What is the "End Game"?

  • I am confused by the term End Game. People will talk about "the game just beginning when you get to Pirate Legend"; while others will talk about there being no "End Game" when you get there.

    Which is it? The beginning or the end?

    The term, of course, comes from Chess. The "end game" there is when there are only a few pieces left on the board and there is just a matter of time before one player checkmates the other, or a stalemate occurs. And then... the game will END.

    It also makes sense in something like Fallout. You have a main quest, and side quests, and eventually you do them all. Then, you may continue to build your settlements, and do all the fetch / kill "radiant" quests you want; but the main game is over. Most people will move on to another game.

    To me, Sea of Thieves is different. It is "game as service"... An open-world, open-ended, multi-player adventure. It is, I am sure, Rare's hope that the game will grow and evolve and keep players excited and active for months; or even years. It is a game potentially with no end.

    It is not a game you are meant to "finish". It is as much a toy, like a box of Lego, than it is a game.

    I am not saying there should not be more to do. And more for PLs to do. And, ultimately, more for "Athena Legends" to do. But, assuming that all comes in time, why talk about an "End Game" in a game that is endless?

    POSTSCRIPT

    This is not meant to be a discussion about what needs to be added to Sea of Thieves. It is more a philosophical question of how people think about games like this, why they play them, and when the game ends for them.

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  • I agree. Im almost pirate legend and i think it will b a while b4 i stop pirating.

  • @surveyorpete I don't think there really is an endgame. Of course there are many people that consider Pirate Legend the endgame. But with so many more events and items coming to the game it seems that there will be a lot to do after hitting legend.

  • @surveyorpete when i hit legend i had way more fun because i didnt have a definite thing to do now i just do whatever on occasion ill grind athenas but for the most part i just do whatever join interesting looking LFGs

  • I just hit Athena 10 last Friday, I guess End Game for me is doing Fort Hoping and sinking everything that I come accross or joining random games and teaching newbies how to play.

    End Game is what you want it to be once you are free from any fear of loosing loot since you have maxed everything.

    I know for some End Game is farming achievements but I couldn't be bothered with that.

  • @surveyorpete

    I am a completionist myself. That goes for both multiplayer and singleplayer games. I do everything there is to do, work towards an ending. Once I get there, I stop.

    Now, that might sound impossible with multiplayer games, because they are "endless", but it's really not. Take Team Fortress 2 for instance. In that game, the goal is to get all the achievements, max out your casual level, max out your competitive level, and finish all the contracts. That's the "endgame."

    Fortnite Battle Royale? Get to level 100, get to Tier 100, complete all the challenges, before the season ends.

    That's what people refer to when they talk about "endgame." A place you get to where you have done everything, beat everything and accomplished all there is to do. Everything is maxed out, terminado, completed. And that's what I really want to see in Sea of Thieves more than anything else. A proper progression system, that outlines exactly what you are going for.

    Hope that's insightful!

  • Each session is a new game it ends when you log off.. its a adventure..

    There is nothing to win or loose.

    There are commendations and pirate legend to unlock some cosmetics but there are no stats or end of match things.

  • @surveyorpete

    Like @KescarteDJ I too am a completionist. I agree with much of what said ,but would like to go a bit futher.

    I can see your confusion on the term "End Game" as it applies to this game. You are correct when you stat the term derives from Chess. It is the state in which your tatical preperations are tested to reach the goal. In Rpgs like fall out the End Game is What your Character can do at Max Level as a test of you build. This is in relation to things like Raids in destiny were you grind to be able to complete them and then your in the Meta game changihg build and trying new things to see whats more effective as well as building teams.

    In SoT the game Philoshy was marketed as creating your own story to pirate legend and once you hit PL it was expected you would have game system that would disquish you from other players. This however fell short. With the lack of a social hub a limited player interaction there really nothing rewarding social about being a PL. Then you get access to the hideout which is cool except it serves no real purpose other then to buy 1 new quest which is just a combo of the 3 you done already so nothing new and some more cosmetics. Really it's more of the same. An endless grind for cosmetics which means nothing.

    I always saw End Game Mechnically as PvP as the quickest way to grind in PvE so PvP is what you do after the grind. The grind is there for ghe explict purpose to to incentivize players to collect loot for others to steal. However this also kind of back fired as they put way to much enfices on collecting loot from PvE that it deligitimzed the practice of PvP theift not only that but the loot itself became valuless to most PvPer's as Gold and Rep offers nothing to PvP. Cosmetics only work as a reward if it can serve as proof of an accomplishment. Since non of the cosmetics require you to participate in any kind of PvP it has no value as a PvP reward.

    So some are correct yo say that the End Game is what ever you want it to be just means this game doesn't give you an End Goal.

