One of the aspects of massively multiplayer worlds that makes them so attractive is their world. That’s not just an MMO’s open world, the explorable element of gameplay, but the cohesiveness with which an MMO makes its world feel real. That’s the challenge every MMO faces, including Amazon’s upcoming releaseNew World. Surprisingly, there’s a very effective device that helps especially well for fantasy MMOs likeNew World– a map.New Worldhas already shown its strength in this regard, with fans embracing the MMO’s map.
Redditor jasonjulias decided to share a project they’d finished on theNew Worldsubreddit recently. They compiled pieces of an interactiveNew Worldmap from the MMO’s official website into a single 2D piece. In effect, they’ve reproduced a map made internally byNew World’s development at Amazonthat wasn’t fully available to the public just yet. The result is an impressive 8192 by 8192 resolution map ofNew World’s Aeternum.
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What’s particularly drawing about the map, however, is that it’s very aesthetically impressive. It features a hand-drawn style, as if it was inked on actual parchment. That means, however, that it’s not really a map intended for use as opposed to simply being fun to look like. The text is unfortunately quite small and unreadable for the map’s smaller outposts and locations, whereas theNew Worldinteractive mapwould all players to zoom in to make names legible.
ForNew Worldfans who want a map that’s more practical, Amazon is selling a collector’s edition item for the MMO separate from the game. It includes a Steel Book, as well as a map forNew World, but no copy of the game. The map focuses on the physical details ofAeternumrather than locations and names, which is much more appropriate for exploration than jasonjulias' map.
Obviously, if thedevelopers at Amazonwanted to, they could release a high-resolution version of theNew Worldmap, too. As excellent as jasonjulias' compilation of map bits from the officialNew Worldwebsite is, something official would likely be even better. For now, however, the compilation is excellent.
One other very fun part of the map is how clear it is that Amazon’s developers could expand the world ofNew Worldwith relative ease. There’s land to the west, northwest, and north that’s left unexplored. There’s the possibility of other landmasses to the east and south. That’s what maps do well, particularly forMMOs. They make fans look not just at what’s been drawn in, but the empty spaces left between. That’s what makes thisNew Worldmap quite special.
