Sign in to follow this  
Urist_Ironblood

A New Approach To Starter Equipment

Recommended Posts

Yunia's thread on optional starter packs and the ensuing discussion set me to thinking about a couple of things.

1) The current starter equipment is a pretty good selection for a generalist, everyone's got a different play-style and different in-game goals, and some items may not be used much if at all in the first couple of in-game weeks.

2) It's currently really, really hard to get rid of middling-quality tools and other items because the absolute beginners who might have some use for them don't have any money; by the time you get your hands on any coin (or decide to go premium) you've probably skilled up past the point where a 8-12ql mallet or pickaxe is any good to you, even at a handful of iron.

So, why not solve both these problems by letting newcomers select their starting equipment from Wurm's economy?

The way I would go about doing this is as follows. On completing the tutorial, every player receives a non-transferable voucher for... well, whatever the current starter equipment would cost on the open market I guess; three to five copper, I think? When purchased with a voucher, this equipment cannot then be sold or traded to another player; the in-game description could mention something about it having the owner's name carved deeply into it or painted on with tar or something. Improving it by a lot, ie at least fifteen levels or so, would be the only way to remove this restriction.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I dont think its nessecary to over complicate things by adding vouchers. I'd say make a pre made list like being able to choose from a selection of weapons that you want to start with (only being able to choose 1 weapon) that will be 10ql non improveable. Same for shields and maybe start with cloth armour. As for tools they dont need changing other than adding a sickle

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

hmm, wondering which of your newbie tools you don't use alot or at all in the first weeks of wurm? Can't think of just one you don't have to use to get started. Even the shield and the short sword is nice to have for the first days.

BUT what i think is there should be a sickle and a butchering kinfe in the starter equipment.

Edited by hoof2000

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

butcher knife does not need to be there because a carving knife can be used. It gives incentive to make or buy a butcher knife for improved QL.

A sickle function needs to be added to the hatchet/carving knife, again making that function useable from the start but to get improved QL you would need to make or buy a sickle. Ditto for the scythe.

The way to have new players need middling market tools, is to increase the dmg on their noob tools, like it or not. They will probably do that to themselves anyways, since they do not know they need to repair tools and thus will be in the market for middling tools. The problem is repairing noob tools is too good, I know 50 skill diggers who are still using the noob shovel!

Middling tools is often a handout from apprentice smiths who feel they have no market value in a silver based economy, even though silver is 10000 iron nobody but the trader sells things for irons and coppers because mentally they assign no value to things 100th of a penny because they bring real life valuations into the game when they buy silver. And part of the problem is nobody uses the traders because there are so few public ones, that they are always drained. If traders where everywhere and purchased silver was not; Wurm would have real valued coppers and irons, which in turn would be spent on middling tools.

For vouchers to work players would have to be able to make starter toolsets, which currently is not possible. They can only make the iron replacements that can be imp/QL to offset the dmg. But a voucher means the smith is expecting to get paid by Rolf, which is not going to happen when the starter gear is made by Rolf. If you vouch iron gear instead, then you eliminate the need for noob iron mines/forges, and it is this exploration of the crafting system that leads some people to realizing they like smithing.

Edited by yarnevk

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I dont think its nessecary to over complicate things by adding vouchers. I'd say make a pre made list like being able to choose from a selection of weapons that you want to start with (only being able to choose 1 weapon) that will be 10ql non improveable. Same for shields and maybe start with cloth armour. As for tools they dont need changing other than adding a sickle

This is Wurm. Nothing should be too complicated for us! ;)

Seriously, though, I don't see how this would complicate things for the player; just think of it as a point-buy system.

hmm, wondering which of your newbie tools you don't use alot or at all in the first weeks of wurm? Can't think of just one you don't have to use to get started. Even the shield and the short sword is nice to have for the first days.

BUT what i think is there should be a sickle and a butchering kinfe in the starter equipment.

I didn't use the rake at all until about a week after I started playing, and if I hadn't been kindly offered the use of a small house and garden by Sugar's Newcomer Academy I probably wouldn't have used it until much later; you can't farm crops until you can stake a claim somewhere, and unclaimed land takes some finding on some of the older servers. If I'd had the choice, I might also have chosen a medium axe instead of having to mess around grinding two different skill-sets by cutting down trees with a sword and then chopping them into logs with a hatchet.

butcher knife does not need to be there because a carving knife can be used. It gives incentive to make or buy a butcher knife for improved QL.

You can butcher corpses with a carving knife?

A sickle function needs to be added to the hatchet/carving knife, again making that function useable from the start but to get improved QL you would need to make or buy a sicle. Ditto for the scythe.

The way to have new players need middling market tools, is to increase the dmg on their noob tools, like it or not. They will probably do that to themselves anyways, since they do not know they need to repair tools and thus will be in the market for middling tools. This is often a handout from apprentice smiths who feel they have no market value in a silver based economy, even though silver is 10000 iron nobody but the trader sells things for irons and coppers because mentally they assign no value to things 100th of a penny because they bring real life valuations into the game when they buy silver.

For vouchers to work players would have to be able to make starter toolsets, which currently is not possible. They can only make the iron replacements that can be imp/QL to offset the dmg. But a voucher means the smith is expecting to get paid by Rolf, which is not going to happen when the starter gear is made by Rolf.

I think you missed the part where I suggested completely doing away with non-improvable starter equipment.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You can butcher corpses with a carving knife?

Yes, and a shovel, a pickaxe, a short sword... or any other "bladed" tool or weapon.

As to your idea, I don't understand how it helps the issue of "middling quality" items being difficult to sell. Are you suggesting this voucher could be used at a player-controlled merchant?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I didn't use the rake at all until about a week after I started playing, and if I hadn't been kindly offered the use of a small house and garden by Sugar's Newcomer Academy I probably wouldn't have used it until much later; you can't farm crops until you can stake a claim somewhere, and unclaimed land takes some finding on some of the older servers. If I'd had the choice, I might also have chosen a medium axe instead of having to mess around grinding two different skill-sets by cutting down trees with a sword and then chopping them into logs with a hatchet.

You can butcher corpses with a carving knife?

and shovel

Edited by Deth666

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It's nice and simple as it is no need to complicate it.

I could see adding a sickle to the stater set though.

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