The developers of New World have announced several new features for their MMO in the last 7 days. They all sound good and are sometimes critically needed. MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch has already fallen for the hype, but fears that without a major highlight many outsiders will still see the game as dead.
What has been announced for the future of New World?
- There should be a patch every week with bug fixes and important adjustments. Once a month, a larger update is expected.
- For the upcoming updates, adjustments to the combat system are planned to make it better and smoother.
- For PvP, they are planning additional rewards in the form of luck and more stable servers in wars.
- In November, the first major patch is expected. It will bring a new weapon, new enemies, new quests, and adjustments to trading posts and expeditions.
These changes sound great for active players of the MMO. However, they are aimed at active players.
If New World wants to make a complete turnaround, they need to reach out to players who are no longer active. And I don’t see that in the announcements yet.
In other MMORPGs like SWTOR, Black Desert, and ESO, he has invested hundreds of hours. Guild Wars 2, however, is his absolute favorite game, where he has spent over 8,000 hours.
The patches are good, the communication is great, but will it bring players back?
What do I think about the updates? Please don’t get me wrong: The announced updates are really good and critically needed. I have no fundamental complaints about the content and was even really happy to read the information about the first major patch.
The combat system needs some adjustments because right now the weapon swap works only on average in 2 out of 3 cases. The fact that not every animation can be interrupted equally has bothered me since the release of the game. Any improvement to combat is therefore worth its weight in gold.
The PvP in the form of wars and the outpost rush is among the most interesting content in New World and urgently needs more stable servers. Nothing is more frustrating than being suddenly confronted with lags in intense fights. But that happens far too often.
The new weapon, the “Unheilsstulpen,” will bring positive momentum, at least in PvP, and for players who have already leveled many weapons.
Moreover, the new enemies are a step in the right direction.
The communication is top-notch! I also want to emphasize how well Amazon has communicated with players in the last two weeks. Planned changes are openly discussed, announcements come early, and hey, there’s even a test server now to check the new updates for bugs in advance.
The number of posts and the way players are currently being communicated with is something I have never experienced in this way in any other MMORPG.
Because developer communication is actually constantly criticized in my favorite MMORPGs – Guild Wars 2 and ESO. I’ve also read quite a bit of criticism in this regard concerning WoW.
So what’s my problem? I can’t create hype with bug fixes and things that should have already worked at release:
- In the last 4 weeks, New World has dominated the news with negative headlines about gold dupes, numerous bugs, and invulnerability glitches, which have ruined the fun for some players in the MMO.
- In contrast, we now have the message that errors and problems are being fixed – and we’re bringing a new monster type and a weapon.
Fixing is important, but it’s not new content.
Yet especially now, when there has been so much negative sentiment, a highlight is simply important as a counter. A novelty that says: “Here, it’s worth coming back or even starting with New World.”
PvP arenas, new difficulty levels, or a new area
What new content does New World urgently need? I think it’s important that New World implements a highlight in 2021 or at the latest by January 2022 that makes it clear to the players: “Here is new content that you can engage with for a long time.”
Possible content that I would see as such a highlight, has already been found through glitches or data mining:
- The new area Brimstone Sands. It’s a desert region for endgame players that contains new visual elements, new quests, and new materials.
- A PvP arena, which could bring ratings and tournaments into the game.
- “Dungeon Mutations,” a system allowing you to make dungeons harder through various obstacles.
These 3 contents sound like tasks for the endgame, which are worth overcoming the partly very monotonous levels 35 to 50.
Because I cannot attract a new player by suggesting that he can grind yet another twelfth weapon to level 20.
Is a highlight really that important? Yes, I keep noticing that with Guild Wars 2. Players who are not deeply engaged in the MMORPG are not excited by smaller patches or the same content. A big feature or a major update, on the other hand, draws much more attention.
New World still enjoys a certain hype, so many pages report on it and streamers showcase the MMO. However, when the hype is completely over, it will be difficult to attract players without a significant novelty.
That’s why I hope Amazon can pull a real highlight out of the hat. Because New World is currently my absolute favorite MMO, and despite the many problems, I enjoy every second in Aeternum.
Streamer shroud feels similarly to me:
Twitch streamer shroud sticks with New World despite criticism: “Something is just right about it”
