The World According To Rolf

[Brash_Endeavors 4,735]

I was originally starting this as a response or thread for a Wurm-related topic. Maybe in Town Square or City Hall or some other section. However -- it's rambling like a crazy wall-of-text, and I am starting to wonder if it is even Wurm related at all. Maybe it belongs someplace else, maybe it doesn't, maybe its just rambling with no sense to it. So I will just throw it here in Wood Scraps, and perhaps it will bury itself in a few day and die a clean natural death...

.Anyway. I was thinking about starting a poll:

Is Wurm Run (Amuck) By A Crazy Swede? Ja or Nej?

It would certainly answer I think the question we all probably ask ourselves sometimes : Is he up drinking brännvin until 3 AM when he suddenly gets the itch to write some deviant and especially malicious code? Why does he do these things? Why did he do X, why did he not do Z, why does he waste his time on P, why does he not listen to his players -- after all, we are the one giving him our money! And if he doesn't knock it off and listen to us better, maybe we will just stop!

It made me wonder about a lot of video games I played before. Wurm is very much my favorite, but I have games in the past that I liked very much, and ones that upset me very much. Sometimes upset me enough so that I quit them. And very often --- ones that I liked very much AND upset me very much!! As if those were related!! Anyway, in a lot of these games, people get passionate and there is always some drama and always someone (sometimes who deliberately provokes people) who brings up THAT phrase. "It's Just A Game" was always to me a very very stupid thing to say. That's like saying "It's Just Music" or "It's just An Emotion". Videogames are valuations, how we choose to spend our time, so to say it is not important is to say, how we are spending our time is stupid and not important. We should all be maybe in business school instead, because that is so much more serious and important. So we can all grow up to be succcessful and live in the suburbs in pretty little houses with manicured lawns.

Anyway -- there are two kinds of devs I think of, when I think of games that affected me a lot (positive or negative). One is the "The Dev Is God" which mostly makes me think of early Everquest, when the devgods did not care if you were happy or not -- it is their world and you only are allowed to visit. If you died unfairly and lost everything you worked for, through some glitch that was not your fault .. well, life is not fair anyway. The other type of dev I think of, is the corporate dev, the marketing dev, the "games are a serious business" dev. These are the devs who run games as if they are a shoe store, carefully researching what their customer base wants, hiring good public relations so people will know they "care" about us. If they do not give the customer what the customer wants, the customer will stop shopping there. (Ironically, Everquest I and Everquest II are perhaps perfect examples of both types of devs. Gee Thanks SOE!)

So ... does Rolf want to make money... or does he make Wurm for another reason? He is a pretty awful shoe salesman, is all I have to say. Maybe a crazy mad taxi driver is closer - and he has a bottle of brännvin in one hand. And we can come along for the ride if we like, but only he is the driver at the wheel. Now, mostly, I like where Wurm is going. So mostly, I am content to sit in the backseat and go along for the ride, not jumping up at every intersection to say "You should have turned there! You are driving too fast! Too slow! You almost hit that cat!" (Actually my poopsie darling would probably tell you that is EXACTLY the sort of "backseat" driver I am -- but neverimind that.) No other game goes where I want to go -- so I am "stuck" with Rolf the crazy Swede as the driver. I am sure it is just pure coincidence, this fact he does not listen at all to my advice, and the fact he is the only one driver that I ride with anymore these days..

Sometimes I wonder, if that first Wurmaggedon, when a supposed "mistake" ((oops!! Gee what happened there?!) wiped out the entire game world of Wurm and everyone-lost-everything, was actually just Rolf swerving to the side of the road and suddenly screaming, in angry Swedish curses -- "Get Out!! ALL OF YOU! Just GET OUT NOW!" And what if, one day, that crazy swede were to do that again? What a crazy driver. He should be happy we give him our money, he should be GRATEFUL we give him our shoestore advice. His business would be a lot more profitable if he listened to us! I dunno though ... maybe he hates working in a shoestore. Maybe he does not want to be As-Rich-As-A-Notch. Maybe he IS just crazy. Anyway -- Rolf upsets me a lot. I thought it was STUPID when he changed the lights, when he made trolls bash walls and let my animals loose, and cave bugs UTTERLY DESTROY mines and no way to fix them. And I am so glad I missed the most stupid 3AM drunk-on-brännvin decision, when he decided to open the PvE server to raids from PvP. About 10 other things are one my own personal "Well That Was Just Stupid, Rolf!" list. ((I still think a lot of them are stupid)). I check out other games sometimes -- myabe there is another one better suited? Not run by a crazy man who ignores his customers? Anyway -- none of them are Wurm. Some of them, interesting sandbox games with crafting and building and skillbased and everything-I-want, are apparently run by crazy powermad devs (somewehat like Rolf), except they refuse to even CONSIDER allowing a PvE server, they only allow full loot pvp and other gamebreakers for me. So, maybe I should feel a little grateful Rolf lets me hand him my money and have my PvE homestead.

