Introduction
Over the past eight seasons new UI features have brought in with new features or QoL changes that could be applied to existing UI that hasn't been changed, which could be used in a similar design to existing UI that haven't been updated since they were introduced in order to improve user flow and experience when using these interfaces.
Currently in the game there have been changes to the Emporium (Browse All Section & Home Screen), the Quest Table (Quest Table/Voyage Rework), Reputation Tab (removal of Pirate Log) and the Seasonal Flow (Seasonal Menu with Deeds), not to mention the addition of the Ship's Log, Pirate Emporium in the ingame menu etc as well as probably a lot more I could mention.
Note: I understand they can't exactly drag and drop existing features into the pre-existing UI - these are more my hopes for what existing features could be used as a basis if the team decided to overhaul existing UI that hasn't been touched by the UI reworks (alongside a few QoL changes at the end)
Sections
1. Company Shops
All the cosmetics in each Trading Company shop store could be bundled into each category like the other Outpost Shops, with the All Items section still appearing at the front and being the first thing players look at.
2. Outpost Shops
The Emporium's Browse All Section introduced a range of Sort by filters, including Name and Price. This could be a useful introduction to the Outpost Shops, alongside more filters such as filtering by Sets.
Many Sets are mixed up in the Outpost Shops due to being fed piece by piece over a long string of months rather than being dropped at once, or being a part of commendation sets such as Fortune's Favour that only gets updated once a season - the Sea of Thieves Websites Chest sorts it by A to Z by default which seems to resolve this problem.
(Certain cosmetics could also be placed into different categories than they are currently in to resolve issues with new cosmetic categories being added that now reflect them better, such as the Midnight Blades Mask being in fact a beard(?!), although that could probably be a separate suggestion).
3. Reputation Tab & Commendations
Commendation UI could be updated to be similar to the Rewards UI of the Seasonal Tab, showing the commendation requirement and any unlock next to the reward in a tiny box next to it. Perhaps this could also be integrated into the Outpost Shops.
It would be nice if the Pinning Feature was reintroduced to the Reputation Tab (it's still avaliable on the front-end menu before entering a session) with it instead moving companies/guilds/Adventures at Sea to the front of the Reputation Tab, or add a reordering feature that allows us to move any item to any place in the tab. This would allow for quicker access to players favourite reputation items or quick access to check a players reputation for certain companies.
With this I also think that the Seasonal Tab should be added to the Main Menu with access to Deeds and Rewards tracking, rather than the old Pirate Log being still accessible. However this would add another button to the Main Menu which is already pretty bloated.
Something similar could also be introduced to the Commendation sections of Adventures at Sea, allowing players to quickly see what players are working towards. There could also be an option to hide commendation sections that players have already worked towards, or hide ones they haven't completed, similar to the current filtering options inside each Adventures at Sea commendation category.
(There is also a lack of parity between certain Adventures at Sea Commendations and whether or not they display the fact a title is awarded for earning a specific commendation, which can be seen between season to season. Season 18's current commendations for example don't have a tile to show that you can unlock the "Vanquisher of Banished Ancients" title, for example. On the other hand previous Seasons such as Season 12's "The War Chest", Season 13's "The Flame Rises" all have squares in those commendation sections indicating that they have titles that can be earned by completing certain Commendations).
4. Emissary Ledger
The Emissary Ledger only currently allows you to see the Previously Earned, Working Towards and Future Rewards for each three tiers that give rewards for each Trading Company. It would be good if you could scroll to see future/previous rewards outside your current reward range similar to the Season Pass system, stopping when you reach the end of the reward track.
5. Ship's Chests
It would also be nice here if there was filtering such as Names A to Z & Z to A as well as other potentials such as unlock date, previously worn, etc. Of course with the clothing chest there's the whole idea of adding Pirate Presets, which could work somewhat similar to the Pirate Profile flow but inside the Clothing Chest. Perhaps there could be a "Save to Pirate" function as well added here, similar to saving an item to a Captained Ship - you can change your cosmetics how you like but they won't save between sessions unless you save it to your pirate.
Small UI Quality of Life stuff
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It would be nice if there was a searchbar added to the shops and the chests. This could help speed up searching for a specific item in shops if I want to buy something tucked between numerous other items, or if I'm wanting to switch to a specific item quickly in the clothing chest for example. The emporium is also pretty big now and even with the browse all section on its own I find it very difficult to find certain items which could be mitigated by a searchbar.
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Favouriting items could also be a nice change, similar to pinning items in the reputation tab but in the outfit chests. I feel like this would only really apply to those that have a large amount of cosmetics in their inventory but it would still be a nice addition for those that would need it.
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There could also be little markers on the UI inside Shops or the Chest to indicate a new item in the outpost shops next to it, or whether an item is time limited (that would be tied to something like the Generous Gift sails, if they ever returned, because there was no indicator ingame that these were a time limited reward given to pirates for the duration of the event). Alternatively new outpost items could also be given to Larinna for the month they're introduced and then put only in the outpost shops (or something along those lines).
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It would be nice if there was a keybindable option to take us straight to the Seasonal Menu to check our progress, or an option in settings to go to the Seasonal Menu (or any other section of this Quick Menu) rather than Resources, to be able to quickly access the menu.
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On the Main Menu the "Change Pirate" quickbind to Page Down (or Platform Equivalent) should be removed entirely, as the Change Pirate Option is already a button press away by going to the "Pirate" Section. Alternatively the Pirate Section could be hidden on the Main Menu and only accessible via Page Down (or platform Equivalent).
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There could also be an option added to remove the numbers icon from the UI visually for a more cleaner experience, as well as a way to pin certain companies [or just showing the least reputation ones] to Pirate Progression rather than just showing the top four companies you have the most progression in (which makes it rather useless after hitting Distinction 5 in four trading companies).
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In the Captaincy section of the "Browse All" category of the Emporium, all existing Cabin Bundles should be added to the Bundles Section rather than just the Crimson Crypt Cabin Bundle. There should also be options for each Cabin piece type, (i.e Captain's Table, Chandelier) even if they're bundle only.
Ending Remarks
There's a lot of mismatch and inconsistency between different UI pieces that make the whole feel of using different UI pieces in the game very disjointed.
I hope that at some point in the game's future (albeit probably unlikely) changes to the whole UI from the ground up, or going piece by piece to change the core UI experience will be considered in order to unify the experience and make it feel a lot more smoother and user-friendly.
I would be interested to hear what other players have found with the UI changes introduced over the past 8 seasons, how they feel with the existing Outpost and Trading Company Shops, Main Menu UI, etc and if they think there should be any possible changes as well (and if so what they would want to see)
