All the Mercenary and Reapers Runs are concerning

@blazedrake100 If you don't care about quality, then you are correct.

I do hope that the majority of the monthly updates are not the same Mercenary/Bilge Rat Adventures. I do think that some of them will be new Tall Tales, but I also hope for something else. I'm curious what Dark Relics brings but, as I said elsewhere, I am concerned the monthly updates could bring less quality and just more quantity to content. But we'll see (sea?), I guess

Totally agree with you !

Reaper runs are just another iteration of "basic" quests. They are repetitives and we have to do them again and again to get the cosmetics. Speaking of cosmetics, the ones we get since the beginning of reaper runs are all the same, with minor modifications.. Whats the point?? Rare doesn't have anymore ideas to create fresh and cool cosmetics? Also, just my opinion but I find them ugly...

Maybe if people would PvP during them, it would be funnier. But almost everyone is just "speedrunning" them, avoiding every fights. This event is not "explosive", its just another dig and run.

Also, about mermaid gems, did they think about pirate legends?? I guess there is a large amount of legends now, and for us, selling MM gems to the three basic companies is just useless ...

I seriously hope Rare stop doing reaper runs, its a lazy way to add "content", and many players starts to be bored doing the same thing again and again..
Hell, even the skeleton thrones was a better event, unique and original.

We want originals events, not some disguised gold hoarder quests, its simple as that.

Why is it that everbody keeps complaining but don't listen?

The dev teams is getting into a new way of releasing content in a better way. They just started with that, this update is a start. The upcoming updates are most likely are going to bed way better, because the dev teams are then in a good routine for developing the content.

Give them time. They just switched over and need time to adjust, this content is the just the beginning for hopefully, some fun upcoming updates!

@nagthenaggy actually new event is a breeze of fresh air. I feel like i am new to the game with all those forts on the map which i don't really know how they looks like. Again is the map and "hmm where it could be"/ "is that this island i am looking for" / "boy, give me that map i'll show you"

i think that this is really good event. Especially for experienced pirates who knows everything

@faceyourdemon We are not forced to do them, but if you are a completionist, like a big majority of gamers, you will absolutely want to do them. Even more if time limited cosmetics are tied to it.
We just want something funnier and original to do, is that asking for too much?

@lord-budstep said in All the Mercenary and Reapers Runs are concerning:

Also, about mermaid gems, did they think about pirate legends?? I guess there is a large amount of legends now, and for us, selling MM gems to the three basic companies is just useless ...

Sell them to the Hunter's Call

As far as Reaper runs go this one makes a lot more sense then others. Ships packed with gunpowder barrels and Mega kegs sailing with a reapers flag because of commendations is a sight to behold.
It's one of those fun scenarios. I Like this a lot more then the last two reaper runs that were just: Sail to an island dig up treasure and you're done... Now do this 5 times!

A friend of mine made a suggestion regarding this event, the next and the lore:
What if: Now the trading companies are gathering gunpowder barrels to arm themselves, fortify for a coming threat (the grand maritime union perhaps?).
The next event sounds more like a bilge rat adventure. Dark Relics sounds like something new in stead of a twist on what we had.
The Idea here is that the residents of the sea of thieves are trying to aquire something new for the coming fight.
After these two the third will be the actual content update. The Major patch.
This could be a cycle:

1- Bilge Rat adventure: Mercenary Missions
2- Bilge Rat adventures: New feature/ Tall tale
3- Major content update

And this cycled over and over. It's like as if we had a Reaper run to gather Cannonballs - Then the Cursed crews event (cursed cannonballs introduced) and then roll into cursed sails.

But that's just a Theory....

@nagthenaggy

Yeah I also wrote up a post about this.

Mercenary Voyages are just reusing old assets in a different way. Even the cosmetics are just 3 iterations of the same black and white sail... The whole vision that Rare has shown us for time limited events and time limited cosmetics over the past 6 or 7 months has just been disappointing. It feels like shortcuts are being taken at every opportunity.

I want to have faith that they actually have some more interesting events and loads of cool cosmetics (that aren't just one redesigned sail and flag) but it's really been hard to keep that faith.

I usually can feel the passion that Rare puts into the development of Sea of Thieves as I play through new updates. I certainly felt it with the original Bilge Rat Adventures, and all of the major content updates. But with these Mercenary Voyages, they just feel rushed and passionless. From the event itself right down to the cosmetics.

This might be the first time limited event that I just don't complete. I've never felt less motivated to complete commendations and buy time limited cosmetics as I have with Mercenary Voyages. I'll play through the Reaper Runs so I can get mixed up in some other crew encounters, but the smuggler runs have zero appeal to me.

I fear that Dark Relics will just be more of the same. Perhaps, like anniversary, this is filler while they prepare for something bigger and better. One can hope. I hate to sound harsh, I really do, because I'm usually very appreciative of Rare and their work. But I just feel like Mercenary Voyages are the wrong idea for these monthly updates.

@faceyourdemon said in All the Mercenary and Reapers Runs are concerning:

No one is forcing anyone to be part of this event, some people are talking like they were forced to do it if you dont want to do it then dont.

This isn't the point at all.

The point is that we were promised monthly events. That sounds like a very exciting prospect. But Mercenary Voyages are not "new and exciting" and neither are the cosmetics they've given with the event. The idea of voyages that drive player interactions is simply wonderful. I love that, but it's being overused right now.

You're a founder, you should know what I'm talking about already. Bilge Rat Adventures were so much better than this. We got cool clothes and weapons regularly. Now they're reusing old tech and assets and dripfeeding unappealing redesigns of the same Reaper sail we've already seen. Don't you understand why all of this is so underwhelming when compared to the way things used to be for Bilge Rats?

@blazedrake100 Yeah hostile mermaids are on the want list. High on it too :-P
I personally think we'll find out more soon. Keep this island in your sights ;-)

https://www.reddit.com/r/Seaofthieves/comments/cegugp/someone_is_digging_on_that_uncharted_island_at_l12/

@hynieth said in All the Mercenary and Reapers Runs are concerning:

@blazedrake100 Yeah hostile mermaids are on the want list. High on it too :-P
I personally think we'll find out more soon. Keep this island in your sights ;-)

https://www.reddit.com/r/Seaofthieves/comments/cegugp/someone_is_digging_on_that_uncharted_island_at_l12/

Maybe we're going underground for Dark Relics??? Hmmmmm

These are real bilge rat adventures btw. These events are not about the grind, they are about experimenting and having fun blowing people up. Not all monthly events will be like this but some should be for sure.

@mr-dragon-raaar said in All the Mercenary and Reapers Runs are concerning:

@realstyli i think its a case of wishful thinking.
Dark Relics will likely be a dig up skulls merc voyage :(

Probably, I should have learned by now to temper my expectations when it comes to SoT

@faceyourdemon The only unique thing in this event is the fact that we dig GPB and merchant crates instead of finding them, that's all.

@nagthenaggy I agree with you. Other feedback seems that many feel that these recycled mercenary voyages are old and very stale. High time we move on to truly new content.

@mr-dragon-raaar said in All the Mercenary and Reapers Runs are concerning:

@realstyli i think its a case of wishful thinking.
Dark Relics will likely be a dig up skulls merc voyage :(

Let's hope not. Rare needs to stop mercenary voyages. It has been way over done and has made the sea feel like there is not and will not be anything different but the same old repeat of everything that has come before.

@mentimjojo said in All the Mercenary and Reapers Runs are concerning:

Why is it that everbody keeps complaining but don't listen?

The dev teams is getting into a new way of releasing content in a better way. They just started with that, this update is a start. The upcoming updates are most likely are going to bed way better, because the dev teams are then in a good routine for developing the content.

Give them time. They just switched over and need time to adjust, this content is the just the beginning for hopefully, some fun upcoming updates!

Some may be complaining, but many of us are giving feedback. Feedback that Rare has not been listening to as that is why we have yet another recolored, recycled mercenary voyage. Which leads to the reason why we are continuing to give feedback. Hopefully feedback that will be listened to and the new schedule and monthly updates will not continue to be just another repeat of a repeat of a repeat... :)

I didn't completely hate the Reaper Runs before, although the five times through was very monotonous. Only having to do them three times each this time is an improvement.

I'm not understanding the reasoning behind having buried merchant goods. It makes no sense to me. Buried treasure is one thing, but buried...tea?? Really? It makes no sense to have to go dig up buried gunpowder kegs on a fort literally full of free gunpowder barrels for the taking. I hate things that don't make sense, especially grindy things. What possible explanation can they concoct about why somebody went to the trouble to bury these mundane items? I understand the Trading Companies may be trying to stock up for some impending threat of which we're all unaware. That kinda sorta makes sense. The buried merchant goods and gunpowder kegs is baffling, however.

From a gameplay perspective, there are a lot of commendations here. Most of them don't seem like they'll be too hard. My crew and I did our first Reaper Run tonight and it went smoothly. We saw a few ships but nobody bothered us. We collected a ton of kegs and ticked off a couple commendations. I can see how these voyages could get pretty intense with a competitive server, though. Hopefully we'll see more action next time. In the meantime, I expect I'll run a few solo, since my crew isn't always available and I want to earn the time-limited cosmetics. We'll see.

But back to the topic, I have to agree with the OP to some extent. The first several Bilge Rat Adventures were so creative and fun. The Hungering Deep was thrilling on several levels. The Thrones were really inventive and crazy at times. I even liked hunting the mermaid statues, though it got pretty grindy towards the end (and after it was done I never wanted to see one again, until they started dropping gems).

The point is, I agree that these last few batches of adventures have basically just been "more of the same". The gunpowder thing is somewhat of a twist, but again it makes no sense and is just a slightly different form of the same grind. Meh. Even the cosmetics are almost the same (although I do think this set is much better than the previous two). Why couldn't they have introduced a helm, capstan, or cannons? Maybe they're saving it, but the thing is...how many sets of white-on-black reaper-themed sails do we really need?

