So I'm going to explain the pros and the cons of Sea of Thieves as well as provide feedback as to what I believe will increase the enjoyment of playing this game.
Pros
- Art Style
- Treasure Hunting and Puzzle Solving
- Interactive Sailing Mechanics
- Skull Forts (World Events)
- Ship Battles
- Instruments
- Vicinity Chat
- Only Cosmetic Rewards
- Pirating!
Art Style
The art style of Sea of Thieves is very well polished and cartoony but realistic; they remind me heavily of Overwatch, which I'm sure many people here have heard of. It looks fantastic and really fits into the game.
Treasures And Puzzles
Treasure Hunting and Puzzle Solving is my second favorite activity to do in SoT (I'll explain my first shortly), it provides fun brain teasers while also giving that "Wow!" factor when you solve a new puzzle and finally find the chest! Overall one of the best features of SoT and I hope it gets expanded on in the future.
Sailing
Obviously I can't give feedback on SoT without addressing the sailing mechanics! Absolutely awesome! It really amkes you feel like you are sailing the seas and are in FULL control of your ship. I like options, so having the option to turn sails, lower and raise them as much as I want is great; my only quark is that there aren't enough ships to sail!
Alright this is the big one, Skull Forts. I come from World Of Warcraft, so I know a thing or two about World Events.
World Events
This, is a World Event. A very fun one too, for me at least, because it incentives PvP; I am all about PvP. I do believe that Skull Forts should only be one of many of these events, maybe have an event that a giant monster rises from the Sea and players have to work together to defeat it; all players in the area become friendly, united under one banner...for the time being of course. Just an idea, but I do think there should be more World Events such as this one.
Ship Battles
Ship battles sort of fall into the same category as sailing mechanics but I feel as though I should put it in, the main reason being, this is my favorite part of the game. As I said before, I am all about PvP, and ship battles give a certain rush when you're in the heat of the moment that many games today don't give me. It reminds me of being the last 5 alive in PUBG or Fortnite. The rush of combat and the fear that all might be lost in a matter of seconds! On a side note: Shooting yourself out of the cannon? Genius!
Instruments
Instruments...I want more, give me more! More songs! More instruments! Just. More. Excellent job in this department.
Vicinity Chat
Vicinity Chat is something sprawling in a lot of games recently. The first major release to use it being PUBG. I am very glad to see that it made it's way into Sea of Thieves, this allows for Pirates to communicate and play the game as they see fit. I can't tell you how many times I've been at a Skull Fort, and a ship and I Parlay to defeat the other ship and share the loot. A great feature.
Cosmetic Rewards
I am actually an advocate to only cosmetic rewards, now before you get your pitchforks and torches let me explain. I'm no developer at Rare, but I believe the reason they did this was: 1. It lets the casual player always feel relevant as they will always be at the same power scale as players that play all the time. 2. It allows for the most skilled Pirates to always win. The glory in Sea of Thieves comes from knowing that you out-smarted your enemy or at the very least out-skilled them. You will not get that same thrill if you just one-shot their ship because you have X Y and Z upgrade and they don't. Which is why I am all for Cosmetic only rewards.
Pirating!
And finally, there is no Sea of Thieves without being a pirate. This is personally my favorite part of the game by far. What do I mean by pirating? Why stealing other's loot of course! I am that special kind of human being that takes great pleasure in knowing that I have successfully not only defeated my enemy...but taken their loot as well! Sure it's not fun when it happens to you, but that's what makes this game so much fun! Danger is literally EVERYWHERE! You are never safe in Sea of Thieves, as you shouldn't be.
Now that I have given my feedback on the good, it's time to get to the nitty gritty. The bad:
Cons
- Eye of Reach
- Galleons vs Sloops
- Sloops and Galleons In the Same Ocean
- Lack of Cosmetic Items
- Inflation
- Kraken
- Bugs
- PvP
- Lack of Player Control In Regard To Matchmaking
- Lack of Diverse Weapons
- PvE Enemies
- The Map
- The Spyglass
- Ship Customization
- Pirate Customization
- Headshots
- High Ping Issues
- Lack Of Any In-Game Lore
- Boring NPCs
- No Guild System
- No Crafting
- No Meaningful Reason To Explore
- No Fishing
- Microtransactions
Eye of Reach
I will not understand how you guys managed to make a sniper rifle in a pirate game bad, but you did! The Eye Of Reach does about the same damage as a flintlock, I believe maybe less, and for some reason also has some pretty nasty fall off damage. Taking up to 5 shots to kill a normal skeleton if you're using it far away (where you are supposed to be). This weapon should deal MORE damage than a flintlock and have less fall off damage as well. A Headshot should also one shot, I'll get to Headshots later.
Galleons vs Sloops
Galleons are massively stronger than sloops. The only advantage sloops have over Galleons are the size, and the maneuverability. And in a PvP scenario, size doesn't mean anything if the cannoniers have good aim. Which leaves players with maneuverability, which isn't really all that much. To my knowledge, sloops aren't even faster than Galleons, leaving sloops with no escape from a Galleon other than sever out-strategizing. Players should not be put in a scenario where they have to severely out-play the enemy team in order to get a victory. I think, faster sloops and slightly shorter respawn times are in order for sloops IF you don't do my next con.
