The MMORPG New World has the chance to bring new life to the genre and reignite the old love for it. The factions could give you back the sense of belonging that is perhaps missing in modern MMORPGs.
For many people, it’s a nice feeling to belong to a group. And there is a sense of belonging in New World as well, because at the beginning of the game, you must join a faction. You have the choice between the Marauders, the Syndicate, and the Covenant.
These three factions are battling for control over Aeternum. This is directly and obviously shown in the game, as the map is divided into several regions that can be directly controlled and are colored according to the factions:
Control over the regions has positive effects on the players who are there and belong to the ruling faction. For one, it gives a kind of exalted feeling to be in “your” territory. “My” faction is the ruler here, make way for me!
Besides the “good feeling of belonging”, there are real bonuses in the game when you are in an area that has been conquered by your faction:
- More resources when gathering
- Discount on fast travel
- Access to the storage
- Higher chance of HQ items when crafting
It’s worth your while to be in the areas owned by your faction.
The factions communicate with each other via faction chat, and there was quite a bit of activity in that chat during the betas. The nice thing about it is that players shared information about what was happening in the game.
It often revolved around how the factions’ control over the regions shifted overnight and what could be done about it. Overall, players felt a sense of belonging to their faction.
Of course, it could also get a bit rough, but the chat was lively. If other players wanted to use the channel for a private conversation, they were politely but firmly asked to continue that elsewhere, following the motto: Please only write here if it concerns the faction, thank you.
In particular, the preservation of the “own” settlements was important to “our” faction, and I can imagine that the same was true for other factions. When a faction controls an area, then a company belonging to that faction can claim a settlement for itself. A settlement is an important meeting point for players because they can:
- Buy and furnish houses
- Craft items
- Access the trading post
- Accept quests and contracts
If you’ve ever traded in a settlement, you would have noticed that a small fee is deducted each time. Even if you own a house, you have to pay a small property tax once a week, which goes to the company currently controlling the settlement. And the topic of taxes was also not neglected in the faction chat.
Taxes can bond or weaken the faction
The amount of taxes and fees is set by the ruling companies. The governor of the settlement can use the revenue to finance the expansion of a settlement and, for example, improve crafting stations or unlock certain lifestyle upgrades for the residents. This has a positive impact on the player base – and indirectly on the faction as well.
However, excessive taxes can lead to people not wanting to stay in the settlement and new players not wanting to buy a house there. Because just like in real life, in New World: Almost nobody likes to pay taxes. And almost nobody likes high taxes. Here, a simple conflict of interest arose between the company and the player base.
During the beta, this led to some companies wanting to skim off a nice side income from taxes in a settlement, as Twitter user @official_Ragnar points out nicely:
At times, the ruling company was disliked by the players of their own faction. And players who dislike the rulers of a settlement will not rush to defend them and provide resources for expansion. For example, Fwankie writes about this experience on Twitter:
The poor Yellow (Covenant) had to live with 25% taxes. Even they hated their leader. Meanwhile, Purple (Syndicate) came together as a community. […] We were motivated and organized.
via Twitter
The factions in New World could foster a strong sense of belonging that extends beyond that of a single guild. And from this sense of belonging could arise the willingness to commit oneself to the entire faction, to collectively achieve their goals, and ultimately lead to a naturally growing community.
What are your experiences with the factions in New World and what was the atmosphere like in them? Is a sense of belonging important to you in an MMORPG, or do you prefer to play for yourself or in a small group? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
If you want more information about New World, then check out our article with everything about the new MMO New World from Amazon – release, beta, pre-order, gameplay.
