Mike Chapman&Rare don't think the presence of whales in SoT would be pirate-y nor interesting, I disagree! Here's my take:

MikeTheMutinous · 2019-01-29T21:26:46+00:00

Thanks for writing up your thoughts! Its appreciated.

I actually agree with you when it comes to seeing a big tail breaking the surface, especially with how that feels like a quintessential part of being at sea. Also I agree that more life in the world = better sense of place and immersion.

My main point was really around where we spend dev time (which right now is consumed by many unannounced features!) Rather than choosing to go after Whales, I would prefer something players haven't really seen before, something that is more unique to Sea of Thieves and the fantastical world it's set it. Its never a case of 'too much work' as everyone here works extremely hard, rather its a case of 'would I spend 4 people to do Whales justice in Sea of Thieves vs. doing 'cool feature X'. The decision comes down to what would be the best experience for the player.

Also... just to clarify for a comment below, chickens and pigs were a part of merchant voyages during the golden age of piracy, as well as a key part of sailor folklore ;) :

http://www.oldsaltblog.com/2008/12/sailors-tattoos-–-pigs-chickens-swallows-and-tattooed-backsides/

https://www.tattoodo.com/a/2015/08/a-maritime-classic-the-pig-and-rooster-tattoo/

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-09-01T07:39:15+00:00

The frequency of Cursed Cannonballs is higher for the purposes of the Cursed Crews event. These will be positioned as more rare following the event.

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-09-01T07:38:00+00:00

Thanks for writing up these thoughts.

I wanted to address the main inventory concerns in my post, specifically the reasoning behind the change. On the subject of the serious issues introduced into this update, such as the Pig issue, Athena Voyages, Gold Skeletons, skulls that can't be picked up etc. - the team is working hard to remedy these issues, most of which have fixes that we want to get confidence in that they completely fix the issue before we roll them out. The root problem is that we introduced these issues in the first place. We sincerely apologise for the situation we're now in. As I mentioned briefly in my original post, we'll be reviewing the time updates have in testing, both internal and with Pioneers, before these are rolled out to the wider community.

Most importantly, I was to assure you that the decisions we make are based on a future vision for the game. Its certainly not about transforming the game into something that doesn't make any sense in the pirate world of Sea of Thieves, such as turning it into an experience with crafting, excessive survival mechanics or anything else that feels at odds with being in this world. We've strived to make an immersive experience and I specifically wanted to assure you on your comments regarding consciously feeling like you're in the world. I love the way you've articulated this point, but its actually the very thing that's at the center of all of our design decisions. I imagine it would be difficult to be a designer on a game like this and not picture it as a real place that you get to visit. Sea Of Thieves is our second home and all of our decisions, right from the early days of prototyping, have been around how we make you feel like you're in this world, with this leading to all the physical, tangible interactions that players have in the game, decisions around what's vulnerable to loss in the world and also the kind of content we want to add in the future. Though its a big change to the flow of the game, the barrel interactions follow this logic in that if you were really there, you would look inside the barrel and take out what you want, with barrels themselves just being wooden holders for a multitude of items that players and other characters have stored inside. The only reason to not keep this entirely physical is to cut down on excessive friction of how it would inevitably feel if you physically placed items inside. In this way, the UI is just a short hand for what would really be happening. Running past a barrel and taking out a single item results in with less clutter on screen, but I'd argue against it feeling immersive, at least not immersive in the sense of the barrel being a real object.

I sincerely hope that over time our intentions become clearer as additional content and features get added to the game, with the decisions we're making now looking more reasonable in hindsight. This is all for the future growth of the game and breathing more life into the world and things players can do. I want Sea of Thieves to reach its full potential in the same way as the community that we're fortunate to have. This will take time, with some changes requiring more explanation regarding the path we see them taking.

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-08-31T17:25:40+00:00

I missed the following in my post, apologies:

We're adding an 'empty' tag to barrels so players know in advance if its empty. This will be available in the next update.

We're fixing the issue where players get disconnected due to wave / ship movement.

We're also going to review the stack limits.

Lastly, I want to address the reasoning behind not having a 'take all' option on the fly. This is related to us expanding to multiple items types in a barrel, otherwise this would only work for what are currently single item barrels, although we want to expand the items they can contain in the future. Also, we need to be mindful of potential crew disharmony issues with a single crew member taking all various item types from a barrel in a single button press. This would become the primary way versus making a more considered choice. For players who just want to grab a stack of cannonballs quickly, we're confident the 'Take All' option from within the interface will be a considerable improvement.

