Official Sea of Thieves Developer Update: February 20th 2019

@musicmee A few exclusives is fine, but you shouldn't be throwing them around years after launch. We all paid for this game, so we all should have to right to go out and get them. The way the mercenary cosmetics where given out specifically just felt dirty though. They got the players to do the work of recruiting players and they don't reward the players keeping the game alive but instead try to bribe the new players with free loot that even the player that invited them that's been playing for potentially hundreds of hours or more doesn't have. When I look at it, I see. "You guys are already playing the game so we don't need to waste exclusive cosmetics on you. We'll give it to these other people who are harder sells. Plus we might want to use these exclusive items on you at a later date to pad content droughts.". Who knows what they were actually thinking, but that's what it looks like to me. The best case scenario IMO is that they were careless and just really didn't think it through.

Reading through this thread, I'm discouraged by all the dissatisfaction, complaining, and attacks on Rare. Allow me a point each on the two major concerns I'm seeing here.

A. Pioneers. Look guys, Rare makes mistakes, but they would literally destroy the definition of Pioneers if they opened it up to anyone -- and they know it. I totally trust them that there will still be a vetting system (and I pray that I pass it). Don't start forecasting doom and destruction until you know how they're doing it.

B. Merc cosmetics. There are still a ton of exclusive, time-limited items in the game, ranging from Black Dog/Obsidian to Forsaken Ashes/Meg figurehead. They have taken one -- ONE -- exclusive set and opened it up to everyone. Honestly, it just feels like they realized they messed up earlier and they're trying to make peace by offering us all the Merc set. Only people with a right to be concerned/upset are those that already had the set and feel they're now shortchanged. Fear that Rare is handing out "exclusive" items left and right is misplaced imo. This is just one case, probably will not be repeated.

TLDR; stop attacking every decision that Rare makes. Both of the contestable parts of this dev update make perfect sense to me, and I trust Rare to handle implementation well moving forward.

@tre-oni I hear your concern. But even your wording was that they were setting a "precedent." I fully join you in asking Rare for this to be a one-time decision, made in a genuine attempt to make up for an error. But neither you nor I have the information to know if this will be repeated or not. As always, doing something once is an exception. Doing it twice is a pattern. Rare has done it once, and I'm not going to attack them as if they had started a pattern until it becomes clear that it is so. That got a bit muddled coming out -- what I'm trying to say is that we need to wait and see if Rare ever does this kind of thing again, and hold our criticisms and complaints until that time.

@vorondil1 said in Official Sea of Thieves Developer Update: February 20th 2019:

@tre-oni I hear your concern. But even your wording was that they were setting a "precedent." I fully join you in asking Rare for this to be a one-time decision, made in a genuine attempt to make up for an error. But neither you nor I have the information to know if this will be repeated or not. As always, doing something once is an exception. Doing it twice is a pattern. Rare has done it once, and I'm not going to attack them as if they had started a pattern until it becomes clear that it is so. That got a bit muddled coming out -- what I'm trying to say is that we need to wait and see if Rare ever does this kind of thing again, and hold our criticisms and complaints until that time.

That makes no sense. If you don't like something then say something. The idea that you have to wait until they do something you don't like multiple times before you can criticize is nonsense. Call out bad stuff when it happens so that it DOESN'T happen again and so that the problem gets fixed the first time. Also, the FIRST time something is done set's a precedent, not the second or third.

@betsill they haven't yet done anything I don't like. That's what I'm trying to say, and saying it poorly :/

I feel that there are arguably special circumstances around this case. Thus, I'm fine with them opening an exclusive item here -- as long as they don't make a habit of it. It's the habit that I would have a problem with.

Anyway, this is still a little off-topic from where I was in my first post -- I just feel that Rare is trying to make a good game, and in this case trying to make amends for a previous mistake; and in response, we as a community are just actively looking for more opportunities to criticize and attack them. If I were a SoT developer or designer reading these forums, I would be pretty discouraged, and feel that no matter what I do, someone is going to hate my guts for it. So I try to give the benefit of the doubt to Rare where possible, which includes maintaining hope that this questionable decision is a one-off that will not be repeated.

