Doubloon Currency - Developer Update

50k Doubloons is absolutely abysmal for any of the items.

I'm pleasantly surprised that I can afford any of these items to be honest - I assumed they would be completely out of my league since I have actually BOUGHT things with the doubloons I have earnt.

50k is a big ask - only folk who will have that amount will be streamers and the full timers/exploiters.

The title would be more appropriate at that exclusive/rare attainment level. 50 coins ain't much of a hoard.

I think the reset itself is a good idea, and I appreciate the attempt to make the commemorative items accessible.

But the pricing structure feels underwhelming.

My issue is not the 50,000 Doubloon cutlass. A true chase item is completely fair. The problem is the lack of meaningful options between “cheap enough for almost everyone” and “50k.”

Right now, the pricing curve basically creates one outcome for most players: buy everything except the cutlass. That does not feel like an interesting set of choices.

I have around 4,000 hours in Sea of Thieves and still sit at roughly 13,000 Doubloons. Under this setup, I can buy the commemorative set (minus the cutlass) and still have a lot left over, with no compelling mid-tier options to spend on.

I would love to see a more tiered reward structure with additional commemorative items or variants in ranges like 5k, 8k, 10k, and 12k. That would create real decisions and make this feel more rewarding for players in the middle.

So overall, I support the reset, but the current reward tiers feel too flat. The idea is good. The execution just needs more mid-range options.

So the reason you are doing this is to compensate players, right? It makes sense, and I appreciate the idea:

Our currency we hoarded throughout the years is being taken away, so you're giving us items in exchange for the doubloons you are taking away.

The problem is that this doesn't work in practice. With the current prices, someone who has 4K doubloons and someone who has 45K doubloons have no difference.

I myself don't feel very well compensated. I will spend 4K doubloons. Pocket change for me. But since I am slightly short of 50K, all of my other doubloons will go down the drain.

A better way to handle this would have been to have an entire doubloon set and have each piece cost the same. The entire set would still take 50K to buy but at least people could actually spend ALL of their doubloons instead of spending 4K and the rest of them being wasted.

I do not care about the cutlass. But I care about the fact that besides the 4K I'll spend, the rest of my doubloons are going down the drain. No compensation, no nothing. I shouldn't be entitled to this, but I still can't help but feel that my time is wasted.

I have been watching this entire thing from the sidelines and it's a terrible idea up and down.

It punishes players who:

• Are newer to the game's history
• Are casual players who don't dedicate to SOT
• Are not dedicated doubloon hoarders
• Are not exclusive adventure players seeking doubloons
• Are players who spend doubloons as they earn them

For the average outside of those groups, doubloons are rare. Oh, and hourglass players, once again, get the short end of the stick.

Seeing the scale of the rewards that are being offered is blowing my mind. 5 rewards total, 4 of which require an artist. From 2.5k doubloons to 50k. It almost feels like a typo.

@Sonicbob
From what I've seen here, there is a consensus on the fact that we need more items to split the 50.000 dubloon price between.
Give us the other 3 basic weapons and a whole clothing set, make it so they combined with the already existing doubloon items, cost 54.050 dubloons and you'll have a less disappointed community.

@thorumsu said in Doubloon Currency - Developer Update:

So the reason you are doing this is to compensate players, right? It makes sense, and I appreciate the idea:

Our currency we hoarded throughout the years is being taken away, so you're giving us items in exchange for the doubloons you are taking away.

The problem is that this doesn't work in practice. With the current prices, someone who has 4K doubloons and someone who has 45K doubloons have no difference.

I myself don't feel very well compensated. I will spend 4K doubloons. Pocket change for me. But since I am slightly short of 50K, all of my other doubloons will go down the drain.

A better way to handle this would have been to have an entire doubloon set and have each piece cost the same. The entire set would still take 50K to buy but at least people could actually spend ALL of their doubloons instead of spending 4K and the rest of them being wasted.

