New World: 3v3 PvP Arena Queues Split Solo vs Group

 A sneaky patch note landed in patch 1.6.7 from New World this week.

• 3v3 Arenas

  • Groups of three entering 3v3 Arenas are now placed into a separate queue with teams of the same size. This will help prevent matches between premade groups and teams made up of solo players.

This caught the community by surprise as this sort of change is not normally made in these small, usually just bug fix, patches.  Rumor also has it that the change was not in the original notes and was added later; leading to speculation it was accidentally released.  Either way it is a nice change to have!

I jumped in last night and gave the solo queue a whirl and my arena experience was night and day difference.  I had far more enjoyable matches and the queue was popping much faster.  Previously I always seemed to get stuck against premade groups and after a couple of rounds of getting thumped would quit arenas.  I suspect many others did this as well because in the solo queue the wait time between matches was seconds vs my previous experience of minutes.

With the good does come the bad though.  Getting matched with random players against random players does mean sometimes you get terrible group comps while the opposing team will land on ideal comps.  The presence of a single healer on one side still almost guarantees a win (healing is very strong in PvP).  But I'll take this over the old system of getting beat down by premade groups.

What are your thoughts?  Were you a sweaty premade group player that can't farm the newbs like myself anymore?  Comment!

New World: Start now, return now, or wait for the patch?

 With New World's recent upswing in population and upcoming changes there are many players debating whether they should return now (or start now if they are new to the game) or should they wait for the patch.  To encourage some players to return now and to help them get ready for Brimstone Sands there is an experience boost event starting tomorrow (10/5 - 10/17 players get 1.5x experience gain).  Here are my thoughts on the matter.

For players that played at launch but left some time afterwards my recommendation is to return now.  If you are still leveling to 60 this event is perfect.  If you are already 60 but quit before the expertise/umbral shard system was introduced there is no better time than now as the expertise system is in a sweet spot.  If you were 60 and 600+ expertise but left the game then there is still plenty to get yourself back and familiar with and if anything start caching some chests (like OPR or PvE arena chests) to help rapid fire increase Greatsword expertise after the patch.  

If you are a player looking to return and start over with a new character or are an interested player looking to start I'd recommend waiting for the patch.  Why?  Mostly because there are plans for fresh start servers where you can join a ton of like minded folks starting fresh alongside you.  Also the level 1-25 experience has been entirely revamped: new quests and zones changed -- basically it is a legit new experience.  Players coming back for a fresh experience will get to relive a launch-like experience all over (or for the first time!).

I have no plans to join fresh start servers and plan to stick to Castle of Steel and my daily activities along with exploring the new zone; PvP flag on of course!

What are your plans?  Do you play every day like me or are you a returning/new player looking forward to the patch?  Comment away!

Get Ready! Oct 18th date set for Brimstone Sands update in New World!

It's time to get sandy!  Oct 18th is the release date for the massive Brimstone Sands update for New World.  See the announcement here.

Mounts in New World

 As mentioned in the New World September development update; mounts will be coming to Aeternum.  Here are some of my thoughts.

First I will admit that I was not one of the players that argued for mounts in the game.  The world of Aeternum feels small enough that even the farthest depots are not that tough of a run.  Part of what makes it feel small is that it is jam packed with things to stop and do along the way; something of interest is never more than a few steps away.  Mounts would ruin that feeling.

However, now that we've seen how BIG the new zone Brimstone Sands mounts start to make some more sense.  Before we get into what I would like to see out of mounts lets list a few things I don't want.

1. No random creature mounts; no wolf mounts, no elk mounts.  No flying mounts!  Just stick with horses please.
2. No mounts in town.  It is crowded enough already; we don't need mounts in town.
3. No insta-mounts; make it a decision to call a mount and make use of them.

With the "please don't" covered; lets look at a few things I'd like to see starting with a few ideas I'd lift from other games.

