Sea of Thieves News - December 2020

@musicmee

January will kick off a very fun time in Sea of Thieves. With 100 levels of renown to progress through, I could just curse like a sailor out of sheer excitement!

I am excited to see some changes with the events, and I can hope that the new update schedule will allow for larger more bug free updates

Hehehe, great to see more news for SoT!
Its been a few good months since we got a SoT news, so this is a welcome surprise!
More gilded voyages you say? Hahahahaha! I've still got me gilded Athena from last year!

Anyways, I'm keeping my spyglass to horizon, 2021 sounds promising.

"It's you the players who make Sea Of Thieves of what it is today" - Really?

Arena is a sad one but could see it coming. Has so much potential but I feel the overhaul earlier in the year didn't work and it would take another complete change to get people back in it. Was hoping just maybe they had plans to get people back in arena but I guess not, current mode has very little replay-ability once you've done the commendations other than TDM/custom games.

It's a pity that Arena is not getting any update... like Emissary or new modes like Land Battles, Devil's Roar Maps or just simply small events alongisde with new cosmetics.

@musicmee said in Sea of Thieves News - December 2020:

@guilleont I would love to have seen them have add the emissary style leaderboards to Arena and see if that drove competition and players returning to keep their top spots.

A quick win where they get reset monthly and each month could add a simple cosmetic as a prize for top tiers.

That’s a really good and easy to implement idea that would probably quell some of the constant “tdm?” rallying in the Arena Tavern!

@musicmee said in Sea of Thieves News - December 2020:

Ahoy maties!

Fresh from the social media pages, it's the last Sea of Thieves News for 2020!
And it's an interesting one, looking into the future of the game!

Enjoy!

Talking points include;

• 2020 Has been a challenging year - But one that has continued to see growth and updates! 11 Million players played this year alone, driven by the Steam launch!
• Player base is around 50/50 between console and PC
• The focus for the future of the game is Adventure - The core experience. 97% of playtime is there!
• Arena won’t see any updates for the foreseeable future
• Introducing Seasons
• Updates every 3 months
• New updates focused around new content/features
• Live Events
• Hundreds of new rewards
• Newly expanded/redeveloped reputation system focusing on all areas of pirating life.
• 100 levels of Renown (New reputation system)
• Rewarding players for shorter or longer sessions, even when not doing specific quests.
• New rewards including exclusives for Pirate Legends
• Plunder Pass - A season pass with exclusive rewards and fast track access to Emporium items.
• All focussed around an event like the Halloween event
• New Merchant alliance voyages coming in January.
• December 9th sees The Festival of Giving, Gilded Voyages, Events and Free rewards.

Sea of Thieves on Twitter / X

why did they add seasons that's dumb

@closinghare208 you should wait to see what it looks like in game. It might just surprise you matey ;)

@musicmee said in Sea of Thieves News - December 2020:

@guilleont I would love to have seen them have add the emissary style leaderboards to Arena and see if that drove competition and players returning to keep their top spots.

A quick win where they get reset monthly and each month could add a simple cosmetic as a prize for top tiers.

No thx, let it finally die.

This seems quite an exciting time for Sea of Thieves! Regarding arena though I think it is such a shame to hear that it will not really be considered for further development. I totally understand that if it’s currently only such a small proportion of the player base it makes sense to devote the vast majority of development to adventure mode.

My opinion is this: effectively cutting it off from any further development is misguided. Yes it may be a small user base at the moment but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be larger with changes to it. Making arena esports friendly and encouraging that competitive side could be great for the game overall. Established esports lead to longevity of the game, increased merchandising and increased breadth of coverage and publicity in different media alongside new potential sponsorships.

I think for the longevity and diversity of the game some development should be given to arena even if it’s a tiny proportion in comparison with adventure. Why stymie what could be a huge boost to the game just because the arena mode we have isn’t popular. That says to me that arena needs more development, not less. Obviously adventure keeps the game going and requires most attention but why not diversify better and hedge your bets a little in order to ensure the future of the game?

@musicmee dijo en Sea of Thieves News - December 2020:

@guilleont I would love to have seen them have add the emissary style leaderboards to Arena and see if that drove competition and players returning to keep their top spots.

A quick win where they get reset monthly and each month could add a simple cosmetic as a prize for top tiers.

It's also a pity that Emissaries, a system that everybody loves, won't have any update in its rewards in a near future.

I also think that Arena could have a big benefit from EM, with the expansion of levels up to 75. Or with little events that don't require a lot of development. A monthly reward may be too much, but each 2-3 months will be alright.

Since Arena is not tie to Lore as Adventure does, they could include cosmetics behind new commendations easily, like the Arena ship sets (win 10 times with the blue ship as a Triumphant Dog), more Courage cosmetics, or a new reskin of the Sea Dog cosmetics. Arena cosmetics are the more flexing ones, since you need to be somewhat good at PVP. But first, Rare should fix the sword at least, and the cheap cannon farming on Galleon Arena.

@galactic-geek I know, I said it was just my opinion. Seems like some good things ahead, I'd just personally prefer it if arena had a little place there beyond a legacy mode.