Offline Option / Self-Hosted Mini-Servers

[Willabee 0]

Something I've been thinking a lot about lately and have considered making the suggestion for is an offline version of Wurm or a self-hosted version with a player cap... Sort of like Minetest (and I assume Minecraft, though I haven't played it). Wurm should have a downloadable offline version which lets us play in our own little world alone or offers the ability to invite others to a server to play.
The Pros:
-- Since the game wouldn't have hundreds of players to accomodate, the islands could be smaller and still function well for 10 or maybe more people. (I'm not sure how much power it takes to host a Wurm server, so I don't know how many people would be able to comfortably function on a server hosted by one average computer.)
-- Players like me who prefer to live and work mostly alone could have such freedom without worrying about land owners, premium vs. free etc.
-- Players who would rather have a few friends play together and work towards one great island or two warring factions could host their own kingdoms on a smaller scale. There could also be a public server option so that anyone could enter... though I'm not sure how that would go.
-- You could easily make a lot of money charging a basic price like 10 USD for download access which could help to support Wurm Online as well as aid in a greater advancement of the game all around.
-- Such an option could potentially attract a larger player base.

-- A lot of people would be able to play this beautiful game on higher graphics because the files would be local and not streamed over the internet.

 

One detail that makes this idea a bit stressful is that in order for a single player to run a world of his / her own, a few things might need alteration. For example... decay time might need to be slowed down a bit so that they don't spend every playing moment trying to salvag their crumbling house. Not to mention, I'm sure that much of the coding would have to be changed to accomodate an offline version as opposed to the online one which communicates over the internet. However, I could definitely see such an endeavor working in your favor as well as catching the interest of a lot of new people!

 

My worries / The Cons:
-- As mentioned above, it would probably take a lot of time and effort in coding / re-coding it.
-- There is potential that some people might make a mach of it and make it downloadable for free elsewhere (though you would probably maintain the majority of the hits).
-- There is also a possibility that a new offline version might take away from some of the online player-base who would rather convert to offline / small server.

 

Luckily, I think the Pros outweigh the Cons, and there is still a lot of potential in making a new version. There's potential for more money, potential for increasing your customer base and the potential to discover new avenues for the game to take.
I really hope you consider this sort of undertaking. I know that I would definitely buy it if you did! Though if you do consider it, there's another small suggestion I would like to make (if it is a possibility.)
If you do decide to make an offline version where we get to have, control and possibly share our own worlds... it would be nice if there were also a greater set of options. For... the ability to control how often dangerous animals appear, to adjust time, to adjust decay rate and other things like that. To go along with the idea of potentially hosting mini-servers; it would be great if there could be a player cap control. Like the settings in the online version, it can have a suggested player count based on your computer's capabilities and from there, you can choose the maximum amount of active players there can be while the server is online.

 

Anyway, I'll stop there. I hope this idea gets put into consideration! Or if not, perhaps it could be put into consideration as a second game from your studios. It would be so wonderful to have that kind of an option for such a great game

[Zwei 210]

-1, You stated that

 

My worries / The Cons:
-- As mentioned above, it would probably take a lot of time and effort in coding / re-coding it.
-- There is potential that some people might make a mach of it and make it downloadable for free elsewhere (though you would probably maintain the majority of the hits).
-- There is also a possibility that a new offline version might take away from some of the online player-base who would rather convert to offline / small server.

 

Which is something we do not need. With a mock version of Wurm roaming around, who knows the power of the user behind it. There are probably a few players here that can completely remake Wurm, and add tons of content that would quickly murder Wurm. Open-ended projects always have this problem if someone wants to challenge the main distributor.

 

We aren't exactly a large community, and the loss of players would murder us from with in.

 

-- All the graphics you see are not streamed at all, all of them are in your wurm\pack\ Theres even a few unknown things like the catacombs folder, its just your client configuring the Ratios. You're playing physically (graphics and sounds) locally, so you can max out as much as you want and there wont' be a difference, but virtually (network) might be the only cause of real lag.

 

 

The Pros:
-- Since the game wouldn't have hundreds of players to accomodate, the islands could be smaller and still function well for 10 or maybe more people. (I'm not sure how much power it takes to host a Wurm server, so I don't know how many people would be able to comfortably function on a server hosted by one average computer.)
-- Players like me who prefer to live and work mostly alone could have such freedom without worrying about land owners, premium vs. free etc.
-- Players who would rather have a few friends play together and work towards one great island or two warring factions could host their own kingdoms on a smaller scale. There could also be a public server option so that anyone could enter... though I'm not sure how that would go.
-- You could easily make a lot of money charging a basic price like 10 USD for download access which could help to support Wurm Online as well as aid in a greater advancement of the game all around.
-- Such an option could potentially attract a larger player base.

-- A lot of people would be able to play this beautiful game on higher graphics because the files would be local and not streamed over the internet.

 

-- All the graphics you see are not streamed at all, all of them are in your wurm\pack\ Theres even a few unknown things like the catacombs folder, its just your client configuring the Ratios. You're playing physically (graphics and sounds) locally, so you can max out as much as you want and there wont' be a difference, but virtually (network) might be the only cause of real lag.

