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Yea i guess it would be easier to just have a simple right click on the compass in the gui for these commands rather than a slash command that the new player would not know anyway. 


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Well now i know why the devs are so reluctant to post what they are working on because it is meet with this every time. we do not even know what they are doing yet but here we are picking apart something that we know nothing about.

 

 

 

You know what ROLF said in one of the DEV videos ago?

 

 

"WE WILL DEVELOPE ON WHAT YOU WANT"

 

i have seen nothing of that yet, a useless thing being said in a video if they are only working on things that work against us. Its pretty clear that many people want to see BUG FIXES, but things like missions DO NOT EVEN WORK PROPERLY YET and nothing looks like its happening!

Edited by whykillme
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Well that is true to some extent but they always have to focus on bringing in new players or the game would run out of funds quick. This is one of those must do things so they can address the retention of the new players. lets face it most of the old established players are playing for free in one way or another so it is crucial to the game that they keep as many new players that they can so working on that is important too.


 


I am guessing they have looked at the numbers and there must be a lot of new players leaving the game and never cumming back before they even get past the five hour mark. That is why they have chose to look into these crucial first few hours and focus on that at the moment.  I am sure they are working on bugs too as they go but with a small team they have to balance their time and it makes things seem slow at times i guess. 


Edited by Kegan

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They could have thought of that 3 years ago aswell Kegan.... Those bugs are in-game for months now


Edited by whykillme

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For maps, I think having an ingame access to the continent map we all have access to anyway isn't a bad idea. Even with just the terrain and a red spot at the starter deed but having opt-in village positions also shown is good too.This is good for the people that need it most and just cuts out them having to search externally. That has to be the better way.


 


Player retention is the main issue. I have always thought that a starter deed should be a landscaped, fully usable, raised, raidable, harmonious hub. An example of what you can achieve yourself by setting forth from it's safety in to the interior. I know this has been attempted in Wurm time with the likes of New Dawn on GV but the starter towns now, for all the effort put in to them  already are a far cry from the ideal. I say make one great example of it and plop it down at each starter deed, then customise it from there if and when desired.


 


The idea of that of course, is having the new players drop in to an environment and game that is immediately interesting, varied and playable before they even decide to see what else is out there.

Edited by Silures
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The compass is definitely in keeping with the flavour of Wurm.

 

Right click

- select magnetic, normal compass operation

- select starter town, now will point to the starter town

- select deed, will now point to the village you are a member of if you did join one.

- select bank, will now point to the village token where you have your bank

- select body, will now point to your last dead self

- select marker, will now point to your last set marker if you have one set

- select place marker, the compass will now point to your current location if you select marker

 

Too easy, then might as well make a mini map.

- 1 gazillion.

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This was all foreseeable. Seen it before with a thousand million mmo's.


 


As they grow older, for various reasons, they become desperate and seek new players by broadening what they offer. Of course, this can cause old players to quit the game, but usually enough new players come in to actually boost the population. The problem is the game eventually looks like a huge patchwork and it becomes highly mudflated. The new players can always find something better and the old players are more irritable. Eventually the game dies. The creators can always say that without their changes the game would have died a lot sooner, so...


 


What I believe they should have done was to not focus so much on graphics and user interface and focus more on improving the depth in the world and the interactions with it. That would have alleviated a lot of the grind. And the way the skills are setup is very linear and doesn't encourage people to come together. And lastly I would have focused on the in-game help to have a welcome screen with popular links/guides and clickable links and viewable tables. It's a good game, but far from what I think would be ideal. I realize of course the game needs an interface and graphics. I love a good interface and ok graphics, sure! However, I was happy with how it was before, so why be in a rush?


 


It's unfortunate that this happens with Wurm, but it's extremely common and I can't really blame them.


 


The fortunate thing is there's always new games coming out. Wurm is not the last game to try to be a survival game. There will be others that will pop up just like stars do. They burn and then they fade, just like us.


 


One of the reasons I like Dwarf Fortress is its maker accepts it being text-based and didn't go out of his way to add fancy things to attract people. This allowed him to focus almost exclusively on the depth in his world. Most modern mmo's focus more on glitz than on depth and this is how dwarf fortress can offer something unavailable anywhere else. In fact, this is probably why Dwarf Fortress has so much attention. Without its depth, it'd be garbled text.


 


One last thing... I want to talk about what I liked about Wurm Online when I was a new player in 2012. I was immediately surprised by the different kinds of tiles slowing you down. Then I discoverd there were slopes in the game. I was amazed since so many modern mmo's do not have those kinds of things - everyboyd runs fast and you don't have to pay attention much. I liked how the game was just me and the world and not a bunch of windows inbetween. There was no in-game map. It felt minimalist and it was immersive. I felt like a survivor in another world. It was dangerous. Almost no hand holding. I loved it. I have so many memories that will last with me from this and I'm grateful for them, but my heart aches at how the things I love about Wurm Online will be ignored and thrown aside.


 


When I got premium in august 2012, I paid for what the game was then, not what the developers think it should be now. I paid for it and played it because I saw something in it I liked. This is me.


