Potential new player looking for a bit of help

[Allian42 0]

As the title says I'm a drifter of sorts, looking for a new home (most of my MMO options decided it was a great month to crash and burn). Problem is, I'm the "plan everything first" kind of player. Wurm looks to be my sort of game, but I would like to have a rough idea of what I'm even doing before ruining my first character. The wiki helped a lot but it would help having a more veteran perspective on it.

 

1) Is it viable to have a specialization or is it more of a Runescape's "gotta have em all" skill situation?

2) If 1 is a yes, what sort of specialization is viable to shoot for? I tried looking at the wiki but there are lots of skills and a lot of subtle synergy from what I can see.

3) I'm definitely more of a crafter/trader than a fighter. Does that work or do I need to "go raiding" eventually to fuel a trade?

4) How demanding is the game in terms of regularity? I game a lot but my work schedule gives me a bit of a erratic timeline.

5) How active is the economy (I'm planning on a non-pvp server)? I don't mind games with low population (if that is the case), but playing by myself all the time defeats the point a little.

6) How important is having the subscription out of the gate? If things work out I will probably get it but like I mentioned right now I'm still wandering.

7) And lastly, do I need to do anything to avoid drama? Can I just jump in and play/settle somewhere or do I need to make sure I'm not on someone else's turf?

 

Any help and/or advice is greatly appreciated.

 

Ps.: If this is the wrong way and/or place to ask this, please point me the correct one and please excuse me.

[jackjones 335]

Hello Al!

 

Let me take a stab at your questions...

 

1) You can specialize. Grinding in Wurm is a big effort, so specialization is paramount. I started as a chain armor smith. It treated me well, and I eventually branched out to other skills.

2) Your chosen specialization is completely your choice. Some skills are harder than others and require additional management activities (like fueling a forge or making sure your metal is hot). You can try to target a specialization skill that is marketable, but that can take months or years of grinding to produce marketable quality items.

3) Crafting out the gate is doable. In the early game, you focus on building up your house and deed, so crafting is a major part of that. Some later game items could require resources gathered during raid-like events (runes).

4) The game is fairly demanding, yes, but we are addicted to the game play, the skill gains, the people. You get out what you put in...

5) The economy is fairly active. Unfortunately, our populations are declining, so some marketable good don't sell as well as they did. Newer players often begin selling bulk items where quality doesn't matter as much. (bricks, mortar, planks, nails, etc.) Just today I saw someone in the trade channel looking to buy 5,000 mortar.

6) You should definitely try F2P until you hit a maximum F2P cap on a characteristic or skill. If the game suits you, a subscription is not too expensive.

7) You can settle anywhere that isn't already claimed land. You can get the feel of an area, deeds, people, etc. If you are a loner, you can settle somewhere far away from deeds or people. This can be hard because early survival is difficult. I died 12-times running away into the wild to settle my first deed. If you are worried about someone else's turf, ask in local chat.

 

If you want to talk some more or have more questions, feel free to PM me. I'm not the most experienced player (only 8 years or playing), but I enjoy helping new players.

[McGarnicle 1,463]

1) You will initially want to dabble in many of the basic key skills such as woodcutting, mining, digging, carpentry, blacksmithing etc. Lots of people, I’d say, end up specializing naturally as it takes an enormous amount of time to master any one skill. Some people just keep dabbling in this or that becoming a jack of all trades and some others become a master of all (although only after many years). There is no one right way to go about this.

 

2) I’d recommend starting with basic key skills That I mentioned above. Everyone needs a little of each of them imo. After a little while you will naturally gravitate toward one kind of play style or another. Let your interests guide you.

 

3) You do not need fighting at all if you do not want to engage in it. 
 

4) This game can be demanding, but only if you let it (or it sweeps you away which can happen, so be mindful of this or risk having ruin your life). It is possible to play a couple hours here and there, but some might say otherwise.

 

5) The economy is quite active on both the new and old cluster, but I find it more active on the new cluster (ie The Northern Freedom Isles)

 

6) You don’t need a subscription out of the gate as it gives no advantage until you reach 20 in a skill. Just note that there is a new player deal that practically gives two months premium for the price of one, but is only available if you have not purchased anything from the store. You will lose access to it if you buy some silver for example.

 

7) Before you settle some place or chop a bunch of trees down, it is wise to ask the locals first. Many people plant trees/bushes for harvesting just off their deed. I’d recommend finding a spot that is a decent ways away from anyones perimeter before terraforming, chopping trees or opening mine tunnels. Btw mine tunnels are the worst since there is no easy way to fix them without a priest. When in doubt you should wait until you see the player in local and ask.

