Honestly, the current state of Sea of Thieves feels completely out of tune, and it’s frustrating because the game has so much potential. Right now, that potential just isn’t being used. In-game events in general, reputation, Cosmetics, items, skins, emotes, and Tall Tales shouldn’t be the core of the game. Story content should be secondary, not the foundation, because no new player who loads into the game for the first time actually cares about the lore or how your ship looks like.
The real question should be: How do we make the game immediately engaging the moment a player raises the anchor and lowers sails?
In games like Rust, you load in and instantly understand what to do. There’s risk, there’s safety, and there’s always a clear objective.
Sea of Thieves desperately needs something like that. Players should be able to have their own base, something customizable where they can store cannonballs, planks, food, and loot. Access to the base could be tied to a unique tune that the player creates using notes, a screen that pops up to create your own, short, unique tune from a set of notes, which could then be played by any instrument available. Only players who know that tune can enter. Other players shouldn’t be able to destroy the base’s appearance, only steal materials and treasure, if they can gain access to those unique notes of the base. Similar to how only pirate legends can go under ground into the secret cave of pirate legends By playing a “We shall sail together” tune.
This would solve one of the biggest issues in the game: losing everything after hours of prep, constantly gathering supplies, collecting loot, then losing it all in one fight, it's how you lose players. It’s boring, discouraging, and a huge reason the game feels like it’s falling off. When there’s no world events active, no forts, no fleets, there’s genuinely nothing fun to do while sailing about.
On top of that, the game still has terrible hit registration. You can’t have fights where a single bullet decides everything, especially when losing means losing all momentum, all supplies, loot, and all enjoyment. There needs to be a recovery system. If you lose a fight, you should be able to quickly resupply from your base and get back into the action instead of logging off. That’s why people would have to have long sessions to stock up their base with supplies so they can have backup if they ever lose their ship supplies.
Stories, side events, and reputation should be optional content—things you pursue alongside the core gameplay, not the main reason to play. Right now, if you set sail without actively chasing those things, there’s no obvious hook to keep you engaged.
This is why when big streamers who haven’t played much try the game, they often sail around, maybe encounter a skeleton ship, and then log off. Millions of potential new players watch that thinking Sea of Thieves is boring. That hurts the game more than anything.
Your main base should be permanent and indestructible since it’s a place players customize. Ornaments, or other gadgets you could possible interact with to create an effect for fun, whether from earning it by completing certain challenges, Tall Tales, or by buying them. Having your pets run around your main base, parrots flying around, your own music playing from a music box of some kind, and many other stuff to implement to make it feel like home and your own. However, everything outside that core base should be buildable and destructible: walls, cannons, defenses, upgrades (wood to metal, for example). This creates player-made forts where loot is stored and defended. Enemy players could steal loot if they gain access to their well guarded sheet of music, without the tune they can’t enter the main base, like you can’t enter skull forts without the key even after beating the fort. There should also be time windows for main outposts. If the outpost is closed then you have to wait for that window, it makes it even more exciting and risky, that’s why you want to store your loot and wait for a good window to sell. That also gives thieves a better chance of prepping for stealing loot, brings the name of the game even closer into action.
Servers should also be live, similar to Rust, so players always feel invested in what they’ve built and stored. That constant tension keeps players engaged, thinking about the game even when they log off.
Finally, something like the legendary and the old Arena mode could return in a new way as another thing to have in mind with everything else going on: unique chests and special outposts placed around the map. After successfully turning those chests in you gain points on the leaderboard. Each server could have a live leaderboard, and when the server resets, the top 10 or 5 crews receive rewards, something big where players would actually want it, not just some small item. That’s how you can actually put your own ships with a creative name that we have right now to real use. That kind of competition would be incredibly engaging in the midst of guarding your base and everything else.
All of this would give Sea of Thieves something it’s missing right now: a clear, exciting reason to play every time you log in.
How to make Sea Of Thieves fun
In-game events in general, reputation, Cosmetics, items, skins, emotes, and Tall Tales shouldn’t be the core of the game.
Yet that is how Rare wants its Core to be about, next to Player interactions.
because no new player who loads into the game for the first time actually cares about the lore or how your ship looks like.
Most new players always follow suit with, "I wanna do what I saw on that Streamers videos", play Hourglass and learn that isn't what games about.
In games like Rust, you load in and instantly understand what to do.
Really? Because I use to play it, and there is nothing that tells you how or what to do. Are those players dangerous? How do I build this..where are the good items? Why are all the items gone...and my favorite, why am I spawning in some sorta base xD
There’s risk, there’s safety, and there’s always a clear objective.
Maiden Voyage which for new players is the first thing you 'should' of done. and it shows you and tells you all about these things. Waters have dangers, islands has mysteries and also dangers, you have weapons/items/tools to use. How to use them
Players should be able to have their own base, something customizable where they can store cannonballs, planks, food, and loot.
Your ship?
