How friend-building game Sea of Thieves reflects the company that created it - The Spinoff Article

@katttruewalker - Thank you for this!

@Erinom3 & @CoffeeArt687098 - I agree with what you wrote, could not have said it better myself.

In the past I have shied away from involving myself in multiplayer games... I never thought that I was good enough, or a strong enough player to be able to be a part of a team that relies heavily on the other members of that team. But Sea of Thieves has changed that for me. I have been welcomed by so many people... I am dumbfounded by just how many.

I have been playing Sea of Thieves for over a year. I have made so many new friends, and strengthened bonds with old friends all while playing this delightful game. I don't think I have laughed so much with many different people from all over the world he globe, than I have with this game.

The Rare developers and the Sea of Thieves community, I think, is truly unique in how they interact with each other, their ability to foster relationships within the forums and game, as well as the lightheartedness and positivity brought through every element that makes Sea of Thieves what it is.

Never had more people add me as a friend as they do in this game. I do love to talk and team up with the other groups. Last Saturday I Had 10 people add me as friend I added them all back and hope to play this week with some. This Game is different in all good ways and its like pulling people out of that matrix to see it. When you tell them there is nobody OP in this game and everyone is the same power level It blows their minds. Explaining that sweet new gun I got is same as theirs power wise they don't get it. The most OP power in this game is making friends. One of my main goal when I play is to convince other pirates to team up. Its created some great adventures and amazing stories and some great con jobs also. Great game !!!!

@katttruewalker Excellent article! Exactly what drew me into this game. I have three kids (well my two daughters, and my GFs son) all preteens, and all slowly slipping away from "Daddy". It is heart breaking at times, but a prideful moment knowing they are getting used to doing things on their own. This silly Pirate game comes along. Next thing I know, I am the focus of their attentions again. "Daddy, we need you to Captain our ship!" I know it sounds silly, but you have no idea how good that sounds to hear that! To be interacting with them on a social level that breaks down their "Parent/Pre-Teen barriers" is priceless. Just testing alone has changed how we interact, how they talk with me. It feels good to be "Daddy" again, and not just Dad. If you don't understand you will when you have little urchins of your own!

I hope this discussion stays alive. These are the visions the Developers have for the game. They cannot do it alone, they need a community that sees the vision and sticks with it. It is up to us to police our own. Keep the community welcoming, warm, and fun.

@coffeeart687098 Those little crumb snatchers have a way at tugging at the heart strings don't they? I should have said "Thank You, Rare" in my earlier post. This game has really bridged a gap that previously I could not find a way to cross. Fair warning...my daughters are devious, so glad I am on their crew and not an opposing crew!

@reversedblack "replicate myself" L**O. I see my kids a bit differently "resistance is futile"

Firstly i will state, how i love this game and the unique interactions it can produce. It also has a unique feel about it which i have never experienced in another game before, and i have to agree with @DrBullhammer in the sense that other games i didnt really use the mic unless i was with friends and Sea of Thieves has changed that. So Dont get me wrong, im about to moan, but i love this game and its forums. The epic community have done alot for me.

However and it is a big however, it worries me that this article is how Rare sees there game. Because unfortunately from the experiences ive had in the scale tests and beta that is just not the case what so ever. The Alpha sessions and pioneer sessions you get that feeling from the article and you rarely had any negative greifing experiences, they were far and few between. Its why I usually always retreat back to them as i know its going to be the more enjoyable experience and there will be more of a chance of greater memories and friendships forged. But we need that feeling for the main game, not just a closed group of dedicated fans.

To me personally, it seems that has completly shifted to the opposite away around. Most experiences are not friendly and its becoming more rare to get into a random matchmade session without having issues.

What worries me is how Rare never really addresses the problems to us, dont get me wrong they could be working on them behind the scenes but who knows. There seems to be alot of players having big issues in the game and the only responses we get are articles like this saying the game's all friendly with rainbows and sunshine (Which we all want dont get me wrong). It just kind of reminds me of the disconnect between a polition and his constitutents.

We do however have that stream upcoming soon. (I forget the name) So maybe we will get some answers from that, it just so happens aswell i also usually get proven wrong by Rare when i have a rant like this, so there is that to. Keeping my hooks and peglegs crossed for that outcome. :)

@drbullhammer I believe alot of the issues can be resolved on Rares part personally, its what im hoping to hear from them in the upcoming weeks.

