A Letter to Joe Neate

@thor-von-blitz said in A Letter to Joe Neate:

Short answer:
No, no splitting of the player base.

This is such a bs answer and idk why people are repeating it. The player-base IS split... You don't really think everyone is on the same server do you? Most games have a myriad of game types that "splits" the player base by your definition. Saying Rare shouldn't add different server types because of "slitting the player base" is nonsense.

Instead of appeasing to the existing crowd, the core of SoT, you want to bring in new people with a fad.

Bringing new people in is good. More people= more money= more resources for the game. BR is not a fad. Idk why people are repeating this too. It's a game type that is really popular. It might lose popularity, but it's shown it's value to gamers and will most likely work it's way into many games in the future as a normal thing like TDM. Whether SoT should have a BR mode is another matter. I personally don't think a BR mode makes sense for SoT, but a separate(or integrated) PvP mode like crew vs crew TDM style, capture the flag, etc would be a great addition IMO.

Expand on the core principals of SoT and the game will do fine.

Maybe, but it's going way to slow and most of the updates have been meh at best. Rare doesn't seem to be capable of delivering content that is of the quality and size that people are expecting at the rate that people were hoping for. BR isn't a fad, but PvP is a good and relatively easy way to keep players occupied while Rare works on finishing their game.

Still on the fence with br (or any other server separation) but the game is going way to much towards sea of friends for my liking and almost feels that the game is a pve server anyway.

Personally I'd rather they increased ship count to 10/12 but more importantly altered the way server merges work to fill servers rather it merging those with low numbers. Also give rewards (gold, rep, exclusive cosmetics) for pvp against others that want pvp with stats for sinks etc

If rare did do a br mode I definitely want lots options for who you fight against. Ship type vs ship type, mixed, closed crew vs closed crew, open crew vs open etc

Whatever rare do they need to embrace pvp and reward it cause the game is starting to get a little stale

@mortarchelle I see what you are saying, and while I do not necessarily agree with you I am not here to attack you for it. Why do I disagree, simply put, I think that a BR would take away resources towards the overall experience in the game. And quite honestly, I love the PvE side of the game just as much if not a little more than I do the PvP side. I actually love the fact that both are in play. I love the fact that on any given game session anything could happen. I could have a wonderful day sailing the seas enjoying the beauty within the game (I wish we had those sunsets in real life where I live). Or even occasionally grinding something and actually meeting your goals for a game session. Or the many times any plans you may or may not have had are interrupted by others with goals of their own. The beauty of the game is the fact that everything is blended to give you that sandbox where things can go exactly as planned, or you have to fight to make them happen.

While there is no doubt that the player base is down right now, I think it is too soon to panic. I think the server merge is once again broken, this has happened before where servers don't merge if there are 2-4 ships on the seas. Which I think anytime there are 3 or less ships they should merge, but they don't appear to be. The latest go around with this not working might be by design as Rare might be looking at ways to fix it so that loot isn't lost, as for a time there was massive cry out about loot getting lost in merges. Obviously there are other new games out right now. Some of them have been advertising for a very long time. Red Dead 2 has been out there for quite some time, and quite frankly, most of my friends are playing it right now. But all of my friends have said, when the Ferry of the Damned event comes out, they will be coming back to SoT, even if only for a couple of days for the event. Right now, for the most part, people have finished the FS events. So, they are moving to other newer games while they wait for new updates from Rare. Thankfully, Rare has more up their sleeve. In a little over a week we should be hearing more from Joe about what is coming up. Once that happens, I think you will begin to see players slowly return, just like they did for FS. Sadly, the game will have its ups and downs as this seems to be the way this game will go. Big updates, that will draw people back for the new content, then those players will move to other games.

As for your friends that no longer play. I don't know what your Timezone or playing times are, but look me up. I will be happy to add you to my friends list and go out sailing sometime.

@mortarchelle no battle royal ok I don't want pvp when I get attacked for no ressen it so annoying

A pvp mode would give new players and veterans a place to learn and flex there skill in a dedicated pvp environment. Unfortunately pvp only modes usually take priority over its original design. Considering there is only six ships per server, I don’t see it suffering from a split in player base. But a split in development would have a definite impact on the two. If Rare can pull off a separate pvp mode without negatively impacting the Sea of Thieves, I’m all for it.
Thanks again for such a great and unique game Rare.

