In an interview, the developers tell us why the current level cap of New World will not be increased – an untypical decision for an MMO.
New World is just around the corner – for real this time. After several release postponements, Amazon’s MMO will finally open its doors on 28 September 2021. At the beginning, the maximum level will be 60 – and that won’t change any time soon, as the developers reveal to us in an interview.
“We won’t be raising the level cap for a long time “
We talked to the developers about crafting, endgame and leveling. And when asked if the maximum level will be increased over time, as is common in other MMORPGs, they said:
“We won’t be increasing the level cap for a long time. There are still a lot of ways players can make their characters stronger after max level: Gear Search, Crafting, Housing and PvP. We’ll probably introduce new gear over time that we hope will interest players and shake up the meta a bit.”
For an MMORPG, this is an unusual decision. For comparison, World of Warcraft started at max level 60 and then gradually increased with each addon up to level 120. Shadowlands introduced level squish, which made level 120 level 50 – and the new max level was again 60. Final Fantasy 14 started with max level 50 and will be at 90 with the current expansion Endwalker.
Curse or blessing?
Is this a good decision? On the one hand, a higher maximum level means more content, of course. But on the other hand, many PvP players view regular level cap increases very critically – if they are suddenly forced to level again in the middle of Engame PvP.
The 10 new master levels in Dark Age of Camelot: Trials of Atlantis, for example, were so unpopular with PvP players that a very special offer was found on the Kickstarter page for Camelot Unchained. For $10,000, backers can throw a fruit cake at game designer Mark Jacobs and shout the words “AOT DEKCUS” (TOA SUCKED).
