Sign in to follow this  
SirRick

Wurm Player Retention

Recommended Posts

I've come across a problem, not so much with wurm itself, but with my friends. They all seem to grow bored of wurm and leave. Eventually they come back briefly, but the common theme is that they always stop playing.

The other common theme is that we have our own village together. What seems to draw them back is the excitement of moving locations and starting a village from scratch. I'm very easy going about individual's roles with the village, and I encourage them to do what they enjoy, while I pick up the slack. But like clockwork, after playing for a week to two weeks, they drop like flies.

Let me preface this next sentence by saying that I'm not bashing wurm, and that I enjoy it. Upon asking them why they quit, they all seem to have similar responses. Answers such as "I get bored", "What's there to do?", "It gets dull.", and "It turns into chores." all seem to come up.

After my friends stop playing, my wurm experience becomes relatively boring and I live the life of a virtual hermit until I stop playing. Perhaps my friends just aren't the kinds of people that Wurm Online appeals to, and I may be pushing them to play, only to have them quit soon after. Assuming this isn't the case, how can I keep my friends interested in Wurm?

Edited by SirRick
  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Organize hunts contest whatever can think of to add this game is about emersion. Its what you make it to be

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Wurm itself is a sandbox , and requires that the players themselves are able to keep occupied . Sandboxes do generally have the problem of player retention compared to other games simply because of the nature of them , ie there is no quest line to follow / no set progression etc .

If your on the Freedom Cluster , maybe either suggest they play on Chaos with it's Hota area , or even just hop between Freedom and Epic for variations .

Epic has missions they could work on , PvP etc , as well as a faster skillgain progression .

This might alleviate some of their problem with getting bored . If how-ever it doesn't , then it may just be a simple as a sandbox game just isn't for them .

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'd greatly appreciate it if more mayors and villagers responded to this thread with ideas to keep my friends and villagers occupied and interested. I know they can give me ideas based on personal experience that I may not have thought of.

Also thank you to those who have responded already. I'll have to keep those ideas in mind. If this thread can become a big brainstorm of ways to keep people interested and immersed, I'd be a very happy camper.

Edited by SirRick

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You said you're easy going on what they do, why not give them jobs. Like, give them roles in the village when you start from scratch. Like, You could do all the mining, and he does all the smithing, and i'll do all the carpentry

Stuff like that kept me into this game.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

move to wild/chaos and go on raids and pvp. they wont get bored.

1. wait till you can raid properly on wild.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, I can acknowledge that Wild or Epic may be a good idea, but my group of close friends consists of 4 people. We won't be able to make much progress raiding a town as a group of five.

I'm hoping more people can reply as I want a ton of feedback so maybe I can get my friends back into wurm and keep them in wurm.

Edited by SirRick

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have deeds on most of the servers and if i get sick, bored or stuck on something that frustrates me i just travel to another server and work over there for a bit...seems to work for me.

Edited by Kegan
  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

making huge projects, something to aim too helps also ALOT ;) even if they are not your villagers you could as example try to build a harbor or a "resupply station" or a lightening tower etc etc. all those things are easier with help and more fun too^^ also organizing hunting parties can be fun ;) and exciting once you get into that dark, scary and full of trolls woods XD

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Perhaps you could stop living permanently in one place, and just travel from village to village, server to server, going to the places where work is to be done. You wouldn't have need for much possessions, perhaps live out of a ship, storing much of your belongings there? Surely an adventure.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Organize an event for the community. That will indeed keep you busy.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Biggest problem with retention is the fact that Wurm appeals to players with a certain mindset. Most people tend to initially enjoy the game for it's freedom and scope but quickly get disillusioned and leave when they achieve their entry level goals. This is usually finding a clear patch of dirt to make a shack on, build said crap shack and then wonder what to do next. Most people after achieving this goal tend to ask themselves, "What's the point?" and log off, never to return.

Sometimes it goes further and people want to found their own village or secure enough land for themselves to raise a herd of cattle or briefly breed horses. This usually keeps interest going for another week or two until they get distracted by something else and forget all about Wurm, leaving a legacy of slowly decaying shacks and fences to plague the land for months after.

This happens because most players don't have a realistic and sustainable goal. They want to be creative but lack the skills to compete with other people in a world where the market is saturated by cheap high end goods of all shapes and sizes. When they realise they will always be playing catch up or at the very least will have to invest a huge amount of time and effort into becoming competitive most stop and think, "I can't really be bothered with all this" and again, stop playing.

Wurm retains those who set themselves long term goals and who enjoy the challenge and repetition of grinding ever closer to the point where they can sustain themselves and make some silver in the process. It doesn't retain people who want more instant gratification or faced with limited options for pvp.

