So I hear there's some new and dangerous statues in the water...

  • After spending the evening voyaging, swimming, and slashing...I have to wonder...why?
    I get the "REAL" why is because Rare want's us to have something new to challenge us about every couple of weeks. This week however made me realize what a missed opportunity the Bilge Rat Adventures have been.

    First Event: Skull Thrones, by favorite, but I never asked why our pirates wanted to sit on these make-shift thrones. Pirates are an egotistical lot and I assumed the challenge was born over some empty barrels of grog and too much bravado.

    Second Event: Exploding Skelly's to me wasn't so much of an event as it was a feature. Those dumb dead skelly's finally took a step forward through Darwinism and figured out how to pick up, carry and light the plentiful barrels of nitroglycerine that can be found all over the seas.

    Which brings us to the Sunken Curse...Where's the lore? What's the curse? How are we suddenly aware of and wholly focused on eliminating underwater mermaid statues?

    I know Rare has said that building out the lore will be a focus of the devs going forward, and I also know that they are working incredibly h*****n some rather ambitious updates to a very new game. I just can't help but feel that even if it were textual and not animated this event would have greatly benefited from some story telling and theatrics.

  • 34
    Posts
    18.4k
    Views
  • Yeah so far this feels very random.

  • I also feel this event is a bit off. The statues are bad they tell us, but what will happen if we don't smash them? As we probably will stop doing in a few weeks.

  • This is just speculation but...

    We're doing thos obviously because the bilge rats tell us to. They give special coin and loot for doing this so yeah that's why we pirates do this. Besides poking statues is fun right??? No? Well let's continue.

    See in my headcannon these statues are what's keeping captain (insert really cool skeleton captain name) and his armada of skeleton ships under the waves. Now after destroying enough statues we're going to see a change. The curse will be partially lifted and captain (insert really cool skeleton captain name) will be able to emerge with his armada and attack us during the cursed sails.

    Might also be something way better then this..... I'm not accepting wose... :-P

  • @bo05ter It does feel very random. Maybe this is somehow going to tie in to Cursed Sails? Maybe Merfolk are the ones bringing Skellie ships in to the Sea Of Thieves?

    You're right though, as it stands from a story telling point of view, there's not much to go on...

  • Yeah, the lack of lore is irritating at times. It's almost like every update has great potential and hype, but falls flat on its face when added to the game. Lots of missed opportunities with the game's lore.

    Bit of a train wreck if you ask me.

  • It all could have led in nicely really...

    Skeleton Thrones have randomly started appearing on islands and we don't know why - can you go and sit on them for us and investigate along with our fellow Bilge Rats to try and find out more?

    It's getting weirder out there now... our Bilge Rat crews have started to spot Skeletons walking around with powder kegs! Please can you help us rid the islands of these cursed creatures?

    We have spotted some mermaid statues emanating a strange sound and force that seems to be painful... We are concerned that they may have something to do with the unusual skeleton activity we have seen recently...

    THEN...

    Cursed Sails:

    All our best efforts were for naught - the Skeleton Fleet has arisen from the depths, this clearly was what we saw foreshadowed in our Bilge Rat adventures of late! Quick Captains! Assemble your crews and down this new threat!

  • @sshteeve I'm itching to add to the lore, I have an image in my head of an impending battle between skeleton lords and the mermaids, and it was the mermaids who first created the Devil's Shroud to limit the influence of the Skeleton Lords perhaps, or it was they who first cursed them so that it would put off new pirates from exploring the region and the Devil's Shroud came later... as an extra barrier to protect the mermaids civilisation. We'll probably have to wait for the novel to find out, but I am very much hoping it does all fit together as a whole.

  • I spoke to Duke about the cursed statues and such but I'm a little lost on just where and how to find them. A little clue in the direction of an island would be nice so I don't spend the entire night wandering around. I like a little direction, even if it's just a vague compass heading.

    Or did I miss something important in all the various dialogues Duke gives us?

  • They should release videos like they did for Merrick and the one they had at E3 for cursed sails.

    Thise videos are great just need more of them

  • @kiethblacklion Ahoy matey!

    It's not clear... but there are loads of them out there... pretty much every island and reef has them... just listen out for an audio cue and take a dive. You can actually hear it on the beaches of the island or by just sailing around the islands one by one.

  • @musicmee said in So I hear there's some new and dangerous statues in the water...:

    @kiethblacklion Ahoy matey!

