I really enjoyed the Cursed Sails event and I think Rare really listened to our feedback from the HD. I just wanted to take a brief moment to point out some of the greater aspects as well as some things they could improve on for next events.
The Positives:
Replayability
As I mentioned, Rare really listened to this issue from last time and gave us reasons to keep fighting the skeleton crews. It helped that new accommodations were available each week (at least the 3 intended weeks), but they also provided a lot of loot which gave us an excuse to keep playing even if we already unlocked the accommodation.
Separating the Challenges from the Quest Line
I liked that they separated the event into 2 parts. One part being the challenge revolving around the central element of the event, and the other part was the story explaining the event. This way people got to operate at their own pace. I'm usually a solo player, so it allowed me to explore the story on my own and then hop onto other crews for the big fights.
The Quest Line
I'm traditionally a single player kind of guy so I need story to keep my interest in games. I have some qualms with the past couple quest lines, but to focus on the good I thought the story arc for Wanda/WarSmith was really interesting and made me care about her and now her as a Skeleton Lord.
The Skeleton Ships
I really enjoyed fighting the skeleton ships. They had some quirks, like the weird turning radiuses, but I don't really have an issue with that. I know I'll get some flack for saying this, but they are "Cursed Sails", they shouldn't be moving at all given how tattered the sails are. That aside, they had a really neat aesthetic and the cursed cannonballs gave each fleet an interesting twist.
Alliances
Some people have their criticisms of the alliance system, and maybe they have a point, but overall I appreciate the alliance system and don't have any strong feelings toward changing them. Alliances are necessary for teaming up for future events and was just a matter of time before seeing them. I like that they still reward the other crews even if they're not the ones turning in the treasure, but still provide a reason to back stab.
The Negatives:
Time Zones
To be honest, given the nature of my profession this wasn't an issue for me, but I understand why other people were upset that the region times may have prevented them from unlocking some accommodations. I think some of the posts could have been a little more constructive rather than angry, but again, I understand.
Lack of Variety in Story Line
I did overall enjoy the story behind the event, but I hope in the future they could make the story more in depth with more variety to the activities. When they said that each week there'd be more to do during the event, I hoped that included more additions to the story as well, but alas that wasn't the case. I understand that there's more reason to focus on the challenges since that has a broader appeal and is replayable, but it would be nice to expand on the stories, or at the very least add more variety to the gameplay. It gets old just sailing from island to island reading the same journals. There should be a greater variety of puzzle solving and activities.
Lack of Conclusive Ending
Even if they didn't expand on the story line more, there still should have had a more conclusive and climactic ending. I was disappointed that the fight leading up to WarSmith was the same old fleet fight and that she was just another captain on just another skeleton ship. Sure, she had the WarSmith name and Wanda's identifiable hair, but that's it. I know that since this is a persistent world they can't stop for cut scenes and have NPC's moving around, but there are still ways they could have had animated and cinematic moments.
It would have been neat if WarSmith's shipped looked different with a more visible bridge so you could see her better. Her ship could have emerged with her cackling and she could have been pointing her sword at the closest ships making intimidating statements. Storm clouds could form over the battle zone with roars of thunder as you fought. When you board her ship she should fight you and say a variety of lines like "I'll destroy the outposts" or "The Sea of Thieves is mine" (anything, even if it's generic). When you sink her ship she shouldn't just explode like the other skeletons. Instead, she would go down with the ship raising her fist in defiance pledging she'll be back. This would have made the fight more fulfilling and conclusive for the event. I know this is just their 2nd event, and they probably didn't have as much time for this as the next upcoming events, but these are ways they could have improved the experience.
So these were just my thoughts on the event. Overall I thought it was great and any critics are more as suggestions and hopes for Rare for future event (if they ever pay attention to this). What did you guys think of this event? What stood out to you as good and bad moments?
