Quote:
Originally Posted by t0lkien
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I don't see how you can say Wurm Online is anything like EQ or UO. It's a sophisticated Minecraftesque world builder, not an RPG. It's a completely different genre IMO. It's like people who pimp Fantasy Star as some sort of EQ successor. They are so fundamentally different it's almost absurd to compare them.
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No it's not. You're thinking too strictly and not seeing the forest.
Wurm Online versus classic EQ1:
1) No in-game map
2) Corpse runs
3) Trains and tight aggro
4) Autoattack
5) Less hand holding
6) Night-time (you can turn up gamma, but it's still washed out)
7) Lose skill experience when you die (similar to losing level experience)
Wurm Online versus Ultima Online: Second Age:
1) Skill-based (not class-based)
2) Sandbox; cutting trees; making campfires; building houses; primitive ecology(!); nuff said!
3) No rules pvp on epic servers and semi-restricted pvp on Chaos
4) Boats; UO was famous for its implementation of boats
Wurm Online even has some basic quests. It steers away from the casual idea that everything has to have a symbol floating above it or a exclamation mark so you don't (by chance) miss it. So I may see a corpse in the distance while swimming and miss it because it's so small. And yet if I see it and then swim to it I might discover a treasure trove of old rotting gear that I'll be able to repair and take home with me. (This actually happened to me several times. Most of the time corpses only have 'less' valuable stuff left behind by the owner.)
I'll admit that Wurm Online doesn't have the deep lore and npc population that Everquest 1 had. It doesn't have nearly as many quests as Everquest 1 had. Almost all of its weapons/armour are player-made. Its dungeons are player-made (and yes creatures can be inside them; in fact, 'dungeons' are actually old mines).
Wurm Online doesn't have the recall/mark spells that were used in Ultima Online to travel across the map. It doesn't have the treasure chest quest maps, but it certainly has old corpses and items leftover from bygone era's that're LIKE treasure. There're official map dumps that show the whole world. So you can actually hunt down areas that look built up on the map and explore them for old treasure. It doesn't have the mini-map. Creatures don't "talk". There're no wandering healers. Dragons were a lot more common in Ultima Online.
Wurm Online does have hte ability to spawn at your (deeded) settlement
if you die. And you may also spawn at any allied settlement on the map. But this teleportation only allows no-drop items to carry-over.
Wurm Online is less combat-focused than EQ1 or Ultima Online too. HOWEVER, there's still lots of combat and if you seek it you shall find it. Oftentimes, it finds you. Early on, you're much more defensive-minded. But as players get better they can hunt more. And on pvp servers there're sieging mechanics as well.
But you know what? These differences are minor to me. Wurm Online is a more advanced sandbox than Ultima Online: Second Age. That, combined with some of the mechanics you found in classic Everquest 1, makes it feel very much to me like a spiritual heir to them. It feels more like them than it does Minecraft.
I played Ultima Online and EQ1 for several years off and on. I know how they feel. I'm referring more to how they play than anything else. Minecraft is too soft without the hard edges. EQ2 doesn't have a sandbox and is also too soft. Vanguard-soh is too streamlined and wasn't developed in the sandbox direction. I wanted so much to see Vanguard-soh be THAT game, but it never came to be and instead became too cautious. There's a long list of MMO's that're somewhat similar to Wurm Online but they do not share similarities with classic EQ1 or old-style UO. Most MMO's out there have abandoned the tight aggro and corpse runs and no in-game maps and free-for-all pvp and various other mechanics associated with old EQ1 and/or old UO.
I expect Wurm Online to degenerate as it ages. It has been around since 2006 and you can see all of the things it has axed as it has aged. Despite all that, for now it has been amazing. My contention is that we will see games like this pop up now and then for eternity. It's just the way things are. I don't necessarily mean they have to have corpse runs for eternity, I mean they're dangerous and not friendly to players. Obviously, the normal is to treat players like they're royalty. This is especially true if a company feels desperate or greedy; like most do. So it's very hard to find a game like this where it's not ocd about being friendly.