I do not care about the cutlass. But I care about the fact that besides the 4K I'll spend, the rest of my doubloons are going down the drain. No compensation, no nothing. I shouldn't be entitled to this, but I still can't help but feel that my time is wasted.

Well said.

The problem is not a 50k chase item. The problem is that everything else is accessible, so for a huge number of players the outcome is the same: buy the 4k set, miss the cutlass, and watch the rest get converted.

There was a lot of suspense and anticipation around this announcement, and the final reward structure gives very few players any real decisions to make.

This has very much missed the mark. Would love to see a few additional items at higher price ranges to make the decisions more interesting.

Despicable pricing tbh. What data did you trawl through for this, streamer wallets? Did you guys look at the average doubloons a player earns(not spends, earns) in this game?

Been playing since year 2, bought original doubloon cosmetics that were put in the game(not from missed seasons), prob spent a couple thousand on gold and Glory weekends over time because there's nothing else to do with them(your design) and you expect me to have 50k? I could double my doubloons right now(18k, literally more than anyone I know) and still couldn't afford that sword.

I completely understand that not everyone will be able to get everything, but this is a one time deal that will never return and you spring it on us(yes I consider a couple of months springing, given the rate at which you can earn doubloons). You are spitting in our faces with that price.

What a horrible way of handling the doubloon reset. If anything these items should be awarded based on doubloons received through the lifetime of your pirate/account, and just convert what players have directly to gold upon reset. What a blunder to those that spent doubloons on items, levels, or gold over the years... just to not have enough now. Last time I shook my head like this was having to grind everything again for trinkets when captaincy update released.

Once again, these are conversation pieces that don't accurately represent time spent playing the game.

As someone who has 4400 hours in the game, this is likely the most discouraging decision Rare has made in a long history of questionable decisions.

It truly isn't about the doubloons, its how all of this was handled.

• Those of us who spent them on gold because there was nothing else to spend them on are now being punished. - Rare has no answer to this.

• Rare also promised that those of us who stocked up would have something to spend them on before the wipe, but as I see it, I'll only get to spend 4050 of my doubloons and the rest will go into the void because there is nothing between the 2500 item and the 50000 item.

• For years of work, we're offered 5 poorly priced and designed items. They couldn't even be bothered to pull the emporium team off one release to give us something more or give us more options.

• All in the name of a new FOMO system to save an 'economy' that doesn't exist or affect anyone else to 'fix' a system neglected by Rare, offering 5 cosmetics for many years of work to the couple people who didn't spend their doubloons as intended in the current system.

My crew have on average 5000+ hours in the game each, none of us have enough doubloons for this - so we're all wondering which 'dedicated players' are these items made for?. Certainly not someone with 48k doubloons and 4400 hours. You promised a way to spend them, but as I see it 44k of my doubloons are gone but more importantly i feel betrayed, lied to, and my time disrespected.

@michaael said in Doubloon Currency - Developer Update:

I think the reset itself is a good idea, and I appreciate the attempt to make the commemorative items accessible.

But the pricing structure feels underwhelming.

My issue is not the 50,000 Doubloon cutlass. A true chase item is completely fair. The problem is the lack of meaningful options between “cheap enough for almost everyone” and “50k.”

Right now, the pricing curve basically creates one outcome for most players: buy everything except the cutlass. That does not feel like an interesting set of choices.

I have around 4,000 hours in Sea of Thieves and still sit at roughly 13,000 Doubloons. Under this setup, I can buy the commemorative set (minus the cutlass) and still have a lot left over, with no compelling mid-tier options to spend on.

I would love to see a more tiered reward structure with additional commemorative items or variants in ranges like 5k, 8k, 10k, and 12k. That would create real decisions and make this feel more rewarding for players in the middle.

So overall, I support the reset, but the current reward tiers feel too flat. The idea is good. The execution just needs more mid-range options.

