Update feels lazy

  • WilbyMagicBear
    Ship Mate
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    Founder

    A friend and I took a break from Arena today to check out the new update. I have to say, it's honostly the most uninspired, low effort thing I've seen in a while. This update feels like what I did on my high-school homework: the minimum effort possible just to check a box to say I did it.

    Reaper's Chest: Rare must be going green, cause this whole thing is recycled assets. The box itself is just a recolored box of wondrous secrets. The insignia on the front is just the logo colored red. The concept itself is just a recycled reaper's flag, and it just spawns in Shipwrecks. As far as I can tell, the only new things are the particle effect to show its there, and the little mark on the map. That said, at least it's a new cursed chest.

    Dark Relic Voyages: It's just an OoS/Gold Hoarder voyage with a few retextured skulls. Sure, there are some petty differences, but at the end of the day, it's just the same tired story we've been doing for years. Heck (we don't name the Devil's domain on these Christian forums, please and thank you), all the mercenary voyages ate like this. Every update after Anniversary has just felt so lazy, I'm getting sick of it.

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  • Galactic Geek
    Seafarer
    Founder

    Did you lose playing with toys as a kid?

    I ask not as an insult, but because I want to explain something. Did you know that toymakers would take other toys and modify them to make something different, and yet largely the same? That's right, they'd go as far a melting down certain parts of action figures and then remolding or resculpting them into something new that they could repackage and resell as their own - this is how we got the likes of G.I. Joe and He-Man. In other words, this is not new.

  • WilbyMagicBear
    Ship Mate
    Insider
    Founder

    @galactic-geek I'm not sure I follow

  • William Flint
    Commander
    Insider

    @wilbymagicbear these are just filler updates. It was the same before mercenary voyages, the skelton thrones, mermaid statues, gunpowder skeletons that bilge rats bring in. None of them added anything particularly revolutionary, but added a small new thing to the game. The real point is to fill time while the real effort goes into bigger updates and attempting to fix bugs. Personally I prefer the old bilge rat adventures, because at least they were a whimsical change from the normal missions. But people complained about them too so we got mercenary voyages instead.

  • WilbyMagicBear
    Ship Mate
    Insider
    Founder

    @william-flint I'd honestly prefer there to be nothing. If they're not gonna add some cool side challanges like Skeleton Thrones, they just shouldn't add anything. Right now, it feels like Rare just took a dump and is forcing us hurry up and eat it, because it won't be around forever.

  • BlazeDrake100
    Marauder

    @wilbymagicbear
    The reapers chests are a great addition. I do agree that the mercenary voyages are lazy, but they're getting better imo. Just ignore the voyages if you hate them that much.

  • WilbyMagicBear
    Ship Mate
    Insider
    Founder

    @blazedrake100 The Reaper's Chests are kind of cool, at least in concept, but they just feel so half-a*sed. They couldn't be bothered to so much as make a new texture. It seems like they don't care, or they're just so slow it took them an entire month to make/recycle 7 new textures.

  • Galactic Geek
    Seafarer
    Founder

    @wilbymagicbear Hey! Those are high-quality digital art assets! You don't know how much work and detail actually goes into them!

  • Galactic Geek
    Seafarer
    Founder

    @wilbymagicbear said in Update feels lazy:

    @galactic-geek I'm not sure I follow

    sigh

    Rome wasn't built in a day.

  • Dadiodude
    Ship Mate

    @galactic-geek said in Update feels lazy:

    Did you lose playing with toys as a kid?

    I ask not as an insult, but because I want to explain something. Did you know that toymakers would take other toys and modify them to make something different, and yet largely the same? That's right, they'd go as far a melting down certain parts of action figures and then remolding or resculpting them into something new that they could repackage and resell as their own - this is how we got the likes of G.I. Joe and He-Man. In other words, this is not new.

    Eh!

    You’re saying toy manufacturers purchased a competitors action figures, melted parts of them down (not possible with thermo setting plastic) to then remould the parts so they could sell the figures as their own?