Oh well. There's lots of commendations to chase this time around. Of course, since the game world is a significantly safer place now, the challenge has been reduced. All the skeletons we encountered were like "level one" skellies, slow and easy to kill. Skellie cannoneers are a joke and can be safely ignored. The two megalodons we saw posed no threat at all. We sank a skellie ship within seconds and it never fired a shot. I said to my crew, "I hope they're not all like that." Everything felt far too easy. With no PvE challenges, that only leaves PvP. It's funny how that works. All these PvE people begging for things to get easier all the time are actually making things much, much worse for themselves.

As usual, I'm sure Rare will do some tweaking here and there. And I do appreciate all their hard work and care that goes into the game. I have faith in their vision for the Sea of Thieves. I only hope they can keep things fresh and challenging for all their devoted players.

If you feel like the voyages are repetitive, try doing something different while doing them. It's up to you to make your own stories and memories in the game. This could be anything from attempting to tuck on an enemy ship, or docking your rowboat full of PK's and spreading them around the ship. Try using a rowboat to do your voyage. It doesnt matter what you do, the point is to try anything no matter how ridiculous. I guarantee that if you get into this kind of habit, the scope of the game opens up.

No matter what Rare does it will complained about. Do I like these voyages and reaper runs......? NO, because they’re lack luster ideas rehashed as content. Now it may be part of the future lore of what may happen and I don’t know but in the end I just want the cosmetics to make me look Fabulous! Lol

@genuine-heather said in All the Mercenary and Reapers Runs are concerning:

I didn't completely hate the Reaper Runs before, although the five times through was very monotonous. Only having to do them three times each this time is an improvement.

Agree. This is a welcomed change. Rare needs to realize making players repeat things over and over just to get a commendation that says you did it x number of times is not innovative and more importantly fun.

I'm not understanding the reasoning behind having buried merchant goods. It makes no sense to me. Buried treasure is one thing, but buried...tea?? Really? It makes no sense to have to go dig up buried gunpowder kegs on a fort literally full of free gunpowder barrels for the taking. I hate things that don't make sense, especially grindy things. What possible explanation can they concoct about why somebody went to the trouble to bury these mundane items? I understand the Trading Companies may be trying to stock up for some impending threat of which we're all unaware. That kinda sorta makes sense. The buried merchant goods and gunpowder kegs is baffling, however.

I feel exactly the same. The whole buried barrel thing at a fort is silly and makes no sense. Why not have a little story leading us to find skellie stock piling new types of gunpowder barrels to use against pirate ships and the outposts.

Duke sends us to investigate the rumor and discover the threat. We raid forts to steal away the stock pile. Could have ships transporting them we need to intercept. Could have skellie sloops full of them that chase after pirate ships to ram them and explode. Even take it further and find the source of the new gunpowder and put an end to their operation. No we just spin in circles just digging up yet another item the same way, yes with a little twist, but basically the same as all the other voyages for half a year now.

But back to the topic, I have to agree with the OP to some extent. The first several Bilge Rat Adventures were so creative and fun. The Hungering Deep was thrilling on several levels. The Thrones were really inventive and crazy at times. I even liked hunting the mermaid statues, though it got pretty grindy towards the end (and after it was done I never wanted to see one again, until they started dropping gems).

The Bilge Rats showed us the true potential of what the game could be. Hungering Deep was really good. The gilded voyages followed up by all these cloned Merc voyages has been taking us in the wrong direction. Time to make Adventure live it to its name.

The point is, I agree that these last few batches of adventures have basically just been "more of the same". The gunpowder thing is somewhat of a twist, but again it makes no sense and is just a slightly different form of the same grind.
Meh.

Totally agree with you! Time to bring back Bilge Rats, hopefully not just new, but improved, and challenging.

Even the cosmetics are almost the same (although I do think this set is much better than the previous two). Why couldn't they have introduced a helm, capstan, or cannons? Maybe they're saving it, but the thing is...how many sets of white-on-black reaper-themed sails do we really need?

Lol you are right.

Of course, since the game world is a significantly safer place now, the challenge has been reduced. All the skeletons we encountered were like "level one" skellies, slow and easy to kill. Skellie cannoneers are a joke and can be safely ignored. The two megalodons we saw posed no threat at all. We sank a skellie ship within seconds and it never fired a shot. I said to my crew, "I hope they're not all like that." Everything felt far too easy. With no PvE challenges, that only leaves PvP. It's funny how that works. All these PvE people begging for things to get easier all the time are actually making things much, much worse for themselves.

You pointed this issue out very well. With months and months of the same Merc voyages there has been no PvE challenges. What PvE challenges we had has been watered down. There needs to be a challenge to all aspects of the game, especially PvE since it is the heart of Adventure.

PvP in Adventure is organic. It can pop up any where at any time. We do not need a voyage to confine us pirates to the same limited space to forcefully stir it up. Use the whole world around us. Give us lots of things to do leading us all across the map. Make sure we cannot just strut in and take everything without NPC and environmental risks and challenges.