I am trying to wrap my head around NW. Many of you I am sure are current or EX WoW players yearning for a new/fresh MMORPG. I played WoW for 10+ years (much of it with OTG) but it grew stale (the game, never the people!) and haven’t played for a few years now (5?). I was a dungeon crawler for most of the xpacs, raider for several (never in our uber-raider groups), just a simple solo’er for a couple. I just grew weary of the game (and the seemingly increasing grind) and moved on to several smaller scale ARPGs where a small group of friends could progress and have relaxed fun. I even slipped back into some very good clones like UO, Grim Dawn, D2, etc, and am semi-proficient in the mind-numbing complexity of build development of POE. With that said (and I could say a lot more, but, will spare you dear reader), what separates NW for you? What pumps you for the game? I have not played any of the Betas, but have read with interest a lot of our OTG forum posts on NW and watched a few videos. As an aged game player, I avoid PvP like the plague (I can still drive, but my game reaction time is abysmal, and I can hit the brakes in time) …if someone runs in front of me and stumbles onto my sword, I call that a real victory. So, given the above, why NW? Some would say “just give it a try and see if you like it”, but it seems like a game that will take substantial initial investment to give it a fair shake. I know that I am talking to a fan base here, but, objectively, what would you say sets NW apart. Thanks in advance for any insights/feedback. Also, where can I go to get a good idea of how to approach this game (where to start; crafting vs leveling vs skill progression vs exploration vs…; what to focus on first, what to drive quickly towards…)
Where to start…
My first two MMO’s were Ultima Online and Dark Age of Camelot. Still, to this day, I’m looking for an MMO to match the enjoyment I had in those games. Realm vs. realm and all that surrounded that.
I don’t PvP today for similar reasons as yours. I spent 20 years mostly doing PvP in MMO’s. Min/maxing to be the best. Spending the rest of the time grinding and re-grinding dungeons to get the next best piece of whatever. Now, I min/max different things.
Time has a way of cooling your jets and changing your perspective. I’m much more laid back now and find more interest in things such as exploration, lore and crafting. Finding the fastest way to steel tools (40 mins). And less interest in the mind numbing mechanics of dungeons where it’s the same puzzle to solve.
The things that interest me are present in this game. Since the first beta, a little over 500 hours. So I’ve gotten my money’s worth at $0.08/hr. I’m not a fan of nerfs. I’d rather see the rest of things brought up to speed. There have been plenty I haven’t liked as well as some good ones. But, the bad are not enough yet to keep me from playing.
New World is not going to be another DAoC for me, but so far it comes the closest. I’ll stay until my interest wanes. For DAoC, it was almost a decade. UO was more than that. How long for NW, time will tell. The whole territory war business will probably be the culprit. PvP players deciding how often I will be relocating between towns, etc. But, I knew all that coming in. Really can’t tell how that will shake out for 2-3 months when the hardcores leave and town ownership will possibly become more stable.
You ask about the grind. For me, who compresses time (or rather plays way too much in a sitting), getting crispy is a danger. Running mobs in dungeons or nodes of iron for hours have their similarities. It all depends on how you play.
You kinda missed the best boat when you could have preordered beta and returned it if you didn’t like it. That’s what my sons (30+) did starting in closed beta. Both refunded theirs after open beta. I didn’t. Mostly because I’m still getting more joy than pain and there’s nothing better right now.
The best I can offer you is to watch some beta play videos on Twitch by:
Daopa and StonksNChill
And informational Youtubes by:
Sethphir and Baggins.
If your interest is crafting and weapon min/maxing, then Sesquisha.
Bonsai warring and dungeons, then Smashley.
There are a lot of people that love this game for many different reasons. Dig around for info and watch streams after it’s released. You’ll get a good idea if it piques your interest enough to make the plunge.
There are too many questions and/or concerns here to lump together so I will try and address them individually.
First of all, I will say that all you have to do is play the game and it gets you pumped. Game play, environment, quests, animations, etc, etc.
Because PvP is not mandatory at all. If you decide to PvP you must “Flag” before leaving a main town. So in essence if you don’t want to PvP you never ever have to.
Aside from the fact that we have not had a new MMO like this launch in what…forever, that is a key point. The crafting for example, you can craft and gather ALL of the disciplines. You can equip and level ANY weapon. You are not "Pigeon Holed as to a Class per se.
Great perspective and info, thx
Much thx for the insights
I am not a PVP’er. My first MMO was DAOC and my first with OTG was LOTRO. I have played all major ones since the early 2000s. I have thousands of hours in WOW, was the GM of a raiding guild, did the grind to the point I had secret characters to hide from the drama (not OTG). I am excited for New World for a few reasons:
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Its the most fun I have had gathering or crafting since SWG. I like ESO’s system a lot but NW is amazing.
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I have never PVP’ed, not once, and I have been in alpha/beta since 2018. New World allows you get to get out of it what you put in and so far (to my knowledge and experience) does not force you to do anything PVP related.
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The setting - I love the mythical history setting so much.
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Its the most relaxing MMO I have ever played. Some nights I would login and throw on the headphones, listen to Celtic music and just craft or harvest. Like ESO, some nights I would see something in the distance and go explore.
