It seems Amazon’s MMO New World just can’t seem to catch a break these days. Amidst a tidal wave of problems and frustrations expressed by the players, Amazon Game Studio has been scrambling to ensure that their game is in working condition. The latest piece of news is just another annoyance to add to the complaint pile, as New World’s December update and the Christmas event have both been delayed.
The update would bring a complete overhaul to many of the most criticized systems in New World. Crafting, PvP, loot tables, and many more were supposed to be reworked, along with the addition of a new endgame resource for crafting known as Gypsum.
While many players are going to feel the frustration of not having the update, others are going to be saddened by the delay of the Winter Convergence, a holiday event that was bringing ice caves and winter villages to Aeternum. Players at levels 25-60 would receive new quests that reward you with limited-time items. It was also to be New World’s first major event.
The announcement of the delay was made on Twitter and a brief post on the New World forums. A community manager said,
We will not be releasing this update today, but stay tuned for the December Monthly Update announcement!
Community Manager
Not the best way to announce a delay for a significant addition to a game already riddled with bugs and problems. Many players criticized the bluntness and brevity of the announcement, with streamer Shroud describing it sarcastically as “Good Comms!!”. However, other players are saying the delay might be a blessing in disguise, taking into account New World’s history of bugs and poorly-received updates.
New World’s launch was great for the game, but once players started experiencing the lack of refinement and focus, animosity against the developers began to grow with each update. Particularly, the update released at the start of this month that nerfed and resource gathering. This would mean new players will have a much harder time leveling up than those who started playing earlier.
The delayed December update was also not a big hit amongst the fans due to how it would affect the High Watermark System and Gear Scores. The decision to have it changed out for the Expertise system, thereby reducing the effectiveness of a lot of previously acquired gear, was met with a lot of pushback. The changes would make buying armor from other players a futile endeavor.
New World has been bleeding players, with more than half the initial player base bailing at launch. Server mergers have begun, which might help reduce the less populated servers from feeling like ghost towns. But will that be enough to bring back players who have turned away from the game? Delays like this don’t help that objective at all.
About New World
New World is an upcoming massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) by Amazon Games set to be released on August 31, 2021. The game was previously scheduled to release in May 2020 but was delayed to its current date.
Set in the mid-1600s, players colonize a fictional land known as Aeternum Island, modeled after North and South Americas in the Atlantic Ocean. The game will be using a buy-to-play business model, meaning there will be no monthly subscription fee.
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