Playerbase Increase

[LorenaMontana 3,008]

Ok lets make some stuff clear here, my english is not pro, my explanation skills are even further from pro and im a carebear who doesnt pvp, pls dont blame me for that.

 

Lets start abit negative: Wurm's advertisement is pathetic, for a person thats just surfin the internet for a nice MMO its impossible to find this game, no offence tho. There are many MMO toplists (top 100, top 200 w/e, just google it...) which costs like 10-20 euro a month for a banner but which have a very reasonable amount of visitors every week. Fe. I played Ultima online private servers for 10 years and they advertised on toplists sites, they could cover it easily from 2-3 players donatin 10 euro's a month for a banner. When the players vote for ur game (and im SURE wurm players will vote for wurm on these sites) u raise in the rankin, and more and more ppl will see wurm and more and more will stick for sure. 

 

Ultima online didnt had a playerbase like wurm, they all started from scratch. I know UO isnt wurm and wurm isnt UO but this is pure about playerbase. U need to show alot of ppl that Wurm is on the market and when u fetch those ppl, keep them.

 

I would love to tell some suggestions about how to keep them but i really dunno about that, ill try tho... 

 

Most new players hate tutorials, and they wanna run thru it to start asap. Problem with wurm is, u dont understand anything of it when u dont read it. Even when u read it its crazy hard when ur dropped in a starter town. A newb wants to play when hes dropped and feel like he has a spot whats for him "noob area" to just woodcut abit, mine abit, kill some doggies, have some respawnable pigs or w/e for shieldskill. just some loud thinkin here, just make the noobs see whats fun and how skillin is in wurm and how it benefits. When a noob sees his skills grow and can logoff safely and login the day after and continue with somethin like woodcuttin, minin, shieldtrainin w/e he feels like he is buildin his char he will keep playin. 

 

The reality is: hes dropped in a starter town and he just has to do anythin. Most noobs arent creative about thinkin of what to do and just do alt F4 and never come back.

 

I think noobs need to stay in the tutorial and see their skills raise, be able to make some stuff and feel its like a safe haven/home or however u wanna call it. New players stick when they are safe from the first moments, make them feel like its their newbie lands (offc with some restrictions) and can live there untill they think they are rdy to move to the real world WITH abit of skills and abit of noobie tools. Then they enter the world and feel they earned something and its really THEIR char.

 

This is pure said from Epic view tho. I understand ur safe on freedom from the first moment anyways but maybe it will help also, no clue.

 

I think the 5 first hour plan is awesome that the developers work on and i hope the community will think with us, thats why i made this thread, wurm needs players and the players need wurm. Pls notice this wall of text was all loud thinking under the influence of a small bottle of heineken, i hope this helps fix some new players.

[Fernando 10]

they should add bulk crafting so you can just right click a bsb and go afk for 10 minutes makin bricks

 

that would make this game less spergy and actually enjoyable

[Morrowen 428]

Maybe make a simple starter server. No deeds no agressive mob spawns and no skills above 20. Could also have a public mine with an unlimited iron vein. Then once you are comfortable with the game can move to a real server.

[Bart 954]

Maybe make a simple starter server. No deeds no agressive mob spawns and no skills above 20. Could also have a public mine with an unlimited iron vein. Then once you are comfortable with the game can move to a real server.

that's GV, we had exactly that... But you cant get there any more

[Morrowen 428]

Why did they do away with it?

[Alec 728]

Oh, I'm glad to see a person that thinks that the "5 first hours" should be different in Epic cluster than in Freedom.

 

In Freedom you can be pampered to the extreme, but in Epic the moment you go thru the portal, you are on your own to handle raiders and mobs.

 

And yes, not everyone wants to join a village fresh out of the tutorial.

 

And again ,yes. I got killed and looted in my first two weeks by raiders. Adding some extra advise about how to hide or avoid raiders, in the tutorial would be great (maybe some CA made guides?).

[Shrimpiie 3,665]

they should add bulk crafting so you can just right click a bsb and go afk for 10 minutes makin bricks

 

that would make this game less spergy and actually enjoyable

That is just ridiculous, that would defiantly not make the game enjoyable.

[Archaed 2,280]

The developers of this game ultimately have two options:

 

1) Wurm is a niche game, you simply aren't going to have the numbers that any FPS or mmorpg out there has, its just not possible. What you need to do is market and advertise it as much as possible to those who seek this niche, those who want minecraft to be more realistic, to those who enjoy building things up, hell, even those who like the sims! The game needs to be promoted and done so heavily, not with gimmicks, or changing things around, simply promote what the idea of the game always has been about - open world sandbox. I agree SOME tweaks need to be made to tutorial and such, but ultimately, online presence and representation is the major key, many games don't come with a tutorial, because they're designed for players who prefer seeking out information on their own, youtube videos, the wiki, its all there and we want players who use their own resources.

