When I read about the new expertise system I decided to try to level my watermark last night. Despite have 600 hours in the game I rarely pve (I mostly PvP and craft), so I went on my server’s daily “world tour.” We hit up sirens, pools, mines, and myrkgard. And, let me tell you, it was probably the worst gaming experiences I’ve ever had. There were at least 100 of us from all different factions. Some of us were flagged for PvP; some weren’t, but it didn’t matter because we didn’t fight each other. We also did not fight any NPCs. We just ran past every monster looting chests. I felt like we were a school of fish or a colony of ants. It was truly a bizarre experience.
I really like new world, but I did not like what I did last night. I don’t think many people enjoy doing that activity. It’s not fun. It’s not even playing a game. It’s just a time consuming activity. It does not highlight the good parts of new world. It only highlights the worst parts. People will quit playing your game if they have to do this to progress their characters.
You need to allow people to PvE, PvP or Craft to increase their expertise level. These 3 pathways need to be equal in time commitment. You can have some gate keeping moments, like requiring people to collect something from Lazarus for example. But expecting people to Zerg outdoor pve for dozens of hours is a bad idea. It only highlights the worst part of your game.