Based on this post, my experience of SoT lately, as well as looking at all of these comments, I’m gonna say something I never thought I would say...bring BR to SoT!

I sort of agree with the OP here... in the general sense that the game has died because most dedicated players have literally done all of the interesting PvE content and are Athenas 10 Pirate Legends. I also agree with the sentiment that the Bilge Rat adventures are a bandaid fix to an overall problem- lack of motivating content. Once you complete the current bilge rat adventure commendations your back to square one with not much else to do aside from maybe seeking out World PvP which, let's face it, is super boring now as well.

I've been around since release, and I know that Rare had to actively work to help balance the unforgiving PvP (which I was born into, raised, and the reason I loved this game) with some PvE incentives... but now that they have done this the scales are tilted towards PvE and the content still isnt balanced. As pirates there should be incentive to steal cargo and sell it at marked up prices exploiting the people that need/want it... not just do the cargo run like you are a member of the merchant navy... it's so boring and unpirate like... maybe if we were smuggling something... but still there is nothing about the current state of Sea of Thieves that awards thieving and pirating.

I remember FIVE GALLEON free for alls over strongholds, before any of the balancing... it was insane and I loved it... nowadays you are lucky to see two Galleons on any given server... and aside from the handful of black raising sea dogs still doing gods work on the sea theres nothing fun or competitive about the PvP in this game anymore. Sure, you have a small community of players that arrange PvP events but even that is bogged down egotistical control freaks who are more worried about being content creators than they are actually developing a competitive scene.

Rare needs to step in and take the reigns of the competitive PvP aspect... whether that be a Battle Royale mode (six Galleons destroying each other over a Stronghold just like in the old days, yes please!) or added PvP incentive back into the base game, or both! Please, Rare, if you really want to know why your playerbase has fallen off... it's because you turned Sea of Thieves into Sea of Friends... and like I've said before in a post long, long ago... I ain't your friend... I am the black sails on the horizon... but there is no more jolly to be had for all of the Rogers that have moved on to other more satisfying PvP oriented games.

Black Ops 4 is awesome!

@personalc0ffee said in A Letter to Joe Neate:

@betsill said in A Letter to Joe Neate:

@thor-von-blitz said in A Letter to Joe Neate:

Short answer:
No, no splitting of the player base.

This is such a bs answer and idk why people are repeating it. The player-base IS split... You don't really think everyone is on the same server do you? Most games have a myriad of game types that players "splits" the players base by your definition. Saying Rare shouldn't add different server types because of "slitting the player base" is nonsense.

Because it is the words of Rare. It is what they founded this game on. The whole entire way the mechanics are used, how they speak about the game, the way it is designed are all core to that vision of bringing people together, not splitting them.

Instead of appeasing to the existing crowd, the core of SoT, you want to bring in new people with a fad.

Bringing new people in is good. More people= more money= more resources for the game. BR is not a fad. Idk why people are repeating this too. It's a game type that is really popular. It might lose popularity, but it's shown it's value to gamers and will most likely work it's way into many games in the future as a normal thing like TDM. Whether SoT should have a BR mode is another matter. I personally don't think a BR mode makes sense for SoT, but a separate(or integrated) PvP mode like crew vs crew TDM style, capture the flag, etc would be a great addition IMO.

Not entirely true and irrelevant. What you just described is basically a fad. Having more players isn't always better. Having more people, increases server load on the game, which requires more optimization and performance fixing. It's like the old addage, bigger ain't always better.

This game was never built to support or appeal to 5 million people, sorry but it wasn't and it won't and it never will. 5 million players will never actively play this game; let's be real here.

Launch was awful and plagued with issues simply because they could not handle load.

Expand on the core principals of SoT and the game will do fine.

A core base is all you need, that buys your merch, spends money on the MTX, plays your game, and talks about your game with others.

You don't need 1 million people playing your game for it to be successful.

Maybe, but it's going way to slow and most of the updates have been meh at best. Rare doesn't seem to be capable of delivering content that is of the quality and size that people are expecting at the rate that people were hoping for. BR isn't a fad, but PvP is a good and relatively easy way to keep players occupied while Rare works on finishing their game.

Expectation will never match reality. That fault lies on the player, not on Rare.

Battle Royale is absolutely a fad and it dominated by Fortnite and PubG. Anyone else that tries has to get passed them. SoT is not capable of this in its current state, the engine can barely support 24 players. You get more than 5 in an area and animations starts to lag.

