Summer Update Incoming #WurmOnline

wurm.20130614.1921There are some really amazing updates coming out soon, Tuesday June 18th to be exact. This is posted from the Wurm Online Tumblr.

Wurm V1.1 Summer Update Release Next Week

We’re very happy to tell you that our Summer Update which brings Wurm to version 1.1 will be released on Tuesday 18th June.

What’s coming in the Summer Update?

One of our main projects for this update has been to make a number of performance enhancements, mainly to the game client. This should mean that graphics cards will be used more effectively to improve frame rates and overall performance. We’ve also tried to fix as many bugs as possible.

We’re adding a number of new features to the game, including the ability to build house extensions, new fence types, learn mystical powers to become a powerful sorcerer, and several others including an overhaul of the foraging and botanising system.

We have also made some changes to graphics and user interface. These include an update to a number of creature models and animations, a paper-doll window for equipping armour, icons for climbing, lawful etc. and inventory grouping among other improvements.

We’re also very glad to announce that our new in-game music will be released. We’ll let you know more about that soon.

Overall, this summer update has been the result of work from across all areas of the team since we hit 1.0 last December. Some of the changes are quite small, but there are many of them. Others are very exciting and add new depth and accessibility to the game and we’re really excited to see how you use them.

We really hope you enjoy this next release of Wurm Online as much as we have enjoyed developing it for you. Happy Wurming!

Yours Sincerely,
Rolf and the team behind Wurm Online

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for regular updates! There’s also our Team Blog.

P.S. In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s a condensed featurelist for v1.1:

  • Client Performance Upgrades
  • An All-New Mystic Powers and Karma System
  • More New Creature Models
  • Re-Work of the Epic Endgames
  • Kingdom Tabards (worn on the body)
  • Cross-Server Chat
  • New Fence Types
  • Flower Beds and Flower Pots
  • Gravestones
  • New “Analyse” on Rock Ores
  • Foraging and Botanizing Overhaul
  • Modify Existing Structures
  • New In-Game Music
  • GUI: Addition of a Drag and Drop “Paperdoll”
  • GUI: New icons for climbing, faithful etc
  • Inventory Grouping
  • In-game Skill Tracker
  • Diagonal Roads
  • Falling Tree Animations

P.P.S. There will also be a slight change to the farming mechanic. There will now be more factors affecting crop yield, including seed ql, rake ql and the rarity of everything involved. In theory, someone with only 1 farming skill could potentially achieve a yield of 4 crops. Also, you will continue to always harvest more than 0 crops.

Charm of Lore, and Mercenary of East Wastes #EverQuest

EQ000073Oger and myself have been working on a few older achievements as of late. You can find these under the Hero’s Journey category in your achievement window. The one I picked for us to work on next was the Charm of Lore, which involves collecting 37 different trinkets and turning them in to Librarian Hemfar in Crescent Reach. So far the collection has not been too difficult to obtain, but we’re now at the point where 100% of them are drops from mobs and raids. The hard part being simply finding the mobs up (or in the case of regular named, spawning them). Still we’ve worked our way through a lot of zones and I’m really happy that there are only 8 more pieces for me to collect and then I’ll have completed the charm. The ones I’m missing are in Ashengate, Ashengate, Reliquary of the Scale: North, Ashengate, Reliquary of the scale: West, Frostcrypt: Raid Instance #2 and Valdeholm: Udengar the Traitor.  It’s not an upgrade any more but there’s still an achievement for getting it done, and a sense of completion for my main character.

I’ve been thinking a bit on what I want to work on next, and I’m pretty sure it will be my druid. I haven’t actually started working on her yet, but before too long I hope to.

Another bit of character advancement came from working on the Mercenary of East Wastes: Zeixshi-Kar’s Awakening. It’s part of the current expansion so any rewards were quite relevant, and a death or two happened here and there. Mostly because of my charmed pet breaking and me not being able to land a charm in time before I was smushed. Especially if mercenary are on passive and not healing me. I’m still getting used to having my rune spells up (and active). This zone was frustrating. Especially if you’re not a tracker. It’s not that the quests themselves were difficult per say but the zone is GIANT (it mimics the regular East Wastes) and it’s constant running around to find what you need. If you don’t have a tracker you’re forced to wander around aimlessly looking for what you need. It did take us a week or two to finally complete these quests but I’m glad we got it done. Now we just need one more East Waste group mission and then we will have completed the hero achievements and obtained the trophy house item that grants buffs. After that, it’s time to move on to someplace new, which I am really looking forward to. The constant snow storms are not my idea of fun.

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

Moving to Exodus #WurmOnline

wurm.20130606.0132After two years on Deliverance I decided it was time for a bit of a change. I love the server but it’s quite small and after so much time there I’ve gotten to know the layout of the land quite well. I spotted a deed for sale on Exodus, a server that is about a 5 minute sail from my current Deliverance deed. The price was quite low, and it came with a few bits and bobs on deed although it doesn’t have a trader like I wish it had, it’s a nice place. Of course there was some drama before I could actually take over the deed but I was aware that the two players I was purchasing from are known for this sort of thing. It was sorted without too much pain, and now I am a proud owner of a second deed once more. I’ll be keeping the Deliverance deed simply because it has a trader that I want to take advantage of, but for the most part I expect that I’ll be living on Exodus full time.

One of the main reasons I wanted to move as I mentioned above is that I love to explore, and I feel that I know Deliverance quite well now. Exodus is the same size map, but it’s also close to celebration where I lived for a few months back when the server opened and I’m right on the North West coast which means getting to Chaos is very simple. In fact the only server that is an enormous pain to get to is Independence, which I’m alright with.

I may try to sell one of my priest characters in order to afford a trader on Exodus, then both deeds are covered quite nicely. It’s not an uncommon thing to do, and honestly I was just using the character to collapse mine tunnels (which I no longer really have a reason for, as those mines are off-deed).

My first days on Exodus were spent making my new deed a ‘home’. I don’t like the look of birch trees so I cut them all down and replanted maple. There is a fence around the deed but part of it was a low iron fence and the other half a tall stone wall. So I took down a portion of the iron fence and replaced it with the tall wall. I placed some flags around the outside of the deed (horde of the summoned, which are a deep purple) and did some terraforming. There is a large empty section in the middle of the deed that I’m contemplating turning into a farm, and there’s a section with cattle that I think I’d like to remove because I have no real use for them. I’d rather breed horses since they’re useful and they provide leather like cows do.

Two of the guest houses were made from wood and I prefer stone, so I tore them down and turned it into one large cottage. I’m just finishing off the roof and then I can move on to the next project which is making use of a large open space in the center of the deed. I’m not sure what I want to do with it yet, but I’m sure I’ll come up with something.

I’m enjoying the new server so far. I think a change was exactly what I needed. As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!