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I don't love New World yet. As a largely solo MMO player, I'm finding its early quests disappointingly grindy and repetitive. I know that's basically a staple of the genre, but I thought maybe this one would be different. Even so, I'm enjoying my time on the island of Aeternum, purely for the buzz. The last major MMORPG launch was The Elder Scrolls Online back in 2014, so the wild success of New World is perhaps 🐽unsurprising. As I write this, 330,000 people are playing it on Steam—with a daily peak of over ▨700,000. Only the unstoppable Dota 2 and Counter-Strike are ranked higher in terms of player volume.
This means that when you log into New World, it feels alive in a way I haven't felt in an MMORPG for years. The chat for the starting area is an endless, lively scroll, with players sharing tips, making small talk, and some announcing that it's their first MMO—which is met with a wave of welcoming positivity. I haven't seen a single jerk yet, which really is remarkable for an online game. Of course, your mileage may vary. I might have just been lucky and picked a server with an unusually low number of assholes. Even though I prefer solo questing in MMOs, I still like the world I'm in to feel alive, and New World is positively bustling.
Playing MMOs at launch is always an exciting time. I have fond memories of running around crowded starting areas like Korriban in Star Wars: The Old Republic, or Guild Wars 2's Shiverpeak Mountains. It's a singular moment in time for an MMO, when pretty much everyone is on a level playing field, figuring the game out together, and just as clueless as everyone else. The dreary cynicism that inevitably seeps into these games has yet to manifest itself. This will happen eventually. Give it a few years (if New World lasts that long) and the chat will be full of miserable veterans scoffing at your basic questions. But for now, it's lovely.
I played Guild Wars 2 last year, attempting to replicate the thrill of my first year, and it was deeply depressing. I've always considered it to be one of the best examples of the genre. But while it was still the same game, all the life had been sucked out of it. It felt like returning to the town where you grew up to find everyone you know has moved away and your house has been demolished. This actually happened to me. When a world boss appeared (in Guild Wars, not in my hometown), I'd sprint over and it'd be me and three other people—a far cry from the huge crowds I'd find myself fighting alongside at launch.
I know this is all part of the natural life cycle of an MMORPG. But it was a stark reminder that these games are defined by the number of people playing them. People logging into New World right now are having an experience no one else who plays the game in the future will ever have. I think that's why playing it, even though it's ultimately pretty average, is more exciting than it should be. It feels like being a part of something. I doubt this game will ever be held up as a shining example of the genre, but at this precise moment in time it's filling an MMO-shaped gap that has been lying empty for far too long. Could we be witnessing the beginning of a renaissance for the genre? If New World's player count is anything to go by, there's certainly an audience for it.
