Did the game world got more life in last months?

  • Hi all!

    I've played SoT with my friends months ago.
    Since our first game sessions, we like the world design, completely. It really gives you the desire to go around in adventure!

    ... but we also expected to find some life!
    There was, and there is, an always more common problem in games: no friendly/neutral NPC that roam/walks (pigs and chicken excluded).
    Friendly/neutral NPC are glued to the ground.
    Ports are different by shape but just a big island + "interactive statues".

    After our very first game session, we already were like:
    "they should add here and there a shipwrecked guy rowing alone on a lifeboat that ask you for a ride. Maybe he have a chest, and once on board of our ship he will sing/play songs, until you rescue him to a port".
    or
    "it would be cool to find in random non-port islands some gang of pirates that are making a party, drinking, dancing and singing, etc etc.. even if they ignore the players, just to give life to the world" ... or some similar lively small events.
    or
    Some quest where you have to rescue/capture an npc. Be it a kidnapped to save or a wanted pirate to capture. Bring it on board... like a npc, not an object (he/she walks, sometime speak, etc etc).
    or
    Some npc making a party in the port bar or somewhere else, not always, but it would totally give a more immersive feel of the world. Currently you don't expect anything from a port you never visited.

    I'm talking about the free roaming of the world, not during a quest. During a quest everything is just a scripted 3d video animation (instanced, probably), it's not the same thing.
    We would like to see the "base structure" of the world game that is more lively!

    But no, in our last games we got more boring-ish fights against endlessly spawning monsters, bullet-sponge monsters, and similar stuff.... we lost hype of the game.
    And so, we are no longer playing since many months, but this is sad, because the world design is perfect and it really scream "come to adventure!".

    Did the game world got more life?
    (not talking about during quest, but the free roaming part)

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  • I mean if you want a guy in a rowboat with a chest or cargo. Asking if you need supplies….I can do that

    But I’m sure you rather shoot me and steal it.

  • Threads get a bit more attention while there are 0 replies.
    I really hoped the first reply to be constructive, not a joke.
    I think you sort of burned this thread, with your joke... :(

    (... no, I weren't asking for a mobile vendor.
    ... and no, I would REALLY rather find some friendly NPC able to walk.... to differ from the usual shooting/killing of everything that moves...)


    A simple example, maybe dumb, but i think it get to the point.
    MetalSlug prisoner:
    A simple and ripetitive NPC with a simple mechanics: you free him, he gives you a reward, make a gag, and flee away (or sometime even stays with you and fight!)

    Something like that! Some life to the base world mechanics!
    Currently only enemies move. But enemies are easy, they have a simple ai and you repeat the 3-4 moves of the combat system until you finish them.

    You go to an island, and expect nothing more than spawning monsters.
    You go to a port/outposts, and you expect nothing more than glued statue-like NPCs.
    Other than that, the island/outposts feels dead, frozen in time...

    Was something more lively added in the last months? (not talking about quests)
    Something that makes you want -again- roams the SoT.

    It's a simple question.
    Please, serious and relevant answers, not polemic or jokes... :(

  • Short, serious answer: No

  • @majersk said in Did the game world got more life in last months?:

    Threads get a bit more attention while there are 0 replies.
    I really hoped the first reply to be constructive, not a joke.
    I think you sort of burned this thread, with your joke... :(

    (... no, I weren't asking for a mobile vendor.
    ... and no, I would REALLY rather find some friendly NPC able to walk.... to differ from the usual shooting/killing of everything that moves...)


    A simple example, maybe dumb, but i think it get to the point.
    MetalSlug prisoner:
    A simple and ripetitive NPC with a simple mechanics: you free him, he gives you a reward, make a gag, and flee away (or sometime even stays with you and fight!)

    Something like that! Some life to the base world mechanics!
    Currently only enemies move. But enemies are easy, they have a simple ai and you repeat the 3-4 moves of the combat system until you finish them.

    You go to an island, and expect nothing more than spawning monsters.
    You go to a port/outposts, and you expect nothing more than glued statue-like NPCs.
    Other than that, the island/outposts feels dead, frozen in time...

    Was something more lively added in the last months? (not talking about quests)
    Something that makes you want -again- roams the SoT.