Is it perfect? Nope but it scratches the MMO itch I have right now and unlike anything has in a long time.
Where to start? Respecs are free until level 20 so do not rush, explore, try stuff out and have fun. There are some good websites with info as well and I am happy to link those.
Oh my, I totally forgot SWG.
I was with a guild then since 1999 called CoFR (Collection of Fossil Rockers; aka old farts)
I loved the crafting in that game. I ended up being a Master Chef and on the last day before shutting down, I dumped a whole house full of crates of (the rarest, not seen for months) Muon Gold and Starburst Sunshine (or whatever they were called) on the market. They sold in seconds and still don’t know why. Probably peeps who never had the chance to try them.
To this day, I still get automatic reports from Galaxy Harvester reporting the latest map location of mats on the planets:
Organic named valowa added to Basilisk with stats OQ: 916
valowa Yavinian Wooly Hide- Galaxy Harvester
New World is a well built MMO. Action Combat all the way though, no tab targeting but play it for a few minutes and you will come to love the difference.
Ambience is excellent, the world is beautiful, the creepy areas are full of Creepy, etc. 
The crafting is one of those kinda rare designs where you can make USEFUL things for your level! Best gear in slot is supposed to be crafted with some components from dungeon drops, others from crafter skill. Also you can be self sufficient if you have ridiculous amounts of time to max out every crafting skill.
No junk vendors. Stuff you don’t want you can throw on the auction house to get a player to buy or just break it down for salvage and repair parts. (Key as you do your own repairs for the most part)
Gold is really just for buying junk off the auction house of for buying your own house in a town. Housing is instanced, but houses are fairly unique. You get a menu of whose house to enter when you try. (If they are open to the public)
You can easily spend a day out harvesting or crafting. Tedium is greatly pared down in the crafting system, no wasted time.
All in all a well polished game that is VERY appealing.
I am late to the party, what a busy weekend it was!! Just a quick two cents:
New World has a lot to offer, I have played EQ, EQ2, DAoC, WoW, GW and GW2, Rift, ESO, so many others. I still feel it has a lot to offer and will remind you of so many games you’ve played in the past.
PvP is optional, the only real impact if you don’t want to pvp is the territory controls. New World is a bit like the old board game Risk where you are vying for territory. The pvp is really fun if you do decide to drop in later.
Crafting and gathering are absolutely S+ tier in my 20+ years of gaming “experience”. I even really enjoy the fishing, it is so close to a real life feel. It’s so exciting to be able to mine or gather the nodes are beautiful and make you think “ooooh shiiinnnny”.
The world itself is graphically stunning. The animations are immersive, when you run through the forest it feels like you are really runnning through a forest. The sound design is fantastic, you hear everything you didn’t even realize was missing in other games.
Running through the world should seem like a chore, instead it feels like you are either on an adventure, or taking a lovely hike through the wilderness.
I think most people who give the game a try will really enjoy the whole experience! 
New World is an interesting game, I think they get a lot right.
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The gathering is fun, the mechanics and sound effects make it seem like it’s really happening, if that makes sense.
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Crafting is awesome, especially with random stats, you don’t find that often.
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The PvP reminds me of a cross between DAOC and SWG. DAOC for the large open battles and SWG for the ability to flag yourself for PvP if you want to. If not, you never have to PvP if you don’t want to.
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Housing is a big plus for me, it’s a little surprising it’s in the game now instead of in a future expansion. Kudos to them for that.
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The ability to learn every weapon and every skill on one character is genius, I’ve desired this in games for decades, not sure why more developers haven’t figured this out yet. Don’t like spear? Pick up a hatchet. Don’t like bows? Pick up a musket. Genius.
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The open world is open enough that it doesn’t feel forced or claustrophobic. It’s well designed for the most part.
Now for some concerns I have:
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The end game needs to be developed further, which they will, it’s just a little lacking currently, especially in PvE. It takes time with all MMO projects to flesh this out so we’ll see how it goes over the next year or so.
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They need to work on combat animations, they can be janky at times and feel like they’re locking up because of animation completion overriding your next actions. I really felt this with the hatchet, you can’t just stop moving during the combat animation and it didn’t feel right. The other skills that I tried seemed to be better but there are some issues.
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I think PvP balance is going to be tough for New World. I can see several large guilds partnering up to dominate servers, how that turns out is yet to be seen. However, the fact that there are three factions similar to DAOC, it might balance itself out over time. It’s going to be interesting to watch.
I think those are the main points that I see. The good thing about New World is it’s B2P, once you buy it you can play it. Now, I’m sure there are plenty of paid expansions coming but I really prefer that model over subscriptions although I’ve done both. Anyway, I’m looking forward to launch for sure, it’s going be fun. I hope to see you there! 
I think AGS is counting on the fact that people will get tired of one faction dominating per server. Now the question for me is this: When that happens, do people go back to some other game or do they change faction and team up to fight the dominate one? I think AGS is banking on the latter but I am concerned about the former.
Depends on how quickly things go haywire… once one group gets the upper hand things begin getting wonky and the dear OTG letters start showing up on the forums from people leaving…