Sure, there's Chaos and Epic, but they aren't exactly doing great either. Freedom is populated by the veteran players who are too stubborn to quit and those who enjoy being at the top of the food chain. Everyone in between are either alts of those high end players or those embracing the challenge to get to the top. What's left are the mid point players who are tipping between quitting and grinding onwards everytime they log in.

Wurm attracts and keeps the stubborn, pig headed and resourceful. It doesn't cater well to most everyone else.

That's my view of it anyway.

How to keep villagers? Encourage them, pay them for work, do interesting things that distract them from the inevitability they will wake up one day and and fail to find a reason to keep on logging in. A war against another village is always good too but we can't do that on freedom and most aren't touching Wild with a barge pole in it's present state.

End of the day, it takes a certain sort of person to really love Wurm and sadly there aren't many of those types around.

  • Like 3

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have been playing Wurm for many years, and i do happen to burnout every while (currently on one now). Things that kept me going was always having visions of an big project i want to do with my friends, and then my own personal (many) subgoals which i bounce around trying to do but never manage to reach it.

The initial rush of Wurm is by far the best, coming into the unknown lands, venturing deep and setting up a little village. Once that village is done things can get boring fast unless you make your own goals, easy ones like "how can i make this village better?" or "how can i make things easier on us". Newbies tend to build on uneven slopes, and make a royal mess in some cases, so just revamping the general area can be a fast goal. One of our towns big projects for Independance was to make a large ramp down to the lake near us, and was defiantely a decently sized project.

I think really, if you don't have a great sense of creativity, or it doesn't appeal to you then wurm isn't really great. If you can imagine certain cool things you CAN make, then it will keep you going until you reach the skill level you need. I ended up finding a balance with my buddy Drago, I chose up the smithing role while he picked up on the carpentry role as we found the opposite were boring. Drago was always the one who enjoyed doing resource tasks while i always enjoyed grinding other skills, we both enjoyed hunting and hunting in small groups can be very fun when exploring less populated areas.

I don't think giving your friends tasks to do will hold them long, as that also gets quite boring, if you can't think of something you find interesting to do then generic quest mmos is probably your best thing.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This is a very interesting thread, because as a developer (even though It's spare time) I often wonder what we could add or do to make the game more "sticky" without adding the yellow exclamation points or flying pig mounts. With the changes that are coming, such as craftable visible armor, even more customizable buildings and visible faces people may or may not stick to their character abit more. Otherwise I'm kind of clueless because if the general feeling is that people plays for 2 weeks then leave, then we are not doing something right.

Maybe the friends could be asked, "What would have kept you in Wurm?"

/Andreas

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Metaldragon is completely right. You always need a big project you and your friends can work on.

As soon as one project is near the end I think of the next one.

For example I have two big ones at the moment. A zoo to enjoy the creatures and train my taming and an underground harbor.

This keeps me busy and entertained :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

thats easy ^^ i asked 3 of my friends why they left wurm:

the crafting part is really god but they want

- more char animations (and more animations at all and everywhere - animals, boats etc.)

- more individual styles for your char (wearing diff. clothes for ex.), for your things you can craft, for buildings (oh, that shack looks the same as mine...boring)

- all in all - more virtual life in wurm

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

the crafting part is really god but they want

- more char animations (and more animations at all and everywhere - animals, boats etc.)

- more individual styles for your char (wearing diff. clothes for ex.), for your things you can craft, for buildings (oh, that shack looks the same as mine...boring)

- all in all - more virtual life in wurm

Sounds like we are on the right track then :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

More interaction with the game (and easier interaction...no menus inside menus inside more freaking menus). RSI online or AFK online are names I'd use to describe Wurm at times...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Zcul, I admire your interest in this discussion and I have introduced practically all of my friends and clanmates (dozens) to wurm over the years and only four of them have actually stuck to it for a while.

Keep in mind that many of these friends have played or actively play games like Battlefield 3, World of Warcraft, or other games like them. Many of them aren't used to the sandbox genre, and I've noticed they can grow bored easily. I guess I'm one of the few people amongst my group that can truly enjoy a sandbox game.

I have to comment that Busted's post is pretty spot on. I've seen plenty of new players who come on, build a shack, and their adventure ends there. I'm speculating here, but I'd imagine they could be experiencing the following problems: They don't know how to gather resources effectively (with a cart for example), or they don't know where the resources are (like clay and water for example), or they just don't know what to do next, and that causes them to log off.

Here's basically what our rinse and repeat process is:

Step 1: Explore until we find a good lot to drop a deed on.

Step 2: We Teamviewer Wurm Planner and design our future village.

Step 3: We cut all the trees down in the lot.