    It's a simple question.
    Please, serious and relevant answers, not polemic or jokes... :(

    A serious answer that elaborates on the issue that stands with this NPC is as follows:
    Because it is an NPC with pre-determined actions, you, as a human, through your cognitive pattern recognition, will be able to discern and figure out what the NPC will do and be able to accurately predict its next move.

    The design and mechanic behind this becomes counter-intuitive and fundamentally flawed. Where's the thrill in finding an NPC you know will do something you totally expect from its pre-defined commands?

    Imagine a pirate rows up to you with chests and it's a 50/50 that as soon as you let your guard down, the pirate shoots you in the face and burns your ship then takes any loot there was on your sunken ship OR they are actually friendly, start drinking grog with you and party on your ship. Both make for a story you would want to tell because it is a unique experience that cannot be mimic'd by programmed codes.

    The only real unexpected encounters you will ever get that you cannot recognize through your pattern recognition ability are those that come from other humans.

    And sure, because it is a game, people tend to shoot others than act friendly but I implore you to keep waiting until you come across that one interaction that you can talk about for months after you experienced it. That's the beauty in meeting other players who might be like this and why the Sea of Thieves shouldn't really be filled with life-like NPCs who will do the same dozen things every time that, ultimately, feels lifeless in the end.

  • To answer your question. No.

  • @kozakderg ha detto in Did the game world got more life in last months?:

    ... Where's the thrill in finding an NPC you know will do something you totally expect from its pre-defined commands?

    There is a bit of thrill. Surely a lot more than monsters with ant-brain that spawn from nothing.

    I like multiplayer online games, the part on sea, with the ship, with friends or against other players, that part of SoT is fine (not perfect, but surely good, and I would put effort into other parts of the game).
    From what you said, your expectation from a game with this potential and your taste is totally different from mine.

    The fact that glued NPCs and dead islands make the game feels totally NOT-alive, is objective. (and this is obviously a subjective opinion)

    It is not granted you will find other players. But the world, well, it's there. Why is it dead?
    Again, on ship, on sea, everything is very good, I like it. (but some random encounter of a semi-autonomous friendly NPC would be a be plus)
    But when you put your feet (or the wooden leg) on land, be it an island or an outpost, you expect nothing!. And rightfully! (or, correct me if something changed in last months/years)

    It's an outpost you never visited before? Well, probably like all the other outposts there are standing-still NPCs doing the usual stuff (nothing).
    Nobody walking, nobody speaking to each-other, nobody singing/dancing/running around. Doesn't feel like a live outpost. It can't. It feels dead.

    or

    It's an island you never visited before? Well, it's probably the usually big static mesh with animated foliage (and big compliments to the artists, the style is superb!)... something may or may not trigger some monster to spawn, you kill them, and then the island is definitively dead. A big sculpture.

    The part on sea is awing almost all the time, but here and then you have to land and do something else. And that "else" is boring, make us lose interest on the game.
    Which is sad because the world design (land included) really have enormous potential. A waste.

  • @sn0kanon ha detto in Did the game world got more life in last months?:

    Short, serious answer: No

    @lafrules ha detto in Did the game world got more life in last months?:

    To answer your question. No.

    Thanks for the direct answer.
    It saddens me tho...

  • @majersk Your ideas are interesting, though after the novelty wore off it would probably be the same scripted "Oh, there's that dude in the rowboat".

    I'll say, the wildlife, particularly the birds, are very nicely done and beautiful to watch. Not quite what you were driving at, I know...

  • New Milestone Opportunities for Rare!

    -> Give "Lost Larry" a ride to Plunder Outpost 5,000 times.

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    -> Give "Lost Larry" a ride to Sanctuary Outpost 5,000 times.

    -> Give "Lost Larry" a ride to New Golden Sands Outpost 5,000 times.

    -> Give "Lost Larry" a ride to Morrow's Peak Outpost 5,000 times.

    -> Give "Lost Larry" a ride to Galleon's Grave Outpost 5,000 times.

    -> Give "Lost Larry" a ride to Ancient Spire Outpost 5,000 times.

    -> Steal "Lost Larry" from another Crew and take him to his destination 2,250 times.

