As the title says, I need to get some things off my chest about Sea of Thieves and Twitch.
I am not a fan of Twitch. The platform itself seems to be a little fast and loose with it’s own rules depending who the individual is that has done something against them, there are countless controversies ranging from streamer's income to the inappropriate content for kids etc. - but none of these are the reason for my own dislike for Twitch. I just don't care about watching other people play games. I have never cared for celebrity culture and Twitch celebrities seem to be some of the worst, begging for support and donations from addicted viewers who want to feel like they have a friend.
Maybe occasionally I will watch something gaming related on YouTube but even my time spent on there is minimal - I just am not interested in other people's games. For me games are something I play myself or with people, they are an interactive experience and an escape from the harsh realities of the world, and I enjoy playing them, just not watching other people play them. There are probably many people that feel the same as me, and just as many who don’t and love Twitch and their favourite streamer, if it is for you – great, to each their own!
Sea of Thieves locks multiple cosmetics behind Twitch mechanisms. There are the classic Obsidian 6 Pack and Capstan rewards Rare have deemed it appropriate to put in the hands of a few members of the public, like unpaid marketing interns, to just assign to whoever they would like – whether that’s via an in-stream giveaway system to trap you watching for as long as they can or just deciding all their friends can have them. There are the Twitch drops, everyone can get those no problem, right? Just got to watch the mandatory multiple hours of an amateur, and frankly mediocre at best, advert for a game you are already playing to artificially inflate it’s viewer numbers on Twitch.
That’s what it comes down to really isn’t it, all those probable tens of thousands of viewers that drop into streams when there are drops enabled who, like me, mute it and put the quality to 160p and get on with their day. Trapped in a platform for a few hours to acquire something they’ll probably never use in game but the fear of missing out on it is too great not to just conform. Sea of Thieves viewer numbers go up, bigger advert for the game.
One argument here would be if you don’t like it – don’t get them. However, this is a game where the only progression is cosmetic – cosmetics are the game. Whether you collect them all or just the ones you want, ultimately if it’s a cosmetic item it’s a part of the game. We shouldn’t have to be forced into this depressing marketing strategy to collect things in game.
For all the streamers out there trying to make Partnered, or even the larger ones who make a healthy living from their streams, good for you guys, I’m happy for you and I truly hope you enjoy what you do and wish you all the best. But Rare, please, don’t abuse your community like this for cheap, artificially inflated viewer counts.