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Retrograde

Retro's School on How To Do Stuff Good (Video Tutorial Ideas)

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Hi! 

 

Welcome to the market research aspect of a YouTube video tutorial series aimed at the basics of Wurm, each short video would be focused on a particular aspect (digging, mining, woodcutting) aimed at getting the basics covered. 

I suspect it may get a little more involved down the line, but I'm curious, what areas would you like to see covered first? 

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General grinding methods for skills (such as improvement skills, gathering skills and whatnot) as for those it’s not always obvious what you should be doing.

 

Number go up is the most important thing in wurm, and many people don’t realize how to do that for many skills. Oblivion’s thread would be a good place to go over that with.

 

Obviously something else would be a genera overview of the combat system- you have no idea how many times i’ve explained to people what certain mechanics are and theyd never known (for example, sheltering body parts and how great it is, as well as aimin opposite directions from where an npc is sheltering)

 

From there, a general overview of the servers that exist, THEIR POPULATIONS, and encouraging people to seek out communities in those servers no matter where they go. Then, a thing to stress in these tutorial videos are promises of what the player could do- whether they want to run a massive business on freedom and become rich, or live somewhere distant and make a pretty place, or join a giant sprawling city. Or to join the forbidden land that no lion should go to and try out pvp.

 

 

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29 minutes ago, RainRain said:

General grinding methods for skills (such as improvement skills, gathering skills and whatnot) as for those it’s not always obvious what you should be doing.

 

Number go up is the most important thing in wurm, and many people don’t realize how to do that for many skills.

 

I would completely disagree with that.  "Grinding methods" are sort of meta-gaming, but that's fine for those who want to do it.  As to "number go up is the most important thing in Wurm" that may well be true for you - it certainly is for some - but not for others. 

 

I could not care less what my numbers are.  I am a sailor, mountain-climber, explorer what have you.  I have much more joy in the achievement of discovery than in the accumulation of numbers.

 

 

Digging/terraforming is a definite need - despite the tutorial I only really learned how to terraform in WU.  Construction versus crafting, as well (although maybe it would be better to have ONE consistent method)

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51 minutes ago, RainRain said:

General grinding methods for skills (such as improvement skills, gathering skills and whatnot) as for those it’s not always obvious what you should be doing.

 

Number go up is the most important thing in wurm, and many people don’t realize how to do that for many skills. Oblivion’s thread would be a good place to go over that with.

 

Obviously something else would be a genera overview of the combat system- you have no idea how many times i’ve explained to people what certain mechanics are and theyd never known (for example, sheltering body parts and how great it is, as well as aimin opposite directions from where an npc is sheltering)

 

From there, a general overview of the servers that exist, THEIR POPULATIONS, and encouraging people to seek out communities in those servers no matter where they go. Then, a thing to stress in these tutorial videos are promises of what the player could do- whether they want to run a massive business on freedom and become rich, or live somewhere distant and make a pretty place, or join a giant sprawling city. Or to join the forbidden land that no lion should go to and try out pvp.

 

 

I won't be diving into optimum grinding, more just "how to do stuff in the world" 

 

How to understand slopes

How to locate paths

How to use highways

 

This is beginner level stuff

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I think this would be a great thing for Wurm. Would it be something that could somehow be shown ingame during the tutorial? Not sure how doable that would be just an idea.

 

Some video topics/ideas:

  • Client Basics (Brief overview of the options menus and settings and what they all do, how to keybind in the menu, what the chat tabs are) 
  • The wiki and ingame crafting list
  • Starting tool set, and what things are for and the importance to keep them 
  • A basic overview of tools - "This is a blacksmithing set, a carpentry set, leatherworking set" etc
  • How to interact with the world - Basics of movement, examine, interacting with things in the world, mention of weight and speed, slope etc, climbing.
  • Navigation - How to use the highway system, community maps, ingame map, landmarks and navigation basics, compass, plotting course on ships, highway destinations.
  • Basics of Woodcutting - tree types, ages, cutting down/chopping, forestry (sprouts, picking, planting)
  • Basics of Digging / Terraforming - borders, slopes, terrain types and tiles, dig/level/flatten
  • Prospecting 101 - basic guide to looking for ores
  • Mining 101 - opening a tunnel, different mine directions, borders, reinforcements/cave ins, ores
  • Survival - Stamina, Water, Food, CCFP, Tent, Basic cooking
  • Starting a homestead (The deed making process)
  • Overview of permissions system and how it all works (Deed permissions, vehicle, chests, houses etc)

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The existing tutorial series cover most of the stuff mentioned here already if you want to reinvent the wheel do it by combining topics

