New World’s Forged in Aeternum video this week homes in on one of my favorite things in MMOs: the economy. Amazon lead seasons designer Patrick Smedley, senior game systems designer Tony Morton, and game designer Joel Clift sit for a lengthy video, and it’s not just about the fact that recipes don’t use enough wheat – although that certainly does come up!
Morton begins by discussing how player feedback led to the removal of the chromatic seal requirement on higher-level crafting, which created a “slight gradual lift” on higher-end mats – as intended. The devs are also continuing to tinker on increasing the median coin balance in the game – without tipping into inflation, which the devs say they are hyper-aware of.
“We want to make sure that all players, all levels of players and all time-rich players and players that only can play 30 minutes […] are meaningful and impactful into the economy – that they can provide and gain money and engage into the economy,” Clift emphasizes.
Smedley and the team then address a long list of questions from the community on everything from the health of the economy (cue the faucet-and-sink chart for all the spreadsheet junkies out in the audience) to why wheat isn’t used in recipes that realistically use wheat. Amazon is changing that, by the way. “Breaking news: Flour can be used to make bread,” Smedley quips.
One fun fact to leave you with: PvP apparently accounts for about 20% of all wealth in the game (primarily OPR) and may actually increase a bit as expedition payouts are tweaked.
