2021-03-19,4:0:2
159,315,2021-03-19,5:0:2
159,259,2021-03-19,6:0:1
156,249,2021-03-19,7:0:1
140,221,2021-03-19,8:0:1
149,233,2021-03-19,9:0:1
137,228,2021-03-19,10:0:1
149,246,2021-03-19,11:0:1
173,261,2021-03-19,12:0:1
197,292,2021-03-19,13:0:1
234,315,2021-03-19,14:0:2
247,338,2021-03-19,15:0:2
272,395,2021-03-19,16:0:2
296,411,2021-03-19,17:0:1
311,416,2021-03-19,18:0:1
313,469,2021-03-19,19:0:1
312,559,2021-03-19,20:0:1
301,527,2021-03-19,21:0:1
300,528,2021-03-19,22:0:1
282,472,2021-03-19,23:0:1
287,407,2021-03-20,0:0:1
264,381,2021-03-20,1:0:1
242,367,2021-03-20,2:0:1
225,387,2021-03-20,3:0:1
222,358,2021-03-20,4:0:1
206,334,2021-03-20,5:0:1
189,312,2021-03-20,6:0:2
160,279,2021-03-20,7:0:1
165,275,2021-03-20,8:0:1
175,276,2021-03-20,9:0:1
174,286,2021-03-20,10:0:1
198,328,2021-03-20,11:0:1
198,311,2021-03-20,12:0:1
216,350,2021-03-20,13:0:1
234,360,2021-03-20,14:0:1
258,386,2021-03-20,15:0:1
323,411,2021-03-20,16:0:1
376,418,2021-03-20,17:0:2
379,440,2021-03-20,18:0:2
357,464,2021-03-20,19:0:2
375,454,2021-03-20,20:0:1
377,474,2021-03-20,21:0:1
348,467,2021-03-20,22:0:1
324,432,2021-03-20,23:0:1
315,423,2021-03-21,0:0:1
276,411,2021-03-21,1:0:1
260,386,2021-03-21,2:0:1
234,363,2021-03-21,3:0:1
216,331,2021-03-21,4:0:1
165,292,2021-03-21,5:0:1
156,289,2021-03-21,6:0:1
147,265,2021-03-21,7:0:1
155,244,2021-03-21,8:0:1
160,256,2021-03-21,9:0:1
184,257,2021-03-21,10:0:1
215,322,2021-03-21,11:0:1
202,330,2021-03-21,12:0:1
250,347,2021-03-21,13:0:1
276,372,2021-03-21,14:0:1
296,388,2021-03-21,15:0:1
333,444,2021-03-21,16:0:1
347,477,2021-03-21,17:0:1
344,481,2021-03-21,18:0:2
348,502,2021-03-21,19:0:2
346,479,2021-03-21,20:0:2
336,507,2021-03-21,21:0:1
297,467,2021-03-21,22:0:1
273,421,2021-03-21,23:0:1
260,405,2021-03-22,0:0:1
241,382,2021-03-22,1:0:1
212,385,2021-03-22,2:0:1
196,382,2021-03-22,3:0:1
185,366,2021-03-22,4:0:1
160,313,2021-03-22,5:0:1
151,273,2021-03-22,6:0:1
144,256,2021-03-22,7:0:2
146,250,2021-03-22,8:0:1
146,253,2021-03-22,9:0:1
158,258,2021-03-22,10:0:1
160,271,2021-03-22,11:0:1
1,0,2021-03-22,12:0:1
1,0,2021-03-22,14:0:1
117,187,2021-03-22,15:0:1
185,320,2021-03-22,16:0:1
209,374,2021-03-22,17:0:1
224,418,2021-03-22,18:0:1
238,453,2021-03-22,19:0:1
285,460,2021-03-22,20:0:1
285,486,2021-03-22,21:0:2
280,470,2021-03-22,22:0:2
261,428,2021-03-22,23:0:2
240,420,2021-03-23,0:0:1
224,381,2021-03-23,1:0:1
212,340,2021-03-23,2:0:1
186,338,2021-03-23,3:0:1
179,296,2021-03-23,4:0:1
145,275,2021-03-23,5:0:1
161,273,2021-03-23,6:0:1
151,234,2021-03-23,7:0:2
140,228,2021-03-23,8:0:2
157,247,2021-03-23,9:0:2
161,267,2021-03-23,10:0:1
182,264,2021-03-23,11:0:1
176,278,2021-03-23,12:0:1
204,296,2021-03-23,13:0:1
213,304,2021-03-23,14:0:1
230,340,2021-03-23,15:0:1
248,391,2021-03-23,16:0:1
251,417,2021-03-23,17:0:1
269,420,2021-03-23,18:0:1
280,459,2021-03-23,19:0:1
319,490,2021-03-23,20:0:1
343,495,2021-03-23,21:0:1
304,458,2021-03-23,22:0:1
283,405,2021-03-23,23:0:2
252,376,2021-03-24,0:0:2
245,369,2021-03-24,1:0:2
217,337,2021-03-24,2:0:1
179,325,2021-03-24,3:0:1