Sloops And Galleons In The Same Ocean
I don't like this idea. I've already explained how the player has to severely out-play the enemy team to attain a victory. The effort getting steeper if the player is a solo player in a sloop vs a 4-man Galleon. Having 1 extra man than your opponent is a MASSIVE advantage, not to mention 3! To fix this, I STRONGLY recommend putting players in separate servers depending on party size. Solo sloops share an ocean with other solo sloops and only solo sloops. Four man Galleons share an Ocean with other four man Galleons only. I believe this will allow players to be bolder, especially when it comes to skull forts, knowing that anyone there will not have a numbers advantage, making them work twice as hard or more.
Lack of Cosmetic Items
This one is relatively simple. There are only four sets and a Heroic tier for each set. This was a massive disappointment for me as I am sure was for other players as well, we want more! We don't just want a few items, we want hundreds of costumes and outfits! In a game based on cosmetic only rewards, I see very few rewards to acquire as of now. The items we have in-game now are great...there's just not many of them.
Inflation
There is a MASSIVE problem with inflation in this game. What do I mean by Inflation? Well from the streamers I watch, they have millions of gold! I myself have thousands and I have everything I want for the moment, till I reach pirate legend. And even then, I only see myself getting a few sets, I personally am not a collectionist, I get what I like and that's it. From what I see so far, I will have millions of gold just sitting in my inventory and I will get to a point where I will spend gold just to spend it. I don't want to get to that point. Please lower the gold rewards, they are way too high right now.
Kraken
When I first encountered the Kraken, I was SO EXCITED! It was such an awesome experience to finally feel the terror of the massive kraken...until I realized it was just an over-hyped bullet sponge that didn't really pose any threat to anyone who isn't afk. I've defeated the Kraken with nothing but guns, we had no cannonballs, so we just shot it...and it worked...WHY?! Please up the difficulty of the Kraken, it should ONLY be able to be defeated by a HIGHLY SKILLED CREW. Not to mention, it doesn't drop any loot, or even give you a title. Nothing but an achievement on xbox. make the Kraken much more difficult, and have it drop loot and a title. Also, when I say "difficult" I don't mean, "Give it more HP" that's boring and lazy. Have it eat crew members, crush the sails, have throw the ship for all I care! Just make it fun and interesting, not a bullet sponge. Also, FINISH THE MODEL! We know it's just tentacles and it doesn't actually have a body. That's just straight lazy, no excuse.
Bugs
It's kind of unfair for me to just say, "Fix all your bugs!" and then pat myself on the back. But, seriously, fix your bugs. I've had instances where my hotkeys stop working, my weapons randomly switch to the default sailor skins, and I've had invisible sharks attack me. I understand it was just released, but BETA is for bugs, not post-launch. It's unfair to your customers that you have sold them a broken product.
PvP
As a strong advocate for PvP, I have to say; it's pretty shallow. I DID just finish saying that ship battles were awesome, but this isn't ship battles. This is pirate vs pirate, sword vs sword combat. It's...really shallow. It pretty much boils down to, the first person to fire their blunderbuss at the one-shot range. This is an extension of the Eye Of Reach and Flintlock taking too long to kill your target. And the sword you might ask? It requires you to be in melee range and slash your target multiple times just to deal some damage. Why do that when you can just blunderbuss one shot? I think many of the weapons need added buff/affects to give players reason to use them. The sword, should bleed your target, causing extra damage over time. A headshot with the flintlock should cause the target to move as if drunk for a few seconds. And a headshot with the Eye Of Reach should one shot. Just a few ideas I came up with.
Lack Of Player Control In Regard To Matchmaking
I'm kind of wasting my breath with this one considering you guys just announced that we will be able to pair up with other people with mics and the same language so I think that's a step in the right direction. But I think it can and should be taken further. I think you should also be able to pair up with players of similar reputations. This will make it so that you will always feel like you are equal to everyone else in your crew and not above or below. I also think there should be a "Help New Player" option; where Pirate Legends can opt-in to show new players the ropes, literally! At the end of their adventure, the new player can rate the Pirate legend similar to uber, so that players don't abuse the system and actually try to help. Pirate Legends that opt-in to do so should receive some cool in-game titles, I wouldn't go as far as to go and give them some exclusive pirate set. Just an idea though!
Lack of Diverse Weapons
This one is pretty self explanatory. We only have four weapons, and after a while, it's going to get boring only having those four. If more are not on the way, please put on some thinking caps and get creative! I'd love to see what types of weapons you guys can come up with.
PvE Enemies
I'd hate to jump on this train but I'm going to have to agree with the masses and say that fighting skeletons day and night gets very boring. not to mention that, like the Kraken, the "Captains" are just bullet sponges. They do nothing different except take longer to die. That's LAZY! Give them added abilities! Have them do something fun! get creative! Don't just make bullet sponges, that's boring; no one wants that. Also, tone down the aim on those skeletons; they hit you 99.99% of the time and it's kind of annoying not being able to dodge it.
