I'm not sure I can do this again.

[Shurrikhan]

snip

Mythic+ certainly would meet my definition for "new"; it created whole new sectors of gameplay, communities, -between-casual-and-hardcore stratums, time allotments, and in a way whole new paradigms over what content ought to be like.

Squadron dungeons may too, depending on how extensive the resultant changes end up at the end of its development path. If what we have now is as far as they go... then I'm not entirely sure.

Rival Wings is likewise borderline for me; though it was a new combat mode, it actually did very little to change the mindset or meta of PvP, apart from making healers seem even stronger. The difference between Warsong Gulch and Arathi Basin, for instance, seems both far deeper and far more apparent than any form of XIV PvP vs. Rival Wings.

I'm judging a bit more critically than I normally would in game, though; even if not exactly what I'd call "new" I can frequently be pleased by all those things I'd here call borderline, at least in terms of their newness. It'll be their actual execution that will matter most to me. My issue with GS when in game, for instance, isn't that it doesn't allow for anything new: it's that what has been provided within is feels inferior to what almost anyone could seemingly imagine with a bit of time and effort -- it often feels like merely a token gesture rather than an earnest attempt at anything. It's almost as if they're too hung up on the idea of creating "new side-content" and not enough on making whatever content they add actually worthwhile.

Taken as a definition, though, my standards for "newness" are probably, as I'd said, abnormally high. For me, for something to be "new" requires not only that it be different, but that it should point at a new or more fleshed out direction for the game; it should show that the game is in growth. That ends up a largely retroactive opinion if production is kept behind tight lips, but I'll tend to make my assumption and revoke it later if need be.

That's not to say that something should feel free to outgrow or leave things obsolete. If so, those things become unable to contribute to what remains; it'd be like a canopy without a trunk. Moreover it'd quickly end up wasted development time. No, growth must extend from what's there towards some goal which will then be foundation for another, and so forth. Only then does something new connote a new extent for the game.