Greetings,
With the latest round of controversy and people clamouring about the economy, I thought it would be timely to share the secret to my continued enjoyment of New World: playing my character as if it was a Runescape Ironman.
For those who don’t know, Ironman rules essentially promote a solo, self-sufficient playstyle. Most commonly this rule boils down to ‘no assistance from other players’ - that means no trading, no auction house, and certain in-game activities that could be abused being blocked. This playstyle promotes being a bit of a jack-of-all-trades and exploring the full extent of content the game has to offer, instead of hyper-focusing on a specific farming technique or method to make as much money as possible. Locking yourself out of trading for items gives a real weight to item drops and makes farming feel more impactful.
From the moment I started playing New World I knew this is how I wanted to play my characters as much as possible - to be self-sufficient and take things at my own pace, earning every skill point and gold piece through in-game activities. And I’m really glad I’ve done so, because all of the various dupes and glitches involving the in-game economy have barely affected me at all! I can log on, play the way I want, and have fun in serene obliviousness to the chaos that circulates through the trading post. There is a really fun game here if you don’t force it through the classic MMO optimisation meatgrinder that saps the mystery and wonder out of these things.
To help share this experience, and promote a game where dupes don’t and can’t affect your character in the slightest, I would propose a set of in-game flags that can be toggled on and off for individual characters to turn Ironman mode from an optional, self-enforced playstyle, to something that the game actually supports. Ironman status should be optional - players should be able to ‘turn off’ Ironman through a set of prompts, perhaps through a specific difficult-to-reach NPC; or alternatively ‘lock’ their Ironman status so it cannot ever be changed.
The flags should be:
Ironman Restrictions
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All forms of wealth transfer disabled (player trading, trading post, treasury interaction - similar to current global restrictions, but applied permanently to accounts with the Ironman flag)
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No first-home buyer discount
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Receive no experience or loot from a monster damaged by another player (outside of Expeditions^)
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Receive no experience or loot from player killing
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Cannot receive rewards for participating in Outpost Rush
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Cannot receive gold from Corrupted Invasions, or equippable items from Corrupted Invasion chests^^
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Receive no bonuses for territory being controlled by their faction (including luck, gathering, tax bonuses, and free supply carts). Apiaries/wells are OK
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Receive no bonuses for territory being controlled by their company. Includes tax and property discounts.
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Receive no performance bonuses for participation in Wars or Invasions. Only the default, lowest bonus is awarded.
^This is to allow Ironman accounts to participate in Expeditions, but effectively locks them out of open world elite farms/zergs. Some other restrictions might be: Cannot join an Expedition opened by another player, unless that player is also an Ironman account (i.e. an Ironman account must make and use the key to get in. Non-Ironman accounts can then participate in the Expedition as normal)
^^This is to allow Ironman accounts to participate in Corrupted Invasions and receive other necessary invasion rewards - Azoth, standing, and Corrupted Slivers. If a chest would
contain nothing but an item, no chest drops.
Hardcore Ironman Restrictions
All of the above Ironman restrictions, PLUS Hardcore restrictions inspired by RS3:
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You begin the game with one ‘life’. Through the course of levelling you gain the ability to purchase up to two additional lives; one at level 30 for 25,000 coins, and one at level 60 for 250,000 coins.
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You can be defeated (knocked down), and revived by other players, without impacting your number of lives.
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Upon death^:
** You drop all currently equipped and carried items
** Your current ‘life counter’ is decremented by 1
** If you have no more lives, your Hardcore status is removed.
^ Note that not all ‘deaths’ would be treated equal. Deaths in Invasions, Wars, Outpost Rush, and (possibly) Expeditions/key gated content should not count as ‘real deaths’ and should not decrement your Life Counter. This is because death is a core part of these activities and should not be treated as ‘real’ deaths (equivalent in concept to ‘safe deaths’ in OSRS/RS3 minigames).
Ultimate Ironman Restrictions
*All of the above Ironman restrictions, PLUS:
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Your default Storage space in settlements is 0, and can only be extended via Furnishing Chests. Territory standing for storage increases does not apply.
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Dropped items are instantly deleted, and not discarded into a loot bag on the ground.
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You cannot move while overencumbered.
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Your PVP flag is permanently set to Enabled, and cannot be disabled. You remain safe in Settlements, but venturing into the open world risks PvP at any time.
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Upon death, you drop your entire inventory and equipped items.
Ultimate Hardcore Ironman Restrictions
- All of the above Hardcore Ironman and Ultimate Ironman restrictions
**
There’s no need for any particular rewards or cosmetics beyond maybe a title (‘Ironman’, ‘Hardcore Ironman’ etc.) - the experience of playing in this mode, setting goals and achieving them is reward enough.
What do you reckon? This is a first crack at what the ‘Iron’ restrictions might look like in New World after playing a few hundred hours - obviously we wouldn’t have to keep the same terminology, you could call it ‘Aeternumman’ or ‘Starmetalman’ just as easily - but the principal should be consistent to promote a self-sufficient and trading-divorced style of gameplay that some of us find very fun!
Are there any other fans of RS ironman content that would like to see something similar? Have I missed any obviously exploitable mechanics or ways to bypass the restrictions? Do you think I’m goddamn crazy?
Look forward to reading your thoughts!