New World Will Introduce "Shards" For Certain Zones To Reduce Queue Times And Better Manage Populations

We've already let you know about the wild rabbits coming back to New World this week in the MMORPG's "Rabbit's Revenge" event, but today's post from the team also details a few other things being added in tomorrow's patch.

While the full notes inform players about some bug fixes and quality of life updates, the big news in the blog post is the addition of "Shards." Most MMO players will be pretty familiar with shards. For those that aren't, tomorrow's update will see the game add Shards for both Monarch's Bluffs and Windsward areas. This sharding tech may be added to other more populated locations in New World after player feedback is gathered.

Shards will create multiple instances of these areas and divide players amongst them to distribute player loads more evenly and assist with reducing queue times in the zones heavily hit by new players.

While most players may not even notice the sharding, as there will be no loading screens when going into and out of the sharded areas, there are a few things you should know about communicating or grouping up with others who may be in different shards.

Area chat and proximity actions will only include those on your specific shard and PvP will have its own single shard. Groups playing together will be prioritized to stay together on the same shard as long as there is room on the shard. If you are playing solo, the system will try to keep you on the same shard as friends or Company members and you can always try to join the shard of someone you group with as long as you're in the same zone.

I know that queues have been an issue for New World off and on, so I'm glad to see the team address the issue in a way that players are familiar with, but I have to ask if this is really the problem the post makes it seem to be right now with New World's shrinking population. It seems to only be a major issue when new updates drop, but admittedly I'm not an every day New World player.

New World fans, let me know what you think.