What sea of thieves could have been.

  • xixxo123
    Marauder

    Ship HP

    • We could have had a game that didn't have our ships fill up with water that needed fast crew coordination and management to bail water and fix repairs.. We could have had HP bars above our ships that dictated whether or not we were at risk of sinking, to which we could apply a cooldown to repair the ship.

    Instead we got a system that requires a solid crew coordination management system; in which a complex game engine uses realistic physics to fill our ship with water to eventually sink it.. Requiring solid teamwork to bail and repair whilst managing all other functions.. Not like anything seen on a game like this before.

    Cannons

    • We could have got incendeary rounds/distance rounds/slugs for close quaters, cannons could be disabled in combat and have crosshair like sights. Cannons could be kept in a ship inventory and not require being on the user.

    Instead we got cannons that feel heavy like they should, we got a realistic POV whilst aiming, we are required to actually have the cannons on our player to be able to reload and restock the cannons before firing.. We got realistic physics in terms of cannon drop and incredible sound quality.

    Loot gathering

    • We could have got a conveluted system seen in hundreds of games that have loot drop from bosses or general skeletons that works on a pure RNG system..

    Instead we got three factions, soon to be expanding upon that task us in cooporating as a team to find and work out puzzles, fight hordes of enemies or collect hard to find animals and items. Whilst the system needs expanding, it forces players to work together.

    Ship management

    • We could have had a simple to control third person control system like seen on world of warships, we could have had markers on a compass HUD that led us to our destination. Gathered loot would enter a ship inventory that would be dispensed upon the ships destruction allowing pvpers to take it.

    Instead we got parchment with often vauge instructions on our location and how to find it, forcing us to cooporate as a team and work together to find the desired location. Using a compass and a map not too close to the helm making communication vital, controlling the angle and height of sails to realisticly accelerate/turn or stop our ship.. The anchor is easier operated with cooporation and all items are left physically at player chosen locations around the ship.

    Weather and environment

    • We could have got a generic environment along with a time of day system. We could have got the absolute greatest graphical fidelity out of the unreal 4 engine with near lifelike graphics.

    Instead we got the most advanced physics based ocean seen on any game, realisticly creating different sized waves for our ships to traverse through.. We got storms that generally cause your ship to break due like they would in real life through creaking and stretching wood.. we got next-level HBAO/post processing and graphical fidelity seen in any modern day game.. Whilst the game is massively stylised, this is intentional and allows the game to be both unique whilst still having some of the best looking graphics on a game in 2018.

    Graded gear and attributes

    • We could have got items that contain attributes that boost your attack power, fortitude, speed.. this could include gear for ships that increased the attack power, defence, speed or turning circles of ships.

    Instead we got an even playing ground that players will either win or lose based on their skill alone. Cosmetic items whilst currently reasonably sparse that allow you to make your avatar unique and personal.

    Sea of thieves has a few obvious problems that need addressing, greifing, PVP, content and a direction in which to head.. But can we at least take note of what we have.. A game that's foundations is special beyond any game seen in recent years.. A game that breaks so many rules (in a good way, and some bad) that it is nothing less than a breath of fresh air for the industry.

    I've personally played SoT's for more hours so far than any game i've bought in recent years, including massive rpg's like fallout 4 and the witcher 3 (completed both). It has heart, and is a middle finger to hyper competitive rage games that the industry keeps churning out month after month.

    Maybe i'm alone in thinking this, but i am truly excited to see what this game evolves to become.

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  • Le Joli Rouge
    Marauder
    Insider

    Actually, almost every "we could have" point fits Skull & Bones, so I guess players wanting them gotta choose their game and we'll all be fine in our own games :)

  • xCALYPT0x
    Master
    Insider
    Boatswain

    These are the features I have always wanted in a pirate game. When you control your ship, you don't have a 3rd person view of the boat and your movement doesn't control the boat. You control your pirate, who has to sail the boat!

  • Lucid Stew
    Founder

    Ships sinking has nothing to do with physics. The ship has levels of fullness as far as water goes. You can see this when you bail. It removes one level of fullness.

    The ships don't really interact with the water. They kind of glide through it. This is why there's no drift, why the pitch of galleons gets crazy, and why waves never come over the deck.

    The water does look nice, but I don't think it directly imparts any force onto the ships. I think you've overestimated the use of physics in this game.

  • xixxo123
    Marauder

    @xcalypt0x

    Completeley agree bro.

    @thejolirouge said in What sea of thieves could have been.:

    Actually, almost every "we could have" point fits Skull & Bones, so I guess players wanting them gotta choose their game and we'll all be fine in our own games :)

    This is what i tell my PS4 fan-boy friends.. They keep saying "well we are getting skull & bones which is basically sea of thieves" after a quick facepalm i tell them that they may aswell be different genre's of game..

  • xixxo123
    Marauder

    @lucid-stew
    Perhaps i have.. but have you watched digitalfoundry's review on the tech?

    The waves do react with the ship in a more profound way than you probably want to give it credit for.. I've had ships nearly topple over, be nearly vertical when hitting huge waves etc.

  • Jeccckk
    Marauder

    @xixxo123 said in What sea of thieves could have been.:

    Ship HP

    • We could have had a game that didn't have our ships fill up with water that needed fast crew coordination and management to bail water and fix repairs.. We could have had HP bars above our ships that dictated whether or not we were at risk of sinking, to which we could apply a cooldown to repair the ship.

    Instead we got a system that requires a solid crew coordination management system; in which a complex game engine uses realistic physics to fill our ship with water to eventually sink it.. Requiring solid teamwork to bail and repair whilst managing all other functions.. Not like anything seen on a game like this before.

    Cannons

    • We could have got incendeary rounds/distance rounds/slugs for close quaters, cannons could be disabled in combat and have crosshair like sights. Cannons could be kept in a ship inventory and not require being on the user.

    Instead we got cannons that feel heavy like they should, we got a realistic POV whilst aiming, we are required to actually have the cannons on our player to be able to reload and restock the cannons before firing.. We got realistic physics in terms of cannon drop and incredible sound quality.

    Loot gathering

    • We could have got a conveluted system seen in hundreds of games that have loot drop from bosses or general skeletons that works on a pure RNG system..

    Instead we got three factions, soon to be expanding upon that task us in cooporating as a team to find and work out puzzles, fight hordes of enemies or collect hard to find animals and items. Whilst the system needs expanding, it forces players to work together.

    Ship management

    • We could have had a simple to control third person control system like seen on world of warships, we could have had markers on a compass HUD that led us to our destination. Gathered loot would enter a ship inventory that would be dispensed upon the ships destruction allowing pvpers to take it.

    Instead we got parchment with often vauge instructions on our location and how to find it, forcing us to cooporate as a team and work together to find the desired location. Using a compass and a map not too close to the helm making communication vital, controlling the angle and height of sails to realisticly accelerate/turn or stop our ship.. The anchor is easier operated with cooporation and all items are left physically at player chosen locations around the ship.

    Weather and environment

    • We could have got a generic environment along with a time of day system. We could have got the absolute greatest graphical fidelity out of the unreal 4 engine with near lifelike graphics.

    Instead we got the most advanced physics based ocean seen on any game, realisticly creating different sized waves for our ships to traverse through.. We got storms that generally cause your ship to break due like they would in real life through creaking and stretching wood.. we got next-level HBAO/post processing and graphical fidelity seen in any modern day game.. Whilst the game is massively stylised, this is intentional and allows the game to be both unique whilst still having some of the best looking graphics on a game in 2018.

    Graded gear and attributes

    • We could have got items that contain attributes that boost your attack power, fortitude, speed.. this could include gear for ships that increased the attack power, defence, speed or turning circles of ships.

    Instead we got an even playing ground that players will either win or lose based on their skill alone. Cosmetic items whilst currently reasonably sparse that allow you to make your avatar unique and personal.

    Sea of thieves has a few obvious problems that need addressing, greifing, PVP, content and a direction in which to head.. But can we at least take note of what we have.. A game that's foundations is special beyond any game seen in recent years.. A game that breaks so many rules (in a good way, and some bad) that it is nothing less than a breath of fresh air for the industry.

    I've personally played SoT's for more hours so far than any game i've bought in recent years, including massive rpg's like fallout 4 and the witcher 3 (completed both). It has heart, and is a middle finger to hyper competitive rage games that the industry keeps churning out month after month.

    Maybe i'm alone in thinking this, but i am truly excited to see what this game evolves to become.

    1. I don't like the idea of HP, and the current system is awesome. It forces you to be aware of what's going on instead of looking at the corner of the screen.

