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Wurm - Come Play The Best Sandbox
Eyesgood
Member UncommonPosts: 49
I am a 3 year veteran of Wurm. I blog about my Wurm adventures and play daily. When I see the rantings of a few who take the time to run down the game because they don't like a particular thing, or are too impatient, or not understanding, or just simply whiny toddlers with nothing more to do, it really get's me fired up.
To those of you who read posts here and have not tried Wurm Online, please don't let the negative trolling stop you from trying the game. The truth is, Wurm is a one of a kind experience that you are simply not going to find elsewhere. It is on par with any sandbox you can think of with respect to freedom of play, crafting, community, and customer service. In fact, in some respects, it is better. This is because there are so many that love this game, there is a small army of community assistants, game moderators, and just ordinary players willing to help. Sure, the development team is small - but then again, this is an inde game. But what the team has accomplished is amazing to say the least!
I find it comforting to know that even though the website, forum, and wiki were hit with something that could happen to any php-based website on the internet, at least the game itself and the payment system (the most important parts of Wurm) were not affected. We have not lost our ability to play Wurm. We have not lost customer service.
The past year has been one of the BEST with new content, new continents, and great growth in the game.
The Downfall of Wurm? Not even close!
Comments
I have to agree. Multi-room houses are awesome! Visual armor is close, new aminals models on the way and tons of other additions and improvements in the last year and more amazing stuff to come soon I am sure.
We got paper and ink in game now!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!
Let's not call Salem "Wurm 2.0". It's another sandbox MMO. But from what I have seen of it, Wurm boasts a realistic environment, while Salem looks like it belongs on Cartoon Network. Seriously, those horses..... lol
Wurm Online is indeed a nice game. The largest percentage of the population lives on the three PvE Freedom islands (servers). Settle on Independence, Deliverance, or Exodus and you'll find a large (for the game) group of people who will be more than happy to offer very good advice and sometimes even help you out.
There are also four PvP Epic servers with enhanced features, and the old PvP Wild server, which has been integrated into the Freedom group. I'm not personally familiar with the PvP servers, but from what I hear you have a mix of helpful people and "the usual PvP crowd" there.
The crafting system is great, and the game is continually receiving updates. Many of those updates are praised by the community, but from time to time, there will be updates made that boggle the mind to find a reason for them. There will also be updates made to satisfy the desires of a small group of people or of the creator himself for his own gameplay. Often, these changes are made for the benefit of the (much smaller) PvP crowd which only serve to butcher features for the PvE crowd.
Many of those working with the game interact with the community to propose ideas and solicit feedback. The main exception is the game's creator himself, who tends to make changes without explanation of reasoning, and seems to ignore forum commentary on these changes.
I have decided to stop paying for premium game time because of this apparent lack of communication and seeming disregard for his customers that the creator displays. If things do not change, then I will not be playing the game for much longer. The final straw causing this decision is related to this comment:
The initial penetration was via SQL injection, as is reported on the wurmonline.com website currently. SQL injection means you add a bit of SQL database code statements to web forms or any other input form, and it gets processed directly by the underlying database server. It means the person setting things up did not sanitize user input. The VERY FIRST THING you do when designing something available to the public is to sanitize and validate user input.
That wasn't so bad and we all can overlook things. But the fact that instead of shoulder the responsibility for the mistake, the creator blamed PHP for this vulnerability. He blamed his tools.
In summary, the game itself is a decent game and worth checking out just to see what is possible. I just personally can't financially support the creator given these circumstances.
(Isn't that logo the Mojang symbol, perhaps from back when Rolf and Notch were working together? It should probably be changed.)
I couldn't agree more with Eyesgood and AntonioVerde .
In the years i have been playing the game has gone from strength to strength and with the recent additions along with work in progress ( multi story houses , new animations / models etc ) the game is just gonna get better and better .
While it may only have a tiny team, the game has a lot of volunteers that contribute in some form or another , be that assisting with models , or forum modding etc . They do a fantastic job and should be applauded for what they achieve .
The staff along with the community make the game even more pleasant to play , and if this style of game is your cup of tea , i would certainly advise you to give it a try . It's free to play ( with capped skills ) , so anyone wanting to see what it can be like , has nothing to lose except for a little time .
If after trying it you do like you , you can always choose to subscribe which would allow your characters skills to progress past the free to play cap .
I personally have yet to find any other sandbox mmo that allows the same level of freedom that Wurm does .
In regards to Salem , i'm in the closed beta myself , and it is a far cry from Wurm . While it may have terraforming it is extremely limited in what you can do with it , so yes , Salem is definetaly NOT in the same league as Wurm .