    To me i wanted the End Goal for me to Captain My own ship which i can uniquly customize and where i can build my own private hideout to amass large amount of treasures and seek out grand challanges like dungeons or just hunt other ships. To spread my name far and wide across the SOT where my fans would Envy me and my enermies would fear me all to hopefull have me and my crew namess etched into the very game as an easter egg for all to find and learn my tale of legend.

    Thay my friend is what i mean by End Game. It is true progression. As you see the dev focused so much on the jounery they forgot that with out an True End Goal the journey is just running in circles. No one like spinning around in circles?

  • @enf0rcer @KescarteDJ
    Good read there, and I agree with what you both said. Though, I am not a completionist unless it is a Batman game.

    To add to your point,
    when Minecraft first released there was no end. The players wanted one so Mojang, built an ender portal to take us to The End where we fought the Ender Dragon. Once we defeated the dragon, credits rolled and we could continue playing. Since then the updates keep coming out, and my kids have yet to cease playing. (I just like that they truly built The End for their playerbase; it makes me laugh)

    May Sea of Thieves find their Ender Dragon, and may the players continue to set sail.

  • Idk... I think we need more stuff for PL
    There are lot of PL... They stop to add things for not PL
    Would like to see something like capitancy or New weapons for PL

  • @enf0rcer

    Well said!

  • SOT is a strange game...It is a game with a "Soul" ...i can't explain ( * like usual, moron) but when i played the first Alpha , two years ago, i wouldn't expect to play this game two years later. i had only one game franchise that hooked me for years and that was the Gears of War series and especially the Horde mode in that game...That's where i learned that co-operation is more fun than years after years trying to be the best in games like Call of Duty or Rainbow Six and sortalike games...
    Although Rare added alot to the cooperative character of this game , it delivered a lot of deeper emotions too...First the amazement of Acceptance by the Greats of this Forum. You cannot comprehend what it did to me to finally be able to speak ,with my toecurling accent for some , and not being thrashed for it...The game and more importantly , the philosophy behind it , made that i just "loved " this game. i thought about it night and day , wrote silly stories , something i never dared to do .So in a way this game had altered me ...When the levels were introduced , i didn't cared about them , i loved to enjoy the company i sailed with and if we didn't levelled up at all , i didn't care , i just wanted to have fun, silly childish humour and a talk...

    Eventually Pirate Legend came along , and i became one of the many, i feared that i would become saturated with SOT , but the contrary has been the truth...Becoming Pirate Legend ( * You are not a Pirate Legend , yokel , you are a Legendary Dumbo, fool) meant "freedom" for me, i didn't had to care for any level anymore and i don't even care for Pirate Legend Levels...All this striving for something became wiped of the table , i play this game pure for fun and...for something else...i've grown with this game and just like Rare , i have forgotten how hard it must be for a brand new Pirate to come to this Sea that is filled to the top with experienced players. The fact that you can steal hard earned treasure and therefor , unknowingly, may destroy a person's love for this game became very aware in my mind...The "i only defend " style became a mental obligation...A trained eye in spotting new people or Pirates that just wanted to play on their own woke up in me. And slowly but certaintly i joined random crews , together with my Great Friend Mr J4dio, to goof around, and entertain people in a more improvising way...

    And so we met a lot of new Pirates , wich triggered the latest streak of emotions: The Joy to pass through our experience to New Pirates that don't mind to learn a few things...The egocentric days where only the "best of the best" counted or had a voice came to an end in this Masterpiece of a Game...My conscience became awoken with the fact that i could help people to fall in love with this game...Sometimes it works and that shot of emotions through my Heart can really move mountains of Madness but if i fail , and fail to connect with a person, then i really feel low , because i really do try that people are Accepted in the way that i was once Accepted... You can call me a zealot ( * Pffft , is that all that they may call you ...plonker...Oi, Pirates , knock yerself out on this one ,call him every name from the Dirt Dictionary , he doesn't mind, he probably doesn't understand it anyhow...Freakin moron, hihihihihiii) but i really get a good feeling if i hear people laugh or hear the " Aah, i didn't knew that " or sortalike comments...

    This game keeps evolving in more ways than just DLC or content , but maybe you have to be a little bit older , because we don't follow the world anymore, we stand aside and think twice about things compared with our younger days...This game has a Soul, a Soul that can't die , a Soul that doesn't seem to bore me , A Soul that pushes me forward in an attempt to stay in touch with people before an inner darkness would isolate me again...

  • @d-jaguar

    That's a great point! That's exactly what Sea of Thieves needs. An Ender Dragon with a mighty reward, and then of course allows everyone to still play afterwards.