This is such a trash answer.

BR is a fad now but it will likely become a standard gametype because of it's success and differentiating value from small game modes, or "meat grinder" arenas.

Both BR and SoT fit in a similar type of "World PvP" model and thats why they are both successful. This game had a massive appeal to PvP players, it was easy to see on twitch right before it's release. The game was never more popular and the PvP crowd pushed the large sales.

The people who have played the longest in SoT are the ones that appreciate PvP. And they are the ones getting worn down at this point because PvP is undermined heavily to appease PvE players. There is a truly wonderful world PvP game here, there is a terrible sandbox and a terrible PvE game that Rare needs to let go of.. it'll be years before anything worthwhile is made out of those.

You don't need a million players but you need a design that works... SoT isn't working...

@savagetwinky said in A Letter to Joe Neate:

@personalc0ffee said in A Letter to Joe Neate:

@betsill said in A Letter to Joe Neate:

This is such a trash answer.

BR is a fad now but it will likely become a standard gametype because of it's success and differentiating value from small game modes, or "meat grinder" arenas.

Both BR and SoT fit in a similar type of "World PvP" model and thats why they are both successful. This game had a massive appeal to PvP players, it was easy to see on twitch right before it's release. The game was never more popular and the PvP crowd pushed the large sails.

The people who have played the longest in SoT are the ones that appreciate PvP. And they are the ones getting worn down at this point because PvP is undermined heavily to appease PvE players. There is a truly wonderful world PvP game here, there is a terrible sandbox and a terrible PvE game that Rare needs to let go of.. it'll be years before anything worthwhile is made out of those.

You don't need a million players but you need a design that works... SoT isn't working...

This is such a great comment I just had to quote it. Upvote, upvote, upvote.

It's ironic now, all of us PvP players coming on the forums saying "PvE is ruining the game". Lol.

It's funny, but it's true. @Stratcat51 responded to me earlier, and all I have to say to you my friend that now is the perfect time fort you and your crew to be sailing the seas. It's not hard to find a server full of people that just want ally up and grind voyages. And I'm not saying I haven't done this with my own fleet server take overs... I don't look down on people for doing this... I just want more action, more pirating, more thieving in the open world. And I would settle for some semblance of a BR at this point.

What I would imagine as a rough draft of Sea of Thieves Battle Royale is six Galleon Crews forced to fight over a stronghold, no respawns. The devils shroud would encompass the entire map save for where the Galleon's sail in from towards the Stronghold. All the Galleon's will start with a set amount of cannonballs, bananas, planks. No Skeleton waves to complete on the island, but ambient Skeletons will spawn to man the cannons and be annoying. Crews will have the ability to replenish supplies from the island as well, and retrieve cursed cannonballs as well (this would be the only way to get cursed cannonballs in this mode). Crew members respawn on ships like normal, and the way to eliminate people fully is to sink the ship. Once there is only one crew remaining (all ships sunk, all other players killed), the game ends and they are immediately awarded gold, dabloons, faction experience, whatever. But make the reward something applicable to the open world Sea of Thieves as well. It's so simple, but would be so much fun PLEASE JOE NEATE MAKE IT HAPPEN

Because we all know Joe reads the forums in his spare time.

@wkd1337 said in A Letter to Joe Neate:

@savagetwinky said in A Letter to Joe Neate:

@personalc0ffee said in A Letter to Joe Neate:

@betsill said in A Letter to Joe Neate:

This is such a trash answer.

BR is a fad now but it will likely become a standard gametype because of it's success and differentiating value from small game modes, or "meat grinder" arenas.

Both BR and SoT fit in a similar type of "World PvP" model and thats why they are both successful. This game had a massive appeal to PvP players, it was easy to see on twitch right before it's release. The game was never more popular and the PvP crowd pushed the large sails.

The people who have played the longest in SoT are the ones that appreciate PvP. And they are the ones getting worn down at this point because PvP is undermined heavily to appease PvE players. There is a truly wonderful world PvP game here, there is a terrible sandbox and a terrible PvE game that Rare needs to let go of.. it'll be years before anything worthwhile is made out of those.

You don't need a million players but you need a design that works... SoT isn't working...

This is such a great comment I just had to quote it. Upvote, upvote, upvote.

