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Keenan

Development Update 2022-04-07

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Hello everyone!

 

I have a significant announcement regarding the update. We are splitting the Exploration update into two updates to get everything done. These updates will be related, with the second one building on the first, but this way, we can give you all a reward for your patience and take the time needed to make something that we can all be proud of.

 

The first update will be setting the stage by bringing a journal rework and a feature that I know many have mentioned previously: Treasure Hunts. The update will also include a new board game and some changes that help set things up for the second update. This first update is tentative for the end of April or early May, depending on how development goes.

 

The Journal Rework

 

With this update, the journal rework will change the Journal system based on existing plans and player feedback. First, we will be introducing several new journal tiers geared toward new players, each themed around specific skills or groups of skills. These will come with their own title and sleep bonus rewards and should introduce newer players to various tasks that can be accomplished with those skills. We also know some players have felt a bit constrained by the existing journal tiers, feeling pressed into completing goals related to types of gameplay they aren't personally interested in. In response, we will also be making changes to existing tiers to provide more flexibility to players and account for more varied play styles. Most importantly, journal tiers will no longer require every goal within the tier to complete that tier and receive any related rewards. For all existing journal tiers and the new tiers coming with this update, one goal of your choice may be skipped entirely, and the tier can still be completed. An additional goal of appropriate difficulty has also been added to each tier that existed before this update. These alternative goals can also be completed by priests and can be completed on any server.

 

Note: We have already had some feedback pertaining to the Journal Rework from our team. We are looking to implement a "Claim" button so that you can choose when to claim your rewards. We are also open to reviewing current goals, though there may be difficulty in transferring completion between new and old goals.

 

Treasure Hunting

 

When getting a rarity roll on actions like mining, fishing, and digging, you will have a chance at uncovering a lost map or clue to lead you to the location of a lost treasure. These clues come in several difficulties and types, each less common and more challenging than the last. The clues will include maps to nearby or farther away locations, hot and cold clues where you are told if you are getting closer or not since your last time checking, challenging clues leading you to a specific task, etc. The map clues are items that will visually lead you to a location and will come in varying quality levels, whereas the more challenging older maps may be missing sections or have been smudged or distorted by the hands of time. More difficult clues can have more than 1 step and may have creatures guarding the locations ready to pounce on anyone who dares to claim the rewards. Some rewards will be given at the end in a chest of treasure that can contain some new cosmetic items, rare metals like seryll, glimmersteel, or adamantine, and other valuable items.

 

And Beyond

 

The second update will include some more ambitious goals, including goblin camps, religious sites, and another feature that I’d like to tease later. The release date for this update will be determined by how the launch of the first update goes, as the priority will be on fixing any issues that arise.

 

Finally, I’d like to talk about our development cycle and the rest of the year. While having extensive updates is lovely, I plan to return to a time when we had more minor updates more frequently, with more comprehensive features coming once or twice a year. This way, we can keep some developers on quality of life improvements and bug fixes, and some developers pushing forward on new features. The lack of context-switching will help speed up development, and the more frequent updates will keep Wurm fresh and healthy.

 

As I suspect Exploration will push into late spring or early summer for the second update, the rest of the year will be dedicated to the things I mentioned previously. This includes PvP (Epic, Chaos, and Defiance), new decorative options, and reviewing specific skills for improvements. Those skills will likely have meditation and another look at animal husbandry. This will also include the aforementioned bug fixing and quality of life improvements, which will become more frequent.

 

I hope this post helps shed some light on what is coming in the future, and as always, please let us know what you think!

 

Happy Wurming!

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"TOO MUCH INPUT!!!"

wow, just wow, cant wait for it all. So stoked i can barely contain myself. ❤️

 

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Some really good stuff. I don't want to be the kind of person to pull the ladder up behind me, so knowing folk can skip 100 rifts is fine by me. I feel like top tier having no skip, and instead an alternate goal to 100 rifts might be cooler but I don't mind.

 

Any chance of an extra tier or two above Destinations Unknown? I'd love more journal work to do.

Also glad to hear AH is gonna get looked at. Any chance of shield bashing? Free bottle of booze to any dev who takes that on.

 

Also please god remove fishing being in there 4 times.

Edited by Madnath
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18 minutes ago, Keenan said:

When getting a rarity roll on actions like mining, fishing, and digging, you will have a chance at uncovering a lost map or clue

 

Please for goodness sake include FARMING!  The number of rolls "tending" this or that....

