“Summary - The real grind in an MMO should be getting better at the game and showing the player base that you are good through titles, cool skins/capes, unique mounts, and pets. The gearing system in New World needs to change. It needs to be easier to get gear so that AGS can balance this game more often without making people rage quit. However, this change should be balanced so that high-level PVP does not die, and players have to play the game to at least obtain this gear. This can be done by gating it through PVP tracks, salt, and EXP, OPR crates, war crates, and invasion crates (BIS PVE gear) all bind of pick-up. You can add another layer by making Umbral Shards mandatory to make it legendary and keep it there. Umbral Shards can be a weekly cost to sustain the power of the item whatever. This will force war loggers to use their gold on umbral shards and give the PVE community a way to sell their shards more often. It might even force them out of the server, because maintaining 3-6 accounts is way to much.”
Overall, easier gear to obtain will allow high-level content more accessible while maintaining a healthy balance between PVP and PVE. By allowing players to obtain gear easier, they can focus on improving their skills and showing off their achievements through unique rewards. Lastly, it will allow AGS to make more combat changes to the meta and keep everything fresh."
Start of the Essay Below___
We can all agree that PvP balance is important, but it’s difficult to get it right. Sometimes, changing an item can inadvertently nerf it or buff it too much. Despite this, PvP changes should occur often to maintain player interest, and change is generally beneficial. Look at League of Legends – meta shifts happen frequently, yet people continue to play because the developers know how to make a game. Rust and Tarkov also use new metas to keep gameplay fresh, despite wiping periodically. However, New World has a major problem with change – gearing up takes too much time and money. When the announcement of weapon balances was made, many players who specialize in bruiser-type characters felt discouraged. Some even quit the game or changed their Discord name to signal their intention to quit. My guild even posted a Google Doc form to determine who was quitting the game, and we own a lot of land on a legacy server with a population of 900-1.2k players. The pursuit of Best in Slot (BIS) gear to become overpowered is an outdated concept that should be eliminated. Instead, unique items, transmog, pets/mounts, or housing items should be introduced. Hard PvE challenges that take months to complete (like the Infernal Cape on OSRS) could also be implemented. Although a BIS item can be added, it should look and feel cool, like something to show off. The PvP grind should be about skill and gameplay, rather than finding the BIS gear that will eventually become obsolete due to a sudden meta shift. PvE and PvP gear should be easier to obtain, and the introduction of raids could lead to the same pricing issues as PvP gear. Imagine if AGS nerfs the BIS PvE perks – players would have to regear, which is costly. New World should make gear easier to obtain, and let skill and knowledge be the deciding factors in raid completion or participation in a war. This would allow for more frequent meta shifts, and AGS could nerf an item without making players feel like they wasted their time and money on a BIS fire staff that is now no longer the best (200-500k down the drain). It’s unfortunate for people who crafted for the PTR instead of the live patch. LOL.
Topics that I will discuss -
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Gear costs too much money because crafting RNG is unpredictable, and Mut 10 hardly drops anything within the meta. It’s easier to get BIS by not playing the game! The real grind in an MMO should not be solely obtaining the almighty one-shot sword that is BIS in PVE and PVP. It should be any item or title that allows you to show off your accomplishment and sets you apart from others. Skill and game knowledge should be the deciding factor for being great at the game, rather than the need for expensive BIS gear that costs 100k-1m. Therefore, PVP BIS gear should be easier to obtain. Once real PVE content is introduced with real rewards, PVE gear will likely become like PVP gear. PVP rewards, such as owning land, are a status symbol, and players earn tax money and gold from it. This is why PVP items cost so much. PVP players also tend to go the RMTing route. This does make pvp items more expensive because there is now more gold that can be obtained easily. But, they do it because it fun to war and it’s a social status. (More details down below)
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My concern with easier gear in the game is that it will lead to an increase in war loggers and war slots, making it crucial for AGS to figure out a solution to prevent alt accounts from dominating wars. Alt accounts are not genuine players on the server, and they cause players to quit. If I am benched for the top 10 healers in New World and cannot compete anymore because I can’t gain more war experience, especially with the new meta, I am dead meat. One possible solution is to make PVP players so busy that they can only have alt accounts on two worlds. Alternatively, make PVP content so saturated that it does not matter because the average player who wants to do this can participate as often as someone with one or two alts.
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The goal of this post is to reduce the barrier to entry for high-level content in New World and allow skill and game knowledge to dominate the game. Having more people in the top PVP scene will make things exciting. It will also create more viable and competent players who can form their companies. For PVE, allowing players to gear up faster will enable them to participate in high-level PVE content and master the game. At a very high level, without worrying about getting nerfed in the middle of learning a hard raid.
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In summary, the real grind in an MMO should be to get better at the game and show the player base that you are skilled. The gearing system in New World needs to change to reflect this.
