Greetings, Adventurers!
Aeternum is an ever-evolving world, and as such, we continue our efforts in providing an assortment of ongoing new features, content, and changes. Similar to the activities leading up to our latest major update, we are approaching the release of our next large release and would like to invite you all to participate in the next cycle of our Public Test Realm (PTR)!
PTR
The Public Test Realm (PTR) is a limited-availability server-set that grants an early look at upcoming features. These preview builds are snapshots of upcoming major releases and are not final versions — you may encounter bugs, crashes, missing text, or other issues. Between our internal testing efforts and your reports, we hope to catch and resolve all serious issues before they reach the live servers. Hundreds of changes have already been made — with more to come — and the full release notes will be shared on release day. However, not every bug or feedback piece will be actioned on before release — some changes need time to be investigated further, and may arrive in a subsequent patch or two.
To help with the feedback process, all newly created PTR characters will have the opportunity to instantly level to select level-ranges outfitted with appropriate gear and items.
The PTR will officially open tomorrow, October 27. To maximize world population and encourage group play, we will open with two worlds available (“US East PTR 1” and “EU PTR 1”) for this playtest cycle, located within US East and EU Central regional datacenters respectively. You may have to change your client regional selection from the main menu in order to discover your intended test world. Existing test characters have been wiped for this cycle, to ensure thorough testing of the early game experience changes and ensure feedback is evaluated at the same difficulty benchmarks as we roll out new features across the next several weeks.
If you encounter a bug, exploit, or have suggestions to improve a feature or piece of content, we’d love to hear your feedback on our PTR sub-forum (you can also utilize our in-game feedback tool). We will do our best to address as much of your feedback as possible before the content update makes its way to our live servers. Your participation will help us to deliver awesome content and updates in the future!
Major Updates
During this iteration of the PTR, we look forward to hearing your playtest feedback on the following changes:
New Mutated Expedition - Starstone Barrows / Amrine Mash-Up
This new take on Starstone Barrows includes a special appearance. Players will revisit parts of the Amrine Expedition and face both the intrepid Simon Grey and Foreman Nakashima. Challenge the Expedition to find out more.
Crafting and Refining Station Tier Changes
We are making two major changes to improve the Trade Skill leveling experience:
The Forge, Outfitting Station, Workshop, and Arcane Repository now offer Azoth discounts for relevant recipes.
Tier 3 = 20% discount.
Tier 4 = 30% discount.
Tier 5 = 45% discount.
Certain recipes will no longer be gated behind tiers:
Crafting Stations
Most procedural weapon and armor recipes.
Arcane Repository - Stat potions (Health, Mana, Regeneration, and Focus) and elemental recipes.
Kitchen - Health and mana foods
Refining Stations
Tier 3 unlocks - Recipe level is less than or equal to 100 and not legendary.
Tier 4 unlocks - Recipe level is 150 and not legendary.
Tier 5 unlocks - Recipe level is 200 or legendary at any recipe level.
Stonecutting - All gemcutting is no longer gated, but gem fusions remain gated behind relevant tiers.
Rolling PTR Updates
Stay tuned to the PTR section of the forums for updates on when the following features will become available:
Joining Companies Unfactioned
Players no longer need to be in a Faction to join a Company, but Companies must still declare a Faction. Non-Faction-affiliated members may not become the Governor or participate in Wars.
Group Finder Active Lobby Counts
Players can now see the number of active lobbies for each Expedition, both on the Map tooltip and the Expedition Entrance screen.
Shell Company Mitigation
We will implement the following changes to make shell Companies less effective at owning multiple territories:
Daily War Limit
Players will have a limit of 1 defensive War and 1 attacking War per world (resets daily at 5AM server time). These limits will apply to both even if you have two different characters in the same world.
War Roster Restrictions
Participating Companies will have a limited number of Mercenaries they can recruit.
Attacking Companies: Up to 40 mercenaries.
Defending Companies: Up to 15 mercenaries.
The remaining slots are reserved for their Company members.
Company Switching Cooldowns
When leaving a Company, players will start a 72 hour cooldown on fighting in a defensive War and earning Influence for any Company toward War declaration eligibility. The cooldown begins once a player leaves. Any Influence earned will still count towards the player’s Faction.
Leaderboards
Leaderboards will reward players, Companies, and Factions across the following categories:
Mutated Expeditions
Faction War
Vs. Environment
Vs. Players
Trade Skills
Every category contains subcategories. For example, Faction War includes Territory Control Score. Finish in the top 10 of any Leaderboard at the end of weekly, monthly, or quarterly rotations for exclusive skins, achievements, and titles. Rewards cannot be earned in the PTR.
PTR CLIENT ACCESS
This special preview client will be made available for download through the stand-alone Steam application, “New World Public Test Realm” (which should already be in your Steam library if you own the main game). When the test period is complete and the main New World game is updated with the previewed content, the PTR world will shut down and may be wiped clean. You will continue to see the New World PTR application in your Steam library, but there will not be an active server until the next time we announce a public test
PTR BACKSTORY LOADOUTS
Upon character creation on the PTR, players will be given multiple caches of special armor and weapons. Each cache has a designation based upon a general build and a main attribute: CON, DEX, INT, FOC, and STR.
To help manage the sudden onset of new items, do not open all provided caches at once, or you’ll risk becoming encumbered! Instead, equip all provided bags and then follow-up with opening each cache deliberately. Any undesired caches can be dropped or deposited into your personal settlement storage.
PTR FAQ
HOW DO I ACCESS THE NEW PTR?
Everyone with a copy of New World will be automatically granted access to the secondary PTR app. The PTR is not compatible with the live game, so you will need to download a separate client (and have the hard drive space required to support it). From there, we will have special worlds available within supported regions. Not all regions will initially be supported. Access is on a first come, first served basis. There may be queues.
CAN I PLAY WITH OR TRANSFER MY LIVE CHARACTERS TO THE PTR
Unfortunately, no. These are separate ecosystems, so at this time it is not possible. However, to make testing easier, we will occasionally provide our play-testers with special accommodations such as instant levels, special gear, etc.
CAN I PROVIDE DESIGN FEEDBACK REGARDING WHAT’S INCLUDED ON THE PTR?
Preview game builds on the PTR are finished with their core development and are in their final phase of testing and bug fixing. Our main focus at this phase is improving quality, although we will appreciate any feedback you have to share.
I HAVE A PROBLEM; HOW CAN I CONTACT CUSTOMER SUPPORT?
Our policies and Code of Conduct cover the PTR, and in-game moderation will continue to be supported. Unfortunately, due to the temporary and potentially unstable nature of the PTR, general Customer Service assistance through both Live Chat and through the Support Website will not be available.
I DON’T WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PTR, CAN I REMOVE THE APP FROM MY LIBRARY?
Don’t worry, no offense taken. Players can manage visibility of the New World Public Test Realm Steam Library entry. Opening up the game options (right-click > Manage) offers the “Hide Game” function.
Thanks for your support and participation! We'll see you in Aeternum.
