Wurm Online News Announcement: Our Current Focus

[Pwnitip 0]

also "request a quest" is awesome so long as it doesnt become "scam a noob", little concerned about a "visual" crafting system

[Telvanni 185]

I am sure this has been said 50 times but I'm too lazy to read all those responses.

 

A big no to maps for me unless you make a cartography skill to go along with it. Which in turn will open up a new trade, map-making. People could make maps of a local area and sell them to new players for a few copper coins, or make a map of the entire server and sell it for some big bucks to an experienced player. Make the maps a drop-able item that can take damage so that the market doesn't get stagnant.

 

Other than that if you are just going to go generic RPG on us and put a big "YOU ARE HERE" x on a mapdump I think most of us would rather you not. 

[Azog 56]

• The option of "Requesting a Quest" for new players to get basic tasks.

 

Found my new cheap labor source. 

[sunsvortex 599]

Nicely Done Indeed - I owe you an apology Johan - In my last post on your Dev Diary I spoke rather harsh about it.

 

My Sincerest Apologies

 

Well Done

[Arkonick 557]

Real world game map that uses the compass you have to open map wait for compass to settle then it shows a dot where you are min you move bam dot is gone. This is the best way to add maps to reflect the compass. I hate not having a detailed in game map it actually is a big turn off to me to have to switch screens or have my second screen burning power just so I can have a map.

If you can't drop the game on 1 screen then the game isn't worth a dam. Not everyone wants to alt tab in a game or run duel screens for a game. It's bad coding.

[DocStineTM 25]

Bahhh! maps, ill never use them, but a new player might want to at first just to get a heading, every other aspect i like, and totally support, quests i know have always been optional, just like helping with epic missions, and maps could be turned off with a GUI command in the console, just like graphics themselves, so maps are not a game ender for me, Wurm is just too freaking good to give up over a non-super detailed map. 

 

+1 for giving us insight on the big updates to come, happy to see any kind of large progression, and more players sticking around would be better in my opinion, just so we have the option of tribal age camps turning into bustling villages turning into cities. 

[Bart 954]

Map wise, how will they actually show... like, will they show deeds as they are formed, and main roads, or are they going to be inferior compared to community maps?

 

its a sandbox after all, things are constantly changing, how will maps cope with that?

[jackbeau 29]

We have maps now. Would be great if it was game dump accurate map. no need for x mark your spot...

 

The first 5 hrs of play is crucial to keep new players here. I'd make the new players invisible to mobs for 24 hrs...

[Rolandt 825]

Maps? Dude what is in the Swedish water lately? You have gone soft and your taking the game with you. Thanks

[sunsvortex 599]

 

• A Visual Interface for Crafting / Creating - Awesome, this has been needed for a very long time
• In game Village Recruitment system - Very Nice, although there really needs to be more reason to join a village other than to learn the game.
• General World and Local Map - Extremely Nice, as it will allow new players a way to see open spots that are available to them for setting up and provide them with some direction as to how to get there. New players are constantly saying they could not find a place and then they start setting up too close to another person and it all goes downhill from there. This should help with that.
• Revisiting and improvements on the Starter Areas for all the Islands - Very Cool - first impressions are everything
• Tutorial Videos for core gameplay - Absolutely fantastic way to do it
• More accessible Information / Help in-game - Awesome, this is soooooooooo needed.
• An optional Contextual Help System, giving you hints instead of popups. Again excellent feature.
• The option of "Requesting a Quest" for new players to get basic tasks.Interesting feature to see how it plays out.
• New zone based tutorial, with option to skip straight to the Portal and Game World/ Island selection.Interesting
• Tons of new Icons for Items, Buffs and User Interface elements -Awesome

 

 

 

Just one real question - the New Zone Based tutorial - what exactly does that mean? A reopening of GV or reworking the current tutorial zone or something brand new?