It's ironic now, all of us PvP players coming on the forums saying "PvE is ruining the game". Lol.

It's funny, but it's true. @Stratcat51 responded to me earlier, and all I have to say to you my friend that now is the perfect time fort you and your crew to be sailing the seas. It's not hard to find a server full of people that just want ally up and grind voyages. And I'm not saying I haven't done this with my own fleet server take overs... I don't look down on people for doing this... I just want more action, more pirating, more thieving in the open world. And I would settle for some semblance of a BR at this point.

What I would imagine as a rough draft of Sea of Thieves Battle Royale is six Galleon Crews forced to fight over a stronghold, no respawns. The devils shroud would encompass the entire map save for where the Galleon's sail in from towards the Stronghold. All the Galleon's will start with a set amount of cannonballs, bananas, planks. No Skeleton waves to complete on the island, but ambient Skeletons will spawn to man the cannons and be annoying. Crews will have the ability to replenish supplies from the island as well, and retrieve cursed cannonballs as well (this would be the only way to get cursed cannonballs in this mode). Crew members respawn on ships like normal, and the way to eliminate people fully is to sink the ship. Once there is only one crew remaining (all ships sunk, all other players killed), the game ends and they are immediately awarded gold, dabloons, faction experience, whatever. But make the reward something applicable to the open world Sea of Thieves as well. It's so simple, but would be so much fun PLEASE JOE NEATE MAKE IT HAPPEN

Because we all know Joe reads the forums in his spare time.

I proposed recently just making voyages shared to some extent... that way people don't get their own voyages with their own loot. I think a straght ship battle wouldn't be as enjoyable because some of the funnest fights I've been in didn't end with someone sinking... sometimes its just as fun to take something out from under someone and get away with it.

Battle royales I think work in the context of FPS with a high player count and scavenging mechanics... I think SoT needs to keep that loot game important and not devolve into a ship battle only mode or koth style game. They just need to focus on what made SoT special and that was the chaotic mess of fighting over loot creates. Forcing everyone to bottleneck circumvents some of the more chaotic emergment moments I had in the early days. I would love to see that gameplay come back, forts exclusively would not do that.

And to any one that says loot isn't important... f**k off. It WILL be important regardless of long term value if you can build compelling and engaging experiences around the act of getting it. Currently the only engaging / compelling aspects of voyages relies on player intervention... otherwise its grinding.

@savagetwinky Lol of all the ridiculous stuff that Rare fanboiz say this is might be the most ridiculous. "Progression doesn't matter in SoT. It's not the way it's was designed." "You're supposed to make your own adventures. It's not Rares job to give you something to do." lol

@betsill said in A Letter to Joe Neate:

@savagetwinky Lol of all the ridiculous stuff that Rare fanboiz say this is might be the most ridiculous. "Progression doesn't matter in SoT. It's not the way it's was designed." "You're supposed to make your own adventures. It's not Rares job to give you something to do." lol

Progression doesn't matter though, thats the thing about SoT... but there isn't a make your own adventure game, either your engaging in PvP for the sake of PvP where even a castaway chest matters where the value in the chest is the gameplay surrounding it.. or your grinding to PL because there isn't a make your own adventure game and there are very little mechanics to play with.

@savagetwinky I agree with you whole heartedly that upping the anty for PvP style play in the open world Sea of Thieves experience is a must if this game ever wants to get back the population it has lost.

But, my idea for SoT BR is also awesome so yeah let's have the best of both worlds, whatdya say?

@wkd1337 said in A Letter to Joe Neate:

@savagetwinky I agree with you whole heartedly that upping the anty for PvP style play in the open world Sea of Thieves experience is a must if this game ever wants to get back the population it has lost.

But, my idea for SoT BR is also awesome so yeah let's have the best of both worlds, whatdya say?

Eh, some of the greatest moments I've had in this game couldn't be recreated with bounty incentive systems or BR style games. W/e design is in I'd want to see it as a race to get the most amount of loot, either by out sailing your opponents, killing them, or taking things while they are not looking... w/e they implement needs to have those components to keep the PvP truly distinct and unique.

@savagetwinky progression is apart of every game. SoT has rank progression(factions and PL), cosmetic progression, sort of lore progression, and skill progression. If there is no way to progress then people quickly drop that thing. No one wants to feel like they are just wasting time for absolutely nothing.

