@mewgarb
Right? It does not fit your narrative and so you rely on the not visible majority that surely only supports your idea, oh, and do not forget that sometimes - just sometimes - even longtime players quit their old games, but do not bother yourself with thinking of such tragedy, keep up your sunshine narrative inside the streamer bubble -- pirates! (with blurry thoughts of history)
The art of thievery, is built on the idea that people go out gather treasure and other people steal it from them. It tends to be more lucrative to gather it yourself and most people do that and steal when they get the chance like the pirates they are. Remove the pirates and where are the thieves upon the seas?
If your point is that Steam users that bought the game didn't expect a PvP game and don't like PvP?
Most people read the description of a game before they buy it at a minimum:
Sea of Thieves offers the essential pirate experience, from sailing and fighting to exploring and looting – everything you need to live the pirate life and become a legend in your own right. With no set roles, you have complete freedom to approach the world, and other players, however you choose.
Whether you’re voyaging as a group or sailing solo, you’re bound to encounter other crews in this shared world adventure – but will they be friends or foes, and how will you respond?
I doubt the majority of people were like, will they be friends or foes in a multiplayer game with its first tag being:
Yeah clearly a PVE game! I don't like PvP, this game is going to be perfect for me?
The tag:
Voyaging as a group, encountering other crews... will they be friends or foes? Clear we are talking about playing together with the other crew that might be a foe right!
Most people that bought the game, that play the game are totally fine with PvP, the people that are happy with it aren't going on the forums complaining. They are online playing the game... most of them that quit the game just got bored with it, moved on to the next game, etc. it isn't because they were out for PvE and got their loot stolen. There will even be pirates out there that quit because they couldn't steal enough...
You can try and mold the stats of steam to fit your narrative, but reality is... most people do at least the bear minimum to understand the game they buy.
Rust is more similar to Atlas and Ark or where are pirate bases?! Where can we raid them? Can we steal and raid other player's hideouts? Do we have survival elements in the game? Wow! I was not aware of it. Are we again bending everything to our liking? Nothing has changed, I guess.
Maybe before telling people that the inspiration of the seas is not a correct reference to look at, maybe do some research in the development and what the company that made it wants the seas to be like:
While Rare is traditionally a console game developer, it realized how players from PC survival games like DayZ and Rust, and simulation games such as Eve Online crafted their own stories by using the tools provided in the game. However, Rare remarked that these games are often very punishing in nature, and the team aspired to create a more light-hearted and accessible version of these games.
By the way, in Atlas and Ark they allow people to play on non-dedicated servers or in single mode, simply because it does not hurt the game, they are for a different kind of audience and even Atlas survives with this strategy.
You mean like the custom servers that are coming. No crossover to the public realm of-course just like with those games, you can do the activities in the game and dress up as you want without any limitations.
So far, in Atlas they want to remove the PvE content even more from the PvP because, you know, it kind of contradicts and as one sometimes see on streams, it disturbs "serious PvP" which is part of the fun, but some people do not like it, some like it and some dislike PvP, but that is too much differentiation and slippery slope is the strategy of choice in this forum.
Yet that problem isn't here on the seas, the PvE doesn't disrupt the PvP as everyone is already rocking the best gear, the best tools, the best weapons and a fully decked out ship. There is no grind to create it all, we are handed it at the start of each session. The elements of the game give us a varying environment that we navigate and fight around while also providing some treasure to fight over. You know... the pirate and thievery aspect of the game, we like shiny things? There is no PvE grind to do before able to engage in the PVP element at equal footing, you are by default on equal footing.