Take a video on terraforming as a whole explain it from digging to flatten to level to surface mining to the "a shovel just wont do" messages because of tile interactions based on which corner is diggable and which one isnt do a deep dive into terraforming as a whole not just the basics
Add ontop timestamps in the video and in the description and segment it into chapters of basic and advanced and label them as such

Another topic would be how to survive your first few days and get food and protect yourself and dive into avoiding mobs and how water blocks them and how towers work and what animals to avoid early on and such
Explaining the client how to properly activate and use tools how to interact with the world and such is also a good one
"Getting the most out of your first week in wurm and the hurdles and traps of starting out" is another one you can do

A lot of the existing tutorials out there do a good job at it its just that they are either old or not tagged properly so yt wont display them early on and a lot of them do their video's randomly without order if you really want to make a good tutorial series plan your video's ahead of time create a proper flow from basics to more advanced and upload them as such too

One great way to do it would be a quick simple heavily cut and edited tutorial series that is straight to the point in explaining things without long dragged on sentences keep things short and compact dont add too many things into 1 video unless the topic needs it 
What i notice is a lot of lets play yt's doing drawn out tutorials for games and they do a few and quit as they dont get the views as well their video's feel drawn out and too much info into them too quickly(poe's streamer zizaram has this with his poe university video's) the topics are not clear there is no clear flow from point a to b it kinda just goes all over the place turning a 20 min video into 1-2 hours and a lot of lets players do this too

So something you can do is have quick short video's that explain the topic in enough detail and then a "deep dive" video released along it that is longer that goes into the topic a lot more so that people can quickly go "im stuck on terraforming lets go to yt" and they get there and they go "wurm online terraforming tutorial" and they see a quick 12 min video of how to explain terraforming from basic digging to leveling complex things in an easy quick format with a longer video next to it and most will go for the quick one as they want to jump back into the game again

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22 minutes ago, wipeout said:

The existing tutorial series cover most of the stuff mentioned here already if you want to reinvent the wheel do it by combining topics

Take a video on terraforming as a whole explain it from digging to flatten to level to surface mining to the "a shovel just wont do" messages because of tile interactions based on which corner is diggable and which one isnt do a deep dive into terraforming as a whole not just the basics
Add ontop timestamps in the video and in the description and segment it into chapters of basic and advanced and label them as such

Another topic would be how to survive your first few days and get food and protect yourself and dive into avoiding mobs and how water blocks them and how towers work and what animals to avoid early on and such
Explaining the client how to properly activate and use tools how to interact with the world and such is also a good one
"Getting the most out of your first week in wurm and the hurdles and traps of starting out" is another one you can do

A lot of the existing tutorials out there do a good job at it its just that they are either old or not tagged properly so yt wont display them early on and a lot of them do their video's randomly without order if you really want to make a good tutorial series plan your video's ahead of time create a proper flow from basics to more advanced and upload them as such too

One great way to do it would be a quick simple heavily cut and edited tutorial series that is straight to the point in explaining things without long dragged on sentences keep things short and compact dont add too many things into 1 video unless the topic needs it 
What i notice is a lot of lets play yt's doing drawn out tutorials for games and they do a few and quit as they dont get the views as well their video's feel drawn out and too much info into them too quickly(poe's streamer zizaram has this with his poe university video's) the topics are not clear there is no clear flow from point a to b it kinda just goes all over the place turning a 20 min video into 1-2 hours and a lot of lets players do this too

So something you can do is have quick short video's that explain the topic in enough detail and then a "deep dive" video released along it that is longer that goes into the topic a lot more so that people can quickly go "im stuck on terraforming lets go to yt" and they get there and they go "wurm online terraforming tutorial" and they see a quick 12 min video of how to explain terraforming from basic digging to leveling complex things in an easy quick format with a longer video next to it and most will go for the quick one as they want to jump back into the game again

 

More asking for the areas to cover rather than how to do them, I've got plans for that part! 

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1 hour ago, Retrograde said:

I won't be diving into optimum grinding, more just "how to do stuff in the world" 

 

How to understand slopes

How to locate paths

How to use highways

 

This is beginner level stuff

Understanding slopes, how to flatten a tile and what the different event messages related to digging/leveling means would be very useful.

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creating tunnels and explaning minig errors might be usefull. I remember i was very confused that i cant mine out tile, just to find out that i need to mine down or up just because rock layer isnt appropriate. Or that i cant mine because there is air pocker i need to go around...

