"Your supplies must be dwindling by now..."
Summary: We who've sailed at least long enough to call our fore and aft the right things all heard this beautiful phrase from our favorite ghost bogey-man on The Sea of Thieves. We are pirates, seeking fame and fortune, adventure and conquest! But, surprisingly, there is a roof to this fame. Adventures can relax. Our conquests are already legendary. This isn't necessarily a problem, but more a ceiling to the grand call of the sea. As long as something has a prefixed pattern, it can be solved. It can be defeated. The adventure becomes lackluster in a small way.
NAY! Don't be a sore to me eyes, mateys.
I believe our adventures are still wonderfully fun. I seek our fellowship and our community. Nor is this meant to replace our desirable pirate to pirate interactions! So... Listen close. This may be long-winded, but imagine the adventures lads and lassies! If you only care to read my suggestion on a specific event, please Control + F and type in the event name below to read it.
World Events that I believe could use a bit of a nudge to encourage server-wide inclusivity to prevent them from roaring out; as our friendly neighborhood Ghost Fleet Commandant would say, "I order your annihilation!" and actually accomplish nothing.
- Flameheart.
- Skeleton Fleet.
- Skeleton Forts.
- Ashen Winds.
1: Flameheart - Armada of The Damned and The Burning Blade
To anyone who has successfully encountered and defeated Flameheart and his fleet, I first congratulate you. But, now that you've discovered the secrets to his demise, would you not say that it has become a little more simple to tackle his ships? Your confidence in knowing his weakness to exactly three cannonballs for his weaker galleons makes the event, in a word, easier.
Event Suggestion: To fill this event with new life, to call upon the powers of the ghost fleets in the sea of the damned, each player will hear Flameheart's successful summoning of the dreaded powers he works upon the island which he encircled. His fleets' forces will have fully arrived and his ships will now form up in a dangerous formation, roaming the map (clearly visible on ships' map tables) and haunting additional islands in the region (Sea of Plenty, Ancient Isles, The Wilds, etc.) he conquered. Without constant pressure, The Armada of The Damned will control The Sea of Thieves. Just as Captain Flameheart said he would do. . .
Reasoning: Experienced pirates attacking Flameheart are generally efficient at removing him from the map. So, he doesn't last very long. Other times, he's merely an annoyance for haunting an important island and thus removed. And sometimes, when the server doesn't care for world events, he's left alone. His importance in The Sea of Thieves as both lore and an element of the continuing adventure players have cannot be discounted. As for me and my crew, he's one of the most enjoyable events I ever try to attend and fight against. (Not to mention, profitable in both gold and supplies.)
2: Skeleton Fleet - Blockades of Ambition and Greed
The Skeleton Fleet rises from the depths of sunken foemen's shipyards. Not an easy task to defeat them already due to their cursed cannonballs and multiple skeleton crew to put a stop to those pesky holes. To make things worse, they rise up directly alongside a ship, making immediate broadsides. But, why should they remain at sea?
Event Suggestion: An active fleet, hungering for revenge should rise up as one armada and take out their ire upon an outpost. First, they will encircle it, preventing ships from accessing the outpost's resources and NPCs, causing a major blocker from either completing quests or selling important loot. They will also send skeletons onto the outpost to prevent pirates from simply bypassing their blockade by swimming or using a rowboat. Outposts under the blockade will be unable to provide you their services, and the barrels will have significantly reduced number and quality of supplies.
Reasoning: Due to their difficulty, their potential haul, and location near an outpost; players will flock to the location, thus encouraging player interaction. Do you still trust your pirates around you once the blockade is finished? Heavens no!
3: Skeleton Forts - The Dead's Emboldened Fortresses
Hoarding a modicum of wealth, the fortresses that occupy several islands in The Sea of Thieves are dangerous holdings. Filled with creepy crawly bones, explosive powder and a strong leader to boot. Skeleton forts endanger your ship and crew both unless you are wise, and if it so be, lucky ones.
Forts are older content. They're due for some reskin and reviving according to many content creators and to myself.
Event Suggestions:
1: Forts which aren't defeated could have a chance to spawn a Man 'o War. (Yes, yes, I know. A shameless plug for an even bigger ship.) Even more dangerous than a galleon, with protected cannons on a lower deck. This ship is even heavier, sturdier, and more defendable. It also features a cannon lobbing mortar! This ship may either stay near its fort or even wander the map until destroyed and its treasure claimed.
2: Instead of a larger ship, the fort can spawn gunboats. These smaller vessels are dangerous, speedy row and single small-sail powered engines of destruction. Their single cannon may not inflict much damage alone, but in numbers they can be devastating to a distracted or uncoordinated crew.
Reasoning: Forts have been the center of some interesting talk in the community while I've owned the game. I came at a time when they're generally avoided from players because of the low-tier rewards for completing them. At the same time, they're good for newer players to get a handle on effectively combating enemies and surviving. The bosses have mechanics to learn for other events and there are decently tough enemies to make newbies learn things by completing it.
4: Ashen Winds - Ashen Lords and The Curse of Flameheart's Crew
Before I talk about this one specifically, I will pin my extreme enjoyment of the art, the details, the lore, and the ideas that went into Ashen Winds. The battles themselves, of course, take too long for solo sloopers or a lone sloop to complete for the unskilled, and alliances are difficult because you're on land and not your ship. But they're still fun to do! Thank you for making this world event.
Additionally, I'm well aware that Rare's writers and lore-minded crew are almost without a doubt expanding on Ashen Lords, and that my ideas could very likely have something akin to what they have planned in days ahead.
Event Suggestions: Ashen Lords are not merely landlubbers! They command a crew, they have resources, they have powers! They will demand that The Sea of Thieves acknowledge that their master, Captain Flameheart, be given all that is valuable and of worth, including eternal servitude. Instead of throwing fire and destruction at all times, they can even spread a haze of confusing mirages into the minds of pirates. Their cackling laughter filling their ears as they walk amidst a burning landscape, unable to find their enemy or allies.
Furthermore, when ignored, Ashen Lords have a chance to spawn a new fleet type. Ashen Armadas. Ships across the spectrum imbued with the fires of Flameheart himself. Now, the powers of cursed cannonballs, fireballs, and fiery meteor mortars are no longer without wind on the seas. They will seek to subjugate any ship they come across, and every player sunk from their flames will burn away the water a ship has taken on. Either a portion or all of it! (Considerably tough and end-game or even "end the server" style content.)
The Flagship of the Fleet will contain the Ashen Lord who went undefeated, with fewer skeletons onboard as you will now have to defeat them on deck before you can sink the ship, as the beating heart of the ship burns away the water they might take on.
Reasoning: Ashen Winds was awe-inspiring and by measure of scale, ambitious. Everyone was hyped for it, but it was considered by many vocal pirates to be needlessly difficult (if only for the time it took to complete) for the reward that was provided. I'm not ashamed to say that it was harder than most events, but my experience hasn't been on larger crews too often, so it was a really long event and often ended with defeat from plundering crews. But, even these ideas might sound ridiculously strong and difficult. And that's the point. It's meant to be. And it's also meant to be something that invites pirates to interact in the interest of both loot and survival. The Reapers are not without being endangered themselves and must consider whether it is worth allying with their prey for now to avoid a dark fate.
Obviously, this is a lot of work for Rare if they use these ideas. But, I worked hard to write these ideas down for you in the community as well, so please be considerate of the effort I put in. If you respond; please write sincere feedback, share some hype, and consider sharing the link to this page with others to show support for the suggestions you liked.
--Amendelwyr, Captain of The Blighted Drake
