I have recently been chatting to a group of MMO players at a site called MMO Voices. They are a self made group of around 200 gamers lead by a character called Beau Turkey. On a suggestion from yours truly, they have made Wurm Online their “Game of the Site” and have set up a little community on Golden Valley. A couple of them, including Beau have become quite addicted to our game even after only a few days and have been chatting about it madly.  Beau has made the point on a blog post about how “Fantasies are not real, but collaboration is”, and how Wurm Online offers a level of collaboration and community that he has not encountered before. Beau has a real point here and this is something that occupies my mind a lot as I contribute to Wurm Online in my own small little corner.

This sort of game is the real future of casual social networking. Currently MMOs are split into two rough areas – those that have predetermined adventure of some sort, like WoW, and those that give you a graphic environment to do nothing but chat, like Twinity. Wurm is neither of those, because it offers both, but with a twist and that is what Beau puts his finger on; collaboration.

The best real life analogy to Wurm is probably the office or other work place. Social interaction within the working environment it far more lively and has more momentum than does sitting around a bar every night. This is because everyone is there for the same reason and has certain tasks that they have to do. In the modern office, these tasks do not take away from social intercourse but actually enhance it by forcing interaction; “pass the pen please.” This commonality allows relationships to grow very easily and firmly without having to know great details about the other people – in fact, too much detail can cause problems!

Wurm, almost uniquely, and possibly accidentally, offers the same environment. When you log in to your community on Golden Valley or Independence or Wild, there are things you need to do – either for yourself, or for the community. But most of what you do does not stop you being able to chat; it is amazing how much you can say while chopping a tree down!

I watch the conversations sometimes as I am digging someone out of a mine or planting a thousand trees at Glitterdale (oh, THAT is where the trees came from!) – there is something about Wurm that makes me more nosey than is natural for me!

“Hey, have you played the new XX game?”
“Yeah, last night – pass me a nail, will you?”
“Isn’t it amazing?”
“Oh wow, yeah, loved the crafting system. Oh, damn, I have left the forge on.”
“Going to play it later? Maybe we can talk on Vent.”
“Probably tonight, if I get these tools imped up – got an order for a pile of shovels from someone.”
“Okay, fair enough. Well if you are free I will see you then. I’ll be back later to farm anyway.”

And no one mentioned that they were actually playing a game already! This sort of conversation happens all the time in Wurm, and I am told by more experienced gamers than me that this is very unusual in games, as is the fact that people tend to automatically collaborate on wurm rather than compete. On Wurm you are happy that someone else is more skilled that you – its useful! I have never seen someone Jealous about someone else’s skills.

I have noticed more and more how players are using Wurm as their default social environment – especially on premium servers in the villages – and some go off and play other games as their gaming experience. The trick for the people working on Wurm is how we can leverage that more, persuade more people that Wurm should be their base camp for the rest of their fun, and of course fun in its own right. I have some very long term (and secret) ideas that hopefully will bind the community aspect of wurm even more while allowing even more adventure and more layers within the Wurmian society. Whether they will come off or work, I don’t know, I am still experimenting, but I think this game is a window into the future of gaming, and maybe, despite some occasionally clunky graphics (which are beginning to look rather wonderful, by the way Art Team!) and code bugs that drive Rolf up the wall, Wurm Online may be proving to be rather ahead of its time!

(11 votes, average: 3.91 out of 5)

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