Edited by kochinac

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explaining why cutting down oaks, willows and overaged trees isnt a good idea first off unless you can plant another....little things like that that piss off the more veteran population would be useful, also cutting down trees in peoples perimeter and not deeding right next to someone on a large server without getting to know them first .....

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5 minutes ago, Rhianna said:

explaining why cutting down oaks, willows and overaged trees isnt a good idea first off unless you can plant another....little things like that that piss off the more veteran population would be useful, also cutting down trees in peoples perimeter and not deeding right next to someone on a large server without getting to know them first .....

That gets away from mechanics and more into preferences though, I'd rather not teach any of these things in a tutorial. 

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I have played Wurm for many years and still do not fully understand how to use dirt to create extra land offshore in an efficient way. I usually just drop lots of dirt on the tile and hope my own Surtsey island eventually emerges from the depths!

 

Seeing a person who knows, make a 'jetty' out into water would for me be a great help. I suspect others- and not just newer players-  may feel the same.

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I think it should explain the core gameplay features of wurm:

 

- to perform an action you must first activate (not equip) a tool/object etc then choose an action from the right click menu or a keybind press.

 

Make it really clear that any action usually needs a tool and a raw material.

 

Then quick show of the crafting window and most importantly how to use the crafting window to open the objects list (bottom left corner) then type the name of any object finalized or part of a bigger one to find what they need to start it and what other subparts are needed.

 

 Could make as example a wooden staff.

 

So you would type the staff word in the search box navigate and find the wooden staff then use the carving knife(?) on a log to make the staff.

 

 And that would be to  show how to make a simple object from a tool and a raw mat and finding what the recipe for it is using the search option in the crafting thingy.

 

 Then look for spear in the search thingy so you can show them multi subparts items work so they can see it needs a staff (wooden or metal) but also a spear tip thingy, but you dont know how to make a spear thingy so you double left click on it and is gonna show you what tool and raw material you need to make a spear tip (anvil + glowing lump).

 

 And once you make it you go back to spear and just make it using the wooden staff and the spear tip.

 

- quick tutorial on how to find and use a mailbox and make sure you touch upon weight/volume and rune impact on what can be mailed and received thru mail.

 

Also mention something about wagoneers as the mean to mail bulk heavy stuff.

 

Explain Trade chat a bit then finish the vid telling them that CA_Help is literally there to help anybody at anytime and no question  is dumb. If you dont know ask there.

 

- Then make one to explain that all objects can be interacted with but metal related ones need to be glowing and have a lump glowing too in order to create or improve.

 

Since it has potential to be a short episode just explain how keybinding works, how they can change thru the menu or console commands and also that they can keybind more than just actions they can also have (/weather /uptime /balances /who /help /guards!)

 

- basic explanation of survival by explaining all water sources (ocean, lake) are drinkable then show how to cook in a pottery bowl a simple meal/breakfast, then show how to make a clay bowl  turn it into a pottery bowl then make a knife and process the ingredients (chopped minced grounded etc) to create a meal that also gives increased affinity timer.

 

- basic explanation of the improving system (usually you need 5 items some of them being raw materials some tools) then explain repair and decay.

 

  Make sure you explain atleast 5 times during the short improving tutorial how item scaling works and that any new player spending 2-3h imping  their longsword to 30ql or leather jacket is not wasting their time doing that and the item scaling makes those items viable.

 

  Mention the imp cap formula so that they dont think: oh i have 10leatherworking skill i can only imp to 10ql, but only mention it once we dont want them to get scared:)

 

- then go into gathering professions so you can show how to deal with a slope, how mines are 2D and how come they hit a tree and died to bees then explain  how to have animals taken cared of and hitched to a vehicle that is used to move the raw mats to the imping and storage buildings and explain how storage stuff works and a small demo on how to make a storage shack.

 

 Make sure you explain that the ql of the raw material is usually a hard cap on how high you can imp an item with the exception of leather.

 

- then explain how in order to move large quantities of stuff you would want a boat and explain how they work.

 

- basic explanation of body characteristics and religion, mainly  touch upon the effect of mind logic on action queue, body stam and str on not dead and follower bonuses for each religion (just tell them to be vyn for 10% xp is ok)

Really important to explain and make the distinction that mind logic decides what their action queue cap is but body stam decides how many they can perform and make sure they know completing an action out of stam is a 90% hit on skill gain.

 

You are not allowed to show or talk about combat and pvp just say an overhaul is in developement no eta.

Edited by Cipacadrinho

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Roads, maps, grid and finding yourself, karma collection for recall home and recall body, also the ways to travel safely (travel ligh, keep your stamina, check what monsters can swim, run down the road etc), means of transportation of players and goods (many people don't even realize wagoners exists). These are one of main problems new players have and reason of rage quits. 

