By now, you will have heard the news, and I’ve already posted lengthy thoughts on the matter at Massively Overpowered, but I felt like I should say something here, as well.

I feel a vague sense of regret that almost all of my writing on New World has been on a site someone else owns. Of course, there are good reasons for that. Posting on Massively gets a lot more attention, and obviously I get paid for it. But this blog was a mostly complete record of my gaming exploits for a long time, and there’s now a gaping hole in that record. New World was my main game for several years, but I’ve hardly talked about it here.

Like I said at Massively, I did feel like something like this was coming after how mishandled the Aeternum relaunch was. I didn’t think it would come this soon or suddenly, but I was somewhat mentally prepared. It still sucks, though.

For now, I’m still playing. The population has dropped precipitously, but there’s still enough people around to do Myrk runs, buy most things from the trading post, and so forth.

I must confess I’m confused by the exodus. I can understand being a bit less motivated to grind in a game when a game has an impending expiry date, but I don’t understand the impulse to completely drop a game you were having fun with just because it got put in maintenance mode. At least wait until you’re bored with the current content.

We all understand MMOs are temporary, yes? New World’s end might be sooner than others’, but this stuff was never meant to be forever. Even if a shut down is not coming any time soon, they usually find other ways to make your accomplishments transient. People will grind their faces off for a single upgrade in World of Warcraft fully knowing that item is going to be vendor trash in three months or less, but they won’t play New World now that we know it won’t be getting more patches? I don’t get it.

My priorities have shifted a bit. I’m less concerned with my item level (never the biggest priority for me), but there’s still lots for me to do. This news was so sudden I hadn’t even unlocked all the fast travel points for the new zone when it first dropped.

My goal is mostly just to check off items on my New World bucket list so I can have no regrets when the true end finally comes. I’m finishing up the Nighthaven side quests on my main, exploring the Reekwater revamp, and getting my Covie alt to 70 while leveling her dagger skill. Planning to do some lore hunting at some point.

It was really exciting to see them drop a whole bunch of new content with no warning. It is all a bit janky because it was probably intended for the next season and clearly wasn’t fully finished, but it’s still a great gesture by the remaining devs (and further proof the shutdown was a last minute decision by Amazon execs rather than the result of the game running out of money).

Daggers probably aren’t going to be my new favourite weapon, but it is still nice to have a new toy to play with. I enjoy their absurd attack speed, but it is an extreme glass cannon build. Still getting the hang of it.

Despite my griping over it when it first arrived, I’ve also decided I do want a house in Edengrove after all, so I’m grinding gold and reputation for that. Unfortunately I depleted much of my gold reserves buying perk charms in the early days of the patch.

I might also use up my Covie’s remaining house slot, as well, but I haven’t decided where yet. Might just see what zones she has good rep in.

I’ve been in the habit of taking a lot of screenshots for many years now, but I’m increasingly also capturing video clips, as well. I really want to have some remembrance of the full experience of the game, especially since the sound design is so much of what makes New World special.

What sucks most about this is that there just isn’t another game quite like New World. Most other major MMOs are much more dated, and nothing else feels as good to play. I’m hoping Aion 2 will be good, but I worry I’m overhyping myself, and even if I’m not, I don’t think it’s going to quite fill the gap left behind by New World.

Well, for now, the game is still there, and I aim to enjoy it while I can.