After several months of the game being in a poor state, Amazon Game Studios' New World finally seems to be improving with recent patches and updates. This doesn't mean that the game is finally free of all its bugs and design issues that have run rampant for weeks, and there are still ways in which New World needs all the help it can get. For example, New World players are pointing out mass-reporting issues that can be abused to win Faction Wars.
PvP also has many other issues, such as New World Companies using an exploit to keep territory control by letting subsidiary Companies attack them to engage in fake wars that prevent others from attack the settlement. Yet, one of the most problematic things in the game was the Gold duplication glitch that allowed them to duplicate anything in the trade window. This deflated the market by introducing all sorts of high-end items and resources at lower prices, and its rippling consequences are still plaguing New World. This has contributed to a dwindling population, and the result is that players using either Bows or Muskets are being penalized most with the cost of their ammo.
How Ammunition Costs Impact New World Players
Bows and Muskets are not considered the best weapon choices for PvE in New World, but they can be especially great for sniping enemies at a distance in PvP or Outpost Rush. One of the most cumbersome issues with these weapons is that they both require ammo, and in the endgame the cost of ammunition per-unit can be insanely high both for crafters and buyers. The root cause is that there are fewer active New World players at the moment, which means resources are often more scarce.
The overall cost of each Orichalcum Ore is quite high, which means both arrows and Musket cartridges cost a lot to purchase, and players have to spend more Gold the longer they play. It's not uncommon for Bow or Musket users to use anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 ammo every day, which often translates to thousands of Gold every week to pay for the upkeep. Plus, New World's endgame chests are still bugged, so players sometimes get nothing or lower-tier ammunition from level 60+ loot sources.
Players could spend their time farming for materials and then crafting ammo themselves, but that would probably be even less convenient considering acquiring resources can be a slow process, and crafting costs for endgame items are high too. As such, making ammo after acquiring enough materials can lead to even less Gold being farmed per day, and higher consumption of Gold on a daily basis due to crafting taxes. New World's crafting system could use an overhaul, but the need for ammo by players who reach the endgame could also stand to be overhauled by itself.
Having ammo as an integral part of the experience is not bad, and it makes sense to retain this aspect while leveling up and after reaching level 60 as players work toward higher Gear Scores. However, New World could use a new item type like quivers or ammunition bags that are hard to obtain or craft, expensive even, but once unlocked players wouldn't need to worry about ammunition anymore. This wouldn't break the game, which already has plenty of crafting centered around ammo, but it could be a great way for Bow and Musket users to finally stop worrying about an aspect that's unique to those weapons so they can manage to save some Gold for a rainy day.
New World is available now on PC.