New World has been offering a Battle Pass for almost two weeks. This is controversial because the premium version contains some useful materials and items. MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch is very enthusiastic about the pass – which is less about the rewards and more about the tasks.
New World has been one of my absolute favorite MMORPGs since its release in September 2021. Especially the game world, the world-building, and the combat system have captivated me.
However, there were always phases where I took a longer break or didn’t look at certain updates.
But every single piece of content that I missed or ignored, I’m now catching up with the new Battle Pass that was released at the beginning of April. Because thanks to the activity board, I finally have reasons to explore places that lie away from the main activities in the game.
Varangian Knights, hidden paintings, and musical instruments
A new feature that I ignored at release and then almost forgot about was the Varangian Knights. They made their first appearance just a few months after release and were supposed to increase the variety of enemies. But apart from one quest, there was simply nothing related to these enemies. So I saw no reason to explore their new camps.
With the Battle Pass, that looks completely different now. I have already had to defeat named Varangian Knights multiple times, who are sometimes located in camps at hidden spots. Or I had to find and kill corresponding enemies at level 60.
Thus, I have discovered camps and places I had never been to before.
Another task in the Battle Pass requires me to find a hidden painting. “What the hell are hidden paintings?” was my first thought. But then my interest was piqued, and I immediately searched for all the paintings that were implemented in the game after release and created a guide out of it.
But it doesn’t stop there:
- I have started looking for good spots to gather T5 materials. They were often so cheap that I preferred to buy them for crafting rather than mining them myself. But now I have the specific task of mining them.
- I am doing much more PvP faction missions again and playing PvP matches more frequently because they give me progress for the Battle Pass.
- I’m running old dungeons that I have seen dozens of times.
- Even the musical instruments that I completely ignored due to my long vacation in summer, I had to use more. And now I even enjoy singing a song or two in Everfall.
In short: With the Battle Pass, I have as much fun with New World as I haven’t had since the release. I have rediscovered new content and am collecting rewards for things that didn’t feel rewarding before.
The new Battle Pass is by no means perfect, and I understand anyone who criticizes certain rewards. But for me, it is a complete success because it brings so much old content back to life and gives me a task again after I perfected my equipment as much as possible.
In fact, I even hope that there will be further incentives in the future to make old maps and content relevant again. Because especially with theme park games, gamers usually get through the content much faster than developers can produce new.
What is your experience with the New World Battle Pass? Are you also having fun or are you ignoring it?
By the way, two more major updates and the first expansion are planned for 2023 in the fall. You can find out more about this in this overview:
MMORPG New World brings new seasons, an expansion, and mounts in 2023 – Sounds absolutely great
