Why is Ranged Dominating OPR Scores Over Melee? Shouldn’t Melee Be Rewarded More?
The ongoing disparity between ranged and melee performance in Outpost Rush (OPR) has raised concerns. Many have suggested that rewarding melee combatants more effectively would help balance the gameplay, such as more New world gold coins and items. The concept of using score incentives in the form of multipliers could be one of the most potent methods to incentivize certain builds to adapt their strategies and engage more effectively with objectives. Without these multipliers, players may not even meet the baseline threshold for rewards, whether they are on the winning or losing side.
The primary aim of these incentives is to encourage players to push forward, foster combat in specific areas over others, and align their actions with OPR objectives. For OPR, this means encouraging players to fight within forts, participate in Baron encounters promptly, and optionally engage in the Portal event when active. OPR has often been criticized for not guiding players adequately, and its objectives aren’t always straightforward, resulting in players making suboptimal decisions for the team’s benefit. This has led to conflicts of interest and a lack of enthusiasm to participate in objectives.
Certainly, free will remains a factor in uncoordinated team PvP. However, OPR provides players with an excessive degree of autonomy. The game does not offer much direction while still using RNG logic to sort teams.
The mode has been poorly maintained, and there isn’t one single issue that, if fixed, would significantly improve replay value. OPR faces numerous identified issues, each with a substantial negative impact, and these need to be addressed. Unfortunately, Amazon Game Studios (AGS) has neglected to address and implement these solutions.
In summary, OPR and Arenas in New World have the potential to offer great content. However, the original vision behind these modes required substantial patching. New World’s PvP, featuring a highly regarded action combat system, has consistently been undermined. AGS is fortunate to be the sole provider of this combat experience, as another studio could easily draw away a significant portion of their PvP community by offering a similar experience with a commitment to improvement.
AGS must prioritize maintaining replay value in their PvP content and take significant action to enhance New World’s PvP aspects. Without changes at the upper management level and the addition of experienced combat and PvP leads, the PvP community within New World will continue to face challenges and potential stagnation.