Wurm Online: Next Update to Deploy February 18th

SBFord · February 2014

The next update to Wurm Online will be deployed on February 18th. The team has confirmed the feature changes and additions and made a lengthy post on the WO forums. The crafting interface has been overhauled, an invite command has been added and new emotes have been added, among other things.

Drag and Drop

Functionality to drag items straight from piles to cart, cart to piles or pile to pile without the need for it going to inventory first. Amount moved per action is in relation to how much you are already carrying vs maximum carrying capacity.

Load Function

The ability to load many items previously unmovable(as in picked up) onto carts through a simple command.

Reinforced Cave Floors

For those instances when rock floors just does not feel secure enough.

Notifications Help System

Tutorial and help messages that are triggered by certain situations and conditions. The information will also be available on demand from a library called "Book of Wisdom".

Read more on the Wurm Online site.

Braindome · February 2014

Good game hampered by a terrible game engine. They really need to stop focusing on adding more and focus on smoothing out game performance, not only does it run bad graphically but the net code is abysmal and anything more than a couple of people in an area turns into a slideshow.

At this point they are just dumping more "stuff" onto poor optimization.

I really want to like Wurm Online and overall think it is a fantastic game, but their focus "especially lately" seems almost desperate.

adderVXI · February 2014

Yes, that game, with that level of freedom on a good engine would be amazing! Animations would be good too.

Eyesgood · February 2014

Originally posted by Braindome
Good game hampered by a terrible game engine. They really need to stop focusing on adding more and focus on smoothing out game performance, not only does it run bad graphically but the net code is abysmal and anything more than a couple of people in an area turns into a slideshow.

At this point they are just dumping more "stuff" onto poor optimization.

I really want to like Wurm Online and overall think it is a fantastic game, but their focus "especially lately" seems almost desperate.

I have to respectfully disagree with your comments regarding running bad graphically and the slideshow characterization. You are not really being fair to the game insinuating unbearable lag just because more than a few people are in local. It simply is not true unless you are running a cheap Intel integrated graphics card. The game does need more optimization and I think they should develop a new client that isn't a java-based one, but I would venture to say that Rolf and his team have done more with Java than anyone thought could ever be done. And don't listen to people who ignorantly call Wurm Online a browser game. It runs in it's own client and not a browser. The environmental sights and sounds of Wurm are really amazing. It has an old-school feel but with very realistic environments. I run the game with max settings and have to say the environment rivals many AAA titles in realism. For example, the grass, water, and even smoke from forges, ovens, and campfires all blow with the direction of the wind. Environmental sounds reflect the area, time of day or night, and content of local vegetation and creatures. How's that for detailed environments?

Plus, you can farm crops, breed animals with traits that span generations, build structures wall by wall, brick by brick in single or multiple story designs. You can construct ships made of thousands of components and then sail those ships to other maps. You can focus on any of 140+ skills or all of them - the choices are yours and your character is truly unique. You can also fish, hunt with weapons including bows and arrows (yes, you make the shafts, arrow heads, put them together, improve them and then use them, retrieve them, repair them and use them again). You can engage in quirky but satisfying PVP or live in the PVE lands where there is no worry of anyone destroying your hard work. You can live in a village with other players or live in the deep forest all by yourself on your own land. You can explore and travel to any place you can see. You can mine into the mountains, create items piece by piece, and terraform the landscape. These are all qualities that make Wurm what it is.

The last two years have been particularly amazing with respect to the new graphical content. The 1.2 update coming is just a continuation of a long line of improvements to the game. Yes, there is still much to be done. But I have to tip my hat to Wurm Online - the only true sandbox MMO that has held my attention for almost 5 years.

I challenge anyone that is a fan of a true sandbox MMO, to download Wurm Online, trudge past the terrible tutorial, and give youself just 24 hours of play time and you might just find your next sandbox love.

cronius77 · February 2014

They did make a game similiar to wurm online with a better engine and graphics. It was called Xsyon and it flopped pretty much because no one supported it and the poor guy did like 90% of the game himself as he couldnt afford to hire any other devs. I played both Xsyon and Wurm and I felt Xsyon was much better because it didnt take you years to make simple items thought there was still a grind to skilling up and learning new things. I do really like the freedom of this game though but as much as I wanted to get into it I enjoyed the solo survival aspect more and this game didnt seem to cater to that player, it felt restrictive unless you joined a guild or community to work off of. Its an mmorpg though and expected to cater more to that type of player though. I think if this game was a bit more simplified they would have a much larger community because there is a pretty large survival genre of players whom love sandbox survival games but do not want to spend months trying to get past the learning curve and crafting system.

TheRabidsmurf · February 2014

Played wurm for well over six months as premium. Yes you have to pay if you want more than a rotten wood shack. Lost my deed with 3 days left on it. Customer service was horrid,community turned worse, and neighbors took everything. The wurm gms just ignored the problem. You can sped hours,if not days, gathering mats and skill points to make anything. But its never permenant. Free to peasent, pay to stay.

Spiider · February 2014

Wurm is awesome!! And its about the gameplay and not graphics. I would take better features over better graphics and time of the day.

And some changes mentioned here are long due.

SomeHuman · February 2014

I think Wurm Online missed a window of opportunity. It could have been the financial and gaming success Minecraft is, but something went awry. My personal opinion is the pace of the game. With all the sandbox games now coming down the design pipeline, hunting for that mighty dollar, EQNL being a significant one, I can't see Wurm succeeding.