New World - Catch All

Closed Beta is available for download in Steam.

If I've never played an MMO, would this be a good starter point?

From the beta it would be an easy one to pick up and play. No classes just pick a weapon/armor type use it to level it up. Plays like other 3rd person open world games out there just has a bunch of real people running around.

Can watch some streams of the Beta now and see if that helps to make a decision.

staygold wrote:

If I've never played an MMO, would this be a good starter point?

Probably not.

But, what would you be looking for in an MMO? Role playing? Combat? Housing? Group questing? Crafting? Playing dress up? Exploration? Etc.

These games are WIDE, but your best bet is almost certainly not an MMO at launch (or beta) when server populations are through the roof and everyone is camping enemy or quests spots.

Ugh... No controller support is wack.

TheGameguru wrote:

Ugh... No controller support is so 2010.

I'll tell you what, they studied the look of Black Desert hard, and that's a good thing.

Don't think that ever occurred to me before.

FYI, some reports of 3090s getting borked from New World. Early, anecdotal reports, but if you were lucky enough to secure a 3090...you might want to spin up your googlefu.

Well, its only been like 20 minutes but they have something good here.
One of the games it reminds me of that nobody has mentioned is Asheron's Call 2. Hopefully it fairs better than that game but the crafting and the environment are giving nostalgia feels for AC 2.
The intro and early game reminds me of Age of Conan as well.

I can't wait to get javelin/spear. That is the weapon I want to go with for sure from the youtube videos.

One of the other cool things is the presets are shall we say sufficiently "rugged" which I like. Most of them are not too "ugly" thankfully.

edit: Yeah, this game is getting its hooks into me

fangblackbone wrote:

Well, its only been like 20 minutes but they have something good here.
One of the games it reminds me of that nobody has mentioned is Asheron's Call 2.

Because AC2 was an abomination and it's name shouldn't be uttered

Boo! It was fun being a stone giant like race and setting up a turret and walls and power leveling masses of people 20 levels ;P

fangblackbone wrote:

I can't wait to get javelin/spear. That is the weapon I want to go with for sure from the youtube videos.

Yeah this has become my main weapon, though it starts out sort of underpowered and doesn’t really start to shine until you get several points deep into the skill trees (compared to early levels with the other weapons I mean, some weapons like the warhammer are really good as soon as you pick it up).

Love the spear
Really love the ice gauntlets
Finally found 25 turkeys
Joined a covenant
Healing is a little meh right now but I don't have points in focus

There are some really nice touched that will pay dividends but right now may be causing enemy AI pathing quirkiness. The animations are context sensitive. This means that you step over things, vault things and actually step up stairs rather than just run up them with some screen shake.

The problem contextual animation causes is that it complicates enemy pathing because enemies obey the contextual animations as well. Which burdens the AI as it tries to calculate line of site and obstacles other than maze walls and branching corridors.

I just really like the feeling of movement though. I feel like I am chugging a bit when I am running up hill. Vaulting is pretty satisfying too. The attacks and blocks have good build up as well. It doesn't hurt that the environments are some of the lushest in a single player let alone an MMO.

ruhk wrote:
fangblackbone wrote:

I can't wait to get javelin/spear. That is the weapon I want to go with for sure from the youtube videos.

Yeah this has become my main weapon, though it starts out sort of underpowered and doesn’t really start to shine until you get several points deep into the skill trees (compared to early levels with the other weapons I mean, some weapons like the warhammer are really good as soon as you pick it up).

I played with a spear in the Alpha and loved it until I did the first dungeon. It was wild. We had a 3 person party with no tank. It was melee Dps (me) an ice gauntlet and a healer. The enemies move around a lot so they'd sidestep my stab, then I'd miss my leap, then they'd rush off as I unleash my triple stab at the air.

My ineptitude was embarrassing so I switched to sword and board. Really enjoying that.

Is this available for purchase now?

Yes. $39.99 for cheapest pack.
Pre-order on steam and you can install the closed beta right away.
Pre-order on Amazon and you may have to wait to get a key for a day or so.

I’m having some fun in the beta and am digging the combat and setting. I don’t love the shooting and the zombie enemies are repetitive but hope that gets better later in the game.

For those who have leveled further, how is the story? I like what I see from the beginner area but the storyline seems to be not quite as deep as ESO or SWTOR. Given I’m a casual player who probably won’t get too involved in the big guild intrigue, it’s the story and world that will likely keep me going.

From What I have seen the story is definitely nowhere as immersive as either ESO or SWTOR. I think a bit of the story info is in the readable page objects located around the world.

I've honestly not paid any attention to the story. Most of it comes from books or other writing that you find around the environment. You can press "E" to read or "T" to add to your journal... I've been doing the latter and have absolutely no idea what's going on in the MSQ line.

From what I've experienced in the beta, the reason to play is to be a part of the economic and pvp/faction/guild system. If I find a group to play with, then maybe I'll stick around longer.

I'm most surprised at how enjoyable the resource gathering and crafting is. It's so nice to just chill out, turn on a podcast, and go log a forest. The sound design in this regard as well as the UI are really enjoyable. The fishing is also really good for this kind of zoning out.

I'm interested in learning more about how the resource gathering interacts with the larger faction stuff. Each settlement charges a small amount to refine and sell stuff at trading posts, so there's some meta game going on that I'm interested in playing around with. For example, is it worth going to a less populated settlement with better rates, refining/manufacturing stuff, and then bringing the result to a larger settlement to sell. The larger settlement might charge a higher fee to list the good on the auction house, but will also probably have more buyers... The economics also interact with the faction war system, but I haven't really gotten too deep into that either. In some ways seems like maybe a more accessible EVE online?

The rest of the game systems seem "fine", but nothing that stands out terribly well. The combat has started to get a bit repetitive, but it isn't bad.

I do like that it's a single $40 purchase without having to pay an ongoing subscription. All together as someone who doesn't play many MMORPG, this one seems like something I want to play more of.

fangblackbone wrote:

Healing is a little meh right now but I don't have points in focus

Healing is really strong - so strong in fact that I wouldn't be surprised if it gets nerfed for the full release. I can routinely solo minor Corruption points that are four or five levels higher than me with no trouble, as well as skull-level mobs as long as they aren't 15 or so levels higher and hit too hard. You can use gems (Amber) to convert your other weapons to scale off of Focus, which allows you to heal and hit multiple mobs at once. Paladin tanks with +Threat gems on their life staves are embarrassingly easy-mode, as they get all the benefits of sword-and-board but with aoe heals feeding them extra threat as well.

Video on the Paladin build - I don't necessarily agree with everything he suggests, but this is the general gist of it.

New World delayed another month.

I think that's a good sign, though it's obviously disappointing from a play perspective. I can't say I'm surprised - the healing balance issues alone are going to be thorny to work out.

Word of mouth on it seems a LOT more positive than before. They may have a real game on their hands! Good job, Amazon! You've almost become a real boy!

Open Beta on Sept 9th-12th, just announced at Gamescom.

Here's the full report:
https://www.newworld.com/en-us/news/articles/open-beta

Not sure if this gives them an excuse to kick it out another 1-2 months if there's negative feedback they claim will need to be addressed. Also I cannot imagine trying to progress much in 4 days. It took me a week to get to 20 the last time.