When was the last time you heard an MMO studio outright admit it was wrong? It’s pretty rare, for sure. Bossa Studios says as much in referring to Worlds Adrift’s original PvP-only setup: “We realised how WRONG we were to hold back PVE and PVP for so long!” the studio’s latest podcast says.
MMO players will recall that even hardcore PvP sandbox fans were concerned about the game’s early access release, during which unchecked PvP appeared to crush the morale of the newbie playerbase. At the time, Bossa shrugged it off, told players to “git gud,” and even told us that a PvE server would be technically infeasible as well as a “betrayal of its core pillars.”
Nevertheless, last week the studio did indeed launch PvE servers, and it sounds as if they’re doing quite well, with populations between PvE and PvP servers being roughly 50-50 last week without seeing the existing community itself split.
“We haven’t suddenly split a tiny playerbase,” Bossa’s podcasters say. “We’ve added to it.”
As for the constant player refrain that the game is too hard? Bossa jokes that “you’re all weaklings,” but chiefly falls back on the idea that the game’s biggest endeavors and best resources and major fights require a lot of player coordination as designed. So, you know, git gud. :P
