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An Introduction To Wurm Online from a 4-Year Veteran
Eyesgood
Member UncommonPosts: 49
Wurm Online (WO) is a sandbox MMORPG developed by Code Club AB, an independent Swedish development team led by Rolf Jansson. In the early days of Wurm, Rolf was teamed up with Markus Persson (Notch), until Notch moved on to other projects, including Minecraft. This article, written by a four-year veteran of the game, is meant to introduce this monumental sandbox MMO to those who have never heard of WO or who have not played the game before.
The main features of this Java-based online game are true sandbox gameplay, dynamic terraforming, fully customized multi-story structures, and an enormously deep crafting system set in a very realistic and unforgiving medieval fantasy world. Secondary features include travel and sailing between game worlds, a dynamic player-driven economy, and player-made kingdoms which provide opportunities for PVP. Each game world is an island or group of islands connected by water to form clusters. Currently, the eleven worlds are grouped into three clusters. There is a cluster of PVE worlds known collectively as Freedom with an attached PVP world called Chaos. There are also two newly discovered (PVE) worlds not yet connected to the Freedom cluster. Finally, there is a PVP scenario-based cluster of maps known as Epic. While some worlds are limited to players who purchase premium game time from Wurm’s online shop, most are accessible to play completely without charge. Also, it is entirely possible to eventually earn enough in-game silver to pay for premium game time with it.
The sandbox that is WO drops the player into a world that is just too complex for a tutorial to do it justice. But one is provided and upon completion, a new player arrives at the starter town of the player’s choice of worlds. The player is very likely to be greeted by the sounds of sawing, hammering, and perhaps occasional duck-quacks from a nearby pond or lake. The trees will be swaying in the wind and the smoke from nearby forges and ovens follow the wind as well. It might be densely fogged over or pouring down rain – the environment is completely realistic. A few NPC’s called traders offer items for sale to complement the backpack of basic tools the player arrives with. Bartender NPC’s, found only in the starter town, lend free nourishment for the first 24-hours of accumulated game time before refusing to provide assistance. The spirit Templars clad in supernatural armor stand watch over the starter village and are a sudden reminder to newcomers that life in WO is fraught with danger.
Players expecting to find a waving NPC offering a quest line which gives them their first weapons and armor are in for a rude awakening. A short sword and wooden shield, a backpack of basic tools, a compass, and little else will be found in the player’s inventory. Instead of quests, there will be roads leading out of the starter village beckoning to be traveled. They lead into the hills, mountains, forests, deserts, and steppe lands beyond. In WO, the player chooses which direction to go and what to do. Fortunately, the harsh lands are quickly tamed by the industrious Wurmians who have gone on before. The newcomer needs only to shout out a question to get help from the locals. The wise will form a plan for what to do and which skills out of a possible 120 or so he or she wishes to train. Yes, WO is a skill-based game where players choose what skills to perfect and what titles they want to earn. There are no classes, no NPC quests, and no mobs of level one critters spawning at the player’s feet. Approaching a rat without proper focus might likely land the player dead on the roadside, re-spawning back at the starter town after a humiliating and bloody fight.
Journeying away from the starter town in any direction will likely take the player past fantastic player-made multi-story buildings complimented by fences and walls placed on flattened land literally made so by the shovels of their owners. Ownership of land and the ability to shape it and build upon it are foundational features of WO. No other game this author has ever played can come close to the feeling of having, owning, and living in a virtual world.
The crafting in WO is deep and satisfying. After four years of playing, there are still some items I have yet to create. Everything except a few special in-game items are crafted by the players. When a new world opens, players are greeted with pristine wilderness, sandy beaches, rolling tundra, vast steppe, and high mountains. The grass grows flowers of various types. The trees literally grow from tiny sprouts to mighty forests. The waters yield fish of various species and sizes. The land provides habitat for many living creatures, including dogs, pigs, chickens, deer, cows, bison, horses, and other non-aggressive species. They also contain crocodiles, giant spiders, wolves, hell hounds, trolls, goblins, gorillas and many other vicious creatures. From the abundance of these natural resources, the players craft what they need to survive. The land is only part of the world. Opening up the rock face of a mountain allows the player to mine deep into the ground for minerals, gems, and other resources needed to forge an existence in WO.
