Maybe I’m getting old (or just slower) but it wasn’t New World’s rather thrilling and actually challenging combat that kept me coming back for more - it was poking around at bushes and boulders that did it for me. Because of all this, exploring the world of New World is incredibly distracting. You’ll start heading towards a quest location then realise there are a bunch of boulders nearby that you could hack away at, gain some resources, then pick up some experience along the way. Once you stop, you realise there’s a copse nearby - ohh, plenty of trees to chop down! Then there are herbs, a small pond to collect some water. Wait, what was I doing? Ohh yeah, that quest. Anyway, I think I saw an interesting source of ore nearby. As someone who likes to feel like they’ve found ’everything’ (don’t let me near Minecraft), New World is a never-ending supply of distractions. And you know what? It’s incredibly relaxing because of it. So I don’t care about the quests or particularly about levelling up either. I hear there are some amazingly vast battles within the community, but I’ve got some herbs to collect. Once I’ve had my fill of tree chopping and mining, I can head back to town. Town can take a while to head back to. New World doesn’t currently offer mounts to jump on the back of, and fast travel options are limited. I quite like that. It gives you more time to take in the world and - you guessed it - smell and pick the flowers as you go. It’s far too serene for a game that also offers some great combat. Once I reach town, it’s possible to craft all sorts of things. Starting out, iron crafting tools is a good place to begin, with more options developing the more you do. Again, I have little aim here even though there are a wealth of crafting options. I just like the sense of satisfaction that I’ve created something. Anything gives me that rush. Once done, I’ll head back out and it’ll take me three trillion hours to reach a quest location because I’m like a magpie distracted by shiny things, but my shiny things are literally everything. New World is like a more mature version of Animal Crossing in that way as there’s always something different to do. I never really got into Nintendo’s game, but I’m desperate for a mainstream MMO where I can just be a craftsperson who bumbles around rather than feels obliged to attack anything. Someone who sets up a stall like at a church craft fair, keen to capture passing trade, rather than having to use the relevant game chat channels to advertise wares. For now, New World scratches that itch simply because I can roam and do my own thing while still feeling like I’m making gains.
