Cover image features the popular new Dark Mage transmog artwork by Thomas Cebula who has created concept art for some of our favourite characters and mounts.
The Metamorphosis
Earlier in March, we saw a massive AMA from former Lead World Designer David McKenzie, sharing his insights about working on New World. Then, after much anticipation, the devs came through on their roadmap promises and more. We received the first of the monthly updates, with all transmogs unlocked, max gear sets increased and free in the store, free boosters, ten times the number of soulmarks from chests, three more sets added to the Soulwarden forge and the Stifling set disabled, reduced number requirements for PVP modes to pop, the much awaited Region Transfer enabled, and more. We were ecstatic to see seven of the ten items on our wish list added, although I’m sorry to report, no Fishbowl.
There has been a flurry of interest and a bit of a revival in response to the patch. The dev team nailed “Under promise, over deliver”, and we really appreciate it. You could have let this year go without doing much at all, but instead you’ve given us fun things to play with. Thank you so much.
Contents
AMA with David McKenzie
We were gifted a surprise on the r/newworldgame subreddit this month, with David McKenzie stepping up to answer questions from players. There was a huge response to the thread and I encourage you to go read through it yourself.
The reply that affected me the most was is response to a question about the recent direction of the team before they were axed. We could feel they were gaining momentum and so close to hitting their stride, but to actually read about it was, honestly, heartbreaking.
It’s easy to say that it’s just a game, but online worlds are collaborative, interactive artworks, expressions of the human spirit that allow community to thrive. It is rare to find the right combination of elements, as so many of us are discovering when we can’t find an equal or better game to replace it. I mourn the future Aeternum could, and should, have had.
March Update
After much waiting, and asking, and begging, the first roadmap update went live on March 25. There were a few hiccups, and region transfer is currently disabled while they sort out an issue, but this was a well-received and appreciated update. We love that the Skeleton Crew managed to ship some extra bonuses.
The biggest news is that Gear Sets are free in the store. So if you never purchased these before, you can now enjoy the convenience and joy of being able to easily switch between different builds.
Boosters are also free in the store, so we can run Territory Standing boosters full time for the remaining life of the game, or you can catch up on any weapon or gathering skills you don’t have yet.
Region Transfers are free, but currently disabled. We are hopeful these will be back next week, otherwise I guess my alt (and 500k) are stranded on Valhalla. Not the worst place to end up, I’m sure, even if I did only intend to be gone for a shopping trip.
PVP modes are more accessible, with reduced numbers required for modes to pop, more mercs allowed in wars, and unlimited consumables in OPR. stifling set and Penetrating Backstab have been disabled, so you won’t need to worry about those.
The PVE scales tip toward Hive of Gorgon from Isle of Night, with the Jester Hat skin unlocked for everyone and 3 Chromatic seals added to the already alluring 750 umbrals in the raid completion reward. Although I’m sure IoN will remain popular for mount skins and enjoyment.
Gearsets and soulmarks
With all these gearsets, three more set bonus cache types available in the Soulwarden Forge, and ten times the Soulmarks looted from chests, there’s no excuse not to play around with different builds. Remember, to save your attributes to a gear set, put it on, respec your attributes, and then select the Import button on the gear set.
Or, you can set have 16 gearsets for trade skills. The gathering sets can have the right attributes to maximise bonuses and carry the marching luck food, encumbrance potions and proficiency boosters. It means when you run over a rabbit, you can quickly switch into skinning gear to increase the chance of a Sumptuous roll.
All the transmogs!
Unlocking all the transmogs for free is AMAZING!!! We’ve been having fun playing around with different combinations. The hardest part is finding what you’re looking for but we’re getting to know the names of the items we like so we can search for them.
End game New World is definitely going to be Fashion Wars – watch this space!
Battle Royale and the Thunder Gauntlet
While we waited for the patch to go live, Katy entertained the discord feed with some snippets of what could have been. I’ll let you scroll down and read about the proposed Battle Royale PVP mode that would let players fight it out with one another without having to grind levels and gear first. We also heard tales of a mythic Thunder Gauntlet, that would allow the wielder to deliver a leaping punch.
Discord Feed
All this and more can be found in our dev discord feed. Not quite all of NW_Kay’s posts are included below, you can head to the official discord to see what I’ve missed out. Search from: NW_Kay or NW_Evolys to keep track of posts in real time, or check back here in a month for our next installment.
Hold tight if you’re waiting to transfer, travel between regions should be open again soon.
Make good for people whose characters got lost in translation and had to be rolled back.
Contact Customer Support if your character experienced a restore failure on region transfer.
Region transfer disabled
Great to see the tiny team looking into supporting players.
Umbral cap fixed
Opening Elyisan Wilds for younger characters.
No increase in item limit on Storage.
Yes please, this would be AWESOME!
Thank you!!
All transmogs unlocked
Free gear set slots
Quick response to bug fixing
Thank you SO MUCH for this. Crafting is much more enjoyable without having to try and think of what to type in to keep the recipes within range!
This actually ended up as a 24 hour cooldown.
We speculated on something like this when they were playing with different OPR modes and seasonal servers. I wonder what impact it would have had on the game. Would it have brought new players to the game to try the mode without all the MMO grind to get there? How would it have worked in with New World’s monetisation, or would that have changed too? I guess we can only imagine what might have been.
Thunderfist are go! (sorry)
I’m so sad about missing out on this, sounds like it would have paired really well with a hammer and been a lot of fun.