Quick follow-up after thinking about this more on a walk.

This comes from a place of love, not just frustration. Some of my best gaming memories and real friendships came from SoT, which is why it is so frustrating to watch another heavily telegraphed change miss the mark.

I still support the reset in principle. The problem is the reward curve is a cliff, not a tiered system, and your prior communication set expectations for something much more thoughtful.

That's what stings. Not just underwhelming pricing, but the feeling that obvious friction points only get addressed after community backlash, which has happened numerous times in recent history and honestly should have been anticipated.

It's really hard for me to understand how this reward structure made it to final signoff without the obvious community friction points being addressed. And if those concerns were raised internally, then it is even more frustrating that they were not sufficiently addressed before pushing it live.

@x-p-a-f-i-k They rejected me

@michaael

Same, I get why they want to do a reset on it, because people are sat on large amounts, so they can never really add new things to them without people just buying it instantly. They would either have to add another currency to complicate things further, or reset. These newer items being added have only come about because people are frustrated that their doubloon value would be worth nothing and felt like the prestige would be lost. Adding items is a way to offset this, but how they have scaled it is truly insane. I have over 3000 hours played over 5 years, have brought many items with them and have converted chunks of these into gold in the past as there was nothing else to spend on at the time.

I have friends that have spent longer playing and none of us will be able to afford the sword. How high is this ceiling and how was it measured? People I know have been quitting one-by-one over bad decisions made and wonder why I still play. I like the world that has been built. I enjoy sailing and playing in it. But having decisions that are disrespecting all parties make it feel sour. If systems are being added to the game, they need to be updated to keep relevancy. Arena was in a similar situation, people got rewards, then stopped playing it. Why did they not mix that up every season with new match rules and season cosmetics tied to that? Swapping the chests out for kegs worth more points would of been amazing for a season!

Been playing this game since 2017, haven't missed any event items at all. well over 4k hours played

This will be the first item that i ever miss out on completely and I'm extremely frustrated about it. I liquidated large chunks (multiple tens of thousands) of my doubloons years ago during community weekends, since i had nothing to buy with them. I never would have done so knowing that this would happen in future. I should have just sat on them.

There is no possibility for me to grind out the final item in time either so it feels like a spit in the face.

Terrible handling of this. Genuinely annoyed.

@d3adst1ck

You were dead right, I'm also in the boat of vets that have been stuffed over thanks to converting hoards of doubloons (tens of thousands) to gold over the past few years during community weekend events, since there was nothing else to spend doubloons on.

I also kept about 5000 doubloons thinking it'd be enough for anything going forward, but clearly i was off by 10x the amount needed here. So frustrating

@xeni0ns said in Doubloon Currency - Developer Update:

@michaael

Same, I get why they want to do a reset on it, because people are sat on large amounts, so they can never really add new things to them without people just buying it instantly. They would either have to add another currency to complicate things further, or reset. These newer items being added have only come about because people are frustrated that their doubloon value would be worth nothing and felt like the prestige would be lost. Adding items is a way to offset this, but how they have scaled it is truly insane. I have over 3000 hours played over 5 years, have brought many items with them and have converted chunks of these into gold in the past as there was nothing else to spend on at the time.

I have friends that have spent longer playing and none of us will be able to afford the sword. How high is this ceiling and how was it measured? People I know have been quitting one-by-one over bad decisions made and wonder why I still play. I like the world that has been built. I enjoy sailing and playing in it. But having decisions that are disrespecting all parties make it feel sour. If systems are being added to the game, they need to be updated to keep relevancy. Arena was in a similar situation, people got rewards, then stopped playing it. Why did they not mix that up every season with new match rules and season cosmetics tied to that? Swapping the chests out for kegs worth more points would of been amazing for a season!

Appreciate this reply. I think you nailed the distinction a lot of people are making.

