From my experiences with Sea of Thieves thus far, I've given a lot of thought and consideration into ways the game can be improved to be more compelling to play. While the game itself executes the pirate theme flawlessly with stunning graphics, it lacks severely in other areas I hope to address with the following game mechanic and design recommendations.
Deathmatch
One of the most clear things I've discovered playing Sea of Thieves is that players play the game to achieve different goals. Some like to collect treasure, some like to fight skeletons and collect skulls, others play the game simply for the pirate theme and ship to ship combat.
The current state of the game tries to thrust all these different play styles into one game mode and map. This causes distress to the point some may stop playing the game out of frustration.
An example would be someone who likes to play the game with others, but none of their friends are online to group up with so they load in solo to try and find some treasure. Upon completing a Gold Hoarders quest and having their ship filled with chests, they are then killed by a group of four and lose all chests to those who were seeking out combat.
The current state of the game currently rewards those who engage in combat with a 4 to 1 advantage without much effort or time, while taking away the reward of the player who had put much more time and effort into obtaining that reward for their time playing the game.
I propose that the game needs to allow for those seeking out combat to do so with others more competitively, causing the reward they receive to be earned at an equal rate to those who play for other reasons. This could easily be accomplished by introducing a deathmatch mode to the game.
When a crew is at an outpost, there should be a vendor that one of the crew-mates can speak with and will prompt and ask if the crew would like to enter battle. (provided the entire crew and ship are at the outpost) A similar prompt appears before all members of the crew. If all accept, they are entered into a que for battle.
Having the vendor at an outpost allows for exiting the over-world to enter the player vs. player map to be localized to that area, So that when they re-enter they are less likely to disturb other players or have the ability to camp a particular location.
Have the game have a set time limit so matches do not last unreasonably long. Since there is already a boundary within the game, use that mechanic to govern the play area. Have that area reduce in size over time to help conclude PVP activities.
For an added feature to the PVP map and to create a unique terrain to battle on, a whirlpool in the center would be a nice feature. Skirting the outside may increase speed, however navigating to close to the center will damage and sink ships.
A crew is eliminated when the ship they are sailing sinks. Last crew standing wins. 32 player count for the map.
- Solo - 32 ships on a slightly larger starting boundary map.
- 2-Man - 16 ships on a medium starting boundary map.
- Full Crew - 8 ships on a slightly smaller starting boundary map.
(Example of Full Crew Battle with Factions Option)
As an added feature or option, it may be nice to include the ability to side with the Gold Hoarders, Order of Souls, or Merchant Alliance for faction battles. Perhaps as a special event.
Factions
While the addition of a battle royal mode would help alleviate the previously mentioned scenario, it alone may not be enough. At the moment there is not much incentive to help other players achieve their goals as they usually compete with your own. The introduction of allied factions may be the key to help form bonds between players and encourage more of a community.
Players in the world should be able to pledge allegiance to a particular faction. Factions should, in some respect, benefit from same members helping each other out as well as attempt to bring a common objective to all members. A way this could be accomplished is by creating a way for a faction to control an outpost by completing objectivs on surrounding islands. When controlled the following bonus applies for that outpost.
- Gold Hoarders - Additional coin for chests. Special missions.
- Order of Souls - Additional coin for skulls. Special missions.
- Merchant Alliance - Additional coin for animals. Special missions.
Additionally, reputation with a faction should be a factor and the higher you rank with your faction the more faction specific things you can buy from them such as specialized themed hull, sails, figurehead, and utility items. If you kill a player who is of the same faction, you should suffer a small reputation loss, while conversely killing a player of a different faction should give a slight reputation increase.
Some players may find that the majority of their friends are of a particular faction they are not currently a part of. A player should be allowed to change factions, but have that option be on a cool-down timer from when then pledge allegiance. For instance, if I join Gold Hoarders, then I should have that decision locked in for a certain amount of time. I suggest either 3 days or at most a week. After that time period, if I wish to pledge allegiance to Order of Souls or Merchant Alliance, I may.
When loading into the game, if playing with friends, faction allegiance should not matter as crew-mates cannot harm each other, short of shooting an explosive barrel near another player. However, if a player loads into a game and has matchmaking fill the roster, then it should attempt to populate the ship with people of the same faction.
Character Progression
In the games current state, it gives the player character customization options galore, but does very little to demonstrate character progression. I suggest introducing the following mechanics to help demonstrate progression on the way to pirate legend.
