TL;DR: I propose a matchmaking system that matches players with similar playstyles and attributes that players assign to themselves. That way, friendly casual players would encounter more friendly casual players, ambitious PvP players would encounter more of their counterparts, Xbox players would encounter more Xbox players. This would alleviate the issues without changing core game mechanics or dividing the playerbase.
Read below for detailed version!
Disclaimer: I am perfectly happy with the game as it is now. It's gorgeous, feels amazing and is very balanced. This suggestion is not about me.
However, judging by frequency of threads popping up on this forum, there are two issues that seem to be pretty big problems for quite a few players.
One issue is crossplay. Xbox players feel at a disadvantage because PC players can use the more precise mouse & keyboard as input devices, as well as typically having a higher framerate. The solution most Xbox players suggest is to make crossplay optional, allowing them to only be matched with other Xbox players.
The other issue is PvE vs PvP. Some players enjoy the PvE aspects of the game, but dislike the PvP aspects. They feel that other players are overly hostile and have a kill on sight mentallity. They argue that friendly encounters happen to seldom and are not incentivized. The most common asked for solution is to have seperate PvE servers, where players could not attack or steal from each other.
Both issues have been discussed at length. This thread is not a place to further discuss them.
The biggest problem with the asked for solutions, optional crossplay and seperate PvE servers, is that they would divide the playerbase. That is something Rare explicitly does not want to happen, and it is unlikely they are going to change their mind, because inclusivity and a united community are a big part of the SoT marketing and appeal, pushed by both Rare and Microsoft.
I would like to suggest a solution that could alleviate both crossplay and PvE issues, while keeping everybody in one single pool of players and servers. That solution would be matchmaking dependent on a players chosen playstyle.
In the game Conan Exiles, a sandbox PvEvP RPG similar to Ark, people are given the following options to choose what kind of community they want to play with:
Servers are then suggested to them based on that choice. In my 200 hours of playing Conan Exiles, that system seemed to work out pretty well.
I propose a similar system for Sea of Thieves, but pirate based instead of server based.
What could this look like?
In the crew ledger in SoT, people could assign predefined attributes or playstyles to their pirate. These would stay with the pirate, but could be changed anytime you are in the crew ledger, so not in an active session. The matchmaking would then match pirates with similar attributes and playstyles, so people would end up on servers with more likeminded people that have similar playstyles.
For example, let's say you assign the attribute friendly and laid back and the playstyle merchant to your pirate. This combination would describe more of a friendly, not so competitive PvE playstyle. The matchmaking would match you with people of similar attributes. The servers themselves would not change, but you would still be a lot more likely to end up on a server where most people would want to casually do voyages and be friendly towards each other.
For another example, let's say you assign the attributes ambitious and notorious and the playstyle pirate. This would describe more of a competitive PvP playstyle, sort of a take what you can and give nothing back attitude. The matchmaking would pair you with people who are more likely to engage in PvP and fight over forts, and in general would be more aggressive. You would end up on a server where the population would be more interested in PvP and probably more hostile in general.
In addition, people could state their gaming platform, so the matchmaking would try to pair them with similar platforms. If no attributes or platforms are picked, players would be matched more with others who also did not pick attributes. Those players probably wan't the game to be as the devs intended. This would be the equivalent to the "purist" community in the picture above.
These are just a few examples. If we work out a proper set of attributes and playstyles, I believe we can create combinations for any sort of player and playstyle.
What would the benefits be?
The player base would not be divided, the servers could remain unchanged and there would not have to be any large changes to the game itself. My proposal is a more subtle, self regulating approach, that would also stay dynamic, because people could change their attributes and playstyles anytime.
In addition, the core gameplay of SoT would not change. Even peaceful players would face the uncertainty and excitement of meeting other crews, which is an integral part of the game. The encounters would just be more likely to be friendly in nature.
Self regulating
But what if a bloodthirsty pirate sets his attributes to friendly to get paired with easy targets?
There will always be a minority of people who seek to abuse a system to gain an advantage. I do not believe these people would pose a big problem, or that there would be many of them, because most PvP players actually enjoy a challenge. Slaughtering casuals is only entertaining for so long. Also, a server of mostly friendly and peaceful people could band together to get rid of overly aggressive ships.
However, if those players should still prove to be a problem, there could be a few subtle additions to the matchmaking, like a covert ranking system invisible to players that would track kills and thus adjust the matchmaking accordingly. Other ideas would be one of the bounty systems people keep proposing, or the ability to flag aggressive players so their attributes and playstyles could not be set to friendly if they make too many kills on a friendly server (I don't like this idea since it's open to abuse).
In summary, I believe my idea would alleviate a lot of the problems people have with this game, by pairing like minded players with each other. However, the core gameplay would remain unchanged, keeping the spirit of the game intact, and ensuring that you would still keep your spyglass at hand and #bemorepirate.
Also, please keep in mind that the new PvE and PvP content currently in the pipeline is likely to alleviate the issues anyway, by providing players with more things to do. Rare has also said that some of that content would incentivise crews to work together.
Thank you for reading. I'm looking forward to feedback and constructive debate.