Eventually a player will want to either build a place to call home or join an existing village of players. As skills improve, more and more knowledge is gained which opens up more items to craft. The beauty of WO is the ability to learn any skill one chooses to learn. But mastering a skill takes time – a very long time. Naturally, with so many choices players typically focus on a sub-set of skills they enjoy and become specialists in their chosen professions. This forms the heart of the player-driven economy. Many new players, having little skill to produce valuables, will often take jobs digging for others who hire them for menial tasks. This can be quite lucrative for the willing worker.
Those better suited to a sword than a shovel might want to venture into the Epic cluster for PVP adventures. Epic provides not only an opportunity for kingdom verses kingdom PVP, but it also provides skill gain that is twice as fast as the Freedom PVE cluster. Increased skill gain brings the new player up to PVP capabilities fairly quickly. But PVP is not limited to Epic. The land of chaos can be sailed to from some of the Freedom worlds, giving Freedomers a taste of kingdom PVP for themselves whenever they like. Some consider this the best of both worlds.
Freedom to do what you want to do, learn what you want to learn, be what you want to be are the hallmarks of WO. It is addictively fun and deeply rewarding to play. But no game is perfect, and WO does have its short-comings which I will now briefly touch upon. Many have criticized the lack of animations in this Java-based game. The environment of WO has always been extremely realistic, but that has not always been the case with player avatars and player and creature animations. When I started playing in 2009, player avatars were not much more than floating stick figures. Everyone looked the same and few animations existed. But those days are far gone, especially with the release of version 1.0 in 2012 and the 1.1 update of summer 2013. Now, animals and players are almost fully rigged and animated. Where the remnants of the past collide with the innovations of the present is mostly found in the realm of PVP. Though animations are in place, PVP is still somewhat a roll of the dice and nowhere near the fluid movements and targeted swings of other games. Mounted combat sometimes feels more like maneuvering a lawn tractor than charging the enemy on a valiant steed. The fighting system feels restricted, and unnatural. Targeting consists of changes to fight stances. Shields do not rise to block an enemy swing even though you can hear the bash. Actions take time and result from obvious rolls-of-the-dice cycles visible via timed sliding bars of progress. Movement is hideously slow once wounds have been created behind heavy plate armor. But many know and trust that this system will continue to be refined and improved as the development team continues to update the game. Fortunately, game updates are frequent and often the result of player feedback. The development team of WO is as talented as they are dedicated.
Another short-coming of the game world is the underworld. Mining is a main feature of the game, but one enters a two-dimensional world by the swinging of a pickaxe. Underground mines are visibly three dimensional but not really so. For example, mining a tunnel north at the top of a mountain will create a massive drop shaft to a mine at the base of the mountain when the tiles meet. As such, one can drop from a shaft above down to the mine below with no threat to life. It isn’t really three-dimensional.
Arguably, game updates do not provide enough information to players. It seems that Rolf likes to be somewhat cryptic in revealing the details of game mechanics. Strange terms often appear in game updates and leave the players frantic to understand and interpret them. This is partly due to his desire to make the game an adventure in discovery for the players. Some players love this while others see the lack of information and cryptic comments as an obstacle to enjoying the new content. The game wiki is player-made and may contain information that is either outdated or inaccurate. Also, there is no in-game map or auto-map feature. Players are left to navigate with a compass, the stars and moons, and with the maps which are generously maintained by the players and hosted on the wiki and forums. For the directionally challenged this can make for getting totally lost in a wilderness all too quickly and frequently. But the feeling of being lost in WO only adds to the realism of life there. For all its imperfections, WO is a masterpiece of gaming.
Finally, I would like to offer some advice to anyone who reads this article and ponders the deliciously tempting world I am describing. First, to really appreciate and enjoy WO, you must start with a goal. That goal might be to head off into nowhere and make a home for yourself. It might be to join up with other adventurers to conquer or be conquered. It might be to train up skills to be the best craftsman at whatever you choose to do. Whatever it is, make up your mind what you want to do when you arrive and then put a plan into action which accomplishes that initial goal. I cannot stress enough the importance of arriving in WO with a plan of action. Many become discouraged because they want a quick and easy start to an abundance of wealth and fame. I will tell you now that it won’t happen. You have to work and put your heart into something if you are to really appreciate WO and reap the rewards. Second, don’t be discouraged when things do not go your way. It might take you literally days to find a place suitable to your liking. It might take weeks to hone your fighting skills before heading into battle. You might have to spend hours training yourself in a favorite occupation before you become marketable. Third, keep the wiki handy. It is your friend. Right clicking on almost anything in the game and clicking on “What’s this?” will open a wiki article for you. Pressing “H” will allow you to search for any item or game concept within the game. Fourth, don’t be afraid to ask questions. There is a help channel in the game and plenty of game moderators who volunteer their time to help new players. Of course, there are also many players that you will meet that are more than willing to help new players.