The reset is understandable. The scaling is the problem. Long-time players who spent doubloons when Rare gave us nothing else to spend them on are now stuck in the middle, with basically the same outcome as everyone else except the tiny group who can hit the sword.

Your point about systems needing updates is spot on too... This did not become a problem overnight. Rare let the doubloon economy go stale for years, and now players are paying the price for that neglect all at once.

That's why we're seeing this reaction. A lot of this feedback is coming from people who still love the game, but are tired of obvious problems only getting attention after backlash. After things not hitting the mark.

I rarely post on the forum, but despite carefully reading all the dedicated posts, tweets, and YouTube videos explaining the rework, I still don’t understand why a new event currency isn’t simply being introduced.

Why remove Doubloons, a currency that some players, like myself, have spent a significant amount of time farming?
Yes, I currently have 160k Doubloons and I’ve purchased everything that can be bought with them. Yes, I also have more than enough to buy the five new items that are coming. But why reset it?

Will Gold be next? I have over one billion Gold, which means I can essentially buy any new content as soon as it’s released. And to go even further, I also have a large amount of Ancient Coins — if I like a new set, I can purchase it entirely without any issue.

A reset is not the solution. It only creates frustration, especially for players who have invested a huge amount of time into Sea of Thieves. Wipes have never been part of the game’s DNA, and I genuinely struggle to understand this decision.

So I return to my original suggestion: introduce a brand-new event-specific currency, potentially capped if you don’t want players to instantly purchase everything upon release. You would likely see far fewer complaints.

That said, forcing players into a limited-time grind to earn this new currency won’t necessarily encourage them to return willingly.

I sincerely hope that my message, along with those of many other players, will be carefully read and truly taken into consideration for once.

2,500 hours played, the total amount of doubloons I've ever earnt is around ~43,000 - most of which is of course already spent.
It should have been based on the amount of doubloons players had ever earned to begin with, but I wouldn't even qualify for the cutlass then - after over 100 FULL DAYS playtime.
I don't know how you're pulling your numbers, but this insanely out of touch.
I've not been around for as long as others, but I'm pretty far above the average playtime, bilge rats was completed last season (aside Shrouded Ghost), and almost all companies maxed out.
What more do you want from your players? This is absurd.

Like everyone else is saying, I saved around 5,000+ thinking that would be reasonable, but obviously I should've known better from Rare's balancing team - that's on me.

I never would have guessed I’d have to TRIPLE the amount of doubloons I have to get all the items. I guess I’ll try, but that’s what we get for daring to spend any doubloons!

@sleepyglenn said in Doubloon Currency - Developer Update:

I assume there are plenty of players out there that have over 50,000 or they wouldn’t have set it this high. Out of curiosity can anyone out there afford this?

I have 65k, playing since day 1.

I would have reverted time though instead of a Cutlass.
I didn't buy the Wailing Barnacle ship set back in the day because I thought those doubloon numbers were too much. (Around 260 for the whole ship set back then if I remember correctly.) And then I missed the date by 1 day when I finally decided to buy it and it was not in the shop anymore.
It is my favorite shipset and that mistake will haunt me forever lol.

Now I probably have to grind a LOT again if they come back on the Bilge Rat Weekenders to get them. :(

What is with this dev team’s obsession with FOMO cosmetics when that’s the only progression in the game? Always FOMO on top of FOMO under the guise of “respecting player effort”. Disappointing as usual.

This whole episode has made me feel truly sad and appears to unfortunately highlight the blinkered approach Rare seem to be exhibiting to player feedback and sentiment.
I absolutely love SOT and it has been a massive part of my life for years. I have so many fond memories and have made good friends playing the game over that time.
I echo the feelings and opinions of the majority of dedicated players that the jump from 2500 to 50,000 is a true slap in the face to the majority of players.
I too spent my doubloons as intended and have just over 20,000 currently. For this to not be enough is preposterous.
The whole game is cosmetic/reward based and part of the joy of playing is earning cosmetics along the way.
To price, what I suspect, is the vast majority of players out of a time limited item seems both short sighted and foolhardy.
I must admit I am sadly starting to feel my love for the game eroding because of tactics like these (I am stunned to be feeling this way).
To engender FOMO then totally block any possibility of players obtaining a time limited item is just plain wrong.

