Idea for Sea of Thieves – Making Pets Useful

I think if you could grapple a wild shark for a free tow then it should start swimming away and you control it by swimming left/right that would be cool

This could be fun. For those holding treasure with the shark, they can't shoot or draw their weapons. On the other hand, those following the thief with their own shark or dolphin can shoot him. This would be a good dynamic gameplay.

What if we could choose to be a pirate… or a mermaid?

I was thinking: why not offer two completely different playstyles in Sea of Thieves, based on the faction you choose at the beginning of a session?
You’d either play as a pirate or as a mermaid — meaning you, the player, not just interacting with sea creatures.

As a pirate, it’s the classic gameplay: you have a ship, you can sail with or without a crew, carry multiple treasures, use cannons, and raid outposts.
As a mermaid player, you start in an underwater outpost. You don’t have a ship — instead, you move through the sea on the back of a dolphin or shark:• The shark lets you carry one treasure, but slows you down.
The dolphin is much faster and can launch you out of the water to board enemy ships, but it cannot carry any treasure.

To balance this mobility, pirate ships could activate special underwater sound waves that disrupt dolphins.
The more sound waves a dolphin gets hit by in a row, the longer its recovery time becomes:

First wave: 10 seconds of recovery
Second wave: 20 seconds
Third wave (and beyond): 30 seconds or more…

That would force mermaid players to think tactically and time their approaches.

This system would give solo players a fresh, stealthier, more fluid way to experience the game while still being connected to the shared world. And maybe we could even change factions mid-session at a special outpost.

@europa4033 a dit dans Idea for Sea of Thieves – Making Pets Useful :

A while ago, it was advertised that you could shoot out of a cannon and grapple onto the deck of a ship. The developers thought that was a little too over-powered, so they nerfed that ability. Now you want players riding dolphins so they can simply jump onto players' ships?

I completely understand the comparison with the old cannon + grappling hook combo it was definitely too powerful and rightly nerfed. But with dolphins, we’re dealing with a much more contained and balanced mechanic, designed that way from the start.
First of all, the dolphin:
Can’t carry any treasure.
Has limited range (you have to approach discreetly).
Can be countered by defensive sound waves, with a recovery time that increases with each hit (10s, 20s, 30s…).
But most importantly: the dolphin doesn’t make boarding invisible.
It can be detected in several ways:
Visually, through small ripples on the water’s surface subtle movement that gives away its presence if you’re paying attention.
By the bird companion, which I imagine as a useful and strategic ally: it could alert your crew to unusual aquatic movement nearby, like a living lookout.
And of course, the sound waves, which force the attacker to either play smart or fall back.
Altogether, dolphin boarding isn’t an easy shortcut it’s a risky, readable, and counterable move. And that’s where the magic lies: it doesn’t break balance, it adds tactical depth.
So no, this isn’t just “the grappling hook returning under another name” — it’s an entirely new dynamic, carefully designed to fit seamlessly into existing systems.

@redeyesith a dit dans Idea for Sea of Thieves – Making Pets Useful :

Not a fan of the pets idea, that makes them effectively forced gameplay and not everyone wants to have pets out (by making them a mechanic it would essentially be hurting a player not to have at least one out at all times). They are perfect as an optional cosmetic that people can choose to have out or not.

Not personally a fan of the other idea presented here either, if I'm being honest. The gameplay presented doesn't sound very engaging at all, more of a gimmick that would wear thin quickly. And admittedly I got a pirate game to play a pirate, never once having any desire to play something other than that when I pick this game up.

Thank you for your honest input I completely understand your perspective, especially if you prefer sticking with the traditional pirate experience. But let me offer a few clarifications that I hope will show my ideas aren’t about forcing a new playstyle… but about offering new, balanced, and optional ones for those who want to explore the game differently.
Regarding pets:
The goal isn’t to make them mandatory or constantly active. Quite the opposite. In my vision, a useful pet would be entirely optional and configurable:
If you want it to remain purely cosmetic, no problem you keep using it just like today.
If you’d like to activate an optional ability (like a dog sniffing out hidden treasure or a bird acting as a lookout), that’s entirely your choice.
And most importantly: you wouldn’t need to have them out all the time.
You could call your pet only when you need a bit of help for tricky situations, missions, Fort of the Damned, or similar moments.
And once they’ve fulfilled their role, you could send them away again, keeping your screen clean and your experience focused.
The idea is to give meaning to players who enjoy these companions, without punishing those who don’t. Good balance doesn’t come from forcing playstyles it comes from offering tools for different ones.
Regarding the Siren/Dolphin mechanic:
Again, nothing is forced. I’m not proposing to replace the pirate gameplay, but to introduce an alternate faction, selectable at the start of a session.
If you want to remain a pirate, you continue playing exactly as you always have.
But for those who’d like a stealthier, more mobile, or solo-oriented experience they finally get a style designed just for them.
And this new gameplay isn’t a gimmick or shallow experiment:
It’s limited (1 treasure max with the shark, none with the dolphin).
It can be countered (through sound waves, detection pets, and visible ripples).
It relies on observation, risk, and timing not raw power.
This isn’t an easier way to play. It’s just a different way to experience Sea of Thieves something rooted in exploration, stealth, and narrative-style solo play. And in a multiplayer world, this kind of diversity isn’t a problem it’s a way to keep the game from growing stale over time.
I’m with you: I bought this game to be a pirate.
But today, I also dream of new ways to live that fantasy.
And while it won’t appeal to everyone, that’s okay.
I believe it could speak to many others.

