Friend Quit Sea of Thieves due to thinking best cosmetics are locked to him forever

  • Nitroxien
    Captain
    Insider

    Tried to get a friend into Sea of Thieves and he quickly decided that he had no interest in progressing through the game due to realizing that a vast majority of the coolest cosmetics in the game are time limited and with the only meaningful progression in the game being cosmetics he does not care to continue playing.

    On one side of things, I think it's a shame since the game is great but on the other side of things, I understand where he is coming from with the events he played during giving terrible rewards in the past 6 months while rewards from a couple of years ago were significantly better.

    Felt bad telling him each time he saw an awesome cosmetic and asked how he could get it to tell him that he could not.

    Does anyone else have similar experiences with bringing friends into the game and how to handle it?

    Should Rare bring stuff back? Would bringing some stuff back and others not be fair like PL curse and not wandering reaper (prob not). Or should stuff just stay locked forever?

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  • WolfManbush
    Lord

    Someone that quits right after starting because they won't have access to some cosmetics isn't compatible with the game anyway.

    That is looking for negativity as opposed to being open to experiencing what an environment has to offer.

  • Nitroxien
    Captain
    Insider

    @wolfmanbush read the post he played 6 months. If after 6 months there were no cool new cosmetics that can compete with the old ones there might be a problem.

    If the game is all about "environment" then time-limited cosmetics should not matter. But that is clearly not true cosmetics mean a lot and if new time-limited stuff can't compete with the old I understand why it feels bad.

    Like he sees me with the PL curse on and is upset or he sees like the gold hauler figurehead or Captain Bones original cutlass...

    And I tell him don't worry look the past 5 events you played gave other time-limited cosmetics like this ugly scar, makeup, and tattoo...

  • WolfManbush
    Lord

    @nitroxien said in Friend Quit Sea of Thieves due to thinking best cosmetics are locked to him forever:

    @wolfmanbush read the post he played 6 months. If after 6 months there were no cool new cosmetics that can compete with the old ones there might be a problem.

    If the game is all about "environment" then time-limited cosmetics should not matter. But that is clearly not true cosmetics mean a lot and if new time-limited stuff can't compete with the old I understand why it feels bad.

    Like he sees me with the PL curse on and is upset or he sees like the gold hauler figurehead or Captain Bones original cutlass...

    And I tell him don't worry look the past 5 events you played gave other time-limited cosmetics like this ugly scar, makeup, and tattoo...

    It's not like cosmetic preference is some universal thing. There are many cosmetics that have been released in the last year that are very high quality. The ledger rewards have been tremendous in quality. The pirate's life cosmetic stuff the season rewards, it's all had good quality designs in it.

    Anyone can use convenient anecdotes to try to get what they want. Quality cosmetics are regularly being added to the game.
    People want what they can't have but that doesn't mean that new cosmetics can't compete when it comes to design or quality.

    and since you asked for anecdotal experiences. I've sailed with literally thousands of random SOT people in open crew. All different types. I've heard a lot of complaining about a lot of things but I never heard any of them talking about wanting to quit the game over time limited cosmetics or any of that.

    I don't have any of the super early cosmetics and it doesn't bug me at all and hasn't prevented me from playing a ridiculous amount or harmed my experiences in any way.

  • SweetSandMan
    Commander
    Insider

    While I think that's kind of a overdramatic stance on your friend's part....I also kinda get it.

    Rare hasn't put any really cool time limited AND task based cosmetics into the game in over 2 years.

    While that may be subjective, if you put it to a pole, all the stuff from 2019 and earlier would win by a landslide in a community vote.

  • Ninja Naranja
    Legend
    Insider

    A lot of really cool cosmetics are still available in game. The Emissary rewards for example are all fantastic. I know the event rewards have been mostly tattoos and scars this year which is different from the previous years. Not bad necessarily but different for sure.

    Which rewards was he bummed he missed out on specifically?

    Keep in mind that all seasonal track rewards besides the scars, tattoos, sails and flags will make their way back into the game at some point.

  • Nitroxien
    Captain
    Insider

    @ninja-naranja his biggest gripes was PL curse, wandering reaper stuff, and Captain Bone Original Cutlass

  • Nitroxien
    Captain
    Insider

    @sweetsandman yeah I'm upset he quit over it I started playing before season 1 so I got a good chunk of the earlier cosmetics and tried to stop using them when playing with him since it just seemed like a reminder to him.