 

2) Change the game, completely rework it to hand as much over as possible, take away the complex side of it and simply make it a casual creative sandbox mmo, cater to the masses and hope some of them stick around long enough to chuck a few months premium on.

 

You can have an in depth, complex and ultimately rewarding game, or you can have a simple, easy going game that allows for many time saving measures. You can't have both.

Edited October 26, 2013 by Archaed

[Fernando 10]

That is just ridiculous, that would defiantly not make the game enjoyable.

 

think about how much more time you'll have to be sittin' there browsing the forums and gracing us with your insightful posting

Edited October 26, 2013 by Fernando

[SavageSaint 1]

On the tutorial, I think their current effort is poorly done. I appreciate the time which was invested by the GMs to make that tutorial area but lets be honest, it's a boring and annoying way to be forced to learn how to play.

It might have been a better idea to run the tutorial as a player takes his first steps in the real world. Upon loading into his chosen server a popup could tell him some basic things to do, forage grass, cut a tree, dig some dirt or clay, mine some rock or explore. Performing actions could throw up a window with some information. When he cuts a tree the window would give some basic info related to producing secondary materials and a polite reminder not to clearcut, and work on replacing cut trees with sprouts. Similarly other first actions could give relevant windows themselves.

The tutorial element would be more effective if it were woven into the game itself in a symbiotic manner rather than being something apart from the game that you have to endure before actually being allowed to play.

There could also be an entire subset of achievements specifically catering to new players first steps in the world, and awarding a title once the list was complete. Things like building a house, cutting a tree, planting a tree, harvesting a fruit etc.

On gameplay, I have some thoughts on the combat system which I'd like to share, but I'll hold onto them for a different time for now.

Why did they do away with it?

Because when they did, player numbers increased dramatically.

Edited October 26, 2013 by SavageSaint

[Aetherwalker 1,863]

GV would be good, so long as it was skippable, but ONLY with a /refer -like method from an existing player. So if you were running an alt or a friend through to join you, you could use your main to give them a Skip Ticket.

[Versai 367]

Agreed. New players are excited to jump into the sandbox but you can hardly do anything interesting as a noob and the tutorial is less than inspiring. In fact, I really hate the new tutorial system. I think the old way of getting dumped into GV and given some basic tasks was equally useful and had more potential to let players explore and develop skills they actually want before taking a portal to the real maps. The 'new' tutorial was waaay less intuitive, making you read and click even more than regular gameplay. I don't know how much it affects the player retention but +1 for a better starter-zone experience.

[Kristoff 56]

I agree that the tutorial should be reworked somehow, i'm just not sure as to how exactly. When I first started people showed/explained most things to me. Then again, there were much more people living closer together back then. I've recently made an alt on Inde (which i know probably isnt the best example for this) and during ~4 hours of walking around and following roads I maybe came across one person. Of course no one wants to live on top of each other but I find a lot of dissatisfaction in following highways for hours and not coming across a single person yet deeds EVERYWHERE.

 

The first thing that went through my mind was: "Man, if I were a newbie this would be pretty lame, the only people I see are in this GL-Freedom chat and they're all just arguing over someone being a carebear and that they should join PVP. Where are the players??"

 

Walking through the starter zones of wurm just doesnt have that homely feeling anymore. Most people are supporting and very helpful supposing you can actually find them.

[Theodis 339]

That is just ridiculous, that would defiantly not make the game enjoyable.

If you love makin' bricks you can come to my village. I'll let you do it for free!

[Joanavon 553]

The Wurmonline.Com website is in dire need of not only a refresh but also a refocus. Right now the design and content of the website, especially the landing page is rather bland ontop of not being very clear visually about the game itself. Make the key unique and cashable elements of Wurm;

Open world terriforming,

Free-form construction,

Massive crafting and decor catalog. Land/Deed ownership and control.

As front and blunt as possible since they are the space where wurm has space to compete and succed.

[Gavin 971]

I think adding a option to skip the tutorial would be beneficial; personally if I started playing Wurm again today I'd probably ragequit before finishing the tutorial; even as an experienced player it takes upwards of 20 minutes to get thru it; far more if you don't already know how to complete what it asks you to do.

 

One of the things I really liked about Wurm back when I started playing was you were essentially dumped in the middle of nowhere and you had to figure everything out for yourself; Newtown was basically on the side of a cliff and you had to struggle to not die from fall damage leaving it lol

 

.. but at the same time I can understand that some don't like that, which is why the tutorial should be optional.

[Sir Arowhun 473]

Why did they do away with it?

 

It was removed in order to make it harder for non-prem people to find a place, to encourage them to buy premium instead of living off of GV for free.