  • @clumsy-george said in What is the "End Game"?:

    SOT is a strange game...It is a game with a "Soul" ...i can't explain ( * like usual, moron) but when i played the first Alpha , two years ago, i wouldn't expect to play this game two years later. i had only one game franchise that hooked me for years and that was the Gears of War series and especially the Horde mode in that game...That's where i learned that co-operation is more fun than years after years trying to be the best in games like Call of Duty or Rainbow Six and sortalike games...
    Although Rare added alot to the cooperative character of this game , it delivered a lot of deeper emotions too...First the amazement of Acceptance by the Greats of this Forum. You cannot comprehend what it did to me to finally be able to speak ,with my toecurling accent for some , and not being thrashed for it...The game and more importantly , the philosophy behind it , made that i just "loved " this game. i thought about it night and day , wrote silly stories , something i never dared to do .So in a way this game had altered me ...When the levels were introduced , i didn't cared about them , i loved to enjoy the company i sailed with and if we didn't levelled up at all , i didn't care , i just wanted to have fun, silly childish humour and a talk...

    Eventually Pirate Legend came along , and i became one of the many, i feared that i would become saturated with SOT , but the contrary has been the truth...Becoming Pirate Legend ( * You are not a Pirate Legend , yokel , you are a Legendary Dumbo, fool) meant "freedom" for me, i didn't had to care for any level anymore and i don't even care for Pirate Legend Levels...All this striving for something became wiped of the table , i play this game pure for fun and...for something else...i've grown with this game and just like Rare , i have forgotten how hard it must be for a brand new Pirate to come to this Sea that is filled to the top with experienced players. The fact that you can steal hard earned treasure and therefor , unknowingly, may destroy a person's love for this game became very aware in my mind...The "i only defend " style became a mental obligation...A trained eye in spotting new people or Pirates that just wanted to play on their own woke up in me. And slowly but certaintly i joined random crews , together with my Great Friend Mr J4dio, to goof around, and entertain people in a more improvising way...

    And so we met a lot of new Pirates , wich triggered the latest streak of emotions: The Joy to pass through our experience to New Pirates that don't mind to learn a few things...The egocentric days where only the "best of the best" counted or had a voice came to an end in this Masterpiece of a Game...My conscience became awoken with the fact that i could help people to fall in love with this game...Sometimes it works and that shot of emotions through my Heart can really move mountains of Madness but if i fail , and fail to connect with a person, then i really feel low , because i really do try that people are Accepted in the way that i was once Accepted... You can call me a zealot ( * Pffft , is that all that they may call you ...plonker...Oi, Pirates , knock yerself out on this one ,call him every name from the Dirt Dictionary , he doesn't mind, he probably doesn't understand it anyhow...Freakin moron, hihihihihiii) but i really get a good feeling if i hear people laugh or hear the " Aah, i didn't knew that " or sortalike comments...

    This game keeps evolving in more ways than just DLC or content , but maybe you have to be a little bit older , because we don't follow the world anymore, we stand aside and think twice about things compared with our younger days...This game has a Soul, a Soul that can't die , a Soul that doesn't seem to bore me , A Soul that pushes me forward in an attempt to stay in touch with people before an inner darkness would isolate me again...

    Another beautfully written treasure you made there. You truly are a Legend of words. You have Masterfully expained what makes this game so special and why i care so much about it.

    I to had these feeling as this game provided me with an experience that no game since had actually could deliver. This is due to the games very foundation and core concept. It allowed me to meet new people and bond with them as they accepted me for who i was. I to have a speech impediment i find that everyone shows off there flaws as it doesn't matter in this game. It only matters if we can support each other to overcome those flaws in order to progress on our voyage.

    However this does not stop me from being critical of this game as i feel it has so much more to offer and can be much better. When it lanched it was unfinshed and a fraction of what it could be. It took them almost a year just to get all the Forts working. Not to mention the End Game content that was promised to us in the Captaincy Update that has now been put on hold till further notice. The Core gamplay is great except for the bugs the base game mechnics are fun. There just not much more to it. Also this game inherently requires alot of time comitment to have these special moments as the game heavly relies on Ramdomness. Most people really derive there opinion on frist impressions but as a player in this game you have to learn and except the fact do to the Randomness a Good Frist Impression is not garrented. The game is different every time you start.

    Though with a proper EnD Game you can craft an Experiance everyone can have and share that is not subjected to that randomness.

    I this game we all craft our stories, to me your a legend on this forum with your post and i respect and admire them and your unique POV. It's a shame though we never met on the sea's. Unfortunately there no way to share our stories in-game. I wish they were ways to do that. Cause what good is a story if it can't be told? Am i right?

