The well-known WoW streamer Asmongold has delved deeply into the MMO New World. After over 500 hours of gameplay, he has now released a conclusion video. In it, he criticizes the game mainly for the endgame, but praises the beautiful game world.
What does Asmongold say about New World? In the nearly 47-minute-long video, Asmongold explains the positive and negative aspects of the game. He concludes that New World has a solid foundation but is currently in a poor state.
He has a lot of criticism especially for two things:
- The endgame loop and the watermark system
- Lack of content in the form of new areas, weapons, and crafting materials
However, he also emphasizes that he wouldn’t play a game for 500 hours that he hates. So, there are also many positive aspects that have kept him engaged for so long, including the open world, which especially invites exploration.
We at MeinMMO explain below what Asmongold really thinks about New World.
“The endgame loop is one of the worst ever made for an MMO”
How does he see the endgame? Right in the first minutes of the video, Asmongold shows some endgame content from New World. He stands with other players behind a tree and waits for a mob to respawn. The mob respawns faster when there are no players around.
When the mob finally appeared, they all rushed in and attacked it. However, Asmongold received no loot because too many other players had beaten the enemy. Afterwards, it was another 2-minute wait until the mob respawned.
This system he criticizes harshly. He says:
The endgame loop is the worst of all games I have ever played. It is one of the worst progression systems ever conceived for an MMO.
What bothers him about it? Asmongold and the players in the video farm the one elite mob to improve their gear. New World relies on a special loot system that players refer to as the “watermark system”:
- The game remembers which maximum gear score has already dropped for you.
- The longer you go without getting gear with a higher score than this, your chance to receive such a drop increases.
- Once you get a higher gear score, this luck resets. There is also a separate value that must be grinded for each piece of armor and each weapon.
- However, once you reach a high watermark, strong and even legendary items drop much more often.
- How all this works is explained here: How does loot actually work in New World?
This system leads to players grinding mindlessly for hours, consistently defeating the same mobs or doing the same things. A similar situation applies to so-called chest runs, where larger groups of players run through elite areas just to open chests. Because the watermarks can also be increased through the chests.
What else does Asmongold criticize? While he presents the chest runs in more detail, the streamer also criticizes the AI, which is said to be very dumb in the game. He describes the end boss fight in the garden of Genesis dungeon, the hardest dungeon in the game.
This boss can summon huge boulders that fall to the ground and deal damage. However, the boss can place such a boulder itself, inflicting damage on itself and even kill himself.
He describes the bisons as the smartest AI, as they constantly and very quickly run away from players.
In the dungeons, especially concerning the bosses, he is bothered that they have too many health points but don’t pose enough of a threat. So, you fight for a long time without needing much “skill”.
You can watch the complete video by Asmongold here:
“No one plays a game they hate for 500 hours.”
What does Asmongold praise about New World? The Twitch streamer is particularly enthusiastic about the game world and the aspect of exploration:
The exploration of the world and generally the open world of New World is the best part of the game. The first 30 levels of New World are probably the most fun you can have.
Asmongold emphasizes the fact that the landscapes are very realistic and that you can explore everything visible.
There are only a few games that can create panoramas and landscapes like those in New World. These are not 2D images like in Torghast, but real places. You can reach the top of this massive tower.
A lot of praise is given especially for the area of Ebonscale Reach. It has an Asian look and thus differs more from the other zones in the game. This also gives Asmongold hope that Amazon can rekindle the urge to discover and explore with new areas in the future.
Lack of content and missing roadmap are a problem
How does Asmongold end his video? In the end, the streamer criticizes the lack of content in New World:
There is not enough content. Period. There are too few differences in the mobs, too few weapons, too few achievements, and so on. The game is good, but players just want more of it.
He sees New World more as a casual game for the casual gamer, the dad who can only play a few hours a week when his wife and child are out of the house or in bed.
But hardcore players would experience the content too quickly and then get frustrated because the content simply does not retain players long-term. He says: The more seriously players take New World, the less fun they will have.
In conclusion, he also demands a roadmap so that players finally know what the near future of New World looks like and how it should continue with the MMO in general. In his opinion, this is one of the most important things Amazon should address now.
The demand for a roadmap has also been made by us at MeinMMO:
