I Find This Very Sad

I think putting order of souls would have been so great for the beta instead one just one company. But the beta isn't really meant to be about alpha players first. It's meant to get new players excited. The player base is probably going from a couple hundred thousand to a couple million. Go test stuff that's been tooned. Meet new people, teach them the ropes, have adventures with people new friends. Just remember lots of stuff is still coming, maybe as a new beta build or in the full game. Order of souls being and back, the merchant company, wildlife, more shops, new items (I thought i heard mention of a violin in the last big development podcast), ship customization, more weapons, skeleton forts, Etc.

@disabledgamerjh
I completely understand the idea behind it and the "Getting players excited!" message is all well and good.
But in actuality most of the Beta players are going to play for two hours maximum, realise that realistically they've already done everything there is to do and that the rest of the 5 days are going to be the exact same experience as that first hour.
And then, they wonder why they paid money for a game that (so far) they can only play for a very limited time before boredom shifts their attention to another game.
I love Sea of Thieves but this experience was actually a real let down, especially when you get those people pre-ordering and getting less of an experience than the people who got to play earlier and didn't pay a penny.

Of course, the people who pre-ordered through the store are fine because they don't pay until release but the people who did store pre-orders with deposits?
That sure wouldn't get me excited.

Pretty sure the beta is to stress test the servers and figure out how many ships they want per server.

@HANS42

That's absolutely fine in theory but isn't that what we played the Alpha?
And also why suddenly everyone who joined before December 1st was let in? To stress test?

Because typically, that's the job of an Alpha and a Beta is more to get a close approximation of complete gameplay,typically in a limited environment but with all key features present.
A good example that comes to mind was the Halo:Reach Beta which was only multiplayer and a very different type of game, true, but it was a close approximation of what you could expect from the finished game.

@xdilligafx1974
It's all fine to say "They're going traditional" but in practice it's not a model that works anymore. Back in the good old days a beta was just that and it worked exceptionally! But now we live in a different time and things can't run that way, when a game has such massive publicity and such vast competition to achieve the attention it requires a "Classic" Beta doesn't work as well. Now it's about how you can show your players that you're working to meet desires, demands and expectations all within reason of course and to show any skeptics that there is something present there that they haven't seen before. Sadly, in the modern stages of videogame development, a "Classic" Beta just leaves those involved, especially those who paid for the pleasure, with a sour outlook on the game.

And I'd like to stress, I'm not angry.
All I'd like is for my concern to be acknowledged because for a game that has been seemingly slipping in and out of "development hell" and getting an awful rep from reviewers, I don't think it needs even more bad publicity.

@jerome36

Yes, and everyone was very happy with the features we were given except obviously all were keen for more!
So why have we received less this time around?
It makes me feel as though Rare hadn't realised we'd want even more to the point they had to take things out so they'd still have "New" features to push at release.
I really hope I'm wrong, especially with a classically ambitious company like Rare but the suspicion does arise.

@carcinogenetxc no, most betas i have been in is server stress test.

It's ok man. My son and his friends who haven't played before are in the Beta having an absolute ball! They're playing with an enthusiastic demeanor and loving adventuring. To hear them developing even the simplest plan like "whose going to raise the sails?", and hearing the chaos got me to laughing so much I had to leave the room. This Beta is for "those" kids more than it is for us 'Pioneers". Our time will come after the Beta and again when the game is released. I'm sure no school work is getting done today for the SOT kids! Here's an idea........ Take a few of em under your wing and show em the ropes! Parrotheads out😀

@hans42

That's great and I'm very glad that was the case in those Beta's but sadly, I'd say with a "Technical Alpha" with a population of at least a few tens of thousands, surely...shouldn't we be past stress testing now and onto...y'know...game testing?

@bern-dimall

That's fantastic and great to hear they're enjoying it.
I was the exact same for a while, but, and call it mature skepticism if you will, I found it monotonous and boring...like earning the gold was a chore. Except usually there's a reason to do a chore. Sadly, I've personally found little motivation to wander around the beautifully detailed islands and dig them up.
Either way though, I'm very glad that a lot of players are still having fun, despite how many of us feel underwhelmed and almost conned.

@slipkick01
I absolutely agree but even as a Die Hard Fan of The Golden Age of Piracy I still find myself underwhelmed because as much as Piracy was a job and was not as glamorous as it is made out to be it was certainly more interesting than this.

I find myself even brought to the point of wondering why make a Beta 5 days long if there's nothing to do past the first few hours?
Obviously I understand that it's for accessibility but surely you can see what I mean?

The problem I have is that I will not come out of this Beta with bated breath ready to get the new features and bits I missed, n'or will I come out satisfied with the experience. Because frankly the experience has been very much like watching the same movie over and over for 5 days. Sure, it was funny the first time, great the second to see the bits I missed, even the third so I can see how it all slots together but I'm quite done beyond that point and have no desire to drive myself to do the same thing for any longer.

@rump-spank3r

Here's the problem:

The Beta isn't even as big as the Alpha.

I'm not trying to discourage you from buying because the Alpha was damn good. But yes, sadly the lack of choice of how to earn your piratical fortune and the few-and-far-between encounters with other pirates make this feel much more Sea of Archaeologists than Sea of Thieves.

@john-sosebee

Y'know what Rare need to do?

They need to go "Hey, you're right guys. We're extending the Beta and here, we'll switch it to a more beefed up build."
Because people need to see what this game can be, not what it currently is.
Right now it is a sandbox without toys. You make a sandcastle and go "Hey that was fun...What now?" so you make two more and then notice that your socks are full of sand and really there's nothing else to do and now it's probably going to rain too.

@vbeagle

Possibly because everyone else, who didn't pay a penny for it got to play a more complete game than you did, despite the fact that you actually gave out money, and a substantial amount of it for the exclusive opportunity to take part in a Closed Beta with the expectation that you would be experiencing something few others had.

But instead these people are greeted by less than what the others got with little more New Content than the ability to take screenshots without being chastised.

@chosen-predator

But then, if suddenly it's all under NDA they have to exclude Non-Founders, upsetting those who paid money, and a lot of it too, for the opportunity to test the game early.
And then the people who didn't pay, assuming that Founders didn't pre-order anyway, get to play with even more features.

Sadly, all that would do is breed boycotts.

@chosen-predator

Either that or it's so rare that few have actually experienced the PvP, but that's neither here n'or there.

I would say that it's fine, had they not taken a step back in the transition to Beta. Sadly as it stands it is quite difficult to believe promises of new content when so far we've only really seen content removed.

@drbullhammer

This is absolutely unproductive and it was never really meant to have a purpose other than to allow a thread in which like-minded individuals can talk about where they can see downfalls in the model that Rare appear to be pursuing.

Sadly, I think you misunderstood what I meant by conned. People have been told they will be playing a "Beta", and this "Beta" is actually less of a game, featuring less content, than the Technical Alpha meaning that in itself it is not a progression, nullifying the use of the term "Beta". By conned, I mean that a lot of people feel as if they have been lied to, and that very few feel as if they are playing a "Beta" or what would pass for one in this day and age.
Money has nothing to do with it, though I'm sure it matters to a fair few people.