The first idea I'd steal is the way Roach (the horse) works in The Witcher 3 (and no I am not talking about Roach randomly appearing on a roof -- see picture above). When you call your horse in The Witcher it appears from just off screen; no magic horse from your pants.  This obviously is difficult to pull off in a multiplayer game, but if the mount could appear from a cloud of azoth and charge towards you that'd be neat. 

Secondly, the horse in The Witcher will automatically follow paths/roads and the player can basically AFK to their destination if its at the end of the road.  This would be awesome in my book; I already spend a ton of time on the roads of Aeternum and the world is beautiful so I'd love kicking back and watching the scenery pass by.

In Albion Online players can have pack mounts that can both be ridden but also can be used for increased storage as long as the player stays in range.  This would be awesome with the gathering that can be done in New World; I can just imagine an hours long logging spree without having to stop every few minutes to zip back to town.  Since we don't want mounts out in town the pack mount would just be stabled with the extra storage capacity available just like town storage.

Next I'd steal a couple features of Guild Wars 2 mounts.  First, the way you unlock mounts via in game quests and objectives is a great way to engage the player instead of just making it something they purchase.  Next progressing your mount so that it can do more and more makes the mount system in Guild Wars 2 its own entire horizontal end game progression system.  Lastly the way mounts control in Guild Wars 2 is definitely worth stealing.  Mounts in Guild Wars 2 have unique control characteristics (which can improve with leveling them up); not all mounts can stop or turn on a dime - some are slower to turn and some are faster to stop and some are slow but can bounce really high.  

While we don't want the flying or "silly" side of Guild Wars 2 mounts (for example the kangaroo mount that is meant for jumping puzzles) we want the core concept that mounts are their own track of content for the player to explore, progress, and then ultimately feel like they have some skill in using rather than just being a flat speed boost.

Another idea I'd like to see mounts take on is a role in combat of some sort with the possibility for armor that gives them different abilities just like light/medium/heavy armor for players.  I don't want the combat aspects to be defining but whenever I think of mounts in games I also think of charging down my enemies, flying off the mount, and launching into an attack.  If my enemy is taking off on a mount I want mechanisms to knock them off and engage them in combat.

I am hopeful that there is some care and thought put into mounts for New World so they do not just become a visual speed boost.  They need to fit into the game just as any other system.  If we look at things like music became a tradeskill and how musical instruments fit into crafting then I'd hope to see mounts and mount accessories fit right in.  And I really, really like the idea of mounts appearing out of a mist of azoth at full gallop when called.

Want to mount up?  Leave a comment.

Old Post, New Thoughts on Games and Business Models

 Getting back into blogging (apologies for missing yesterday for my post a day commitment) has also had me reminiscing through my 17+ years of posts.  I stumbled across This is WHY Free 2 Play works, quote from Pirates of the Burning Seas team today and it got me thinking.  I find it odd how, as a gamer, I jumped in to defend a company making money.  More odd is I still hold to this line of thinking.

It took me reading a few posts to wrangle what my younger self held as opinion on the topic of business models for games, but here is my "years later" assessment of that journey.

• Back in the day you bought a game in a box and got everything with it.  
• If the game was online you paid for a subscription and that made sense.
• Online games with player trading often had real money trade (RMT) where players would sell in game items and game accounts to other players for real cash (usually via eBay)
  
• RMT was part of how we played Ultima Online back in the day; you had to go to eBay to buy a house as an example.
  
• After moving on from Ultima Online to newer games like Dark Ages of Camelot (DAoC) it became clear to me RMT ruins these games
• Anti-RMT, buy the box, and pro-subscription became my mantra; just look at how much a player could get out of World of Warcraft for $15 a month!
• Micro transactions (the infamous horse armor DLC) made no sense
• At some point I then tried some free 2 play games and I still remember when I posted: My First Microtransaction (in retrospect that was money NOT well spent)
  
• I seem to have turned the corner around the time of this post
• "So, color me conflicted on micro-transaction business models. I still don't believe it beats a subscription model, but no longer is it the EVIL that I thought it was."
• Ever since that time I seem to have adopted the moniker of "games are a business and have to make money first"

With that last bullet I am going to hop off the autobiography train and focus on "games are a business and have to make money first".  In my older age I find this really odd as a position for a consumer of a product to take, but as a gamer who really-really wants to see my niche of games (MMORPGs) have new options to try.  Basically I want to "vote with my wallet" for games that I want to be successful or from developers I want to be successful.

