Wurm Online

There’s No Place Like Home #WurmOnline

stargrace June 18, 2012 No Comments

The novelty of Celebration has worn off, and this weekend (thanks to a very generous Moumix) I brought all of my characters back home to Deliverance. I still have Falkenstein Castle, and I intend on keeping it (there’s over 150 days of upkeep paid) but I missed being able to hold sermons and I missed having all of my characters together. My Fo priest has 43 animal husbandry, and working up that skill again so I can see the traits on the 30+ horses I have is a bit of a pain. Not to mention she has 40+ farming, and can cast Fo spells which come in handy.

The population on Deliverance has dwindled slightly due to the new server, our average used to be over 100, some times 120-130, but now we’re holding at around 90. Expected with the new release. I love my deeds on this server, and I love the market place (Puzzle Plaza) and community that I know there. I’ve been making some great sales, enjoy to keep my deeds going. I’ve been happily working my skills up (yesterday I reached 30 jewel crafting) and Moumix and I have started holding sermons again. It’s pretty nice to have 8 characters participating between us (it’s enough for a prayer re-set).

In an amusing story, yesterday I went out walking along the coast to see if there were any ships I could salvage (remember folks, lock and moor your boats!) and along the way I happened to stumble into my own boat, a sailboat I had left far down the coast at the steppes some months ago. Back when I was hunting for hell horses. The amusing thing is that I didn’t even remember leaving it there (at the time) but when I found it suddenly it all came flooding back. It had 17 dmg on it, which (for a boat) is a lot. I sailed it home, and happily picked up the 300 planks I had also found while out and about.

You can never have too many planks.

The evening was finished by heading back to my old Darkpaw Bay deed, and loading up my new knarr (thanks to Moumix) with the materials I had been keeping in Squid’s house. The house is decaying quite heavily due to its low quality, and I wanted to remove the items before other scavengers came. Normally I wouldn’t really care, but there were 400 wemp that I wanted as well as a lot of copper (I still don’t have an easily accessible copper vein). When all is said and done, it’s nice to have everyone on the same deed.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Playing Knee-Deep In The Sandbox #WurmOnline

stargrace June 13, 2012 1 Comment

Pictured above, is Falkenstein Castle. I’ve managed to place a few flags (which I’m eventually going to dye, but at the moment I don’t have any access to dye components) and the outer walls are completed. Inside, things are moving along nicely. I’ve got a house started – it’s in an H formation, and is 13 tiles in total. This gives me a very nice 2×3 area for a ‘bedroom’ as well as another 2×3 area for crafting. I don’t need a lot of room as it’s just my Fo priest residing at the castle, so not a lot of crafting is going on.

My animal pens only need a few more tiles of enchanted grass and then those will also be taken care of. I’ve had two foals born, neither came with impressive traits, but it’s a start.

My main goal will be finishing the house, this prevents decay and I’m eager to at least add two beds to the building so that my characters can once more gain sleep bonus. Something I haven’t even seen since I took Arysh to Celebration. Along with the finer details of the deed I’m continuing with construction of a road up – Moumix was kind enough to lend a hand today with some surface mining, and the first three tiles can now be traveled by cart, which is a huge deal. I still have a ways to go, but cutting a road out into the stone is pretty neat.

It’s one of the aspects that appeals to me most about Wurm Online. Sure, it’s great to decorate a house in a video game and I’ve seen some amazing ones done over the years – but to decorate an entire plot of land (within the boundaries of the game of course) and to be able to physically adjust the terrain into a shape that you personally find pleasing, is amazing. To be able to take a mountain and level it (if you so choose) or to create an island in the middle of the ocean and then build a house upon it (or an entire city, if you want) these are things that players crave and are rarely given the opportunity to do.

It come with its own set backs, of course. Not even speaking of hardware limitations, but such sandbox play just leaves griefing right open. For example, there’s a player named ‘Oneangrykid’ who has taken to terrorizing the server of Celebration. He stole two large carts from my neighbours who had them hitched but not locked – if a large cart is on-deed and not locked, players can still ride them away. Keep it in mind and LOCK those carts. My neighbours were online when he took the carts, and they were in fact right close by, but because this player had the ability to take the carts, he did. Players tend to learn very quickly that it is not enough to simply purchase a deed to keep your things secure (even on Freedom servers, which are PvE not PvP) but you must lock every door, and make sure every setting on your deed management page is kept up to date. You have to practically interview your allies since there are deed settings for them, as well. Thankfully, I play with a wonderful group of people, and I’ve only had the barest brushes with griefing in game. I intend on keeping it that way.