But ,.. some days I think I would rather get out and walk instead! And some days I do! But at the next intersection, I usually get back into the car, silent and sullen in the back seat. Crazy freaking swede. Pass me the brännvin, Rolf, then I am off for a nap to sleep this off. Luckily I am an old lady, so going out in public with disheveled hair and wrinkled hose is not as embarrassing as it might have been in my younger days.

And -- watch the road. Please. Oh Dear god, you nearly hit that cat again.

[Farmerbob 369]

Thank you for saying with humor what I would probably have tried to express with some less funny combination of sarcasm and anger.

I was going to buy a gold coin and install a large chest and a silver vein at my deed but decided to buy Diabolo III instead and "get out of the taxi" for a few days.

[Klaa 4,872]

I will admit to some bias towards Swedes based on a childhood watching the following:

Its cool they managed to keep the accent even in spanish Perhaps captions will help...

[media=]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7UmUX68KtE

Edited June 22, 2012 by Klaa

[Ayes 3,715]

I was starting to write out a response here in agreement with you but as I saw the harshness of my words, I thought better of branding myself with those remarks in a forum post. Your analogy of Rolf's attitude concerning his game and the playerbase is quite on point and put in a way that is not too hard to swallow for one who imbibes in their own concerns to his extent, I suppose.

*dusts off overcoat*

=Ayes=

[Reylaark 1,100]

Very fun read

. (Ironically, Everquest I and Everquest II are perhaps perfect examples of both types of devs. Gee Thanks SOE!)

Interesting, SWG-->NGE-->WTF comes to mind as well. Makes me wonder...

my poopsie darling

I'm afraid to ask

Some of them, interesting sandbox games with crafting and building and skillbased and everything-I-want, are apparently run by crazy powermad devs (somewehat like Rolf), except they refuse to even CONSIDER allowing a PvE server, they only allow full loot pvp and other gamebreakers for me. So, maybe I should feel a little grateful Rolf lets me hand him my money and have my PvE homestead.

Yup, completely boggles my mind. Had there been a PVE server where I could happily and peacefully tool around, I'd likely still be over there. On the bright side, came upon Wurm instead and don't miss the old one little tiny bit.

In fact, about a week after starting Wurm, I deleted all other games from my hard drive. Been fun so far!

[Perryn 79]

You gave me a good grin B.E.

As a fan of Rolf and what he provides... your critique on his dev style is amusing and yes some what accurate in your examples. Good or bad.. "The Crazy World That Rolf Built" is definitely unique and has its ups and downs... but hey... what game in existence doesn't right. I have been know (and will continue) to put my 2 cents into the pot. But having the privilege and opportunity to play Wurm since right after Wurmageddon... I can say I like where it has gone and will continue to ride in Rolf's back seat contently.

The problem with consumer suggestions on direction of any game... is it isn't one persons influence on what direction the thousands of different roads Rolf should choose to drive. That backseat isn't just you... or me. It is thousands of other players playing the game... and each shouting out their own perspective on what road they would enjoy the most all at the same time. (listens to the stadium filled drone of people talking all at once). I think if i had to listen to that drone 24/7... ild be a crazy drunk-on-brannvin cab driver myself.

As well... he does have to look at all the suggestions in an objective way. Is it a suggestion from the small community that exists that would cater to the small community that exists? Or is it a suggestion from the small community that exists that would cater to growing the community into a metropolis?

[Moxie 271]

Thank you Brash, for conveying with class and humor what so many of us are likely thinking these days.

Some days I think that it's time for me to get out of this backseat... sometimes the swerving leaves me a bit carsick, and sometimes the car goes a little too close to the edge of the cliff. But then I remember that right now this taxi is the only one going up the mountain, and wow, this mountain sure does have some pretty views.

