I’ve been playing Wurm Online for many years, and I’ve loved it for many reasons. It’s the ultimate sandbox game, and while aspects of it may seem outdated (graphics, this game uses java after all) it still incorporates every single aspect of a sandbox that I adore. I’ve made some great friends in game and I belong to an awesome alliance. I have three active accounts and two deeds but I’ve owned countless more.
When Wurm Unlimited was announced I was of course a bit concerned. I had visions of population decreases and a lack of development on the ‘main’ game. Then I realized that this version of the game was never intended to entice people who were perfectly happy playing Wurm Online. This version of the game was meant to capture those who have always wanted to play, but didn’t want to pay a monthly subscription, or who were concerned about griefing, or who could never find a nice place to settle down. This game is made to encourage those 5 friends of mine I have who used to play Wurm but left for whatever reason, to come back to the world that they could enjoy if it was only tweaked a little to their specifications.
In that regard, Wurm Unlimited is perfect. Right now I’ve got a dedicated server running with a few mild tweaks. Skill gain is 10x faster than normal. Actions are 5 times faster. There’s no deed cost. I created an adventure server which means there’s still kingdoms and this also enables the starter towns (pre-created) along with treasures and hidden items in the world. There are also quests. The server is protected by a password which I’ve given to a few friends who were interested in playing, and we’ve started our little set up just outside of the Mol Rehan starter town (the mine is pictured above).
There are of course some ‘downsides’ to playing Wurm like this. It’s MUCH quieter. There’s no real ‘community’ aside from those you invite along. The economy won’t exactly thrive in this play setting. The server could poof one day accidentally if my computer dies. These are just things that have to be dealt with.
On the other hand, it could encourage others to try out WO and meet the wonderful community there. It could mean extra money in the pockets of the developers which would be a good thing for both versions of the game. It gets word out about the game which is also never a bad thing.
Over all, I’m optimistic. I purchased the game to support the developers and I enjoy the small server I have set up currently. It’s not perfect, there are a few glitches here and there and the game still has a huge learning curve, but I am hoping that more people come and experience what this game has to offer and that they appreciate it and maybe even enjoy it as much as I have over the years.
Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!
I hear the phrase, “you can set your own rate of skill gain,” and that immediately makes me perk up with interest. The original Wurm just couldn’t hold my attention with the supremely slow pace of skill gain (and more importantly, all the repeated failures from being at a low skill.)
It’s kinda clever, given the popularity of small survival server style gameplay on Steam. As you suspect, this is mostly an audience that wouldn’t have been interested in the small mmo community feel of the original wurm server anyway.
“and the game still has a huge learning curve” — that’s one of the reasons I like this version. I can learn at my own pace without feeling that “I’m paying a subscription for this, I need to get going” pressure, and if I mess up I can just re-start whenever I want.
Just need to find time to get onto your server and starts stumbling about like a drunkard!