Indy Or Release - Looking For Advice / Info

[Northbrook 1]

Hi all -

I'm new to Wurm. I've been reading through as many tutorials, guides, forum posts, and wikis as I can to try to determine what server I want to begin on. PvP servers are out - it's not my playstyle. I'm also the type of player that wants to try out all aspects of a game, which is why I'm leaning towards "going it alone" and starting up my own little home rather than joining an existing village. As I read things, this may be very challenging, but I love a good challenge.

My question is really on which server, Indy or Release, would be the better one to start? I read that Indy is 4x the size of Release, but has been around a long time. Does that mean it looks like a frat house the day after a party, with abandoned deeds, half developed, all over? Are there any good spots available for a new player? Are resources like trees and mine veins pretty much wiped out? The plus side of Indy appears to be the extensive roadwork, as I've seen on some maps I've looked at.

The flip side is Release. The map looks challenging for a new player to get far from SS. Any insights on the amount of good areas for a new deed and the ability to reach them?

I'm not looking for a huge amount of land to settle - just enough to experience dropping a deed, then building a home, mining, farming, etc.

Thanks in advance for any insights you might have,

-NB

[Guest Docterchese]

Indy is a wilderness in a lot of places but still has a lot of abandoned deeds. Resources aren't wiped out though.

Personally, I'd recommend neither of those servers - instead, I recommend that you join a very special deed called the Wurm Academy on the Pristine server. From there you'd be able to learn the ropes of Wurm - and you could then move south to the Release server once you've got a bit of experience. I started off Wurm on my own and I can guarantee that I wouldn't have been able to do it without a couple of experienced players acting as my neighbours. Because you don't know how lucky you'd be on Release I recommend you start in a village for a month or more before moving on.

Either way, go to Release or Pristine - they're new servers and they have the most exciting economies of any of the Freedom servers thanks to being so isolated.

[Brash_Endeavors 4,735]

You can probably find land on both Indy & Release. Here are a few of the "playstyle" differences I would imagine existing between the two (these are broad overgeneralizations and maybe only exist in my own imagination)

Release has more of a "pure" Wurm experience due to lack of roads, plus roaming Unique monsters that can terrorize the populace. So there is more "Fun" in the aspect of raw challenges and uncertain deaths. It will probably also be harder -- people are likely to give advice in chat channels but ingame everyone is pretty busy just getting by, so there will be a strong expectation that if you are there, you are a very self reliant person who can take care of themselves (beyond maybe a few questions).

Indy has a lot of older players who, for various reasons, chose to stay with their original deeds rather than sail off for newer servers and the excitement of new deeds. That suggests to me they are more of a "hobbit" type by nature -- at once social-yet-shy, they like to putter around and enjoy their gardens, are maybe not so much into competitive challenges or highly social organized events (beyond a yearly Impalong). Many are super-skilled in a wide variety of abilities and have more resources than they need, so more likely to be "generous" in helping a new person get started, not just in time/advice but also in helping with some starter resources like livestock, seeds, some generic basic armor & weapons, which would be impossible to get so easily on the raw and rugged Release server. Because most of their deed/villages are ones they have worked on slowly across years, they tend to not be in any rush and like to help "on impulse" and you might find one travelling across the map just to help you bash down a fence or get a mine on a tricky slope started, yet other times they might seem a litle standoiffish (Indy tended to get the brunt of the early 4chan/facepunch invasions and though they are more relaxed now, they are sometimes still a little shy and wary of strangers.) . Indy also has a lot of sprawling solo homesteads tucked away in remote reclusive areas far from the center, so most forget about the clutter close to the spawn and tend to think the server still has 90% open green space ((which is actually true once you get far enough away from the center).

Since you can have up to five characters per email, you could also try out a F2P character on each server, and spend a week or two with each getting a chance to explore around.

For many people, Wurm is a game you play for YEARS and taking an extra week or two at the start to make sure you are settled into the best spot for YOUR needs, is not wasted time in anyway at all. By the time you are ready to go Premium on one of the characters, I bet it will be very clear to you which experience you are enjoying the most.

Personally, I'd recommend neither of those servers - instead, I recommend that you join a very special deed called the Wurm Academy on the Pristine server. From there you'd be able to learn the ropes of Wurm - and you could then move south to the Release server once you've got a bit of experience.

