Amazon Game Studios Talks About New World Settlements In A New Dev Blog
Amazon Game Studios has been relatively silent since they announced the planned launch window for New World during The Game Awards 2019 last December. The studio breaks their silence with a recent dev blog that talks about Settlements, governance, and how they’ll work in the game.
“Settlements are where players live, congregate, craft, trade, work on Town Projects, and support their Faction through Faction Missions,” says Lead Systems Designer John Liberto. “Death is not the end in Aeternum, so Settlements also serve as a respawn point for players unfortunate enough to have fatal mishaps on their adventures.”
To claim a Settlement, players must first choose to join one of three factions. This will then allow them to create a Company which functions much like a guild and will allow players to control Territories along with the Settlements and Forts inside them. Uncontrolled Territories can be claimed by simply paying the claim fee at the Territory Fort. Controlled Territories on the other hand, can be taken by waging war on the controlling Company which is only possible if the Company is a member of a different faction.
Once a Territory is claimed, the leader of the Company, called a Governor, also becomes the Governor of the Territory and will be responsible for governing the said Territory. “Ultimately, the Faction that a Company belongs to is the true ruler of a Territory. Companies act as a proxy for the Faction they are part of,” says Liberto. “As a Governor, your responsibility is to maintain control of your Territory for your Faction.”
“You are also responsible for upgrading and maintaining the quality of life in your Settlement by starting Town Projects that result in Settlement upgrades when completed,” he adds. “Dues in the form of Territory Upkeep must be paid to the Faction your Company is a part of. In order to pay this Upkeep, the Governor can adjust taxes and fees in their Settlement so that travelers and Residents help to pay the Upkeep as they craft, trade, and live in their houses. They also can make their Settlement more desirable to own a home in by focusing on particular upgrades for particular types of players.”
Don’t worry, if the burden of ruling proves too much for you to carry, you can always tag your Company mates as Consuls to help you out. “A Consul is a Governor’s second-in-command,” explains Liberto. “A Company can have as many or as few Consuls as it wishes; Consuls have almost all of the same permissions and powers as the Governor of the Company and Territory they control.”
Head over to the New World official site to learn more.