The Map
This one is a small peeve, but please add a "Delete All Markers" option on the ship map; and allow me to zoom out farther. As of right now, deleting markers is one of the most annoying things to do in the game. And looking for an Island and not being able to zoom all the way out is a nightmare.
The Spyglass
There is currently no reason to use the in-game spyglass. Anything seen by the spyglass can be seen without it, not to mention it also gives off that nasty glare, letting everyone know you're using it. Take off the glare, the enemy should not be alerted that you have an eye on them, and increase the zoom on the spyglass, when I'm on the crow's nest I never bother bringing out the spyglass because I can see everything I want to see without it. I want to use the spyglass, give me a reason to!
Ship Customization
This falls into the same category as the outfits. I want more! I want to be able to get a cool Steering Wheel, I want cool looking cannons, I want to be able to sail with different flags on the top of my ship, I want to be able to decorate the interior. It's my ship, I want as many options as possible when it comes to it. Go crazy with the ideas. Just get them out there and deliver them to us!
Pirate Customization
I am not and will never be the biggest fan of the Infinite Pirate Generator. I thought it was cool, but not for me. Regardless of the fact, I was sad to find that I didn't have many hairstyles to choose from or beards. I also couldn't dye my hair different colors or get cool tattoos, which was pretty disappointing. More rare! Give us options, I like options.
Headshots
Probably my BIGGEST issue with PvP. Unlike every other game, this game does NOT have headshot damage. Which is SO weird. Instead of damage, they are knocked back, which, does almost nothing more than half the time. It's sometimes good for a quick laugh when you headshot them and they fly off the ship. But this is just very unsatisfying. I'm used to playing FPSs where headshots are KING! It seems in this game there is no reward for exceptional aim other than a quick laugh and maybe a knock off.
High Ping Issues
I can't tell you the amount of times I have point blank shot an enemy pirate with a blunderbuss several times, only to have them teleport to the other side of the ship, shoot me, and one shot me. You should not be rewarded for having high ping. This is a major issue for me as a PC user. This happens a lot more than it should in an online game. If this sin't fixed, I guarantee players will set there routers to a certain ping to get an optimal advantage over others. It's been done in countless other games, it will be done in this one if it's not fixed.
Lack Of Any In-game Lore
Sea of Thieves Lore is sorely lacking. You are dropped into this world with no explanation as to why you are here, who the people of the area are, or why the world is how it is. As I said before, I have and still play World Of Warcraft, I suggest you take some tips from their story driven quests and in-game cut scenes used to tell stories. They truly are a great way to explain lore and attach players to characters.
Boring NPCs
This is an extension of the Lore problem. We don't know anything about the NPCs in the world and have very limited interactions with them. Most of them are just, "Give me gold I have X item for you". Which leads to boring and irrelevant NPCs.
No Guild System
In an MMO Pirate game I assumed there would be some type of guild or clan system but there doesn't seem to be any. Take inspiration from Destiny 2, Star Wars the Old Republic, and World Of Warcraft. All these games have Guilds/Clans and do them in their own unique way, I'm sure you guys can find one that suits your game.
No Crafting
I was very surprised to see that this game had no crafting involved in it. I was thinking you guys could do something along the lines of maybe Assassin's Creed: Black Flag, where you hunt animals in order to craft items. Except instead of ship upgrades, maybe you can make a new wheel, or cannons, etc. The possibilities are endless.
No Meaningful Reason To Explore
In an open world game, you want people to explore your world and see what you have created for them. Skyrim is one of the best examples of this. There are awesome caves that take you to cool locations or you could get lost in the woods and encounter a dragon or a troll! In this game...you might find a random chest? There's really no reason for me to go out of my way to explore. Add some mini-bosses that drop unique skull bounties. Maybe add a secret chest that will give you schematics to build new sails? The possibilities are endless.
No Fishing
There is sadly no fishing in a game where you spend 90% of your time in and around the water. I was thinking you could add this in with the crafting, maybe add whales and dolphins, make the ocean feel alive!
Microtransactions
I have no problem with microtransactions, you guys have to pay your employees and make a profit somehow. But what I do mind is when it's handled poorly. Blizzard does an excellent job of microtransactions. They add cool unique items to the game but there are lots of the same type of item available. For instance, I know pets are a scheduled item in the game. Make cats, parrots, and monkeys free to the public and then add maybe, a Ghost Cat, as a microtransaction, or a flying squid? Cool and whacky things should be added as micro, but don't forget to also add cool and whacky free items. BUT I'D REALLY LIKE A GHOST CAT WINK WINK
This ends my Feedback, sorry it was a bit lengthy; I do want this game to be good and I just wanted to add my own opinion to the ring. Maybe rare will take a look at something I wrote and add to it the game. I'd love to hear other player's feedback to what I've said as well! I am only one man and this is just one man's opinion; please share yours!
