Bahahahahaha! "Water shame!" Hahaha get it!? Its like "what a shame!" Hahahahaha.
Ahem.
That's the best water I've ever seen.
Official Thread Sea of Thieves
- Thread starter MosquitoSmasher
- Start date
Bahahahahaha! "Water shame!" Hahaha get it!? Its like "what a shame!" Hahahahaha.
Ahem.
That's the best water I've ever seen.
Doesn't sound that way from the interview. "Giant world with countless players," and then they go on and talk about coming across other "real" people and interacting with them by forming a group, stealing their treasures, etc. It sounds more like an MMO than Destiny/The Division. Both Destiny/The Division only really allow interaction via their PvP modes which are separate from the main game world.
Yea it seems like it has a higher player count but I believe they said they don't have the final count locked down, from the video it appears the E3 demo was 15 players. I don't think it has all the MMO tropes though.
Yeah I doubt it will have hundreds of players in the world any given time like a more traditional MMO, but I don't think they are trying to build an MMO per se. It seems more like a typical co-op game but with an open-world populated by other real players.
So it is another hybrid of sorts.
Damn, delayed to 2017. But we should have a beta this year.
https://www.seaofthieves.com/updates/articles/sea-of-thieves-official-E3-FAQ
Sea Of Thieves Official E3 FAQ
It’s Day Three of E3, and in case you missed the news, we've made some big waves with Rare’s upcoming pirate adventure. Now that everyone has seen the gameplay and gotten a glimpse of what’s in store for Sea of Thieves moving forward, we’ve started to get a lot of questions about the game.
While we’re doing our best to respond to everyone we can on Twitter, we wanted to take some time to answer some of the top questions here on the website. Without further ado, here’s your bona fide, peg-legged pirate FAQ for E3 2016:
Q: What kind of game is Sea of Thieves?
A: Sea of Thieves is a shared-world adventure game (or “SWAG,” as we’re fond of calling it here in the office). It’s a multiplayer game with crew co-operation at its core, and our ambition is to let players be the kind of pirates they want to be. Whether you’d like to hunt for legendary treasures, sail to the furthest island in the distance or hunt down rival crews, our ambition is to build a game that lets you pursue whichever adventure your salty heart desires.
Q: When is the game coming out?
A: We have not announced a release date for Sea of Thieves. Right now our focus is on getting the game into players hands in the form of a limited closed beta.
Q: Will there be a beta?
A: Yes! We’re keen to get the game into players’ hands so that we can receive feedback about the game as soon as possible. To quote Design Director and Rare veteran Gregg Mayles from his interview with Metro: “We want to release a beta as soon as we can, but not a one-week-before-release beta, a proper beta where we can start observing how people play, and get their feedback.”
Q: How do I get into the beta?
A: We don’t have specific details on how to get into the beta just yet, but the best thing you can do for now is make sure you’re following the game on Twitter and Facebook, and that you’re subscribed for updates on our website. We’ll have more details to share about the beta through these channels as they become available!
Q: Can I play the game alone?
A: In an interview with VentureBeat, Lead Designer Mike Chapman detailed our thoughts regarding single-player adventuring for the final game. “We want to allow people to be the pirate they want to be. If you want to be the solitary pirate who sails around on a small, one-man ship, we want to allow you to do that... We’re trying to build [a] co-operative adventure game, but we don’t want to limit what players can do for people who want to get lost in the world. That’s just as valid.”
Q: How many people are in a crew?
A: On the E3 show floor, we’re currently demoing a build of the game that features three five-person crews. However, in an interview with IGN, Gregg Mayles did say that a “crew limit” has yet to be determined by the team.
Q: Who are the players in your E3 Gameplay Trailer?
A: Not actors, not YouTube or Twitch celebrities, but genuine Rare fans and winners of our Play It First contest, who we invited to Rare HQ ahead of E3 to play the game for the first time. After seeing their infectious joy in those first play sessions we felt there was no better way to demo Sea of Thieves’ gameplay to the world!
Q: What kind of things can I do in the game?