    Completing the "Lost Larry" Milestones will award the "Lost Larry Skull" trinket, as he probably died before you were able to complete all these tasks!

  • @sn0kanon ha detto in Did the game world got more life in last months?:

    .... after the novelty wore off it would probably be the same scripted "Oh, there's that dude in the rowboat".

    Maybe. But I would still love it.
    Reminding i also said about the part when the stranded dude hop in you ship until you deliver him home... in the meantime maybe he even simply sit in a corner and play an instrument.
    Hard to script this? A game programmer from 20 years ago would probably answer "no". (and yes, talking about an online game, synched)

    But it would totally give more life in general to the game.

    Really, stuff like this are easy to imagine. Even before SoT was released, just the trailer alone, you can already imagine stuff like this. A live and lively world.

    Instead, since release, the addition were: "You could find and un-bury a treasure? Well now you can bury one!" and stuff like that....
    wow, so much code, big skill

    If they were to add elements like the ones I mentioned in the first post, I would gladly pay for the game again.

  • @majersk said in Did the game world got more life in last months?:

    @kozakderg ha detto in Did the game world got more life in last months?:
    There is a bit of thrill. Surely a lot more than monsters with ant-brain that spawn from nothing.

    I don't know, some games that I have played that had NPCs just walking around and filling the game with life, after a while I would see that there will be nothing special happening, something out of the ordinary, totally unexpected. The only game I have ever seen nail this aspect was Watch Dogs 2. I totally did not expect a guy getting plugged with a full magazine of lead from a drive-by while I was petting his dog.

    But their main idea was to make sure the world the player plays is a living breathing city.

    I like multiplayer online games, the part on sea, with the ship, with friends or against other players, that part of SoT is fine (not perfect, but surely good, and I would put effort into other parts of the game).
    From what you said, your expectation from a game with this potential and your taste is totally different from mine.

    That's true and our different preferences in the game won't change anything unless the general consensus leans towards one idea or another.

    The fact that glued NPCs and dead islands make the game feels totally NOT-alive, is objective. (and this is obviously a subjective opinion)

    I do agree that the outposts themselves feel a little dead with no roaming NPCs at least or some NPCs drinking grog in the tavern.

    It is not granted you will find other players. But the world, well, it's there. Why is it dead?

    I think one of the main reasons for this is that instances hosted by the game are running on Microsoft's Azure Cloud servers. While they are pretty high-tech and cut down a lot of latency with global multiplayer connections in mind, performance would dwindle if too many active entities were added into the game. We've heard stories of instances straight up crashing after a Meg, a Kraken and a World Event all spawned at the same time.

    Again, on ship, on sea, everything is very good, I like it. (but some random encounter of a semi-autonomous friendly NPC would be a be plus)

    Again, I think server capacity for it right now just would not be able to handle it.

    It's an island you never visited before? Well, it's probably the usually big static mesh with animated foliage (and big compliments to the artists, the style is superb!)... something may or may not trigger some monster to spawn, you kill them, and then the island is definitively dead. A big sculpture.

    I mean there are Emergent Skeleton Captains and Ashen Skeletons too. I doubt that anyone on an uninhabited island with dangers of undead captains and their crew would stay alive for long. There are some NPCs you can still meet on those islands though.

    And it was stated before that Sea of Thieves is largely a sandbox game. You have the world, you make the story, you are the entity that enriches the Sea of Thieves with unique interactions and experiences. That's the meaning of a sandbox game.

    The part on sea is almost wow all the time, but here and then you have to land and do something else. And that "else" is boring, make us lose interest on the game.
    Which is sad because the world design really have enormous potential. A waste.

    Don't think the potential is wasted, in a lot of other ways the world was made more lively with NPC entities added into the game than before. Back in 2019 you had a skull fort spawning every 3 hours and that was pretty much the PvE element in the game other than voyages. Since then you got Krakens, Megs, Skeleton Ships, various dangers on islands, etc... They are going in the direction you are looking for, it's just not quite there yet.

