- Q: Is legendary ship another skin of the ship? Or is it actually a different ship?
Joe: Our goal is to make sure you'll definitely stand out when sailing on a legendary ship! When other players see you on the seas they'll know you're a pirate legend.
- Q: Will there more Sea Monsters in the future, or will the Kraken be the only one?
Mike: We'll be looking to enrich our game across all areas after launch, whether that be the quests, the AI, the game experience. This is an area where we'll definitely be looking at players' feedback after launch. The kraken as a threat might evolve...
- Q: Have you considered expanding upon the merchant alliance, where we could buy and sell goods between different outposts using fluctuating market prices?
Mike: We see the role of trading companies as something we'll continue to expand over time. Whatever we do with the trading companies we'll try to put a unique spin on it and gets players to play in different ways! Fair expectation that the kinds of goods you'll be ferrying for the Merchant Alliance will evolve over time.
- Q: Will pets only be able to be bought with microtransactions or can we use gold?
Joe: Pets are a post-launch feature that we're currently designing. We're considering all options and they're part of our ongoing service. We don't have plans for them to be bought with gold but we're looking at potential ways players could earn them.
- Q: Will there be an Addition of Minigames like Dice or Cards?
Shelley: We prototyped dice early on in development and it was a lot of fun. All of our mechanics in Sea of Thieves are to provide players simple tools that let players' creativity define how they use them! Joe: If we put dice in the game we'd love to see what players do with them. For example, using them to direct your adventure. Roll six to head West! Shelley: We've seen people using gunpowder barrels as a game. Running down the beach and trying to get to the ship alive! Mike: Whatever we do we'll look to continue players' immersion and not take them out of the world into a mini game or separate modes.
- Q: Have you thought about having more than one active voyage? It would be nice to look for treasure at the same time as I'm hunting for chickens.
*Joe: We're keen to do it! We just need to figure out how and when we put it in. *Mike: In the case of the Merchant Alliance, we're aware players need to deliver their cargo before they're able to activate another voyage. This is definitely an area we'd like to improve. *Shelley: Keep an eye out for a glint on a beach as a message in a bottle will allow you to do quests alongside your voyage.
- Q: Will there be some sort of anti-cheat implemented at launch? Like Microsoft's TruePlay? I hope basic low hanging fruit like Cheat Engine will be blocked. Can you confirm, without spoiling any specifics, if we will see more than the Kraken's tentacles at launch if we encounter it? Can you expand on what type of items will be in the microtransaction shop? Will outfits be in there? As a pioneer, will we be utilized for future content tests?
*Joe: In the future we definitely want players to help us test upcoming content. We're still figuring out this programme. We're so appreciative of the way Pioneers have helped us so far. It's been really valuable. *Ted: We've done a lot of work around our security methods. We'll continue to monitor as we go. It's something that's really important to us.
- Q: How frequent will updates be after launch?
Joe: Our focus at launch is reacting to feedback and seeing if there are any significant issues. Our updates will be as frequent as they need to be in that period. New content will be variable on how complex it is. Bigger features are gonna be every few months, those will be major changes, like pets or ship captaincy. In the periods between those updates we'll be running live campaigns and constantly releasing things that enrich the emergent experience of the world. Tools like a speaking trumpet, something that's not too far away after launch.
- Q: The Ebon Flintlock pistol skin was given out for live attendees to the Inside XBOX stream on mixer. So many of us were unable to attend. Will it be made available on future (similar) streams in the future? Or are we out of luck?
Craig: We're aware of the frustrations around missing out on this and lack of communication around it. We'll look into it! We'll follow up in our Forums: https://www.seaofthieves.com/forum
- Q: Can we change hair color?
Ted: At launch, when you pick your pirate their hair colour will remain the same (you'll be able to change styles in the vanity chest!) We're currently working on changing colour but figuring out how to deliver it. We have the tech working in the IPG (Infinite Pirate Generator) and now we're working on how to bring that to the vanity chest.
- Q: Have you guys considered adding a notification showing when group members join and leave?
Mike: We're reviewing our notification system at the moment. We totally get why this is important so we're working on it.
- Q: Are we able to keep sword lungeing across the sea like the betas? it was half the fun!
Joe: It's still in at launch but we're monitoring whether it's an overpowered ability. Kudos for discovering it, we've seen some GREAT clips of this. It took Shelley a while to figure out how to do it and she's a Senior Designer on the game. Ted discovered it from the top of the Crow's Nest.
- Q: The water? Just..how...why so pretty? You have done something CGI movies even can not perfect. How did you do it?!
Craig: #GreatWater and a #GreatTeam
- Q: In the full game will there be an option to customize tattoos? I feel like tattoos were a huge part of pirate culture and would be pretty upset if you have absolutely no control over them. Would it be something you'd consider adding in the future if it isn't available at launch? I think adding tattoos to a pool of unlockables will be great when completing milestones such as killing the kraken, achieving max level in gold hoarders, ect.