[Ellenmarie 39]

I loved that about Minecraft & wished, many times, that I could play Wurm offline. It could be offered as an either/or option, I guess (when signing up for premium). Not having to deal with griefing & decay would be fantastic. As well as being able to see the graphics in high setting. Mobs could be set to easy, medium or hard. I'd miss a few friends, though.

Interesting concept that should, at least, be considered & discussed.

 

[Ellenmarie 39]

oh wow!! Had to check my messages to be sure I was right:D Long time no see. Welcome back, Willabee:)

[Kingtren 64]

Rolf wont ever release any of the code, SO private servers...not gonna happen EVER. Good suggestion though.

[Ruger 610]

Already one out there. 
 

Google it, files are hosted on like a google open source project if i remember correctly.

Edited November 10, 2013 by Ruger

[Willabee 0]

-- All the graphics you see are not streamed at all, all of them are in your wurm\pack\ Theres even a few unknown things like the catacombs folder, its just your client configuring the Ratios. You're playing physically (graphics and sounds) locally, so you can max out as much as you want and there wont' be a difference, but virtually (network) might be the only cause of real lag.

I understand that part. By Graphics, I meant that the any information about your location and surroundings has to be streamed from the internet. Perhaps "graphics" was a poor choice of words, but I'm also not as meticulous when it comes to game or code diecussion. Regardless; I mean that we'd be able to use higher settings because we wouldn't be streaming the time of day, the locations of objects etc. Yes, the graphics themselves are local, but the objects to which those graphics are attached are external, and there are quite a lot of them. While I have little knowledge of computer programming and things of that sort, I would suspect that reading local files for time and lighting, locations of trees and animals and houses, all of the teraform information and so on would create a lot better environment. The plus side to this game is the freedom to form the world. The downside to that (which most games don't have) is that a changing online world can't be saved in a local file.

That was a bit rambly... but I think you understand that point a bit better now.

[certix 4]

the magic of wurm is just this i guess the big areas around to explore have fun and find everyday new things/mobs if will be a offline version will be without spirit of it.

[shokan 35]

I can't imagine not having my good neighbors to keep me company. To invested in the current online version to consider an offline. Skyrim is the longest I ever played an offline game and that only kept my attention for about 2 months.

[solmark 544]

I'd love an offline version, but it would mean managing two versions of the game and I'm not sure Rolf and team have the capacity to do that.

[Aeris 3,751]

Apart from the fact that it actively compromises the server code there are some other factors which you have not considered:

- If one server contains douchebags that allow others to join the server in order to troll them then it wouldn't just be that server that receives a bad reputation. Wurm as a game would be known as "that bumhole where people are allowed to troll as much as they like without repercussions"

- It would be ridiculously easy for people to cheat by enchancing their skills on a private server if only ONE person figures out a way and shares it with others

- Different rules would probably have to be applied to private servers and moderation would either have to be less strict or the mod team would have to bend over backwards in order to tend to all their duties

- Imagine trying to get assistance with a bug if the game masters are busy with thousands of reports from hundreds of servers. A GM cannot be present on all servers simultaneously

- Being able to host a server doesnt mean you'll be able to maintain it and it wouldn't be feasible to let people modify the servercode themselves anyway since it just wouldn't work to have hundreds of different versions of the servercode flying around

[Judicator 539]

Neeever gonna happen unless you manage to steal the server code.

[Sir Arowhun 473]

I am against this, because if there were private servers, the main servers wouldn't have as many people.

[Shrimpiie 3,665]

Absolutely no to any sort of Wurm offline whatsoever, for many more reasons then I care to count.

-1

[eTag 8]

lwhile i like the idea of an offline version...i would have to say that this would never happen...maybe sometime in the long distant future the company would have enough money to get vastly superior servers that could allow for them to have say...a paid for private server if the play could pay enough for it...but even then they would loose out on any potential silver/premium funds that could have been generated by forcing that player to play on the public servers...so yeah not gunna happen

[Willabee 0]

O well. It was worth throwing out there (though it's apparently been said before). I, presonally, feel like SOMETHING could be created at least very close to Wurm, but until such a time, Wurm itself is perfectly fine. Maybe the creators of Minecraft will up the ante and make a near-wurm style game that functions similarly to minecraft Or who knows, maybe some totally unrelated person will do it! Whatever the case, I'm sure it's on its way.

[Elen 1,013]

-1

[Rathgar 959]

-1

[vill 248]

-1

[Enola 53]

As much as i personally would like doing that, it's never going to happen. Too much work on Rolf's part to do and Rolf would never ever just hand out the server code.

[Tux 17]

Guys: I was an active world builder (as a player) for Nevewinter Nights 1 and for the most part the player hosted server model worked really well.

The vast majority of the player hosted servers where crap but I can recall one which I played nightly just like a mini MMO. The crafting engine that was built was great and there was always about 20 people online.

 

I made my own world as well which was great fun but in the end I found myself playing the game more than hosting.

 

I have thought for nearly a decade now that it would be great if the neverwinter nights 1 business model basically just offered a NWN server service. 

So as a player you pay for the server hosting and then NWN would manage updates and security. 

I think its a business model just waiting to happen.

[san_tropez 394]

Freedom exists