    It's not clear... but there are loads of them out there... pretty much every island and reef has them... just listen out for an audio cue and take a dive. You can actually hear it on the beaches of the island or by just sailing around the islands one by one.

    Appreciate the info.

  • when you go by the islands some are really shallow and then i have found some that are like 150 yards off the shoreline..lol Just listen for what i can best describe as strange "didgeridoo" music and you'll find one. On some of the larger islands there seems to be three (example cresent ilse had two red and one blue yesterday) but the locations and quantity are still totally randomized.

  • What if our foolish pirates are meddling with ancient Magic’s & wards we no longer know of. Ancient secrets lost to the waves. What if after destroying the wards our ancestors left behind. These fearsome & terrible sea sirens are released back into the waters calling many of brave pirates to a watery grave. I can only hope Duke & the Bilge Rats aren’t leading us astray.

  • @admiral-greyjoy Ooooooooooh good point matey!

    Maybe soon we will need the assistance of a shaman at the potion shop to really rid the Sea of Thieves of the curse?

  • @isaac-occam said in So I hear there's some new and dangerous statues in the water...:

    I also feel this event is a bit off. The statues are bad they tell us, but what will happen if we don't smash them? As we probably will stop doing in a few weeks.

    They said before that new mechanics will always stay in the game. This is a new mechanic. What will happen is that skeleton waves will keep respawning until you destroyed all statues around islands.

  • Sea of Thieves actually has an incredible amount of lore hidden in plain sight. The cave paintings on the islands tie them all together and this even even has an NPC that behaves very strangely (The Blacksmith formerly called Wanda at Golden Sands Outpost)

    You see if you look at her from outside the shop, she acts oddly, looking at her bandaged arm. And if you enter, she hides it. Also a possible reference to the 80's movie "A Fish Called Wanda" meaning she is affected by some sort of merfolk curse.

    A youtuber by the name of Falcore Gaming as fleshed out a lot of interesting speculation on the lore of Sea of Thieves and I highly recommend his channel. This game is a lot deeper than people seem to think and I've seen new cave paintings added in recent patches. It seems we are spoiled by in your face content and no one wants to talk to NPCs for clues or explore anymore. Rare has proven themselves masters of nuance and it's only got me more excited for things to come!

  • The problem I have with the thrones is when they hinted at them during the roapmap and other earlier videos they made it sound like skeleton thrones where cool skeleton captains watched over what they felt was theirs...but in the end it was some drunk pirates who built chairs. A bit of a fizzle.

    I do wish the lore was utilized more. The only thing I can think of in regards to smashing statues is using the pirate from the cursed sails/forgotten shores trailer/teaser/whatever it was video. He gave zero in the why or what. He just wanted paid.

    As do we all.

  • I agree that the thrones doesn’t seem to make much sense but to me the skellies felt like bounty hunting and removing a threat.

    The Merfolk addition seems the most connected. Merfolk turn humans into Merfolk by cursing them and this transition happens in stages. The mermaids we see to return to our ships are mid transition and are trying to help us not fall prey to what they already have. Actual full-fledged Merfolk look like the alien statues. The statues hurt us because that is beginning the process of turning us into Merfolk.

    Similar to the skellies, a new threat has emerged against the pirates and the bilge rats reward us for keepin it at bay.

    Bilge rats are basically the dunedain of sea of thieves. Duke is strider. You are sam.

  • I know SoT has breadcrumbs all over the place of potential story lines that can be flushed out, and there are many YT's who will happily tell you they've cracked the hyrogliphic code and can now decipher exactly what it all means but the fact of the matter is, the story to my knowledge has yet to be written...so until Rare decides to give the symboloy meaning, we simply don't know.

    This event from a roleplay/character perspective is way out of left field. I am sure in hindsight at some point this event will be referenced... but the opportunity to start trailing breadcrumbs and really get the buzz as to what the next piece of the puzzle could be was missed. I hope they don't let that happen again.

    #LOST #WTFisBLACKSMOKE #POLARBEARS?

  • @bo05ter there’s a literal book that has lore in it. While I’m not saying you’re totally wrong about ppl explaining things that might not be true the Merfolk information is literally in a SoT book and in game pictures. We know they used to be pirates and the curse of the drowned turns them to Merfolk, we know there are at least three stages of the transformation, they are centered primarily around golden sands. This is information we have been provided.

  • @katttruewalker we want more lore!

  • @roughleech03117 said in So I hear there's some new and dangerous statues in the water...:

    @katttruewalker we want more lore!

    We do!!!