Meanwhile, construction on Falkenstein Castle continues. My gold door was delivered, and I installed it. It looks amazing. I have another ‘Mad Lady Arysh’ story to post about that particular event, it should be coming later this week.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Mad Lady Arysh (Part II) #WurmOnline

stargrace June 7, 2012 No Comments

Across the mountain, construction still continues. The sounds of hammering and building last well into the night, and those passing by have drawn their eyes upwards towards the newly formed castle walls, wondering what could lay beyond them. There are rumors circulating, rumors of expensive lavish belongings being purchased. Flags, and banners of the finest silk, created by Master Tailor Yetian, renown for his work on Deliverance. An order has been placed for a mine door – but not any mine door would suit Lady Arysh, she demanded that this door be made from gold and shipped to the far shores of Deliverance.

It seems that only one type of creature dares venture near the castle walls these days, angry unicorns, who glare from beneath their wild manes, unused to having their land disturbed. All mountain lions, spiders, and wolves have vanished from the hill tops.

As you venture closer, you can make out a ‘pick pick pick’ sound, it echoes constantly, overlapping. You see no one, but a faint glimmer in the rock leads you to believe that someone still toils away. The base of the mountain seems to be changing shape. Flattening. Perhaps a road is in its future? One can only speculate…

Mad Lady Arysh (And Falkenstein Castle)

stargrace June 4, 2012 2 Comments

Luck day, in week 3 of the Raven’s Starfall, in the year of 1023.

Perhaps you’ve heard the story of Mad Lady Arysh, and her ‘castle in the clouds’. But are you sure you’ve heard ALL of it? I write these words out to those who travel the lands of Wurm unaware, as a warning. Do not become seduced by the tales of heroes who walk the mountains to fight trolls and best goblins. Those who venture into Falkenstein Castle rarely come out – and this is why.

Not long ago, Lady Arysh resided on Deliverance. The Fo priestess seemed content there. She spent her days on a small deed called Darkpaw Harbor, and tended to her horses. She frequented the rest of Deliverance as well, casting courier when required, engaging in combat other times. Eventually she rose in power so much that she no longer required to combat everything that crossed her way.

She became bored. Unsatisfied. She paced the floors of her docks, looking out to sea with longing. At night it was rumored that any who traveled past her deed could hear her keening wails, echoing over the water. She began to talk to herself, whispered conversations with beings that no one else saw.

Eventually rumor traveled to her that there were new lands to explore known by the name of Celebration. In the dark of the night she packed all of her belongings into a corbita moored by the shore and left. She said nothing to any of her neighbours, and simply vanished into the night. When they wandered by her deed in the early morning all they could do was gape in astonishment. Horses she had spent months caring for dotted the lands, free from their pens. They shook their heads in wonder, but not surprise.

And while the story ends there for most, I know what happened next. What still goes on to this day. On the top of a mountain in Celebration, the voices are heard. Whispering frantically over the tree tops. Conversations while no one is around. Insistent ramblings and plans of buildings, roads.

Mad Lady Arysh (as she is known these days) waits for her Prince. Little of him is known. He captured her heart with his words years ago, though no one has ever claimed to see him. She demands an enormous castle be built in his honor, for when he returns. She fingers a closed locked clasped around her slim throat, her eyes wide and blood shot.

The building continues. There will be no rest. Whoever toils for her, toils from sun up until sun down, and then onward through the night. Working on this castle in the clouds.

Falkenstein Castle #WurmOnline

stargrace June 4, 2012 No Comments

I love castles, and I’ve always had a huge fascination with Ludwig II. My castle deed isn’t named very creatively, but it suits me and I’m excited about it. Pictured above was the beginning work on it. Flattening the mountain top so that I can build. Well. Moumix did a lot of the work. He flattened the portion that will be used for the castle, the portion that is green (and not flat in that picture) I changed so that I can use it for a pen for animals and field. Then there is another area that includes a maple tree lined cobble road, and it leads up to my mine. Eventually, I’d love a gold or silver mine door covering it, with bright flags along the hill. I have a perfect spot for a guard tower although getting the clay required up the hill will be a challenge. Eventually I’d like to build a 3 wide road leading right up to the castle. That will take a LOT of dirt though, and I’m not sure I have the patience for such a grand vision.

I love building new deeds in Wurm, almost as much as I love already-created ones (like Thorin’s Bay). It takes a lot of work and patience, but it’s very rewarding. I’ve done a lot of thinking to try to decide exactly what I want, and I’m hoping when multi story buildings come out my castle will be visible from the ground below.

I’ll be sure to post the progress pictures as things come along. As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!