@vorondil1 There's unfortunately no getting away from that. Someone will always criticize what you do especially online. The key is to detach from the personal and emotional aspect and take the criticism on it's merits. Completely ignore the "wow you guys suck and your game is trash" and listen to the "(insert topic here) is a problem and here's why" and try to decide whether the criticism is valid. I don't really understand why someone like you would be here on the forums. If you like everything about the game then why not just play the game and enjoy it to it's fullest? I can't see how coming onto the forums would do anything, but potential diminish your enjoyment of the game. In my mind game forums are for primarily criticism and feedback or support. I don't get on forums for games that I am completely satisfied with.

@el-dth-taco amen to that! I guess I'm just trying to find interpretations of all this where I can still believe that Rare is holding to a standard -- and trying to encourage/remind them that for every person on the forums that's screaming bloody murder, there's probably someone else who's quietly content and enjoying the game. But yes, I 100% agree with you that there will always be dissatisfied people, and that Rare is making it difficult (though not impossible) to be hopeful...

@betsill you make great points! On the forums, I often do make requests for changes. I guess I just read some of the feedback on this particular page and got really irritated that Rare seems to be trying so hard and no one is appreciating them :) And the forums aren't just for feedback! That's why we have the Outer Shores and Tavern Tales sections as well as Feedback & Suggestions, because this is just a place for people who play the game to come together in a more general sense. But yes, I hear you. And yes, I have been a bit stubbornly positive towards Rare in my posts -- mostly because I feel a counter-balance is needed for all the negativity. I 100% agree that Rare is treading on thin ice with some of their design decisions, and as I said just above, it is difficult (but not impossible) to trust them and give them the benefit of the doubt.

@mr-dragon-raaar They also said Gamemodes would never be a thing.
That Crossplay would never be an option to turn off.
That player ships would be the only masts you would see on the seas.
That microtransactions would be added within 3 months of release.

They change their plans based on feedback from the playerbase.

I am all for exclusives for the right reasons, such as the Alpha/Beta Sails, BlackDog Pre-Order, and the limited giveaways like the Banana and LoL Sails. Why? Because EVERYONE had the opportunity to partake in these, or they were hand picked by Rare for a specific reason.

I am not in favor of hard limit exclusives like Controllers, HDD's, and Xbox Live purchases. These items were hard to find when released, and even more difficult to find as time went on. On top of that, the need for any of these items would deter or drive purchases. Things like this should be a timed exclusive like they are doing with Convention Giveaways.

In the future, I wish Rare would announce these giveaways ahead of time. It seems more people are prone to negativity when things come as a surprise out of nowhere like the Over Achiever sails.

@biostructr It was announced from the start that the Huntress and Spinal items would be a timed exclusive. It even said so directly on the cards to deter people from getting ripped off on eBay.

The store sales where just another way of getting people that extra month of exclusivity over others, but still timed.

@musicmee I also think those launch items should be tied to the account, not the character, to avoid any issue when a player resets their character or their character is reset (for any other circumstance). Would also think that the event items should also be treated as such.

@ghost-0f-dawn said in Official Sea of Thieves Developer Update: February 20th 2019:

So you remove the sluggish slowdown to the sword to make it feel better, and now it needs to be nerfed back? Encouraging sword play by punishing it back into the ground I can't see as a logical step.

There is a punishment for missing. You can't combo.

There is a way to avoid missing. Aim slightly down and hit the ground or swing and hit something which will then let the slash combo continue even when not hitting an actual player. So not being able to combo isnt a good enough punishment as i can avoid "missing" by hitting items/the ground.

EDIT: i'll add a video here of me doing this that i explain above.
"https://twitter.com/DerickMcAfee/status/1095766889597300736"[link text]

@musicmee here Joe neatee

Here is a rough translation of the bottom, hope it helps everyone tone it down a bit.

German:

Sea of Thieves Spiel (separat erhaltlich) erforderlich. For Sea of Thieves ist Xbox Live Gold erforderlich. Das Mercenary DLC-Pack ist 3 monate lang exklusiv. Angebot gilt ab dem 12.03. und ist zeitiert limitiert. Bei teilnehmenden handlern, solange der vorrat reicht. Digitaler Download-code for Mercenary DLC-Pack wird beim kauf einer 3-monate-mitgliedschaft bei.

English:

Sea of Thieves game (sold separately) required. For Sea of Thieves, Xbox Live Gold is required. The Mercenary DLC pack is exclusive for 3 months. Offer valid from 12.03. and is limited in time. At participating dealers, as long as the stock lasts. Digital download code for Mercenary DLC pack will be included when purchasing a 3 month membership.