Originally, Amazon’s new MMORPG was supposed to be a sandbox survival game. That has now changed. In an interview, Game Director Scot Lane revealed to our editor Leya Jankowski why New World is now heading more towards being an open-world MMO.
Amazon announced the release of New World in May 2020 at the Game Awards 2019. On this occasion, we conducted an interview with Game Director Scot Lane at MeinMMO.
Scot explained that New World underwent significant changes last year.
Here is a quick overview of the biggest changes New World has undergone since 2018 before its release:
- forced PvP and survival elements have been removed
- PvP can now be turned on and off in the open world using a “drop-in” feature. Those who want can completely avoid PvP
- there are now NPCs that give you quests
- mass battles can be played either in PvP against others or cooperatively against AI opponents
- there are now 3 factions in the game that you can join
- Weapons now have skill trees reminiscent of RPGs. There will still be no character classes.
- Overall, the MMO is now a bit more accessible, with a faster and smoother combat system, and many PvE contents have been added.
A lot has happened in Amazon’s MMORPG between 2018 and 2019. During this time, it became surprisingly quiet around New World. Given the significant overhauls of the game, it is now clear why.
How these major changes came about was explained to us by Scot during the interview.
Forced PvP disturbed too many testers
PvP was a big topic around New World for a long time, and apparently, many did not like the planned implementation. Originally, it was supposed to be possible to attack other players anytime and anywhere in the world. Intense PvP was to be a strong focus of the game, aiming to attract hardcore MMO players.
Therefore, it was surprising that the developers decided to remove such an apparently important core element of the game. That is why it was one of the first topics we discussed with Game Director Scot Lane.
MeinMMO: “We learned from our prior conversation that you removed forced PvP from New World. Why did you decide to do that?“
Scot Lane: “In our early alpha tests, we learned that many MMO players wanted more content and also did not like the ‘open-world gank fest.’ As a result, they lost enjoyment in New World.
What we did was to incorporate more direct content. We added quests, objectives, missions, and community goals. We are now more of an open-world MMO, rather than a sandbox as it was before.
PvP is now a voluntary “opt-in” feature in the game.”
PvP comes with an on/off switch
Scot explained to us how PvP now works in New World. You can think of it like a switch that toggles between PvP and PvE.
You can activate or deactivate PvP in your settlement or house. When you have PvP activated, anyone can still attack you anywhere in the open world. If you have it deactivated, then New World becomes a pure PvE experience.
Additionally, the Game Director mentioned that there are now three factions in the game. You join one of them, which should then support PvP in a different way. With the factions, you conquer areas and also defend them.
Mass battles are now the centerpiece for PvP and PvE
The strong focus on PvP is gone. However, New World still wants to stand out as an MMO featuring massive battles among players. We inquired whether there is also a solution for PvE players here.
MeinMMO: “So far, it seemed like only players were battling each other in mass battles with the PvP focus. Is there now a war with AI possible in the new PvE direction?”
Scot Lane: “Yes, both are possible. If you are a fan of PvP, we have 50v50 battles where players attack a fortress to gain control over it. That is still there; you can still fight against others or choose not to, just like our PvP in the open world.
PvE wars have now been added. If you want to participate, you can do so; they happen very often. There is a board where you can sign up and join the battle. The larger your influence in the area, the greater your chance of being involved.
MeinMMO: So, is a PvE battle more of a live event? Does a notification pop up in the UI, and you can head to the battlefield?
Scot Lane: “It is even easier. Every territory has a war interface. It states that at 9 AM server time, or whatever time is chosen by the territory owner, a battle will take place. This war is then announced on a board in the city. Players can register and express their desire to join the battle.
This mechanic for organizing battles is really cool and I believe it will also be relevant and fun for streaming. I know this for sure; we’ve tried it out many times.”
Scot further elaborated that the three factions can declare each other as war targets in PvP. The goal is to conquer a fortress or area of the other faction.
PvE players can tackle the mass battles cooperatively and fight against hundreds of AI opponents. Because the AI can also attack areas and settlements that then must be defended.
The shift to open world seems clever
In our conversation with Scot, we learned that we no longer need to expect a theme park MMORPG from New World. The game has not gone through such a radical change.
There are no cinematics leading us through the story and no linear story quests. The game’s story is explained through book notes and items in the environment, typical “environmental storytelling.”
Nevertheless, you can now expect quest givers, and according to Scot, there will also still be some missions and dozens of interesting points of interest for PvE content. These will even be dynamically adjusted if the corrupted world of New World conspires against you. They should even be suitable for solo players.
The sandbox was largely reduced, but seems to still be found in housing. Scot explained in the interview that housing offers much room for PvE content. However, we will soon publish a dedicated article on housing in New World, as it is quite extensive.
PvE and PvP players can, more or less, exist peacefully side by side – this depends on whether they want to coexist peacefully.
New World could be one of the most exciting MMOs of the coming years.
- Because the mix focusing on open world, with light sandbox elements, PvE and PvP, combined with mass battles, seems clever and well thought out at first glance.
- The setting of dark medieval fantasy is appealing.
- The combat system promises to be action-packed and is expected to be streaming-friendly in the context of mass battles.
- The MMO could have one of the best housing systems in a long time.
- RPG elements are added through skill trees in weapons that can be combined with attributes.
This overall package would make New World an innovative MMO experience that would likely appeal to a broad segment of the MMO community.
More about New World: We have not processed all information from the interview in this article yet. More information will follow soon.
However, we have already created an overview with the most important information about the MMO:
