I both agree and disagree, but in an open forum where feedback is a two way process, you don't just get to say "if you disagree just keep scrolling".
For context, this is coming from someone who primarily solo sloops, occasionally brigs, and seriously dislikes the state of Hourglass gameplay and the toxicity that tends to surround it.
I have more than three thousand hours in game, but have barely touched hourglass. Much prefer open-world PvP.
So, let's look at your argument:
the skill gap is unreasonable unless I plan to quit my job, stop talking to my family, and dedicate the next 12 months to nothing but this game.
Sea of Thieves is designed so that there's a level playing field in terms of mechanics. Everyone gets the same weapons, the same hitpoints, the same ships, the same resources.
The only difference is a player's ability. If you're being outgunned, outplayed or outsmarted by others on the seas during normal gameplay, then that's something you need to work on.
Decrying the game because there are people playing who are better than you is madness. There's always going to be someone smarter, luckier or just simply more skilled. It happens to everyone.
The devs don't listen to cries of the masses, the long-term players are toxic/bullies, unable to realize their actions ruin the experience for everyone else.
Firstly, a news flash. The developers don't have to listen to you. They have a roadmap and a vision for the game that charts a direction for intended gameplay, theme and functionality.
Secondly, I've been around pretty much since release. I'm one of those long-term players. I'm not out to ruin anyone's day, I tend not to be the person who instigates combat, and most of the time if I manage to paste someone, it's in self-defense.
Just because you've had bad experiences with people, doesn't mean that everyone but you is toxic.
Nothing against pvp- but there's no balance for new players, there's no way to enjoy the game casually unless ur a day 1, a prodigy, or a hacker.
So let's break this down. Everyone gets the same weapons, the same ships, the same number of hitpoints, the same resources. In terms of mechanical balance, Sea of Thieves is basically perfect in terms of equality between players.
Where it isn't, is player ability. The game takes time to get good at, and thousands of hours to master. What you're complaining about isn't balance, it's player knowledge and skill.
Your quote there is the same as someone sitting down at a piano after having never played before, and being angry that they can't blast out Clair de lune the same as a pianist who's been practicing for thousands of hours. It makes no sense.
Compared to other open world games, there's a huge amount of assistance for new players. There's Maiden Voyage, a tutorial for every trading company, and now Safer Seas, where you can remain until you get the hang of combat mechanics, naval positioning, ship control and every other aspect of the game, all while still earning 100% gold rewards.
the devs do more to turn away swabbies than hackers
On this, I agree with you.
I worked in the games industry for two decades before I left it behind for my own reasons, but it astonishes me how little attention Rare pay to cheating and hacking.
EAC is a full scale joke, and is, for the best part, entirely ineffective at filtering out people who are cheating. You're more likely to get banned accidentally than someone cheating is to be picked up by it.
I'm at a loss as to why Sea of Thieves doesn't seem to have robust enough server side logging to catch people hacking, with the support team basically needing to be handed video evidence of people teleporting around on a plate before they'll take any action.
Then of course, with a new Microsoft account, these guys are back in the game within twenty minutes, harassing people again.
MMOs I've worked on in the past have had vastly more robust banning systems, including banning via MAC address from a network adaptor, or full scale HWID banning to prevent a machine reconnecting to live services.
This needs to be the standard, not just a slap on the wrist. Yes, it's possible to spoof this stuff, but it's way harder than creating a new Microsoft account, which means most people just move on to the next game.
Taking all choice away from the player and giving it fully to the aggressor, who also stands to gain, is flawed game design.
It's an open world game by design, without that aspect of its architecture the game would effectively be single player, which is not what Rare have aimed for at the start. If you're not looking for unpredictable player interaction, then Sea of Thieves is the wrong game for you.
Keep PVP and put servants and guardians on different servers, or make pve servers or stop fueling the bullies.
Just because someone attacks you, it doesn't mean they're automatically a bully. When you created a character you signed up to an open world PvPvE game, if you don't want to interact with other people, then it's not the game for you.
No one is "fueling the bullies". An open world game means you're going to be attacked at times, and just because you don't win a fight, it doesn't mean someone is cheating, or bullying you.
There is effectively a PvE version of the game, one that's designed to help train new players before they end up on the High Seas - it's called Safer Seas, and if you want to play the game without interacting with other players, then that's your best option.
Sometimes I do that myself if I just want to relax and fish, or run Tall Tales.
Until you realize that the loudest players on these forums and Reddit are those who are the problem and directly benefit from these issues, the game will remain doomed.
I engage in these forums. I engage on reddit. I engage in the comments of official YouTube videos, and on other social platforms, and like thousands of others, I'm not part of the problem. Just because someone isn't playing the game the way you want them to, it doesn't make them part of some problem that's of your own making.
The game isn't doomed. It's profitable, it has great content, it's well balanced for the best part and it's got a solid core playerbase.
The only issue it has is problems with hacking and cheating. If Rare took the time to address these issues and make the game more secure, then it would be absolutely incredible.
Stop letting a handful of people benefit from bullying and ruin everyone else's day.
That "handful of people" aren't the bullies. The handful of people are those who think the game shouldn't be a sandbox, and should instead be converted into a soft play area that caters to people who don't want to have to interact with other people.
At its heart, the game is an open world PvPvE sandbox, and that's not going to change. If that's your core issue with the game - which it seems to be - then perhaps Sea of Thieves isn't for you.
