September 19th Update - State of Play

Speaking openly, this release isn't at a quality bar we strive for and that isn't good enough - we'll be assessing what process changes we can make here to get back in control of the game quality we are releasing each month.

We continue to hear this and nothing changes. Thank you however for addressing these issues quickly (they should have never made it to release). Please actually do better.

While the update didn't hit the quality bar, this kind of fast response and openness is greatly appreciated.

So, yes, we are disappointed in the update, but you all deserve kudos for owning it and being quick to address it.

It is absolutely wild that this stuff even makes it into the live game. A single cast of the rod on a ship and any player with 20 hours can tell something is wrong.

I get that you guys want to do better, but do you even test before you release stuff? It's like an auto mechanic telling you he wants to make your car as safe as possible while never checking your oil level.

Im saddened that one of the bugs that made it into live with this update is not being addressed here. Since the update when you try to "reverse ladderguard" and go: -let go of ladder-ads-shoot-switch weapon- regrab, you wont actually be able to regrab the ladder. This is an unintentional bug that made it into the live version and wasnt an issue prior to thursdays update.

@ictus-xxi since issues like this only affect "sweaty" crews and experienced players, it's definitely not going to be prioritized, but I agree with you.

also, how about we see less cheaters? That would be nice.

@plump-pirat I suspect a deeper rooted issue causing that problem, thats why Im bringing it up. I suspect that with this update there was some kind of action limiter introduced into the game which prevents you from doing too many things in close succession. This mightve broken other things too that went unnoticed thus far but might cause problems along the way.

Thank you for being quick with the fix but for past months we have a huge problem.
You guys really need to work on those updates before releasing them.
Every patch there is something that breaks in game and make it really hard to enjoy.
I am not developer myself so I am last to speak how hard are those things to catch or fix but you definetly have most experienced people there so for sake of game health make this issue priority.

You guys really need to change how this game is developed. Like some SERIOUS changes need to happen internally. I have a suggestion, PLEASE at least think about it.

I wouldn't mind seeing a revamp of the old Pioneer Program we used to have before Insiders. But it could a separate entity from the current Insiders program. Perhaps even an earlier build that Insiders don’t have access too yet. And It's either invite only or application based to get in.

Because the Insiders program seems completely useless when it comes to preventing these things making into live, this new program would be a way to have some dedicated players do some ACTUAL testing. Because let's be honest, 99% of Insiders are just collecting their reward for the week. Not to mention the whole feedback system we have now is abysmal and does NOT work.

It’s absolutely ridiculous that these things slip. But I'm glad it's been addressed and going to be hotfixed, but keep in mind this all happened to try and FIX an exploit…

We can't keep having these monthly "updates" which should be weekly patches. That's how little content there is. Not to mention it’s been literally every single update the last several seasons where something is discovered, and what could be a good patch, gets overshadowed by negativity because an exploit or something game breaking was overlooked or ignored from Insiders. Obviously nobody wants this. So just let us help. PLEASE. It’ll save everyone some time, and real embarrassment. It's getting to the point where some of us are ashamed we even play this game anymore.

Having a program where a select number of certain players (who have the experience, knowledge, game sense, etc.) can provide feedback directly to the devs would be a literal game changer. And ideally, the devs would take this feedback more seriously (and hopefully not remove it) as it’ll be coming from players who actually know what they are talking about, and not from someone who has a few days played who just wants to get their insiders cosmetic for that week. To add to this, only this new Pioneer Program should be under an NDA, Insiders should of course not be, so the devs can get as much last minute feedback in hardening builds from as many people as possible.

You say you guys appreciate our reports and feedback. But actions mean more than words and your actions show you don't care. And you say you have some work to do there to improve the experience. When is this "work" going to start? I don't understand how you can be a studio with multiple teams all working full time hours and nothing seems to get done...

Curious to know what others think about this idea. I think it could really help this game we all love. :)

@personalc0ffee i know that it is not intended because it‘s not in the official update notes as a fix. Shrimple as that my friend. Your own headcannon on why it shouldn’t be possible in the first place is irrelevant.

@personalc0ffee said in September 19th Update - State of Play:

So how do you know it is a bug and not intended to disrupt this play style?

In the "Sea of Thieves News November 29th 2023" they say they don't consider reverse ladder guarding a bug, and that it is "fully within the mechanics and fair game"

Sigh ... non stop apologies, non stop bugs... in the mean time you really update that emporium quickly and make a clear statement how you want us to purchase from it. I will not spend a dime on your emporium. Fix ALL issues before releasing "patches" or new features.... you are just trying to justify your salary every month. This is very sad. I close my eyes every time I hear "NEW CONTENT" "NEW FEATURES" "NEW HOT FIXES"

@knghotdogpig

IMO a dev who is adjusting behaviour of the fishing rod to remove an exploit, should test his own changes: not only the thing they're trying to fix but making sure the change doesn't interfere with normal use before it even goes to the internal Test or Quality team.

It's then up to the test team (not just a person trying to fish, multiple people on one server / crew / area ) to test the total functionality of the fishing rod all over the game, also not just what has been tried to fix.

Changes made after reports made in the "Hardening build" for Insiders should go through even more heavy scrutiny of the dev and the test team.