    Though yeah biggest problem really seemed that I could not point out any cool new cosmetics he unlocked compared to the old ones.

  • WolfManbush
    Lord

    @nitroxien said in Friend Quit Sea of Thieves due to thinking best cosmetics are locked to him forever:

    @ninja-naranja his biggest gripes was PL curse, wandering reaper stuff, and Captain Bone Original Cutlass

    I don't have wandering reaper and I adore that set, one of my favorites by far

    Don't have to own something to enjoy it. When I see it out at sea I just appreciate being able to look at it. I don't see it often but she's a beauty every time.

    People don't generally have everything they want. It doesn't harm gameplay it's just a thing. Gotta be able to appreciate things in this game and look forward for longevity otherwise it's a real rough time out there with a negative mindset

  • Nitroxien
    Captain
    Insider

    @wolfmanbush lol

    You are telling me that this ship from Pirate's Life with unusable cannons is nearly as appealing as a cosmetic as the second and third image?

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  • BurnBacon
    Champion
    Insider

    Define “best cosmetics” because a simple pirate would say just wearing black sails and default ship body is best looking ship. Or normal sword.

    No cosmetic is best. It looks cool until the next best thing.
    If your friend only cared about this digital goods, sorry but I don’t see this the game for them.

  • WolfManbush
    Lord

    @nitroxien said in Friend Quit Sea of Thieves due to thinking best cosmetics are locked to him forever:

    @wolfmanbush lol

    You are telling me that this ship from Pirate's Life with unusable cannons is nearly as appealing as a cosmetic as the second and third image?

    I use the default ship and have for years and I've never even turned the lanterns off other than for the achievement. I'm a simple kind of man

    as for the pirate's life ship, I know a lot of people that really like it. It's makes them happy just like other cosmetics that have been released during the time they play.

    Your preferences aren't wrong but acting like it harms longevity in this game is an exaggeration to try to get what you want.

  • Nitroxien
    Captain
    Insider

    @wolfmanbush I disagree heavily with that statement having items gone from the game forever disincentivizes players from joining the game and is just poor FOMO tactics. That hurts the longevity of the game.

    Players use time-limited cosmetics to be superior to other players most of the time (if you do or not does not matter it happens most of the time) this heavily hurts new players from joining and hurts the longevity of this game.

  • Nitroxien
    Captain
    Insider

    @wolfmanbush oh and if you do not think that my last statement was true here is an example of the WOW community having the same problem with hundreds of players complaining about how they quit over these time-limited items.

    https://www.reddit.com/r/wow/comments/pt6ts6/losing_prestige_is_the_most_ridiculous_complaint/

  • WolfManbush
    Lord

    @nitroxien said in Friend Quit Sea of Thieves due to thinking best cosmetics are locked to him forever:

    Players use time-limited cosmetics to be superior to other players most of the time (if you do or not does not matter it happens most of the time) this heavily hurts new players from joining and hurts the longevity of this game.

    It doesn't hurt new players from joining. The game is full of new and casual players that want to have fun. Cosmetics are a part of their session but it doesn't define their session.

    People trying to act superior doesn't mean they are superior.
    The game is escapism. People use it to escape their world and enter a fantasy world. Who wears what doesn't change that. Who owns what doesn't change that. We are all just pirates and equals.

  • Nitroxien
    Captain
    Insider

    @wolfmanbush https://steamcharts.com/app/1172620#1y

    Yep new players... Game went from averaging 50k+ to less than 20k on steam...

    Let's not pretend like the majority of new players are staying and there are really 25 million players like Rare says. I know a majority are on xbox/windows but this drop on steam should show you how many players are really still playing this game not just launched and quit.

  • AlienMagi
    Captain
    Insider

    Honestly, i kind of understand where your friend is coming from.

    I would be dissappointed too if i missed my opportunity to get the PL curse in s1. Im still a little upset that i missed the barrel hide emote.

    That doesnt mean there arent great alternatives though. And besides, theres always new cosmetics being released and your friend will miss out on even more just because he didnt get one of them in the past?

  • WolfManbush
    Lord

    @nitroxien said in Friend Quit Sea of Thieves due to thinking best cosmetics are locked to him forever:

    @wolfmanbush https://steamcharts.com/app/1172620#1y

    Yep new players... Game went from averaging 50k+ to less than 20k on steam...