  • @kozakderg ha detto in Did the game world got more life in last months?:

    I don't know, some games that I have played that had NPCs just walking around and filling the game with life, after a while I would see that there will be nothing special happening, something out of the ordinary, totally unexpected. The only game I have ever seen nail this aspect was Watch Dogs 2. I totally did not expect a guy getting plugged with a full magazine of lead from a drive-by while I was petting his dog.

    We have a reeeeeally different game experience. I've played a lot of games that feels alive. Simple gimmicks that do the trick. It would be plenty. But currently they are not even trying! :(

    I do agree that the outposts themselves feel a little dead with no roaming NPCs at least or some NPCs drinking grog in the tavern.

    Oh... see! I'm not crazy! :)
    Even only the tavern full of life would be give a totally diffenret feel. Sometime they dance, sometime they sing, sometime they are all in hungover... etc etc.... fantasy required, very little.

    I think one of the main reasons for this is that instances hosted by the game are running on Microsoft's Azure Cloud servers. While they are pretty high-tech and cut down a lot of latency with global multiplayer connections in mind, performance would dwindle if too many active entities were added into the game. We've heard stories of instances straight up crashing after a Meg, a Kraken and a World Event all spawned at the same time.

    Well... that shouldn't be a problem to begin with. sad

    Again, on ship, on sea, everything is very good, I like it. (but some random encounter of a semi-autonomous friendly NPC would be a be plus)

    Again, I think server capacity for it right now just would not be able to handle it.

    I'm baffled. A simple entity doing very little actions should weight on server and local machine some magnitude orders LESS than a full deployment of enemy ships with dozens of enemies shooting projectiles (each with its own data) at you, etc etc etc... I'm not sure I can believe what you say about this. Totally not.

    I mean there are Emergent Skeleton Captains and Ashen Skeletons too. I doubt that anyone on an uninhabited island with dangers of undead captains and their crew would stay alive for long. There are some NPCs you can still meet on those islands though.

    Are those NPC glued to the ground?

    And it was stated before that Sea of Thieves is largely a sandbox game. You have the world, you make the story, you are the entity that enriches the Sea of Thieves with unique interactions and experiences. That's the meaning of a sandbox game.

    I've seen other sandbox games. SoT is not a sandbox game. By any means. Everything is simple. Everything is scripted. Players can't alter the world.
    If SoT is a sandbox game, than thousands of other games would fall inside the genre (and probably fitting it more).

    Don't think the potential is wasted, in a lot of other ways the world was made more lively with NPC entities added into the game than before. Back in 2019 you had a skull fort spawning every 3 hours and that was pretty much the PvE element in the game other than voyages. Since then you got Krakens, Megs, Skeleton Ships, various dangers on islands, etc... They are going in the direction you are looking for, it's just not quite there yet.

    Those... are all fight events.. (?)
    Fights are already fine. What I think the game lacks is content when you simply want to appreciate peacefully the world. The same sensation when you are sailing during sunset.

    I've played New World, there similarly, you kill everything that moves and interact only with stuff that doesn't move. Friendly NPC exist only when glued to the ground: bad.

  • @blackhawk799
    I've never had any interest in achievements or such, but I would still gladly put all my effort into bringing "Lost Larry" to an outpost anytime I found him.
    I would probably value Larry more than the ship and its content. Even if he's drunk and fall out of the ship sometime! We love him already!
    It's the soul of the game what count.
    Not the achievement or the virtual coins.

    Make Larry real!

  • @burnbacon yes, yes I would.

  • @majersk though cool as it may be I highly doubt this will EVER happen. Rares goal was that we are the pirates that fill the taverns and we are the ones that bring life to the seas, not the npcs. So this probably won't happen unfortunately.

  • @avacadobeard244 ha detto in Did the game world got more life in last months?:

    ... Rares goal was that we are the pirates that fill the taverns and we are the ones that bring life to the seas, not the npcs. ...

    ... the players?
    I mean, with a party you might end up playing instrument all together while sailing, sure. But on the tavern? It's something i can (maybe) imagine from a party of influencers/youtubers, but it's not a realistic scenario for the actual play time in game.
    And, it's limited to 4 players, your party, as any other player is practically an enemy all the time....

    No, I don't think Rare purpose with the tavern was for it to be "used" in any way by the players.... I feels an empty and dead space like all the other places.

