I want to start off by saying that anyone reading this post, quite clearly enjoys playing New World and wants the game to succeed but will agree we are in desperate need of changes being made to existing content, as well as new content being implemented. I am going to just gloss past “bugs” because the purpose of this month is to have them fixed and we are all more than aware of the effect they are having on gameplay.
None of the core gameplay issues can be cured by a server merge, all this does is create a nice recruitment pool for the resilient and optimistic people who believe in the potential of the game. Ultimately a decent majority of those players will become fed up and another batch of server merges will occur, grouping the next wave of resilient survivors together.
Again, before I dive in, it’s important to understand that this game is fantastic and for me, it doesn’t need 17 more dungeons, a new area of the map unlocked, or a new weapon. The issue is the content cycle.
Player-Vs-Player interactions form a large portion of the content in New world and right now the PvP content cycle is a dead one. More importantly, as an MMO its PvP content is not remotely inclusive.
Let’s paint a picture, you and a few friends have actively been playing the game together for a while, your level 60, you feel like you have a nice standard of gear, and you are ready to move from the casual lifestyle into the PvP environment.
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Is there somewhere you can go to test your PvP Skills & Builds out in a 1v1 scenario? No, so you practice with friends maybe, in an extremely casual manner. -
What about 2v2, 3v3, 5v5, etc? No, so again you play amongst friends in an extremely casual manner. -
You haven’t ever attended a war, is there someone you can join a group to compete in a non-territory based almost “Practice War” and prove yourself? No. -
My faction has 4 wars today, have my chances of being selected for war increased? No, in fact, if the wars are at different times, the faction can send the same 50 to every single war and are under 0 pressure to include anyone or offer opportunity to that outside of the faction-war-roster. -
My Company is attacking or defending a territory, does that increase my chances of going to war? Kind of, the declaring or defending company is under no pressure to supply a single person, let alone a majority so they can simply select the best players the faction offers, and their individual strength is almost irrelevant. -
I’m thinking of starting my own company. Is there any way for me to war other groups that sit around the same level as myself and work my way up the ladder until I am competing with the best? No.
What are my options for guaranteed PvP now I’m ready to rock ‘n’ roll?
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Queue Out Post Rosh – In groups of 1-5 that fill rosters of 20v0 with 0 team balancing and typically unbalanced games at no fault of anyone participating. You could have 5 Healers; you could have 1. The other team could have 10, who knows? -
Set out into the world flagged for PvP taking the biggest group of people you can find in a meta that revolves entirely around outnumbering your opponent or ambushing a fire staff fleeing harvester collecting hemp. Roam the map hunting for kills or camping chests.
So, as negative as this all sounds, what are the simple fixes that can be implemented to make the game more balanced, more inclusive, and offer repeatable content?
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Firstly, a system to queue arena-based duels. This is “New Content” but would create a huge landscape for people to have different builds for 1v1 and XvX environments. This would give people the chance to build compositions with friends and open the opportunity for rank systems, leaderboards, new gear, PvP Shops, etc. -
Raid Groups for OPR – Pretty simple, be able to do 20v20 rosters that fight against each other, companies could schedule fights even “inter-faction”. Or simply be able to queue in a separate “Raid Queue” where parties can be any size from 1-20. -
Enable the territory wars to be practiced, i.e. You can schedule an “Everfall” war against another company with no territory to gain and can pick who defends/attacks. You could do this as frequently as you want, enabling everyone access to the content. Companies could also do B03s etc. changing the whole landscape, which means everyone can find a place in the content. -
You could even have weekly/monthly leagues where people can war each other and compete to be the best company over a specific period, do roster locks, etc. You could do a champion’s league level format where you have groups of 4 that fight over two weeks, and the top 2 teams go to a knockout system that gets played over the following two weeks until we have a “Server Champion”. You could then eventually, have the winners of each server, compete against each other. Would change the competitive environment and not make everything about being a part of the war-roster that competes for territory and could offer a “Season format”. This would also encourage people to create companies which ultimately solidifies the player-base because people play for the friendships they make. On top of that, it would give everyone in a particular company the chance to experience the content.
The last thing to offer inclusivity is to make multiple territory wars test the depth of a faction, regardless of the siege window times. Siege windows should be there to aid the defending company in having the wartime on their terms. Not used in a way where the same guys can defend/attack all territory. Anyone player should be able to compete in 1 War per day for either attacking or defending so a max of two per day in total.
This means if multiple territories are under pressure, it tests the depth of the warring factions and their entire army not just the “best” and gives people who may not be a part of the “A” team the opportunity to war and show what they can do, it gives people the opportunity to lead and experience the content at all levels.
This also means territory will flip more often, which offers more diversity and opportunity for everyone across the server.
And I think those overall changes and long-term pieces of content offer ways for people to access and enjoy different levels of PvP content, they can have fun on their own, in small groups, in large groups or in war scenarios. It also stops people from being locked out from any content and forces companies and be it factions to be far more inclusive.
Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
TL:DR
- We need repeatable content like Arenas
- We need to be able to do 20v20 Raid Queues in OPR
- We need to be able to do “Practice Wars”.
- You shouldn’t be able to defend or attack multiple times a day.
- We need a road map for the evolution of PvP in New World.
