- Mar 13, 2012
- 754
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Evidently, I was wrong. I searched for New World and missed the old thread since it had already been sufficiently buried. I guess we don't want to talk about this game =(
existing topic: https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/new-world-amazons-mmo-releasing-8-25.2582604/
My take/guide for noobs:
I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised. This MMO is more along the lines of an open world sandbox like early Star Wars Galaxies, but with some story elements to it. The setting is a refreshing breath of fresh air, even though my character presently looks like a pilgrim off the mayflower. I'm still a bit new myself, but I've been doing a lot of research during my journey thus far. If you're considering this game, or are brand new to it, take a look at the points below:
This game had a bit of a troubled beginning due to lack of servers and the resultant queue times. They panic created some new servers, so there may be server mergers in the future. This seems to be standard operating procedure for new MMOs however. This could be worrying with regard to longevity due to the needed balance of three warring factions per server. Also, crafting requires low-tier resources even at the high end. Once the population matures, it could be annoying to not have lots of fresh players flooding the market with low tier resources. Crafting is a major part of this game, so without a steady influx of resources it could get really "grindy" at the high end.
The other issue comes from the "lack of content" crowd who no-lifed the game to max level, probably with knowledge they picked up in beta. Keep in mind there are quite a few weapons to specialize in, and tons and tons of things to craft. I think those game play loops will be valid for many hours of play time, even if you're already max level. If you rush 60 focusing one or two weapons while ignoring crafting, you're really missing out on what this game can offer.
Another criticism I see is the lack of lore/story. Keep in mind that a game like this isn't a theme park. You're not here to see famous cities/characters/magical items like in a game such as WoW. Much like the colonial art style suggests, you are a settler in a mysterious land. There's a small opening video that ties into your introductory quests in order to set the stage. There's little notes lying around that give more back story that you can collect -- you even get some XP for doing so. You have to *gasp* read these things if you want more flavor from the lore. A decent amount of quest NPCs are fully voiced, and the voice acting seems pretty good.
I've enjoyed the music so far, but I usually listen to other things or Discord while I play.
There are dungeons, but I don't have much experience with it. First one is at level 25 as I understand it, and I haven't gotten there yet.
I can't really comment on the PvP, as I'm staying away from it until I get to be a much higher level. There is some kind of balancing between low and high levels, but you'd still be at a disadvantage by having fewer skill points.
I hope this has been informative! If you wanna play come visit on Nepethene and join Covenant when you ding level 10! My toon's name is a Ajaxsom.
existing topic: https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/new-world-amazons-mmo-releasing-8-25.2582604/
My take/guide for noobs:
I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised. This MMO is more along the lines of an open world sandbox like early Star Wars Galaxies, but with some story elements to it. The setting is a refreshing breath of fresh air, even though my character presently looks like a pilgrim off the mayflower. I'm still a bit new myself, but I've been doing a lot of research during my journey thus far. If you're considering this game, or are brand new to it, take a look at the points below:
- There aren't discreet classes such as they are in traditional MMOs like WoW. That being said your "class" is a combination of what weapon you're using, your chosen skills, your stats, and how you've configured your gear. You can switch between two weapons at a time, but there's no limit to the amount of weapon skills you can develop. You can have every weapon though, and even carry them with you. But you only can hot swap in combat between 2 at a time.
- This is much more an action RPG than other MMOs like WoW. Your aim matters for ranged attacks, and your timing matters for blocks and dodges. I imagine this becomes all the more crucial for PvP. I think it's fun, but you'll want to play with a solid connection to have the best results.
- Each weapon has two skill trees, which are diablo 2-esque. You wont be able to max everything as the max weapon skill doesn't grant enough points to flesh out both trees.
- You can gather anything that you have the skill to gather.
- You can craft anything that you have the skill and resources to make.
- Gear can drop from enemies, can be purchased from your PvP faction with enough rep currency, or can be crafted.
- You choose your stat allocations on level up.
- You can have any kind of stats on any kind of armor. Heavier armor carries penalties in exchange for you protection. So you can be a glass cannon or a tanky healer -- it's up to you and how you build your gear.
- Gems can allow you to use part of another stat to augment you attack output. For example, Lifestaff (healing magic) uses a stat called focus. Focus is only relevant to lifestaff, so if you also want to use sword and board, you should gem your sword to allow for the focus based nature damage. This way you can pump your focus stat so you heal alright, while not entirely gimping yourself when you fight with sword and board. S&B runs off of strength, so if you don't do this gem thing, you'll be hitting for a lot less.
- At level 10 you choose your PvP faction. There are 3 choices. Covenant is yellow, Syndicate is purple, and the Marauders are green. I think you can only switch factions once every 120 days or something, and you'll probably lose all the progress you made with your present faction. You want to think about this decision as a permanent one, so make sure all you and all your buddies pick the same team. You can PvE with members of the other factions, but you can't PvP with them.
- You fight to claim territory, so there's incentives to win the war scenarios. It's up to you to flag if you want to PvP. I'm not sure if it's ever foisted on you outside of war scenarios and if you want to do the PvP faction quests.
- You can buy a house and furnish it in this game. The big advantages here are the storage and fast travel abilities it gives you. Your first house is half off, so it's generally recommended to buy the biggest one as your first one. You can own more than one house, but buying subsequent houses probably helps mostly in terms of fast travel. So have your main home be the big one with all your storage and trophies, and then get a smaller house far far away so you can fast travel to it when needed.
- There are no mounts presently, so fast traveling is essential. Fast traveling costs a resource called Azoth, so use it sparingly. There are other uses for Azoth as well. You can recall to the inn your bound to for free once every hour I believe.
This game had a bit of a troubled beginning due to lack of servers and the resultant queue times. They panic created some new servers, so there may be server mergers in the future. This seems to be standard operating procedure for new MMOs however. This could be worrying with regard to longevity due to the needed balance of three warring factions per server. Also, crafting requires low-tier resources even at the high end. Once the population matures, it could be annoying to not have lots of fresh players flooding the market with low tier resources. Crafting is a major part of this game, so without a steady influx of resources it could get really "grindy" at the high end.
The other issue comes from the "lack of content" crowd who no-lifed the game to max level, probably with knowledge they picked up in beta. Keep in mind there are quite a few weapons to specialize in, and tons and tons of things to craft. I think those game play loops will be valid for many hours of play time, even if you're already max level. If you rush 60 focusing one or two weapons while ignoring crafting, you're really missing out on what this game can offer.
Another criticism I see is the lack of lore/story. Keep in mind that a game like this isn't a theme park. You're not here to see famous cities/characters/magical items like in a game such as WoW. Much like the colonial art style suggests, you are a settler in a mysterious land. There's a small opening video that ties into your introductory quests in order to set the stage. There's little notes lying around that give more back story that you can collect -- you even get some XP for doing so. You have to *gasp* read these things if you want more flavor from the lore. A decent amount of quest NPCs are fully voiced, and the voice acting seems pretty good.
I've enjoyed the music so far, but I usually listen to other things or Discord while I play.
There are dungeons, but I don't have much experience with it. First one is at level 25 as I understand it, and I haven't gotten there yet.
I can't really comment on the PvP, as I'm staying away from it until I get to be a much higher level. There is some kind of balancing between low and high levels, but you'd still be at a disadvantage by having fewer skill points.
I hope this has been informative! If you wanna play come visit on Nepethene and join Covenant when you ding level 10! My toon's name is a Ajaxsom.
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