    If Rare gave some life to taverns with some simple scripted animated NPC that sing/dance/drink/cheer etc... it would be awesome!


    I've played yesterday. They added a new NPC (glued, obviously) in outposts that buy everything! And there is a practical hook near to easily and easier transfer loop to him....
    So, yeah, now all the other NPCs (all glued and already soulless) will be even more forgotten!
    They were/are all glued statues with the simple main purpose of buy your stuff, and now they even lost their purpose to exist!
    How to make outposts even less alive than what they were: you no longer need to visit the different NPCs... just one.
    :(

  • @majersk okay first off... yes that was entirely rarest goal for the tavern, for it to be used by the players, not sure why that was ever in question... and though I'm not apposed to your idea and think it will be cool I don't think it will ever happen simply because it wasn't Rares plan, atleast not that I know of. We the players are the people that are supposed to fill the taverns and the sidewalks of the outpost not npcs..

    Having movable npcs everywhere would also make for some super buggy situations...

  • @avacadobeard244 ha detto in Did the game world got more life in last months?:

    ... We the players are the people that are supposed to fill the taverns and the sidewalks of the outpost not npcs..

    Well, that's a completely BAD plan then. Again, the maximum amount of players is 4 (99% of the time), and that is not nearly enough to "fill" the tavern.
    You are not understanding the point: back to main whine, the problem is that the world feels dead. I know I can play music with my friends and drink etc, but that is a completely different thing!
    Even if we do that, we are doing it in a dead outpost, with glued statue-like NPCs! The problem is still there. Like having a party in the middle of a graveyard.
    (and the same can be said everywhere on land in the game)

    Having movable npcs everywhere would also make for some super buggy situations...

    No. Definitively not. Some of the examples I made might require some very little computation time from the server (very very very little), but the case we are talking now, a tavern with some NPCs that drink/sing/play/etc, is 99% a (small) load on the client side of the game and a 1% (even smaller) load on the server.
    The server just needs to tell the start time of the animation and sync it to the players. Nothing else. Really!
    When you are fighting ships (each with damage, moving with the sea, etc etc) with dozens of skeletons (each with its own movement, hp, weapon) that shoot at you, there is a much bigger task for the server (still, an EXTREMELY small task. Have you ever seen the complexity of other online games? Even from games pre-2010)
    Same thing on land, dozens of monsters following and attacking you, shooting bullets, carrying TNT, etc etc etc.
    Do you really think a bunch of NPCs that have just to execute a simple and pre-defined animation, and not interact with players, require any task for the server? No. Absolutely not.
    Your idea of how an online game works is completely wrong, I'm sorry.

    What I'm asking is 110% feasible with the current performance of server and client (XboxOne included).
    It's a matter of lack of will by Rare dev team. Or more probably from the managers (that probably care ony about milking the shop... people that never played a game in their life).

    The game is cool, but the lacks of attention to details like this is incredible.
    Your idea "the players should fill the island with life" can't work. 20 players (enemy each-other) spreaded in the whole map...
    Islands feels dead. Totally.

    And I can't understand why you guys can only think about arguments of how to deny this problem and defend Rare.
    Really... why?

  • @majersk we arent denying... i have literally said im not opposed to the idea im simply stating that this WONT happen... but im tired of repeating myself so have a good onem8, cheers.

  • @avacadobeard244 I see a lot of effort in you guys creating up impossible and improbable reasons (like the server load) to excuse/explain that what I'm proposing is "not feasible", "too heavy", "not planned"... or denying, same direction.

    You are "simply stating that this WONT happen" ... but why?
    You ... accept the fact Rare won't make any further progress in this direction? That's being pessimist. That's being deludent.

    I will keep coming here and then in the feedback section, trying to put some "need for something better" into others (and utopianly some actual dev read something).
    The game style is amazing, the part on ship is good... but everything else... omg! HUGE potential wasted!

    And I receive answers from you guys shielding the current status.
    wow
    I'm disappointed from the game .... and from the lacks of other people that think even a little in the same direction of me.

    This is the feedback section. If Rare reads here (do them?) that everybody is fine, everybody shields them... they are not going to do anything at all.

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