*Ted: Like hair colour we're working on the design of how we get tattoos to players. We love the idea of unlocking a tattoo after an in game event. Our IPG tech means we can do this, we think it's super cool and we'll look at it post launch. *Joe: Tattoos are cool. *Shelley: If I were to get a tattoo I'd get a Sea of Thieves one...
- Q: Will the drum and fiddle be in the game at launch?
Shelley: Drum roll please! Not at launch, the drum is close. It's currently unavailable as we're using it to drum up anticipation for Sea of Thieves badum tsch
- Q: Will legendary ships only be for the galleon? Or will you be able to get one as a sloop?
Mike: When we bring in ship captaincy the legendary cosmetics that you acquire will apply to both sloop and galleon.
- Q: Does the kraken have a full body under the water or is it all tentacles?.
*Joe: We want to leave some mystery to the kraken so people get that spoiler free experience at launch! *Shelley: All we can say is that it's a monstrous experience...
- Q: Are you guys going to visually add anchors? How bout them rowboats?
Joe: We discussed this early on in the project and honestly made a call that the investment outweighed the aesthetic benefit of having one. We prototyped rowboats, it was supercool. They might make an appearance in future.
- Q: Can you give us a good ol' "Sea of Tease" of the first in-game event?
Mike: New visitors soon there may be, travelling far across the sea, depth of night with eyes aglow, crawling the earth cast in shadow.
- Q: Do you plan on doing more with The Ship of the Dammed? or Pirate Ghosts in the world, in the future?
Mike: With Sea of Thieves being a fantastical world we'd like to expand on the fantastical elements of the game. We're pretty excited about the opportunity this brings.
- Q: How is Kato after the surprise announcement recently?
Shelley: He hasn't been seen in the studio since but Joe turned up to work on a new motorbike yesterday... (If Kato's dad is watching WE'RE ONLY JOKING!)
- Q: Thanks for doing this AMA! I want to know what exactly is the Grog our pirates are drinking; is it some sort of Mojito rum cocktail or an India Pale Ale? The bubbles in the mug suggest a brew...
Shelley: Personally I don't want to know what's in it...
- Q: What about fishing? It would be nice to have a additional option for voyages that would need me to catch some fish. I know it won’t be there at release but is something like this planned or even on the table?
Mike: Sounds like an awesome idea. *Craig: Not sure fishing is part of the pirate experience. *Shelley: *shocked face *Joe: You've now had some insight into a design discussion at Rare. See what I have to put up with?
- Q: Will we be able to have more than one pet at a time?
Mike: You'll be able to own multiple pets but can only take one out on a voyage at a time.
- Q: What surprised you most while developing the game? Thanks!
Joe: That everyone didn't instantly realise that firing yourself out of cannons would be amazing. *Mike: Always surprised by players' creativity and the way they use the mechanics.
- Q: Classic overused question: Monkey or Parrot?
Argument ensues Everyone except Shelley agrees monkey. Shelley: Cat.
- Q: Can you name your ship I notice the plaque above the captains quarters?
Mike: Yes, it's a lovely plaque. It'd be a shame to waste it...
- Q: Why is the brig on the sloop? It seems like a waste of space I could be using otherwise.
Mike: We're looking to add the ability to play publicly or privately on any ship you choose after launch. Supporting a four player crew on the sloop is something we're looking at.
- Q: I'm not a dev but I can tell you: my crew sank many many crews who came after us because we split about 1-2 people off to board and kill/distract while the rest cannoned and repaired and we have still never been sunk. Distracting them from repairing can be extremely valuable. Not sure if this is intended or will be changed but that's my advice for now
Joe: This answer is great. It's about combining different tactics, techniques and using different tools like the explosive barrel and boarding another ship. Deceit is your friend...
- Q: I saw some Rare Tea on a screenshot. Hint? ;)
looks at Craig
- Q: Will there be any expanding on ship customization?
Mike: Yes :)
- Q: Will there be NPC's that give voyages/quests besides the trading companies, and can we expect to see quests for escorting NPCs back to outposts or anything along those lines
Mike: Just like the lore books and messages in bottles, we'll look at expanding the ways players can acquire quests in game. Getting quests from mysterious NPCs sounds like a great idea ;)
- Q: You've spoken frequently about looking at adding content down the road (every 3 months or so?). Can we expect to see a published roadmap after launch that outlines a number of features that are penned to be released over the next 12 months?
Joe: I think we're only ever likely to cover a few months ahead to maintain mystery (so you can be surprised and delighted) and so we can be reactive. Things will change as Sea of Thieves evolves. We want to have the time to reveal what the features mean for players before we put them in their hands. We've taken a show not tell policy for the entire project so far and we're committed to that.
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