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I'm interested if these "creatures" guarding the treasure would possibly be some new creatures perhaps whisps or ghouls. Kind of tired of seeing the same old mobs. 

 

 

Any chance on rolling a hazelmere ring while completing clues?

Edited by Atndy
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Very exciting, looking forward to seeing what you crafty devs cook up. Keep up the great work!

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Hello, I love the update and what you have mentioned.  Also thank you for taking the time to both dev, manage, and do the posting.  I know this might be a lot to ask but could we get a road map?  I feel like a lot has changed since Samool.  Meanwhile we are all curious what the new dev scene has in store.

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1 minute ago, KarlFranz said:

Hello, I love the update and what you have mentioned.  Also thank you for taking the time to both dev, manage, and do the posting.  I know this might be a lot to ask but could we get a road map?  I feel like a lot has changed since Samool.  Meanwhile we are all curious what the new dev scene has in store.

I agree to this

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Awesome! Can't wait for all the stuff that is about to come in. Great stuff coming up!

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1 minute ago, nahjocheese said:

*snip*

 

This was my first thought when reading the Treasure  Hunting bit.

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18 minutes ago, Spacy said:

 

Please for goodness sake include FARMING!  The number of rolls "tending" this or that....


Yes! Farming would fit perfectly into the category with mining and digging. I see no reason for not including it.
Also, getting the maps upon investigating tiles would fit aswell.

I loved doing clue scrolls in osrs, if Wurm gets something similar, I'd definitely be exploring much more often.

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23 minutes ago, KarlFranz said:

Hello, I love the update and what you have mentioned.  Also thank you for taking the time to both dev, manage, and do the posting.  I know this might be a lot to ask but could we get a road map?  I feel like a lot has changed since Samool.  Meanwhile we are all curious what the new dev scene has in store.

21 minutes ago, Trash said:

I agree to this

 

I would like to go on record as saying I don't agree with this sentiment. I feel that sharing dev roadmaps with players tends to lock the release cadence into a timeline that may not be sustainable and will only cause frustration later on if delays occur. I feel that the estimated timeline provided for the first update and the explanation that the later updates will depend upon the first is good enough.

53 minutes ago, Keenan said:

The release date for this update will be determined by how the launch of the first update goes, as the priority will be on fixing any issues that arise.

 

Just my 2 cents here.

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Would it be possible when you start diving into more decoration items for us to be allowed to have color runes in addition to a functional rune on everything? They are kinda useless at the moment because they are hard to get a decent color and you cant really use them on anything that would benefit from a functional rune rather than deco.

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1 hour ago, Keenan said:

The Journal Rework

 

With this update, the journal rework will change the Journal system based on existing plans and player feedback. First, we will be introducing several new journal tiers geared toward new players, each themed around specific skills or groups of skills. These will come with their own title and sleep bonus rewards and should introduce newer players to various tasks that can be accomplished with those skills. We also know some players have felt a bit constrained by the existing journal tiers, feeling pressed into completing goals related to types of gameplay they aren't personally interested in. In response, we will also be making changes to existing tiers to provide more flexibility to players and account for more varied play styles. Most importantly, journal tiers will no longer require every goal within the tier to complete that tier and receive any related rewards. For all existing journal tiers and the new tiers coming with this update, one goal of your choice may be skipped entirely, and the tier can still be completed. An additional goal of appropriate difficulty has also been added to each tier that existed before this update. These alternative goals can also be completed by priests and can be completed on any server.

Regarding rewards, are there any plans to reintroduce those received from "Winning the Game?"

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2 minutes ago, Synjor said:

Regarding rewards, are there any plans to reintroduce those received from "Winning the Game?"

Those "rewards" were just free tomes. 

 

15 minutes ago, roarkindrake said:

Would it be possible when you start diving into more decoration items for us to be allowed to have color runes in addition to a functional rune on everything? They are kinda useless at the moment because they are hard to get a decent color and you cant really use them on anything that would benefit from a functional rune rather than deco.

colour runes already work this way

 

50 minutes ago, KarlFranz said:

Hello, I love the update and what you have mentioned.  Also thank you for taking the time to both dev, manage, and do the posting.  I know this might be a lot to ask but could we get a road map?  I feel like a lot has changed since Samool.  Meanwhile we are all curious what the new dev scene has in store.