[Stinky 155]

they should add bulk crafting so you can just right click a bsb and go afk for 10 minutes makin bricks

 

that would make this game less spergy and actually enjoyable

 

I wish this happened but making trilion of bricks is part of this game. If you want this you could straight allow macroing as well.

[Stinky 155]

I'm not sure if in the tutorial is a dirrect link to the forum. Maybe the newbies would want to join a town where somebody explained them what exactly is Wurm about. When i started i had totaly no idea what to do too so i was just messing around.I would never been playing if i hadnt 9 other friends with me.

[Amadee 1,543]

I agree that the first 5 hours is generally the deciding factor for most people and am glad to see them working on it.  Everyone is different, of course.  Some like the difficulty of being dumped in the game without a clue, and for others it drives them away.  So definitely having a tutorial or newbie starting area should be optional. And it's true that the difficulty may weed out "undesirable" types, but at the same time I think it also weeds out some potentially "good wurmians." 

 

I've seen lots of great ideas for newbie starting areas, which imo is the way to go. I know that in my own case, had I just been dumped in the game, I wouldn't be here now. I don't know what the answers are, but I can relate my own experience and what hooked me on Wurm.  

 

I was fortunate.  I have a friend who dragged me here from another game, (kicking, screaming, and foaming at the mouth, btw), convinced I wasn't going to like it.  She didn't hold my hand, she pointed out a flat spot on her deed and said I was welcome to try building a house if I wanted, and pointed out the trees. (only built a couple walls, enough to get a feel for it and she poofed it after I got my own deed). She said I should probably try building a cart for the logs and showed me how to look at the in-game wiki to find out how.  She gave me a grooming brush and a bucket when I asked what she was doing, lol, and let me try grooming animals and milking cows and told me cheese can be made from the milk.  Within the the first hour or two I was completely hooked and planted my first deed within a couple days.

 

I am convinced that anything that somewhat recreates the experience I had would go far with people who are like me. And I'm still here a year and a half later. I don't consider it "hand holding" at all.  I consider it allowing me to get a feel for the game without wondering which direction to go, what to do, worrying about monsters, etc.  It's what got me completely hooked on this game in a very short time and convinced me I should plant a deed of my own.  That can only be a win win for me and for Wurm.

[AlexLong 128]

The only way the player base is going to increase in any stable sort of way is if wurm stops price gouging.

Maybe if they created different incetives for staying, like after 12 months of paying for prem you can ride carts non-prem.
Fact is these guys offer no real "thank you for supporting us" so people will leave when they are sick of paying or don't have the money or find a better game.
Create loyalty between players and code club and you will see a difference, other wise nothing will work.
Also other things that would help is people with multiply toons being able to link them for a discount.
There is many things Code Club could be doing to keep people here, without impacting on their income. If they did it right their profits would grow because people would stay longer.

 

Edited October 28, 2013 by AlexLong

[Sharkin 1,319]

even as an experienced player it takes upwards of 20 minutes to get thru i

Not anymore, it's changed.

[Marlon 303]

think about how much more time you'll have to be sittin' there browsing the forums and gracing us with your insightful posting

He's right

 

I have a better idea, if you do not actually want to play the game, then make an option where you can go afk for 24 hours, in fact, sign off, while you character makes 10 000 bricks, automatically drinks water, rests, and then mails off the product to a buyer.

[Marlon 303]

The only way the player base is going to increase in any stable sort of way is if wurm stops price gouging.

Maybe if they created different incetives for staying, like after 12 months of paying for prem you can ride carts non-prem.

Fact is these guys offer no real "thank you for supporting us" so people will leave when they are sick of paying or don't have the money or find a better game.

Create loyalty between players and code club and you will see a difference, other wise nothing will work.

Also other things that would help is people with multiply toons being able to link them for a discount.

There is many things Code Club could be doing to keep people here, without impacting on their income. If they did it right their profits would grow because people would stay longer.

 

 

I want to respectfully, of course, disagree here too.

Coca Cola does not thank me for having bought their product for 30 years. Because I am paying for what I am getting, and no one is forcing me to drink it. It's a choice, I like it, I buy it, I buy more. My neighbour does not, he buys Pepsi. Coke does not beg him, or drop their prices to get him there, it's just how it is.

 

On linking multiple (premium) toons, that's a cool idea for discount. 

 

Lastly, did anyone ever think that maybe the powers that be, does not want 7million players? There is a slight chance that (as niche as it has been called) some things are just created and accepted as it is. 

 

Wurm's worst feature, ever, biggest flaw, is this forum. And my biggest mistake was registering on it, but here I am, getting all agitated and replying.

 

But like I said, I retort in respect, I have an opinion, like you, and every other jellybean out there 

[Suntzu 644]

Goes back to my advertising thoughts. I found this game from dwarf fortress that should tell you how easy it is to find...