New World is one of the most successful MMORPGs on Steam. However, it was originally not intended to be an MMO, but a survival game. In a video, the developers discuss this transition, which surely wasn’t an easy one.
What kind of video is this? For some time now, the developers of New World, namely Amazon Games, have been running a video series on YouTube. It is called “Forged in Aeternum” and examines individual aspects of the development of the MMORPG in approximately 10-minute clips.
In the 38th episode of Forged in Aeternum, the focus is on the change that has occurred in the development and since the release in the story. It becomes clear again that New World was not originally intended to be an MMO. The developers also admit that this was still noticeable at release.
The story wasn’t always this good: Currently, New World is working hard to solidify the story in Aeternum and tell it in a more engaging way. A major step was having the main villain Isabella talk to players in their heads.
What sounds simple is celebrated by the developers as a significant step. This fact allows them to tell a story as easily as possible for the player. One doesn’t need to stand still, read anything, or talk to an NPC; the story is just conveyed.
But the road there has been rocky. Lead Seasons Designer Patrick Smedley reports that when he joined the project, New World was still more of a survival game than anything else. The path to the MMORPG had just begun. “We didn’t even have quests,” let alone people to do them: “So we started building a quest team and moving more in the narrative direction.”
“We had about 6 NPCs in every city”
What was New World like before and at release? Together with Rob Chestney, the Narrative Director of New World, Patrick Smedley reflects on the beginnings of quests and tasks in New World. They report that the start wasn’t necessarily the best.
The funny thing is, when the game came out, we really only had about 6 NPCs in each city. They had voice-overs, but only very simple stories. No interesting backstories or anything like that.
At that time, the quests simply sent you off to some random location on the map. Just to run there and then come back. There was a lot of feedback at launch, and players didn’t like the ‘Running Simulator’ that our quests had become.
He further explains, that they took this feedback seriously and worked hard on it. Nowadays, quest givers walk with you, and you have to run around much less to complete tasks.
You can watch the entire video here:
What comes next? Johannes Rasinkangas, story-telling producer at New World, also joins the conversation. He talks about how much work the team puts into telling a well-crafted story and will continue to do so: “At launch, we had about 100 voiced NPCs, today we have over 500.”
Additionally, the team plans to expand the pool of voice actors. They have moved the recordings to England instead of America. This should bring the advantage of being able to access voice actors from Germany, France, Poland, and more, easier and quicker.
This diversity should help the team represent different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds in the game better than it does today.
What do you think about it? Have you noticed that there are now significantly more voiced NPCs? How satisfied are you with the story of New World? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments here at MeinMMO.
New World is also one of the best new MMORPGs on Steam in the last 5 years according to MeinMMO author Mark Sellner.