  • @enf0rcer said in What is the "End Game"?:

    To me i wanted the End Goal for me to Captain My own ship which i can uniquly customize and where i can build my own private hideout to amass large amount of treasures and seek out grand challanges like dungeons or just hunt other ships. To spread my name far and wide across the SOT where my fans would Envy me and my enermies would fear me all to hopefull have me and my crew namess etched into the very game as an easter egg for all to find and learn my tale of legend.

    Sounds like the perfect end game for any Pirate Legend. Would greatly like this as well. However, it would not be the end of the story. There would still be a way for the story and legend to continue. Eventually everyone's story becomes myths that gradually seep into the all the stories being told and live on forever as lore of the sea.

  • My end game is to not have an end game, to always stay motivated.
    To avoid burnout.

    In this way, SoT is like a snake with it's tail in its mouth, feeding on its self.

    Ooh, that'll be the insignia on my sails and banner, someday.

  • @barnabas-seadog said in What is the "End Game"?:

    My end game is to not have an end game, to always stay motivated.
    To avoid burnout.

    In this way, SoT is like a snake with it's tail in its mouth, feeding on its self.

    Ooh, that'll be the insignia on my sails and banner, someday.

    Captain Falcore would join you.
    https://mobile.twitter.com/Captain_Falcore/photo

  • @surveyorpete

    I agree with you about Sea of Thieves, I don't think there is an end game or at least I hope that, in the far off distant future when they are thinking about turning off the servers one last time, they'll allow us a concluding adventure, to cross the t's and dot the i's.

    I only really play single player adventures for the 'end game', like a book, you reach the end of the story eventually. Even then, with things like mods, you can extend the life and enjoyment without having to repeat content.

    With multiplayer games, I've often kept playing the game because of the friends I've made and the adventures we still have, despite perhaps reaching max level and for me it's about that experience, rather than completing everything. Games are getting good at keeping you around though, with additional dlc and more levels, or other side activities to keep you engaged.

    I get bored of repetitive content though, there has to be a certain breadth and depth to keep me interested and hopefully this is what we'll continue to see with Sea of Thieves. The really valuable thing about this game, is the fact you can leave it for a few weeks and explore other shores, then pick up right where you left off :)

  • @mrschucktowne said in What is the "End Game"?:

    I agree. Im almost pirate legend and i think it will b a while b4 i stop pirating.

    agreed. hit PL in July and I've been playing every day since. Game is just addictive and I can approach each session uniquely. some nights I just meander about doing whatever comes my way and others I have a specific objective such as a commendation or some pvp skullduggery.

  • @surveyorpete The term:
    “The game only begins when you reach PL”

    Was actually a marketing slogan used by the developers on the lead up to launch, teasing about the mysterious Athena’s fortune.

    Needless to say there was a fair bit of controversy when people finally got there and realised it was the same 3 missions again lol.

  • There is no true end game.. The devs never had enough content... So until they add more content there is no end game just... a whole lot of nothing

  • There's no end game. The only "progression" you have is unlocking legendary and athena skins. Though it doesn't really matter, since it all comes down to taste.

    However, once you become a legend, the game does feel a bit different. I don't worry about losing chests or fighting anymore.
    This is probably why legends pvp more. You don't have anything to lose besides the athena chest.

  • @katttruewalker said in What is the "End Game"?:

    @surveyorpete

    I agree with you about Sea of Thieves, I don't think there is an end game or at least I hope that, in the far off distant future when they are thinking about turning off the servers one last time, they'll allow us a concluding adventure, to cross the t's and dot the i's.

    I only really play single player adventures for the 'end game', like a book, you reach the end of the story eventually. Even then, with things like mods, you can extend the life and enjoyment without having to repeat content.

    With multiplayer games, I've often kept playing the game because of the friends I've made and the adventures we still have, despite perhaps reaching max level and for me it's about that experience, rather than completing everything. Games are getting good at keeping you around though, with additional dlc and more levels, or other side activities to keep you engaged.

    I get bored of repetitive content though, there has to be a certain breadth and depth to keep me interested and hopefully this is what we'll continue to see with Sea of Thieves. The really valuable thing about this game, is the fact you can leave it for a few weeks and explore other shores, then pick up right where you left off :)
    I agree with you whole heartedly. This game is boring in the sense that it gets repetitive.ly annoying. But once I log out, I slowly start craving this game addictively. I like to think of this game like going out fishing or sailing. Fishing and sailing takes a while and at the end of the day your just going crazy to get back home and rest. But once you make it home, you slowly start missing the feeling of being out at sea throwing some bait and catching fish.

  • In my opinion the "End Game" is really becoming a legend then grinding Athena's ranks and the rest of the commendations. I think once you hit legend though the game is overall more fun. I hope they add a lot more things to do as a legend though to keep things interesting. Even a new trading company or faction for legend would be cool to see.

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