Even without factoring in the long queue times that came with release, the first month of Amazon Game Studios' New World hasn't exactly been smooth. Invincibility bugs, gold duplicating exploits, and more have been causes for concern, even if Amazon did manage to fix the issues relatively quickly.
In a lengthy new development blog, Amazon is addressing many of the game's current and past issues, while also taking the opportunity to clarify how some of the MMORPG's less-explained systems actually work.
New World's economy has been a cause for concern, specifically in regard to deflation. The game's economy is entirely player-driven, and with coin (New World's version of gold) in such short supply, some players opted to bypass the currency altogether and simply barter items instead. Amazon states that the economy "is performing within acceptable levels," and that there is more coin being created in the economy than is leaving it. However, Amazon does concede that coin becomes more scarce as players reach max level.
To address the issue before it becomes too much of a problem, Amazon will be making a number of changes. Item durability loss will be reduced by 10 percent for PvP, and taxes for houses will be payable every seven days (up from five). The coin cost associated with respecing has already been reduced by 60 percent in the game's most recent patch 1.0.5. In a major improvement, every trading post (New World's version of an auction house) will be linked in order to strengthen the economies of less traveled territories. Expeditions will be more lucrative, with coin gained from bosses increasing and the cost of creating tuning orbs going down.
A major bug preventing players from completing high-level corrupted breaches, an important source of coin at higher levels, has been fixed. Amazon is reminding players that the first three faction missions completed each day reward x10 the amount of coin, so players should prioritize those as well. Should the economy worsen, Amazon says it will take further action.
Amazon goes on to clarify how New World's watermark gear score system works, going in-depth to explain. At level 60, players have a gear score limit that gradually increases per item-type as players find progressively better gear. Only item drops, regardless if the item is ever picked up or equipped, will raise the gear score limit. Amazon goes on to clarify that while players will always have a chance of getting a gear score upgrade when fighting level 60 enemies or looting a container in a level 60+ area, not all enemies are created equal. The higher level enemy, the better chance of higher gear score drops, and enemies in elite areas and expeditions also have a higher chance to drop higher score items.
The gear score grind is, for now, what New World's endgame is all about, so it's nice to have some clarification on how exactly it works. The blog also touches on how exactly New World's simulation works, the various bugs and exploits that have been addressed, and more, so the full post is worth a read. Amazon is pledging to do a better job of communicating with the playerbase and addressing feedback, pointing towards this latest blog as an example of the developer being more transparent in regards to upcoming changes and ongoing issues.
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