In September, a preview event took place in New World, where Amazon’s new MMO could be tested. The monotonous quests were particularly harshly criticized. In an interview with MeinMMO editor Leya Jankowski, David Verfaillie, Head of Player Experience, explained that significant work is being done on these.
About a month ago, New World could be played for the first time without an NDA. At the preview event, there was no confidentiality clause as there had been on other alpha events. Naturally, hot discussions about Amazon’s new MMO erupted online.
This prompted us at MeinMMO to send some questions to the developers about the event.
MeinMMO: What surprised you the most at the preview event?
David Verfaillie: We were surprised by many things. Among them were some exploits that we hadn’t discovered yet, like the delivery mission exploit. We were surprised by how the meta evolved with a high player count. For example, we didn’t think that large groups would team up to level quickly and farm the “High Level” events. We were pleasantly surprised by the number of people who played and how deeply they engaged with the game overall.
MeinMMO: What went well during the event and what didn’t go so well?
David Verfaillie: Overall, we were very happy with the stability and performance of the game. New World ran well for most players with good FPS performance. We had servers running in multiple regions and could handle the influx of players well in the first days.
What did not go well were issues with weapon balance that overshadowed some cool weapons. We also had activities, particularly the Corruption breaches, that had such good rewards that they were de facto the way to level in the mid and end game.
Easy AI was intentional, will become harder
MeinMMO: Your combat system is quite unique for an MMO, and I have heard a lot of praise for it from PvP players. I personally mostly played PvE during the event. When I fought against the AI, I quickly learned their movesets and knew exactly when to dodge, strike, or block. Have you received more feedback from players that the AI should be a bigger challenge?
David Verfaillie: The AI is intentionally kept simple in the early game. Many players coming to New World will encounter an action combat system for the first time. Therefore, we want to provide players with only a slight increase in difficulty at the beginning so they can learn the controls and tactics for the combat system. We want the challenge to increase more in the mid-game and again in the end-game.
During the preview, we were amazed at how quickly players became experts. There is definitely still more room for us to make the AI harder in terms of behavior and numbers.
Quests will be significantly revised before release
MeinMMO: During an interview with YouTuber and streamer Asmongold, Mike Willette [Lead Game Designer] talked about your plans regarding the quests. These currently consist of killing mobs and opening chests. In the interview, it was stated that you are working on quests with more variation and that you want to better integrate them into gameplay. Do you have examples of what that will look like?
David Verfaillie: The feedback regarding quest variety was very unanimous and clear – there are too many simple kill quests. We agree with the feedback and are now making significant efforts to improve them.
We don’t want to spoil all the surprises, but quest variety and the depth of interactions during quests are areas we are working hard on. This means quests will include more exploration, discoveries, interactions, and even some simple scripted events.
We also want to add more quests so that the main story continues beyond the Azoth Staff quests into the endgame.
MeinMMO: In the interview, Mike also mentioned that all weapons are to receive a rework. Which weapons are receiving your attention and why?
David Verfaillie: There were some major balance issues, such as the throwing axe stun-lock, the throwing axe healing, or the life staff with the light-speed ability and how they impacted PvP and travel.
But there were also smaller problems. The warhammer was rather weak for its sluggish speed. We will spend some more time on weapon balancing before launch. Each weapon should feel like it has its own role and usefulness that is not overshadowed by other weapons.
MeinMMO: One of my personal favorite details was the zombie-like corrupted who were still doing their farming work. I think that’s cool storytelling about the environment. I would have liked to see more of that. It would have been great if there had been more variety in the houses that conveyed a sense that individual people with their own stories live there. Can we expect more of such things?
David Verfaillie: Our “World Experience” team loves to tell the story of Aeternum through the visual components of the world. There are hints about the world and its history spread throughout the environment. Be sure to look thoroughly at the statues and ships. We want to expand this even further over time. We also have lore notes that tell the story of the regions and some details for those who love to immerse themselves in lore.
More incentives for wars are to come
MeinMMO: We totally understand why you keep emphasizing that wars are at the heart of the game. They feel unique and are a lot of fun. Many players we spoke to could attest to that. However, many also did not really know what they were fighting for. The same goes for open-world PvP. At the moment, both are just for fun. What do you think about this?
David Verfaillie: War is the only way for a company [guild] to gain control of a territory. They play a crucial role in the territory meta-game. Controlling a territory has many advantages, such as determining which direction a territory takes and control over taxes.
But I agree that players who are not in a controlling company do not have significant advantages. We are currently looking at how we can provide strong incentives for everyone in the faction. We hope these incentives will also provide players strong gameplay reasons to participate in wars.
MeinMMO: As a last question, something personal: Which faction did you choose and why?
David Verfaillie: I chose the Covenant. I enjoy role-playing as a righteous fanatic trying to free the land from evil. From a gameplay perspective, the Covenant also usually has the fewest members of the three factions. I like playing the “underdog” role. This means that there are usually many opponents when I activate my PvP flag, and it is a cool challenge to conquer and hold territories.
MeinMMO: Thank you for answering our questions.
Amazon has postponed the release of New World to spring 2021. This includes a timeframe from March 20 to June 21. The preview event made it clear that it can only be good if the launch of New World is delayed.
Before New World launches, there will be another closed alpha test in November with a small group. This will again be subject to a confidentiality clause. It may take some time before we can see and assess the adjustments.
Until then, feel free to check out our impression of the New World preview event. Here you can find out what weaknesses, strengths, and potential we see in Amazon’s new MMO.