    Anyway, I don’t think you can compare what goes into designing, tooling, manufacturing, packaging and distributing physical toys with coding some new assets for an existing game.

    These monthly events are underwhelming but they’re bound to be with that frequency. I’ve no idea what Rare are hoping to achieve.

  • Joe Krakatoa
    Commander
    Insider

    Every month pirates expect a Hungering Deep or Cursed Sails type epic event.

    I'm just satisfied with last months figurehead and this months ship liveries.
    Totally unconcerned about the rest.

    This is how Rare wants us to experience the evolving story of The Sea of Thieves.
    Like chapters in a storyline.
    Factions are stockpiling explosives, Duke has us retrieving enchanted junk for the witches.
    Machiavellian plots, subterfuge, plans within plans.

    Something big is coming, so stow your bellyaching and get back to work.

  • shut ur mouth
    Captain
    Insider

    @william-flint said in Update feels lazy:

    @wilbymagicbear these are just filler updates. It was the same before mercenary voyages, the skelton thrones, mermaid statues, gunpowder skeletons that bilge rats bring in. None of them added anything particularly revolutionary, but added a small new thing to the game. The real point is to fill time while the real effort goes into bigger updates and attempting to fix bugs. Personally I prefer the old bilge rat adventures, because at least they were a whimsical change from the normal missions. But people complained about them too so we got mercenary voyages instead.

    I actually like the new updates. I didn't think the bilge rat adventures were content. Mermaids and thrones were wack. The new updates actually encourage PvP, which is better.

  • CallMeBackdrafT
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    @wilbymagicbear the dark relic voyages are temporary, no its nothing big but its a nice filler.

    While the ritual skull os somewhat of a reskin, non of the others are. And designing stuff like that does take time to make.

    The reapers chest is here to stay, the first item to give another payout then gold.

    The first item that itself holds risk of pvp and players hunting other players, yes it has the same effect of the reapers mark but as long as you have it on board or in your hands there is no way to hide.

    There is no big grind this time just to get the cosmetics, do each non athena voyages once and bobs your uncle.

    If you want all the comms and titles then you need to do only a bit more but not alot.

    Adding these smaller updates doesnt hurt anyone, it gives something to do and since Rare is working with multiple teams some are working on these smaller updates whilst others are working on bigger ones.

    This makes them able to add updates on a monthly basis, september 11th is going to be fhe following update and is going to be somewhat bigger

  • William Flint
    Commander
    Insider

    @shut-ur-mouth I would disagree about the idea of content. I actually didn't like the mermaids, but even they gave new goals to achieve, even of they were weak. And the mermaids did not add anything particularly enjoyable to the game until they staryes dropping gems, that is true. But the thrones were entertaining to try to achieve. The main point though, is that they were new things to try to achieve. Unlike the bilge rat adventures, which are just a repeat of what we already do. If anything is not content its the new adventures.

  • Galactic Geek
    Seafarer
    Founder

    @dadiodude Well, you do you, but I have not found them underwhelming - if anything, I think that they're getting progressively better with each update, and that can only be a good thing.

  • Athena Fortune5
    Marauder
    Insider

    @WilbyMagicBear by reading this post i can tell you're an entitled fortnite player who doesn't know how hard it it to make games with developer teams which aren't as big as Fortnite's developer team.

  • Galactic Geek
    Seafarer
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    @athena-fortune5 I don't play Fortnite - that game's instant-cover meta gets a big NO for me.

  • Athena Fortune5
    Marauder
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    @galactic-geek i meant the original post not you - sorry mate, for any confusion!

  • Galactic Geek
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    @athena-fortune5 said in Update feels lazy:

    @galactic-geek i meant the original post not you - sorry mate, for any confusion!

    I figured that might be the case, but felt like commenting anyways. If you want to avoid the confusion, use the @ symbol to tag someone.

  • WilbyMagicBear
    Ship Mate
    Insider
    Founder

    @athena-fortune5 said in Update feels lazy:

    @WilbyMagicBear by reading this post i can tell you're an entitled fortnite player who doesn't know how hard it it to make games with developer teams which aren't as big as Fortnite's developer team.

