Weekly Challenges For Doubloons/Gold

@realstyli While I usually like weekly/daily challenges I kind of commend Rare for giving us a stream of origional content in stead.

Weekly challenges are part of the whole Skinner box method of game design that rewards players for menial tasks to keep them coming back (like rats in a skinner box) I like ticking off the boxes to get rewards for them but I fear it might be a sort of pitfall, before you know it we have lootboxes too.

Just my Tin Foil Hat bias tho. So don't worry too much ^-^

@hynieth said in Weekly Challenges For Doubloons/Gold:

@realstyli While I usually like weekly/daily challenges I kind of commend Rare for giving us a stream of origional content in stead.

Weekly challenges are part of the whole Skinner box method of game design that rewards players for menial tasks to keep them coming back (like rats in a skinner box) I like ticking off the boxes to get rewards for them but I fear it might be a sort of pitfall, before you know it we have lootboxes too.

Just my Tin Foil Hat bias tho. So don't worry too much ^-^

No, I totally understand that thinking. I know it's a slippery slope and I appreciate that but I think the backlash against loot boxes at the moment is enough to deter Rare from going that route.

I like the idea of the monthly content updates but I'm not sure how sustainable that is with a studio the size of Rare and I do fear we might end up in a quantity over quality situation - but that's for a different topic.

This idea is just a simple way to keep people engaged and, yes, I do understand it's part of the whole psychological approach that skinner boxes take, but rewarding players for challenges is something that has been in games for longer than that line of exploiting it.

However, it's not something that I've been overly-susceptible to (I have zero inclination to ever buy loot boxes in games, for example), so I do appreciate any comments in that regard and I realise that there is a fine line there for sure.

@bugaboo-bill said in Weekly Challenges For Doubloons/Gold:

Monthly events with timelimited cosmetics would fit better for me.

And what to buy for gold and dubloons?

I wait for the emporium and how it will work.
That will anyway be a critical moment for the game.

I'm thinking about keeping the more casual players engaged, those who have recently joined the game especially.

Monthly content only tends to keep them engaged for a few days a month and then they hop out for another game. Depending on if they enjoyed the content in SoT or not, they might not come back.

Challenges also give them something to work towards and give them a small nudge in certain directions so they explore more and learn more about the game.

BTW, this is not me suggesting an alternative to the monthly updates, these would be in addition to and possibly compliment them.

@realstyli I'm jelous of your mental stamina to resist such in-game purchases. They work on me all to well. I think I spent at least €200,- on Lootboxes in Overwatch making me hate myself and that game (I honestly don't want to hate SoT because I love it too much)

I play Final Fantasy XIV, this game has weekly challenges that reward all manner of Gold, EXP and other currencies. It's a great system that works because it's often things you naturally do anyways. I just feel that not many developers can resist the slope and try racing down. Blizz used to be a great developer that could do nothing wrong (like Rare is in my opinion now) and look at what they have become.

@hynieth said in Weekly Challenges For Doubloons/Gold:

@realstyli I'm jelous of your mental stamina to resist such in-game purchases. They work on me all to well. I think I spent at least €200,- on Lootboxes in Overwatch making me hate myself and that game (I honestly don't want to hate SoT because I love it too much)

Without going down the road of sharing too much, I think I'm more resistant because my dad was big gambler and I saw what damage gambling can do, so I have a big aversion to it. I have friends who are the opposite and spend a fortune on loot boxes in games like, as you say, Overwatch. I think the fall from grace for Blizzard started a long time ago when Activision bought them. By comparison, given their record in recent years, I would say MS are a far more ethical company than that - relatively speaking!

I do think it's a very exploitative mechanic and one that can cause a lot of harm to a lot of people, but I think there are ways to have rewards for doing challenges in games that don't exploit the player, their money, or their time (hence, why I don't think Dailies would work without disrespecting players' time).

@bugaboo-bill

I don't play constantly either - I average maybe 8 hours a week, most weeks - depending on my work schedule. My main crew even less so (I sail alone mostly when I do play). So I can see why doing weeklies would be a drag for you.

But this is also why I suggest a modest reward - 5K gold for instance is something you could earn in less than 30 mins doing some things. The doubloons were just an added suggestion and I'm less sure how feasible they would be.

As I've kind of alluded to, I would think of weeklies as mainly aimed at newer players to get them involved in the world and exploring, doing new things. It would encourage those players to play more but, hopefully, not take away from those of us who have less time to play.

