New World is kicking off its next event, the Year of the Dragon, on February 7th. Described as a "micro-event," Year of the Dragon, the Lunar New Year event provides new rewards to earn, including a fully named armor set only available as part of the Year of the Dragon micro-event.
In a new Forged in Aeternum video, the New World dev team talked about some of the real-world inspirations of the event, namely the annual Chinese New Year celebration. Drawing on that inspiration, Level Designer Nix Du explained that many of the activities you do in real-life celebrations for this holiday are available in-game, from eating vast amounts of food to lighting fireworks and even getting some rewards for being there.
"The Lunar New Year event is definitely an event that lets the players eat well, get rewarded and, you know, see good fireworks scenes," Du states in the video. He goes on to explain how this all fits into the lore of Aeternum, namely the people who inhabit the far western side of the Eternal Isle in Ebonscale Reach.
"Before all these corruption, madness, all these people coming to the island, the settlers in Ebonscale Reach [would] celebrate their New Year's Eve by bringing foods, all sorts of wine, family heirlooms to the important areas, the sacred places through the Ebonscale Reach," he explained. Nix continues:
"And they will pay tribute to the ancient dragon deity by putting [the] stuff on the altar in hopes of a year's good fortune for the upcoming year."
The devs explain that despite the corruption and madness claiming much of the island, the inhabitants of Ebonscale Reach are reviving this tradition. As part of this celebration, players can treat themselves to the vast hordes of food at the Longtable Banquet, cooking up hotpot with the ingredients found there. Players can also perform a Tribute Offering be retrieving heirlooms and offering them up at the Tribute Table at one of three rotating points of interest:
Skysong Temple, Elevated Central Path
Serenity Outpost, Upper Deck
Imperial Palace, Waterfall platform
If you offer both the heirlooms and a tribute dish, and you'll earn a Fortune's Gift sack, which will spawn a boss that drops one of the five named armor pieces only available in this event.
Finally, you can check out the fireworks display at Fortune's Crossing every in-game evening throughout the event, which ends on February 21st.