    That's a wee bit presumptuous of you. I don't actually play Fortnite, and you're not the first person to say that. Seems calling someone a Fortnite player is just an insult people like to use to back up bad arguments.

    A quick Google search tells me that there's roughly 200 people in Rare. That's around 32,000 manhours in the time spent on this update, assuming everyone works 40 hours a week. I'm aware that not everyone is a developer, and not every developer in Rare worked on this. That said, even one developer would have had 160 hours to make this, if they did it all by themselves. (I'm aware that's not how development works)

    Moving past the numbers, let's compare results. Gostship Games, developers of Deep Rock Galactic, took one month to create (free) update 24: Explosive Expansion. Ghostship Games is comprised of 30 people, and their budget is orders of magnitude smaller than Rare's. The expansion introduces 12 new grenades and 5 new monsters, all of which are unique and change the game. Rare, with 200 people and a massive budget took a month to add in one new asset flip and 5 reskins, none of which decently change the game, and then had the gall to pretend it was an awesome new expansion, and made a trailer and chore list to boot. This is exactly what I'd expect from the studio that spent 2 years on a single asset. It's very much clear that making Kinect games drove all the talent out of Rare.

  • Galactic Geek
    Seafarer
    Founder

    @wilbymagicbear So you're blaming the skill level of the talent on a product that released years ago? That's quite a big leap there...

    You don't think they would've hired a whole pool of new talent since then?

    The fact of the matter is this: doing things collaboratively takes time, from brainstorming, fleshing out the idea, all of the way through creation, testing, implementation, and quality assurance. And yet they still have to take time to appeal to their ravenous fans in the short term, which they consistently do.

    I like to think that what they have accomplished so far has been nothing short of a game-changer. What we have now is a far cry from what we had at release. There's no other game on the market quite like this 1, and it's gorgeous to boot!

    If you don't like the direction the game is taking, you're more than welcome to jump ship at any time. I, for one however, will not be joining you.

  • contentzilla
    Ship Mate

    You are wasting your time posting here. As you can see most of the positive trolls as I like to call them will defend Rare even as their ship is on fire and sinking. They will use silly examples and way off comparisons to justify the most outrages things. Put a post up about bugs that have been in the game since launch and they will name every game that has bugs as a reason to excuse this. Put up a post about how the load times are excessive on the Xbox console and they will blame the user for not paying extra for a external SSD. Put up a post about they are lazy and just re-skin EVERYTHING and they will say hey toy makers from the 1970s-1980s use to do this as a reason to excuse this even though we are now 50 years into the future.

  • Ironuzuka
    Master
    Insider

    Guys guys guys. Face it, the black powder stashes update didn't bring anything new to the table.
    The current one does bring a new chest and some new skins for loot... But that's it.
    They are going super slow. I do think it is due to them working really har don anniversary.
    Does it mean they won't turn the game over ? They will, as soon as numbers drop, they will. I don't mind for the moment, I will give a final review in a couple of years, since it seems that nowadays it's the current time it takes a game to mature from release.

  • Qui3tCool
    Master
    Insider

    95% of this update is cloned, renamed, recolored items and the exact same voyages that have been used, reused, and then redone all over again for over a year and a half. It is lazy, uncreative, and uninspiring except for the reaper chest. It is a clone of the Wonderous Box of Secrets.

    The reaper chest did inspire some fun for a day and a half. Now every time we sail it is back to solo sloops sailing around. We are just sailing around session after session just hauling them up on an empty sea again. What a short lived event that has fizzled out very fast.

    This game and the community that has hung around this long deserve so much better. With the rate of these kind of updates and lack of real long lasting content it will be way more doldrums than fun.

  • contentzilla
    Ship Mate

    If you really think about it the game has the same fetch and return quests for over a year now that have been re-skinned in one way shape or form. But for those that enjoy digging up their quad billionth chest and turning it in then the more power to them.