Edited September 5, 2013 by sunsvortex

[RedBaron_Johan 2,853]

Nicely Done Indeed - I owe you an apology Johan - In my last post on your Dev Diary I spoke rather harsh about it.

 

My Sincerest Apologies

 

Well Done

 

Much appreciated Suns!

I did keep some of what you said in mind. I usually find that in the most flamed response, you will find a passionate person. Someone which if listened to, can provide valuable feedback.

Happy you liked it.

[Verden 0]

Maps should be player made, using a cartography skill.  A server map (game dump quality) should be avaiable at the server spawn point.  Map kiosks (player made) on deeds ONLY and ONLY if the deedholder allows it (add a deed management option).  Counts as a sign.  Maps illegible (except for basic outlines) to other kingdoms (they use their own symbology).

 

Quests - the ones already in game are pretty good for new players.  Still, adding player made quests would be nice.  The sandbox game Xsyon has such a system, using the village token as a bulletin board.  Wurm should use a large sign, under a kingdom flag instead.  Villagers deposit the offered reward when the quest is set up.

 

Public transportation (boat(s) or carts, guided by an NPC, perhaps player made) could be made available for players from the spawn point to a deed if a village recruiter pays for it (buy ticket at token, use the mail system to deliver it).  Player should not be attackable during the ride (fair game once they leave the cart or boat).

 

For the tutorial, that really does need an overhaul.  There should be a "loose" tutorial area at each server spawn.  Terraforming, woodcutting, carpentry (including housing and shipbuilding), mining, smithing, and cooking should all be covered.  The area should remove any items made there from inventory when a player leaves.  Improving should be part of the tutorial.  House and ship areas should temporarily give the player skill so they can see how it gets started.  Perhaps also an NPC and resources to help them complete the build, since roofs and floors for houses require walls be complete.  Areas "magically" reset when the player leaves.

[lordshaggy 4]

Please don't add any in game maps, such a bad idea..

[Edwardteague 2]

with the maps, I agree, it should be cartography based, and perhaps you'd have to do what 'actual' cartographers 'back in the day' used to do. go to the area, explore it, make notations and map it. 

 

make them a craftable/tradable item (a use for papyrus or paper made form woodscraps?)

 

let deed info (from the token) show the X,Y so we know where our own home is. (some people i know could get lost turning a corner)

 

realtime gps map? no. not unless you're going to make it an enchanted item

 

 

[Kegan 3,926]

I am not sure why you guys are talking about using a skill to make maps the point is to make things easier for the new player not harder. I am sure they don't want to make the new player level up some kind of map making skill to get any use out of a in-game map system. 

[Budda 2,673]

I don't think anyone has actually read what Johan said about the maps a couple pages back.

 

They won't be minimaps, they won't have "you are here", they will be pretty much a window in game, with a shape showing the layout of the land.

They won't be made up of live data from the server, they will be static maps - think an in-game window for the community map, without any sort of markers.

 

I had the same concerns as everyone when I first heard about it, but trust me, this won't upset the game for anyone - only make navigation slightly easier for new people.

[Syhl 215]

No thank you.  No maps, HUDs, radars.

+1 this

[sunsvortex 599]

I second this information.

It is going to be very general maps, not nearly as detailed as some of the community maps out there.

We are not implementing features where you would be able to see yourself GPS style.

Also we are going to be looking at feedback from the players going forward with adding the features.

 then for feedback I think the only item that should be added would be hiways and nothing else. Im not certain that just giving an ingame landform map would be that helpful to a new player. But if say I were trying to get one of them to come to my deed as a villager I could simply say, follow x hiway on your map all the way north till you see me in local.

 

And after thinking about it a bit more, even though I don't care for everything being on the map, does it really matter? We have maps anyways, I use them all the time and like another poster said give an option to turn them off. Isnt that what we really do anyways by choosing not to open the player made maps?

 

So whats the real difference of having the player made maps available in game vs out of game? I cant find a difference so put the player made maps in, I cannot see how it breaks anything,.