Really, my approach to this is about adding value and activities for players who have time to play but are playing other games without taking away from those players who don't have time to play as often.

I don't think the rewards for this should be exclusives of any kind, just a pat on the back for completing them.

On the lootbox subject.
I really hope they dont add this.
Its not that i am against it. BUT some countries are against the idea of lootboxes in games. And laws are made to prevent this type of digital gambling.

So if u add lootboxes it will be that some pirates just cannot obtain that what an other pirate can obtain.

This in my point of view is not fair.

Im all up for adding micro transaction for cosmetics and stuff. Just not this type of digital gambling.
Hopefully rare will think about this.

Also for weekly challenges dont make them hand out doubloons. Keep the doubloons in the bildge rat events and time-limited stuff. This keeps the doubloons kinda special as it is a special currency.

Again I am NOT against rewarding doubloons. But if u read the forums and social medias there is just SO much crying for what they call EASY pirate legends. Adding doubloons rewards for lets say kill 50 skeletons will just make more and more crybaby pirates.

@weakdexx said in Weekly Challenges For Doubloons/Gold:

On the lootbox subject.
I really hope they dont add this.
Its not that i am against it. BUT some countries are against the idea of lootboxes in games. And laws are made to prevent this type of digital gambling.

I don't think they would add loot boxes, as I said the backlash right now is pretty big. A lot of countries are starting to class them as gambling (rightly so), so I doubt we'll them in many AAA games going forward - especially ones looking to keep a rating for under 18s.

Also for weekly challenges dont make them hand out doubloons. Keep the doubloons in the bildge rat events and time-limited stuff. This keeps the doubloons kinda special as it is a special currency.

That's fair enough. Maybe keeping it as gold-only is a good enough reward for completing them.

@skulliah

Yep, all valid arguments.

Again, I would see the design aimed at newer players and players who do like to work towards goals or need some direction.

The rewards would probably not necessarily appeal to everyone but it is something else to do in the game that I don't think would take away from it. You might find you're naturally completing them anyway or close to.

As I said in the OP, this is really something that stemmed from talking to friends about other games that have similar challenges (Apex right now, for example) and they seem to be only jumping on to do those "check lists".

@skulliah said in Weekly Challenges For Doubloons/Gold:

@realstyli

Indeed, it is good for the players who say that they don't know what to do in Sea of Thieves on a daily/weekly basis.

I'd just prefer if they have something more meaningful behind it rather than just being a checklist.

I would agree, but that's where the monthly updates come in and this only an added thing, not something to take away from those.

@bugaboo-bill

Maybe the monthly updates will be enough but I just sense that it could become a case where players only show up for the week they release and then the game goes quiet again and falls off the radar until the next month (While I know servers scale with player population, more player population does lead to better matchmaking and gameplay as a result).

When we're looking at ways to keep players engaged in the game (not addicted but thinking about playing it over other games), this is a relatively simple feature to do, I reckon.

@bumbumbac

Okay, firstly... what?

After several reads, I think I managed to pick apart your comment to something constructive to the topic.

Let DEVs focus on expanding, enhancing and enriching the universe of SOT, improving its mechanics and finding the perfect balance between all things in it...

This is the Feedback & Suggestions forum. It's where we suggest ideas as well as give feedback. They can take and do with these ideas what they want, it's the who premise of this forum.

...instead of constantly asking them to feed you with new content because just like a puppet on a string you have no imagination of your own.

This is not me asking for new content. It's suggesting a new optional feature to compliment existing content.

Part of my job is sound design, so I would hope my imagination is functioning perfectly fine... at least I've had no complaints (to my face anyway).

If you can't have your own fun you're in for a very unfulfilling life anywhere you go and whatever you do, I can guarantee that much.

Have a dream and live it out for fluff sake...

I log in almost every day and play for hours on end, living out my own fantasies and having a blast. I'd like to invite you to give a try, be unafraid and dare to dream ... you'll discover many things about the life, the universe and yourself and you'll have the time of your life in the process, I can guarantee that much.

Yes, I've been playing since Open Beta. Again, this is not something I personally need but I think it could be useful to help keep new players engaged during lulls in content.

SoT is my main multiplayer game and has been for the past year and bit, and I've noticed the surges and I've noticed the times when it seems like I'm the only one of my friends playing the game. I think we'd all benefit if SoT was always among the most played games and not just when new content drops once a month.