  • Dadiodude
    Ship Mate

    @athena-fortune5 said in Update feels lazy:

    @WilbyMagicBear by reading this post i can tell you're an entitled fortnite player who doesn't know how hard it it to make games with developer teams which aren't as big as Fortnite's developer team.

    Why would we care how big a developers team is? They either have enough people or they don’t. If they don’t then that’s a management issue.

    You wouldn’t happily pay for an appalling meal because the restaurant has an understaffed kitchen. This isn’t a trail run. This is a AAA title around 18 months post launch. There are no excuses.

  • Galactic Geek
    Seafarer
    Founder

    @contentzilla This isn't just a SoT thing. Most games use fetch quests. You're looking at a problem that's larger than the game itself and blaming the game itself, which doesn't make sense.

  • contentzilla
    Ship Mate

    @galactic-geek said in Update feels lazy:

    @contentzilla This isn't just a SoT thing. Most games use fetch quests. You're looking at a problem that's larger than the game itself and blaming the game itself, which doesn't make sense.

    Is it too much to ask to add something else besides fetch quests. I guess it is.

  • Galactic Geek
    Seafarer
    Founder

    @contentzilla said in Update feels lazy:

    @galactic-geek said in Update feels lazy:

    @contentzilla This isn't just a SoT thing. Most games use fetch quests. You're looking at a problem that's larger than the game itself and blaming the game itself, which doesn't make sense.

    Is it too much to ask to add something else besides fetch quests. I guess it is.

    Feel free to share your ideas.

  • SurveyorPete
    Legend
    Insider

    Mr Bear, here are key remarks from many of the recents topics you have posted on these forums:

    You want Sea of Thieves to be a different game...

    You want a PvP focussed game where all other ships are fodder for your cannons, and other players there to feel your sword. You want to be rewarded for killing, and for causing ships to sink. You wish somehow other players could be forced to turn and fight you, rather than run away. You belittle any attempt by Rare to make the game more fun for PvE players.

    Sea of Thieves isn't the game you want it to be, mate, and it never will be. Please, go find another game to play that offers what you want, or accept this game for what it is.

  • Dadiodude
    Ship Mate

    @galactic-geek said in Update feels lazy:

    @contentzilla This isn't just a SoT thing. Most games use fetch quests. You're looking at a problem that's larger than the game itself and blaming the game itself, which doesn't make sense.

    Most games do use a fetch mechanic for a lot of gameplay. However, they are usually very diverse, well scripted and often heavily disguised. In SoT no such luxury. Your millionth chest is EXACTLY the same as your first and every chest in between. It takes a certain mindset and/or mentality to think that this is OK.

  • SurveyorPete
    Legend
    Insider

    @dadiodude

    Most games do use a fetch mechanic for a lot of gameplay. However, they are usually very diverse, well scripted and often heavily disguised. In SoT no such luxury.

    ...except for Tall Tales

  • Dadiodude
    Ship Mate

    @surveyorpete said in Update feels lazy:

    @dadiodude

    Most games do use a fetch mechanic for a lot of gameplay. However, they are usually very diverse, well scripted and often heavily disguised. In SoT no such luxury.

    ...except for Tall Tales

    Granted.

  • ViperishEmu2992
    Marauder

    It's not the most inspired or original event for sure. But it's free content. Something about "gift horses" comes to mind?

  • WilbyMagicBear
    Ship Mate
    Insider
    Founder

    @viperishemu2992 said in Update feels lazy:

    It's not the most inspired or original event for sure. But it's free content. Something about "gift horses" comes to mind?

    These updates aren't free, and they're not a gift. They're a transaction. Rare is giving you content to sustain it's game as a service. In exchange, you continue playing the game, and promoting the Xbox to yourself and others. Problem is, Rare is dropping the ball. Pumping out these lazy a*s excuses for updates and telling you to commit 10s of hours to their 20 minutes of content is unacceptable, and we as consumers shouldn't tolerate this garbage. A lot of people think of AAA studios as their friends, and that's how they get away with robbing us of our time.

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