In a ninety-minute long video devblog late Friday evening, New World's developers sat down and discussed a multitude of topics, from the state of the game and where it's going, as well as addressing some future plans and updates coming to Aeternum.
It's a long video, but if youre at all interested in the future of New World, it's worth a watch. The video includes notable developers such as game director Scot Lane and experience lead Mike Willette, as well as a multitude of other devs who work on the MMO joining in on the round-table discussion.
One thing is clear from the video: the team is reiterating that they are hearing the feedback loud and clear and are working to incorporate what they've learned since launch into making New World the best MMO out there. One aspect is balancing the PvE and PvP so they compliment each other more and coexist more organically. However, one major concern from players is the introduction of new issues when old issues are being fixed, something Studio Head Rich Lawrence touches on right away.
Lawrence states that the "blistering pace" of the patches since launch has caused some issues with testing them fully, so as a result, Amazon is going to be taking a step back to ensure more testing time before shipping an update. Lane commented further stating that the driver of priority between features and bug fixes is what the impact it will have players.
The team also talks about future updates, such as adding new zones and celebrating new cultures in New World's Aeternum. Another big update coming is the inclusion of Mutators. Mutators augment Expeditions, adding more challenge and rewards to the end-game dungeons in New World.
"Mutators are augments to AI," experience lead Mike Willette explains in the video. "They're augments to AI and they're on a weekly schedule and cadence. And they go through different rotations and they are presented as challenges to the player. [T]hey're a great way to test out your gear power level and increase your power level."
These mutators act on a weekly basis presenting players with new challenges when approaching Expeditions. The mutators are presented to players before they jump into them so groups can better equip and prepare for the upcoming challenge. These mutators are a way to make Expeditions repeatable, as well as increase player power while providing a rotating challenge so it never (hopefully) gets stale.
The round-table also touches on two new weapons, such as the stance-switching Greatsword and the Blunderbuss. The team also touches on the idea of using a shield with more than just a sword, though that seems to be out of the cards in the short term.
There is a a lot to dissect from the video, but if you've at all bee interested in the direction the MMO is taking, as well as a deeper dive from the devs in a way that a written dev blog cannot replicate, it's worth a watch. Over the weekend as well the New World team was hard at work, getting server merges finished up. If you've got another hour as well you can check out the dev team do a run through Myrkgard, which we've embedded below.
