Amazon dropped a positively massive video for New World this week, going in-depth on the January update and peeking ahead into what players can expect in February too. Ahead of that video drop, we dispatched interview questions to Amazon Games’ World Experience Lead Mike Willette to snag some insight into the update and the immediate future of the game as well as its current pain points. Willette discussed with us the studio’s midgame plans, the philosophy behind mutators, and how Amazon prioritizes development. He even teases some upcoming PvP content. Read on!
When mutated expeditions were first announced, a lot of MMO players complained that they’re just a way of stretching and randomizing existing content rather than new content. Is that an unfair characterization? Can Amazon explain its reasoning?
Amazon Games’ Mike Willette: We are continually creating new content. Mutators are a layer of new gameplay complexity to challenge players for increased rewards. It’s an additive system that we are going to continue to build on alongside more content.
I wonder if you could share your thought process on how exactly you’re prioritizing patch features. For example, one of my writers points out that the game lacks a group finder, and yet we know (through datamining) that Amazon has worked on one. Why focus on features that push players into expeditions before focusing on the tool that makes them easier for players to organize and makes them more accessible to a wider pool of players?
Each sub team on the game has a backlog of features and bugs. Live issues, features, and bugs get prioritized by each team with inputs from our community teams. In some cases, complementary features may not be available for launch at the same time and we weigh the importance of getting out the core of the feature versus holding it for longer period before release.
Can Amazon talk about the proportion of players who run expedition content? What slice of the playerbase is expected to be focused on mutated expeditions vs. expeditions vs. other content in the game? Put another way, are there enough people playing in this tier of the game to justify focusing on it?
There is a large portion of players participating in Expeditions. Since we launched Expeditions, players have requested increased difficulty and variety in their Expedition experiences, so it’s something we’ve prioritized.
Our New World columnist has written at length about the perception of a “wall” existing in the game around level 30. With Amazon now focused on creating more things to do at the far endgame, is the studio also planning to address the perception that the midgame is dragging, in order to propel more people to that endgame?
We have been working on adding more content and variety to both the middle and end game for players. Early this year we added new AI creatures to the starting areas and streamlined the opening onboarding quests. Expect to see more changes in the future.
Tying into that last question: What sort of content is Amazon planning to develop for players who prefer the more laid-back “survival game” style of the 1-30 game or are playing New World more for the promise of PvP and RvR, rather than for endgame dungeon content?
We are working on adding more PvP-centric content in the future. Nothing I can
share now, but please stay tuned!
I know Reddit has been agitating for combat fixes – can we expect combat to be addressed in the February patch? [Editor’s note: This topic was addressed in more detail in this week’s developer video, which came out after our questions were sent off!]
Combat, bugs, and balance are not one-time-only fixes. We are constantly examining player interactions and looking at ways to improve the overall feel and responsiveness of gameplay. Expect ongoing improvements with every release.
There’s a general sentiment among our readership that New World isn’t done cooking yet and might take months or even years to get where it needs to be – and that’s not atypical for MMORPGs. Does Amazon agree with that sentiment, and if so, when does the studio think it’ll be at the point when it’s got its “basegame” issues shored up and gameloop entirely polished so the live team can focus entirely on “new”?
We treat every day and every release as Day 1. As a creator, I don’t think you can ever truly say something is finished or done—there is always something you can improve or expand. We are going to continue to build more experiences and moments for players in the months and years to come.