@savagetwinky I've had amazing experiences that range the spectrum of possible situations in this game. One time I hid the Keel Haul Stronghold key within the Pirate legend stair case and played hot/cold with a crew that was hell bent on trying to take it from us. When this particular pirate was standing on the stairs in the Tavern at Sanctuary we shouted they were on fire but alas they are not legend and cannot retrieve the key... truly hilarious.

However my must triumphant moment, out of everything I've ever done, is being the victor of a five Galleon Stronghold battle that happened naturally. The feeling of looking up after sinking what we hadn't realized at the time was the only other Galleon left was pretty great... I think the BR mode I described would do this game a lot of good because after awhile people attracted by this mode would eventually venture out into the sea.

@betsill said in A Letter to Joe Neate:

@savagetwinky progression is apart of every game. SoT has rank progression(factions and PL), cosmetic progression, sort of lore progression, and skill progression. If there is no way to progress then people quickly drop that thing. No one wants to feel like they are just wasting time for absolutely nothing.

Sure progression is apart of many games, that doesn't mean its the reason to play. If you don't want to feel like your wasting time start a business... Games are entertainment. None of the rewards you get are actually important, eventually you'll play something else and they won't matter, they were functionally a "waste of time" if your looking for something to keep for playing the game... they are just gold stickers the developer lined up to give you for completing tasks.

Games that stand the test of time due it purely on gameplay merit. In fact rewards are only really necessary in place of well designed gameplay to trick people to play... because you feel like its not a waste of time if you get the reward. If you actually enjoy the game.. it doesn't matter.. people will play.

@savagetwinky said in A Letter to Joe Neate:

@betsill said in A Letter to Joe Neate:

@savagetwinky progression is apart of every game. SoT has rank progression(factions and PL), cosmetic progression, sort of lore progression, and skill progression. If there is no way to progress then people quickly drop that thing. No one wants to feel like they are just wasting time for absolutely nothing.

Sure progression is apart of many games, that doesn't mean its the reason to play. If you don't want to feel like your wasting time start a business... Games are entertainment. None of the rewards you get are actually important, eventually you'll play something else and they won't matter, they were functionally a "waste of time" if your looking for something to keep for playing the game... they are just gold stickers the developer lined up to give you for completing tasks.

Games that stand the test of time due it purely on gameplay merit. In fact rewards are only really necessary in place of well designed gameplay to trick people to play... because you feel like its not a waste of time if you get the reward.

W*F. This is absolutely not true.

1. A business is also a waste of time by your argument. Does any reward have value? of course! some people value things more than others, but people work for rewards because they WANT them. regarless of it's irl money or a new gun in a game.
2. Rewards are not just gold stickers... Good rewards are things that alter the way you play the game. New guns/attachments in battlefield, new weapons/lvls in dark souls are not in any way meaningless in the context of the game.
3. Sure. Obviously good games are the ones that stay around, but all games have a goal. Even once you obtain all the rewards, you still progress in skill/mastery of the game. Just because you think that rewards provided by games are worthless doesn't at all make that true. It's just your opinion.

Seriously though. what games do you play?!

@wkd1337 said in A Letter to Joe Neate:

@savagetwinky I've had amazing experiences that range the spectrum of possible situations in this game. One time I hid the Keel Haul Stronghold key within the Pirate legend stair case and played hot/cold with a crew that was hell bent on trying to take it from us. When this particular pirate was standing on the stairs in the Tavern at Sanctuary we shouted they were on fire but alas they are not legend and cannot retrieve the key... truly hilarious.

However my must triumphant moment, out of everything I've ever done, is being the victor of a five Galleon Stronghold battle that happened naturally. The feeling of looking up after sinking what we hadn't realized at the time was the only other Galleon left was pretty great... I think the BR mode I described would do this game a lot of good because after awhile people attracted by this mode would eventually venture out into the sea.

Anything would help at this point, I just think a PvP mode about fighting over loot would just be better for the direction the game should be going in, building a fun PvP sandbox focused on stealing loot.

The first thing I thought when the “game changing” comment came out was a BR mode or area. I’m not for a second mode but an area that people can sail to for pvp is fine with me

@betsill said in A Letter to Joe Neate:

@savagetwinky said in A Letter to Joe Neate:

@betsill said in A Letter to Joe Neate:

@savagetwinky progression is apart of every game. SoT has rank progression(factions and PL), cosmetic progression, sort of lore progression, and skill progression. If there is no way to progress then people quickly drop that thing. No one wants to feel like they are just wasting time for absolutely nothing.

