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[Music]
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[Applause]
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Hi everybody. Welcome to the Forged
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Inernum episode on community Q&A. Uh
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this is where the developers get
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questions from you, our community, and
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we answer a bunch of them. Um so I have
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with me Dan and Joel. And without
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further ado, Chuck, give us the
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questions. So Katie, where is Scott
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Lane?
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Yes, the age-old question. Um, so the I
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have actually taken over New World and I
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am leading it along with a new
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leadership team which includes Dan as
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our creative director. Joel is our
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product owner for seasons and
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progression. So they'll be answering
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some of the questions to me today and
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there's a few other folks um that have
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taken over some leadership roles. Uh
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very excited for that. We're the ones
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that brought you the living road map.
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Um, and that is our vision for what we
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see for New World Aternum looking ahead.
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So that's where we see the next season,
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the things that are definitely coming to
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you within the next couple months. Um,
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and then we have the things that we
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currently have in development because we
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want to be transparent with you about
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what we currently are working on. And
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then things that are in exploration.
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Those are the things that we're really
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excited about. They're things that we're
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talking about. We're coming up with some
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initial designs, maybe a little bit of
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prototyping, maybe just conversations
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around it, seeing if we should do it.
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Um, but yeah, so so that that was us and
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we're really excited. Um, and as far as
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where Scott is, he has moved to another
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adventure within Amazon Games. Will
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there be additional ways to obtain the
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new craft mods added? The current lack
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of alternative methods to obtain them
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beyond aptitude boxes has caused them to
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be priced astronomically high compared
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to anything a normal craft mod is priced
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at. So, that one's me. Um, so we are
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currently looking and heavily focused on
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the progression team on in-game rewards.
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Uh, one of those things is how gear
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interacts with the player and really
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encouraging players to chase and want to
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build sets of gear. uh that they
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interact with our gear in a unique way
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to be able to build something or build
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out different loadouts, different
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gameplay styles. Uh you're seeing us
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experiment with some of those things
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like artifacts already in the past and
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we want to emulate more of that type of
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feeling. As for the perk items, that's
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something that we're heavily looking at
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across the board. Uh you should see
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something in the next few seasons that
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is going to address this and it's just
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our first step in really building that
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system out. There are a lot of
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archetypes possible in this game with
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all the different weapons, but I don't
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see a weapon designed for assassination.
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Is this something that could be in the
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game one day with how the game works? I
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know a lot of people, including me, are
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waiting for this. Yeah, I mean, as far
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as if there could be something specific
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to this, a weapon in the future, yeah,
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definitely. It's something that we talk
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about pretty often. Uh, we did announce
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that we are working on a new weapon. Um,
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and while we don't have too much to give
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right now as far as what uh what the
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weapon is and what it's going to do, I
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know that we've tossed around words like
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rogike, like stealth. Um, not that these
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are specific to that upcoming weapon,
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but it is something that we are also
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very interested in. So, um, I very much
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enjoy sneaking up on other players
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whenever possible and dealing a lot of
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damage when I can. Gorgonite weapon
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schematics. When? Season 9.
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Yes, there you have it, folks. When will
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we see new events that are not copy and
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paste every year? Uh, so that one is me
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again. Um, so events are definitely
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something that we find to be very
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important, but right now, and you'll see
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a consistent trend, I think, as I
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already answered a question about this,
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ultimately we really want to focus first
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and foremost with our group on the
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in-game rewards and the in-game
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day-to-day content. Uh that doesn't mean
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that we're going to stop with events. We
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already are adding new gear and rewards
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and we'll keep updating those for the
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foreseeable future. But before we focus
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on the the minute-to-minute gameplay of
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those, we really want to focus on the
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day-to-day gameplay across the entire
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in-game spectrum of the game. So that is
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priority number one for the progression
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group before we start to look at uh
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seasonal events and making sure that
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those get a a new fresh paint of coat.
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Just next year. No, leave that in. Yeah.
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Yeah, we should. That was fun. Um but uh
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that doesn't mean that they will be we
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will always have new rewards for them.
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We're not going to abandon that part,
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but we really want to focus on the
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endgame first. Yeah, I think that that's
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that's really the takeaway there is
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that, you know, we do know and believe
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that the in-game events are absolutely
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important, but where we're focusing
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right now is on the endame. Yeah.