Edited by Platyna

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Just don't forget for the terraforming bit to be very very very very specific about:

 

-  A tile has 4 digging points, one at each corner.

-  When you mouseover the borders with a shovel activated, the "3 slope up" "1 slope down" is the inclination away from you based on what corner you're nearest to, the surefire way to be sure is to just stand directly on the corner.

-  "Flatten" will try to average out the corners and will likely make a mess unless you know exactly what you're doing, better to stand on corners digging/dropping dirt until the tile is flat THEN rely on "level".

 

Having that rather crucial bit explained and demonstrated, I'd address another typical newbie blunder:

-  Count about 100 slopes from water (Which is height "0" and is the same height throughout the entire server) before thinking of digging down to open a mine.

-  Throw in a little demonstration re: clearing a 3x3 to even out the rock before tunneling so the tunnel points where you want it to, so "2 flat parallel borders and sloping up toward where you want the tunnel to go".

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10 hours ago, Retrograde said:

Hi! 

 

Welcome to the market research aspect of a YouTube video tutorial series aimed at the basics of Wurm, each short video would be focused on a particular aspect (digging, mining, woodcutting) aimed at getting the basics covered. 

I suspect it may get a little more involved down the line, but I'm curious, what areas would you like to see covered first? 



I think it would be good if training videos were made not only in English but also in Russian, most Russian beginners do not understand well what is what. Yes, I understand that the game is aimed at a Western audience, but it would still be nice if there is an official video in Russian or at least with Russian comments

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This is probably a video that would come after the bare bones basics of "how to dig", "how to mine", etc. But...

 

Getting started on a PvP server:

  • The general differences between PvP and PvE servers ("the full true sandbox experience", full loot PvP, thievery, kingdoms, teamwork, etc). 
  • Overview of the different PvP servers and their pros and cons (and their populations).
  • Overview of how Kingdoms work, how you pick a Kingdom, how you can change Kingdom, how it changes your starting location, etc.
  • Description of the starter zone (Defiance specific).
  • The importance of teamwork within your kingdom, and the best way to find people to team up with (forum recruitment pages, kingdom chat, etc).
  • The importance of a deed (off-deed house doors and minedoors unlock if you pass through them with enemies in local, for example).
  • How to identify an enemy (kinda difficult until they're on top of you these days now that cross-kingdom pms are possible).
  • Basic description of different weapon types.
  • Useful beginner personal goals to participate in PvP (riding a horse, weapons, shields, etc).
  • What are the overall goals on a PvP server (territory control, HoTA, etc)
  • Highlight the fact that you don't need to be a Wurm veteran to play on a PvP server or to participate in PvP. You don't even need to participate in PvP to play on a PvP server; plenty of people enjoy crafting and building deeds with the aim of supporting their kingdom's overall goals, without directly fighting with the enemy. 

There's so much more that could be talked about here, but hopefully this starts things off with a few ideas.

 

Take a look at Polk's tutorial series for other pointers:

 

Edited by BrokenSanity
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I think the first ones should be very, very simple and seemingly obvious to those who have been playing a while. I think that first you should go through the first things the newbie will encounter when they enter the world and follow the natural progression of what they'll encounter in the order they'll be encountering it. 

 

I'm guessing you are probably planning to start a new character and go step by step for the newbie who is standing there wondering what to do. (and don't flip through the menus like so many youtubers do, assuming people can see what you're doing because "it's obvious.")  Start with the bare basics. Things like the mirror, what's in their inventory and why, equipping armor, setting preferences, and the tutorial itself and explaining why it's a good idea to go through it. 

 

Then getting to the starter town of choice and how to choose one, and once there, the question of whether to stay a while or not to stay, etc. What to do first.  Explaining food and water, how they affect the character, and why they want to consider that before setting out on their own, how to make their first meal and carry water with them at all times. Also, do show how the mouse-over of the upper left icon on the character sheet shows their current inventory weight, total weight, and percentages of slow-down for weight. LOL. I played for years without ever knowing that was even there.  And they need to know why they need to eat but that they won't die if they don't, and that ccfp is good for later but not a necessity for survival at first. 

 

Then progress to using their tent, how to fight (I understand that was left out of the tutorial because it's "too dangerous?" lol), what to do if/when they die, use of guard towers. Making their first cart (and why or why not), and how to use it, etc, etc, which will also show them how to "activate" tools, use the toolbelt, the crafting window, cutting trees, making planks, etc. 

