How Time is Measured in the Sea of Thieves

  • The Cursed Sails event has thrown into focus the passing of time in the Sea of Thieves and how that is tracked in real time. Here is what I have learned.

    SOT Time (Standard Ocean Time?) runs 60 times faster than time in the real world. Thus, each second in the real world is one minute in the game; and each minute in the real world is one hour in the game. Consequently, there are sixty game days (each lasting 24 real world minutes) in a real world 24 hours. These sixty days are split into two (unnamed) months of 30 days each.

    The first month starts at real-world 00:00 (midnight) UTC (Universal Coordinated Time), also known as GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) or, in military circles, Zulu Time. Thus, it is the 1st of a month from 00:00 to 00:24 UTC; and from 12:00 to 12:24 UTC. It is the 2nd of a month from 00:24 to 00:48 UTC; and from 12:24 to 12:48 UTC, and so on. This means that if you only get to play, for a couple of hours, at around the same time each day, you will always find it is the same five or six calendar dates, in-game.

    Even the Poms, enjoying their hot summer right now, have to adjust for this. BST (British Summer Time) is one hour ahead of UTC.

    It should also be noted that SOT Time is the same on every server. There is never any benefit in server-hopping to find a more suitable date and time.

    The problem with the Cursed Sails event, discussed much elsewhere, is that Rare ran the skeleton ship attacks with different regions linked to certain days of the in-game month. This made it harder for people with jobs, family and even real ships in their lives to get onto the Sea of Thieves to complete every region. Rare are shifting it about in the second and third weeks of the event, to make completing every region a bit easier. But, in week one:

    • The Cursed Helm attacks The Shores of Plenty between the 1st and 10th of the month, i.e. 00:00 - 04:00 and 12:00 - 16:00 UTC, each day.
    • The Foul Grog attacks The Ancient Isles between the 11th and 20th of the month, i.e. 04:00 - 08:00 and 16:00 - 20:00 UTC, each day.
    • The Dancing Demon attacks The Wilds between the 21st and 30th of the month, i.e. 08:00 - 12:00 and 20:00 - 24:00 UTC, each day.

    My slowly-developing Sea of Thieves fansite now features a SOT clock/calendar widget, that lets you know the in-game time, without needing to fire up the game.

    http://www.surveyorpete.fun/

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  • I'm not sure the point of this post. Seems like you took a long time to point out the sample problem that has been pointed out by many in much simpler terms. I like your idea of the SOT clock/calendar widget though! I really only posted to point out that you said Standard Ocean Time time (like automatic teller machine machine).

  • @kzoo-kid

    I really only posted to point out that you said Standard Ocean Time time (like automatic teller machine machine).

    Yeah, I know. :-(

    I was playing with SOT (Sea of Thieves) Time, and came up with "Standard Ocean Time". Possible alternatives I thought of were GWT ("Game World Time") or APT ("Accelerated Pirate Time") or ARR ("Adjusted Rare Reckoner") Time.

  • @surveyorpete Nice website, Pete.
    I wrote out the events for Australian Eastern Standard Time on a used envelope on my desk. lol.

    The times are the same AM or PM when written in standard / civilian time.

    • The Shores of Plenty: (1st - 10th) 10:00 - 2:00
    • The Ancient Isles: (11th - 20th) 2:00 - 6:00
    • The Wilds: (21st - 30th) 6:00 - 10:00
  • @admiral-rrrsole , me too...

    alt text

  • @surveyorpete lol My notes are even more messy than yours.
    I didn't write the fleet names but I added the compass bearings from the given islands.
    East of Marauder's Arch, N/W of Smuggler's Bay, etc.

    https://imgur.com/7Hl8SXY

    Starting with the regions and converted times then added the rest either side during game play conversation.

  • And I thought my crew has a bad memory, because they confuse outposts all the time. Seeing you taking notes for this makes me wonder if the glitch is me.

  • In week two of the Cursed Isles:

    • The Fools Stride attacks The Shores of Plenty between the 1st and 10th of the month, i.e. 08:00 - 12:00 and 20:00 - 24:00 UTC, each day.
    • The Treacherous Bounty attacks The Ancient Isles between the 11th and 20th of the month, i.e. 00:00 - 04:00 and 12:00 - 16:00 UTC, each day.
    • The Enslaving Chain attacks The Wilds between the 21st and 30th of the month, i.e. 04:00 - 08:00 and 16:00 - 20:00 UTC, each day.

    The particularly observant pirate will note: Rare have not rotated the regions through the in-game dates, to accommodate players with limited play-time, in different parts of the world. Rather, what the sneaky b*****s have done, is subtract an 8-hour offset from UTC time, before calculating in-game date and time, or (more likely) added 10 days to the in-game date, afterwards.

    The effect for players around the world, trying to complete Cursed Isles commendations, is the same; but for third party time keepers - such as I have on my own web site - we now have to adjust to "SOT CI2" Time, i.e. "Sea of Thieves, Cursed Isles Week 2 Time".

    http://www.surveyorpete.fun/

  • In week three of the Cursed Isles:

    • The Sandman's Revenge attacks The Shores of Plenty between the 1st and 10th of the month, i.e. 04:00 - 08:00 and 16:00 - 20:00 UTC, each day.
    • The Black Viper attacks The Ancient Isles between the 11th and 20th of the month, i.e. 08:00 - 12:00 and 20:00 - 24:00 UTC, each day.
    • The Siren's Gale attacks The Wilds between the 21st and 30th of the month, i.e. 00:00 - 04:00 and 12:00 - 16:00 UTC, each day.

    This week, Rare have offset UTC time again; by adding 20 days to the normally calculated in-game date.

    Third party time keepers now have to adjust to "SOT CI3" Time, i.e. "Sea of Thieves, Cursed Isles Week 3 Time".

    http://www.surveyorpete.fun/

  • @surveyorpete thank you for keeping track

  • in the pocket watch

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