Sword of the New World

It's hard to believe that, less than a year ago, Sword of the New World was a game barely struggling to make ends meet, much less produce any sort of new content (and it hadn't for the past nine months!). A number of months back, however, the SotNW team decided to really put their noses to the grind and, since then, SotNW has undergone a fantastic transformation for the better.

And so, in an attempt to really confirm this transformation with the release of their biggest update yet, patch 4.1, the SotNW team has also decided that this update will come with a name change as well. Thus, the SotNW team has confirmed that this multi-unit MMORPG will no longer be known by its awkward "Sword of the New World" title, but now it will, instead, go by the name "Sword 2." Also with this name change will come a web-based SotNW game, called "Sword 2: Dominus," a plethora of game changes and the news that the Sword 2 team is already planning to release a new expansion in the fall, called "Rennaissance." So get ready, Sword of the New World fans, this summer and fall promise to be exciting!

Well it seems like the team over at Sword of the New World is staying true to their promise to deliver a constant flow of content to players after September. New Years has now seen the introduction of their "Ho the Tiger" New Years Event! With the year of the Tiger coming up (in terms of the Chinese Zodiac), the SOTNW team has an event planned where players can collect Pure Ores or Suspicious Red Ores in order to get a chance to participate in a mini-game to win some neat Tiger Pets.

According to a forum post made by one of the SOTNW team, the mini-game is essentially a "guess the number" game, where players need to guess a 3-digit secret number and the NPC will give hints as to which numbers are in the right position, and which are just plain wrong. Winners will get to pick one of three special Tiger pets, and while the pets aren't permanent, they certainly are a nice addition for the New Years:

1000 points + 400,000 Feso = White Tiger
2000 points + 250,000 Feso = Black Tiger
3000 points + 100,000 Feso = Golden Tiger

White Tiger gives the "White Bless" buff for 20 minutes + 1500 HP
Black Tiger gives the "Sharp Claw" buff for 20 minutes + 1000 HP
Golden Tiger loots the item drops every 2 seconds

White Bless Buff: Immune +5, Movement Speed +10%, Defense +10
Sharp Claw Buff: Pierce +5, Attack Speed +10%, Critical +10

You might remember about two months ago when we interviewed GamersFirst Producer Jon-Enée Merriex about the state of Sword of the New World, and it looks like the team is continuing to deliver, as we are now seeing the launch of a huge patch for Sword of the New World: Echoes of an Empire. In the hugely anticipated patch 3.0, players will see the introduction of two new Unique Player Characters (UPCs) Nar and Selva. Nar is an Erracan Warrior who wields a massive two-handed Crescent Axe in battle. Selva, or Lady Katovic as she is also known, lives in Auch and is a mortal enemy of Montoro. While Lady Selva may seem at a disadvantage with only one hand (she lost her left hand!), her rapier skills remain undiminished, and she is also capable of equipping fist weapons to fight in that manner.

The new 3.0 patch will also see the introduction of a whole new region, Errac, and this will be the first zone to be affected by both night and day. The new major city of Errac is called El Dorado. Echoes of the Empire will also introduce a plethora of expert stances, weapons and armour, like Constellation Weapons and Elite La Noir armour. You can check out the full path notes here, or go check out the game on your own here!

Sword of the New World is an extremely unique MMO that's had its share of unique problems. We spoke with GamersFirst Producer, Jon-Enée Merriex about some of the mistakes that were made in the past. "We've made mistakes, no doubt. The biggest being a lack of clear communication to the players letting them know where we are and what we are doing." Merriex mentioned during the interview before informing us that ZAM has the "hardest interview questions on the net".

In addition to a very thoroughly sincere explanation we managed to prod some information about future updates and even the possibility of an exclusive GamersFirst UPC. Make sure to check out the full interview after the jump.

ZAM: Thanks G1Neume for sitting down to chat with us about Sword of the New World: Granado Espada!

Jon-Enée Merriex: It's my pleasure. I always love a chance to talk about Sword of the New World.

ZAM: First of all, as a quick introduction to those who have not played Sword of the New World, what do you think are the three most unique and important aspects of Sword of the New World?

Jon-Enée: Well the most striking aspect would be the Multi-Character Control. In Sword of the New World players can control up to 3 characters at once while fighting their way through the wilds of Granado Espada. They can also create up to 54 characters giving them a plethora of options and configurations to choose from.

Well it seems like Sword of the New World is trying to rid itself of the rust that accumulated over its nine month company silence. A few weeks back, the SotNW launched its first update patch (2.9b) in nine months and they have said that patch 3.0 is on the way soon. In addition to this, the team has announced that they will be taking suggestions for a new "Sword of the New World Exclusive" UPC! Players can suggest a type, or style, of UPC that could potentially be unique to SotNW. So what are you waiting for? Get on to G1-Neume's Twitter account and suggest away!

You can read the post on the forums here.