180,311,2021-03-24,4:0:1
149,274,2021-03-24,5:0:1
128,255,2021-03-24,6:0:1
117,238,2021-03-24,7:0:1
128,227,2021-03-24,8:0:1
133,244,2021-03-24,9:0:1
147,263,2021-03-24,10:0:2
164,264,2021-03-24,11:0:2
179,280,2021-03-24,12:0:2
202,295,2021-03-24,13:0:1
202,315,2021-03-24,14:0:1
215,339,2021-03-24,15:0:1
252,372,2021-03-24,16:0:1
257,391,2021-03-24,17:0:1
285,424,2021-03-24,18:0:1
295,452,2021-03-24,19:0:1
323,474,2021-03-24,20:0:1
334,471,2021-03-24,21:0:1
303,417,2021-03-24,22:0:1
268,401,2021-03-24,23:0:1
265,366,2021-03-25,0:0:1
236,378,2021-03-25,1:0:1
219,342,2021-03-25,2:0:2
186,330,2021-03-25,3:0:2
161,314,2021-03-25,4:0:2
138,271,2021-03-25,5:0:1
113,257,2021-03-25,6:0:1
128,240,2021-03-25,7:0:1
128,237,2021-03-25,8:0:1
129,240,2021-03-25,9:0:1
146,271,2021-03-25,10:0:1
165,265,2021-03-25,11:0:1
188,275,2021-03-25,12:0:1
210,314,2021-03-25,13:0:2
233,319,2021-03-25,14:0:2
257,334,2021-03-25,15:0:1
272,379,2021-03-25,16:0:1
278,390,2021-03-25,17:0:1
299,399,2021-03-25,18:0:1
319,418,2021-03-25,19:0:1
344,447,2021-03-25,20:0:1
342,455,2021-03-25,21:0:1
291,462,2021-03-25,22:0:1
259,407,2021-03-25,23:0:1
260,384,2021-03-26,0:0:1
239,366,2021-03-26,1:0:1
206,336,2021-03-26,2:0:1
188,302,2021-03-26,3:0:1
167,296,2021-03-26,4:0:1
158,268,2021-03-26,5:0:2
161,247,2021-03-26,6:0:2
138,230,2021-03-26,7:0:1
128,226,2021-03-26,8:0:1
126,216,2021-03-26,9:0:1
161,262,2021-03-26,10:0:1
170,287,2021-03-26,11:0:1
1,0,2021-03-26,12:0:1
90,162,2021-03-26,13:0:1
192,272,2021-03-26,14:0:1
216,311,2021-03-26,15:0:2
234,348,2021-03-26,16:0:2
241,388,2021-03-26,17:0:2
254,417,2021-03-26,18:0:1
267,435,2021-03-26,19:0:1
285,488,2021-03-26,20:0:1
286,508,2021-03-26,21:0:1
268,514,2021-03-26,22:0:1
275,470,2021-03-26,23:0:1
243,415,2021-03-27,0:0:1
222,364,2021-03-27,1:0:1
232,346,2021-03-27,2:0:1
204,301,2021-03-27,3:0:1
173,299,2021-03-27,4:0:1
165,246,2021-03-27,5:0:1
149,240,2021-03-27,6:0:1
129,256,2021-03-27,7:0:1
130,264,2021-03-27,8:0:1
139,250,2021-03-27,9:0:1
156,266,2021-03-27,10:0:1
181,327,2021-03-27,11:0:1
204,358,2021-03-27,12:0:1
241,332,2021-03-27,13:0:1
248,360,2021-03-27,14:0:1
268,387,2021-03-27,15:0:1
271,414,2021-03-27,16:0:1
291,433,2021-03-27,17:0:2
322,448,2021-03-27,18:0:2
343,458,2021-03-27,19:0:2
348,506,2021-03-27,20:0:1
351,499,2021-03-27,21:0:1
343,494,2021-03-27,22:0:1
287,460,2021-03-27,23:0:1
266,441,2021-03-28,0:0:1
227,430,2021-03-28,2:0:1
219,397,2021-03-28,3:0:1
220,396,2021-03-28,4:0:1
187,376,2021-03-28,5:0:1
165,314,2021-03-28,6:0:1
135,288,2021-03-28,7:0:1
136,271,2021-03-28,8:0:1
122,274,2021-03-28,9:0:1
141,268,2021-03-28,10:0:1
155,287,2021-03-28,11:0:1
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150,234,2021-04-16,8:0:2
147,230,2021-04-16,9:0:2
151,246,2021-04-16,10:0:1
167,272,2021-04-16,11:0:1
150,282,2021-04-16,12:0:1
141,299,2021-04-16,13:0:1
168,321,2021-04-16,14:0:1
175,348,2021-04-16,15:0:1
219,370,2021-04-16,16:0:1
218,375,2021-04-16,17:0:1
243,374,2021-04-16,18:0:1
269,431,2021-04-16,19:0:1
285,426,2021-04-16,20:0:1
281,433,2021-04-16,21:0:1

