New player - COMPLETELY lost

@shortleopard603 feel free to send me a message and we can play together and I can explain what this game is about. It is very confusing for new players.

Im sorry for your troubles.

But. I’m sorry again, you do know to read the descriptions before jumping into things right? Maybe a tutorial on YouTube? Or the ones ingame?

@shortleopard603 said in New player - COMPLETELY lost:

Do you guys have similar experience? Or should I just uninstall it cause this is some kind of "special kind" of game?

Not really... first I looked up infos on what the game is about, how does it play and what you do in it (because I like to inform myself and know what I buy and make sure I will enjoy myself with that game). I even watched a small streamer I liked that had just starting playing too, so it was fun to discover and figure out the ropes with him, then when I knew this game was for me, I finally bought it (a few weeks after release).

All in all, I was aware of what I was getting into, so I don't think it's the game itself that is a "special kind", but I do think there are special kind of players, especially when they rather uninstall a game instead of looking for infos on it... there, maybe this helps a bit? (Pre-googled for you)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmhu6fhfTR0

Ahoy! Welcome to the game! Hope I am not too late to respond. Let me try to answer your question as organized as possible.

1. To start a game, you have to decide what ship you want, this basically determines how many max players can be in your crew and the difficulty. A sloop is considered hard mode and allows a max of 2 players (The sloop was made for 1-2 people to be able to handle it). A Brigantine is medium difficulty and manages up to 3 players in the crew. A Galleon is considered easy mode, the ship in itself sails like a truck, sluggish and heavy and requires the effort of at least 3 crew members to sail it properly. You can choose to sail in a closed crew server which simply means that you don't want match making (In case you plan to invite friends into your crew up to a max of 3 other players and depending on the ship chosen), other wise, open crew will throw you into a server where an open crew slot is needed which also includes a new server where all open slots exist (Which why sometimes you will appear in the tavern or sometimes you will be dropped in the middle of a sinking ship with cannonballs blasting about and a drunk crew member throwing up all over the place while playing music really badly.

• Please Note: Even if you play by yourself, you are still considered a "crew member" and part of the ship's crew (A crew of 1). The Ship itself, does not belong to you specifically, it belongs to the crew

2. This isn't an MMO. It's more akin to a multiplayer RPG adventure sandbox. Rare calls it a SWAG for short or aShared Word Adventure Game which means that apart from your pirate and personal gold, nothing belongs to you, not even the treasure on your ship (Until you sell) nor the ship itself, it is shared with your crew, and the game world itself is shared with other crews aka pvp and other player interaction

3. The tutorial, "The Maiden Voyage" is heavily RECOMMENDED

4. As implied with my response #1, Yes! Crew size matters.

5. The mysterious stranger explains the basics of trading/ treasure finding after you finish the tutorial, which loops back to my point #3. I will explain it in more depth momentarily since this mysterious stranger requires an update with how many changes the game has gone through already and how heavily expository his conversation can be.

• There are a total of 3 basic trading companies which provides voyages (Missions):
  Gold hoarders focus on digging up or finding treasure and trinkets
  Order of souls focus on pve combat and finding skulls
  Merchant alliance focus on timed quests, and finding animals, spices/ silks, or charting courses.

• Apart from these 3, their are 3 more factions which are unique in the way they behave and do not revolve around selling at the Outposts.
  Reaper's Bones Focus is on PvP (Including world events), provides the most gold, and accept almost any loot/ treasure. They are however not in any outpost, to sell they have a specific hideout in the game that can be found by name in the ship's map (world Map). I recommend this only for experienced players. They hold no voyages.
  Bilge Rats Focus is on commendations which are challenges or performing "Feats", and doing time limited or special voyages. Simply complete a challenge, and the commendation is completed/ received. The leader of the Bilge Rats can be found right outside the door of the tavern in case a new time limited voyage/ mission is active.
  Hunter's Call Focus is on fishing and trading cooked meats or fish. They are found in small trading posts across the game

• Tall Tales, are this game's version of a "story mode" or "Campaign". They take the form of books, and you vote on them like any other voyage. The first OG tales are found across the world and their symbols can be seen in the ship's map table on different islands. The Pirates life tall tales which feature jack sparrow are found in any outpost in the Castaway's camp.

• Note: The Voyages take the form of BOOKS and to start them you vote on the books, interacting with the castaway does NOT start the adventure. Choosing a "Pirate's life" adventure mode from the main menu, simply throws you in a server close to the castaway's camp for you to start the adventure.

The game throws you into the world, because as a pirate, you are free to do what you want, as you want it. There is more to see and do apart from the voyages, areas to explore and discover that I won't talk about here so that if you choose to continue to play, you can discover them personally. There is no Main Mission the game's islands, inhabitants, and even seas change from time to time, which revolves around a central main story, however the story is part of the lore of the game and not in one specific main mission. The game updates frequently and every update changes the world in it in some aspects.

• Finally, if you enjoy game's that spoon feed info, and hold your hand through the game's systems, I want to let you know that Sea of Thieves is not that type of game. It's a game that wants you to pay attention to what you do. The game extremely punishes players for their mistakes. For the most part, if you fee like the game is punishing you, it's most likely your fault. Listen and pay close attention to what you might be holding, or what you might be doing at the time that the game punishes you.