An earlier build for Insiders who actual test wouldn't have helped in this situation, I think.

I gotta ask for clarity sake, but is this gonna be a small patch? If it is a small patch will PS cert ruin community weekend for my PS mates?

Thank you for your swift response regarding the issues introduced in the recent update. It’s reassuring to see your commitment to addressing these challenges and improving the experience for all players.

We appreciate the hard work you and the team dedicate to keeping Sea of Thieves an enjoyable adventure. We look forward to the upcoming improvements and smoother sailing ahead. Thank you for listening to the community's concerns.

Fair winds and following seas,
-p

@knghotdogpig I agree with most of what you said, but some of it for different reasons than you mentioned.

A pioneer program would be nice so we can remove the nda and age limit from insiders. Imo they should then make insider rewards tied to the weekly testing focus (think of it as a temporary commendation). This way Insiders have to actually complete xyz to get the reward and not just afk for an hour.

I think the pioneer program should only have a single sail cosmetic for a reward that members get ONLY while they are an active pioneer. For example, have a one month activity status that when you haven’t completed a weekly testing focus within that month, your pioneer status is inactive and you lose the pioneer sail. You can then reapply to get back in the program and get the sail back while you are active.

The pioneer program gets the early “big” builds while the insider doesn’t get those big builds until they are about a month from release. Also they should Improve the reward system for insiders so they can get more based on how much they play. Like at least a gold per hour type of thing.

our guild levels reset back to beginning 😑🥺

@wermux considering the amount of times you’ve publicly antagonised Rare and shown off exploits on day one of new updates, one would think you’d benefit from sharing these exploits you learn about before release with Rare instead of waiting till release then making content out of it. What do you think?

Every patch makes it harder to love my favorite game I've sunk thousands of hours into. I know the devs care about this game, but that care is not translating into action and fixes.

I don't want more apologies, I want game health to be an actual focus with competent execution of fixes and proper testing before release.

The beast you're taming is your own creation. Own it and show your players you care about their experience.

Thank you for the swift response with this one. It's unfortunate that stuff like these issues make it into live, but I am grateful and appreciative of the speed with which it was addressed. I also appreciate owning it and the transparency. Looking forward to seeing more improvements and fixes coming soon.

As compensation Start the community weekend immediately!

This "quality bar you strive for" has not been reached for years now. Every update continues to break the game to various degrees, with issues some of which never get fixed and are left to spoil the game endlessly (food regging is STILL a thing after all this time); and even when you don't unintentionally break the game, you do it intentionally. Not a SINGLE person asked you to make the blunder as it is, and not a single other person has asked for a quickscoping nerf. Do better.

You can no longer fish at the pond at Tribute peak, and in the PL Hideout.

Was this change intentional, or is it part of the buggy fishing rod?

Edit: It's fixed.

I hope this game still OK.

"This update hasn't hit the quality bar." Sorry but it's a regular thing nowadays that an update breaks the game. Like our expectations were low but [mod edit]. Honestly how do these things end up in the live game?

As it pertains to the BB despawnjng when a captain is disconnected - can we please have the same logic applied for Veil quests?

It may be more difficult as this is a quest that is player initiated - but the fact that a crew can simple cancel a veil if they are contested and the loot despawn is … well… maddening.

A fair compromise is to not allow voyage cancellation once the main encampment is revealed?

Just spitballing here. Thank you for your teams quick response and support with this update!

No offense, but what is the point of Insiders? This is an every patch thing. Also this hotfix has become a Server Stability Issue instead and was found within 5 minutes.

Look, I'm really glad this was hotfixed. Thank you for removing a bug that would have been used to terrorise HG. If this bug rolled with CW, no one would have had fun. I can tell you that. However, it's really frustrating to watch this game have bugs that just harass the player in every single patch. More than a few nasty ones introduced in either s9 or s10 and they're still there, an annoying part of HG that the HG mains deal with.

• Captaincy scam was introduced in s9 and it still happens after being "fixed" 4 times.

• Merchant crate scam was introduced in s9 and while I haven't had the opportunity to test it yet, I am worried it will still happen. Also, this bug is a Server Stability Issue. I can prove this bug degrades server performance.

• "Mast bug" or "No interact prompt bug" was introduced in s10. The worst part, not being able to see if the boat has a mast or not, has been fixed. However, you can still board a boat and elements can be missing and you might not be able to interact with the ammo box. Probably a 1/25 chance of happening.

• "Jitter bug" or what you see completely desyncing from what's on the server on streaks, was introduced in s9. The bug was never been fixed or addressed properly outside of Chapman acknowledging it. There was another bug the HG mains used to fix this bug. That bug was fixed instead of the root bug. I've had "jitter bug" happen as low as a 5 streak recently and it commonly happens at 8 for me. I usually see it before my team mate. This can happen to adventure divers, too!

There's many other smaller bugs that are annoying but these are the bug ones HG mains fight every single setup and match. These are all bugs that were randomly patched in and are still in the game. We have some smaller bugs that were patched out, but some of them remained in the game for months. At this point it's clear Rare's current form of testing is broken and needs review.

There are lots of players out there who'd work for you, Rare, and are good at breaking things...

@it-sundae merchant scam is still there. Literally first server i loaded into yesterday i got scammed