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Players who were not able to log into
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the last week of the PVP server were not
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able to receive their reward. Is there
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going to be a remedy for this? There was
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a couple issues and we're going to make
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sure that the players that missed out on
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some of their items got it. If you feel
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like you are not getting the item or if
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you feel like you missed that
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opportunity, feel free to reach out to
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our customer service and we can
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definitely look at that on a case- by
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case basis. We just have to validate if
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you actually earned it or if there was
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an issue on our side and we'll
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absolutely get that for you. Can we ever
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expect to see more frequent weapon
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balancing? OP setups are running seasons
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at a time. Uh so right now our combat
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balance cadence is we do our massive uh
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package of balance changes on a seasonal
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basis and then we do spot checks
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throughout the season. Uh some notable
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examples of that from recent past would
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be like the burninator issue or the
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elemental band issue before that. Um we
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are actively in recurring conversations
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on a week-to-eek basis to talk about
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combat balance. It is critical um in
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terms of a a cadence. It's basically
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what we have now. But we are we are
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going to continue to monitor and make
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sure that uh the the metas that we
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introduce with our new artifacts and
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perks kind of stay under control. We
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like we like artifacts and perks. We
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like that we're constantly changing up
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the game. We know that that's a downside
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of that approach, but we think it's
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worth it. Yeah. And the other piece of
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this is we have these previews for new
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game modes and we want to make sure that
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when we make these meta changes or when
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we make these adjustments that are are
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going to change power in the world, we
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also want to make sure that it's still
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fun and exciting for those game modes.
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So, I will say that while we we want to
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update very frequently to make sure that
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we're addressing the community's biggest
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concerns, this is also something where
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we want to make sure that we're getting
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all of the data in order to make the
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best decision. And that includes after
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our previews have ended. But wait,
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there's
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more. So, with a lot of the overhaul
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that we're doing for gear, there's also
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going to be a very large meta shift uh
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in the next uh couple seasons. So,
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that's also going to take some time to
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stabilize. We don't want to make drastic
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changes, but we will absolutely, as Dan
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said, making adjustments on high uh
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impact items such as, like you said, the
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burnator and the elemental band, but
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there's going to be a very large meta
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shift, and we're going to want to wait
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to see how that plays out as players
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learn it when we do those big updates
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for rewards. We think it's going to be
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very good for content overall, though.
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The season 8 countdown timer in the pass
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rewards section says 56 days left till
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the end of the season. Does that mean
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season 9 will begin in July? That is an
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incorrect number of days. Um, so that
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was that was a bug and it's going to be
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fixed. Can you comment on the decision
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to make Expeditions Unleashed active
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only one week per month? It initially
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sounded like this was going to be a
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permanent addition to the game, which
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was very encouraging given the
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community's desire for new daily
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content. Yeah. So, obviously, what we
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have now is a starting point. Uh we have
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the we have five bosses in and we're
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going to rotate them, but we also needed
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to make sure that we had a pretty
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organized live content schedule for
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season 8. Um, but you know, we totally
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reserve the right to watch, see what see
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what happens, maybe change up the
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cadence, which we can do uh pretty in
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real time. The foundation is built and
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that's something we're absolutely going
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to look at exploring. And I think that
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there's a lot of room for us to grow
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this type of content depending on player
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reception, but this is just the first
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stab. This is us really taking a look at
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these bosses and seeing what makes them
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fun, what makes them tick, and are these
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the right rewards. Absolutely is
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something we can address in the future.
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said, we want to make sure that we have
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um the scheduling accurate, that
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everything is working as intended. And
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as Dan, you mentioned, this is all
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configurable. We can move them so that
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they're happening more frequently. So,
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that's something that we wanted to make
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sure that we had the ability to do
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because we feel strongly that we'll want
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to make those adjustments. So, that is a
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conversation that we are actually
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having. Can we expect a territory
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standing rework? There's a lot that we
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would like to do. There's a lot of
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different ideas on the table, but where
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where we've landed with it is uh I think
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that the the the first step that makes
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the most sense is to focus on pickup
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wars as a feature. Uh because the the
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biggest problem with the territory
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system is that there's not enough war to
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go around. There's not enough content
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there. Get more people into wars. Yeah.
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And then so if we figure if we if we get
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pickup wars out, not only does it start
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address that problem the most directly
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uh but it also gives companies uh a way
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to practice wars whenever they want,
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spin up wars whenever they want and try
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out new fighters whenever they want. A
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really effective way. So that's the
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first step in terms of what we do with
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the territory system. And then once
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that's out, we'll have a look at the
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actual like open world territory system
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for guilds. Yeah. And one thing that has
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remained in the backlog and again in
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full transparency it's not something
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that we have planned but I know that you
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know it's something that I have wanted
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and it's something that I know players
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have talked about but you know timing
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wise um development planning wise it
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just doesn't make sense right now um
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from just a production standpoint is the
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card system. So like updating that card
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system so we can go back and change
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where we put all of our territory
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standing points and all that. So that's
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something that I know would be really
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interesting and it would give us this
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different um different dynamic for how
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we kind of manage and manipulate the way
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that our character lives in the world.