A: We’ve received countless questions about what else can be done in the game, covering everything from quests and exploration to melee and gun combat! Right now we don’t have any more details to share beyond what’s in the E3 demo, but we are looking forward to telling everyone more about the full Sea of Thieves experience over the coming weeks and months. Make sure you’re signed up to our channels to learn more about the game as we set sail for adventure!
https://www.seaofthieves.com/updates/articles/sea-of-thieves-official-E3-FAQ
Sea Of Thieves Official E3 FAQ
It’s Day Three of E3, and in case you missed the news, we've made some big waves with Rare’s upcoming pirate adventure. Now that everyone has seen the gameplay and gotten a glimpse of what’s in store for Sea of Thieves moving forward, we’ve started to get a lot of questions about the game.
While we’re doing our best to respond to everyone we can on Twitter, we wanted to take some time to answer some of the top questions here on the website. Without further ado, here’s your bona fide, peg-legged pirate FAQ for E3 2016:
Q: What kind of game is Sea of Thieves?
A: Sea of Thieves is a shared-world adventure game (or “SWAG,” as we’re fond of calling it here in the office). It’s a multiplayer game with crew co-operation at its core, and our ambition is to let players be the kind of pirates they want to be. Whether you’d like to hunt for legendary treasures, sail to the furthest island in the distance or hunt down rival crews, our ambition is to build a game that lets you pursue whichever adventure your salty heart desires.
Q: When is the game coming out?
A: We have not announced a release date for Sea of Thieves. Right now our focus is on getting the game into players hands in the form of a limited closed beta.
Q: Will there be a beta?
A: Yes! We’re keen to get the game into players’ hands so that we can receive feedback about the game as soon as possible. To quote Design Director and Rare veteran Gregg Mayles from his interview with Metro: “We want to release a beta as soon as we can, but not a one-week-before-release beta, a proper beta where we can start observing how people play, and get their feedback.”
Q: How do I get into the beta?
A: We don’t have specific details on how to get into the beta just yet, but the best thing you can do for now is make sure you’re following the game on Twitter and Facebook, and that you’re subscribed for updates on our website. We’ll have more details to share about the beta through these channels as they become available!
Q: Can I play the game alone?
A: In an interview with VentureBeat, Lead Designer Mike Chapman detailed our thoughts regarding single-player adventuring for the final game. “We want to allow people to be the pirate they want to be. If you want to be the solitary pirate who sails around on a small, one-man ship, we want to allow you to do that... We’re trying to build [a] co-operative adventure game, but we don’t want to limit what players can do for people who want to get lost in the world. That’s just as valid.”
Q: How many people are in a crew?
A: On the E3 show floor, we’re currently demoing a build of the game that features three five-person crews. However, in an interview with IGN, Gregg Mayles did say that a “crew limit” has yet to be determined by the team.
Q: Who are the players in your E3 Gameplay Trailer?
A: Not actors, not YouTube or Twitch celebrities, but genuine Rare fans and winners of our Play It First contest, who we invited to Rare HQ ahead of E3 to play the game for the first time. After seeing their infectious joy in those first play sessions we felt there was no better way to demo Sea of Thieves’ gameplay to the world!
Q: What kind of things can I do in the game?
A: We’ve received countless questions about what else can be done in the game, covering everything from quests and exploration to melee and gun combat! Right now we don’t have any more details to share beyond what’s in the E3 demo, but we are looking forward to telling everyone more about the full Sea of Thieves experience over the coming weeks and months. Make sure you’re signed up to our channels to learn more about the game as we set sail for adventure!
Sounds like an MMO but with a bigger emphasis on co-op rather than RPG solo play.
I have yet to see anybody say anything other than "it is fun."
I like that they are letting lone wolfs be exactly that too.
Most of the impressions I've read seem pretty positive. Drinking and blowing things up...sounds good to me, especially with a good group of people.
I wonder what the limitations are though? Is it all ship-based? Will there be anything on land? What was with the pirate skeletons in the trailer? If you can hit a guy with a fish, what else is possible?
If it's just the ship stuff, I hope it doesn't get old fast.
For the first time in a while I'm cautiously optimistic about a Rare game. I hope I'm in the beta.
I wonder what the limitations are though? Is it all ship-based? Will there be anything on land? What was with the pirate skeletons in the trailer? If you can hit a guy with a fish, what else is possible?