 

Welcome to Wurm!

 

[Eleraan 351]

Specialization works fine, but you will need to trade or work with others. 

 

Anything! I specialized in beverages. I did my own farming but that is mostly a once a day tending crops thing.  I've made the vast majority of my villages money. Keeping our upkeep done and letting the others buy what ever. While paying for what we don't do.  Almost any skill can work as long as you have the support or are willing to trade for what you might be lacking.  Just gotta find that niche. 

 

I have villagers who have never even attacked anything yet have a 90 crafting skill, our tailor.

 

Wurm is great in that you can take a break, we often do, be gone for months and come back.  As long as you have your upkeep paid for you can pick right back up. You see drifters come back with no deed all the time just the tools on them and restart again or join new villages.

 

 

Economy is doing just fine. There is always something new and hot in the market, maps.  But tons of regular business. Smiths of all kind. Cooks. Brewers, I do tons of business still.  The market goes up and down and certain skills are always in more demand but it is active.  

 

This is several years old but we didn't premium until about a week after starting to play. And at first that was just me.  The rest took their time figuring out what they wanted to do.  You will get more out of it premiuming sooner than later but isn't a day one need. 

 

Check out an area to see if anyone else is around before doing anything major is just being a good neighbor.  If you are starting SFI and want to hit up Indy I can show you around. Thanks to treasure maps I'm pretty familiar with most of the island. Decently active island imo too.  Lots of old farts hanging out. But plenty of empty land. 

 

Hit me up in game Eleraan if you need anything! I just joined an alliance of mostly newer players and have kinda become the old goat of the group.  I feel ancient answering questions and helping out. But it is fun. Lol I spent part of yesterday playing armed guard so they could do their first difficult treasure map.  Fun times. 

 

[Allian42 0]

Thanks everyone! I'm still looking a few things up but I think I have a basic idea of what to do.

[Tristanc 570]

I'd recommend building a small cart (or large cart, if you want to plan ahead more for the future) and using that for carrying materials and heavier tools you craft.

After that, start crafting tools that you'll need as those starter tools can't be improved and will steadily decline in quality as you use them.

 

The starter towns in Wurm Online, both Northern Freedom Isles cluster and Southern Freedom Isles cluster (you can never cross or mail between them so once you choose to start on one cluster, that's the cluster your character remains on), generally have a public mine for iron vein mining and might have a public forge there for newer characters to use as well. That can be your early source of iron for nails and tool heads.

Check for mature forests in the perimeter of the starter town as well, or not too far from it where it's not already on someone else's claimed land (deeded).  That can be your early source of wood with very old or overaged trees to cut to chop into logs and when needed saw into planks. The cart you craft early on is good to use for hauling these logs to where you're doing your crafting.

 

Crafting new tools (like a iron large anvil, which you don't start with, and later a sickle) all help build up your blacksmithing skill.  Replacing those starter tools with ones you craft (and thus can improve quality of as well) is good as you can use the cart as a mobile storage device.  Note that decay does happen to items inside a cart or wagon (unless it's materials placed inside crates there) over time, so for now be content with dragging your small or large cart around to where you wish to camp starting out.  Once you are ready to settle with your first cabin or shed, you can put a lock on the door and craft a bulk storage bin (BSB) and a food storage bin (FSB) to keep raw materials safe and not decay in their quality in that starter home.

 

I know your questions were generally alot more strategic in an overall sense of the game, but thought I'd throw these tips in to help you out once you've chosen your server and actually started playing. 

 

[Allian42 0]

That is actually very informative. Specially the cart idea, not needing to settle immediately to progress would be great. Thanks a lot!

[Sidereal 1,118]

Curious minds are curious - have you made the leap into Wurm, @Allian42?

I'm late to the game on your questions, but others have already provided excellent advice.  I'd also add that you keep an eye out for the next 'impalong' - multi-day festivals in which dozens of players converge to share their skills and improve everyone's tools, weapons, and armor to 70 quality along with the most useful enchantments for each of them.  These are of the greatest benefit to starting players and as a bonus you'll meet a lot of other players in the process. 

These events take an enormous amount of player effort to host, and the North Freedom Isles (Harmony, Melody, and Cadence) have recently reached the point of having an impalong.  We just wrapped up a big on on SFI, and to the best of my knowledge the next one there is Lunalong in December.  An impalong is absolutely not required to enjoy your time in Wurm, but it can help many things less tedious at the start.