Amazon's New World MMO

Definitions aside, I think for myself at least that I’ve reached a point where the core structures of traditional MMOs in the EQ/WoW mold have become less and less attractive given my gaming habits and interests. I no longer have the stamina, or attention span really, to lock into long sessions, especially sessions where I have to juggle game stuff with social stuff and do everything in sync with other folks. Not that those things are at all bad–I used to enjoy that stuff a ton, and I’m sure many people still do–it’s just that most of the time that style of play does not match up with my playing style/habits.

I like being in a game world where there are other people roaming about; I even in general like PvP environments. I never really loved group dungeons/raids as much as other folks, even back in the day, though, and I especially don’t like the sort of daily grind mechanic that became the norm after WoW’s success. The jury is out on this game (New World) as I haven’t done a dungeon yet, and I fully intend to try. Probably group with my wife and we’ll try and find someone else I guess (we’re on Cibola server, US East).

This is me.

Now that I’ve spent a substantial amount of time with it, I’m starting to see how the systems interlock, and I have no idea how this will function in the endgame.

It’s clear that the vision for the endgame is PvP and territory control. But there doesn’t seem to be a strong incentive for owning territory, nor is there a strong disincentive for not owning territory. Sure, the owning company gets to enjoy (I assume) a steady income of gold from taxes. But that brings me to my next point…

What value does gold really have, in the long term? You’ve got many ways to earn it - mobs drop it and missions award it - but not much to spend it on. In a world where everyone has the best gear, what do you use gold for? Housing taxes? Consumables? You can buy materials, but that leads me to my next point…

There’s almost no opportunity cost to leveling every gathering profession at once. You get XP for harvesting anything, so you’re incentivized to gather everything in your path. Not everyone is interested in crafting, though, so the market is almost always going to be flooded with nearly every raw material. I guess this could eventually level out as supply and demand for each material reach equilibrium, but right now, it’s disappointing to get a rare crafting material and discover that it only goes for a few gold.

I think they were trying to make EVE Online-style systems without realizing why those systems work and why that game’s economy isn’t fucked despite going on for twenty years.

Here’s what I would do, if I were put in charge.

First, get rid of factions, or at the very least stop tying companies to them. Most servers have a problem with one faction completely steamrolling the entire server. This is because there is basically no opportunity cost to growing that large or even maintaining your territory. Any faction member can join any allied company’s war, so as the owning company, you basically just set your war time, throw a roster together, and as long as your side has the gear or level advantage, you’re solid.

As far as PvP goes, companies should be the unit of control, not factions. That way, if you want to control territory, you can only field those conflicts with your own resources and players, which means the bigger you get, the harder it is to keep control because you can’t effectively defend on every front. It would be fairly easy to hold one territory, it would take work to control a few, and taking control of the map would be a herculean effort.

Second, I would remove the ability to repair gear and tools, or I would make repair its own profession (more on professions in a minute). Controversial? Sure, but you need a way to take crafted stuff out of the economy because you need the consumers of that stuff to keep consuming it. Introduce insurance for your stuff if you want. But endgame crafters need a reason to keep gathering endgame resources and making endgame gear.

Third, I would enforce specialization in the gathering and crafting professions. Either make it so you can only learn a few, or make it so the levels start coming in so slowly that you’re incentivized to focus on a handful. Because most recipes require diverse materials, you would force players to rely on others for something, creating a strong foundation for your economy. This would also make pure gatherers a worthwhile career path.

I like the game because the combat is an intricate balance of attacking, blocking, dodging, and ability use, and the crafting/grinding is great for turning off your brain and listening to a podcast. Also, I think this game has great fishing that’s not too boring and simplistic while also not being overcomplicated and trying to be realistic. But unless I’m misunderstanding how the systems work together, I think the endgame on most servers is going to be pretty stagnant.

I think that’s a really good point and idea.

A few other issues i’ve been thinking about…

Loot: I’ve mentioned before I think that the loot reminds me of diablo3 (early), particularly with bad/random affixes. Another thing i noticed yesterday is, almost all the loot of any given level has stat equivalency. Let say a level 30 chest - they’re almost all +13 stats, whether that’s +13 in one stat, or split into +8/+5, with the rare one being +14. Blue rarity? Doesn’t seem particularly better. Can’t speak for purple, cause i haven’t seen any. Now, there isn’t a problem with abundance of loot (if anything it’s too prevalent), it’s just all the damn same, and at this point, i’m salvaging almost all of it. It’s just not interesting, and there’s no sense of awe that you got from wow for instance when you found some stupid-awesome blue twink boe. Now that i think of it, that’s probably the pvp influence because if someone gets a stupid-awesome random drop, maybe that’ll impact pvp…

which is a nice segue to PVP. I’ve tried to get into two wars so far. Didn’t get into either. Lots of people signed up, but with only 50 (or is it 40?) chosen, all those slots went to higher levels and company-related people. I’m in a small 4-man company of friends - we’re probably never going to get picked for a war unless they’re short of people. I’m not sure there’s a solution to that, unless you take the act of picking people away from people.

