Offline Servers

  • Hey all, I know that this may be a hot topic, but I'd really enjoy the option to host custom servers and to set parameters/conditions locally. I'd even pay a subscription fee. Then, we could host TDM matches, Arena-style matches, and film things for content creation without needing to spike a public server.

    For example, one could spawn in two player galleons, give them a pre-allocated amount of supplies, and disable all barrels in the game.

    It would load your current pirate, but you cannot turn loot in, raise emissary, vote up hourglass, gain reputation/renown, emissary value, ancient coins, or doubloons. There would be no commendations or achievements.

    And, there could be an internal marker to notify that this session was offline. I'm not sure how that could work, if there would be a token for that session (the client's HWID + session launch tool would be assigned to that session).

    I'd even float the idea of being able to host legacy versions of SoT (I understand implementing something like a custom Arena server is extremely tricky and may not be possible). But to play the game as it was at launch would be fun, like Minecraft.

    I understand that the technical side of having legacy versions may not be achievable or in the resource allotment within the team and I'm fine with that, lol.

    And, to be clear, I understand the team's vision on SoT, how it's a live service game and part of the way we are supposed to interact with each other is due to the emergent nature of the encounters.

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  • @melone-dog
    Sounds a lot better than Safer Seas.

  • The way the game is designed makes an offline mode impossible without a large amount of development for very little benefit since they'd need to migrate a bunch of server side functionality into the client. It would basically be creating an entirely new game for zero extra sales, which is probably not going to be a popular idea with management and bean counters.

    Being able to load your live pirate into a locally hosted game would also mean they'd need to create a way for random player hosted servers to connect to and retrieve pirate data, which probably isn't going to happen unless it's in a read-only mode.

  • Usually this would be anchors away but….. I mean I guess that’s where we are now?

  • @d3adst1ck

    Well, we have Safer Seas now. I would be ok with paying a subscription fee to be able to request and open a server session on the Azure hardware. I would also be ok if an entirely new pirate was created, or just your base pirate- barring any violation of NDA, but similar to the function in Insiders.

    I just want a sandbox at the end of the day.

  • @melone-dog said in Offline Servers:

    Well, we have Safer Seas now.

    Safer Seas is just the exact same game servers we have now but with stuff disabled. Not very much change at all.

    I'm not saying what you're asking for is impossible, just highly improbable. I mean they've had "custom servers" in development for years now without a hint of them becoming available to play around in outside of the SoT Partnerts, and we'd likely see those long before any kind of offline or self hosted setup.

  • @d3adst1ck I would personally live an offline /online game in the sea of theives world as I definitely i see fun and profit in it plus sea of thieves could stay as is and have a fun spinoff game in the same world

  • So you’re wanting Safer Seas without the restrictions.

  • @burnbacon

    No. I want custom servers, without any rewards or commendations.

    @melone-dog said in Offline Servers:

    For example, one could spawn in two player galleons, give them a pre-allocated amount of supplies, and disable all barrels in the game.

    It would load your current pirate, but you cannot turn loot in, raise emissary, vote up hourglass, gain reputation/renown, emissary value, ancient coins, or doubloons. There would be no commendations or achievements.

  • custom servers had so much potential but from what I've heard access to those is being gradually decreased and others said that this feature is planned to be shut off in general.

    It had great potential but with the current state it is too limited and painful to create things in it:

    • exclusive access to Rare Partners and AA members
    • no customization options
    • no gold spending options, no captaincy features (bring your ship)

    Could be so easy and great. Disable all reputation, progress and gold earning, enable spending, give either custom captain voyages and supplies or diving to location X (like Sea Dogs Tavern) option, so many things could have been done. They even had a feedback thread when custom servers arrived and they did... nothing.

  • @d3adst1ck

    The thing is, I know that this is possible. Buggy? Sure. As an Insider, I'm sure you're aware of what I'm referring to. I know it's improbable (that's why I'm posting, lol). But when a live service doesn't deliver, I'd like more accessable options- especially as this game nears the end of it's lifespan in the next five years.

    I think they may not allow for offline hosting because of the possibility of data breaches, mining, etc. Which I understand. It's possible to have custom online servers with no progression, though, and Microsoft even has the infrastructure to support such a thing- for example, Minecraft Realms. Currently, servers are capped at 30hz, so it's not like you could use hardware to exploit servers if it's hosted on Azure hardware, and you pay a subscription fee to have a custom SoT server.

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