 

Also as a newbie character yourself you'll just naturally be coming across stuff you need to say as you go along that you maybe didn't think of in advance, which is good.  And anything that seems "obvious,"  make to sure to explain it anyway.  :)

 

And then worry about going on to the other topics you mentioned like understanding slopes and highways and more "advanced" concepts.

 

edit: Oh, and I'd make sure the titles make it blatantly clear that they're new, maybe with the dates. There's so much old outdated stuff out there now that unless someone knows how much the game has changed, (unlikely for a complete newbie), they may not think to sort by date uploaded or notice how old they are. Maybe include the word "Official"  hehe

Edited by Amadee
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I think doing a "Welcome to Wurm, here's what you do when you don't know what to do when you have a problem" sort of video would be helpful. Give a brief overview of what the /support tickets are for, show the forums, the Wiki, and review the CA Help Channel. Brief overview of each would be helpful. 

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All about Food. the different ways to gather food from the very basic foraging to farming, fishing and hunting.

 

Explain the different ways to feed yourself, the reasons why water and food are important and then touch on the benefits of the ccfp bars.

 

I think a how to survive your first few days , as talked about above the digging, mining, making fires etc very good starting places, also touch on the journal system as a source of what to do next.

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I wrote a thing a little bit ago in an attempt to help out that one guy, that one time. Someone told me to make it into a guide, and I just haven't gotten around to it yet. So here it is, in a very unedited / raw version. Hits some of the talking points that highlight some of the mistakes and assumptions that tend to mess up new players. .... 

  1. Don't Equip Your Tools
    Spoiler

    In Wurm, a player only needs to equip their gear. Not tools. Items like armor, weapons, and shields need to be equipped to add their stat bonuses to the player (+defense, +combat rating, +weapon damage, etc). Tools ONLY need to be activated to use their action abilities.
     
    For example – you only need to have your weapon (gear) equipped to automatically use it when using the “attack” action. You don’t need to activate it. (Range weapons like bows are a little trickier, that’s more complex. For just basic combat, the “gear=equip / tool=activate” rule of thumb applies).
     
    The underlying reason for this is that, like GW2 for example, your available action/ability set in Wurm is based on what tool you have active. Standing on a basic tile with a shovel active will provide you with a terraforming ability set (dig, flatten, level, etc.). Standing on the exact same tile, but with a sickle activate, will provide you with a gardening/forestry ability set (pick flowers, prune bushes & trees, cut grass, etc).


     

  2. We're not that kind of MMO
    Spoiler

    While it IS Massively Multiplayer and Online, Wurm has more in common with a survival / life simulation game than with, for example, WoW.
     
    As such, your FIRST priority in Wurm is ALWAYS: water, food, shelter, defense. In that order.
     
    My advice for the first few days or weeks of a new player’s experience is always: find a water source, learn how to feed yourself, figure out a safe place to sleep (ie. log out), run away from all combat bigger than a cat, dog, or rat (unless you have help). Every player moves at their own pace – some players learn and feel comfortable with this within their first day. Some players need up to a week. I, personally, know a few players who have been playing for months and are still staying local to the starting towns as they continue to get comfortable with the basics.
     
    That, and only that, is it.
     
    As you spend your first time in Wurm getting down a routine to meet those basic needs, you will slowly start feeling comfortable with remembering what tool provides which abilities. With using the toolbelt, hotkeys, or inventory menu to swap between active tools. With basic game mechanics like field of view, movement, weight vs speed, core player stats, and the status info block (your stamina/health bar, your hunger and thirst bars, nutritional information, etc).
     
    At that point you’ll also become slowly exposed to secondary priorities and skills. You get better stat gains from eating cooked food instead of raw… so figure out how to cook things. You’ll discover sleep bonus, and want to log out in a bed, not just in a safe place…. so now you’ll want to look into various crafting abilities (carpentry, tailoring & weaving, etc).
     
    Focus on the basics fist, and let the game expand naturally from that point. Meet your immediate needs before jumping into more and more complex endeavors.


     
  3. You Actually Need the Items in Your Starter Kit
    Spoiler

    Other than the starting gear (leather armor, sword, shield), which I assume you’ve got equipped… the starter kit SHOULD have provided you with a basic set of primary tools, a handful of secondary tools that are typically harder to get but still necessary at low levels, and a few key items that you should protect with your life.
     
    Primary tools are things like a hatchet, a saw, a pickaxe, a knife, etc.
     
    Secondary, but needed tools are the following: the pottery bowl, the tool belt, a pelt, a rope, and a backpack.
     
