Amazon’s MMO New World is still doing its best to recover from its somewhat troubled launch, with the development team doggedly fixing bugs and putting out fires. The game’s February 2022 update has been referred to in-house as the “bugs, bots, and balance” update, according to an hour-long development update video and blog post.
Highlights that fans can look forward to include numerous bug fixes — amounting to over 700 fixes according to lead QA Greg Jones — and developers roaming the game in person as part of the team’s “bot-bash” initiative. One of the bigger issues that has apparently been addressed this month is the question of “player friction,” which creative director David Verfaillie and game director Scot Lane admitted has been something of a problem. Solutions they plan to offer include reducing the cost of fast travel and recovery time at inns. As player experience lead Dave Hall puts it: “You’re going to be able to move around the world really freely, it’s going to be great.”
Another focus of the update has been improvements to player movement, which many players have reportedly described as “clunky.” The developers have tweaked jumping mechanics a bit and eliminated slowdown in melee attacks which, they hope, will improve the feel of combat and movement.