This would solve one of the biggest issues in the game: losing everything after hours of prep, constantly gathering supplies, collecting loot, then losing it all in one fight, it's how you lose players.
Ah here is the main issue where the player has a problem. Its a session based game. But if you wanna compare it to Rust, you do know..Unless the server rules prevent it. You can still lose everything right? Raids while your offline.
But for some reason...even when players lose these things, they still keep coming back to Rust. :pWhen there’s no world events active, no forts, no fleets, there’s genuinely nothing fun to do while sailing about.
There always something going on. There never a moment where no WE isn't active.
There needs to be a recovery system. If you lose a fight, you should be able to quickly resupply from your base and get back into the action instead of logging off.
As a Captain, of your ship. You can restock. OR you can ask the merchant and purchase some supplies.
Stories, side events, and reputation should be optional content—things you pursue alongside the core gameplay, not the main reason to play.
So to you. What should the "Main Reason" to play? Because so far...you havnt mentioned it. Just reasons to keep playing..but what is the focus here? Keep supplies...ok for what? Is that sole main reason? To build a base, from what? Whom?
Because as you want, nobody can damage or enter....what is the purpose?Right now, if you set sail without actively chasing those things, there’s no obvious hook to keep you engaged.
Aagin, same as above. Its also the players freedom to choose, what to do. You the player.
In SoT, you are the pirate. Its an PvPvE, Adventure, Sandbox, Open world game. You RolePlay as you feel to. You can be a humble fisherman, adventuring exploring the islands to uncover the games secrets. Be a sneaky pirate, patrol and be a pirate for good. You Choose.
This is why when big streamers who haven’t played much try the game, they often sail around, maybe encounter a skeleton ship, and then log off.
Big streamers do Hourglass and when they wanna slow down...they have no clue about the rest of the game, because all they ever did was the PvP. They believed that is all there was, they ignore the whole game for a 1%. Dont follow those kids, they are simple. Not the advantage casual.
They play for views and money. Not for gaming for fun.Millions of potential new players watch that thinking Sea of Thieves is boring. That hurts the game more than anything.
Because Streamers make it so. So if your a gamer, actual gamer and want to be a pirate? Do a little research or just jump in and enjoy.
Your main base should be permanent and indestructible since it’s a place players customize.
Boring. As you said, Rust did this and that. So as Rust...your base should be easy to destroy and steal from. Oh wait...we have Ships.
There should also be time windows for main outposts. If the outpost is closed then you have to wait for that window, it makes it even more exciting and risky,
Players already complain about pirates camping outposts...having them be closed. Ugh.
All of this would give Sea of Thieves something it’s missing right now: a clear, exciting reason to play every time you log in.
Copy other games mechanics. Nobody wants to play another Rust, it has it own fanbase and some of us wanna play something different. If you wanna play Rust, go play rust.
I have Reason to play every time and login, To be a pirate on the seas and do what I wish, regardless of other players or supplies. And supplies are a dime a dozen, easy to find, collect and sometimes..never use.
@burnbacon seems to me that your missing everything I'm suggesting, read the whole thing first and then try to understand and then reply. Don't take everything literal when I make an example, how can you turn Sea of thieves into Rust? your making 0 sense, and your responses seem very defensive instead of open minded. There's many games where you build and defend and customize, doesn't mean it's now rust, lol. And I don't mean rust is perfect, I'm saying rust has a clear path, so as many other popular games: gather supplies, build a base, and go from there, reinforce, defend, attack, steal, loot. I'm saying Sea Of Thieves needs to take inspiration from popular games instead of wandering around, giving update after update that doesn't do anything for the game in a major way. Your also missing a lot of other suggestions I mentioned, about tunes and things that worked before, like the Arena implementations into the world. When I talk about player-forts I mean instead of just skull forts there would also be player forts you can attack, everyone will have their own in each server, the base inside will remain the same since it's a place you customizes, everything outside of it you can build and reinforce, nothing too far of course, just around the rock of the base, similar to how the Arena structure you can find in the game looks like. Live servers, you can log off and have your supplies and loot remain inside the base, however eventually you will have to sell because when the servers refresh, your loot and supplies will go away. When I talk about the time windows for outposts, It forces players to form tactics and try to be a lot more careful, because you have to remember what the name of the game is. I've played the game for a long time so I'm speaking from experience.
As a new player, I agree with you.
After 3 days, I don't know what to do.
I bought a ship, and what now?
I can do stories, but that's not why I bought it.
Adding a base will give another goal.
Of course, you can say the ship is your house, but you cannot personalize it more than the outside.
I can't buy a bed and place it there; I cannot bring traders with me.
I think it can work like a hideout in Path of Exile. We already have this rock that teleports us to some stories, so why not allow us to use it to transport to a private hideout where we can put down our treasure that we cannot sell right now, or we just don't have time. For players, it can give another thing to do: build our own safe haven. A place where we can feel safe and allow us to prepare to voyage.