I agree with your comments about the SQL injection, but with a major difference. Rolf was running platforms that were NOT developed by him or his team. The website, forum, etc. were all running open source platforms. It was the platform that did not properly protect from the injection, NOT anything Rolf or his team did or failed to do. It's not like Rolf made a custom wiki, forum, or website. I just wanted to clarify that because it sounded like you were hinting that bad coding on Rolf's part led to this. It in fact did not. Also, anyone else running those same open source products could be hit with an injection just as easily. Actually, I am impressed that Rolf FOUND OUT that it was happening in the first place. Sometimes, injections can go unnoticed for months.
I want to add my voice, that this is a great sandbox game especially for those who are looking for one with separate PvE & PvP servers. Yes, its a time intensive game, but many do WANT that kind of very immerive, addicting world. I have over 2880 hours logged on my main character, and 2807 hours logged in my seond-main. The last time I ever put those kind of hours into a single game, was the original Asheron's Call, and maybe for Morrowind. Some people complain it is "grindy" but that is only if you are in a rush to push through the content -- I like to "putter around" and I never grind, my skills go up naturally and I always have something to do that interests me.
It has attracted a lot of former players of SWG, Vanguard, EQ1, and "old school" gamers who are tired of the look-alike themepark quest-driven MMOs that seem to be the rule today. Every time I try to try out another game, I get bored after a day or two, and come home to Wurm ^_^
It has hands-down the best player housing and player-crafting, every thing in the world is made by players. There's hundreds of skills includding shipbuilding, blacksmith, animal husbandry, tailoring, carpentry, fishing, cooking, mining, digging, forestry, gardening, masonry, fletching, and scores more. It probably has the only "real" terraforming where you can actually change the landscape, tunnel through mountains and make canals, and even terraform your own private islands!
http://brashendeavors.net/
I can only confirm what others have said in this thread, gameplay is excellent in Wurm, it doesnt have fancy graphics (but they are still really nice) doesnt have many animations (which are being worked on) and the communication methods are abit old school (irc etc) but truth is, I joined this game about 2 weeks ago after spending many many years looking for an mmo that was not a TAB, 1, 2, 3 affair, a game where i could decided what to do and when to do it. Wurm has all of this and even more.
Another thing wurm excels at that other tripleA multi-million dollar mmo's do not, is its incredible attention to detail, its all the little things that really make this game shine above the rest. Ever seen an eclipse in game that makes daytime dark? ever had to bury corses or else attract preditors? ever been able to shape your house to your specifications? Just a tiny amount of examples.
Try it out if you enjoy or have enjoyed sandbox games of the past, you wont regret it.
Added note on the graphics -- its not as bad as some people say. Although as a small budget indy game, not as "pretty" as some of the new triple-AAA titles. Still, I personally love the looks of the game, and it always amazes me when people suggest the graphics are terrible.
One of the top priorities of the devs now, is customizable character models, better animations, and new animal models. The game has gotten a lot prettier just in the last 12 months, and I think the next 12 months will really make this a nice looking (small budget) game.
Here's some current images from ingame for those who are unsure whether the game's old-school graphics would be agreeable to them:
http://brashendeavors.net/
I wouldn't advise playing this game at all. It has a small development team, limited resources, and an absolutely horrible community, despite what you might see on these forums from the fan boys and girls. Most people get tired of the text based nature of the game, and in short order. I suppose if people wanted to read all night about the things they do in game then it would have more than a thousand subscribers. Animations in game are about as varied as those found in the original Final Fantasy for the NES. Maybe if you are feeling nostalgic for the old BBS MUD games from the 90s you should give it a try, otherwise it's not worth the time wasted on going through the primitive, yet long winded, tutorial.
There is no roadmap for development, and usually any updates come as a surprise to most players and are typically accompanied by a few unintended changes. Documentation is extremely limited and supplied by a player run wiki page that is sometimes outdated and unreliable. Any contact you can hope to have with the very small development team is usually done in IRC where whoever cries the loudest gets attention. All this does is add to the chaotic nature of an already disjointed development structure. In short, you'll pull your hair out waiting for meaningful advancement in this game all while waiting for the true sandbox to unfold. In the meantime, you can get to work digging a few hundred thousand dirts while you wait for that. At least you can be comforted in knowing that the developer is not scared as long as he has 200 dolts on the hook to pay for the lights to be on. And that is sadly the vision for the future of this game.
These are simply hard facts. Nothing that I wrote here is meant as a troll. I'm not trying to goad anyone into a fight. I'm just trying to warn people of what they are getting into if they start playing this game.
You could do a lot worse than harking back to such successful games as Final Fantasy and such widespread and popular genres as MUDs. Sometimes the easiest way to give people what they want is to take the tried-and-true basic game elements and put your own spin on it.
"Take my love, take my land,
Take me where I cannot stand.
I don't care, I'm still free,
You can't take the sky from me.
Take me out to the black,
Tell them I ain't comin' back.
Burn the land and boil the sea,
You can't take the sky from me.
