New World's: A New MMO's Social Again

When I was playing the New World Public Beta late last month, one of the weird things I noticed while playing the game was the social aspect of the MMO. While there is always a world or region chat in many other MMOs and hotspots like Jita in EVE or Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantasy 14 are always alive, there is nothing more social than New World. What is the reason for the chat fever?

Obviously, they cannot be avoided in life and in the New World. The setting of tax rates in settlements was a key factor in gaining control in previous wars. The owners of the settlements can adjust the tax rates for housing fees, sales and production fees, etc. If you set your taxes too high, you could be targeted by a rival faction trying to overtake you. If you set it too low, you will attract more settlers but make less money from it. As in real life, there is a difficult balance to strike with taxes.

It is interesting that when factions took over settlements for the first time in the beta phase, the discussion in the faction chat was very lively. "What's our goal? How are we going to rid Brightwood of these pesky looters? Man, the marauders are terrible and the taxes are too high!" It felt like the in-game chat itself was involved in the actual game, and not just the hustle and bustle of the New World Coins farmers and outside of the game.

For weeks it seemed like the game was being talked about every time I looked into the chat. Not only that, not only was there talk of the beta itself, but the faction chat was very lively, with players coordinating and organizing counterattacks and war strategies for the upcoming battles at Brightwood and Windsward. People get involved in PvP in a way that the developers clearly envisioned - organically and on purpose. That's not just because fighting other people in a video game is an interesting mechanic in most games. There is a real purpose that affects not just individual players but entire groups of players. In addition to prestige, there is an incentive to win these fights. This is important for anyone engaging in a social game.

I'm not sure how long this will last after the new world is fully introduced. I'm not sure if we'll see faction-wide coordination like we saw in beta, or if it will fail and only be included in the new world version of Guilds, Inc. I hope that every time I log into the new world after its release, there will be a discussion about taxing another province that we specifically do not own. I hope that there will always be discussions about the companies that will call for reconciliation after the group wins the upcoming war - and how our group’s companies will work together to protect each other's provinces. I hope that over time this social game doesn't wear off but grows and remains an absolute leader in multiplayer for MMOs.

It's a new world after all, and it would be great to bring a little social gaming back to the genre.