If it's just the ship stuff, I hope it doesn't get old fast.
For the first time in a while I'm cautiously optimistic about a Rare game. I hope I'm in the beta.
It's a big shared open world.
Think of it like an MMO but it isn't an MMO. You can collect loot. Complete missions, attack other players, boat warfare, exploration, co-op, etc.
You aren't forced to do anything neither. You could buy the game and just sit by the dock drinking grog and playing the flute if that is what you want to do.
Rare’s Sea of Thieves Gets Tons of Screenshots and Art: Ships, Weapons, Weather, Characters and More https://t.co/uExaUn0O2d
Nice.
Seems the majority, if not all, of those in game screenshots are from their slideshow/video at the E3 presser.
I will going hunting for one of these.
http://m.windowscentral.com/sailing-high-seas-sea-thieves
Sailing the high seas with Sea of Thieves, Rare's whimsical pirate adventure
At E3, we were lucky enough to go hands-on with Rare's upcoming connected pirate game – Sea of Thieves.
Up until now, Sea of Thieves has been shrouded in a mist of intrigue, with only scant details to accompany its slick, but uninformative debut trailer. At E3 2016 I was lucky enough to not only play the game but spend a significant amount of time discussing it with Rare's Joe Neate and Gregg Mayles, along with studio lead, Craig Duncan.
Sea of Thieves has the potential to be a verybig deal. Here's what I learned.
Sea of Thieves is an always-online open world, where groups of up to four players will be able to band together to explore, plunder loot and progress a misfit pirate crew. Neate said that everything you'd expect from a connected RPG would be available in Sea of Thieves — from character progression, upgrades, quests, and more difficult group objectives.
Neate said that the trailer the studio showed at E3 (embedded above) provides hints at different activities you'll be able to take part in for Sea of Thieves. From my time with the demo, the potential this game has to be a huge hit is crystal clear.
Neate said that when Rare sat down to decide what game to build next, they felt the need to take on a new challenge. The studio looked at what was popular in the industry with the aim of bringing the Rare charm and humor to an existing paradigm. The studio became particularly interested in shared-world games, such as Destiny and The Division, where players spend hours and hours together, forging their own stories.
"We just wanted to get a group of players, put them together in this shared world and basically go, 'Just go out there, and have fun and adventures and create your own fun together.'" – Rare
Gregg Mayles said that they have less of an interest in linear games at present and that player freedom will factor in heavily to Sea of Thieves. Rare doesn't want Sea of Thieves to be a game every player experiences in the same way; they're also eager to get Sea of Thieves into players' hands as soon as possible. The studio has put up a Sea of Thieves forum, so they can begin taking feedback on the direction the game should take. Indeed, when I asked if the game would have some kind of crafting system, Neate said that it wasn't in right now, but it would ultimately be up to the community to decide what features get added to the game down the line – nothing is off the table for the future.
Sea of Thieves is designed to give players a sense of being in a tightly-knit band of friends. I alluded to The Division's Dark Zone multiple times while talking to Rare, and while it shares similarities, it's by no means a good comparison for Sea of Thieves.
Like the Dark Zone, human controlled pirates and ships will dynamically phase in and out of your world, utilizing matchmaking algorithms to limit the chances of coming face to face with higher level ships or clans of swashbucklers. In our meeting room, the TV screen displayed Sea of Thieves as it was connected to the show floor, showing players blowing up each other's ships in real time. Neate said they had made careful considerations with how often players will encounter other players because they don't want to make players constantly paranoid and distracted from their own adventures.
Neate said that while they do want players to feel a sense of loss and risk when it comes to meeting potential enemies, they don't want it to be as punishing as something like Day Z, EVE Online or Elite Dangerous. In some of these games, losing your items or ships can result in hours or days of lost grinding. It sounds as though Sea of Thieves will be a perilous, but ultimately forgiving, world where the sense of loss shouldn't make you want to quit the game completely.
The demo build Rare had available for Sea of Thieves was very stripped down; there was no melee combat or shooting. It was designed solely to give players an idea of how the game's co-operative naval combat and social features would work in quick, E3-style 15-minute bursts. And it was total, unmitigated awesomeness.
