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Wurm hit with DDoS attack, Jansson posts update
Wurm Online was the victim of a distributed denial of service attack yesterday, which caused the browser-based sandbox to go offline for nearly 24 hours. Wurm co-creator Rolf Jansson updated fans with a post on the official forums this morning. "It appears that we have been the subject of some sort of DDoS attack. This caused issues for the hosting company's other customers, so they had to unplug us," he wrote. "We are back now on a throttled line. Hopefully this means that we should not affect the other customers. We will take other measures as well. Those should take up to an hour at best, then we should be able to bring the game back up. I'll make another post when that happens." [Thanks Cista!]
Jukebox Heroes: Wurm Online's soundtrack
When is a soundtrack not a soundtrack? When it's Wurm Online, of course. This cult sandbox has one of the most unusual scores that I've ever heard paired with an MMO. It's made up of sparsely used incidental music that just so happens to be folksy blues songs (with lyrics), composed by Joss Sanglier and performed by 21st Century Blues. It's catchy, don't get me wrong, but it comes with a case of mental whiplash if you were expecting the typical fantasy fare. Think of it this way: All of these songs sound as if they were originally made for a steakhouse commercial. "In Wurm, we don't play music constantly," explained Lead Designer Rolf Jansson. "Instead we play a song every now and then often based on the setting or a special event such as when you form a village. If you ever played the Lara Croft Tomb Raider game, the rare music scores really enhanced special situations, and that's what I was aiming for as well." To make matters more interesting, recently the Wurm Online team has sponsored the creation of not one, not two, but three concept albums that will be worked into the game itself. The first such album, Meditation and Work, is now out and is quite good. While we're going to look at the "classic" Wurm tunes today, I didn't want to overlook this new project. Perhaps we'll even get back to it some day!
Free for All: My five favorite MMOs for exploration
There's nothing more important to me than the ability to freely explore MMOs. Heck, exploration is the reason I got into MMOs. I remember grabbing that box of Ultima Online (man, I wish I still had that box!) from a shelf at the local game store and looking in wonder at just how vast this virtual world seemed to be. I'm still the same way, although after years of doing this, I am a bit more cynical about games. I've heard so many promises that never came true, but I know that even the worst of titles offers the chance to explore a brand-new world. There are a lot of exploration mechanics out there. Free Realms has an adventurer "job," The Secret World needs players to explore to solve mysteries, Guild Wars 2 offers experience based on discovering new areas, EverQuest II entices people to explore by offering collectible items embedded in the ground, and there are so many MMOs that allow players to gain experience just by approaching areas they haven't before. But I have my favorites. These are games that just make me feel like an explorer.
MMO Blender: Using older MMOs to build a perfectly paced world
One of the issues I have with so many modern AAA titles is that when I play them, I immediately feel forced through a series of noisy and chaotic moments. I know that these tutorials are supposed to make me feel as though I am stepping into a sort of world-on-fire, but to me it just feels like a mess. RIFT is a great game, truly, but every time I want to start a new character or try the game out again, I dread going through the annoying tutorial. It's so demanding. It grabs my hand and pulls me through a linear series of non-discoveries. Now, this might just be my fading gamer memory, but I distinctly remember how it felt to be dropped off in the middle of nowhere in an MMO. While there are a few modern titles like Wurm Online that basically do the same thing, the mystery and immersion of those first few levels in most major MMOs has been replaced by sheer noise. I don't like it. Good pacing is a wonderful thing. If it's tweaked just right, players feel immediately invested in a world even while feeling completely lost. I'd like to make this week's dream MMO using those older-game designs. It's time to slow down.
Free for All: Getting lost in the labyrinth of Wurm Online
Wurm Online is a game of darkness. Really, the entire world is balanced on what will happen after the sun sets. If a player isn't careful, she can find herself lost and alone without a torch to light her path. I don't mean to make the daylight out to be a haven from danger; a player can die during the day as easily as at night. But at least during the day, a far-off shelter can be aimed for. Unless there's fog, of course. OK, look. Wurm Online is a game of super-scary death things, but the night is particularly scary. That's what I meant. When an old Vanguard: Saga of Heroes buddy of mine let me know that he and his friends had built a giant maze in Wurm, one that can actually keep players occupied for hours and can possibly lead to injury or death, I jumped into a tiny rowboat and paddled my way south toward the Deliverance server. I had to see this thing for myself.
Previously on MV TV: The week of September 1st
This week I have quite the selection of tasty video tidbits for you to enjoy. What better way to spend the weekend than staying inside away from the nasty pollen and wasps, watching amazing gameplay videos hosted by yours truly and his band of fellow pixel-heads? That's right! You don't even have to buy MMOs anymore! By simply clicking on the "continue reading" link below, you step into an expansive world of MMO exploration, teeming with sights and sounds unlike you have ever seen or installed before! Why should you go through the trouble of standing in line, purchasing a box, spending two days installing it on your massive PC, pulling up that huge plastic chair, waiting for the game to patch, and attempting to make a character who doesn't look like a 17 year-old pop-punk band member only to find that you suck at PvP? The simple answer to your problem is to watch us play ALL OF THE GAMES! Which games, you might ask? Well, this week I have some Piggy action as he streams Fallen Earth, followed by Richie with some Guild Wars 2, Mike with some more EVE Online, World of Tanks and Tribes: Ascend. And I follow it all up with a trip through Wurm Online to view the mystery behind the Puzzles deed and then chat with Illyriad CEO James Niesewand about his game's new patch! Check it out!
