To start this off: This is not another Xbox vs. PC thread. There have been enough threads and posts discussing this subject. This thread is for giving feedback on the Xbox version of SoT and making suggestions on how to improve it.
It is no secret that the game has atrocious performance on Xbox. Of all the games I've come across on the platform SoT is the worst performing by far. Initial startup load time can last minutes sometimes and load times ingame are not much better. I wonder what all that loading is for since textures still pop in after finally spawning in the game world.
After finally being ready to play the player is greeted with delightful 30 FPS that just love to dip into the low 20s. Might I add this is on the Xbox One X. Not only does the game have a hard time loading textures but also loading the contents of barrels which is actually hindering gameplay. Talking about hindering gameplay: The game has lags and bugs all around. Want to fall through your ship into the water? No problem! Want to fight other players and have an extra challange by not being able to see them? The game has you covered! Want to die and get stuck in a neverending loadscreen? It truely is an adventure. Of course the described problems are the worst case. It's not always that bad but it should never get that bad in the first place. The games design makes players go on hour long adventures sometimes. Having that adventure ruined by a bug shouldn't be as common as it is.
Compared to other Xbox One titles (even those with much higher graphical fidelity) this game has awful performance. Having a game (with competetive elements!) locked at 30 FPS and not ensuring that it atleast stays at that count is a bit embarrassing. I primarily play SoT on PC, have put quite some hours into it, and I really do have to wonder if the Xbox version is just a build without the bugfixes and performance improvements since the PC version is running very smoothly. What is holding the Xbox version back? Bad optimization? I refuse to believe that it's the fault of the hardware when there are other games that not only look but run better.
What makes these problems so incredibly frustrating is the fact that SoT has strong PvP and competetive elements. Loosing a fight due to the inability to play the game properly is infuriating and sadly a daily reality on Xbox for many players. Especially load times for respawning are a major issue that has to be adressed and that has been brought up time and time again on this forum.
So let's start with suggestions on how to fix this:
Stop forcing 4K and implement graphics settings
Implement a similar system to Monster Hunter World. Have an FPS priority mode which lets you play at a smaller resolution with less detail. I do believe that there is a big section of players that would gladly accept reduced graphical fidelity for better performance.
Actually fix major problems
Bugs (such as cosmetics changing randomly for players after logging in) have had fixes announced but have not been fixed. It really is a slap in the face of everybody who values this game (especially a game that only has cosmetics as a reward). Please address the load times. They ruin the experience and make the game quite exhausting.
Crossplay opt-out
It has been announced a long time ago and seems to be the easiest solution. Instead of having to fix the game you can just fix the most unfair part of its PvP gameplay. This has already been discussed in other threads (many of them locked) and is very much wanted by Xbox players. I will mention preemptively that it's very unlikely that this would lead to empty server on the PC side. Even if 100% of Xbox players chose to opt out there are still enough PC players to fill servers.
Honestly, it's sad seeing SoT in the state it is in. Rare, fix your game.
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