I dont have issues with a players mentality or things like that, i have a variety one myself. Sometimes i will sail with crews who will only PvP its the sole reason they play the game and the way they have chosen to forge there legend, other times i sail with pacifists who want to hunt treasure and avoid combat at all costs. The one thing about this game what makes it unique is that it does try and cater to a variety ofmplay styles and personalitys while trying to still keep its fundementals in check.

The things i want to see changed are small things which i believe will have a massive change on peoples mentalitys and playstyles and will also stop other players getting upset if they get forced into a playstyle or situation which they dont like/want to be in. Its all about trying to find that balance to make it seem "Fair".

So a few things:
The brig, on paper its a brilliant idea and in a perfect world would be a great addition to a ship and the game. However in reality we know that its just used to abuse people and "Greif" (And i dont like to use the "G" word lightly). Now in there defense Rare have stated they are working on ways to change it. One of them is making it if you brig someone they will know longer get gold. To me personally thats already ringing alarm bells but we dont know the full extent of the changes yet.
But i believe it needs to be more of a help then a hindrance to be a feature in the game, call me a pessimist but i just cant ever see that happening.

The respawn system: 3 things here need addressing and it would solve so many player complains and probably cut the thread count of the forums in half:
Mermaids after youre ship has sunk.
Simple fix just stop it, problem solved there. I personally have never had the problem with it but its a common complaint and easily sorted.

Spawning on the next island when your ship has sunk
The idea behind this was if you had a quest ect on the island you could easily carry on without having to travel far. It doesn't work it just puts you in a position to spawn camp or constantly aggro the ship who just sunk you. If its having negative effects on both parties just change it. Make it so spawn at a random outpost, you have the option of cancelling voyages now when you didnt before.

And the dreaded white screen after the ferry of the damned, its happened to us all at some point i would guess. Especially if you are on a sloop it can be a nightmare. (Will probably be sorted due to last min optimisations though)

Also a common counter to these arguments was just "Scuttle". Correct me if im wrong here i havent tested it in a while. But you can only scuttle once a session and i dont believe the mechanic was added to avoid a dodgy respawn system. If memory serves i believe it was when ships where getting stuck and provided a means of escape. The developers even said at the time they didnt want it as a means of escaping a fignt constantly hence why you could only do it once.

Sword combat: what used a anoy alot of people was the auto lock on and stun lock feature. It can be very frustrating when you die in game and feel like there wasnt really anything you could have done, they had the first hit so you just stood there and take the death.

If my made it so you lose the auto lock and stun locks and if you timed your block right could parry that in my opinion would not only add a whole new depth to the system but make it alot more fair/skill based and might also give people who lose a fight abit of a respite. By that i mean ahh they killed me, but darn there good at them parries. Hopefully it wont feel like you died by BS. (Most will probably still rage though to be fair)

But yeah im droning on so i will rap it up, i dont inherently believe there is an issue with the community i just think that the tools we have access to need to be tweaked by the developers to make it feel more "Fair". And by doing that it will solve a plethora of issues and complaints on the forums.

Im also not a game developer so i dont know what work or time it would take to do, but on paper they seem like little changes so hopefully would be pretty easy to implement.
If they could also just let us know that they are working on them aswell that would be nice there are alot of complaints which are old ones and have been coming up for months. So it would just be nice to hear: Yepp we see the problem, heres what we are going to try and do, or we are aware of it we dont know when we can get any changes but we havent forgotten and are going to address it in the future. Or we know its an issue, but here is why we are not changing it and why we have taken that approach in the first place. Ect ect...

Sorry to go on for to long, if your still with me +1 to you aha! I apologise if it doesnt make any sense. My grammars awful and i always butcher these long posts. Im a man of few words and very little sentences xD

@wolff34 Ohhh yes those where the days indeed! I was so humbled to be featured in one of your cartoons! I was having such a rubbish week and you cheered me right up! :D

Hopefully @DrBullhammer has got @Erinom3 treasure hunting skills up to par! :P Or at least got him a sniffer pug by now to find them for him ;) ( I joke @Erinom3, the truth is im awful at the "X" marks the spots, i remember when @Matumarus and @LogansDadToo where counting how many miss-digs i done on this one chest. I got to about 30 and raged of and made @Matumarus find it, saying something like if its so easy you do it them...he done it first time...It was then i swore i would never leave the ship at Plunder Valley Or Thieves Haven again. XD