Wurm Online is a great game and for many, including myself, a wonderful and relaxing hobby. I have only touched the hem of features this game has to offer. So much more awaits anyone who wants to enjoy a genuine sandbox MMO. You can play for free in most of the worlds. Free players are limited in how high their skills can go and are restricted from some PVP worlds. But the restrictions do not prevent players from getting a satisfying taste of life in Wurm. Many play free characters for years without ever going premium. Others have many premium characters. There are several premium options for players via the Wurm Online Shop and they do accept PayPal. The premium fee is 8 Euro per month, payable in two-month increments or a combination of premium time and in-game currency. I hope you have enjoyed this brief introduction and I hope to see you in Wurm!
Eyesgood
Comments
First game that I've ever managed to get lost in, as in seriously lost. Seriously the only reason why I continued to play due to all of it's short comings (When the OP mentions you can navigate by the stars, sun, and landmarks. It works and works really well). Played for about a year before they went "gold" and around another after they went gold. More memorable than so many other games.
Practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent.
"At one point technology meant making tech that could get to the moon, now it means making tech that could get you a taxi."
I actually started playing on the Exodus server a week ago. The OP is very accurate in describing the game. I gave it a go out of boredom of the recent themeparks and rail MMO choices we have, and I have been pleasantly surprised by the game.
As stated, you are dropped into the middle of a very large world with only the basic tools to begin. My immediate goal was simple, find a spot to base from, start learning the game and then at some point venture out further once I was self-sustaining myself.
I found a spot that had been previously "started" by someone else and abandoned. The spot was great, only needing a few more fence sections added to make a good secure area to work from... fences and gates (lockable) to keep out the wild critters and possible thieves. I then set out exploring and skilling up carpentry, cooking, and gathering ample supplies for my next goal.... Build shelter!
I joined a player village today because I wanted to be around other folks and contribute to a common goal. Plus, it relieves some of the pressure of being on your own by offering more security while I learn more and get strong enough to fight off the foul creatures that roam the game world
I'm having a blast honestly, and I will probably continue as f2p until i max out my skills (20 for f2p) and then go premium once I have a really good idea of how it all works.
Great writeup.
I've been running around in Wurm, but so far unable to motivate my play-group members to make it all the way through the tutorial.
Maybe if it had more 'splosions...
Ah, come on eyesgood, you were on another forum upset about the price increase and you've seen the fiscal report of Rolf giving himself a 200k sek increase in pay. You of all people are better than a shameless plug of a game that just months ago were done with and looking for something 'Worth' the money you are now paying towards a old, outdated game.
You were even posting alternative games like survive the forest in a mad dash of finding something else to play when Rolf used the VATs as a excuse to raise prices and according to the fiscal was nothing but a lie when he recovers a portion back on his taxes and gave himself that 200k sek increase in pay. Don't be a sheep, following the masses blindly off a cliff. :P
The playerbase is down and drops daily and Rolf only has his self to blame, he doesn't need you trying to drum up sales or traffic to his site, let him bleed a little and drop prices back down. Hell, let him take a 200k SEK pay cut.
Yes, I have had plenty to say about the price increase. Yes, at first I was pretty upset. Yes, it is still a sore subject with me because I felt like it was done in a less than professional manner. However, I can disagree with the way Rolf implemented it and still love the game. I can talk about other MMO's and still enjoy Wurm. I can make suggestions that try to negate the sharp increase in the price while still having a desire to play, even though it hurts to shell out the money sometimes because I don't just play a single character.
The way I look at it, if Rolf does something I don't like, I post my dislike of that decision in hopes that maybe enough people will agree and he will change direction. But at the end of the day it is still his game. And at the end of the day, I still find myself with NO ALTERNATIVES. Until I do have something better, I can still say I love Wurm and I can still lend my proverbial pen to praise a marvelous achievement. I am not a sheep.
Sheep don't think for themselves. Sheep agree with everything Rolf does. Sheep do not dare protest a decision. That's not me, friend.
So I am left to protest and promote at the same time.