I don’t want to play that game, thanks.

I think one thing you are missing is that the crafting materials that are most in demand are the low tier ones, because they are used for everything. Heck, even stuff like sand flux is selling for more than 2 gold a piece.

There are MASSIVE benefits for holding territory. For the owning company to an extent, but more importantly, to the faction. Azoth costs to travel alone make a massive difference, not to mention the other bonuses.

The entire game is built around factions. There is a massive amount of political maneuvering because of this. This would be a completely different game and far less interesting game without the factions.

Housing including buying storage for all those crafting mats. funding wars.

If the “first wave” was UO/EQ/AC then only EQ was really built around forced grouping.

On our server levels are determining a lot of who gets picked but we do have a faction wide-discord but everyone uses so even small companies can get involved. Does your server have something similar?

I have run way too many dungeons, as we’ve been helping guild mates get through the instances, but I have gotten at least three awesome weapon drops from the instances – a great axe and a hatchet with a gem already inserted from Amrine and a big hammer from Starstone (I think that’s the name of the 2nd instance). Both dungeons have been reasonably interesting to run also.

True enough. I think EQ though had a very outsized influence in the field. UO’s approach was sort of unique, and AC, which I liked along with AC 2, also turned out to be sort of an evolutionary dead end.

Agreed. I got a sweet axe from Starstone. Elites in the open world can have special drops as well, like the earring I have waiting for me at 40, my first epic.

I do agree that most loot is junk.

I’ve done amrine, it was…dull. But you’re saying you’ve seen 3 BOP things in instances that have been good, and you’ve run ‘way too many dungeons’. That’s kinda what I’m talking about. You run one instance in wow, and you’ll probably see a bunch of BOP, and maybe even a BOE or two, and they’ll likely all be interesting.

But, if you think that seeing 3 awesome things after 60 hours is good, then more power to you. I just find that boring and disappointing.

I dunno, maybe i just need a break.

Getting cool things from dungeons is part of the experience. I haven’t run 60 hours of dungeons just like I haven’t run 60 hours of quests or 60 hours of gathering. It’s part of the whole experience, and I’m still having a good time. It’s ok with me if you don’t like it, and if you don’t then it seems like you should definitely move on.

Five of us in The Wanderers did Amrine yesterday afternoon. Two of us needed it for the main storyline. It was a smooth run that probably took a little over half an hour thanks to our experienced tank and great healing. It was a fun introductory expedition. I went down once but we never came close to a wipe. Still haven’t evaluated all the loot but I was there for the quest to keep the story going anyway. By the end I was encumbered due to forgetting to empty my bags before starting the run.

My wife and I got up to level 17 on Falias over the weekend. At first, I don’t think she was sold on the game, but she seems to be really enjoying it. She gets big into PvP if it is realm style like DAoC or ESO although not sure how much she will this time around. We will try to catch up with you all sometime soon and maybe join up if you all have room for a couple more.

There is plenty of room in The Wanderers.

What to do at level 60: What To Do At Level 60 - New World - YouTube

Good deal. Thanks! I will check with my wife and see what she wants to do.

That’s why you play with friends like us instead of random people :)

Hit 40 yesterday. Also got my third epic drop, a Warhammer, so I’m leveling hammer now. There are things I like about axe better (more reach, easier to hit more enemies) but the hammer skills are fun to use and there are lots of cc options

Oh god, i wish i hadnt bought a house. All that did was trigger some grinding that really impacted my level of enjoyment in the game. I bought a house because i’m now maxed out in storage in two zones, so i figure I can grab a house, put in 3 chests and at least solve one problem. Except the first chest is available at furnishing level 35. Almost all the beginning house items are exactly the same 30 timber (120 greenwood) and 15 iron ingot (60 iron ore). Salvaged, they return some timber, but no ingots. you get between 2.5-5 greenwood per axe swing (strangely, some of the bigger young wood trees give you the least efficiency, and the thin little saplings, some of the best). So that means, you’re cutting down about 8 trees to make a single cabinet, or a bed, or a table. Ugh.

The game strangely performs horribly for me in the house, particularly when im decorating, and its the only place I’ve had lockups and game unresponsiveness. Worst thing, I can’t even share my house. I thought i’d be able to invite my company or friends…nope. They can come visit, but they cant even use the chairs or anything. Well, only 10 more levels or so till i unlock the basic chest.