One thing that's coming up a lot is whether or not there should be safe havens in the game. The discussion has been heated, and I believe no one found a "good" way to make everyone happy. Well I had an idea, and wanted to have some feedback.
What if there was no conventional matchmaking like what we saw in the alpha? Instead of spawning your character directly in a crew with about 3 other people, you would be spawned on an outpost with multiple other pirates that don't yet have a crew. There, you could drink with them, socialize with them (Playing games in the inn, if these ever become a reality), even fence with them. Once the other crew is happy with the kind of player you are, they can "hire" you. You're now part of the crew!
Pros :
- This puts more emphasis on the social aspect of the game, which appears to be an important point for the devs
- This changes the outposts from their current dead state, that place you go to drop your chests and leave asap, to a lively location with potential allies.
- This also reinforces the idea of pirate legends. Imagine wandering on an outpost and seeing another player with legendary titles/clothes. Wouldn't you want to hire them before the others?
- People can still fight and kill each others while in outposts. You can still be the guy who starts a huge fight, where everyone fights but no one is sure why... However, since people are also there to socialize and hire crewmembers, I believe that the majority of players will enforce peace. This can create highly interesting social interactions!
- The outposts could become much more : You're looking for pigs and chickens, but stumbled upon a rare treasure chest? Why not try to trade it at an outpost? Be prepared, because the deal might not go the way you think, when you trade with thieves...
Cons :
- Shy players, or those who don't speak the common language of the game, might have more trouble finding a group
- Players who just want to hop in for a quick treasure hunt will probably have to do so alone
These two issues could be fixed by having an in-game billboard to browse other pirates more easily, but would still require people to be on the outpost and make it a living place.
- Another Con : Stacking more players on outposts will make it harder to go and drop treasures. However, the matchmaking system could dynamically change which outpost is used as time goes by. This would ensure the possibility for other pirates to still easily find "empty" outposts to drop their loot.
Unknowns :
- We don't know how many concurrent players Rare intends to have on a server. Fewer players might be a problem for this system.
In conclusion, I believe this would be much more fitting to the Sea of Thieves game : A social game, in which almost nothing is done via menus, should not form its teams with a cold matchmaking system. Give me your thoughts!
No safe zones! - Sea of Thieves
