Still no private servers in 2025 is wild - an old rant by an old player

  • MarineMike
    Rogue

    The developers are being opposed to private/safer seas so much that we can't even enjoy the servers in the first place. We can't have captained ships and we can't have more than one boat in the whole ocean. You have to play solo or have everyone on one ship, which is super lame in 2025, especially without ship customization and alliances/emissaries and full gold payouts. How are we supposed to roleplay or train for PVP with only one ship in the entire server? How are we supposed to get excited to play when there's a 50% gold handicap punishing us for wanting to play in a private session?

    IT JUST MAKES NO SENSE! WHAT ARE YOU SO AFRAID OF DEVS? AFRAID THAT PEOPLE WILL ACTUALLY HAVE FUN IN YOUR GAME? THAT PEOPLE WILL UNLOCK EVERYTHING IN THE GAME? THAT PUBLIC SERVERS WILL BE EMPTY BECAUSE PEOPLE DONT WANT TO PLAY WITH CHEATS AND SWEATS? GOOD! THATS THE POINT! THATS WHY THERE ARE PRIVATE SERVERS IN GTA5 TOO!

    Did you ever wonder why none of the top SoT streamers have more than like 300k subscribers? Nobody has hit the 1 million mark after 7 years - and I'm thinking it's probably because currently the PEAK streamer content is just tucking on another players ship for hours and then blowing them up with a keg, which is not really something that's going to entice new players. So please stop being scared of what the youtubers may say about your updates, make some big changes and STICK to them, maybe focus on bettering the new join experience, rather than bending over backwards to make the sweaty veterans happy. The grapple gun was great until the streamers started crying about it being used for boarding (which was its main purpose), so then you reverted it to only attach to ship sides and made it basically useless now unless you're swimming right next to an enemy boat.

    Most people just want to see positive roleplay/pve content showcasing what the game has to offer rather than griefing 24/7 in a cartoon kids world, so don't worry about the youtubers reactions their channels will be dead soon anyways, do what you have to do to make the game better for everyone - rather than just for the top 1%.

    It seems like through the years the developers have tried everything to make PVP more popular in order to make the game more popular in return, which obviously hasn't been working. The only reason we got any new players recently was from porting the game to the xbox/playstation. If everyone really loved PVP the way you devs think they do then you would see the red skull flags all over the map in every server, but you rarely ever see even ONE, meaning the PVP players are most likely playing against each other in hourglass battles when they want to fight.

    You devs need to start focusing on the PVE if you want this game to survive, and I'm not just talking about a new tall tale here and there. I'm talking about your PVE philosophy as a whole, your players should no longer be penalized for playing the way they want, you should turn safer seas into private seas and let us do what we want in them. All gold/rewards are cosmetic, so why is there such a restriction on safer seas? If your answer is "to keep players in public servers" then I would next ask how long do you think they are going to play if they don't want to be there in the first place and are only in the server because they're forced.

    Make this a true SANDBOX game for EVERYONE rather than a hand-holding PVP forced adventure, and then maybe players will play more.

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  • Boneheart1237
    Marauder
    Insider

    Check the new vid

  • Worst TDMer
    Ship Mate

    Even if private servers are made available to everyone, they will never have more progression than safer seas has today. It goes against the nature of the game.

    It's actually crazy to think Rare has been catering to sweaty veterans, after 5 years of consistently lowering the bar/making literally every aspect of the game easier/bringing back time limited cosmetics.

    What do you think will happen if they removed all restrictions for safer seas/let you unlock everything in a private server? Do you think you'd have any motivation to continue playing the game after you've reached "the top of the mountain"? Or would the playerbase just plummet as every swabbie gets bored after unlocking everything in private servers and gets demolished by people that didn't shelter themselves?

    What is the point of looking like a cool scary pirate if you get folded immediately?

    All gold/rewards are cosmetic, so why is there such a restriction on safer seas?

    Because the real rewards are stories, experiences, and skill progression. Cosmetics are just seasonings on top of that, a reason to justify engagement.

  • BurnBacon
    Vanguard
    Insider

    You devs need to start focusing on the PVE if you want this game to survive

    7+ years seems to say enough here. They have idea what to do. It’s the execution of things and timing.

  • Europa4033
    Captain
    Insider

    I think it all boils down to one question-- do achievements count on a server you pay real money for? It's going to suck if I log in a server I just paid a subscription to, start sailing away from the outpost and get the shrouded ghost only to have it not count.

  • Bulla5278
    Master
    Insider

    I don't think it all boils down to that at all and the answer should be a very obvious no. Why would achievements count in a server where you have control over everything?