@redeyesith a dit dans Idea for Sea of Thieves – Making Pets Useful :

@xk-tortuga-xk said in Idea for Sea of Thieves – Making Pets Useful:

Thank you for your honest input I completely understand your perspective, especially if you prefer sticking with the traditional pirate experience. But let me offer a few clarifications that I hope will show my ideas aren’t about forcing a new playstyle… but about offering new, balanced, and optional ones for those who want to explore the game differently.
Regarding pets:
The goal isn’t to make them mandatory or constantly active. Quite the opposite. In my vision, a useful pet would be entirely optional and configurable:
If you want it to remain purely cosmetic, no problem you keep using it just like today.
If you’d like to activate an optional ability (like a dog sniffing out hidden treasure or a bird acting as a lookout), that’s entirely your choice.

But by giving this option, the option for them to remain entirely cosmetic is no longer a real option outside of choosing to give yourself a disadvantage by doing so. It is effectively the worst choice at that point outside of people trying to give themselves added challenge by turning off a feature that other players have active.

And most importantly: you wouldn’t need to have them out all the time.
You could call your pet only when you need a bit of help for tricky situations, missions, Fort of the Damned, or similar moments.
And once they’ve fulfilled their role, you could send them away again, keeping your screen clean and your experience focused.
The idea is to give meaning to players who enjoy these companions, without punishing those who don’t. Good balance doesn’t come from forcing playstyles it comes from offering tools for different ones.

Why would I turn off my bonus - again, there would be no point, at most there would be a need to change which bonus I have active by selecting a different pet than the one I have out right now, but outside of very literally turning off bonuses provided by choice there would be no reason to do so.

By them being a strictly cosmetic item the choice to have them or not does exist because I am not losing an actual gameplay benefit by making my choice. The only other option would be providing the player some gameplay bonus by not having a pet equipped that is just as valuable as having one equipped so that there is an actual choice, however, this would still effectively make it so that people are forced to use pets at times (including those who would prefer to never have a pet active so removing their option) as there will be situations where having the pet is the better benefit to have at that time thus making it effectively forced on players.

As such, the better option is to leave them entirely cosmetic as they are now.

Regarding the Siren/Dolphin mechanic:
Again, nothing is forced. I’m not proposing to replace the pirate gameplay, but to introduce an alternate faction, selectable at the start of a session.

Yes, an option that requires development time and resources to support it existing, which takes that development time and resources away from further making things for the pirate side of the game - the part of the game that I think everyone who bought the game got it for. I would rather this development time and resources be spent of further adding to that pirate experience rather than it being used to provide an experience I and essentially the vast majority of other players were never even looking for when we got the game.

If you want to remain a pirate, you continue playing exactly as you always have.
But for those who’d like a stealthier, more mobile, or solo-oriented experience they finally get a style designed just for them.

Why would these play styles need to be handled by an entirely different thing. Why can't we do things that allow for stealthier pirates, or more mobile pirates, or solo-oriented pirates? Playstyle has nothing to do with putting focus on being a Siren as a player.

And this new gameplay isn’t a gimmick or shallow experiment:
It’s limited (1 treasure max with the shark, none with the dolphin).
It can be countered (through sound waves, detection pets, and visible ripples).
It relies on observation, risk, and timing not raw power.

Everything you describe here when compared to all the things you can do with the rest of the game that wouldn't work while you are a siren with no ship in this new way to play absolutely does make it nothing more than a bit of a gimmick without focusing a lot more development time and resources to making it have a lot more to it than what you describe here - which goes back to my previous point of that all being better spent on the part of the game that everyone got the game for - playing pirates.

This isn’t an easier way to play. It’s just a different way to experience Sea of Thieves something rooted in exploration, stealth, and narrative-style solo play. And in a multiplayer world, this kind of diversity isn’t a problem it’s a way to keep the game from growing stale over time.

I didn't imply that it was an easier way to play, so this really has nothing to do with the points I was making. And what you say here I already addressed above - these gameplay styles don't require some entirely new mode, they can be handled by being a pirate just as well if not better.

I’m with you: I bought this game to be a pirate.
But today, I also dream of new ways to live that fantasy.
And while it won’t appeal to everyone, that’s okay.
I believe it could speak to many others.

This is why there are multiple games, so that they can scratch different desires. I don't think we need to shoehorn in something that doesn't really fit with what this game is trying to fulfill.

As for the pets, I just think that making them more useful than just cosmetics would be cooler to see. Rare introduced skeletons that search for treasure. Why not introduce them with the dogs for example. As for the siren faction, it's more of an idea to boost the game. How many times has it happened to me or friends to start a session, and stay 20 minutes at the outpost before starting, because it's demotivating to have to do a whole bunch of preparation to go on an adventure, crew that does anything before starting, or empty server. Sometimes we even leave the session before doing anything. The idea of ​​the siren faction would be more to boost the game from the start. No need to prepare a boat. We go straight to the adventure to try to recover only precious treasures.