Sure progression is apart of many games, that doesn't mean its the reason to play. If you don't want to feel like your wasting time start a business... Games are entertainment. None of the rewards you get are actually important, eventually you'll play something else and they won't matter, they were functionally a "waste of time" if your looking for something to keep for playing the game... they are just gold stickers the developer lined up to give you for completing tasks.

Games that stand the test of time due it purely on gameplay merit. In fact rewards are only really necessary in place of well designed gameplay to trick people to play... because you feel like its not a waste of time if you get the reward.

W*F. This is absolutely not true.

1. A business is also a waste of time by your argument. Does any reward have value? of course! some people value things more than others, but people work for rewards because they WANT them. Regarless of it's irl money or a new gun in a game.

This completely ridiculous... Having something of value and building something of value while building important networks and skills that further your career are not the same thing. The fact that you are looking at the some digital gun and think its the same as a business you've worked towards is fundamentally wrong.

The gun is something that was designed to help expand mechanics an

2. Rewards are not just gold stickers... Good rewards are things that alter the way you play the game. New guns/attachments in battlefield, new weapons/lvls in dark souls are not in any way meaningless in the context of the game.

But they are completely meaningless outside of the game. And are completely unnecessary depending on the game. Progression could be a core mechanic like Dark Souls, or it can be a way of staggering weapon variety to encourage different ways of playing like battlefield.

3. Sure. Obviously good games are the ones that stay around, but all games have a goal. Even once you obtain all the rewards, you still progress in skill/mastery of the game. Just because you think that rewards provided by games are worthless doesn't at all make that true. It's just your opinion.

Seriously though. what games do you play?!

I never said they are worthless. Like gold stickers they only matter for the context in which you earn them. You can't go to your 1st grade teacher with how many gold stickers you got. Those weren't the point of doing the task. Your actually getting something else out of doing a task provided by a teacher, that's the important part. The stickers make you feel good for completing tasks but they are ultimately unimportant if your not learning anything.

So here are 2 important questions:

• If your enjoying the game how can players consider that a waste of time?
• If you consider playing it a waste of time, what good does the reward do if the gameplay has no value itself?

Basically if your playing a game, and you feel like your wasting your time... you probably are. The rewards are only important for people that enjoy the gameplay. You can value the rewards themselves but... I don't know how you can argue they have value if you don't enjoy playing the game, in which is the only context the value matters. If you just want the reward and don't thing there is value in playing the game on it's own merit then they are functionally gold stickers.

@savagetwinky said in

Basically if your playing a game, and you feel like your wasting your time... you probably are. The rewards are only important for people that enjoy the gameplay. You can value the rewards themselves but... I don't know how you can argue they have value if you don't enjoy playing the game, in which is the only context the value matters. If you just want the reward and don't thing there is value in playing the game on it's own merit then they are functionally gold stickers.

Ok here's where the misunderstanding is. I agree for the most part rewards aren't gonna make you like a game that you don't like playing(some people like getting rewards on their own though). Good rewards add value to the game in the form of enriching your experience of the base game, but if the game itself is bad then adding rewards isn't gonna do much. Even if you like playing the game, people like having goals to work towards. When I talk about rewards I was assuming that the person working for the rewards enjoys the game.

@betsill said in A Letter to Joe Neate:

@savagetwinky said in

Basically if your playing a game, and you feel like your wasting your time... you probably are. The rewards are only important for people that enjoy the gameplay. You can value the rewards themselves but... I don't know how you can argue they have value if you don't enjoy playing the game, in which is the only context the value matters. If you just want the reward and don't thing there is value in playing the game on it's own merit then they are functionally gold stickers.

Ok here's where the misunderstanding is. I agree for the most part rewards aren't gonna make you like a game that you don't like playing(some people like getting rewards on their own though). Good rewards add value to the game in the form of enriching your experience of the base game, but if the game itself is bad then adding rewards isn't gonna do much. Even if you like playing the game, people like having goals to work towards.