Gearing costs too much money, and grinding in New World is not the best way to make gold. I am not a war logger, and I know how to make gold. Here’s how I do it: I do daily activities such as running two dungeons, completing three faction missions for the dungeons (pre-queue for the missions until you land at least 2 out of 3), obtaining diamond gypsum, and playing two rounds of Outpost Rush. If 3v3 is available, I join that as well. This is also my daily shard run for gypsum casts. When I’m bored, I run normal Genesis for 10-20 minutes and sometimes get lucky with Timeless Shards, which provide a constant 200-500 gold per run. You can also “play” the market or farm materials, but the best money-maker is to join a company with land and get war-slotted. My company pays out between 25k and 100k per week, with the average being 60k. A war logger can make between 15k and 55k, depending on how many wars we have or invasions they want to AFK in. Some major companies pay out way more, with the average being 75k. Therefore, the best way to make money for only 30 minutes of playtime is to join a guild that owns lands and get slotted (good luck, though!). Some people have said that the real BIS money is from Mut 10s, but that is false. I can run 25 Mut 10s and get zero drops. The only dungeon worth doing is Tempest! I usually get 1-3 BIS items that sell for 50-200k. That is after 25 runs, with an average time of 37 minutes if you skip the KC and don’t wipe. Since no one in my company PvEs, my average time is 42 minutes per run times 25 runs a week. For someone who can only play 1-2 hours, that’s 1-2 dungeons a day without doing anything else in the game. Alternatively, you can go the RMT (Real Money Trading) route and get 500k in-game currency and get war-slotted. People who do that are really good at Tarkov, CS:GO, Valorant, or League of Legends. Lots of high-elo players are participating in wars and sticking around because it’s a status symbol. They enjoy being the best in the game and find real wars addictive and extremely enjoyable. Unfortunately, wealth in New World is a major issue, which is a topic for another discussion.
I agree that the true satisfaction in MMOs comes from achieving rare and unique items or titles that set you apart from other players. It gives players something to strive for and creates a sense of accomplishment when they finally obtain it. This is why games like OSRS have such a dedicated player base, as they offer a wide range of achievements for players to pursue.
Regarding PvP in New World, I understand the appeal of being part of an exclusive club and having a social circle that makes you feel superior to others. Our top PVP players are the ones that are VOD reviewing other less skilled players. The top PVP players also have a huge ego because their the best on the server and they get to interact with the player base. They are a “smurf” and games with an MMR system do not make you feel this way, because you are playing with people of the same skill level. I believe it is important for games to have a balance between hardcore and casual gameplay. We need a place for our new less skilled players to feel successful or atleast they need to feel that they have a chance. We also need a place for our great PVP players to be humbled from time to time. While some players may enjoy the challenge of dominating others in PvP, it can also be frustrating and discouraging for those who are not as skilled. It’s important for games to provide a variety of content that caters to different playstyles and skill levels.
I also agree that New World’s combat system is excellent and has a high skill ceiling. It’s one of the game’s strengths that sets it apart from other MMOs. As for end game content, I believe it’s essential for games to continually introduce new and challenging content to keep players engaged and interested in the game. This can include new dungeons, raids, and other types of content that offer unique rewards and achievements for players to pursue.
Let skill and game knowledge be the deciding factor for being great at the game. Don’t give anyone the impression that they need the best-in-slot gear that costs 100-1m. Therefore, make PvP best-in-slot gear easier to obtain. Soon, PvE gear will be like PvP gear once real PvE content is introduced with genuine rewards. Owning land in PvP is a status symbol that comes with rewards such as tax money and a lot of gold. This is why PvP items are so expensive. PvP players also participate in RMTing, which makes those items even more expensive because there is now more gold that can be obtained more easily. PvE content only consists of 25 mut runs and perhaps one best-in-slot item that is Bind on Pickup for a build that is not used. The only worthwhile activity is selling shards for 10-25k a run to PvP players and buying the item.
The New World MMO already involves a significant amount of grinding. For a new player, reaching level 60 (which takes 10-45 hours), expertise grind (500-600 grind), and the optional shard grind (600-625) takes approximately 100 hours. On top of that, if you want to get better at PvP, you need to invest in BiS gear and become skilled in 50 v 50 style gameplay. For instance, if you want BIS bruising gear, you’ll need to pay 300k-500k (post patch). Additionally, companies require vods of your gameplay to ensure you understand the mechanics, and you need war experience before they can fully trust you. You might be a high elo player, but gearing will cost you a ton of gold. It’s challenging for new players who have invested time and effort into the game to realize what it real takes to get BIS gear. Millions of gold…… At that point people turn to RMT……
One way to address this issue is to allow players to use Umbral shards to level up purple gear to 600 legendary. If getting gear were a matter of playing the game, and players could see BiS gear on the PvP track or get meta drops in war and OPR chests, it would allow players to play the game they have already invested time in. Mutations already drop good PvE gear, but not BiS gear. With the release of raids, players will need BiS items to complete raids efficiently, and the only way to obtain these items is to craft them. But what happens when you don’t have enough gold to buy the item, and you need to grind 200-500k? What happens when AGS nerfs your gear, is it another 200-500k??