This is a bloody road map, do you want a picture? 

 

58 minutes ago, Spacy said:

 

Please for goodness sake include FARMING!  The number of rolls "tending" this or that....

Guessing it's a separate roll given those already have results. 

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4 minutes ago, Archaed said:

Those "rewards" were just free tomes. 

Yes

and WoTS, huge eggs... i'm sure more can be thought of

 

an arguably very ugly, undyeable back rug isn't a very worthy final reward in my eyes.

Edited by Synjor

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4 minutes ago, Synjor said:

Yes

and WoTS, huge eggs... i'm sure more can be thought of

 

an arguably very ugly, undyeable back rug isn't a very worthy final reward in my eyes.

Can also be used as infinite cotton, and doesnt take damage. It's an incredibly powerful reward, far more than something that's just money. 

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3 minutes ago, Archaed said:

Can also be used as infinite cotton, and doesnt take damage. It's an incredibly powerful reward, far more than something that's just money. 

bruh

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1 hour ago, Keenan said:

For all existing journal tiers and the new tiers coming with this update, one goal of your choice may be skipped entirely, and the tier can still be completed. An additional goal of appropriate difficulty has also been added to each tier that existed before this update. These alternative goals can also be completed by priests and can be completed on any server.

Regarding this, am I reading it correctly that an additional goal will be added, and then one goal may be skipped? 

 

Currently you need 10/10 goals to complete the tier, is this going to become 10/11 goals to complete? 

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42 minutes ago, Archaed said:

Can also be used as infinite cotton, and doesnt take damage. It's an incredibly powerful reward, far more than something that's just money. 

 

Well, cotton for healing only.  I can't make strings out of mine.  For PvE, all you need is a good LT weapon.  For PvP, it is quite useful.  But what is that, like 5% of the Wurm population maybe?  In those terms, it's not really that useful to the majority.

Edited by Galatyn
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Trying not to inject too much of my own personal hopes in my anticipation of the "exploration".

 

Granted at this point, I'm looking forward to any new content...even if it is just a shiny flower pot.

 

Speaking of which, we should be about ready for April's skin.

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2 hours ago, Spacy said:

 

Please for goodness sake include FARMING!  The number of rolls "tending" this or that....

Another +1 to adding farming to the pool. 1,500 tile farm I rake almost daily right now...The number of pointless MOI I see...

Also would like to suggest adding prayer to the pool. I get it doesn't exactly fit with the "digging up" motif of the other skills mentioned but we miraculously get gems/money from prayer so why not a treasure map from God. A divine crusade for you to go on lol.

I have been grinding prayer on my priest lately for Benediction (probably will choose the 70 prayer as my free skip in the journal now)  and I've probably seen more useless MOI from that than my farming even.  Would love for all the currently useless MOI to get a use some day.

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Thank you, Keenan.

 

Journal Rework

 

For me, meh.  I stopped bothering with the journal, as for me it takes away from the whole sandbox type experience, and it has always included stuff that either A) I actively don't want want to do or 2) I can't be bothered doing and would only be doing it to fill in a journal.  That said, is an option to skip a single item per tier sufficient?  Genuine question, not rhetorical.  Is it?  

 

Treasure Hunting

 

This looks good, and does seem to involve an improvement on the "behind you, very far away" type of direction in WU, or the horrible way pendulum use works for finding water.  I heartily agree with and reiterate the comment that maps should be included in rare rolls on farming activity - and would like to see it on foraging, too.  (Edit:  what about on slain goblins and trolls?)  However, as good as this can be as additional content, it isn't a reward for exploration.  This is almost the kind of easter-egg hunt I remember saying I, for one, was hoping wouldn't be featured in an exploration update.  What I was hoping for was something that rewards that activity of exploring.  Genuine exploration currently is almost the only possible activity in Wurm for which the game provides no direct gain in any manner.  Treasure hunting will be providing a gain to activities that are already the foundational activities for gains and will result in travel, but not exploration.  Exploring and treasure hunting are both great activities, but they are not the same thing.  This mechanism, if I understand it, means that only the holder of the map can find the treasure - in other words treasure cannot be found by exploring.

 

And Beyond

 

Goblin camps - I think this could be a good addition.  It would be great if we could mark them on an in-inventory map which we could then copy and/or trade.

Religious sites - could be good.  Same again with the map-marking.

 

I am optimistically cautious.

Edited by TheTrickster
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