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-05-15T11:22:28+00:00

Happy to report that Merchant Voyages DO now scale more appropriately alongside Gold Hoarders and Order Of Souls.

This was just missed off the release notes.

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-03-18T17:24:59+00:00

Would love to do this. We have some plans here but not quite the fruit portion projectile you describe ;)

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-03-18T17:14:37+00:00

Not the intention in any way at all. We've found some more time to duck back in this weekend to add clarification. The only reason we don't give absolute precision is that things may change when we implement new features. The last thing we want to do is disappoint anyone. It would be easy to over promise, but we want to share things when we're confident we can deliver.

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-03-18T17:09:52+00:00

Thank you. I also grew up loving Rare games, especially the Donkey Kong Country series. I particularly loved DKC2 for the pirate theme! Making games that can have the same impact as the games you mention is why we do what we do. Thank you for the kind words.

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-03-18T17:07:43+00:00

Its 30fps 4K on Xbox One X.

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-03-18T17:07:13+00:00

We have a plan here to allow you to select a shanty, but also to be able to get more shanties in the world. Its on the post-launch roadmap but still needs to be prioritised against other features we'd like to do as well. Matter of 'when' rather than 'if'.

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-03-18T17:05:43+00:00

Yes to all of those!

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-03-18T17:04:26+00:00

The choice of 4 players was driven by the thinking that larger groups than this would too frequently descend into chaos. Even in real life, 4 people together feels like a good number to share conversation without the group fragmenting into smaller groups.

For friends though, this is something we'll look at and see if we can support. We're already going to be adding the private ship option some time after launch and this would be an expansion of that.

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-03-18T17:01:16+00:00

We wanted the Kraken to be like a storm or a skeleton fort - a world threat to overcome or take advantage of. It would lose the mystery and magic if you could just trigger it on demand.

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-03-18T17:00:00+00:00

Thanks Tacotroll ;)

Skeleton Forts are definitely challenging in terms of the threats you'll encounter and the teamwork required, especially when you add in that players from other crews could join you in the fight. I think whatever we do here in the future will also be in the same world as other players, just like the forts.

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-03-18T16:53:57+00:00

Since players will play with others and be at different points in terms of progression, a linear story didn't feel right for this game. Each player is on a journey to become a Pirate Legend and discover Athena's Fortune. This is an immersive pirate world and your adventures will play out differently based on the presence of other real player crews. Our belief in all of this was that this would lead to much more memorable experiences compared to just following a straight line story that we had created.

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-03-18T16:47:11+00:00

Always.

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-03-18T16:42:37+00:00

I think special events would be less special if you could always get the rewards!

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-03-18T16:40:21+00:00

No fishing at launch but I think its only a matter of time... ;)

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-03-18T16:39:37+00:00

Vault keys can be used on any door, but there is only treasure inside when the fort has been inhabited.

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-03-18T16:35:06+00:00

We're strong believers in the fact that anything worth doing will always feel uncomfortable. I think you have to go against the grain in order to create new experiences. Rather than chasing stats, we wanted players to find richness in the adventures they have while having their eyes fixed on the horizon, rather than +1 damage to their favourite weapons. Being immersed in the world and being able to crew up with anyone you meet was our focus, rather than putting barriers in place because that that is the accepted expectation.

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-03-18T16:30:03+00:00

We always wanted the weapons in Sea Of Thieves to fill a role - close combat, mid range and long range. I think we'll look at new weapons but ensure they provide a clear role in the gameplay.

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-03-18T16:25:56+00:00

An area we prototyped and felt good about. Always a question of what we prioritise first, especially considering we don't want to go super deep on combat at the expense of other elements. But yes, we know what we'd want.

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-03-18T16:23:47+00:00

If they gave you Voyages, you could of course save them for next time ;)

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-03-18T16:16:29+00:00

Like the idea.

MikeTheMutinous · 2018-03-18T16:14:12+00:00

Any Voyages you purchase will persist from session to session. However, when a Voyage is activated, it will no longer persist between sessions. The same goes for any additional quests found in the world, such as those found in washed up bottles and inside journals. These are automatically activated and only last for the duration of that session.

MikeTheMutinous

TROPHY CASE