TIME-LIMITED COSMETICS

  • Gosva5434
    Marauder
    Insider

    It is a common debate amongst the community of SoT players whether cosmetics that were time limited should return or not, and whether that is fair for the people that have them or unfair for the ones that do not. However i think there is a bigger underlying issue here that hasn't been aknowledged. SoT is a game with comsetic only progression and rewards, yet somehow there is quite an absence in that aspect.

    The game while at first glance has many cosmetics to choose from, it is soon made clear that there is an imbalance between quantity over quality. The shops are filled with the same set, just in different colours. Now that isn't on it's own a problem since having different colors for a certain type of pant you like to wear allows you to mix and match it in many outfits. Once you take into account though that there are not many different models regarding cosmetics, it get's old pretty quick. To give an example in season 8 we got the mysterious stranger outfit (finally!) and instead of also a new set, we also got the ghost stuff in a green variation. It really strikes me odd, that we didn't get a magpie outfit or something else.

    Now let's talk to how this ties with limited time cosmetics. Rare in my opinion makes way too many cosmetics time-limited, that should have been a permanent addition to the game. Prime example of this is the flameheart's hat and sword. As of now Reapers only have the emissary ledger rewards a ship set and a costume. How can one of the most played factions of the game, and the main antagonists of Athena's Fortune not get any cosmetics, and when they do it is locked behind a season pass. Imagine a new player starting the game, learning about reapers and flameheart only to find out that if you want that sweet hat and sword you should have played the game a long time ago, and you will propably have to wait a few years to get it for doubloons, if half the community doesn't complain about it and attack the devs for bringing them back. Another prime example of this are scars. Currently the only available scars are the forsaken ashes and sunken sorrow scars. Everything else is time-limited. You would think that something as simple as a shark bite scar would be unlocked by doing hunter's call commendation, but guess again it doesn't. It got locked away in an adventure so that no one may get it again.

    To add more to this i want to make it perfectly clear that i own quite a few limited time cosmetics and this isn't coming from a place of jealousy or spite. I also believe that time-limited cosmetics isn't a bad thing nor should it be removed. Yet rare chose to bring back the first anniversary cosmetics back (quite offensive for day 1 players imo) but didn't bring back the scars and tattoos from season 1. I do not get the logic here. Furthurmore as far as passes go i can't really understand why people got so upset. To complete a pass you need around 10-20 hours in the span of 4 months. The price of those items basicly equalizes the amount of time it took to get them when they were first released. It's not like grinding a pass is that unique or such an achievement compared to completing events like the shrouded deep, cursed sails,etc.

    Anyway these are my thoughts, let me know yours and thanks for reading.

  • Login To Reply
    29
    Posts
    25.6k
    Views
  • ZiG ZaG LTU
    Commander
    Insider

    Well what you wrote makes sense, I personally have no problems with any time limited cosmetics returning apart from specific like Day 1 eye patch or similar any other cosmetic should return eventually.

    I think the problem we are experiencing is due to the fact that Rare needs to build a cosmetic factory to be able to meet their own set targets. Currently they are committed to releasing regular ones for pirate emporium, few sets for season pass free/premium, regular twitch drops to support their partners, adventure ones, seasonal ones and on top of that they don't wanna neglect the main adventure either.

    I would appreciate if instead of constant recolored ones to meet their targets we would get quality over quantity and it wouldn't need to meet any schedule and would be done when it's done. And the ones from the past could be re-released via twitch drops/doubloon purchases leaving them more time to create proper new ones.

    P.S. The last one from twitch drops - Sapphire jacket is literally Ashen dragon one.

  • Guyrza
    Master
    Insider

    either return em all, either keep em time limited. I have some (relatively) rare rewards from seasons 2 and 3, which is why I wouldnt want them to become common again. But if they do make a return Id want me to have acces to other time limited stuff

  • Foambreaker
    Sailor

    Catering the veteran players is a good way to end up with no players. They should make this stuff occasionally available so new players will not feel like there is no point in playing.

  • MopWieldingHedgehog
    Legend
    Insider
    Moderator
    Boatswain

    In fact, the time limited cosmetics are very few. They mostly add up to early year event rewards (such as Festival of the Damned and Hungering Deep) and the themed Season rewards (four items/season). As for other seasonal rewards, it has been stated since even before season released that they will be returning later on in game, hence aren't actually time limited. Some have already started to return (see for example PL curse).

  • heslashthem
    Legend
    Insider

    @foambreaker everyone should be catered to. Time limited cosmetics should remain that way, as a way of flexing/showing you were there at the time said event happened.

  • MopWieldingHedgehog
    Legend
    Insider
    Moderator
    Boatswain

    To add to my previous post - yes, the whole idea behind the time limited cosmetics is that they tell your pirate's story. If you were there for Season 2, you'll have the three-four season exclusive rewards. If you weren't you won't. Us OG players are very familiar with this idea since it's been around from the very start.

  • Foambreaker
    Sailor

    Having too many items new players can never have is a deterrent to play the game.

