To the Rare Development Team,
I am writing this message with a heavy heart, as a pirate who has sailed the Sea of Thieves almost daily since its launch nearly seven years ago. I have defended this game, celebrated its evolutions, and convinced countless friends to join me in this unique adventure. Today, however, my loyalty and passion are faltering, and I feel like you are pushing me away.
I am aware of your recent decision to review your banning policies, perhaps with the intention of giving a "second chance." Whatever the goal was, the practical result that we, the players, are experiencing on the servers has been catastrophic and is destroying the game experience.
In the last few days, especially yesterday and today, the cheater situation has escalated to a level I have never seen before. This is no longer about the occasional encounter with an unfair player; it is an invasion. Just today, I was forced to leave a server where a single cheater was instantly teleporting from ship to ship, slaughtering every single player across the entire map. There was no way to run, no way to fight, and no way to simply play the game. My session, and everyone else's, was ruined by a single individual acting with total impunity.
This was not an isolated incident. This is the new, frustrating normal.
The problem is that the impact of these cheaters is no longer confined to PvP. Their toxic presence is ruining every single activity on the Adventure servers. How can we even think of completing a World Event, a Tall Tale, a voyage, or simply enjoy exploring when the entire server is held hostage by a cheater who can nullify hours of progress in an instant? If this is the situation for those trying to enjoy the PvE aspects of the game, one can only imagine the disaster unfolding in PvP, which is meant to be a test of skill, not dishonesty.
After nearly seven years of adventures, treasures, and memorable battles, seeing the game I love reduced to this state is disheartening. It no longer feels like a pirate world of danger and opportunity, but rather a cheaters' playground where honest players are just waiting victims.
Many of my friends and fellow crewmates have already abandoned ship, tired of this unfair fight. I stayed, always hoping you would take serious and definitive action. Instead, things only seem to be getting worse.
I implore you, on behalf of all the veteran players who have invested thousands of hours into the world you created: acknowledge the severity of this crisis. Your current measures are not enough. We need a more robust anti-cheat system, hardware bans, stricter restrictions for new accounts, and above all, the assurance that your priority is to protect the community that made Sea of Thieves a success.
I don't want to stop playing, but I cannot continue to invest my time and energy in such a relentlessly frustrating experience. I am asking you to act, and to act quickly, before more veterans like me lower their flags for the last time.
Hoping to one day sail again on safer seas,
A soon-to-be-retired pirate.
