Imagine instead of how you usually ready a crew you instead choose from one of two server islands to spawn on, crossplay or xbox only (as they are working on now) in this hub town you can meet other pirates to gamble, duel, and in general see if you mesh, this would help with the issue of never being able to have a compitant crew or a crew you can stand, it will also allow you to choose your ship type and customize it before launching the actual game as well as allow everyone to show off their own looks, maybe you find your party or bring your regular crew with you, you can socialize and share stories in a tavern or have a friendly brawl in another, maybe you can allow crews the option to bring their ships from their 'live' servers back to the hub servers to find more crewmates or just change ship size without losing all the hard earned supplies (treasure remaining on the ship would be lost), really alot could be done with this and i would love to see it come to fruition. (Allow the harbormaster to still give you a random join crew if you just want to dive in or dont have luck meshing)
Hub Island
I noticed that a lot of people are really worried about the fanbase being split and I know the devs want to add more social portions to the game instead of just PVP and possible toxicity and I feel this would be a way to do both things reunite the player bases and give a nice fun productive social experience here is hoping that the devs are reading this small post
I have seen this suggestion numerous times but in light of recent events I think now would be a perfect time to add a HUB island. I'm going to build off of a few of your suggestions with some of my own.
Loading up the game:
Players would start Sea of Thieves like they normally do but when they "press any key / button to continue" they're loaded automatically onto the HUB island.
Here players would NOT be divided into Xbox only or cross platform only servers. Both Xbox and PC players would automatically share the same HUB island. This would help reunite the community in one location and allow for players on separate platforms to meet and build new relationships with one another. The HUB island would hold several server sizes worth of players. Maybe around 40 - 60 players (just throwing numbers out there but it should be a lot).
Activities on the HUB island:
Here would be a perfect opportunity for players to engage in a few mini games. For instance players could play games like checkers, Texas Hold em', dice games, unique parlor games that Rare creates, etc. Players could bet a new form of currency in order to purchase new HUB exclusive cosmetics.
As I said before players could engage with one another and form crews together. After speaking with the shipwright they could select, spawn, and customize their own vessel and then depart into Adventure mode once they're all set. They would not be able to damage other ships while in port.
They could also speak to a member of the Sea Dog Trading Company if they wish to participate in The Arena.
There could also be a miniature "pit" to fight in. This would allow players to start duels with one another in order to hone their combat skills.
The island itself:
It would be a large island, big enough to accommodate a large amount of players at one time. Rare could add a few NPC's that roam around to give the town a little more life! Different shops and stalls would line the streets along with numerous pubs for players to play games in. Each Trading Company would have a sort of "headquarters" located on the island as well.
Going to and from the HUB island:
When leaving the HUB island players would sail through a "veil" that would matchmake them on the appropriate server depending on their crew settings (Xbox only or crossplay enabled). The server would start them at a random island like it currently does away from other players. This would prevent spawn camping ships as they enter the Sea of Thieves.
In order to return to the HUB island, players would need to "summon the veil" at an outpost of their choosing. They would only be able to do this if their ship was anchored and out of combat for at least one minute. This would prevent crews from sailing to an outpost to use the veil to escape pursuers. All treasure still on the ship would be left behind as if the ship scuttled.
I think having a place where players can gather and engage in friendly social activities would be great for the community! I hope we see this type of DLC added to the game :)
@je0rgie-p0rgie i like the additions and honestly this would be the best way to add their paid content shops for pets and cosmetic goodies, like types of dice or card backs or whatever they wish to make paid content. And as far as evading pursuers i think so long as the treasure drops from the boat i doubt persuers would mind much, would just feel like you forced a scuttle, which technically you did. And I like the idea of having a Tavern being a PVP area as well for emergency sake and for those that just want a nice Tavern brawl