 

Next an important note, some of the cells in the spreadsheet borked last month, the summaries were off by a fair bit!  The ACTUAL monthly numbers are summarised in the table below:

 

           Old                      New                    Total
Aug    229.3692741    1332.756632    1562.125906
Sep    195.1305556    1031.752778    1226.883333
Oct    186.3627419    769.5721505    955.9348925
Nov    208.9932367    661.1175725    870.1108092
Dec    232.9855391    532.9116941    765.8972332
Jan    233.7135981    465.431696    699.1452941
Feb    236.1310818    407.5313225    643.6624042
Mar    222.7006779    348.7639084    571.4645863

 

As you can see, the new cluster has been in continual decline, stablility hasn't been approaching, but a slow and steady collapse has been underway.  The attrition rate is around about 14% of players per month in the new cluster.  At its current rate of delcine, if this doesn't slow down, we can extrapolate that the new cluster will have less players in it than the old cluster in about 3--4 months (though, this is an extrapolation and should be taken with a pinch of salt).

 

The old cluster rallied previously till Feb, and declined in march, indeed, the early data for April suggests that it is continuing to decline further at a slow rate.  It is fairly likely to dip below the 200 average again before the year's end and place itself in a critical condition.
 

Looking at population overall (ignoring that many alts exist, and the possiblity of people multi-boxing on different servers) the general trend is downwards.  The rate of loss being, on average, about 14% of the total population per month which gives a projected loss in population of 65% over the last 7 months.

 

Both clusters are now in decline, which is somewhat alarming.  That is not to say that decline is unexpected, it's generally normal for this month.  The old cluster seems to be following traditional patterns, whereas the new cluster is just in absolute freefall.  Overall, the news isn't that great for March, I wish I had better to report.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 16, 2021 by Etherdrifter
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[elentari 2,660]

Wonder if the pandemic is also a variable. Lots of people lost their jobs or had to reprioritize their spending and not everyone has money to sink in videogames at the moment. 

 

But the situation seems to be following familiar patterns. Hope the devs figure out they need to spruce up some new content to keep people engaged or maybe hold a poll or community discussion to make Wurm more engaging.

 

Perhaps  2-3 seasonal servers with specific functions? 

 

1. A challenge type pvp server with 50x skillgain, no LOOT drops and just plain old slaughter  & capture some areas on a small 4x4 map. 

2. PVE zombie survival? Zombies will actively seek to bash down walls, have to survive waves of them assaulting your deed/fortress, something like that.

 

Dunno, spitballing some ideas to get some new content.