    Reminds me of a lyric from an old Animals song, "All the good places are taken"

  • TEK LT
    Master
    Insider

    Time limited items are a way to cause fomo (fear of missing out) and this is a tactic to drive players to the game.

    Since most cosmetics in the game are honestly hideous people are eager to get some of the better looking cosmetic’s which are unfortunately mostly time limited.

  • CGallerine
    Commander
    Insider

    I find it important that people know that Seasonal cosmetics ARE due to come back.

    All plunder pass cosmetics are planned to return to the Emporium.
    All pirate legend exclusive items are planned to return behind significantly more difficult challenges
    And all other cosmetics not specifically relating to the theme of the season (e.g the theme of Season One was shroudbreaker cosmetics. The sails, tattoos, scars, flag, did not return. All of the other cosmetics from season one did.) will return in some way.

    The amount of time-limited cosmetics is fairly small compared to the rest. The most amount we've got are from adventures and Year One events.
    Things that are already time-limited, should stay time limited, no matter how hard it was to get them, that's what we were promised.

    One can only hope the future of all games will lean towards fewer cosmetics being time-limited, but we all know deep down they do attract attention and with attention, money.

  • MrHornet06
    Marauder
    Insider

    @xshirahx So, I'll be, eventually, able to get all of the season 4 cosmetics and season 8? I missed out on finishing those passes and I wish I got the damned weapons and the PL rewards for 100.

  • MopWieldingHedgehog
    Legend
    Insider
    Moderator
    Boatswain

    @mrclutchyking06 That's the idea, yes. The only rewards from seasons that are said to be time limited are the season themed ones. Like the Shroudbreaker items for Season 1 (title, tattoo etc - usually 3-4 items/season).

  • Magus104
    Captain
    Insider
    Founder

    I think if the time limited stuff completes a set they could at least add some recolors. There are some things that thematically make sense to bring back. IE the pirate legend glowy ghost hull that was a seasonal cosmetic... Reapers have a similar hull with a red glow but theirs is obtainable from doing emissary ledgers meanwhile pirate legends just got a recolor of the ghost ship set while the glowing hull and ferryman figure head were season rewards.

    There are people who think they are special for being there for every season. They think they EARNED those cosmetics when seasonal cosmetics require no effort. I am used to other games having seasons that are awful and not fun and I figured they would ruin SoT as well so when they announced them I just uninstalled the game assuming the worst. They had gotten away from the fomo nature of designing the game for a while but then with seasons it seemed like they were just going to be doubling down on the fomo. Which ended up being more the case with adventures. I saw a lot of complaining about the ghost curse coming back, Rare had always said it was their intent to bring back these cosmetics. But some people want to feel special in a game that has no other way of standing out from everyone else other than rare fomo cosmetics. The ironic thing is the people upset about the ghost curse feel like they earned the old curse. It takes much more work to obtain the one from the shop now than the free seasonal reward for just continuing to play the game.

    My biggest issue with the cosmetics they have brought back is the doubloon price is so high when a lot of players just started converting doubloons to gold since the dark adventurer set was so expensive. Which it was only expensive to make up for gold being so useless. So gave one useless currency purpose again, then devalued doubloons so people converted 1 useless currency to another currency which in time then becomes useless then they add purpose to the other useless currency.

  • FreakazoidALB
    Marauder
    Insider

    The only thing in my opinion that should return is the halloween facepaints since theyre connected to holidays

  • Captain Coel
    Commander
    Insider

    @magus104 it's not Rares fault people wasted their doubloons on gold.

    There was always two camps. Convert or Save. Many of us believed they would add expensive doubloon cosmetics. I just can't wait till they add more, non-seasonal cosmetics for doubloons.

  • Kapedan CryFOe
    Castaway

    @freakazoidalb yup it was just a dumb decision to leave halloween facepaints time limited ...

  • Captain Coel
    Commander
    Insider

    @kapedan-cryfoe said in TIME-LIMITED COSMETICS:

    @freakazoidalb yup it was just a dumb decision to leave halloween facepaints time limited ...

    Festival of damned was a year one event, keeping those locked made sense. They should have made new facepaints for each year.

  • Kapedan CryFOe
    Castaway

    @captain-coel its halloween facepaints mate it never makes sense to keep them locked not a single game does it y1 or y0 or y-1 halloween items always come back with new ones together...

  • Captain Coel
    Commander
    Insider

    @kapedan-cryfoe sea of thieves did a few different things for halloween over the years. the lanterns come to mind. They dont need to bring everything back. They need to keep making things to keep everyone interested. Just recycling old cosmetics means people who have them arent interested. Making new ones keeps everyones attention.

  • Kapedan CryFOe
    Castaway

    @captain-coel would be a valid point if twitch drops didnt exist.

    Howmany times did u get the morningstar jacket till know.

    Mate I said new items while bringing back the 3 original first halloween facepaints so new players can get the items and older players still can have the new stuff.

    And im saying this only for Halloween since its an yearly holiday.

    I lije older cosmetics aswell but for respect of older players i wouldnt want them back.

