[img]https://images.ctfassets.net/j95d1p8hsuun/4QmovbT5HPSd8r9V5UP1nv/05d6a71eeaf5813e2f9146e320b76b35/EN_NW_FebMay24-Roadmap_1920x1080_CT-003102.jpg[/img] Greetings, Adventurers! Happy holidays and season’s greetings to everyone. As we put a bow on 2023, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the past year and look ahead to what’s next. This year, New World celebrated its second birthday. It has been an amazing journey building this game together with you, thanks to your continued feedback and enthusiasm, but the journey is far from over. There is more we want to improve upon and even more we want to add. This year we introduced Seasons, a dependable cadence of major content drops, each with new reasons to revisit Aeternum like the seasonal progression system and Reward Track. I especially enjoyed chasing Materia to gear up faster in Season 3, plus the fun banter between Zander and Dog as you meet the Silver Crows. It has been a nice break from the more serious tone of the main story. [previewyoutube=hhHUIsR6MWg;full][/previewyoutube] We also launched our first paid expansion, Rise of the Angry Earth. The take over of First Light and conversion to Elysian Wilds featured a new chapter in the story of the Eternal Isle, a variety of new enemies, and unique points of interest. The expansion also introduced one of our most highly requested features, mounts. Our mount fidelity, animation, and control all came together to deliver a wonderful mount experience that we will continue to build on in future updates. In addition, Artifacts, the Gear Score increase, and the revamped gear system have all improved and streamlined the end-game experience. Our latest season, Eternal Frost, just went live. We’re excited for players to experience some of our best stories and quests yet. I personally love the chess quest. Beyond the seasonal narrative, players can finally confront Ser Loth from the Empyrean Forge storyline in the new Glacial Tarn Expedition. There are also new Artifacts that will shake up the meta and give our build theory-crafters hours of fun. Lastly, the Winter Convergence Festival is probably Whisker’s and my favorite event of the year. Based on your feedback, we’ve really pushed the new rewards to be as satisfying as the event. [previewyoutube=-lD1GqfK-B8;full][/previewyoutube] Live games are always growing and changing. With that we sometimes introduce errors. We’ve done our best to be as responsive and communicative as possible when that does happen. But we know there is more work to do. We want to shift more of our focus toward bug and performance improvements to make New World an even more desirable experience for every type of Adventurer. Thank you all again for being a part of our community and choosing to spend your time adventuring with us in Aeternum. We’re committed to continuing this journey, listening, and improving the game. Happy Holidays! Scot Lane, Game Director [h2]2023 YEAR IN REVIEW[/h2] [img]https://images.ctfassets.net/j95d1p8hsuun/4obYoBo7LEczSaa318xB0Z/b2fc113a7b4d3a95da873caa642777c9/NW-ROTAE-Infographic-3840x2160-v12132023b.jpg[/img] [i]Check out some notable stats from this year. Data taken from January 1, 2023 through November 28, 2023.[/i] [h3]SEASONS[/h3] [list] [*] Total Seasonal Challenges completed: 1,094,841 [*] Total Stamps used: 1,157,468 [*] Total times Mounts fed: 3,329,294 [/list] [h3]EXPEDITIONS[/h3] [list] [*] Deadliest Expedition Boss: On March 26, 2023, Alluvium Marl, the Caretaker, from Garden of Genesis eliminated 188 players in a single Expedition instance [*] Overall in 2023, Alluvium Marl, the Caretaker eliminated 3,122,854 players, followed by Commander Marius from Empyrean Forge with 1,223,672 player kills. [*] Total Expedition runs: 5,887,977 [*] Most popular Expedition: Garden of Genesis with 1,825,590 runs [/list] [h3]MOST CONTESTED SETTLEMENT [/h3][b]Invasions:[/b] [list] [*] Monarch’s Bluffs [*] Weaver’s Fen [/list] [b]Wars[/b] [list] [*] Restless Shore [*] Monarch’s Bluffs [/list] [h3]NIGHTVEIL HALLOW[/h3] [list] [*] Total Costumes awarded in Nightveil Hallow: 631,132 [*] 102,500 distinct characters wore at least one of the costumes below during Nightveil Hallow: [*] Lost Monarch: 164, 216 acquired [*] Commander Thorpe: 157,446 acquired [*] Anubian Reaver: 158,159 acquired [*] Adiana: 151,311 acquired [/list] [h3]SUMMER MEDLEYFAIRE[/h3] [list] [*] Total number of characters who achieved ‘YAAAHHHH! Guitar’ achievement: 66,833 [*] Total number of players who achieved the ‘Perfect YAAAHHHH!’ title on hard difficulty: 4,618 [/list] [h3]HATCHERY[/h3] [list] [*] Total waves completed: 3,798,595 [*] Total completions: 725,291 [*] Number of Deaths: 842,886 [/list] [h3]SANDWURM[/h3] [list] [*] Most attempts before the Sandwurm was toppled in a single instance: 18 [/list] [h3]POPULAR HEARTRUNES BASED ON ACTIVATIONS[/h3] [olist] [*] Detonate: 73,882,691 [*] Grasping Vines: 50,855,513 [*] Cannon Blast: 19.243,684 [*] Fire Storm: 18,044,937 [*] Dark Ascent: 7,812,959 [/olist] [h3]POPULAR SKINS[/h3] [olist] [*] Stormbound [*] Voidtouched Armor [*] Dancing Embers [*] Verdant Dawn’s Sentinel [*] Silverswept Guardian [*] Forge Warden [/olist] [h3]MOST POPULAR TRADE SKILLS[/h3] [olist] [*] Cooking [*] Weaponsmithing [*] Engineering [*] Armoring [*] Arcana [*] Jewelcrafting [*] Furnishing [/olist] [h2]AMAZON GIFT CARD AND HOLIDAY SWEATER[/h2] [img]https://images.ctfassets.net/j95d1p8hsuun/7MsDvDFxKZSpOW0xfICeab/03dcc33747ada816335954a33f335419/NW_EGiftCardStills_Q4-2023_NonDenominational_1920x1080.jpg[/img] Share the spirit of Winter Convergence this holiday season. A [url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CN9J4ZRD?ref_=ags_nw_us_gw_dm_all_aimg]New World Amazon.com gift card[/url] and [url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNF4KC62]holiday sweater[/url] are available now. We hope you take time to not only celebrate with us, but with your favorite Adventurers outside of Aeternum.