Hello Developers,
I’ve got about 220 Hours into New World since launch and have been enjoying the game grinding solo to get to level 60. I spend a lot of time working on my crafting/gathering perks first and really enjoyed your system for crafting/gathering OTHER than the endless grind. I haven’t made it to max level yet and spent several hours grinding away already. With your latest patch, you’ve broken my spirt for crafting/gathering which is the feature carrying your game currently.
I just breached the surface of level 56 after grinding away at Town Boards and Faction Reps to get to level 60. I’m not the type of player to join several random groups to farm materials or work on Watermarking as I find that gameplay to be temporary until you guys figure out end-game. Lately I found myself doing groups of Corrupted Portals to get some Exp and level up a bit quicker, however this was before the update as after doing the update I couldn’t even get through a lvl 45 Portal with another player.
My concerns:
-Development doesn’t seem to have a plan moving forward.
-Crafting/ Gathering is done being developed and there are no new resources on the way.
-End game content is stale and/or boring.
-No PVE “Raids” coming down the future. (10 Man Instances?)
-Players already at the end of the content are being rewarded while those still grinding are being punished.
-PVP is unplayable unless you play Axe/Hatchet build.
-PVP is gated behind being level cap, and there is few opportunity to safely engage in PVP prior to max level.
Positives:
- Developers have been engaging in the community and listening to issues. ( Devs should engage on Reddit though )
- New content has been worked on. New mobs and weapons are amazing! We need them at end game though.
- The game is beautiful and very addictive, you have a great core to the game play just need to keep players hooked.
- Best crafting/gathering system I’ve seen in a game, but dulls out around lvl 150. Need more end-game variety.
Suggestions:
Crafting/Gathering:
The feeling of Crafting/Gathering in this game is amazing when starting out, you’ll be searching for nodes and find some you need to level up to gather which gives a sense of accomplishment. This feeling disappears after you do reach level 150-175 as each new unlockable is so far apart. I recommend adding in new materials to Gather with levels 5-10 levels apart. These materials should not require Iron/Fibers/Rawhide to refine down but compliment those by being a different crafting tree. The grind for low level materials is very monotonous.
Crafting itself should not be a grind as it is, yes it should take some work to level it up, but this should be reflected with the quality of crafts. You should get more EXP for higher level gear created, as it doesn’t make sense to get the same Exp from a Grey piece to a purple that you spend Azoth and Mods to get. In Final Fantasy 14 they even had sort of a Mini-game for crafting that was very enjoyable, potentially inspire yourselves with that type of gameplay.
PVE:
This game is very difficult to play alone. Not everyone that plays this game is the sociable type that wants to surround themselves with random players. I HAD friends that played the game with me, but have all subsequently stopped playing after running into several bugs that double taxed them wiping out their gold, or made it impossible to complete a quest since they were getting respawned on by mobs they killed before trying to search a chest. After this update, you have worsened the problem for solo players and even by the sounds of it players in groups. Why would players want to do content that is now more difficult by for less reward? This mindset is very alarming and it sounds as if none of the Development team even plays the game.
Diversity- I wanted to play as a Mage to do content in the game and found myself falling behind players that played with Great Axe or War Hammer. It doesn’t seem like the builds are very well balanced for PVE and it doesn’t make sense that it’s been this way since Beta and hasn’t been addressed.
Suggestion: PVP Stat - Most MMOs have a stat that affects damage dealt to other players. If you are having difficulty balancing PVE & PvP with each other, look into a perk or stat that goes with PVP gear. This will allow players who want to enjoy PVE content to be unaffected by PVP balancing issues. Mages should hurt in PVE content and it should be fun! Every Expedition has been a slug fest of Hammer and Axes and has very little diversity since the Bow, Staffs, Musket, Gauntlets and Rapier have less damage output than Axes and Hammers.
Suggestion: Training Dummies! We should be able to test our damage output on Target dummies so we know what we are capable of.
Suggestion: Raids! Large scale dungeons that are similar to Invasions but are able to be queued up for on OUR TIME. I cannot attend an invasion at 1am on a Tuesday?!
PVP:
As mentioned above in the PVE section, separate the PVP players with a stat that makes them hurt other players but doesn’t affect PVE content. This will follow up nicely with my Gathering Suggestion of new Farmable Materials that you can add to mix up variety.
How does PVP Stat work?
If having 300 Strength causes you do (let’s say) 300 damage hit to a player. Then having a PVP stat (let’s call is Azoth Charm [AC]) of 300 will cause you do do 900 damage to the player. This will give PVP players some gear to attain to beef up their PVP play and PVE players don’t have to worry about getting balance changes with the sake of PVP in mind. Right now you are balancing the game around PvP and its causing PvE to become unplayable unless you use certain weapons. Look at WoW Mastery System or pretty much any other MMO with PVP enabled. ( Hint: You can sell some gear on the CA$H shop with this stat since you’re producers want money )
Developer communication:
Right now, players feel like you are trying to sabotage the game for a cash grab. Promise big things to players to get them to buy the $60 game then dunk it into the ground so you don’t have to upkeep servers. Essentially a glorified mobile app trailer.
Players are at the end of the game already, you need to accept that and stop trying to prevent more players from getting to the end game content so quickly since they likely just want to join in on the fun AT END GAME. Right now, what fun is there to be had at the end of your game? What reasons should players keep logging in?
PVP? No cause you will get stomped by players who exploited and have been at level 60 for a month already.
PVE? Run Dynasty for 100 times? Invasions that you cannot win? Upgrade gear which has now been slowed down and made 30% more difficult?
Crafting/ Gathering? We can only find the most efficient way to farm Iron and get bored of it quickly.
TL;DR
Love the game, just feel like Developers don’t feel the same as the players and the latest patch punished players who are still working on the grind. Wish there is more content at the end of the game for PvE players and that PvP was more balanced between weapons. There should be a PvP stat to help separate balance of PvE & PvP.
Devs, you have something great here. The core of the game is very strong, but you’re unwillingness to add on more end-game content is only killing the player base. You’re currently punishing players that have been playing “straight” and rewarding the players that boosted with exploits or however they got to 60 so quickly.
Right now, I have no reason to log in since my progression to Max level is pointless if you’re going to keep moving the goal posts. I’ll be playing something else in the meantime.