  • OG Hornet YT
    Marauder
    Insider

    @gosva5434 I reckon if they bring back time limited stuff bring back the capn bones sword too. Ps. Time limited is a lie in sot

  • Captain Coel
    Commander
    Insider

    @kapedan-cryfoe there is no reason. It should always be new stuff. let the old stuff be old stuff. I've had my Morningstar jacket since before it was a twitch drop. They have done new facepaints and left the old ones in the past every year.

    I just hope they learn enough to get it right when SoT 2 comes out :). Then we can start the cosmetic grind over.

  • Kapedan CryFOe
    Castaway

    @captain-coel theres no point replyin anymore i think its dumb u think its right lets leave it like that

  • Captain Coel
    Commander
    Insider

    @kapedan-cryfoe said in TIME-LIMITED COSMETICS:

    @captain-coel theres no point replyin anymore i think its dumb u think its right lets leave it like that

    My philosophy fits with Rare's approach. Even just having recoolors helps. There is no need to bring back old cosmetics and asking for them when tyou werent here is just being greedy. Asking for stuff for everyone is better. Im not going to leave it, because i dont have too.

  • MultiKl
    Ship Mate
    Insider

    @xshirahx Do we know when the season rewards will return? From my understanding we will get season 2 rewards brought back in season 10, season 3 rewards in season 11, and so on. I'm hoping this isn't the case cause I took a break during season 8 and missed flamehearts hat. THE BEST HAT IN THE GAME.

  • KlutchxKay
    Legend
    Insider

    All this talk of FOMO… I feel like the game has to be tedious or annoying to progress in for it to really “pressure you” into playing (assuming you were not going to otherwise)

    In cases of other games, I get it. You have season passes which take waaaay too long to progress through and so I understand the anxiety of feeling like you’re pressured to play while you can, especially if it’s a shooter game for instance where the gameplay loop is far more limited and repetitive and exhausting compared to the randomness of SoT. In that case I understand how it is absolutely used to drag players back even when they don’t feel in the mood to do it.

    But Sea of Thieves is so ridiculously catered towards the casual audience. You can max out the season in a couple days out of the four months they last. The adventures are usually available for a whole two weeks and never take more than a couple hours. The old events lasted a whole month and were reasonably accessible for anyone who spent some time on the weekends on them.

    But whether its SoT or a shooter or any game, if you’re ONLY playing the game at that moment because you don’t want to miss some stuff, why are you so obsessed with having that stuff to begin with? If your only motivation to get on the game is the event then maybe you aren’t actually interested in the game and it’s not the devs forcing you to play, it’s you forcing yourself to care about something that you don’t truly have interest in. If you play consistently and play out of passion there shouldn’t be any reason to feel “pressured” to play SoT and you’ll naturally engage in the events without any fear of missing it.

    It isn’t like the time limited goals are stuff like “do 50 forts of the damned this season to get this”. The time limited goals in this game are “log on, check out what’s happening, visit a few islands, do a mission or two. The rewards are incentives to check out new things or to put a spotlight on a particular focus. They are absolutely NOT used to pressure people into this game because if their goal was to get you on the game, they wouldn’t let you finish it in a sitting.

    It is not FOMO marketing. Get that out of your guys heads.

  • ShenLongKazama
    Commander
    Insider

    I always opposed FOMO. The cosmetics should always become available again, through commendations like the pl curse, tall tales or annual events i.e. 2 weeks then if you missed them you have to wait another year. Plunder Pass cosmetics do that approach, becoming available after another few seasons.
    Cosmetics that you get by logging in during a specific time period are the worst offender imo. X Marks the Spot Emote and the Merciless Marauder Scars were only available if you logged in during a span of only a few days. Which is disappointing to say the least.
    I couldn't get the emote because i didn't have Win 10 and the money to buy the game at that time, the scars i missed because i was on vacation. And i find the approach of needing to stay on social media or online to get content that i like quite taxing and unhealthy. It is always better that you can take your time to unlock stuff then worrying you're missing something. Recolors don't help, the Wailing Barnacle set is a beautifully maritime colored set while the recolors have brown, green etc.
    The doubloon sink could be a way to make them obtainable. I'm happy that Rare is more transparent with the cosmetics though.
    Godspeed

  • XMidas6667
    Castaway
    Insider

    The only things I want are the Flameheart Cutlass and Hat. 😭 I was off the game for a bit and missed that pass, and because of that they put flameheart cosmetics on it... Really hope those come back soon in the Emporium

  • Look Behind You
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Moderator
    Founder
    Deckhand

    As this thread was months old and revived today, it will now be locked.

    A general reminder to all, please avoid reviving threads aged past 30 days, as it is considered a necro, and is against our Forum Rules.

    Bumping Threads
    Bumping threads with content that is not providing additional information to the original post is not permitted. Resurrecting very old threads is also not permitted. A warning will be issued and the thread locked. Ignoring the warning will result in a temporary ban from the Forums and a final warning. If the action continues, a permanent ban from the Forums will be issued.

Login To Reply
29
Posts
25.6k
Views
1 out of 29