Category: Gaming

Wurm Online has been going through a lot of pretty neat changes lately. Due to a hacking incident the forums and web site have been revamped, and the wiki is now back up and running. Everything is smooth on those fronts at least. Kelp, reed, and papyrus sheets were added, along with ink and octopus to make it. Bison, hell hounds, hell horses, and hell scorpion were added, along with inner walls and new graphics for stone houses.

One of the latest additions to the unstable client (you must have experimental packs enabled) has been spiders. Now, as a gamer I am pretty oblivious to most types of creatures – but this updated spider graphic is actually causing a lot of stress for some players. Those with arachnophobia, in specific.

There have been forum posts made by these players, requesting some other method of enjoying the game that doesn’t involve looking at these incredibly well detailed (with amazing animation might I add) critters. If they can not find a way to play the game without avoiding these creatures, a handful are threatening to quit and leave the game for good.

Thoughts?

Well. I haven’t really decided. I think it’s a bit much to change graphics based on a few peoples fears. On the other hand, these graphics were not in the game when these players started, and if they were, they probably wouldn’t have started or stuck with the game. Alienating players is never a good thing. Is there an issue with graphics being TOO realistic? Just some of the thoughts in my head. I’m staying out of the debate aside from making it known that there IS a debate, simply because it is something that I can’t really form an opinion on.

If you’re not afraid of spiders, I highly suggest you download the unstable client and make sure experimental packs are selected and take a look at them. The way they approach during combat just makes my skin crawl (not a bad thing) and I personally applaud the developers for such fantastic work.

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

Determined to reach 50 fighting skill, I set off with Stargrace to find some creatures. I took my trusted steed, which ended up being a mistake (and was very amusing the first time, no so much the second time). The first mishap occurred when I was wandering into a cave. Normally I can see what I’m fighting, but this time things were dark and I wasn’t really paying attention. I killed a mountain lion that was lurking down at the bottom and then clicked around some. I heard my horse being attacked by something and figured another creature must be hiding so I left the cave. When no creature followed me out I was a bit surprised but things still didn’t register. Finally when my horse hit the ground dead I realized that it had been me who was attacking the poor animal the entire time. Whewps.

The second time was also my fault and it could have easily been avoided. See, when you have an animal tamed, mobs tend to hit them first and they also help you out in combat. With a horse this is very dangerous, as soon as they get wounds to their legs they start walking incredibly slow. I had tamed a horse in order to add some gear to the animal (the only way you can equip it) and forgot to tame something else after so that the horse would wear the gear and not follow any of the tame rules. I ended up getting attacked by a few spiders, and I stopped for a moment to regain my stamina – the horse quickly fell.

Despite the fact that it was a bad week for my horses (and they were 5-speed horses too, yikes) I did manage to inch my way to 50 fight skill, which I’m very pleased about. It came with a new title, ‘soldier’ and while it’s not THAT impressive, I’m still proud.

Speaking of titles, I also managed to reach 50 hot food cooking on my Vynora priest, which granted him a title of ‘Caterer’ and he now supplies delicious meals to my characters who reside at Thorin’s Bay. Not bad for a long weekend!

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

I love boat caves. There are some pretty impressive ones I’ve seen over the last six months. My neighbor Yetian has been building one to house boats that come to visit him, and Hord has some of the most impressive boat tunnels I’ve ever seen before. It involves a lot of mining, and since mines are 2D and not 3D it makes for some interesting times.You can’t build mines directly on top of one another because it will create dangerous drop shafts (there’s no falling damage in mines, but you may find yourself stuck and surrounded by creatures who are eager to chew off your face).

This weekend I had to work on fixing my mine quite a bit due to some collapsing that happened. I actually didn’t mind as there was a large portion of my silver mine that was pretty much un-useable, the floors were all crooked and you had to climb up them to get out of the pit they were situated in. A few shaker orbs later, and things were looking much better. Added some reinforcement beams and they were looking nice and secure. I even had some time to work on my jewel crafting which has been sorely neglected these past few weeks while I worked on my weapon smithing.

It’s a holiday here in Canada, Victoria Day, so I’m enjoying one more game-filled day (it’s really warm out and me and the heat don’t get along that well) before getting back to the grind on Tuesday. I hope everyone has a fantastic time, no matter where you find yourself. Happy gaming!

Ah, spring in Wurm Online where the fog rolls in thicker than oatmeal. Pictured above is my poor corbita, actually moored at that exact moment because the fog was so thick I couldn’t see the shore and I had absolutely no idea where I was going. I think at the time I was just trying to get back home with a boat load of items.

I love the fact that Wurm has seasons, and I enjoy that these seasons are on their own schedule, and won’t always match the RL seasons. I get enough snow in the winter (actually, this year I didn’t, but that’s neither here nor there) and it’s great to have a bit of ‘winter’ when it’s summer and I’m melting in the living room.

Very few games have dynamic weather systems such as the one Wurm makes use of, there are massive storms that roll through, you’ll see the sky darkening and clouds move in. It’s great.

Along with these awesome weather patterns are harvests specific to the time of year it is. Olives just passed, and I’m eager for it to be maple season once again. Olive oil is used to make compasses, and maple sap can be boiled to make maple syrup. From there you can use the syrup in a number of recipes. Lemons, apples, and cherries all have their own harvest times, as well as grapes and a number of other plants with healing properties. It’s just one more complex level added to the game, and one I simply can’t get enough of.

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