Creating a Marketplace in Wurm Online
stargrace 
My neighbour in Wurm Online sold their character and disbanded their deed. They’ve been there longer than I have, and the deed was enormous. It’s also a great prime location (one of many on Xanadu) and since I had been thinking about starting up a marketplace deed for quite some time, I decided why not take advantage of the prime location. I put down the deed yesterday, naming it Rag and Bone Market. For those of you who have no idea what is meant by ‘rag and bone’ check out this definition here. Alliance members use this nickname for my adventures in Wurm Online since I spend a lot of time pillaging disbanded places and acquiring items. The area is already flat, and though it’s covered in what seems like a million bulk storage bins and storage crates, it shouldn’t be too difficult to get things set up (with some help, of course).
The plan above is what I have in mind, not including the fancy items that will help draw shoppers in. There’s a canal to the East, and I’ll need to dig it a bit deeper as well as construct a bridge so I can get back to my original place. I’m thinking a colossus or two may be in order at either end along the East side, and I have ideas for flowers and gardens in the checkered portion. There’s room for 40+ merchants, 20+ horses, and an area for bulk storage bins where players can buy a key from a merchant and then use that key to unlock the corresponding BSB. There’s an inn for people who want to stay overnight, altars for priests, and two larger buildings to store all of the stuff I’ll need to create the market. Alliance members are already planning merchants to place down, and once I’ve got a few market stalls established I’ll put a post up in the forums and advertise around the area that we’re open for business. I’m looking forward to this project, I’ve wanted to own a market deed for quite some time but I’ve never gotten around to it. The issue I have with most markets is that the owners vanish, leaving the markets to disband. This way, I can just take care of it myself. Even if I take a break, I make sure there are 200+ days of upkeep left, and I always end up returning.
I know a lot of people are concerned about the new Wurm Unlimited that’s going to be releasing on steam, and sure I have a few small worries too (things like development for the MMO lapsing, etc) but there are some upsides as well. Maybe people who buy the solo / smaller version of the game will want to try out the MMO version. This could be a very good thing for future development. I’m going to hold off making any huge claims until we see how it’s actually affected (if at all) when it goes live in October. I think for current players, we won’t see much of a change, but that it will help spread the word about Wurm Online and it will have an effect on returning players. It should also mean extra money for the team, and that’s always a good thing.
Do you have any concerns? Do you think you’ll try out the new Wurm Unlimited on steam? Let me know in comments! Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.