- Crafting - Ships
- Pets - Parrot, Monkey, Cat
- Tattoos & Haircuts
A huge part of the players experience is tied directly to their ship, however the game just gives the player their own ship from the very beginning. I would propose it would be more rewarding to start the game on an island without a ship. The player finds a crate that needs filled with 50 planks to construct a rowboat. There should be enough resources on the island to accomplish this goal relatively easily. The game could also take this initial opportunity to introduce a tutorial, explaining the mechanics and menu navigation, but also giving the player direction as to what their objective is. (i.e. Build a boat to escape the island)
Once a player has built a rowboat they then should be able to row to another nearby island and be tasked with collecting enough resources in a chest to build a Sloop. Maybe 200 Planks, 25 Cannon Balls, and a Chest of Fine Silk which they obtain by completing a quest found in a bottle on the island the tutorial guided them too.
Once they have built their Sloop they can set sail to an outpost and be introduced to the factions and complete a quest by each of them to end the tutorial. To keep using the ship you made, you should be able to speak to the shipwright at an outpost who can summon your ship at the end of the dock, provided the area is unoccupied. When you load into the game it should put you at an outpost so you can always retrieve your ship.
If playing with others, whoever summons the appropriate sized ship for the crew first has their ship spawn and is to be used by all players. Eventually a Sloop should be able to gather enough resources through quests to build a Galleon. To keep your ship unique to you and different from others, a customization option would be nice with very simple features.
A pallet of 16 colors with the option to change Hull, Accent, Trim, and Sails depending upon the type of ship would work well. Additionally unlockable icons and figureheads would be great to show progression. The further along in a particular faction the more unique icons and figureheads unlock that can be used to adorn the ship and sails with. Here is an example of color options per ship.
- Rowboat - Hull and Trim color options only.
- Sloop - Hull, Trim, Sail, and Icon options only.
- Galleon - Hull, Trim, Sail, Accent, and Icon options.
When it comes to game mechanics, there is nothing that makes any pirate unique from the abilities of another pirate. The introduction of pets could be used as a way to help diversify, but not fundamentally change the game and how it is played. It is my suggestion that the addition of pets be added to the game. These pets could be more than cosmetic and actually help the player out by contributing in some small way. Great pet choices would be the monkey, cat, and parrot.
- Monkey - Monkeys go bananas for bananas. Allows player to hold 2 additional bananas.
- Cat - Cats love to catch those bilge rats. Allows player to hold 2 additional planks.
- Parrot - Parrots enjoy feeling light as a feather. Allows player to hold 2 additional cannon balls.
Another way players can make their pirate feel unique and add another dimension to the game is to add tattoos. Parlors should be added to outposts and allow for tattoos to be added to their character. Players should be able to unlock different tattoos in some fashion or another. Hairstyles should be moved from the ship to the parlor as it would make more sense to take care of both needs. Furthermore, should a players pirate model be allowed to change it should be conducted at this spot to provide even more utility and continuity for the parlor.
Death Toll
Death seems rather meaningless in the game and there is no real penalty for dying. It would seem fitting if the ferryman took either a toll or bribe for allowing you back to the land of the living.
For a toll, this should be a modest fee that both discourages death but doesn't drain your coin completely. 60 to 120 gold seems fitting. If you die once he will take 60, but if you die often the toll will increase to 90 then 120 if you continue to die. If you lack the gold required, then the normal resurrection timer starts to become longer and longer up to 2 minutes.
For a bribe, another way of implementing it would be to keep the original timer but have the option to bribe the ferryman up to 3 times in a certain time period becoming more expensive each time to instantly let you respawn with a starting bribe starting at 120 gold doubling in cost after each use. (120, 240, 480) The cap on how many times is to have this feature be a limited option that can not be abused by those with a seemingly unlimited amount of gold, but allowing for a strategic option vs risk/reward.
Additionally, if you can't afford to bribe the ferryman, it does not hinder you from playing as the default spawn timer stays the same and your opponent is having to pay up to a total of 840 gold just to keep a small advantage in a fight. If you kill someone who is trying to steal your chickens from your sloop, you are potentially costing them more than what they are trying to take from you. For a galleon attacking you at a skull fort, you are potentially costing them as much as a fort chest or skull would sell for.
This change would incentivise players to choose their encounters more carefully and give them a choice to continue the dangerous activity or play a more safe approach until they can afford to take a greater risk for the reward.
Similarly, the same should be applied to quests. Instead of paying to take quests, quests should be given freely, however, if you take one and vote it down or fail it, there is a small penalty fee that is taken. If a player does not have enough gold for the fee, whatever gold they do have is taken and the player is left with 0 gold.
Experience should be awarded upon quest completion as you had to go through the experiences of achieving the quest objectives which is intangible and should not be able to be stolen away from the player. Items acquired through the process of completing the quest should be the only thing other players can steel and the reward of turning in those items should only be gold.
UI Improvement
For the most part the UI works well communicating information, however it fails players in crucial moments such as when battling skeletons at a fort and trying to heal using a banana, just to realize you forgot to grab some as you get killed. This type of situation can easily be avoided if consumable data is relayed through the UI to the player. Here is an example as to what information I would like visible. Position on UI should either be near other related UI information or put together in the top right corner.