Speaking of "voting with my wallet" that brings us back full circle to business models.  In the subscription model players have a single vote; my vote counts the same as yours -- either I am a subscriber or I am not.  In a micro-transaction model each player's vote is variable.  A player in a free 2 play game may abstain from voting by just playing for free or a player may be a whale 

There are so many issues with this.  The biggest problem of video games making money is that it preys on human weakness.  For some of us it's just a case of "I have more money than time so I want to buy my way ahead or buy things that are fun", but for others it preys on impaired decision making (children, addiction, FOMO, etc) and works to extract maximum cash.  Yet, I still defend that a game is a business first and has to make money.

To the post I kicked this off with on why free 2 play works (which is really to say micro transactions work) is that it does let players invest at their level so developers/publishers can maximize per-player return. I do still believe as I mentioned in that post that good game design can keep the playing field level.  

At the simplest level for my argument are the games that "just sell cosmetics"; games like New World where after you buy the game you can play for free (no subscription) but then there is a store that offers all sorts of goofy outfits and stuff to put in your house; none of which affects power level when playing.  If you really like and want to support the game then drop $50 on the store, but there is no requirement to do so.

In the more complex category are games with things like battle passes/premium/season pass (for my purposes just called battle pass).  I think battle passes came from a marriage of game design and business model.  For many games battle passes offer unique rewards and drive players to participate in the game in a certain manner.  Good game designers marry battle passes with great game play and it's a great experience.  Every time I jump back into Apex Legends I snag the battle pass and it is worth it.  In Guild Wars 2 I've bought multiple living seasons (which are battle pass like).  Battle pass is the modern day subscription, but this time around players get a benefit.

Of course there is the opposite end of this where battle passes are required to make any meaningful progress and the entire game is designed to get you to pay up.  This is where I start drawing the line as it falls into an area of abusing players.  This is basically why I don't play any mobile games; every single one I've ever looked into, while looking fun, are just designed to make me depart with my cash.

In conclusion: I support game companies making money and I believe good game design can go hand in hand.  It is important to keep this in mind when looking at future games; the sooner they outline the business model the more likely it is the game design will support it in a positive manner.  The later a game decides on it's business model the more likely it is to be abusive and/or insufficient to be successful for the game.  

Want me to review more of my old posts?  Want to argue with me?  Leave a comment.

New World's 1 Year Anniversary and September Update

 New World is one year old as of today and the September developer update has been posted.  Feel free to watch the update and then read on for my thoughts.

Year One

The first year of New World has flown by.  It was an amazing launch and the popularity of the game lead to some great moments.  For me, it was easily the best MMO launch in the last decade, and I still play the game every single day a year later.  There were some ups and downs through the first year, but for the most part the team at Amazon Game Studios has knocked it out of the park as far as how they have addressed the issues that have popped up and the improvements made to the game.

My favorite release of the year was Tempest Heart.  I am not a huge expedition (New World's term for a PvE dungeon) player, but playing Tempest Heart converted me.  It is hands down the best MMORPG dungeon I've ever played.  The visuals and sound are amazing.  The fights were well done (albeit with some bugs early on) and the atmosphere as you go through the expedition is incredible (giant robot head shooting laser beams!).

My biggest disappointment of the year was 3v3 PvP arenas.  The combat in PvP can just be frustrating at
times and 3v3 hits the worst parts of it such as excessive crowd control where you spend the entire match on the ground unable to do anything or alternately if you don't have the right crowd control light armor players are nearly impossible to catch and kill.  Many of these elements are mitigated in other modes, but when condensed down to 3v3 in a small arena its all right there on display.  Mix in that there is no solo vs group queue and right now, as a mostly solo player, the 3v3 experience is not fun.  