I agree a zero needs taking off the the cost of the cutlass to allow more players the opportunity to obtain it.

Please Rare, listen to your playerbase before they vote with their feet - for SOT to die like this would be a tragedy.

Would be interested to know if you have the ability to determine how many doubloons pirates have earnt?

Fairest way would be to look at lifetime doubloons earnt and make the cosmetics available in store for Dark Adventurer style gold sink for those that earnt enough doubloons but subsequently used them.

It seems to be the worst of both worlds here - most cosmetics are just out of reach for those that have spent in the doubloon economy and the highest is WAY TOO HIGH with a cliff edge and no gradation.

I am sitting on 2600 Doubloons and have spent tens of thousands more buying previous cosmetics.
I didn't grind doubloons on the initial announcement as assumed you would need more than is grindable realistically.

I don't fancy having to grind for 2000 more in a month - especially when ashen keys are needed for the soon to be releases Ashen Garissons.

I have not much to say that hasn't been said yet by other pirates. But yet I'm gonna talk about it.

I've made around 200K doubloons in my lifetime since I begin to play at 02/2021.
I'm injured for a long time and I stay most of the time at home, so I can play much more than the average and I've been enjoying playing first daily, then 2-3 days a week, then 1 time a week, then 2-3 times a month and now online when an update came and we smash it in a few days. (Besides reaper voyages, which I if I knew it I didn't play that much for reaper items, because now they're everywhere).
Honestly I love this game but you're making me every day loving it less.
Because of playing it I've met amazing people, I've learned new languages, I've done new friends around the world. But it feels so bad when you stab us in the back every update over and over.
I have ever item at every store, besides emporium(which I bought a lot as well). And 150 million gold. You're punishing me for having it all, because if I was aware that the items that now cost doubloons gonna cost gold, I didn't spend that currency as was intented or unintended based on the facts and the things that you said.

I'm complaining of the cutlass price a bit? Maybe, I was expecting not getting everything, but seeing you only put a high price item and that's it, feels like usual with you, lame and lazy work. You aren't giving any kind of choice for people between 4K and 50K doubloons and that's a huge range.

We know the studio as been and probably still is in not a perfect situation, but we know you can do it better or at least that's what we thought and you constantly keep proving that we are wrong.

It hurts because we truly appreciate you and your game guys, but for me this is another nail in the coffin, but the coffin is almost closed...

How about SETS, I was expecting a full clothing or ship set rather than pieces. DISAPPOINTED

I'd love to understand the thought process of the gap between 2500 And 50,000. Some of this this controversy would have been avoided over the pricing of items if it was just based off of lifetime earned.

Flip flop the title and the sword. Problem fixed (walks away quietly)

Rare, please reconsider your decision regarding the price of the Cutlass. In the current climate, we definitely need more positive vibes. Good news and much less negativity. Players need hope that turns into commitment, not discouragement. Please take this into account in your decisions.

Especially in light of the postponements of content from recent seasons, missing content in the Hunter Call season, the non-release of content from Season 19, and so many other issues where things didn't go so well, players need positive experiences.

Also, consider the many players on platforms such as Steam, PS5 or Battle.net who had significantly less time to earn doubloons.

Therefore, give people a realistic chance. Please do not favor the few who have accumulated disproportionately high sums.

Valuing players has never been wrong. There is nothing to lose by reducing the price of the cutlass.

Instead, there are many hearts to be won.

Best regards,
A passionate Sea of Thieves player

What's gonna happen to ashen keys and chest? Are they gonna be converted into giving gold? Or are they gonna stay as they are?