I'm only a few hours into New World, but the grind is already frustrating

Jumping into a new MMO for the first time should be exciting. As the world opens up before you and you begin to explore a vast new world, you can't beat the excitement of succeeding in startup missions.

Unfortunately, I have eight hours in the New World and I haven't had that feeling yet.

You start with a basic sword and shield, which would be nice if the combat - and movement in general - didn't sound too cumbersome. Your dodge ability doesn't seem very effective either, but this can improve as you upgrade certain stats or gear. By the way, I guess that's why you have a shield.

I prefer to play a ranged class though, and was relieved to find a bow fairly quickly. But like the dilemma of needing bullets for Fraser's rifle, I found that I would need arrows if I wanted to use them.

The world of Aeternum is truly beautiful, but you won't be able to explore it until you leave the beach area where you first bathed. There is plenty of screenshot material, from abandoned farms to lush woodlands. And I was particularly impressed by the style of housing in Light's Hope, the first major settlement I came across. The huge ship in the middle of town gives the place real character and more importantly it gave me some incentive to see what other settlements and areas have to offer.

On the way to town, I've given up on the idea of ​​using the bow entirely because tracking down arrow usage seems like a huge pain. After checking my character sheet to see what I could equip, I decided to focus my efforts on recruiting a firefighter instead. There were many quests around the settlement and I was introduced to the intensive crafting system, which allowed me to use the vast amount of materials I acquired. However, I soon discovered that I needed a very special material to make my firefighters, so I decided to go with the sword and shield for now.

The quests sent me out of the Hope of Light settlement, but getting into the Corrupted inhabited areas was painful - and I'm sure my ineptness with weapons wasn't helping. Enemies spawn with startling regularity, and searching for quest items in heavily populated areas means a lot of work - especially if other players aren't around to weaken them. A particular mission required me to kill and loot a named enemy who was in a large tent with other Broken nearby. I had to kill at least three or four of these to reach my goal, but as I occupied it, the others started to respawn. So naturally I died. The next time the same thing happened, I learned my lesson and ran. The next time I tried, I teamed up with another player and we both died.

Disappointed, I decided to quit my job and go back to the city. That's when I surprisingly found a firefighter in my bag. Where did this come from? Excited for the first time since logging in, I went to equip it, but discovered that I had to be level 13. OK no problem. I was level 11. I could do this.