    Some quick secondary tool notes – a backpack is not the same as your inventory. Players have a default “inventory” that represents the stuff a real-world person might have in their hands, strapped to their back, in their pockets, etc. You will always have your default inventory space, even if you do not have a backpack.
     
    In Wurm, a backpack is a type of container. You happen to have an equippable backpack slot. You also have an equippable quiver slot, too. These are both considered containers, and follow container rules like item limit, volume limit, weight limit, able to have a lock attached or not, etc. You can simply hold these containers in your inventory (as a way to help keep your stuff organized). Or you can equip these particular containers in their special slots. This will cause the container to have a visual appearance on your character. It will also provide additional carry space – items in an equipped backpack will still count as part of your inventory, but will not count against your inventory item limit. Same goes for the quiver with arrows. Your personal weight carry limit will still apply, so don’t fill everything up so much that you get weighed down!
     
    You’ll know when you get to the pelt why its important to have access to a pelt…. but getting a low-level critter to drop a pelt is a PITA. The most important thing about the pelt is that they will decay RAPIDLY – but only if they are outside the player inventory. Always keep your pelt in your inventory. If your pelt starts taking damage, the game doesn’t think the pelt is inside your inventory – maybe it’s in a container? or backpack? – where ever the damaged pelt is, move it around until you can confirm that it is inside your inventory.
     

    A tool belt provides something akin to a MMO action bar-ish. Drag and drop to assign tools to your tool belt. Any tool on your tool belt can be activated by clicking on that tool icon. Like a MMO action bar, you can have multiple dedicated tool belt layouts, & you can assign keybinds both to summon each specific layout and to each specific tool belt slot. The quality level (QL) of your tool belt determines how many slots the belt has; higher level belts have multiple slots.
     
    Always carry at least 1 rope. You just never know.
    (I personally either carry at least 4 ropes, or carry 1 rope and 1 halter rope. You will figure out why by learning, and that’s part of the fun of the game!)
     
    Your starter bowl is your life. You will probably want at least 1 more small container (like a second bowl or a jar)(a flask sounds like what you want, but is actually too small. It’s more like a dram or a shot glass size.) A waterskin also works – but you need access to a needle, leather, and leatherworking skill first. I leave the rest up to you to figure out and explore.


     
  4. Starter Kit Key Items
    Spoiler

    When I described these items as something to protect with your life – I meant that you will want to die rather than somehow lose these items. Generally, the starter kit items will automatically return to your inventory upon death. If, for whatever reason, you die and one of these items is NOT back in your inventory – these are the items that it is ALWAYS worth making a corpse-run for.  
     
    Steel & Flint 
    First and foremost, check to make sure you have a steel & flint. It is an ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL object. There are only a few other ways to light a fire without one, and most depend on already having a fire going, like using scraps of already-burning wood. Gathering the mats needed to create a steel&flint is a PITA. It would be extremely unlikely for a low-level character to gather these mats in sufficient quantity and quality to successfully craft a new steel&flint. For a newbie – basically impossible.  
     
    A player new to Wurm should not be spending their intro time trying to make an impossible- but necessary- object. If you cannot find your starter kit steel&flint, please get on CA Help chat and tell a mod RIGHT AWAY. 
     
    Compass 
    As you may have noticed, Wurm the game is loosely based on a Renaissance Faire version of a Western European Medieval / Late Medieval setting. Plus fantasy.  
     
    Life in the real-world medieval era was extremely localized. Average people generally did not do a lot of distance-travelling. Most people never went beyond their local area, the nearest market, the nearest source of food & water, the local religious building, the local criminal justice building. Kingdom-wide trade networks were only just becoming a thing. And they weren’t necessarily reliable unless a person was rich enough to hire massive escorts and protect for their trade caravans & ships. Road ways and known routes could be easily cut off by bandits, wild animals, landslides, too much snow in mountain passes, etc.  
     
    To put it bluntly, Wurm, the planet, probably hates you. At best, this world is indifferent to you – like a human is mostly indifferent to ants. If you draw attention to your coming & goings, Wurm will most likely try to kill you.  
     
    In this setting, travel is perilous and the items that make travel possible are precious. Your compass is the first and foremost means to move about in Wurm. Accept its foibles, learn to love it and use it.  
     
    Because of the setting, in Wurm, there is no minimap on your HUD. And the world map will not magically show your position. The map shows the permanent locations and the general landmass, and that’s it. Permanent locations means the starter towns – aka the default spawn & respawn points. Some starter towns have built up into bustling, active cities…. some have not. You’ll need to talk to other people, in the world, to get a feel for what is there, and where shared / public resources are.  
     