Also its clear, to me at least, the community isn't excited about PvP arenas -- as evidenced by no one showing up for the first public tournament. It is unfortunate the team seems to be investing more into the mode so hopefully they see something I don't.  I'd rather that time be spent on other parts of the game.  The only thing 3v3 needs is solos vs group queue and a ranking; otherwise leave that mode alone.  It is not where the game wins over players.

Whats coming next?

In the update the team talked about focusing on more solo content.  I found this interesting because I think New World is easily the most solo friendly MMORPG on the market.  It sounds like they want to target harder solo content where you can get a sense of fighting a boss fight like a group would but just as yourself.  I am on board with that but I think the team is underselling the current content as it is all very friendly to solo players and offers solo players end game progression.

They also announced wanting to expand into hardcore raid content that is more challenging than expeditions and mutations currently.  No hard details were provided, but a focus on gear specific for PvE was mentioned so that rewards feel more useful in PvE instead of the current "best" being PvP gear.  While not what I am necessarily excited about it was the logical step to take for the PvE crowd.  Personally I think 5-man expeditions + mutations are perfectly good content and I'd be happy seeing a dozen more of those than any multi-group raid content.  But I will admit if the progression and rewards that go with it are done well then I am probably on board.

Also exciting was the mention of working on a gear management system.  Unfortunately seems it is still a ways off which is disappointing.  Adding gear management is the number one thing that could be done to make the game more enjoyable.  It is getting nightmarish to manage my gear sets currently and directly impacting my enjoyment level when playing.  I logged out the other night because I was too irritated to change my gear/attribute/weapon build because plans changed.

Mounts were also a topic of conversation.  I don't think the game needs them but it is a repeating topic in the community and now confirmed it is something the team is officially working on now.  My hope is the mounts are modest, mostly just horses, and don't turn everything into "mount up and alt tab while it runs in a straight line".  An idea I thought would fit perfectly with New World is the way the horse works in The Witcher III: Wild Hunt.  In Witcher III your horse automatically locks into the paths and guides itself so if you are on established roads it just does its thing for you.  Then you can take it off the path/roads and free form it.

Some closer term changes in the upcoming October patch were covered in the video but I'll have more thoughts on those as they get closer to release.  Over all I am very happy with where New World is at and where it is headed.  The team has earned my trust and I foresee continued engagement with this game and it's community.  Everything isn't perfect but there is so much for me to do that is in a great spot that the areas that need improvement don't intersect my play time.  I love playing New World and play every day; my vote is cast.

What are your thoughts on New World's first year and future plans?

A neat infographic as well

MyMMORPG: Let's dream one up!

 Listening to various podcasts about Ashes of Creation and listening to folks overlay their hearts and dreams on the game has made me think about what I'd want out of an MMORPG.  Combined with my recent "a post a day" commitment to get back into blogging I figured it was time to start my long awaited series on "My MMORPG" and the game I'd make if I was Steven-rich.

The question is where do you start this quest?  Do you come up with a long list of things to do?  An outline of the entire thing?  Define the business model; is it free to play or a subscription?  Write the story first?  

Personally I have a saying I like to use in my career "If something is worth doing it is worth doing WRONG." What does that have to do with where to start?  Fair question. I bring this up here because I want this to be a start but not the only start.  We may be back here again in the near future.  Maybe feedback makes me change course.  Maybe a brilliant idea later down the road requires something earlier on changes.  Regardless I have a couple goals to get started here.

1. This first post has to set the framework
   
2. Keep it simple

So where do we start?  Simple: the world and setting for the game and to keep it simple and set the framework for future conversations this post would be better titled as "The Not-Star-Wars MMORPG". Follow along to find out why.

When I look back on any MMORPG I've played (or wish I could play) the first thing that always catches my attention is the world and setting.  Ultima Online?  Basically took every medieval text MUD I had ever played and put it on screen.  World of Warcraft? Warcraft where I get to play that orc on the battlfield!? Count me in!  Warhammer Online Age of Reckoning?  Duh (and sigh).  Star Wars Galaxies?  Ummm; duh x2!  New World? A cool setting that hooked me before I ever hit log in.