There's no place I can be,
Since I found Serenity.
But you can't take the sky from me... "
Iv'e played off and on for years, been part of at least half a dozen villages, and have a couple astronomical skills (won't be happy until 99 digging). This game is amazing, and I'll be coming back for a 7th (or so) run this weekend in Exodus. Hopefully I find a decent spot this time.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
n/a
http://brashendeavors.net/
might try this out, is there a beginners guide on the forums? Like how to make your own home etc
There are quite a few newbie guides to be found on the "tutorials" page on the Wurm Wiki http://wurmpedia.com/index.php/Main_Page
Beware of outdated articles however, as somebody pointed out.
Some beginner tutorials (including, The "how do I build a house?" guide):
http://wurmpedia.com/index.php/Tutorials
Sandboxer.org did a ranking of theTop 5 Sandiest Sandbox MMO’s http://sandboxer.org/?p=313
They ranked Wurm as the top #1 although they noted the others in their list (Xyson, Eve, Mortal, Darkfall) all had superior graphics to Wurm. Graphics are not always what makes a winner though ...
http://brashendeavors.net/
awesome, any recommend servers? dont wanna PVP, prefer PVE in sandboxes
There are 3 PvE servers all within the Freedom Isles cluster (you can travel to all 3), Independence is the biggest and oldest map, then you have exodus and deliverance
Can read more about the server types here:
http://wurmpedia.com/index.php/Server_Types
cheers
While some of this is true, it completely fails to mention the existing content of which there is masses of. It is a small team, development is slow, but if you joined now and it took them a year to add any new content at all you still wouldnt have done everything and there would still be alot left to do, unlike story driven linear games we see streaming out of new mmo's, wurm is a game where you make your own story and to suggest that we are waiting for the 'true sandbox' to unfold is imo unfair and inaccurate. Wurm is, in its current condition, an excellent sandbox already.
I will say this though, if you approach this game with a singular object, for example raising your digging skill to 80+, it will become very boring but if you approach the game as a game rather than how quick you can get to max skill, its incredibly enjoyable. Digging away and your bored, there are hundreds of other activities you can switch to on your 'to do list'.
Not to mention the community (on Indy anyways) is excellent, everyone is nice, friendly and helpful. (unlike this forum it seems)
played both Wurm and Xsyon
and imo Xsyon is by far a more immersive experience
i just cant get past the 1980's graphics of Wurm
I can't get past the "Having to pay for something even though you have no idea if it's playable or not" deal with Xyson, also excludes everyone who can't afford to pay and everyone who can afford to pay but would prefer not to. You wouldn't buy a house without seeing inside it, therefore why buy a subscription to an MMO without being able to try it first?
"Take my love, take my land,
Take me where I cannot stand.
I don't care, I'm still free,
You can't take the sky from me.
Take me out to the black,
Tell them I ain't comin' back.
Burn the land and boil the sea,
You can't take the sky from me.
There's no place I can be,
Since I found Serenity.
But you can't take the sky from me... "
Now this, I don't understand at all. Last time I checked in my subjective opinion it seemed like Wurm was in extremely close positions in the graphics league, neither being very good but neither eye-burningly bad either. Google does a terrible job at presenting up-to-date screenshots of Wurm so I'll assume it does the same for Xsyon, but whevever I look I fail to see the real difference in graphical fidelity except in very specific cases (I.E Xsyon has more detailed character models, but Wurm has superior-looking fire effects).
The screenshots in this thread speak for themselves
Heres a screenshot from a game in 1980:
I tried giving a review yesterday but the op is probably the one one that reported me as trolling and perhaps got my post removed by the overmoderational lean of this this site when someone writes an opposing view that is in contrast to an origonal post. In any event, i agree with this sentiment, and in response to the title, the OP's point can be misleading.
I do not consider Wurm as the "BEST" Sandbox, though it can be considered in the top 5. I'll them and Wurm Sandboxy, because all have their limitations. Now, how you cut that top 5 is a personal preference, and by that means, it might be your best. but not necessarily to others; especially if one takes into consumer population of other sustained sandbxy titles.
I beleive There ARE more immersive mmo sandboxes with greater access to content, game-play breadth and depth, community interaction within a mutable and persistent world, and which requires community dependence across access to far greater character skills and actions; Xyson is one of them, but I'm not playing Xyson now because of the sluggishness of the development team. As one that has been watching, and at one point played them all, Salem is another that will appear to give the sandboxy genre a run for its money.
So, be sure to try Wurm, and try others that are on-track this year http://sandboxer.org/?p=409
Just be informed.
I didn't find the graphics to be that bad actually. The only thing that really bothers me with some of these lower end MMO's are the top down non 3d games. The world was very immersive and the first person playing was nice. I haven't had much time to dig into the game but if graphics are the worst thing about the game I would say it's in pretty good shape.