    Learn your local landmarks (mountains, active deeds, public markets, lakes and waterways, giant statues, temples to the gods, etc). Learn the nearby roads and highways. Learn the nearest public market. Learn the nearest guard towers. Learn to always generally know what compass direction you are from these landmarks; learn to tell or at least guess what direction you are facing, moving, sailing.  
     
    Oh, and… In Wurm, the sun rises in the north-west and sets in the south-west. The sun points due west at noon.  
     
    Your Starter Tent 
    As a new player, your access to containers for your stuff, and to relative safety is basically nil. Enter: the starter tent.  
     
    The practical purpose of the starter tent is as an in-world container. When empty, you can carry it in your inventory. When you are gathering supplies in an area, or have something heavy you can’t realistically just carry around… Put your starter tent on the ground (“drop” or “place”). Now the tent is a container.  
     
    You can “open” it and drag & drop items from your inventory into the tent. You can hold CTRL to manually drag & drop items around you / on the ground into the tent with your mouse. (Only applies to those in-world items and objects that are actually CTRL-draggable). Your starter tent comes already equipped with a lock that only you can access by default. Starter tent = super handy, and criminally underused.  
     
    The special purpose of the starter tent is as a portable respawn point. Obviously, part of the appeal of Wurm is the ultimate customizable, buildable player housing & player land… but in reality, it can take a bit to get to that point. Unless you are hugging a starter town / spawn point, any time you die out and about in the world…. you’re going to be making a trek to get back to where you were (and recover your corpse!).  
     
    Any time you are going to be working in a general area for a decent amount of time… drop your tent on the ground. Any time there is a monster or creature around that you are gonna attack and it might not go well for you…. drop your tent before you move into range. Any time you are desperately running away from an angry troll… Drop. Your. Tent.  
     
    Your tent will remain in-world, but stay locked by default, when you are logged off. So your stuff will be contained and safe. And you’re guaranteed a nearby respawn point, if you “slept” unsheltered and “wake up” to find you are surrounded by trolls or spiders or a hungry wolf. When I was building my house, even though I was on a deed, the house wasn’t finished yet and there were no locks on the doors yet. I logged in to discover a troll in my kitchen. It happens. You just never know.  
     
    Golden Mirror & Deed Stake  
    These are both one-time use items. A new golden mirror can eventually be purchased (by premium players). A new deed stake can be constructed. But why deal with that, when you are provided these items with your starter kit….  
     
    I hope you have already used it, since the tutorial tells you about it… but, in case you missed that part, “use” the Golden Mirror to access Wurm’s character creator. Customization options are currently kinda limited, compared to other modern MMOs. But it’s not nothing. There are some basic face presets to pick, and then further customization from a list of individual feature options, like eyes, hair, colors, etc. This is also how you pick between male/female.  
     
    As it is one-time use, and aquiring a new golden mirror does take a fair bit of investment – be absolutely sure you like your character before you save & exit.  
     
    The deed stake is the item that you eventually use to stake your claim. That is, settle some land. Establish a homestead. Found a settlement. Using the deed stake will open up a menu-based land ownership walk through. Step-by-step, you will pick a name for your land/settlement, appoint yourself mayor by divine right (lol) or by democratic election (careful with this option), establish the N, S, E, W size of your claimed land (by tile count, relative to the position of the tile you plant your stake on), hire guards, etc.  
     
    You can do this all in-game without instruction… but, honestly, you don’t want to mess it up by accident, so I highly suggest asking others, CA Help, or looking up additional details on the forums & Wurmwiki before you stake your first deed. Like in the real world, land in Wurm costs in-world money. You don’t want to accidentally waste your hard-earned silver! 
     
    If you don’t already have your own deed, or have been welcomed into an established village, best to hang on to your starter deed stake until you’ve found “the perfect spot” and are ready to join the ranks of the tax-paying, land-owning, perpetually-overworked citizens of Wurm.


     
  5. Wurm Will Overwhelm You; Take It Slowly
    Spoiler

    Two Words: Slow. Down.  
    Because Wurm is NOT a “theme-park” MMO, a player might make the mistake of racing against a clock that simply isn’t ticking, out of habit.  
     
    When you log in to your new character for the first time, the entire world of Wurm is accessible. From the start. ALL of the game content is “unlocked,” there is no region or zone on any map that is behind a gate, a level minimum, or otherwise inaccessible.  
     
    Wurm won’t hold you back from anything. (Just don’t starve yourself).  
     