  • @starspangledsi

    I know, I ordered a Dev autographed copy, so I guess I exaggerated somewhat when I said the story hadn’t been written, but it’s certainly high level overview.

    However I don’t think players of the game should have to order a companion book to have the same level of knowledgeable and storytelling those that purchased the book got. The book was always meant to be a preview/enrichment not a necessary accessory.

    Also correct me if I’m wrong and missed it, but know where in the book does it explain the Pirates on the SoT team up with the bilge rats every month of July, 18th year of the century to hunt statues underwater...because if so, I missed that chapter.

    I love Rare and I’m not picking on them or any for that matter, I just hope if they read our posts they’ll maybe increase the priority of lore going forward.

  • @bo05ter I agree I would like more explanation and more lore. I think we agree I jus wanted to point out it’s not tooootally out of left field, although it is not much explained. I think me and you both would like more lore and campaign story 🤙🏻

  • What are the statues and where do they come from? Is there lore online anywhere we can read? Duke has little info other than you gotta destroy them.

  • @starspangledsi Exactly, and I have the utmost faith in this studio, because I know they are listening and reacting to feedback. The lore will be there when they can assign enough resources to it.

  • We are doing all of these things because Duke tell’s us it’s there. Because we are doing these things…. finding thrones, spotting more powerful skeletons, destroying cursed statues (are they cursed or are they wards?) we are enabling a yet unknown force to break free, and just a wild guess, I think we will see that force with the release of the cursed sails (*let’s say the force’s name is the same).

    So Duke is not who he say’s he is…. just a simple Bilge Rat my @#$. He is the ambassador (or at least a representative) of *the cursed sails and he cant release them on his own. He is been thwarted by the mermaids. They have put up a magical barrier and because we don’t know better we are now destroying the things that are keeping us save.

    But do I know these things for sure… no! As I understand more lore is coming our way. And I for one don’t mind learning little by little. I didn’t know everything about the village I am living in for the past 27 years the moment I moved there, I learned little by little. There is no book of Sea of Thieves (title needs work), we are writing the d#$% thing as we speak… the game is still very young.

    Yes Rare is delivering content so there must be a story behind it, but I for one don’t mind learning about the lore along the way. So for my opinion, if that’s their angle I’m fine with it.

    What I didn’t like though, was the fact that I had to dive into youtube to find out how to find these statues. English is not my native langue’s if you where wondering, and those English riddles, which this game has a lot of, are hard to figure out from time to time. Don’t get me wrong though, I love the pirate riddle speaking way of talking, but it would be nice if Duke would have a book “this is what we know so far” or something which I could buy and read on board of Leaky Linda on my on pace. And these pointers may be written in riddle again… but there was nothing that got me in the right direction.

    So a book (or logbook/log/ship’s log, or captain’s log 😉) which holds the known lore would be awesome. It could also add a new explorer mechanic to the game.

    But yeah, more lore would be awesome

  • They dont care for Lore. They even took out the campaigns..

  • @x1-two said in So I hear there's some new and dangerous statues in the water...:

    @isaac-occam said in So I hear there's some new and dangerous statues in the water...:
    They said before that new mechanics will always stay in the game. This is a new mechanic. What will happen is that skeleton waves will keep respawning until you destroyed all statues around islands.

    That is an intriguing theory. Have you done any experiments to confirm or disprove it?

  • @bo05ter I could agree with randomness, but isn’t randomness what would keep these fornightly events fresh? The developers would probably be learning from these events that pirates find lacklustre; so that means even better fortnightly events in the future (I wouldn’t worry if I was anyone).

    (My favourite event so far is the gunpowder skellies! IMO)

  • @axewgamer73 I have no idea I don't play Fortnite...Trash LOL

  • @isaac-occam said in So I hear there's some new and dangerous statues in the water...:

    @x1-two said in So I hear there's some new and dangerous statues in the water...:

    @isaac-occam said in So I hear there's some new and dangerous statues in the water...:
    They said before that new mechanics will always stay in the game. This is a new mechanic. What will happen is that skeleton waves will keep respawning until you destroyed all statues around islands.

    That is an intriguing theory. Have you done any experiments to confirm or disprove it?

    I cant personally confirm it but it does seem likely. I have noticed skeleton spawns have increased noticeably.

  • @alphacenturion2 Yea I also think the skellies pop up more often than before, but I usually leave the island after I bust the statues so I wouldn't know if the statues are related to skelly spawns. But I hope so that would give the right motivation to seek out statues after the event.

34
Posts
18.4k
Views
10 out of 34