I understand that creating new roads with a high level of detail takes time, but for me the eye candy wears off quickly and what matters more is the length of the courses and the variety of the terrain.
I’m sure Neokyo will be fun for a bit, but flat roads aren’t my thing and the courses are short. To get a long ride in on even the longest course you will have to circle the same roads over and over again, which gets boring.
As far as the roads being filled with cyclists, that’s something I don’t really care so much about. I actually prefer empty roads over crowded roads.
It’s just been a disappointing couple of years for Zwift. Maybe I’m spoiled since I’ve been a Zwift member since Zwift started and am used to more rapid expansion of roads to ride on.
Who the heck decides to go for the ‘shiny road look’ and then deal with the reflections by presenting a single blurry (bitmap?) that just rotates permanently under the rider and clips at the horizon. Neon road while riding through a park.
Lazy and annoying, It’s like watching a weird inverted aurora or some kind of screen burn-in. Terrible, substandard experience.
Also, Neokyo seems devoid of significant visual landmarks so learning routes is just not going to happen for me. The best way to describe the experience is like a weird sweaty neon theme-park ride where you just lurch around corners from one visual assault to another. What’s with the ‘arcade’?
Just go back to Watopia and get that feeling of open space, gentle movement and horizons. Then take a look at Neokyo and to some extent Makuri in total. So disappointing. Watopia is a true alternative to riding on the road, Neokyo will never be that.
Gotta wonder if any actual users are going your UX testing Zwift, because it really doesn’t feel like it at this point.
And at one corner you share the road with moving cars, which is a minor gripe but as far as I’m concerned you can fire that concept straight into the sun in Zwift-world.
Neokyo is not my cup of tea either but maybe there is more Zwifters who doesn’t take this Zwift virtual world seriously as i do. Just wondering for those who are suffering occasionally migraine what this Neokyo do for them. I will probably get my badges from Neokyo and after that i will ride other routes in Makuri Island which are less colourful.
In time, as Makuri Islands are expanded with more areas, there will probably be more longer routes that travel through its different areas. Just like in Watopia how you might travel through, say, the desert, Titan’s Grove, the Volcano, etc.
I certainly hope so, anyway. With Neokyo we already have a couple of routes that join Yumezi and Neokyo.
I’d personally like to see Innsbruck expanded with some missing climbs nearby that city IRL. I’ve ridden them IRL and there are some great roads and climbs there. It would make it another nice alternative world.
I for one like that there are choices available (and I am enjoying Neokyo so far). What would be the point of Makuri Islands providing the same experience as Watopia … surely that is the point of having multiple worlds?
It just the way it is. Some like other Zwift worlds and some like other Zwift world. I like something what is more simple, i meant not too futuristic or colorful. Who knows, over time i might start like it.
I love Neokyo, the map complexity is nicely distracting when you are on daily multi-hour rides, also a fan of the look being reminiscent of the original Blade Runner & futuristic Anime, with Dark Mode Zwift being a nice contrast to the other worlds.
Zwift worlds starting to give us something for everyone, I mean I’ll ride up Mt Fuji at least once when it turns up!
I had the same thoughts and like yourself still find I am not as familiar with NYC as I am with the other worlds.
Did think how similar Neokyo and NYC are, would say at least NYC seems to have more substance rather than just intresting graphics.
Have some more riding to do in Neokyo so maybe it will grow on me, at least to the point so I know where I am.
Cheers.
I agree that not everyone is going to love every map that Zwift releases as different people enjoy different riding experiences. However, Zwift has really released very little this year: as far as I can remember, it’s only been Makuri Islands / Neokyo. There has been no significant development for any of the other worlds and no new long climbs for the people who like to climb.
I’ve been using Zwift since the beta and this is the first release that I haven’t cared enough about to try on the launch day. I’ll give it a go at some point, but I prefer long routes and climbs and Neokyo has neither.
It’s curious why when Zwift has greatly increased its ability to create and deliver content (as Eric Min has said) that the users have gotten so little. I understand that Zwift is currently more interested in attracting new users, but they’ve pretty much neglected the users that have ridden the existing roads over and over, are getting bored and are looking for something new that is more substantial. The new tarmac is relatively short and doesn’t lend itself to the variety of options that a map like Watopia does.
Personally, I’ve been doing more and more of my riding outdoors and now only ride Zwift once a week (this time of year in the past I’d be riding 5 times per week). Hopefully Zwift is planning to deliver more maps during the winter and this is not only map we get, but if it is at least I’ve upgraded my winter cycling kit so I have the great outdoors as a viable option.