    Let's not pretend like the majority of new players are staying and there are really 25 million players like Rare says. I know a majority are on xbox/windows but this drop on steam should show you how many players are really still playing this game not just launched and quit.

    You went from using an anecdote to try to get what you wanted to trying to push your narrative on a bunch of people when you have no idea what their circumstance or feelings are on the game.

    There are many reasons why things slow down from time to time and there are many individual reasons for why people stop playing or play less.

  • Nitroxien
    Captain
    Insider

    @wolfmanbush Did you just criticize me for using an anecdote than using numerical evidence to support my qualitative evidence?

    And yes there are many reasons the game is slowing down and new players are not joining my anecdotal evidence is at least one...

  • WolfManbush
    Lord

    @nitroxien said in Friend Quit Sea of Thieves due to thinking best cosmetics are locked to him forever:

    @wolfmanbush Did you just criticize me for using an anecdote than using numerical evidence to support my qualitative evidence?

    And yes there are many reasons the game is slowing down and new players are not joining my anecdotal evidence is at least one...

    depending on the time of year there will be more or less activity
    people come in for new content for a while and move on
    that happens to anything not just games

    A big one is that it's difficult to find compatible people to play with and even harder to line up everyone's schedules for consistent play. Frustration from lack of compatibility and consistency leads to a lot of breaks from the game. Not everyone is compatible with a solo experience or the chaos of open crew.

  • CallMeBackdrafT
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    @nitroxien Rare used time limited cosmetics mainly in year one and there have been some special giveaways like the cutlass

    Most of those time limited cosmetics have found there way back in the form of recolours and thats the promise that Rare made to all those that supported them in the first very tumultuous year.

    The PL curse will come back to the game, in fact 90%+ of seasonal rewards will also come back to be locked behind a regular in game commendation, in fact some of those are already coming back in.

    The only seasonal rewards that are not coming back are the titles and maybe a scar or tattoo

    Nowadays rare doesnt really do time limited cosmetics anymore

    And the original y1 time limited ones really tell a story, a story of the seas being in a whole different place

    And tbh not all of those look all that great in comparison to the new stuff coming out

  • Bun E Hopps
    Rogue

    @nitroxien said in Friend Quit Sea of Thieves due to thinking best cosmetics are locked to him forever:

    Tried to get a friend into Sea of Thieves and he quickly decided that he had no interest in progressing through the game due to realizing that a vast majority of the coolest cosmetics in the game are time limited and with the only meaningful progression in the game being cosmetics he does not care to continue playing.

    On one side of things, I think it's a shame since the game is great but on the other side of things, I understand where he is coming from with the events he played during giving terrible rewards in the past 6 months while rewards from a couple of years ago were significantly better.

    Felt bad telling him each time he saw an awesome cosmetic and asked how he could get it to tell him that he could not.

    Does anyone else have similar experiences with bringing friends into the game and how to handle it?

    Should Rare bring stuff back? Would bringing some stuff back and others not be fair like PL curse and not wandering reaper (prob not). Or should stuff just stay locked forever?

    I myself stopped playing for a few reasons, one of which was I'm sick and tired of exclusive content being locked behind watching twitch and not actually playing the game, not interested in or supporting that practice.

  • Ninja Naranja
    Legend
    Insider

    @nitroxien well the PL curse will be back at some point. I get the wandering reaper hull, the sails are pretty plain though. I don’t understand the sword however. It doesn’t look like much in first person.

    Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on who you ask) Rare has stated that they won’t be bringing back limited time items. Thankfully though, this year has been fantastic in terms of high quality cosmetics. Seems a bit counterintuitive to quit over not being able to get those cosmetics though. There’s a high chance they he’ll miss out on more cosmetics that he would’ve liked to have or even likes better than the old stuff if he stayed playing.

  • WolfManbush
    Lord

    @amybun said in Friend Quit Sea of Thieves due to thinking best cosmetics are locked to him forever:

    I myself stopped playing for a few reasons, one of which was I'm sick and tired of exclusive content being locked behind watching twitch and not actually playing the game, not interested in or supporting that practice.