I'm not convinced about opening ports for a small window of time, maybe one where you can sell things for a high profit, something around 150% of its price. I think making ports more unique will be a better option. What do you think if in every port there will be a guy who bought everything except illegal stuff, of course? He will give you 75% of its price. In port, there will be, of course, basic stores and only two guilds where we can sell items and get 100% of the item price. Right now it looks like you get items, find the closest port, and sell it to one guy. With that, we create more opportunity for sea fights.
Raids on player bases will be nice only if you can recruit NPCs to protect them. Something like we can join a guild to get our base. So it can have a unique look for this guild, for example, if we join the Order of Souls, our protecting NPCs will be skeletons and ghosts.
Another thing that I would change is Gear. Really, just make it so that you must have a sword as a main weapon and one ranged weapon as secondary. Shotguns and snipers are not fun at all.Yes i use translator.
@ujinqu
There are two hours in the day where everything sells for a higher profit (I think 2x value?) called the Golden Hours. Give it a try!As for the OP... @ViLgAmeR25 I don't know how else to put this, but what you have described sounds like a nightmare to me. I hope they never implement what you're describing.
I bought this game because I love sailing in games. One thing that I can say is great in this game are battles on the sea. So it's sad that I cannot more personalize me ship, something like mount extra canon on the back or make it faster but easier to sink. it will get more personality to it, but I understand that it will destroy balance.
So that's why the idea of private hideout is great. I don't care about story or skins. So after buying ship, I have nothing that I can do with a gold.
To second answer. I try it, and it's real hard to do something alone and make me hate shotgun and sniper combo even more. It's real anticlimactic when you fight epic battle with other ship and in one moment someone jump on your ship. Start jumping around like a monkey and only use this boring combo. i thought we are pirates, not John Fortnite.I think that having a base that you can design and customize would be a nice change of pace for some more experienced pirates. It'd give experienced pirates something to spend their gold on too. The concept would be cool, but there's a few holes in the general concept that I think would create an unfair advantage for veterans over new players.
Currently as it stands, the ONLY 2 differences between a day one player and a brand new player are cosmetics (how their pirate, ship, items, etc. look) and time in game, ultimately resulting in skill. There is no advantage that can be bought, you have to actively seek growth through experience. My fear with where you mention storing loot or other supplies is that we could see a very large gap created where there wasn't one before. Loot is meant to be earned and turned in, I don't see the benefit of hoarding it for the sole sake of defending it.
Ultimately this sounds like a very different game than Sea of Thieves. This seems very much like a hybrid of Rust and SOT, which conceptually could be interesting but I think it's so drastically different than what the game currently is that it'd only be a concept.
As far as direction for new players, I'm in agreement. The game does a poor job of telling new pirates what they should/could be doing. I think that this goes back to having items locked behind commendations, but not making it clear what that commendation is for. If a player makes a new pirate, I think they should (optionally, but default is opted in) be guided through 3 voyages (Gold Hoarder, Order of Souls, Merchants) to be SHOWN what the mechanics of the game are, further than what the Maiden Voyage teaches.
Cheers!
@egyptianbum I totally agree, players in Sea of Thieves definitely desire drastic change, where more players could possibly begin to join in and have fun, therefore making the game more popular. There are always going to be holes in everything, I guess, but the more opinions there are about where we can improve, the more we can figure out how to make it better. For the last year, nothing really exciting happened, so you have to question whether Sea of Thieves is actually trying to improve the game or just squeeze out as much money as they can from the remaining players that they have, because sometimes that’s what it feels like.
On the other hand, the biggest issue with Sea of Thieves is time. It takes way too long to do anything. Sure, you can do a simple voyage, but that won’t get you far and it barely makes any progress when it comes to reputation, which doesn’t really result in fun, it’s just grinding out a scale that means nothing.
The reason Arena was so much fun is because it was fast, and you instantly knew what to do when the match began. Sure, it was hard for some people if you didn’t have a team, but the fact is it made players come together, find a team, talk, and make friends while trying to get a win. I made so many friends, so many fun memories during that time because I wanted to win and have fun with other players, especially in the lobby, I remember we laughed left and right with everyone while we waited for the game to start.
The game itself has to become a lot faster, because not everyone has a lot of time, that’s only a select few, while the majority just play the game for a little bit and then quit, likely never to return since the progress they made was close to nothing, and the pace of the game is so agonizingly slow.
New players have to be rewarded the first time they play not just with some random items or cosmetics, but through having fun even if they had little time to spare.
Obviously, there needs to be a change. Players who still participate and believe in the game most likely have plenty of ideas, it just depends on whether the developers or the people in control are actually willing to move in that direction and make the change happen while openly talking about it, so there’s feedback from players. It just seems like they had more than a year to improve things, where the change would be evident to all. They had more than enough time to talk with the community, work with many creative people who are passionate about the game, yet nothing really happened. So it might be a money problem, I would guess, the killer of fun.