If gear were easier to obtain, players could focus more on the mechanics of the game rather than on grinding for 6-12 months to get full BIS. This would give players more time to enjoy the game and not feel like they wasted their life every single time AGS makes a combat change……
PVP - A sudden meta change just happened. You need items, so you play OPR (Outpost Rush) to get those PvP items in chests or the PvP track. Now you need umbrals. To hopefully get legendary. Oh wait, the item is for sale on the Trade Post! It does not cost gold cap because other people are getting this item through playing the game. You decide it’s worth buying the item because it’s BiS and not worth too much. If some crazy guy buys it for max gold, then you decide, “ahh, I’m fine, it’s just a week of PvP content and RNG. Two-perkers are still good in PvP anyway. Maybe I can get it through the war crate?” That type of logic will not make people rage quit because they feel that they have an alternative and it’s not a mountain to climb. “You need gold cap or near gold cap to buy this item and you can only get it through me” That is bad game design.
Lastly, my biggest concern about easier gear in the game. It could lead to more war loggers and alt accounts dominating wars, which could cause players to quit. But, with enough time if the game stays this way, everyone will have enough time to create a maxed out alt account. AGS needs to find a solution to prevent alt accounts from taking over. Alt accounts are not real players on the server, and if a player cannot compete because they can’t get more war experience, they may quit. One possible solution is to make the PVP players so busy that they can only have alts on two worlds or none. Another option is to make PVP content so saturated that it doesn’t matter, as the average player who wants to participate can do so as often as someone with 1-2 alts. Scrimmage wars could be a solution, allowing any company to request a fight against another company. This will help 2nd company members show how good they really are and show the main company their weaker links.
Additionally, AGS could add a new game mode, such as a 50 v 50 fort defense, which would be a free-for-all. However, to make it useful, players should be allowed to bring their own 5-stacks or 25 stack. As AGS said that they are bringing 20 man raid parties why not 25 man war parties for this game mode. This way, half of the roster can be a real company wanting to carry the new game mode. People who complain that these people are killing the game mode of fort defense should just play OPR. OPR will turn to the casual game mode. The 50 v 50 game mode is all about group synergy and possibly trying to carry with your 5-25 man army. This will expose the player base to a fort fight. So, you have OPR (casual mode), you make a 50 v 50 fort defense where you can q solo and hope you don’t get farmed or you can practice with groups of your own ppl and farm the solo q ppl. Lastly, you will have scrims of real 50 v 50 wars within your own allies who want to train up their roster.
NOW ALTS - If it’s easier to gear a character more alts will be created on every server! I bet you might even have people war on the same server under a different name…… Alt accounts are killing the game, and a main company made up of alts has caused people to quit. It’s frustrating to go through a 30-minute VOD every war to improve and not have a chance to be in the main roster. More alts popping up in the Discord and taking war slots have caused players to quit. A solution to get rid of alts would be to overwhelm them in their home server. Forcing them to choose where to spend their time. We need the native people who play the server to be the majority of the war slots. If this does not happen pvp/servers will die.
Now having open world pvp- Open world PVP is boring after a while, and the high-level PVP community may not participate.The possible control point stuff for PVP is good because everyone wants more wars. Just make it easier to declare, and whenever there’s a double dec happening, the main company will defend it like it’s their life. They will send real main army people to defend the points and even get the faction involved. The main company will be in comms and micro comms defending the point, while random people may not have any clue what is going on because they are not in Discord. But, they will have fun and be the wild card.
Goal for this post - Lower the barrier to entry for high-level content in New World and let skill and game knowledge dominate this game. I promise you that if we have more people in the top PVP scene, then it will make things exciting. For PVE - allow players to gear up faster and easier so they can do high-level PVE content. Just make gear easier to obtain so people can stop blaming their gear and start blaming themselves!
Story - My most memorable moment was getting an Infernal Cape in OSRS. Sure, I had a T bow and the BIS gear, but even with BIS gear, it still took me a whole summer to learn the content. I learned that BIS gear is just training wheels and it covers your mistakes. I can now get an Infernal Cape with non-BIS gear because I learned the mechanics! Top PVE players in OSRS can do the same with a non-maxed out account. We have even seen fresh characters in OSRS get a Fire Cape because it’s all about tick management, positioning, and boss mechanics.
Summary - The real grind in an MMO should be getting better at the game and showing the player base that you are good through titles, cool skins/capes, unique mounts, and pets. The gearing system in New World needs to change. It needs to be easier to get gear so that AGS can balance this game more often without making people rage quit. However, this change should be balanced so that high-level PVP does not die, and players have to play the game to at least obtain this gear. This can be done by gating it through PVP tracks, salt, and EXP, OPR crates, war crates, and invasion crates (BIS PVE gear) all bind of pick-up. You can add another layer by making Umbral Shards mandatory to make it legendary and keep it there. Umbral Shards can be a weekly cost to sustain the power of the item whatever. This will force war loggers to use their gold on umbral shards and give the PVE community a way to sell their shards more often. It might even force them out of the server, because maintaining 3-6 accounts is way to much.
Overall, easier gear to obtain will allow high-level content more accessible while maintaining a healthy balance between PVP and PVE. By allowing players to obtain gear easier, they can focus on improving their skills and showing off their achievements through unique rewards. Lastly, it will allow AGS to make more combat changes to the meta and keep everything fresh.