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Um but again that's that's not something
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that we are actively working on, but it
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is something that's in the backlog. It's
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one of the ones that we've we've
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actually looked into in the past and
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it's it's uh it's just more expensive
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than it needs to be. expensive than you
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think it would be. Um, and yeah, it's
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it's another question kind of looked
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like it was about Q stuff, but like it's
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it's it's in general um like we kind of
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have to like you know go step by step.
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So in terms of Q, the next big thing
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we're going to do is the global storage
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changes. Yeah. Um that's like I mean
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100% of players like deal with that pain
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every day. So it's like we got to work
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our way down the list in order. Can you
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clarify whether selling carries is
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permitted under the TOS and more broadly
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whether this aligns to your intent for
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how the game should be played? Yeah, so
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selling carries is not our intention for
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how this you know how it should work
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that you can sell a carry for the raid
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or mutations. Um but that's that's kind
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of part and parcel for an MMO that that
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does happen in that ecosystem. Um, but
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what we're looking at instead is how to
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make it easier for people to join uh
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those those that those different pieces
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of content. How do we get you into a
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raid so that you don't have to purchase
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a carry so that you can join other
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people. Um, so that's actually what
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we're looking into is looking for raid,
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looking for group and making that a more
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streamlined process to get more folks
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in. Yeah, I believe the the living road
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map has uh raid difficulties on there
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and that's something that we're very
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passionate passionate about. We want to
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make sure that all players get a chance
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to get into this content, not just an
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elite few. It's not as fun when you're
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getting dragged through versus actually
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accomplishing that with either peers or
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uh a feeling where your group is
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actually being challenged. And we want
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to make sure that we get that for all
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types of players. Why isn't there more
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variety and better-l looking transmogs,
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like actual cute girly ones? Uh, you
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know, we've actually been talking about
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that recently and uh there are uh some
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new offerings that are in the pipe for
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the summer which are pretty cool. Y can
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you make worm armor craftable? That is
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something that we are looking at as a
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whole. We are looking at overhauling all
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of in-game rewards, especially for
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in-game pinnacle content. You should see
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a change there in the next couple of
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seasons. Stay tuned. We definitely have
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big plans. Please tell us something
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about Umbreal V2 or how future gearing
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will be done. Content gearing relies too
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much on the hoplight gear. Uh Umbrell is
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something that we are very passionate
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about. I think that the old system had
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flaws and the dark matter system also
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has its own flaws. Uh we are heavily
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looking at taking some of those lessons
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between both of those systems. We want
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to make it more systemic. We want to
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make sure that it's much easier to use.
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We also want to make sure that Umbrell
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as a whole is spread out more. So you
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have different ways to get it across
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different content. One of the failures
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of the first Umbreal system is most of
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it was in not all of it but most of it
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was in expeditions and those players
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ended up with thousands of it and that's
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the other thing we don't want to end up
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with a player just sitting on stacks of
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it. So it's a worthless currency. So we
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are actually looking at the new version
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of Umbreal becoming a literal currency
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versus an item. I think that's one of
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the things that we'll go into in the
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future. Um, beyond that, we also want to
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make sure it feels like it is a uh a
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very direct goal for you on a week-
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toeek cadence where I know exactly I can
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go to these five places, I can get some
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amount of Umbrell. It feels valuable. It
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feels like it's uh valuing my time. Um,
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and that I always know that the gear
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that I'm getting post that update will
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be usable with Umbrell. It'll be
00:13:32
systemic. It doesn't matter. It doesn't
00:13:34
have to be a specific named item or a
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specific artifact. Everything at that
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gear score level that we defined with
00:13:39
the new system will be something that
00:13:41
you can level up. Yeah, we've like we've
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got like um you know like a crazy
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conspiracy map of all the endgame
00:13:48
content in the game and we've like kind
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of crafted our big strategy around like
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how do we make it all matter? Umbrells
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is key to that. Yes. Will console only
00:13:56
characters ever be given the chance to
00:13:58
swap over to crossplay in any form? So,
00:14:02
I am going to assume that this question
00:14:04
is asking if you're a console player on
00:14:06
a console only world, are you going to
00:14:08
be able to go to a crossplay world
00:14:10
within your region? That is something
00:14:12
that we are actively working on and
00:14:14
targeting season 9 for when you will be
00:14:16
able to do that. Yeah, but if you mean
00:14:18
cross progression, that's that's
00:14:20
different. Yeah. Your account doesn't
00:14:22
transfer from a console to a PC. Those
00:14:24
are separate. Yeah. And that's not some
00:14:26
so we are if it's talking about a
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console only world to a crossplay world
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to play with PC players um on a more
00:14:34
populated world then that is something
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that is in the works. Uh if it is cross
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progression that you're asking about
00:14:40
that is not something that we are
00:14:41
working on. Any news on invasions?