    2. I prefer the cannons they way they are. IMO they're perfect.

    3. Loot is RNG based. Sometimes you get 4 villainous skulls from one island, and other times you get 1 foul skull, even at rank 35+. I would prefer a different loot system, one that was based on rank or skill instead of luck.

    4. A third person control would ruin the necessary team element of the game, and then one person could handle everything while the other 3 mindlessly go afk or whatever.

    5. The water in this game is all an illusion actually. Your boat actually has nothing to do with the waves (they aren't even in the same universe). The waves are visual only, and the only thing about them that effects the ship is the "area water level", which goes up and down not related to the visual waves (but close enough to trick you). It's a very clever trick, but not really anything special when you look at the bones.

    6. Attributes on items would turn this game into a boring grind (sadly, it already is with the pirate legend grind and lack of content but that's another story). It would also make playing with your friends an issue.

  • Soulless Rager
    Commander
    Insider
    Founder

    Yes, most players agree the game has a solid foundation. It's a beautiful game with some clever and intuitive mechanics. Instruments synchronizing with each other, cooperative tasks like turning sails/raising anchor/digging up chests. Physically having to operate the controls of the ship, or grabbing treasure and needing to protect it. There are many clever details like these throughout the game, but they alone cannot give the game the depth and replayability it needs to be the triple A success that Rare and Microsoft were aiming for.

    What Sea of Thieves could have been, is all the typical tropes players expect from the theme of the game. There could have been populated port towns with living NPCs, with markets and a jail and homes and shops and a governors house and a tavern, etc. There could have been tavern games to play and wager on like Liars Dice or poker etc. There could have been a notoriety/wanted system for breaking the law/pillaging towns and ships, etc. Soldiers could pursue you and try to arrest you. There could have been NPC sea traffic and trade routes, with fishing boats and treasure convoys and merchants, and Navy that patrols common trade routes who will protect against and pursue notorious pirates. There could have been maelstroms/whirlpools/heavy fog. There could have been a Kraken and other sea monsters. There could have many different types of enemies (and I don't mean just types of skeletons) that range in difficulty through different behaviors and challenges. There could have been a wide variety of ship types. There could have been more types of damage the ships take; broken masts, torn sails and rigging, disables modules like the cannons/rudder/capstan, fire damage, etc. There could have been consequence in the world when you fall overboard or lose your ship or die etc. At the very least, if the only pursuit is cosmetic variants, there could have at least been a wide variety of those.

    Instead, we have a handful of small shanty outposts which are a collection of a few shops with static lifeless NPC vending machines. There is no law to break, and no law enforcement like soldiers or a Navy. The sea traffic is limited to other players you occasionally encounter, and there isn't any real incentive to do anything other than attack or run from each other. The extent of inclement weather in the game is bothersome ship controls, rainy fog, and Zeus repeatedly striking your ship with lightning. There is no Kraken, only a collection of big tentacles that are hardly threatening. The only enemies are skeletons (sharks are more of a hazard, like the tentacles), and they are very simple. Their difficulty scale is the amount of damage they sponge, and how many have guns. Rather than a wide variety of ships in a game focused around sailing the seas, we have just a Galleon and a Sloop. For ship damage there is just holes in the side of the ship, even against the tentacles. There is no consequence to the game. You fall overboard, just catch a free ride from a mermaid. You fail to take care of your ship, replace it stocked with supplies for free. You die, you still have all your consumables and quest items. Cosmetics are the carrot on the stick, and we only have like 5 variants of any item.

    The land and sea feel relatively empty and lifeless, and without consequence there isn't much challenge. The reward for success is fairly hollow. The variety of things to do is fairly limited; simple fetch quests, skeleton forts, PvP is basically it. PvP is the most dynamic and emergent part of the game, but encounters aren't very frequent except around active forts. As often as they can be fun, they also can end in griefing or a futile chase that's a waste of time.

    The game can be fun as it is, especially for new players who have yet to tire of the limited experience. But to turn it around and truly make it great, it won't be enough to just add more clothes/equipment/shanties/emotes, along with a new company like fishing quests, and a quasi-new enemy type like skeletons you have to reflect sunlight on with a mirror to weaken. They need to fundamentally change their vision and approach to the game, and even then actually producing the content won't come any time soon based on how long it took to make what's already here.

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