One week after a launch that saw New World become the most played game on Steam, Amazon Games’ MMO has just received its first update. Unfortunately, that update has also resulted in extended server downtime.
As detailed in the official patch notes, this update largely focuses on bug fixes. There are a few smaller, quality-of-life changes as well. Changes to the game’s AFK detection system have been made, in order to ensure players can’t artificially stay AFK on high population servers with long queue times. Players will now automatically disconnect from the game after being AFK for 20 minutes (down from 25), and changes have been made so that the game can better detect those attempting to fool the game’s AFK detection with simulated mouse movement.
Long queue times plagued the game’s first few days, but have vastly improved following the rollout of new servers and increased server capacity. Players will now see a confirmation screen when attempting to back out of a queue, in order to ensure nobody accidentally leaves their spot in line. The only other major change is that turret projectiles in the game’s instanced War faction battles will no longer be physical projectiles, but will instead use hitscan detection in order to help boost in-game performance.
New World’s first patch also lays the groundwork for upcoming free server transfers, which were announced shortly after the game’s launch in the wake of massive queue times. More than a few players likely created characters on a different server than they intended to avoid the long lines, so Amazon will be giving players the option to pick a new home later this week.
Unfortunately, we are having some technical difficulties and need to extend the maintenance for two more hours.
We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and support!
— New World (@playnewworld) October 6, 2021
Downtime to apply the game’s first patch was expected to be four hours, but was extended two additional times. Servers are now back online following a seven-plus hour extended maintenance.
Source: Gamespot