Wurm Online 1.0 update to feature multi-story buildings, new avatar customization
Wurm Online may have been in development for nearly a decade, but December 6th of this year marks the project's first official deadline. Version 1.0 of the browser-based sandbox title is coming, and it boasts multi-story buildings and new character models with customizable facial features (not to mention visible armor and proper bone structure). Wurm creator Rolf Jansson has just posted a new dev blog with all the details on the new milestone. "The game will still be far from finished but it will have a nice (huge) set of features which all come together in a very strong way," he says. Wurm is a skill-based persistent world that's both free of instancing and free-to-play. Jansson describes it as a "player-driven economy sandbox MMO providing a strong endgame."
Free for All: The best weather systems in free-to-play
Perhaps someone can explain my obsession with in-game weather systems. I remember interviewing the lead designer for Vanguard: Saga of Heroes a few years ago. I had to stop him and ask for more details about the weather system the game used. He told me it was on a separate server, a pretty fancy program that ran independently of the rest of the game. It sounded as if he was telling me that there were real storms brewing in the game and the system knew when and where they were happening. I was fascinated. How cool it is to imagine in-game clouds forming at one point of the world and slowly moving across the land until the sky begins to rain on your character's head? Sadly, in-game weather seems to be either a low priority or a hard system to tackle. I'm guessing it's a combination of both. So I searched out those few MMOs that feature an impactful weather system. Not coincidentally, they also happen to be some of my favorite MMOs.
Wurm Online rewards loyal players with more new land
When Wurm Online's website and wiki was hacked earlier this month, many players thought it meant the game itself was hacked and potentially posed a threat to their own computers. Since the game client is entirely Java-based, that worry was not entirely unfounded, but Wurm creator Rolf Jansson eases our concerns with a new announcement today. Not only is the website back online and safer than ever, according to Rolf, but players are also being rewarded for their patience with a brand-new Freedom (PvE) server named Celebration. In the world of Wurm Online, servers are basically islands of virgin land, ready for exploration. Some server islands have various rules (such as open PvP), but they're all connected to each other through waterways or portals, which expands the persistent world even farther. Celebration will open its doors at 9 a.m. EDT tomorrow morning and will be accessible from the southern border of the Exodus server.
Previously on MV TV: Week of February 6th, 2012
Welcome back to Previously on MV TV, your source for highlights from last week's Twitch.tv streams! If you happen to miss one or want to check out some of our shows for the first time, then this is a great place to start. This week we have some Guild Wars developer fun with Richie and then again with Adventure Mike, a bit of Wurm Online exploration and construction with Jeremy and the creator of the game, the first stages of owning land and building a house in Second Life with yours truly, some MOBA action in Heroes of Newerth with Dylan, and the usual Star Wars: The Old Republic goodness with Larry. So what are you waiting for? Click past the cut to catch up on the streams you might have missed. While you're at it, bookmark our Massively TV guide so you won't miss any more!
Free for All: Looking for experiences, not challenges
When I was around 20, I used to watch my girlfriend's younger brother play Nintendo games. It was a pretty intense scenario. He would become so angry when a boss fight took away one of his lives or when a leap at a moving platform would fail that he often chucked that poor controller at the wall. It happened again years later after we'd graduated to the internet and PC gaming. The strangest thing is that he would return to the challenge over and over until it either broke his will or his device or he finally conquered the challenge. I never quite got it. Surely such frustration sucked any enjoyment out of the entire process? I tend to be more lazy when it comes to my digital adventure. I hate to repeat content, and I would rather leave the raiding and boss fights to those with more patience or to those who simply have a desire to win that matches their tolerance for frustrating situations. I would rather become a trader, crafter, roleplayer, explorer, or even adventurer in certain titles. Just spare me the overwhelming challenges while I game.
Wurm Online answers your Epic questions
Are you a Wurm Online player looking for a sense of purpose? Well, look no further than the game's Epic servers, which went live today. Not sure what Wurm Epic is? Well, you're in luck once more because over at the game's official site, Code Club CEO Rolf Jansson has posted an FAQ that covers everything you need to know about the new game type. The basic concept is this: Players both new and old can take a portal from the main game world to the Epic servers. From there, they will be stripped of all their items and skills, though they will retain all gold in their banks. After that, it's the duty of the players to build and defend kingdoms, which in turn further the goals of their gods on the moon of Valrei. Gods, in turn, have the ability to "reshape the world or spawn creature invasions as a result of how well they achieve their goals." For the full, detailed FAQ, head on over to the game's official site.
Wurm's epic cluster coming October 28th
Onetwofree's latest news blurb features some good news for fans of the the firm's long-running Wurm Online sandbox MMO. The game's new epic cluster is officially set to debut on October 28th, and lead developer Rolf Jansson is among those psyched about the launch date. "The epic code is something I've been working on for several years, and it feels really good to finally release it," he says. Epic's aim is to "provide the players with a full circle of purpose and something really big to strive for," according to the Wurm website. The cluster features warring gods duking it out on the moon of Valrei, and players who complete missions (and multi-mission arcs called scenarios) will set dramatic events in motion. What kinds of dramatic events? The release mentions terraforming events tied to volcanoes as well as the chance for players to become demigods and possibly even full deities complete with their own religion and a stake in the celestial battle royal.