    In a similar open-ended way, Wurm metagame content is all out there and accessible, too. The Wurmpedia is a repository of pretty much every single thing that can be known, measured, explained, or interacted with in the world of Wurm. Every. Thing. But that also means that the Wurmpedia is a never-ending rabbit hole, and you WILL get lost and confused and overwhelmed.  
     
    The Wurm Forums are the same. Wurm fan websites with extra game tools, object lists and images, calendars, screenshots, guides, tips, maps, PVP info, player made kingdoms, …. it’s all there for you, open and free. Enough rope to hang yourself. 
     
    You can eventually know it all. Some players you meet in-game already do. Yeah. I’m serious. BUT – you get to pick and choose what parts of this information will be part of your game play. You get to decide how much of the information to integrate into your approach to Wurm. And that is the important distinction to remember when going out of game to seek answers and info.


     
  6. Wurm Content & Player Gameplay
    Spoiler

    In the world of Wurm, your character is only ever limited by your own abilities. There might be a mountain that you don’t yet have the stamina, or the climbing skill, to reach the peak. That game content is accessible to a level 1 character – but you’re still going to have to work for it.  
     
    This aspect is a very important distinction between an MMO like Wurm, and many of the other MMOs currently on the market. THERE IS NO END-GAME. All game content is simply game content. It’s out there, and if you can imagine yourself into a way to get there, you can have it no matter what “level” you are.  
     
    When you look at “playing” Wurm this way – it becomes obvious that the typical hustle n’ grind, leveling-focused method of game play used in other MMOs just isn’t relevant here. There is no “race to level cap.” There is no “winning” at Wurm. If you can imagine a pathway to achieve your personal goals, then that is the way to play the game for you
     
    Remember that mountain peak I mentioned above? Don’t have climbing skill to reach that peak? Come at it from a different angle – use your superior woodworking skills to build fences to use as rungs on a ladder to rest between each step up. Or maybe you have a lot of body strength and digging skill? Don’t climb – terraform! Flatten a tile into a platform & build earthen stepping-stones along your climb.  
     
    Because of this, in Wurm, a player is either active & involved… or not. There’s not really a distinction between casual play and hardcore play. There is no game-wide objective or server-wide goal to reach, to compete for, to get to “first.”  
     
    Wurm is a collaborative survival/life simulation/ building-crafting MMO. 
     
    No matter what your current activity is, all players are playing Wurm together. Each player gets to chose if they want to be constructive or destructive in the shared world of Wurm. Every player, even a player whose play style is self-oriented, is part of the evolving community inhabiting the dynamic planet Wurm.  
     
    An example – When Player A builds a gate in their perimeter fence, Player B who lives next door gets to respond to that change. Player B can talk to Player A and agree to build a new roadway together… OR Player B can feel that a roadway at that location wouldn’t work for their current goals, and can build walls and locked gateways to effectively block off the area from Player A’s further development.  
     
    Wurm, the world, is indifferent. Wurm, the game, doesn’t provide directions or quests or game-driven check points on the way to game-developed goals. In Wurm, there is only player-driven content. Player-driven economy. Player-driven changes and buildings and interactions. Player goals. Player decisions. Player interactions.  


     
  7. What To Do When You Don't Know What To Do
    Spoiler

    Look in the Journal for an idea.  
    The default key bind for the Journal is “J.” Open the in-game journal to review the starter tutorial information and to go through a fishing tutorial. 
     
    Below the tutorials, there are other expandable menu titles…. When you expand these, you will see a list of activities to complete. Activities in green have been completed.  
     
    The overall goal here is to complete a full activity set. When you do that, you receive various rewards – including sleep bonus time, and eventually expanding your character’s sleep bonus capacity. Rewards increase in amount and scope the more difficult the required activities become.  
     
    A list of goals with associated clusters of activities to complete for rewards is great. But the actual purpose of the Journal, and the real reward, is inspiration. Completing a checklist is all well and good, but the real boost to Wurm game play here is the way that elements found in the Journal can help inspire the player to form their own goals and jump-start player in-world projects.


     
  8. Wurm Will Not Hold Your Hand
    Spoiler

    Since this is about Wurm, there is a literal TON more to say. But, honestly, part of the Wurm experience is exploration and discovery.  
     
    In Wurm, make mistakes. Do a lot of trial & error. Interact with the rest of the Wurm community. And definitely ask questions.  
     
    Wurm is supposed to be a challenge… Life in Wurm is hard, but it's not meant to be impossible! ~Good luck out there~


     

 

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3 months in the making now, surely these videos have to be pretty impressive in quality to have not even released one yet? Especially since they're not even meant to cover advanced topics. Polk released several over the course of a couple weeks on topics as advanced as pvp.

Or has the plan changed?

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