Hi Everybody,
To preface this I’d like to say that I believe that Sea of Thieves is currently one of the best Games as a Service titles available right now. It’s a game that sits pretty comfortably as one of the best and most unique game experiences I’ve ever had. My only real gripe with the game these days is the FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) elements within it. Some of these elements can’t really be helped, the nature of having an evolving storyline via the new Adventures and general changes to the world necessitate that some things will change and go away over time. This kind of design is always a bit of a doubled-edged sword but I understand the desire for this direction and the value of it.
The Plunder Pass: Sea of Thieves’ version of the Battle Pass system is, I think, one of the best versions of the system that exists. Having the free tier filled with quality unique cosmetics while having the paid tier serving as an earnable discount on Premium Emporium items is an awesome deal for players! That said its primary purpose is to bring players back into the game via the Fear of Missing Out on the newly added Seasonal items that, after the Season has ended, will likely go away forever. This, to be blunt, sucks. This isn’t a Sea of Thieves exclusive issue; it’s largely just kind of the nature of the Battle Pass beast at this time. I love this game and I love that the Plunder Pass system exists as a way of steady progression that allows players to earn cool rewards. The timed nature of it unfortunately burns me out from time to time. It ends up creating a very frustrating situation that I think I have a reasonable solution for.
I think it would be great to be able to purchase access to previous seasons (for the price of a Premium Plunder Pass) so that players can once again gain the ability to unlock its rewards via normal gameplay, similar to how this is currently possible within Halo: Infinite’s Battle Pass System. I don’t believe that players should have access to the earnable discounts on the Emporium items that were present in that season however, I think by removing that incentive while keeping the current season’s default Plunder Pass as free, there will still be encouragement for Players to pick up the game again but without the fear that the Season’s items will go away forever, just that they will one day be locked behind a price tag. I think this is a reasonable compromise.
What do you all think?