So why "Not-Star-Wars"?  Simple: Star Wars has everything in a setting that I'd want in my dream MMORPG, but I would never want to put my chips into a game that can be ended on the whim of an intellectual property owner.

Let's work through what "Not-Star-Wars" brings to us:

• Melee combat
• Ranged combat
• Magic 
• Not-magic
  
• Mounts
• Vehicles (aka multiplayer mounts)
• Houses
• Spaceships (aka space houses)
  
• Varied planets (i.e. zones and instanced content)
  
• Multiple races
• Multiple classes
• Crafting
  

Probably the biggest benefit of this setting that pays off the most is the "varied planets".  Planets and space travel between them is the ideal contextual reason for zones and instanced content to exist without turning the game into hub and spoke and thus losing the M for Massive.  While the world setting doesn't need to explain everything the more it is able to justify for mechanics to exist the better the game will feel.  It would make immediate sense to a player that they are jumping in a space ship, zooming through space, and ending up on a unique alien planet that only they and their group are present on.

This also allows this MMORPG to target the "mega server" model instead of "single server" and have it all make sense with the way the universe is set up.  All players need to be in one single universe with the chance at any time to interact with any other player.  This eliminates problems such as scaling up single servers to deal with population growths and eliminates the follow on problems of having to merge servers down.  The universe just exists and it makes sense when you jump in a space ship and fly off to a planet that you are off by yourself and then joining back on a busy core planet with thousands of other players.

Another benefit that some old school MMORPG players will welcome is that space travel, inside a fully customized player ship, can bring back the social aspect that has been missing due to the "get you directly into a group and into content" model of "group finders" in most MMORPGs.  Don't get me wrong; I want games to connect players via in game tools but what I also want to ensure it drops players into the opportunity to socialize and not just at the starting point a sprint.  Sitting around in a space ship, making preparations for the content, and socializing with your fellow players is huge.  Scale this concept up to core planets and ideas like space stations: the core of setting should be places for players to interact socially.

As my bulleted list shows there is a lot of pieces that fit with Not-Star-Wars and give context to game systems and mechanics MMORPG players are familiar with.  Again the most important aspect is that the setting gives context to many MMORPG staple systems such as zones, instanced content, socializing and more.

More to come on MyMMORPG!  Have thoughts?  Think I am starting in the wrong place or heading in the wrong direction?  Leave a comment.  I love to argue socialize.

Heavy frustration as a PvP frontline tank in New World (build included)

 I recently put together a frontline PvP tank build in New World.  I have no experience as a PvE tank and have mostly played light DPS builds in PvP. The change to a frontline tank has highlighted some of the issues that make melee frustrating in PvP in New World.  I can also now see why many players say "tanking is pointless in PvP".  At the same time when combined with the right group set up the frontline tank can be incredibly fun and in the open world it offers some great fights.  In this post I hope to capture some of the problems and provide some thoughts on solutions (probably short-sighted solutions so feel free to comment away).

Note: I posted the build info on my frontline tank and a video link for anyone interested in more details.

 The biggest issue as a tank in PvP in New World is that you will be constantly staggered or stunned which prevents you from blocking.  Then to top it off blocking is punished more than it is rewarded.  Blocking can be good in some cases (such as blocking ranged attacks) but it has a huge negative that when your stamina is depleted you will be staggered (i.e. block being broke).  Since both block and dodge consume stamina you can't do both and unlike most light DPS builds tanks don't get the benefit of constant stamina regeneration. Basically doing the thing a tank should be doing, blocking, is punished in PvP.

The question as far as solutions is whether block and dodge should both be tied to stamina.  For the sake of my "fixes" we'll assume block and dodge will continue to be tied to stamina (though the ideal fix would be to break them apart so a tank can dodge and block from separate pools). 

