Despite numerous bumps in the road in regards to bugs, exploits, and other issues, New World continues to be one of the most played games on Steam following its initial launch. Now, in a lengthy hour and a half development update video, Amazon Game Studios is laying out their future plans for the game in a big way, discussing what new weapons will be coming in the weeks ahead, plans for new systems like Expedition Mutators, how the team is approaching fixing bugs, and much, much more.
The development update starts with studio head Rich Lawrence admitting that the team, in their efforts to fix as many issues as possible, ended up creating more issues in the long run.
“We’ve done 19 patches since release, which is kind of a blistering pace,” Lawrence says. “What we’ve been trying to do is balance new features as much as we can in with our fixes. And what we’ve discovered is we have a rate limit. We are going too fast, honestly.”
Going forward, Lawrence says the team is putting more focus on more robust testing to make sure patches are fully ready for release. That will translate into fewer features per patch, but features that instead will be more robust and with less bugs.
In regards to new content, players can look forward to Mutators, or weekly modifiers to enemies within the game’s Expeditions (New World’s version of dungeons). Certain enemies may start exploding, for example, or when killed will leave a damaging area-of-effect players will need to avoid. Other examples of Mutators may involve curses that limit or modify player skills and abilities, forcing players to adapt.
New World’s next weapon, the developers reveal, will be the blunderbuss. It will be the second firearm in New World, but it will function much differently from the more long range-focused musket. Dave Hall, New World’s player experience lead, says the Blunderbuss will be coming “pretty soon” and will be a more short to mid range weapon.
“When you think of the musket, it’s more of a strategic weapon,” Hall says. “Longer range, little bit lower rate of fire, all those types of things. When you get to the blunderbuss, you’re going to think more excitement, more explosions, a little more chaotic. There’s some navigational tools on it that are really exciting. A little more of a run and gun style.”
As for what other weapons will be coming next, it sounds like the greatsword is well along in development and will include a stance-switching feature. Players patiently waiting for the arrival of daggers, however, may have to wait a bit longer, with Hall describing the weapon as “near the front but not quite there yet” in regards to the different weapons the team could work on next.
The video also dives in on what players can expect when it comes to New World’s current main storyline. Narrative lead Rob Chestney says the team will finish the “first chapter” of the main story soon, and will continue to update the main story quest to include new features like destructible objects and more when it can. New quest lines associated with specific tradeskills will also be coming. Fast travel changes are coming too. Azoth costs associated with distance traveled are being reduced, more fast travel shrines are being added, and undiscovered shrines will soon be viewable on the map so players can seek them out more easily.
There are tons more details in the full video, so if you are a fan of New World and have an hour and a half to kill, it’s well worth watching the update in its entirety. New World recently received its first seasonal event, the Winter Convergence Festival, which brings daily tasks and limited time holiday-themed rewards.
Source: Gamespot