Again, it's a game that is not easy on new players, it wants players to learn its mechanics, it wants one to learn to get a feel for things, and once you do the game immediately becomes easier. However, this isn't like some sort of in game "Level up" system, I am talking about real life learning from experience exposure to the game itself, and to achieve that, it takes time, so patience is required. You were a bit unlucky with that "French crew member and that other one that seems like they could be a troll", that's not the majority of the community nor players in game. If you suspect trolling of any kind, you are encouraged to send out a report to Rare in the support tab above in this website. Interaction is a huge focus of the game, so communication is a key component.

@shortleopard603 I would suggest going to the sea of thieves official discord and looking for a crew there. People will use wierd abbreviations that you don't understand but just say that you are a new player looking for someone to show you the ropes. If that doesent work you can add me and I will personally see to it that you are well met and become one of the most feared captains upon the seas. Assuming I'm available of course 😂

Part of this is based on luck, however you're looking at this from a highly negative eye.
Being thrown like this without specific knowledge is also a part of the adventure and the fun, there is nothing that you HAVE to do but instead you're limited to only your imagination and just trying stuff.
And if I may add, it's normal to be confused when you're in a new game.

@shortleopard603

Im sure world of warcraft wasnt spoonfeeding players back in TBC ages and didnt have to watch youtube video about what to do during first 5 minutes of game.

All games have some sort of learning curve. This one's a bit bigger, because you're supposed to learn them as part of the experience.

About you being confused about ship, I understand being confused to start, but the game tells you right there the differences. On the side it says "Larger ships are best worked by larger crews." Then, each ship has a crew size. From those two pieces of information, you should have worked out that you were alone and probably needed a sloop. Then, after clicking a ship, the info on the side says "Seeking pirates to play with? Join an Open Crew." And each description tells you that you and your friends can join or your friends and other players can join. I get starting off confused, but you can't really say that the game has bad onboarding if you never read/thought about the descriptions in the first place.

Your main problem is expecting the game to be an MMO and then trying to apply MMO logic to starting out. What you need to do is decide if you want to play with other people, and then pick a ship that you think fits that best. The others have explained well, if you need a crewmate, the LFG is a great place to go. Either join a post that sounds friendly or make your own. You can literally put in the LFG "New player, need help" and someone will want to help out most of the time.

Cause I have a busy life and just wanna relax with the game. Not buy a manual and spend hour figuring out, what to do. Thats not spoon feeding, thats called "normal learning curve".

There's no levels that grant more power in this game. The power you are given comes from knowledge and experience. So in a way, the learning curve never ends. You get better at playing the game every time that you play it. The only thing other players have over you is how long they've played the game and got experience. So, if you get past the initial learning curves, you can move on to the next and the next, and using what you've learned to win in scenarios is what makes you feel good.

@shortleopard603 Hey hi, welcome to the seas! SOT is a special kind of game but if you uninstall you will miss out on a great experience. It is worth your perseverance. You need to understand there is no linear progression, your ship and weapons will not be upgraded, there are only cosmetic enhancements. Your challenge is, if you chose to accept it, is improving yourself. So every time you play, everything you learn, is meeting that challenge. SOT is like learning to play a guitar, anyone can pick it up and in a short time play a reasonable tune, but it takes a lot of practice to master it.

How you choose to learn is up to you, tools not rules. You can bash away on your own with no outside input, read social media, watch videos or find teachers, or a combination of everything it takes to get you successful voyages. There is no right way, only what works for you. This is why there is no "hand holding"; you have freedom to grow, learn, make mistakes, meet your own challenges and make your own way. It's your journey, your guitar... play it anyway you want.

Would it help if I told you years ago when I started it took me three days to figure out how to raise the anchor? I look back, shake my head and laugh. I am not a master to this day and not sure I ever will be, but I have immensely enjoyed the trip and have experienced great satisfaction progressing. You are a new pirate, but I don't have one game item that is better than you already have. I only have cosmetics that represent my journey and my experience. Potentially in six weeks you could be a much better pirate than me. It's up to you!

@shortleopard603 i sent you a message on xbox when you were playing saying i would be happy to show you the ropes, then sent you a message on this forum, then invited you to an xbox call. I'll even make choo choo noises while I'm spoon feeding you.

@shortleopard603

Hey Bud, Welcome to Sea of Thieves!

As a Veteran Player for 4 Years ( on March 18th ) Let me welcome you to one of the most addicting games out there! I can see your frustration especially being a BRAND NEW player coming into this game with 4 years worth of Content to explore. You can only imagine what it was like for us back in 2018.

If you are playing alone, I highly recommend doing a Sloop Closed Crew. When you load into the Outpost, just walk around and explore, check out all of shops, talk to all of the NPC Players and see what they have to say and offer.

Look in Barrels that you see on Islands and Outposts, grab some supplies for your boat and stock up! Once you make a little bit of money, there is a chest right next to the Shipwright on the Dock where you can Decorate your boat with all fancy cosmetics after purchasing them!

Raise that Anchor, drop sails and just explore! Visit different Islands and see what is there, you'll find random Rowboats filled with goodies, random Treasure, Enemy AI's to fight and more.

While sailing, you may encounter some wild Sea Life that will cause a Threat to you so be prepared! All I will say is when the water turns black and your boat stops moving, you are in for a surprise =)

Also, don't forget you are a Pirate, so be careful of other player boats out there that you will meet! Some MAY be friendly to you, but other's not so much! Protect your Treasure at all Costs until you sell it at an Outpost!

Just play it at your own pace, enjoy the game, and just LEARN. You will learn everyday. Check out some YouTube Videos as well! You will sink, OFTEN. Don't get frustrated. Get back on that boat and keep on Sailing!

Happy Sailing!