The first fix would be changes to how the armor classes get bonuses/penalties in New World.  Right now Light Armor is the dominant selection because it gets +30% damage/healing and access to the light dodge roll (which is honestly the best defense in the game).  Both Medium and Heavy just get punished with less damage and healing and smaller dodges with the only offset being more damage reduction.  Damage reduction is unfortunately pointless when your own outgoing damage is so severely reduced and light DPS being able to greatly increase their damage as a natural part of their builds (mortal empowerment, empowered, rogue, attunement, etc).

What I'd propose (note medium would be in the middle of these numbers)

• Light armor has a -30% penalty to stamina (total and regen rate)
• Heavy armor gets a +30% bonus to stamina (total and regen rate)
• Light dodge takes more stamina
• Heavy dodge takes less stamina
  

This first set of fixes goes a long way to making blocking more lucrative and concentrates the defensive gameplay to heavy armor.  Light armor still has some defense in its dodge, but no longer has never ending dodges that allow it to do whatever it damn well pleases.

The second major fix I would have would be that heavy armor offers protection from constantly being staggered.  There is enough stuns, pulls, and slows/roots in the game that heavy armor players can't get out of.  Give heavy a break on stagger as well; especially if they have a shield up.  Stagger should be for light armor players as it makes sense if you have less armor you are more likely to be staggered by an attack.

The third fix would be to remove stagger when your block is broken while using a shield.  Just drop my shield; don't make me lose control of my character.  Keep stagger on block when the block is any other weapon than shield.

Another area for improvement is melee hit registration in PvP.  Right now range has all the advantage because it so hard to hit with melee attacks unless you have light dodge roll to constantly ensure you can close the gap to the player.  For your average melee by the time your attack animation starts and by the time it hits your target has moved out of range.  Its crazy sometimes how collision detection will prevent you from getting closer to a target but by the time your attack animation triggers the target is out of range (you literally cannot get close enough to hit in these cases). 

It is simply too easy for targets to walk away from melee.  Make it easier to hit with melee just like bow was made easier to hit with and how musket is a hitscan weapon making it easier to hit with.   And with the next patch there is a possible change where if a target is hit with melee the time until they can return to sprinting is dependent on their armor weight; fortunately with heavy getting the upper hand. 

Basically my approach is that light armor needs penalties and not just bonuses; this will go a long way to heavy armor having more of a purpose.  On top of that just improving the feeling of PvP combat so that melee can be more successful and players wanting to tank in the thick of things aren't constantly just flopping around because of staggers.

Have some heavy thoughts? Share them.

 

 

New World Frontline PvP Tank Build

This build is adapted from the frontline tank build covered in this video which also covers how to play a tank in PvP.  I consider this the definitive clinic for anyone looking to tank in New World PvP.

Attributes: 200 STR/300 CON

Weapons: Sword and Shield / Warhammer

Armor Weight: Heavy (duh! tank build)

Key Perks for Weapons

• Sword: Any damage attunement (flame, frost, arboreal, etc) - attunement means Fortifying Shield Rush procs twice which is major for damage reduction.
• Hammer: Trenchant Recovery and ideally Leeching Path of Destiny (get leeching on armor otherwise)
• Shield: Accelerating Defiant Stance (nothing more fun than a tank moving at warp speed) and Sturdy as you will block alot
  

Key Perks and Notes for Armor

• You want to favor heavy orichalcum armor that has more Physical Resistance than Magical Resistance; use Cut Pristine Opal gems.  This is explained in the linked video.
  
• Amulet: Divine/Health - you do a lot of healing so divine is key
  
• Armor Slots
• Resilient x5 (required for any PvP armor for any build)
  
• Physical Aversion x3 (in the current meta with bows/muskets this goes a long ways)
  
• Fortifying Shield Rush (combines with attunement on sword to get 2x fortify stacks)
  
• Sundering Shockwave (nice to have)
  
• Leeching Path of Destiny (if not on hammer)
  
• Refreshing as a 3rd perk where you can get it
• Freedom x1 can help but is not required since you can take the damage
  
• Note: I currently use 3x PvP reward track heavy armor pieces that have Shirking Heals
  

Weapon Skills