And for all the frustration of the price increase, I still say Wurm Online is (currently) the best sandbox MMO on the market. I know it will not likely remain the best. But for now, it is.
Cheers!
Rolf milked this title a little too long with an unpaid staff of volunteers and mainly him programming the game for what 6 or 7 years.
The last year has seen some marked improvements but a little too late. The big design houses have seen the writing on the wall for quest hub on rails mindless pve games and have begun using the sandbox formula to develop the next gen mmos.
It is only a matter of time before Wurm is completely eclipsed and fades away.
The model T Ford was an awesome car but nobody drives them anymore...
Life IS Feudal
I don't see why Rolf should take a pay cut. There are very very few people who have created something as popular as Wurm largely by themselves. And pretty much all of them are fabulously wealthy.
He and Notch are entrepreneurs. They have creative vision, take big risks, and end up with nothing if they fail.
It's not like having a steady job at SOE or Blizzard.
He will be taking a pay cut when sales drop off and he's losing players as he has been recently. He won't be able to support that 200k SEK increase he gave himself last year if the game is not profitable, business 101.
I don't know but you sound a little bitter. You probably don't play the game anymore. Why not move on to some other topic that will keep your blood pressure in check, Nkitz? It's ok if you don't like Rolf or the game, but there is no need to troll here.
Bitter? I have nothing to be bitter about. If you can't take the hard truth then that is your problem not mine. I'm pointing out simple economics, if you are not profitable at a business then you start cutting staff or take a hit on your own pay. I would venture to say the new staff would go first though as Rolf got along just fine being the only person working on the code and using people who just volunteer their time and resources at no cost to him. He knows very well he can do it and continue to use free work to get what he needs implemented to go along with his code.
If you read the other topic here: http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/129/view/forums/thread/389605/Wurm-Online-and-Why-I-left.html I actually tell people to give the game a try but they will eventually run in to the same thing that I and others have pointed out and tried to post on the wurm forum but you should know how useless that is at times because of the fanboys. When they don't want something to change that really needs to be looked at or they can't come up with a decent post countering points you make, "as you did with your last post" you quickly realize that you are just wasting your time and should just let the players or Rolf figure it out when they reach that point. Rolf has and always will "it seems" go with the majority that think everything is great even if it's unbalanced or bugged, sad, but I've seen nerfs come along because of that very fact. I and others have gone through plenty of nerfs in my 6+ years of playing the game from beta on to when I finally quit playing shortly after the Champion nerf that he did on wild/chaos, I've also gone through multiple map resets and watched the player base get thinned out from having 10+ maps going now. I point out the main flaws in my post on the other topics I linked above but I could have listed 100 or more, I know of bugs that have been around since gold 1 and reported repeatedly but are still not fixed. That honestly bugged me more so than anything about the game, bugs that go unfixed but graphics get added "that remind me way to much of WoW" and new content or useless features but no bug fixes.
Ok, so it has been quite a long time since you played the game. I can understand that. I imagine you have moved on to other games? So I must ask, what is your goal in replying to Wurm-related topics, especially on third-party sites? I mean, what do you care what is happening in Wurm if you no longer play the game? If you think the writing is on the wall with Rolf and his game, why are you still writing on the wall? My point is, the day that I walk away from Wurm will also be the day I will no longer care what anyone says about the game. It will be the day I stop visiting the forum, stop reading the posts, and stop thinking about Wurm. I will even likely remove my Surviverman blog about Wurm. That day will likely come when The Repopulation comes out, who knows.
So I am wondering why that day has never arrived for you, unless you are dealing with personal problems against the game and/or the developers? Why not just let it go man? Go enjoy yourself in the game of your choice. Wurm is not worth the raised blood pressure and anxiety caused by your time complaining about others promoting it.
Cheers.
It hasn't been that long but I keep up on all things past, present, or future. Who knows, maybe one day something will click in his head and he'll do a massive push on bug fixes and quit nerfing stuff like farming.
Rolf is a pretty chill guy from my experience.
The one exploit I've mentioned to him got patched the next day literally, and in the way I suggested. People staying at 29 faith and entering and leaving priest hood for training(now when you leave priesthood you go to 20 faith).
Went I had some religion questions he answered them pretty readily.
Practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent.
"At one point technology meant making tech that could get to the moon, now it means making tech that could get you a taxi."
Than you Eyesgood! That was very informative. I am hoping my download goes ok and I can play the game today! Hopefully we will be cahtting in game
-Cheers!
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