Step 4: I flatten the deed while the other villagers do... whatever they want- usually cutting trees into logs.

Step 5: We start the mine entrance, and a majority of the villagers seem to start mining.

Step 6: I start gathering clay for mortar.

Step 7: I use the rock shards mined to create bricks.

Step 8: I start building houses (this includes the mortar, structural walls, and floorboards).

Once the buildings are all constructed, everyone basically runs out of stuff to do. We accomplished our goal and because we brought over a ton of supplies from the last three or four villages we had, we don't need to go out and gather anything. People go out and try to stay busy with small personal goals, but they quickly grow bored and quit, leaving me by myself. I stay on, hoping they'll come back or hoping that I can round up more people to play, until I get burned out and bored being the only one in the village. It's at that point that I follow suit and stop playing for a while.

I've heard various comments and suggestions from friends and clanmates who have tried and given up on wurm. Over the next day or so, I'm going to bug my friends and clanmates about why they stopped playing, and I'll post the results for you guys to take a look at.

Edited by SirRick
  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Try setting a bigger goal with the group, like building a colossus, or an egyptian style pyramid, a zoo, or a harbour, or whatever. Then you have something to do after getting houses up.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I tend to agree with the ones who say you need projects to keep interested. Generally, you won't feel bored while working on something big, but rather, you will be looking forward to logging in so you can work on it. I raised half of my own deed out of the water by dropping dirt that I dredged up at the nearby shallows. Thousands of dirt and weeks of work and it didn't seem boring at all. Of course, a project like this one is not for everyone, but with the right project, people will stick around at least until it's finished. Then they will enjoy it for a short while and after that, you'll need the next big thing ahead of you to draw you forward.

The second point to keep in mind, don't all ow yourself to get stuck with a lot of maintenance. Especially not the kind that you would need to do every day. Having to do that stuff takes away the time you could use for something else, more spontaneous, more interesting. It turns into a chore and you actually don't really want to log in any more because that chore is waiting there for you. I know, because I'm in this situation now. :wacko:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Sandboxes are more for leaders and loners. You need the ability to search and set goals for yourself, because there is nothing in the box that does such for you.

However a lot of people are followers, they like being told what to do.

If you are the leader amongst your friends it might be better to give them tasks instead of letting them roam free.

Some more tasks that you guys could do:

Becoming experts, everyone can do pretty much everything, but it takes time until you are able to make good stuff.

Building: ships, a guard tower, some hills, a mine, some roads and tunnels, a cannal.

Breeding good animals.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It's usually not enough long term for leaders to give people tasks to keep them interested. They soon tired of it and crave new things and with a larger village with different experience levels it's hard to magic up large projects that will keep them all busy and eager. Personally, I think the biggest failing with Wurm in general is the lack of environmental challenge. It's fine for the creative and leadership types to come up with projects for themselves or their villagers, but the environment challenging you is a far more potent lure for new players and those looking for something else to do once they have built their homes.

Life on Freedom is easy after you get over that initial learning curve. Easy and boring for most players. Theres no real threats out there. Popular opinion dictates that people don't want the wildlife to impact on their day to day gameplay, but that's counter productive for a game that wants to attract and retain new players. Who wants to play it 100% safe all the time? People crave challenge and challenges you give yourself or are assigned by a village leader are nowhere near as effective at keeping people interested than say combating a real environmental threat that could bring ruin to your village.

Obviously this is an ongoing argument for another thread but picture this if you will. What's more likely to keep newer players interested in your village? Build a new canal or Colossus or defend against raiding goblins or trolls that have amassed on your deeds borders and threaten to overwhelm your guards and break down your fences? How about another objective - keep the numbers of said goblins or trolls down to prevent them massing in the first place? Things like this give people a reason to be active and keep logging in. These are the things that will keep new players, even if the old players who don't need convincing that Wurm is awesome disagree strongly with any kind of "harmful" change.

Rolf needs to think about the needs and wants of his future player base, not the old.

  • Like 5

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Alright. So I spoke to five of my friends who used to play wurm and stopped. I asked them all the same questions over teamspeak in separate channels and here were the questions and their responses:

Note: I answered the questions with my opinion as Person 4.

What did you do in Wurm?

Person 1. I helped found our original settlement, then I started focusing on Nature and most of it's subskills. After that, I decided to journey into the religious and meditation skills. While working on these, I couldn't find anything to do in between the cooldowns, so I stopped playing.

Person 2. I made my own 1x3 shack, fenced an area off around it, and grew some crops while tending to some animals. I created a mine near my settlement as well.

Person 3. I cooked, helped terraform, tended to crops, mined, built myself a cart, cut trees down, went on exploring expeditions, and got killed by spiders.