And you know, I realize that a game dev can't make decisions and changes to the game completely at the whims of the players. That's been done before in other games and it usually results in a sloppy and unfocused mess, so I don't want that. On the other hand, you do have to consider that for each of us that own a deed, that little spot on the map is our home. It may just be pixels rendering data that's sitting on a server somewhere... but it feels like ours. We put hours, days, weeks, months, years of work into these plots, these little safehavens where we socialize, work, and create.

I guess in a way, it's a tribute to the genius that is Wurm. Despite getting carsick riding up the mountain, swerving and nearly slipping off the side of the cliff, being afraid that we're all going to plummet into the ravine below, we stick with it because dang it, we love this mountain.

[zalifear 186]

Clear! Build! And Own the land!

[Xandra 353]

Hi,

BE, great post, and a big "Thank You" for this!

It's actually like a ride in the only one local taxi, with no alternatives available. The driver can be mad beyond tolerable, still he owns the only taxi that you could use. And if you want to leave the village, you need to book his service. You might know that it'll be a highway to hell, but you have no choice - there is only one, your one & only mad local taxi driver, filled with brännvin until upper edge of lower lip.

This is what Rolf is relaying on. He has a unique point of selling (Wurm, the game), and he has an idea how it should work.

No matter if the vast majority of his players don't like Wurmian PvP at all - for Rolf Wurm is a PvP game. And he'll continue to keep up the pressure for us all to go PvP - after all this is his idea!

Rolf will not stop this. For him, a few kingdom members from Epic or Chaos are by for more important than the outcries from hundreds of Freedom "tree huggers" or "carebears". Rolf sees Wurm as a PvP game, and that it is payed by an overwhelming majority of PvE fiends is just a temporary distortion, for him. For Rolf, Wurm is a PvP game, and the many, many PvE players (that are actually paying his meals) are just misleaded individuals that need proper guidance, for him.

Rolf will not acknowledge that he made a great PvE game that many people are enjoying. He's this much in his "PvP mood" that he just doesn't recognize. Let's be honest - how many people do PvP in Wurm? All in all less than the population of the smallest PvE server, right?

But it has to be PvP, according to Rolf. Even if combat in Wurm is as exciting as to watch the loading of drivers in a DOS environment - you've been at any PvP combat event? All combat info is in the combat tab, else you just see some ppl circling each other. Exciting, actually ...

Wurm is an awesome game, is tailored to keep ppl for months and months, has, even regarding the constant nerfs and downers by Rolf, a quite healthy population. Building upon this, it shouldn't be a major problem to multiply the paying players within very short time. To multiply the monthly income, that could be used for more development.

But Rolf doesn't want to do this. He doesn't even care about - all he wants is to get up Chaos once again, and to have ppl on Epic. For this goal he actually accepts anything. And I fear, he'd scrap Wurm at all if those dreaded players wouldn't finally act like expected.

Have fun!

PS/Edit: The above mentioned taxi driver one day might lose his monopoly. Another freelancer might drop in, or the ppl might organize their own taxi service. Relying on a monopoly never was a good idea, always ppl found a way around.

Edited July 10, 2012 by Xandra

[Perryn 79]

for Rolf Wurm is a PvP game. And he'll continue to keep up the pressure for us all to go PvP - after all this is his idea!

I will agree Rolf is pushing the PvP side of Wurm a lot... but he does keep it a pretty evenly balanced in what he is developing. There is just as much PvE/Overall Wurm in General content being pushed thru as there is PvP development.

This being said... and from personal observation and experience. PvE has its lifespan with a good chunk of players. It will hold their attention for a long time... months even possibly a year. But in the end... when everything is built... and you have stocked up on everything enough to feed 100 other players... you can easily find yourself logging in and saying "I just don't know what to do". Ive seen it happen with a lot of players I have had the chance to play with and it has happened to myself numerous times over the past 4 or 5 years.

Offering a solid PvP structure (which I will admit currently needs a lot of work to make it more desirable) increases that longevity of player attention and activeness. As well... the market for a PvP oriented demographic can not (and would be silly imo) to ignore.

To say "Rolf will not acknowledge that he made a great PvE game that many people are enjoying." is unfair. I truely believe he does acknowledge it and dedicates a lot of his time in advancing the game in areas that caters to the PvE customers as much as the PvP.

It still doesn't exclude the "3am drunk-on-brannvin" things we see from time to time... but hey... it adds a splash of color... all be it puce.

Edited July 10, 2012 by Perryn