    To me this is like if I were to say I wouldn't watch the x-files creature feature of the week in the 90s because there were commercials

    Such a sacrifice to take a stand against a small inconvenience, an inconvenience that allows the content to even exist

    If you like something I don't see how an optional couple of clicks for free items is something that would warrant some sort of personal boycott

  • FaceYourDemon
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    @nitroxien said in Friend Quit Sea of Thieves due to thinking best cosmetics are locked to him forever:

    @wolfmanbush lol

    You are telling me that this ship from Pirate's Life with unusable cannons is nearly as appealing as a cosmetic as the second and third image?

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    Then what is your suggestion? To ruin exclusivity because you didnt played back then?
    Or by your standards to release better cosmetics?

  • D3ADST1CK
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    That's a pretty lame reason for quitting.

  • Ninja Naranja
    Legend
    Insider

    @nitroxien said in Friend Quit Sea of Thieves due to thinking best cosmetics are locked to him forever:

    @wolfmanbush lol

    You are telling me that this ship from Pirate's Life with unusable cannons is nearly as appealing as a cosmetic as the second and third image?

    alt text

    alt text

    alt text

    Beauty is subjective. I myself personally dislike the captains bones sword. It’s really bulky in 1st person and isn’t that special to me. I’d much rather prefer the pool noodle (sunken sorrow sword) to use in any situation. And taking a unflattering picture of mismatched ship cosmetics to try to reinforce your point doesn’t work. The complete Sunken Sorrow ship set is quite a beauty to behold.

  • PersonalC0ffee
    Captain
    Insider
    Boatswain

    Players need to understand that if you were not here for the cosmetic, that cosmetic is NOT part of your pirate's story. If you wanted it, you should have been here.

    I understand this is VERY DIFFICULT for users who are just now joining the game. There was some cool stuff from the past a lot of people want.

    But I am sorry but it would not be proper for you to get access to cosmetics for things you were not originally part of.

    I was there, I went through those trials and events. I earned those cosmetics. They are part of my pirate's personal story. They are not a part of yours. That is what the cosmetics are, they are a system to show your pirate's personal journey through cosmetics.

    There are always cosmetics or rewards you miss out on in a myriad of other games you play. This is really no different, tbh.

  • Schwammlgott
    Legend

    @nitroxien it's been said before...you are aware, that the PL curse will be obtainable again?

  • NEON iC0N
    Champion
    Insider

    This is only a problem because a lot of the supposed "best" cosmetics have no comparable alternatives.

    For example, I haven't seen anyone asking for the return of the Bonecrusher Figurehead since they finally added its recolor to the game, nor have players asked for the Wailing Barnacle items to return upon the release of its recolor (except the figurehead which they "forgot").

    Similar yet clearly distinct alternatives for "rare" items would really help this game...

  • KommodoreYenser
    Lord
    Insider

    @neon-ic0n said in Friend Quit Sea of Thieves due to thinking best cosmetics are locked to him forever:

    This is only a problem because a lot of the supposed "best" cosmetics have no comparable alternatives.

    For example, I haven't seen anyone asking for the return of the Bonecrusher Figurehead since they finally added its recolor to the game, nor have players asked for the Wailing Barnacle items to return upon the release of its recolor (except the figurehead which they "forgot").

    Similar yet clearly distinct alternatives for "rare" items would really help this game...

    The issue is with sails or flags. Recolors don't work and would need to have a completely different icon. Look at the fearless bone crusher sails for instance. I don't want newer players being handed the Reaper Run cosmetics unless they permanently add the event to the game as commendations you have to do exactly like the original. Even then, we had like a weekend to pull those off (at least one of them if my memory serves right, the rest might of been 1-2 weeks) which filled the Sea with Reaper flags and action.

    I honestly would be fine if they brought back some of the first 1-2 year events as rolling special events. Give it a short time window and never repeat the same one in a year. It can honestly still keep things exclusive and keep the original spirit of the event intact.

  • SweetSandMan
    Commander
    Insider

    @personalc0ffee But for some reason the Season items don't get that same sentiment...it's always "yeah they'll come back don't you worry."

    It'll be a real shame if Rare slaps all newer players in the face and essentially only keeps the best items from specific points in time reserved for the OGs.

  • Galactic Geek
    Seafarer
    Founder

    Show your friend the S5 trailer and see if they change their mind. 😅

  • PersonalC0ffee
    Captain
    Insider
    Boatswain

    @galactic-geek Hype.

  • Ninja Naranja
    Legend
    Insider

    @galactic-geek that plunder pass ship set 🥵

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