This is also VERY good advice

Edited January 19, 2013 by Brash_Endeavors

[Icelion 2]

Personally, I'd recommend neither of those servers - instead, I recommend that you join a very special deed called the Wurm Academy on the Pristine server. From there you'd be able to learn the ropes of Wurm - and you could then move south to the Release server once you've got a bit of experience. I started off Wurm on my own and I can guarantee that I wouldn't have been able to do it without a couple of experienced players acting as my neighbours. Because you don't know how lucky you'd be on Release I recommend you start in a village for a month or more before moving on.

+1. They're a great bunch of people. Live on pristine myself and while my deed is open to newcomers i generally send them to the academy. Brilliant community there and its newbie-centric.

[Darkmalice 242]

SE Inde (not the coasts), tons of empty space. I've had a deed there for years now and still I hardly see anyone around.

[Kgb 4]

Hello there Northbrook and welcome to wurm,

As the others have mentioned the Wurm Academy, I shall start there. I myself am the deputy head and can definitely say that you are very welcome to join us while you learn the basics of wurm. We will help you learn as much as we can and should you feel you are ready to brave the wilderness on your own, you can do so. If you do decide to stay with us and choose to leave for release I'll be happy to provide a boat ride there for you.

In regards to the amount of available land on release. I believe there is a very large amount of it as it is a relatively new server, normally there is a rush for the easily accessible coast line such as beaches which if you look carefully there should still be some space, otherwise there is most likely plenty of room further inland. Due to not living on release I can't say much about the types of materials in each area or if there are any really good areas but generally if an area is unsuitable to live in, it can only take a bit of work to turn it into your dream home.

Edited January 20, 2013 by Kgb

[Northbrook 1]

Thanks for the great replies!

I hadn't heard of Wurm Academy before. Is this a completely player run establishment, rather than something offered by the GMs? What does the Academy offer in regards to training that sets themselves apart from other newbie-centric villages?

-NB

[Hordern 2,177]

Yes, the Wurm Academy is player run, not 'supported' by the staff in any way other than some staff members are involved in it as players. Almost everything in Wurm is entirely player driven/created/maintained.

Brash, this made me thing of the Dwarf Fortress Wiki:

plus roaming Unique monsters that can terrorize the populace. So there is more "Fun"

/>http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Fun

[elvidur 4]

I havent chose a server either and pretend to play asap. Could I join this academy too? ^^. I think it would be great

[Kgb 4]

The academy is a village on pristine which is being run by veteran players to specifically teach newer players about wurm. Some other villages answer questions and provide you tools or ask you to provide a specific role within the village.

We let you decide entirely what it is that you would like to do, then explain how you would go about carrying out your plan. An example of this would be say you came to us wanting to learn about blacksmithing. We would suggest starting off with some of the more basic blacksmithing items (hammer, anvil(s), stone chisel, pick axe and hatchet), then explain how to make your own step by step as you go along. As a village we will provide the basics: forge, ore, wood and a pelt if any avaliable. The reason behind this is that you actually learn blacksmithing while you are doing it and at the same time have the achievement of creating your first tools.

As horden has said the academy is not 'supported' by the wurm staff officially but as players one or 2 members (including myself) are living there to help teach people because we enjoy it.

For more information on the academy project click here.

[Northbrook 1]

Again, thanks to everyone for their advice and suggestions.

I was very tempted to go the Academy route (which I 'm sure would've been the wisest decision), but I chose to strike out on my own on Release. There's just not many games out there now a days that offer the kind of extreme challenge Wurm seems to offer. I enjoy a good challenge, so thought I'd jump straight into the wilds and give it a go. I think EvE Online has been the only other game that I've played that offered this type of challenge.

In my couple days on Release, I found a nice spot on the shore of a decent sized lake to drop my token. I have shoreline, lots of trees, and a start of a mine with an iron vein. I've been able to figure out how to fish, and have made a mine door for my mine as well. In doing just the basics to get that far, I'm really starting to see the huge scope that is required to create any sort of settlement in Wurm.

No doubt it's a huge project, but I'm looking forward to it!

-NB

[rosedragon 2,282]

Nice progress! I would recommend inde just because that is the only server I know xD .. see, im one of the independence hobit.. were living on a deed alone until recently adopt someone to help me.