MAKE THE GAME NOT FEEL LIKE A WASTELAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Make up your mind. Do you want tons of NPCs, or do you not want tons of NPCs?

Outposts are supposed to be places where we begin and end our adventures, not where we spend most of our time. They're where we initially stock up on supplies and buy our voyages. When we return to them it's to sell our hard-won loot and buy fancy new clothes with the gold we've earned. And yes, we are going to prioritize lore over ""gameplay."" Outposts are not supposed to be huge because the Sea of Thieves is an extremely inaccessible place. It just wouldn't make sense to have giant towns filled with people. Besides, what you're describing is ultimately a giant, empty, unused space with NPCs you can't interact with milling about aimlessly or worse, standing around. Outposts in their current iteration are simple and, most importantly, functional. Function beats form, always. It needs to work and do something before it can look pretty.

As for NPC enemies on islands... tough. Rare isn't going to make the game any easier for you. What's extremely sad is how you're complaining about Snakes, which are probably the easiest "enemy" in the game to avoid.

Also, we already have Seagulls. They congregate near shipwrecks and floating barrels.

It sounds like you want a totally different game. Might I suggest New World or a similar title more akin to a traditional MMO if you want predictable monster spawns and large towns with lots of NPCs you can't talk to?

I would like a few more NPC's in the game too, walk in around outposts, an island with a sugar plantation, another with a tea plantion etc to explain where the goods come from. It would be thematically better for immersion. HOWEVER, it would take away from more content creation in other areas and may cause strain not the servers.

As for islands, I think they have the balance just right.

@boeing7876500 the problem with NPC's everywhere is if they have voices...

That can be annoying, hell how many times have people heard about the guards being adventurers if they didn't take an arrow to the knee?

"As annoying as possible to the point where everyone hates them." That sounds like projection my friend, there are very few islands that everyone hates, infact, i can count those few on 1 single hand.

This seems like more of personal issues than issues the average player has. I would say the game feels far from a wasteland, it feels quite vibrant and alive with a number of activities, especially in specific servers.

It depends on the players. There is already so much content added (all the stories, tall tales and commendations to hunt) I genuinely can't call it a wasteland. If the server feels empty it's most likely inactive/afk/passive players. If at least one crew is actively looking to pvp, the game can be a shitshow in a good and bad meaning of this word.

Try every type of voyage at least once and do every event or structure (each shrine is completely different, there is a lot of forts, both skeleton and spectre) at least once too.

I actually have a few issues here

Okie, what Issues

First, it seems like Rare is trying to make large islands, which should be entertaining to explore

They are if you understand the lore behind the skeleton bodies, paintings and ruins.

a massive pain in the neck where I steer clear of them at all costs? Is that what you want, Rare?

Seems to be a You problem, not Rare

I don't want to go on an island, get bitten by a snake, get attacked by ocean crawlers, phantoms, and keg skeletons. That's not fun.

........what? so you wanna visit island with nothing to do? or Exciting things to happen?

It doesn't make it challenging because they are easy to kill and just annoying, and there isn't much penalty for death because respawning is fast.

Do some high lvl voyages, and those Skeletons will be harder to kill.
Make it a challenge, only use a sword :p
as for the quick Respawn, some players will beg to differ. Some have that bug or glitch where it takes them forever to respawn.

It seems like Rare is trying to make islands as annoying as possible to the point where everyone hates them.

ummmm...No? It only annoying if the player makes it so. Not just islands, Shrines & Forts. :/
I think we can all agree tho...Old Faithful....big island...horrible place to get voyages.

My second issue is how dead the game feels.

Oh boy...where you been?

For instance, animals on islands that don't try to kill you.

Chickens & Pigs. Only Snakes "try" to kill you.

For sailing add seagulls that can land on your ship, dolphins, and whales. You don't have to kill them for meat; they could just be there.

Be a lot of work, and none of those suggestions helps "islands" you seem to dislike so far. Even with those added features, the game will still be "empty" as you claim.

I find it really strange that there are no houses in the Sea of Thieves.

Why do you need Houses...in a Place that suppose to be Uncharted, Mysterious & once guarded by Ancient people who may have lived in trees or pre-made shelters....If you taken the time to explore the islands, you find Ruins...

ARE OUTPOSTS ONLY PLACES FOR NPCS TO STAND AROUND?

Yes. & No.
Do some Cargo Runs, there Npc waiting on islands.

It's a video game being updated, you don't need explanations for everything

You kind of do, as just popping out content with no explanation but "it always been there" ruins the experience. Much like the Skeleton Ships first appear, Meg spawning, Phantoms, Fortresses, Shrines. All been explained

Are you prioritizing lore over gameplay

Yes.

FOr goodness sake Rare, make the outposts towns and give them NPCS to live in them.

What would a Outpost town add to the game? Make it look pretty? Still gonna be empty.

@boeing7876500 not a fan of Skyrim I see

Funny- speaking of large islands, I always wanted to see a very large island in the middle of the map, with a canal or river through it. An outpost/settlement in the center that pays out 1.5x more than other outposts as it is more difficult to access.
This would add more risk-reward to selling, new interactions and interesting pvp scenarios (both naval and land). You could easily get trapped by a ship guarding the exit of the mouth of river, forced to turn around or sail into their broad. There would also be the risk of being boarded by anyone on the island since it's a narrow waterway.

After reading what you wrote it sounds like you only have 3 days in the game and according to your Xbox profile that is the case. I don't think you play sea of thieves often enough to understand what it is and admire what an incredible game it is, I recommend that you play a little longer and see all the unique things this game has to offer and you'd probably understand later on that some of the things you mentioned wouldn't really make sense. If you still don't like the game after a while I recommend you take @lizalaroo 's advice and find a game that better caters to your needs.

@boeing7876500 said in MAKE THE GAME NOT FEEL LIKE A WASTELAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!:

@burnbacon
For your information I do cargo runs. Also an uncharted, mysterious once guarded by ancient people seems pretty civilized if they have everything from taverns to clothing shops. Where to people live???

GH Lives in there Tents
OoS live where ever they want, we dont ask
Merchant I'm sure sleep on own ship
Mysterious Stranger, nobody knows
Shop keepers sleep in there shops.
Tavern lady sleeps backroom

There, now you know where they sleep. if you wanna know where "You" sleep, Anywhere you want...have you never noticed all those campfires and Tree Cots?

@boeing7876500 said in MAKE THE GAME NOT FEEL LIKE A WASTELAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!:

@burnbacon
For your information I do cargo runs. Also an uncharted, mysterious once guarded by ancient people seems pretty civilized if they have everything from taverns to clothing shops. Where to people live???

The Ancients are not the same as the people who populate the Outposts. Outposts are run by the handful of people who made it to the Sea of Thieves in search of adventure. They cater to the Pirates who pass by.