In September 2021, the new MMORPG New World was released. Over 900,000 players logged in simultaneously on the release weekend. However, the hype quickly faded. While the game receives regular updates, the initial excitement is still missing. What has changed and where does the game continue to have problems?
How did the release of New World go?
- New World caused a massive hype at launch. The initially 63 EU servers were hopelessly overcrowded. There were hours-long queues. Additionally, over 120 new servers were opened in the first week to provide more players with a place.
- At peak, the MMORPG had 913,634 concurrent players on the Sunday after release (via SteamDB). Many had high hopes for the game. However, the player count dropped rapidly. After just one month, the peak had halved.
Players criticized the uninspired quests and long leveling phases at release, the clunky combat system, and dozens of bugs that caused a lot of frustration. Hardcore players also complained within a few days about the lack of endgame content and long travel times.
Moreover, many players had entirely different expectations for New World. After the much-touted shift from PvP to PvE, many hoped for a theme park game. However, they were not impressed with the “survival aesthetic” and the lack of story.
Overall, New World seemed unfinished despite several delays. Many players felt that the MMORPG should have been given more time. However, almost 9 months have passed since the release, and there have been numerous updates. What is the current state of New World?
By the way, New World announced the big July patch on June 23: New World will receive its largest update to date in July – bringing new dungeons and musical instruments.
Major updates brought new dungeons, PvP arenas, and a clear equipment system
What is the biggest change to New World since the release? The biggest change was likely the equipment in endgame. Everything from gear score 500 was initially completely tied to crafting and random drops. The system behind the drops, the watermark system, was opaque. Somehow, a chance for loot was stacked in the background, and when a drop occurred, the chance was restacked. However, the game did not explain this.
Now, the system is very transparent:
- Each equipment slot has its own expertise level. By increasing expertise, you can receive better drops from enemies. Additionally, a high expertise level must be reached for endgame equipment to fully unleash its potential. Between gear score 500 and 600, the equipment scales to a mean value between gear score and expertise. This is meant to prevent the simple purchase of power.
- Expertise can be guaranteed increased through gypsum casts, dungeons, PvP battles, or crafting. Random drops still exist that can also increase expertise.
- Furthermore, the equipment has been expanded: Where it used to end at gear score 600, since the major January patch there is a gear score of 625.
What changed about the dungeons? Dungeon fans were also provided with new content. In January, the mutations reminiscent of Mythic+ in WoW were introduced. With this, players received 10 new difficulty levels for selected dungeons.
In March, the new dungeon Heart of Storms was released. Here, the main story is concluded, and there are challenging and varied boss fights. In July, the next dungeon Barnacles and Black Powder will also be released.
The dungeons also received some “quality of life” changes, including better rewards, many bug fixes, and easier ways to get the orbs needed to enter the dungeons. With the July patch, the orbs are supposed to be completely abolished. Furthermore, a dungeon finder will be introduced, which will facilitate group searches.
What is new in PvP? At release, PvP was in a difficult state:
- The wars could hardly be played due to bugs and lags
- The Outpost Rush as an alternative was disabled for many weeks due to bugs
- There were no incentives to engage in PvP in the open world
Meanwhile, the bugs have been fixed, and the wars function reasonably well. Additionally, rewards for PvP in the open world have been increased. In May, a new PvP currency was also introduced.
With Azoth Salt, you can earn various rewards whether you participate in wars, Outpost Rush, or fights in the open world. Primarily, however, it supports the 3v3 arenas, which were also introduced in May. With them, PvP can now be played in a controlled manner.
What else has changed? The list of patch notes is long, but we have summarized some highlights for you:
- There are two new weapons with the Maleficent Gauntlets and the Thunder Cannon
- You now run 10% faster on paths and the Azoth costs for fast travel have been significantly reduced
- Daily cooldowns now have a fixed time (always at 5:00 AM)
- You can now use your inventory while running
- The level time from levels 20 to 50 has been reduced
- There are now rewards when you level a profession beyond level 200
- Storage can now be accessed and used globally from anywhere
- Housing taxes have been reduced
- There have been adjustments to the combat system with shortened animations and better transitions
- Additionally, thousands of bug fixes have been implemented
In addition, many servers have been merged to maintain the population somewhat.
There are still too many bugs and issues
Is New World now a perfect MMORPG? No, not by a long shot. The developers have addressed many of the original criticisms, but New World still has many issues.
Especially the combat system suffers from delays in using abilities, animation issues, and bugs that occur with certain skills. Some of these bugs have existed for months.
The problems with the combat system adversely affect PvP. Many players avoid Outpost Rush or the arenas for this reason, as it is frustrating to lose a fight due to technical issues.
However, not everything is problem-free outside of the combat system:
- Some perks are bugged – especially in PvP
- Some enemies in dungeons can be exploited
- There is a bug regarding the stamina needed for dodging
- There are dozens of small bugs in the game, whether related to monsters, territories, or the UI in Outpost Rush
In February, the Valentine’s weapons had to be removed from the shop shortly after release due to bugs, which was emblematic of the problems.
Are bugs the only problem? No. Especially hardcore players are eagerly awaiting new content that does not involve PvP. After all, New World has marketed itself as a game for PvE fans.
The strength of New World for many lay in its atmospheric world and crafting system. However, both have not received significant updates, in part because “core features” like PvP arenas were only implemented later. The MMORPG would have benefited from such features being available at the release.
The numbers are declining and no trend reversal is in sight
So how does it stand with New World? In the last 24 hours, 17,900 players were online concurrently at peak (via SteamDB). That is sufficient on Steam for 4th place among the most played MMORPGs – behind Lost Ark, FFXIV, and ESO. However, ESO and FFXIV have many of their players outside of Valve’s platform.
Currently, however, nothing indicates a turnaround. Even a free weekend in April was a complete disappointment.
Although New World has fixed many launch errors, it still faces four major problems:
- There are still too many bugs, and new bugs appear with every update.
- The combat system remains suboptimal.
- The MMORPG has a bad reputation, and currently, nothing is happening to improve that reputation.
- A significant feature or unique selling point is missing to draw players and media attention back to New World. Everything New World has received so far are standard contents offered by other MMORPGs as well.
Is there anything positive? Yes, the communication and dedication of the developers are commendable. In recent months, more videos and blog posts have been released, providing insights into the ideas and future of the game.
There was also praise for the developers joining streams with Asmongold or other Twitch streamers to play the new dungeon. They also presented their gameplay on their own YouTube channel:
New World is not WoW, but it can be fun
Is it worth joining in June 2022? If you are looking for an MMORPG with an unusual and tactical action combat system and do not expect a classic theme park game like WoW, you should definitely check out New World.
Especially the atmosphere of the game world, the different ways to level up, and the dungeons are quite appealing. If you also do not mind grind and PvP in the endgame, you can find enjoyment here.
I myself have now spent over 600 hours in the game and have had many good experiences. I am particularly engaged by the game world, the constant carrot in front of me, and the fights, which differ significantly from the major MMORPGs like WoW or FFXIV.
However, New World still cannot compete with the strongest games in the genre – there are still too many bugs, too little content, and too few incentives to replay the old content. Whether there will ever be a turnaround is currently uncertain. Perhaps only an addon with a major marketing campaign could create a new hype.
What do you think of New World right now? What would the game need to get you to check it out again?
If you want to know where the best MMORPGs stand currently, take a look at our tier list:
Where do the 50 largest MMORPGs stand currently? The Tier List 2022