  • MarineMike
    Rogue

    @worst-tdmer you really think people are going to stop playing just because they have all the cosmetics they like? now that is crazy thinking, who would they even show it off to if they just logged off after 'reaching the mountain top' lol you do know this game has seasons right? with new content drops constantly? people would never run out of things to buy even if they were grade 5 for days the athena/legend stuff alone would take forever to get.

    you also have no idea what the nature of the game is, the devs said themselves multiple times that they want it to be a 'sandbox' well its not really a sandbox if you're forced to PVP or suffer penalties. Having a cool outfit doesn't mean your good, it just means you wasted a lot of hours of your life in the game, which is fine, but you not wanting others to play how they want says more about you then it does about the issue. if anything, removing the restrictions would make the player base soar, and i would bet money on that.

    you think people stop playing minecraft once they beat the ender dragon? what about creative mode, do they just stop immediately since everything is already unlocked? no they dont, since most people will play a game because its fun, not only to grind/unlock things, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be allowed to unlock things just because they dont want to PVP.

  • MarineMike
    Rogue

    @bulla5278 yeah im pretty sure the custom servers they just announced would be like minecraft creative mode, if you can spawn/toggle anything you want then achievements would not count.

  • Worst TDMer
    Ship Mate

    @marinemike Yes I do, these specific PvE players at least. I think PvE in this game is only "fun" when you're chasing goals (levels, comms, cosmetics). Once they've finished that they for sure aren't going to PvP, or engage with the sandbox element, as that risks PvP. I have multiple friends who have bought every item in the game. When a new season comes out they grind PvE for a week, then again have every item in the game. They still play for PvP or shenanigans in the open world, not safer seas PvE.

    It also isn't really a sandbox if you completely shut out any chance of things not going your way in safer seas. Ik having a cool outfit doesn't make you good at the game, that's why I said what I said. There's no point looking like a cool scary pirate if you get folded by a swabbie who learned how to PvP their first month.

    Once you can build insane creations in Sea of Thieves, that comparison will make sense. PvE in SoT is not fun in and of itself, it was never meant to be, it was never the main draw. What makes it "fun" is the dopamine of finishing goals. Once that dries out you see how dull and repetitive digging up chests, chasing chickens, and shooting badly programmed AI is.

    PvE/Cosmetics were always meant to be the appetizer to draw you in, while player interaction and the stories you create are the real meat of the game. Most good stories need villains and danger, actual stakes involved to create tension.

  • PotatoSord
    Marauder
    Insider

    @worst-tdmer Yeah I see this as basically the end of the game. They are essentially enabling single player. 0 gold, 0 rep, 0 achievements means nothing as long as people can play the game without having to deal with PVP or the chance at someone stealing their loot. Once you have the cosmetics you want gold is meaningless anyways.

  • Praezeptor
    Master
    Insider

    There’s a very simple solution: Why not just have a PVE character and a PVP character?
    Safer Seas can only be played with a PVE character, and a PVE character can never be used for PVP.
    This keeps PVP achievements untainted, and those who only want to play PVE can do so as well.

    Ideally, PVE should be open to friend invitations, so multiple ships can sail together, and players can still enjoy a PVP match with friends if they choose.
    This would open up entirely new possibilities. It could lead to roleplay, or streamers could invite viewers to join them and take part. For my part, I can only say that I’ve been in the PVP game long enough to be completely fed up with it by now.

    Because the game offers so much more than just PVP, and sometimes you just want a quiet evening hanging out with friends at sea without being disturbed 30 times by the same idiot, no matter how many times you sink them—they just keep coming back. Not because they’re looking for a challenge or because PVP is fun for them, but because, unfortunately, there are enough idiots out there who have nothing better to do all evening than to get on your nerves.

    This is one of many reasons why I and my friends lost interest in Sea of Thieves over a year ago. We’d all love to play again, but no one has any desire for PVP or dealing with toxic players anymore.
    Safer Seas doesn’t offer us anything anymore either, since we were already Legends years ago, and there’s nothing left for us to do there. Except for Tall Tales, which, by the way, is something we all really enjoyed.

    For all I care, you can keep clinging to PVP, but I also believe that Sea of Thieves will soon be history unless you rethink your stance and open up to people who just want to spend the evening with friends and find joy in the game for reasons other than PVP.
    Ideally, you could copy your PVP character to PVE, but I wouldn’t even mind if I had to start from scratch again. I’d happily play my way up to Legend and beyond with my friends a second time. That’s exactly what we enjoy, not spending four hours at sea in the evening and getting nothing done because you’re constantly dealing with some idiots. If that’s what some people enjoy, fine. But for my part, I want to spend my evening in a more rewarding way.

    Just my 2cents

    Praezeptor

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