New World Open Beta - it’s going to be rough for SEA players
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The MMORPG New World open beta concluded and I was able to spend over 15 hours to really get a full idea of what many are getting into when the game officially launches on September 28. For the most part, my time with the game was mostly a positive experience thanks to it’s great gathering and crafting system, a thrilling combat system, and how each region in the game can be ruled by a single faction, giving bonuses to players under the same banner while weighing down others that chose a different path.
After thinking about it further, the potential is there and I hope that this becomes the next big thing in the MMORPG genre, but I think it would be best to avoid New World for now.
It all boils down to latency. As a player in the Philippines, before I went in to try out the open beta, I stayed optimistic that lag wouldn’t pose a big problem. I was aware that the game will not have Southeast Asia servers and the only option we have is to join the server closest to us, which is Australia. When I finally hit the beaches of Aeternum, I had a latency of 160 to 200 and it remained that way all weekend. Combat was difficult to the point that I had to avoid ranged weapons and keep the fights up close. But even in melee, it was hard to land hits as either the enemy or I would teleport around or rubber band in the most awkward moments.
[For added context - I have no issues with other multiplayer games nor did I have any internet problems during the open beta weekend. I’ve tested my speed and even tried other games to see if it’s a problem on my side. Nothing. ]
So why the optimism before the start of the beta? It stems from me being a veteran Guild Wars 2 player. To this day, I still on occasion log in to try out a few things since the next expansion End of Dragons is planned to release next year, and in that MMO I have a similar ping that can even go as high as 300. But I surprisingly didn’t have any issues playing either PvE, it’s massive world vs world engagements, or the arena-based PvP. I didn’t feel weighed down as I was able to maneuver and go against players in this MMORPG where positioning and movement are an essential part of finding success in the game. New World is similar in that regard, especially in PvP.
They are completely different games, yes, but they both don’t have Southeast Asia servers. I took a long shot of hopefully getting a similar experience. I was wrong. PvP is a major piece that makes New World so appealing to me and if I can’t hit anything and find myself constantly struggling, it’s best to not play for now.
I was looking forward to the game’s launch and I'm thankful the open beta happened when it did. This is an MMO that will cater more to those that prefer PvP and those that like to play a server’s economy. Amazon Games definitely has something special here.
The devs confirmed that New World will not have Southeast Asia servers or Asia servers at launch. This tells me that the success of the game boils down to those in the NA and EU regions, which will determine if expanding further to other regions is a possibility.
New World is available via Steam for PHP 829.95, a rather cheap entry for an MMORPG that will not have a monthly subscription. It’s a buy once, play forever kind of deal. It’s still playable as I did enjoy my time going around gathering resources and doing the sadly mundane PvE quests(they need to work on that), and I'm on board with what Amazon Games is developing. I just think it would be best to not jump on it right now. Maybe at a later date when it feels more friendly to players in my region as its current offer is a test of patience and endurance more than anything, at least to those in the Philippines.