00:14:44
Anything? Buler. Buler. Like I was
00:14:48
saying before, um, pickup war in terms
00:14:50
of, uh, that that specific part of
00:14:53
instanced content, Pickup War is our top
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priority. Uh, we we started prototyping
00:14:58
and designing out what we were going to
00:15:00
do with Casual Invasions. And, uh, it's
00:15:03
it's a really it's a cool design. It's
00:15:05
going to really freshen freshen it up as
00:15:07
well as make it uh, more uh, accessible
00:15:09
to more players. uh it'll be like you
00:15:11
know on the pug system. Um but the you
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know we had to decide one or the other.
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So we decided pickup war for right now.
00:15:18
PvE players will have tons coming soon.
00:15:22
Um but for but it's the order of
00:15:25
operations there is pickup war and then
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we'll come back to that. What kind of
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investments for P PVP are you making and
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what data did you get from the first PVP
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server? If there's another what are your
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plans for addressing the that data and
00:15:36
do you see a long-term opportunity for a
00:15:38
PVP server? So, we got a lot of data
00:15:41
around the seasonal server, and you're
00:15:42
going to see this with the second
00:15:43
seasonal server. Uh, one of the first
00:15:45
things that we knew going into it, but
00:15:47
uh, we were able to address a little bit
00:15:48
better in the second server. We want to
00:15:50
make these feel more like events, almost
00:15:51
like a game mode. We want to be able to
00:15:53
break the rules in a way that would
00:15:54
potentially be detrimental to the main
00:15:56
game, but we do want to make sure that
00:15:58
they are isolated and not splitting the
00:16:00
player base so much. So, the second
00:16:02
seasonal server is going to be a much
00:16:03
smaller time span. It's much more
00:16:04
expedited. We did kind of a fun silly
00:16:07
quest with Alstrom that just gets you
00:16:08
through. I think it's like two to four
00:16:10
hours. A slower player might take six,
00:16:12
but a really good player that knows how
00:16:14
to go farm things is going to be very
00:16:15
quick. Slower players are not inherently
00:16:18
bad.
00:16:21
I I I am a farmer, but I'm also a troll
00:16:24
and a PvP ganker. So, yes. Um, but um I
00:16:29
think that those are the biggest lessons
00:16:30
we learned. We really want to make sure
00:16:32
that these feel like fun game modeesque
00:16:35
experiences. Uh beyond that as a PvP
00:16:37
server as a whole, it's something that
00:16:38
we do want to revisit in the future.
00:16:40
It's not currently in front of us, but
00:16:42
it is something that we feel we learned
00:16:44
a lot from ethereal gear and conquerors
00:16:46
gear and we want to experiment with that
00:16:48
and I think there's a lot of things we
00:16:49
can do both in a seasonal capacity or in
00:16:52
potentially live services as something
00:16:54
that exists for the normal prime worlds.
00:16:57
Great. And then we're also um while we
00:17:00
talk about PvP, that's one of our
00:17:02
focuses when we come to the game modes.
00:17:04
So the PVP game modes are something that
00:17:06
we are absolutely uh investing in and
00:17:09
something that we want to keep doing. We
00:17:11
have another preview for Capture the
00:17:12
Flag coming out. We also have the um
00:17:15
Barebones OPR happening. So there's a
00:17:18
lot of fun stuff happening in addition
00:17:19
to the PvP server. And so we're we're
00:17:22
gathering a lot of information from
00:17:24
what's fun for you. Um, and then also
00:17:27
looking at what that looks like on our
00:17:29
end for the future, right? Is this
00:17:30
something that we can implement again
00:17:32
and you guys will feel rewarded when we
00:17:34
do that or is this something where we
00:17:36
need to put our focus elsewhere. Um, so
00:17:38
make sure that you participate in those
00:17:39
preview weekends because it really helps
00:17:41
us and in the seasonal server because it
00:17:43
really helps us figure out what you want
00:17:44
to do. Yeah. So, thank you for joining
00:17:46
us for this uh community Q&A forged in a
00:17:49
tournum. If you liked what you saw, make
00:17:51
sure to like and subscribe. We
00:17:53
appreciate your time. Uh, normally we
00:17:55
don't do a community question with these
00:17:57
ones, but I'm going to do one anyways.
00:17:59
Um, looking ahead, knowing all the
00:18:01
topics that we covered today, any that
00:18:03
we missed or that we covered in a
00:18:04
Discord Q&A recently, what's another
00:18:07
Forged in a tournum episode that you
00:18:08
want to see? Thank you so much, and
00:18:10
we'll see you in a tournum.
00:18:12
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