But they don't enrich the experience, good "rewards" in your sense is just staggering mechanics overtime so it doesn't overwhelm the player. No body playing dark souls trying to take down a boss is going to ever say it feels like a waste of time if they didn't give souls. Completing the challenge is the reward. The souls just help and expand player ability to take down the next challenge. Hypothetically if you didn't want a game that staggers mechanics, and push equality between players as a pillar of the game then drop people into a sail boat with a handful of items and the ability to go anywhere and do anything and say GO.. then the rewarding aspects of that game are going to be learning how to work with others, become a competent crew, master tactics in pvp, collect a stupid amount of loot by any means necessary... in other words by your definition that mechanics make for a rewarding experience then mechanics are the important part... not staggering them releasing them to players.

When I talk about rewards I was assuming that the person working for the rewards enjoys the game.

No you weren't. You literally said players feel like they are wasting their time if there is no reward. The only interpretation is that the player sees no value in playing the game.

What you seem to be looking for is long term goals... but SoT is just not that game. Its a game that seems to be designed for a self contained adventure... which is part of the appeal of the game. There is no mandatory daily login to get some reward for X amount of days logged in, there is no investment for building a base. There is no investing in unlocking areas or abilities so you can play with all your friends regardless of time played. All rewards from a mechanics perspective are contained in a single session, you are rewarded with exploration with resources, additional loot, message's in bottles..

SoT can be seen as lacking 1 of 2 things. Either its lacking a long term purpose for collecting loot/resources OR its lacking a compelling experience around collecting them. The former is not the game they promised... the latter is. The game was supposed to build emergent play with social experiences as a compelling reason for getting loot and exploring. They failed to execute on that plan miserably. They completely undermined it with things like alliances, and the flood of anti social PvErs focusing on rewards destroyed any compelling gameplay to fight over loot because most of them don't. The ones that don't even have mic's means its not even a good social experience.

@ii-pin3appl3-ii Like sea of thieves how? The only thing SoT really does that's unique is the co-op sailing. PvEvP is done in alot of games(done better than SoT too).

@ii-pin3appl3-ii I don't hate the game. There's just a lot to complain about lol The base of SoT(open world pirate sailing game) is exactly what i've wanted for years. It's just so disappointing to see this games potential being squandered. Also, I paid for it.

@ant-heuser-kush Halo 5 war-zone is alot like gambit and probably was a big inspiration, Ark survival, Dark souls games, alot of mmos like tera and albion etc, most mobas, Division, and Titanfall off the top of my head are/have pvevp. PvEvP is not easy to do, and in some ways it can't be done well. For instance it's inherently unreasonable for a game to expect players to fight both a PvE and an equal PvP threat at the same time.

@mortarchelle said in A Letter to Joe Neate:

Dear Joe,

Thank you for creating a game that I absolutely fell in love with from the very first day I learned of the beta. Thank you for creating a game that allowed individuals to tell their own stories, create their own adventures, and live by their own rules. Sea of Thieves is easily in my top 3 games of all time, and as a woman who played her first game on an Atari, I'm sure you can imagine how many games I've played, and that my top 3 games probably represents my top 1% of games played.

Hello @MortarChelle! Thanks for sharing your letter to Joe with us. It is very obvious you love Sea of Thieves. It is great you are offering suggestions to help improve the game. However, I think you said it very well in your first paragraph that Sea of Thieves is not a Battle Royale game for all the right reasons.

Not being another Battle Royale game is what makes Sea of Thieves exactly what it is. Pushing players towards such gameplay would devolve the game into something it is not. Everything you love and I would argue just about every pirate that is still sailing would suffer.

While the game is better not being a massive game, especially a Battle Royale one, it is having issues getting more pirates on the sea, both new and old salts. Most of this comes from the content being so time limited and pretty much the same so far. The most recent content the Devil’s Roar expanded the sea making encounters of seeing another ship less likely now. Server merges are also moving us around too much.

From what I recently seen I think the tides will turn. Once we get past the spooky fun in the next few days we should finally begin seeing really good new content and fixes that will help the game grow and make us pirates happier.

However, Rare needs to still implement ways to get more of us on the sea. Hopefully they can find a way to get more ships and players on the sea now that we have more room to sail. I also expect they will give us the option sooner than later to allow players to join together with their own ships. This will allow us to group up for a lot more fun together.

The sea may still be lonely for a while longer though until better things start coming. Even though it may be hard for many of us anxious and cranky pirates to be patient a while longer, the sea ahead will become fuller and brighter.