New World enjoyers explain why they prefer Amazon’s MMO to WoW and FFXIV

The landscape of MMOs that gamers can sink their teeth into is pretty rich these days, with titles like World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV giving players hundreds of hours worth of content to play through. Outside of the genre’s two top games, though, Amazon Games’ New World is tailing right behind, especially after the release of the game’s latest expansion, Rise of the Angry Earth.

Despite New World’s rough start two years ago, players have remained loyal, and even now, New World fans attest that it’s a more enjoyable game in comparison to MMO classics like WoW and Final Fantasy. In a thread posted on the New World subreddit earlier today, fans of the game explained why they believe it’s a better option despite not having the same level of prestige. 

For many New World players, the major difference between that game and other MMOs on the market is New World’s far-different approach to combat. Among the majority of players who said they prefer New World to other MMOs, combat was cited as a major reason why. The necessity to actually aim your abilities, place your cursor on a target, and treat it like you would a shooter or single-player game is extremely different for an MMO. 

“As someone who has played World of Warcraft PvP for years, WoW’s and FFXIVs combat systems are just absolute dogshit,” a New World player on Reddit named Valvador said. “FFXIV’s by far the worst. The one upside to WoW is that the lack of physics in the game makes combat more predictable, but it’s still boring. The games know this, which is why outside of WoW Classic the average damage rotation is a piano dissertation.”

New World players concurred that combat doesn’t feel like a chore and is actually relatively engaging when compared to other MMOs. Fighting a random mob on the street is actually worth your time in New World, especially when the prospect of gaining experience toward a new skill for your weapon is always on the table. 

“It’s the ONLY MMO out right now that doesn’t have garbage combat to me,” another player named JeffSantos07 said. “Just preference of course, some people loooove [Black Desert Online’s] combat and I hate it. New World is combat perfection, closest thing to TERA.”

While combat in other MMOs like WoW is all about your class’ rotation and timing windows, New World puts an emphasis on landing your abilities and making the most of your auto attacks and blocks. Only having three active skills available to you at a time is something that any WoW veteran would be stunned by, especially considering every class and spec in that game has at least a dozen abilities they have to keep up with at all times. 

Beyond the game’s approach to combat, New World fans also cited the game’s solid graphics, rich gathering mechanics, and lack of a monthly subscription as reasons why they enjoy it compared to other MMOs. New World, plus its latest expansion, is available as a bundle for a one-time purchase of $69.98, with no monthly subscription needed afterward.