Person 4. I was the town Mayor and jack of all trades. Whatever needed to be done, I did it.

Person 5. I mostly mined ore, cut wood, and served as the town blacksmith as necessary.

Person 6. Before I met SirRick, I was building a huge community and renting out lots for new players to build homes so I could pay the rent of the deed. Before I left, we had about a dozen houses built and half a dozen residents in the community. I had my own horse and cattle farm, I was breeding horses, and trying to sell horses with speed traits. I built a massive barn and was going to turn it into a trading post for raw materials and such. My whole intention was to help new players learn and enjoy the game.

What did you enjoy the most about wurm?

Person 1. The scenery and environment is immersive and I enjoyed exploring the land around me.

Person 2. I enjoyed interacting with other people.

Person 3. I enjoyed the fact that you had to gather the materials and make everything yourself as opposed to just buying them like themepark MMO's.

Person 4. I enjoyed planning and building towns as well as playing with my friends.

Person 5. The fact that there was always something for you to do, no matter what- whether it be terraforming, woodcutting, expanding the settlement or mine, etc.

Person 6. I enjoyed the feeling that it had when I played- the feeling that I am in the wilderness, surviving and thriving on my own. I liked the feeling of danger around me, and the sandbox ability where I could build around me and own my own property. I enjoyed terraforming, although I wasn't fond of how slow it was. I dug for a month and a half when I made Crystal Bay Manor in Freedom-Independence. I liked helping the community and the gameplay is awesome.

Why did you stop playing wurm?

Person 1. It doesn't hold my attention. I have to AFK while I do tasks. It's fun when you go back to it the first couple days, then it feels like you're doing chores.

Person 2. It was tedious and got boring. It takes too long to get everything done. I was also discouraged by the extreme limitations on free-to-play players.

Person 3. I was one of the last people to stop playing. The game was a bit laggy for me and once my friends stopped playing, I quit too.

Person 4. Once all of my friends left I became lonely. The lack of neighbors and community activities gave me nothing to do besides grind until I fell asleep.

Person 5. I stopped mostly because of having to pay to stay above skill level 20. I didn't have the money to do so, both out of game and in-game. I also stopped playing shortly after coming back when I found out my character was deleted. (I didn't pay for a month at the time.)

Person 6. The main reason I stopped playing was because of the lack of major updates to the game. (I'm not referring to new servers and such, I'm referring to major mechanical updates to the game.) I'd also like more customization when it comes to houses and characters. (Example: When you finish the house, make it look less cookie-cutter and more random, or allow the builder to select a particular style.) All my friends stopped playing, including the guy who introduced me to Wurm because it became a chore to them. They started logging in to make sure their crops were tended and their animals were healthy, then they would logout.

What would have kept you in Wurm?

Person 1. Not having to perform the monotonous task of spamming keybinds while watching youtube or netflix.

Person 2. Better animations, more polished graphics, and better game mechanics.

Person 3. More people. I would've enjoyed more interaction with other players, as well as those in my village.

Person 4. If my friends would have stayed interested in wurm, I would definitely be playing with them.

Person 5. A way to make silver (currency) without having too much interaction with other players.

Person 6. Major updates and changes to the game. When I logged in the last time and I saw the new guard towers, I was excited, but then I realized that's all they changed at the time. I'd like to see visible armor, second-story buildings, random building outcomes (rather than cookie cutter houses), lower the time it takes to do everything, lower the amount of time it takes to break a wall in a mine (In it's current state, it's not fun, especially for new players.), add more animations, make the process of improving items faster (The first sword I ever made took me 2 hours to make).

Let me reiterate that I'm not trying to start a wurm bash-fest here. The original intention of this post was to try and see how I could bring my friends back to wurm and how I could keep them playing wurm.

EDIT: I added a sixth testimonial to the list.

Edited by SirRick
  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Couple of things that may help.

Build an orchard for fruit harvesting or tree farm for timber.

Build a vineyard and winery requires grapes and maples.

Harvest fruit to make wine etc, and use the timber to make ships.

Build a nice harbour for your shipbuilding activity, sailboats for all villagers so they can explore and collect stuff for the village.

Shipbuilding is a big task but theres always a market for them.

Plan and make the village appealing, you will be surprised how much that instills a sense of home to players.

Collect and store resources and produce they can be sold in quantity and the cash helps with village economy. Even rocks, bricks, dirt etc have a market demand that can assist you.

Then if thats all done find a needed resource and build an enclosure around it as a village base. You could have one or more of these bases on each server.

If all that is done then build a portal and as a village goto epic and set up there. Learn to pvp.

PS: grinding for many is boring so keep villagers moving about with jobs. But dont tell them what to do, just given them options or offers.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this