Stargrace

What Update 1.2 Means for Wurm Online Players

The countdown to update 1.2 has begun, and with it a lengthy list of what is coming. Honestly, this is a game changing patch for Wurm Online, and I couldn’t be more excited. The largest of the changes is the newly revamped crafting interface. This one thing is going to be huge. Notice that you can queue actions for creating items which is something we could never do before. The interface (as pictured above) is neat and tidy and easy to understand. No more right clicking and having to scroll through a gigantic list to find out what you want to craft. Out of everything coming with this update it is probably one of the least talked about but biggest impacting items.

Wagons and ship carriers are going to be neat, because they’ll allow players to move larger items and objects – something we always have a hard time with. Wagons will use four mounts to pull, the previous ‘large cart’ only allowed for two. Along the same path, crates will be added which allow for greater bulk transportation – these will basically replace rafts, which are very limited.

The second largest point to the update in my opinion would have to be the drag and drop function. Normally when you pick items up out of a pile you need to place them in your inventory first, and then into a cart. Players will be able to drag these items directly from the pile, into the cart (and vice versa). You won’t need that extra step of loading everything into your inventory first. Wrists everywhere rejoiced at the news.

In game maps are also huge news, but keep in mind they are not meant to replace the player maintained maps that show locations of actual deeds. They’re basically rough maps for new players to make use of. You can make annotations to the map, and then share those with your village, or an alliance.

This update has really focused on making the game friendlier to players. There’s a village recruitment board that will allow players to port to the village one time so they don’t have to walk. A new invite command to let you invite players to your village from anywhere on the server. A new book of wisdom for in-game help topics, and more.

There’s also a bunch of new graphic updates going live which is always good to see. It keeps things feeling fresh and it shows just how much passion and dedication is given to this game. I haven’t been this excited since 1.0 and multistory was added. It is certainly exciting times for players.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Harvesting, Harvesting, Harvesting in Landmark

I’m still playing a lot of Landmark alpha, but I find creating the developer tools you use a bit frustrating. I’m used to harvesting, you have to harvest wood and stone in Wurm Online (along with dirt) to build so it’s not like I’m doing something new but it just seems to bother me. I think it’s because not only do you need to harvest to craft the harvesting tools, the crafting machines, and the developer tools, but you need harvests to build too (ie: you want a stone building, you need stone). It’s a LOT of resources to work through. I don’t play for any more than an hour or so at a time these days and almost all of that time has been spent harvesting so I can craft yet another item I need before I can work on my claim. For example right now I’m working my way towards the line tool.

I love how open SOE has been with their latest products. The forums are open for anyone to read, NDA has been down since the first week, and developers are having open and frank discussions with people on social media. It’s important, and really neat to see how it progresses because it’s so very different compared to how we all know SOE.

I hope to get building on my claim this week, although for that to happen I would have to settle on just one idea to go forward with. So far I have a few that I’m interested in building. I suppose I’ll just have to narrow it down once I get that line tool made! Oh, and watch some tutorials, I really want to watch a few of those too.

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

A Saturday Looking for Raids

I finally found some time to play World of Warcraft this weekend, and decided to attempt a few raids with the looking for raid finder. Normally I try to get them done earlier in the week because.. well. My patience tends to wear out, and weekend raids are not really that great. I queued for the first Siege of Orgrimmar raid and knew I was in for trouble. Sha (the final named) took 7 attempts. I’ve never had a raid take that many attempts before. Thankfully I did win an offhand during the four named bosses that was quite an upgrade, but I would still much rather do raids earlier on in the week.

After I decided to try a flex raid for Celestials, and I won a pair of PVP shoes that were an enormous upgrade from the quested 502 ilevel ones I had been wearing. I’m also trying to make a bit of coin, so I put an epic belt for sale and a few robes. I don’t know if they’ll sell, but at least I’m trying.

The rest of my adventures were filled with pet battles. I’m slowly leveling a few more to 25 and working on more achievements. It’s been a pretty relaxing weekend, and I hope everyone else has had a great one too! Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

Saved Voxels and New Servers

My time gaming lately has mostly been spent in Landmark, with some Wurm Online. I would love to get back to World of Warcraft but I just haven’t managed to find the time quite yet as I balance things. It’s not that unusual when a new game shows up on my radar, I was dividing my time between WoW and Wurm Online quite well, but throw a third steady game into the mix and suddenly things change.

There have been quite a few improvements over the last few days with the alpha. New servers and new continents were opened up, voxels on claims now save, a few new graphics are out. Of course for each thing in-game that now works, something else breaks, but it happens. I haven’t done a lot of building yet because I have to spend so much time harvesting. I’ve upgraded my pickaxe to Tungsten, and I’m working on the burled log requirement for viridium. I’ve got a marble forge and a work table, but there’s a tungsten saw and the paint tool still to go. I did craft the smooth tool and spent a good portion of last night learning that mechanic, which I really love. You can’t tell from the screenshot but I rounded the edges of the platform that I built (and then placed my craft machines on it). Since my deed was partially mountain and the bottom corner was ‘floating’ in the air, I built a platform and then smoothed the edges to make it look like a natural part of the hill. Added my vault and some torches, and I’ll call it home for now while I continue harvesting.

The forums are now open for anyone to browse, and for those who have bought into the game to reply / make posts. There are some amazing threads with screenshots being posted and I highly recommend people check it out to see what sort of creations are being made. Of course I’ve been posting pictures as well on google plus and sharing with my gamer friends there.

Everyone keeps mentioning how wonderfully transparent SOE has been with the entire alpha process, and I have to agree. They post exactly what is going on, whether or not they’ve messed up, and how they’re fixing the situation. It’s refreshing, to say the least. Whether this keeps up through alpha, into beta, and beyond, I’m not sure, but in the mean time it’s restoring peoples faith and that’s wondrous to behold.

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

Seeing Possibilities

Stargrace found herself standing by the Wizard spires with her bags packed full of goods. It had been a long trek, but she had made it. Now, it was just a matter of gaining their attention.

“Tungsten! Gold! Amethyst! Traveling peddler here on Drift, you want it, I’ve probably got it or can tell you where to get it. Step up and find me by the wizard spires! Bargaining is my middle name folks!” She smiled as the locals started to gather.

Meanwhile

Xartan was cackling maniacally. It was done. His creation was completed. Sweat and even a little blood had gone into his latest experiment. The monstrosity rose from the ground, jagged peaks and tall walls combined with confusing tunnels. At the end, a treasure chest filled with goods for the taking – if you could make it that far. He grabbed a piece of parchment paper and quickly started writing out his plans, then summoned a scribe to carry it far and wide. His laughter echoed over the rolling hills. They would come.

In another part of the same continent a new store was opening up. Blesse had cleared a great portion of land into a flat manageable space, and built display stands every few feet. On top of each display was one of her artistic pieces. From one display a hedge stood, carved into a beautiful horse rearing its head. One section of the sales area didn’t hold a display case but instead held a small cottage, draped in moss. Another held a selection of machinery.

“Oh, are you interested in purchasing the legendary pickaxe?” Blesse smiled at her latest customer. Business was good.

The point of this blog post was to show people that Landmark is indeed a sandbox game and that game is going to be limited only by your imagination. None of the scenarios I posted above are things you can’t already do right in this alpha aside from the final one because player studio isn’t in game yet (but we know it’s coming). None of them require any fancy mechanic and things that are not currently in game. Sure they require a stable game, but again that will come. When I talk about enjoying a sandbox game and the potential it’s not potential based on hype or features I think may be added later. It’s potential based on what I see, what I experience and then mold with my imagination. The game will be what you make of it.