@williamherschel That's kind of how I feel about the game as a whole.
I think the theory behind the game is to get people to interact socially, as opposed to creating a pure game experience that players can join with a group as a solo player. When the megalodon came around I was hopeful I could sample it first as a single player, and then maybe join a group later if I was interested. But none such was the case.
And the reputation thing seems specifically designed to encourage people to game with one another. Well, okay, fine, if that's the real objective of the game, but if that's the case, then why even let people play solo in the first place?
The reputation based quests / events, to me, say that there was no intent to create a real game, but rather an amusement park to get people to get to know one another. Eh, I'm not opposed to that, but it means that the game is only a game on an entry level, and anything beyond that isn't really meant to be a game. And the prehistoric super shark and the skeleton thrones prove that.
I personally have lost a lot of interest in Sea of Thieves. I log on every so often, and I still like cruising around digging up stuff every so often, but it's like I can't enjoy the newer experiences and updates on my own terms, and that I never will.
Further the reputation metric, to me, is meaningless. I mean was the fact that you succeeded in quests by bringing back treasure and animals to buy new clothes, sails, and hulls
proof that you had accomplished something in the game?
I'm leaning towards the early reviews of Sea of Thieves in that it lacks content. To me that didn't matter at the time, because I was enjoying the environment and doing quests; whether it was stuff washed up on shore, a bottle down in a wrecked ship, or one of the main factions. It was adequate. I figured there would AI pirates coming, maybe other kraken like things down the road that could let you experience Sea of Thieves, again, as either a solo player or with a group, and that the game was essentially being built as we played.
And where a lot of that is true, again it really seems to be aimed with a specific objective, and I've grown a little tired of it.
So, I'm not really jumping on the anti-Sea of Thieves bandwagon here, but I've lost interest for all the aforementioned reasons.
I'm an older gamer. I was playing Jedi Knight and Everquest ages ago, and can appreciate a good multiplayer experience. I'm not adverse to playing with or against other people online, but I'm also of the opinion that a game, a real game, needs to be for everyone, and not be a sociological experiment in disguise.
I'm now of the opinion that a real pirate game would have had al of the AI and other elements sorted out before springing the environment on the public. Ergo I'm not so sure that SOT was really meant to be a game in the first place. A real pirate game would have you fighting for survival, not just looking for treasure, but stealing spare parts to keep your boat intact, weapons and powder and the like. And gold would be worth something, it wouldn't be this commodity that you turned in.
I've not experienced too much trolling or other negative stuff from other players, other than the occasional combat, but other than the occasional ambush, as is part of the game, it's been mostly civil. But the new emphasis on group play only, to me, doesn't really make me want to play anymore.
The graphics are fine, but it reminds me of many a good looking film with some psychological agenda behind; i.e. a bait and switch. If you want to do that, if you want to make the point of the game to get people to socially interact with one another, then just be up front and say that in the first place, because this new rep mechanic plays directly into that, and as an old school "single player" gamer, I feel like I've been deliberately frozen out of the new events.
I'm sick and tired of it.
Thanks for reading.