Turtle Island
Turtle Island is an event that spawns in the world, much like skull forts. Every so often a giant sea turtle rises to the surface, creating Turtle Island. While Turtle Island is active an aura appears in the sky signaling that the event is active. Unlike skull forts, this event comes and goes on a timer instead of until completion. For lore sake, the turtle loves shiny things and collects the loot lost at sea from ships that have sunk.
The event is a treasure gathering event instead of a skeleton combat event. Upon entering range of Turtle Island, the crew receives multiple riddles and a treasure map. The objective is to find and collect chests as well as artifacts that litter the island. The terrain of the turtle should be more difficult than the average island and have some obstacles to overcome. The risk mostly comes from the running into other players attempting to gather loot from the island before it sinks back into the deep blue sea, but also from the occasional skeletal crews that may spawn from you attempting to claim their chests as your own.
Volcanoes
Volcanoes are another type of event that exist in the world in an active or inactive state, similar to skull forts. They are signaled by a cloud column and reddish/orange aura in the sky. This event is a mixture of the combative waves of skull forts and the treasure hunting nature of turtle islands. This event also introduces a new mechanic. Inactive volcanoes can be sailed to and landed upon, much like skull forts.
While inactive, the entrance to the area where the event occurs is blocked by solidified lava, however, when the island is active, this lava begins to run and the opportunity to enter the volcano is available. Eruptions occur that blast out ballistic material in the surrounding area, however, unlike skeletons on cannons, their disbursement is random however occur more often. The new mechanic is used to enter the volcano. Using a bucket of water, players can cool the lava at the top of the lava flow, causing it to solidify temporarily, giving the players enough time to enter the vast cave structures inside the volcano located at the base of the lava flow. Think of it as a lava waterfall where you have to stop the waterfall to enter the cave behind the falls.
Upon entering you will find winding caves filled with skeletons, the majority of which are golden. Steam from hot springs, spotting the area of the main chamber, fills the air. Patches of lava block certain paths. The use of the water bucket is needed to progress and kill mobs as well as traverse the terrain. When multiple waves of skeletons have been killed, the boss spawns. Unlike skull forts that have a captain with a wave of skeletons, a single boss is spawned that has a considerable amount of health. This skeleton boss has the abilities of all the skeletons. It is made of shadow, has golden armor, and heals in water, and wields both a sword and pistol.
Upon death, the volcano becomes inactive, causing the lava to cool and solidify. This seals the entrance. The boss also drops a key that, when used, opens both doors of a vault area. This vault has a door leading into it from the main chamber, but also a door on the other side of the vault that leads to the outside of the volcano. This allows the volcano to be looted then sealed, just like any skull fort.
Quicksand Trap
A new hazard should be introduced to the world. As it is right now, the only use for planks is on a ship. I propose that quicksand traps be places on various spots of islands that can snag a player. When a player crosses a spot of quicksand their movement is halted and they begin to slowly sink. To get out, they have to place a board down at their feet, to give them enough of a surface area for their character to step on and hop out of the trap. The amount of boards needing placed depends on how deep they have sunk. For instance if a player immediately reacts, they can place one board down and hop out of the trap. If they panic and more time passes, they will have sunk deeper and have to place two or three boards down to be able to hop out. If they wait to long, they will have sunk in quicksand and instantly drown. This makes boards more utilized and increase their importance, compared to cannon balls and bananas.
Lightning Hazard
In storms, holding a sword should increase your chance of being struck by lightning. Being struck by lighting temporarily paralyzes your character for 1.5 seconds and causes your character to freeze in an electrical shock animation. Lighting should also tend to strike the top of masts/crows nests over other areas.
Ghost Ships
Every so often at night a ghostly ship, much like the ferry, should appear in the world and sail the seas. It's crew comprised of shadow skeletons fires its cannons at player ships. It holds a new cursed chest type called chest of torment. You have to board the ship, kill the crew and captain, then steal the chest without having your ship sink in the process. The ghostly ship should move at a constant speed and not have advantage or disadvantage from wind direction and should not take damage from any sources. Active until it despawns. When it spawns it raises up from the sea, when it despawns, it lowers below the sea.
The chest itself should do damage over time to the player while it is held, much like venom from snakes, but if it is on a player ship every so often it causes damage to the hull, much like a storm. The reward for turning in should be substantial.
I'm sure there are various other improvements that could be made, but these are the ones that have my focus at the moment. These improvements are only a suggestion and are not meant to promote controversy. Please forgive my poor Photoshop skills demonstrated in this post. Have a suggestion that should be included in this post, let me know in the comments.
