Shroud explains why New World will succeed where WoW is failing

Shroud believes Amazon’s upcoming MMO game, New World, has every chance to overtake genre giants like World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy, and Elder Scrolls Online for one reason ⁠— it’s “designed for people who don’t like MMOs”.New World is all the rage in gaming right now.The bold new open-world MMORPG ⁠— a debut title from Amazon Games Studios ⁠— sees players arrive on “Aeternum” to seek fame, glory, and riches, slay monsters, and explore the mysteries of a huge fantasy island in the 17th century.It’s a tough ask for any gaming studio to take MMO giants like World of Warcraft, Elder Scrolls Online, and explosive hit-of-the-month Final Fantasy XIV Online but that’s exactly what Amazon is attempting with New World, and star Twitch streamer Shroud thinks they have a good chance to pull it off too.

There’s one reason for that, Shroud says ⁠— while WoW, FFXIV, and ESO are built for competitive MMO fans, New World has something different. When the title drops in August, he believes it will actually win over casual fans. “It’s got that unique something,” the Twitch star explained. “New World is a pretty unique MMO; it’s not your traditional experience. In other games, you have these huge skill bars, [but here] it’s slow, methodical action combat. One thing this game does a great job of is using gameplay to be different to traditional MMOs. “Gamers who don’t like MMOs would actually like this game. “People have played survival games, adventure games, but MMO titles are daunting. This game already does a good job hitting that casual audience.” Drawing in casual players has always been a major thorn in Blizzard’s side when it comes to WoW, so to focus on non-MMO fans is a “big win,” he continued. That’s not to say Shroud thinks New World will turn away long-term MMO players either; World of Warcraft is suffering a mass exodus ⁠— in part due to allegations leveled at Blizzard ⁠— and Amazon’s RPG could be the perfect next game. The game works just as well for the genre’s hardcore fans too, he said: “You can just sit there, farm trees, farm nodes, craft and craft, and fish and fish. You don’t even really need to kill anything. Everyone has their own unique way to play. It’s even got really fun PVP, from what I’ve seen so far. It’s different; like a fighting game.”

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The game’s key elements have been balanced well, the Twitch star added, between “sweaty” MMO gamers and the casual fanbase New World will build too.The related segment begins at 13:36 in Shroud’s video below.

Shroud says he’s enjoyed New World so far, but even he has found a loose string to pull at early on in his beta playthrough; before the game goes live, the Twitch star thinks Amazon should add a few more “varied” level-locked zones.“It would be cool if, in every zone, there were more recommended level-locked places, rather than every zone following a Level 6, Level 9, Level 12 formula,” he said. “Right now when you play it feels like there’s so many people in the same place, all the time. Maybe it’s hard, cause it’s so close to launch, but I’d like to see that change, if it’s possible.”

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Overall, however, Shroud admits he’s going to play more New World, even when his sponsored streams end: “Yeah, I’m pumping hours into this on release.”