Edited by Lightonfoot
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Too easy, then might as well make a mini map.

- 1 gazillion.

 

Agreed.

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And why add in-game maps if they're not going to have all the information that the community maps do? I doubt very much that the in-game maps, at first, will be useful. They'll miss things and be too cut and dry. New players will want more information. Eventually, they'll have all the bells and whisltes just so players actually use them.


 


And eventually we'll start talking about gps either for player position or for markers or something else. Many MANY developers say they'll never do something and do it anyway. Never ever believe them. In fact, there'll probably be lots of hints on the maps to identify where you're so gps won't even be needed. Same thing. Mark my words, they'll find some way to make it easy to use, so that you either find a kind of gps or you don't need it.


 


The only time you should trust a developer is if you have a copy of the code and can change it and release it just like they do. Of course, since a lot of these mmo's are commercial and not moddable, you can't do that.


 


It never ends, if you don't set limits. This is true for players too. Know when to quit playing! As a long time gamer, I stayed with many games too long even though they had lost a lot of their flavor. Know thyself.


 


Bottom line, I'd be a happy player if they just removed the compass and stopped releasing official map dumps. Honestly, I've used the white light and black light and I've used landmarks and have my sense of direction. Without a compass and without an official mpa dump, I'm the type of person that will adjust and like it. Strangley, some people cannot exist without those things. They want automatic things and accessibiity features.


 


I'd be happier. I'd have more faith in them. Right now, i have no faith in them. I lost faith in developers a long time ago. Most of them do the same ol' things. When they say something, they sound just like a politician to me.


 


I've rarely ever used my compass or the community maps and that's why I don't think it needs to be expanded. As a new player, I LIKED that there was no in-game map. Things like that made Wurm Online special. It was just you and the world. Too many games nowadays have windows and icons inbetween you and the world.


 


And I was a new player in 2012. Just last year. I'm not an oldtimer around here!


 


Go ahead, shrug off everything I say. It's ok, I expect that. Been dealing with that for years. Most people don't like me. Fact. I always go for the hardcore games where you have to do things manually with harsh punishments. I don't know why I'm that way. Why does a farmer farm? Why does a painter paint? I am a sculpture preexisting in a block of granite. I am as helpless to change who I am as anyone. I go with hte rainstorms and swim with sharks.


 


I will bow out from this discussion. I know hte talking heads and the people will convince themselves they need all this and eventually they'll think they can't live without. Most of you can't think on your own.


Edited by Lightonfoot
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The map thing is easy.... if they give you a map, and you want to use a map... use it. If they give you a map and you don't want to use a map, don't use it. Get lost if you like.   Options, we all like different things, personally, I absolutely hate being lost in the woods.

 

If you give a man the choice between a porcelain crapper and Scottissue, or a hole in the ground and a leaf, the choice is obvious.  Soon the chaffing will dictate Scottissue really IS easier on the ol' tush.  The porcelain crapper wins!

But give a man a hole in the ground and a leaf only, and he is forced to create his own Porcelain crapper or "feel the heat".  LOL.

 

Bobb, I do understand where you are coming from, so please don't "tag" me   :P

 

This is only my opinion, and I always try to make it a point to state that.  But if you put something in a game and then tell someone not to use it if they don't like it, I would feel it akin to locking a woman in a fudge shop in the throes of her diet.  9 times outta 10, fudge wins, diet loses!   ;)

Edited by Menoch

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No GPS of any sort, unless you gonna start crafting satillites, an computers and stuff

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Hey mister tower guard, where am I?


Make maps work only within friendly tower range?


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I wonder just how these maps will look and work.


Edited by Aldur

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I think maps would only be a good idea if areas are "unlocked" as you travel there.  So when first starting on Chaos, only Hunter's area would be on the map, then as you explore, the map gets updated.  I think options for adding your own landmarks to the map would be good though, but you would have to do it manually.


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I know I'm not alone when I say a map will destroy the survival aspect of the game, getting lost in the woods makes things fun for alot of people.

 

So don't look! I hate getting lost, and a good map would enhance the game for me.

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Great ideas!... I'm excited to see what sort of impact this will have on the retention of new folks.
I like the concept of a "noob compass" but I'm also interested in, perhaps, some sort of cartography skill that would display a general overview initially and then could become more detailed, as you explore (or "study") the world more thoroughly. Maybe at a certain rank, allow creation of handcrafted maps that could be given or traded to other players. In addition if you have the necessary skill, maybe you'd be allowed to commit those handcrafted maps to your own overview. An in-game coordinates system would be important, for this to work, but it would not necessitate a "GPS".

Edited by Animus

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What about those new players whose 1st experience of the game is atrocious frame rates caused by GLSL... I'm not seeing any mention of this elephant in the room?


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All of these efforts and implementations sound like they will be an immense improvement to one of Wurms weakest areas. Hopefully will allow a much larger number of the fresh faces in the game to be both willing and able to play long enough to get drawn into the game.

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