So one thing that people have asked for in the past - and possibly are still wanting to this day - are an expansion to the world. Due to the impossibility of seeing ships sometimes? That's not happening. The Sea of Thieves map was large enough before the Devil's Roar expansion. Not saying that it was bad - it's still one of the greatest updates received for people a fan of exploration and extra challenge.
However, the Sea of Thieves feels extremely empty due to the five ship limit. We can't reliably make the seas any bigger or it will become even harder to find other players passively, despite the brand new 'invasion' mechanics. However, another issue is that we can't increase the ship limit due to performance constraints. Getting more than two large ships in the same area can cause a LOT of issues, especially when loot has been stacked.
However, due to the way the Sea of the Damned behaves with the Pirates Life tall tales and the Hunter's Cry adventure, I think we have a solution:
Raiding the world beyond the Devil's Shroud.
The Lore
War is here for the Sea of Thieves - Between Athena's Fortune and the Reapers. We're left with people wanting to create a pirate sanctuary for adventure, and a faction in service to Flameheart who wants to subject the sea of thieves to be his own empire. Despite frequent attempts from outside crews to breach the shroud - that fail - resulting in plenty of shipwrecks that drift in loot and supplies alike, there's a much more lucrative option: leaving the sea of thieves and gathering supplies directly.
How it works
You're given the option to speak with the Servant of the Flame (high level required) or to pick up a voyage from Athena's Fortune. Depending on which faction you go with determines who you'll earn reputation for.
Once the voyage has begun, a portal will open to the world outside the Sea of Thieves. Once you sail through, you are either given a Legendary or Reaper's Storage Crate. You're placed in a new server with the exact same style of match making - the same world will have the five ship limit, though the map is a lot smaller. If you sail back through the portal, then the voyage will end and you'll be placed in another server within the Sea of Thieves, similar to visiting and returning from the Sea of the Damned.
Your job is to raid coastal settlements - towns, ports and cities - for any supplies you can get. You have only one shot to do this - if your ship sinks, the quest is failed and you respawn in the Sea of Thieves with fresh ship. Once you feel it's time to go, pack up your supplies and get back through the portal to the Sea of Thieves.
You'll find Strong Cannonballs, Fine Wood, Ripe Fruit, and Prime Meat. All of these can be placed inside your storage crate. However, they cannot be stored on your ship. You may, however, use them to keep your ship afloat, use them for battle, and heal - reducing your profits in the short term but possibly having some long-term benefits by making sure you can hold up against a stronger raid.
To incentivize long stays, the more supplies you hoard will occasionally scale up in value based on how many you have. Lets say, theoretically, fine wood planks sell for 25 gold a piece. Say you get to 50 planks, then they're worth 50 gold a piece. 100 planks? 100 gold a piece. And no, I'm not expecting that they'll be worth that much. 10k for 100 wood planks is a bit of a joke.
PvP Incentive? Of course! You have two factions to represent, so if your sailing for the Reapers, stealing a Legendary storage crate will net you extra profits, and vice versa. Alternatively, steal from other reapers and legends alike for all the gold and glory, or work with other crews to push into more dangerous territory.
Once you leave, a representative of either Athena's Fortune or the Reaper's Bones will manifest aboard your ship and comment on how much you brought, and whether you brought extra loot taken from other ships. They commend you for your efforts in supplying the upcoming battles between the factions.
The Map
Up to five portals will spawn around a collection of Islands, each map themed after one of the current regions within the Sea of Thieves, or a completely new region entirely. When you get the voyage, you can choose which region you wish to raid. This lets you have some degree of control depending on which maps are too hot for you to handle, or too cold if you're looking for a fight. The more central the island is, the harder it will be to storm and take over, but the greater the profits there are to be had.
Similar to Legendary Shipwrecks and Ghostly Forts, you'll find a few treasures stashed away, hidden that can be swiped either to be sold later or for instant profit to the other factions. Small trinkets, chests with gold, coin pouches for instant profit, maybe even treasures the Pirate Lord himself will pay a pretty penny to get his hands on.
Stray beyond this perimeter though, and the tethers will begin to weaken, causing your ship to take damage akin to being in the Devil's Shroud (out of bounds) back in the Sea of Thieves.
Dangers
The PvP may be a good incentive to fight other players, but the PvE is where the profits lie. While here, PvE ships will come to try and sink you, and settlements will defend themselves - cannons, mines, you name it. While raiding a coastal settlement you'll need to be careful of marksmen with long rifles that will hurt similarly to another player's Eye of Reach. These aren't half-corporeal phantoms or rotting skeletons after all.
The farther inland you go, the more difficult the soldiers will go. You'll start fighting conscripts and wind up facing dangerous captains. If you manage to reach the fort and overtake it, you can claim the flag for a trophy, which can net an extra profit to your supply run.
The farther you get from the portal, the more dangerous each settlement becomes. Proper forts or strongholds that will have more than enough guns to keep even a dedicated galleon crew out. Navy ships may patrol the waters with long-range cannons on more than just their broadsides. And maybe if you're lucky, a trade ship that will have plenty of extra goods for you to nab if you can sink them.
A Spectral Assault
Due to the tethers of the Sea of Thieves, your ship and crew will take on a ghostly appearance. Consequently, being a ghost means a few things:
If you perish off your ship, you cannot be revived. You can respawn endlessly on your boat, however, so keep it afloat.
You aren't able to board ships belonging to the navy, but you can board the vessels of other crews. Ramming a navy ship will let you sail right through it and cause the same damage ghost ships have caused us all this time to them!
Carrying Flames of Fate on your ship could have extra benefits, depending on which ones you've brought with you. For instance, bringing your ship in with red flames could give your attacks a small chance (per flame) to ignite the soldiers you do battle with.
No mermaids. Instead of mermaids, a wraith appears that only YOU can see. Not your crew mates, not other crews. Only you. This will let you be taken back to your ship, and let you try more stealthy playstyles against other ships without them spotting the mermaid in the water.
Support All Playstyles?
So what kind of playstyles does this support, and how?
PvE lovers: push far into the seas and steal everything you can, then make it back alive against genuinely challenging enemies that don't scale to crew size. There are points a solo sloop will find challenging but a fully crewed Galleon could find quite doable.
Co-opers: The farther regions are brutal and unforgiving, sporting a challenge to even a dedicated galleon. Consequently, forming an alliance to push on farther will make this a lot easier.
PvPers: Whether you want to watch everything burn, or have a lore-based reason to attack other ships (Athena vs Reapers), then you can try sneaking away with the spoils or banishing the other ships come to raid this place.
Explorers: New terrain, new architecture, perhaps even stories and lore that can be discovered only outside the Sea of Thieves that could give players more insight to certain characters or factions.
Share your thoughts
Hey, you made it to the end! Have some kraken meat and a grog to celebrate. If you have any ideas to add onto this, or criticisms/concerns, feel free to share them.