 

Also I think it would be good to start defining WURM -  Historically its always been defined as a game of Survival -  I personally have never considered it this, but like the idea. So is WURM a game of Survival or is it evolving to something different. If its evolving to something different - define what its evolving to. This will help put things into perspective.

Edited September 5, 2013 by sunsvortex

[robino 79]

village mayors should have an option to allow their village to be an 'auto join' when certain 'recruiter' villagers are online

 

all auto join villages appear on a list which the noob can select - they then join a village and receive help from the aforementioned villagers

Edited September 5, 2013 by robino

[Lolabelle 597]

We're still going to discuss how far "implementing maps" will go to add them into the game. Expect to have a chance to have your say about this

 

At the very least, community maps will be accessible from within the game but won't show your position. To add a way for noobs to not get lost however, the noob compass could point towards the starter town too. Lots is being discussed!

No Drop 1 ql compass for noobs maybe??

[Eject 407]

make that compasses could not be lost or if a player dies, make only a arrow that show him the direction of the corpse, not more

[Alyeska 2,621]

I don't think anyone has actually read what Johan said about the maps a couple pages back.

 

 

Reading? Wtf?? Ain't nobody got time for dat, bring on the pitchforks and torches.

 

 

I am curious to see how maps will be implemented - it can be great or it can really suck depending on how it's done.

[RedBaron_Johan 2,853]

No Drop 1 ql compass for noobs maybe??

 

Correct. That is also happening!

I just took a top 10 out of what is going on for this post.

[Kidknie 19]

 

Features for New and Old players alike which are currently planned or being worked on:

• A Visual Interface for Crafting / Creating
• In game Village Recruitment system
• General World and Local Map
• Revisiting and improvements on the Starter Areas for all the Islands
• Tutorial Videos for core gameplay
• More accessible Information / Help in-game
• An optional Contextual Help System, giving you hints instead of popups.
• The option of "Requesting a Quest" for new players to get basic tasks.
• New zone based tutorial, with option to skip straight to the Portal and Game World/ Island selection.
• Tons of new Icons for Items, Buffs and User Interface elements

 

 

A visual interface for crafting and/or creating can be both good and bad.  It can make it easier for people to bot, for example.  The current method, while tedious, is much preferred for keeping people from overproducing crafted items for any reason, including grinding, which I personally disdain.  Others prefer mindless grinding to get that one skill up and that is fine by me.  Just please do not give grinders a tool to help them go gangbusters any more than you would give a player a means to bot.

 

A general map would be nice to have access to in game, provided it were based on an up to date map dump, and also provided you were able to save your own waypoints or points of interest to it.  For example, say the map is basically an in-game window with a wallpaper for a backdrop instead of the standard black background.  You could use a slash command of some sort on your own to periodically mapdump to your client for an updated map.  This would only update the wallpaper in your general map window, but any points of interest you choose to label on your map would stay.  They would not be visible to anyone else.

 

As far as a "minimap" or local map goes, if those are entirely personal, and something you can turn off, ie optional, then great!  I would, however, suggest that, even though I am unfamiliar with the Santa lamp reference, I think it would be a good idea to include a map making skill, and require there be a dye filled quill and at least one sheet of papyrus in your inventory, and that the map ONLY SHOW what you manage to physically get close enough to.  It should NOT take the form of a minimap, however.  You should be able to note personal points of interest.  Such local maps should only cover a very limited area.  If there were a slash command to start a new local map, then I would say a local map should cover ONLY the radius of what is considered local to the spot you were standing on when you activated your new map.  This way, if you absolutely had to have a map of every little teeny tiny detail, you would have to go get it.

 

I do not recommend local mapping of any sort for the PvP servers.

Edited September 5, 2013 by Kidknie

[Toonarmy 1]

Ok so make the map toggle on off, use it if you want , dont if you dont, simple really.