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New World breathes new life into the game on its second anniversary. OnOctober 3rd, 2023, New World will launch its first expansion,Rise of the Angry Earth. It’s time to give this often thought “dead game” a second chance as it begins a complete resurrection. For many players who had a rough start at its launch, countless updates have been made to the game and the latest expansion will set the stage for an exciting future.
If there were an award to be given out for “Most Improved” for recent video games it would certainly go to New World. Live service games often get a bad rap for making big promises and never delivering. This is particularly a problem in MMO’s, as there’s always pressure to have a wide variety of game systems that appeal to a large audience with vastly differing opinions of the depth and complexity of each and every element.
New World’s Turning A New Leaf
The initial popularity of this game can’t be overstated, from a peak player count of over 900,000 players at launch, it was clear many players were eager for an epic adventure. Unfortunately, the leveling experience was tedious and the end-game content proved to be nothing more than an artificial grind. This led to a sharp decline in player count over the next few months, but there seems to be a small player base that has stuck with the game over the years and their dedication to providing feedback looks like it’s about to pay off.
First, let’s catch you up on some of the main changes that have happened over the past 2 years:
With these constant ongoing changes, it’s clear that the developers have listened to the community’s feedback over the last few years and have actually followed through on their promises to improve the game.
Hardcore Gamer’s Exclusive Interview
We were given the opportunity to chat with Creative Director, David Verfaillie, of Amazon Game Studios in an exclusive interview to talk about New World’s past, present, and future. While we can’t share with you everything that was said in our interview, we can share with you all the exciting upcoming changes that are going to be implemented in the expansion.
New Worlds Expertise System Being Removed
“Expertise artificially created grind where it didn’t need to be.”
The biggest upcoming change that many players are excited to see is theremoval of the Expertise System. The Expertise System was a max-level gear progression that many players extremely disliked. It was a mandatory but also an incredibly grindy system that many players were frustrated with. “At the start, the reason we did that was to give people a sense of progression in their gearing,” says David Verfaillie, “but I think it ended up creating a little more grind than it needed.”
With the removal of this system, players can look forward to a more natural gear progression experience that “ties the rewards more closely with the content, rather than an artificial progression curve, ie: harder content now has better rewards.”
There is also the addition of a new rarity of gear “Artifacts”, that are collected from a variety of different sources and have unique stats that provide more opportunities for a challenge and to change up the gameplay once acquired.
New World Level Cap Increase
“The Elysian Wilds is a completely transformed zone.”
At level 60 players can enter the new zone Elysian Wilds and level up to 65. It is a revamp of the initial starting zone, First Light. The decision to remove it was that “the data showed that First Light was the least used zone” and, in addition, has not been accessible for a long time, since the two new starting zones are a significantly improved experience. Many players with nostalgia may barely recognize a few areas of the old zone but will be impressed by the complete overhaul.
“The most exciting thing we’ve been waiting for.”
There are 3 mounts that are being added at this time that players can obtain. Not only do they provide a better experience for traveling across the beautiful landscape, but there’s also an introductory questline, skills to obtain and progress, challenges, and customizations. While fast travel is a nice convenience, it’s also fun to be on the ground exploring, adventuring, and feeling connected to the world. For some players, they’ve already seen everything and just want to get to their destination, and walking around is just too slow. Now there will be more opportunities to see the world and be actively engaged in it.
Is New World Worth Playing In 2023?
Without a doubt,yes. New World is in the best state it has ever been in. There are a ton of things to do, the sound design is top-notch, the environments are beautiful, the combat is fun and engaging, it’s less grindy, the end-game systems have depth, and the community is growing. We expect New World to continue to improve and expand, potentially even taking over the MMO scene. With all the improvements and new features implemented, along with new expansion and even more features and fixes coming soon, there is no better time than now to start a new adventure or continue where you left off.