Luckily, I was playing with two Rare developers, who knew some advanced tactics for steering the ship. The best comparison to Sea of Thieves' naval experience I can think of is Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, where players need to work together to control different parts of the game's ship. The person in the Crow's Nest has much longer view distance, and can spot enemy ships on the horizon. Communicating that information to the helmsman, players can then decide whether to steer towards it. You can change the angle of the sails, and wind direction has a potent, but not punishing effect on the speed of your vessel.
As someone who is quite reserved and uncommunicative on Xbox Live, Sea of Thieves made voice-based organization feel a little more welcoming. If you want to pilot those larger ships successfully, the optimal way to do so is by communicating with friends in real time, letting your crew know when you'd set the sails, when you'd dropped the anchor, that you were going to patch holes in the hull, and so on.
It sounds as though Sea of Thieves has the potential to devour hours of people's lives (specifically mine).
There was certainly a sense of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag as our ship came side by side against our enemy, and we all rushed to man cannons to blast the enemy ship into kindling. Our ship was taking serious damage, sending us scrambling below decks to block holes in the hull. Rare noted that in newer builds, players can use buckets to displace the water that gathers within their ship to toss it overboard.
Speaking of water, Sea of Thieves sports some of the most gorgeous effects I've ever seen in a game. You'd probably hope they would be given the game's premise, but it almost felt like a pre-rendered video, not far removed from a Pixar movie. The condition of the sea isn't static, it becomes rougher and calmer dynamically, giving the world a sense of realism. Day and night cycles throw vivid sunsets against the horizon, painting shimmering, warm reflections on the sea. The character designs were fun and vibrant, and everything was washed in that enticing, colorful Rare charm.
After I had stopped being distracted by the superb visuals, I realized we'd sunk the enemy vessel, and the scurvy dogs we faced were now heading straight into Davy Jones' locker, helpless in the water. The demo build had some cheat commands to help people get quickly back into the game, but the core premise felt equal parts hilarious and exciting. It just felt so right.
"It's just such an obvious fit for this kind of vision that we're trying to achieve. Thanks to popular media and films, growing up as a child with stories, everybody kind of knows the idea of what being a pirate is. You almost don't have to teach players the basics of what to do." – Rare
Joe Neate pointed out that the demo lacked a tutorial on purpose because they feel as though players can quite quickly figure out how to sail a ship thanks to popular culture's emphasis on pirates. That said, there does seem to be plenty of room for advanced tactics. The Rare devs in my crew were dropping the anchor while moving, to slingshot the ship for quick turning. It then took several of us working together to pull the anchor back from the depths in mid-combat, but the additional speed gave us a huge advantage over competing vessels.
Rare were keen to point out that the demo build we played was only a "sliver" of the full experience, and it's certainly not all about blowing up enemy ships. When you see an enemy ship on the horizon, it doesn't necessarily mean the players will be hostile either – they may want to trade, or they may want to band together to take out something bigger. Seeing another pirate ship on the horizon should be a "magical moment" says Neate, straight out of the best pirate movies and media.
"Ultimately our vision for this game is that whenever you see a set of sails on the horizon, the number one thing is that that's another crew of players, right? This is a shared world. That magical moment from every pirate movie where you look through the telescope and see a set of sails. You don't know what they want, who are they? You're just kind of trying to work it out from a distance. Are they wanting to trade? Are they wanting to team up and create a fragile alliance to take out something bigger? That's the magic of our game. That's the vision. That's really what we want to land." – Rare
Rare acknowledged that players do want definitive goals, such as quests, things that can be earned and so on, and that Sea of Thieves would fully support that sort of play. As noted, the cinematic trailer hints at the full breadth of variety on the way to Sea of Thieves. Diving under water, finding mermaids, avoiding sharks, battling skeletons, recovering buried treasure. You'll also be able to anchor in NPC ports, purchase items from shops, upgrade and customize weapons, clothes, and of course, your ship itself. You can alter your ship's visuals, buy upgrades for the hull, the cannons, and practically every part. It sounds as though Sea of Thieves has the potential to devour hours of people's lives (specifically mine).
Rare said they experimented with the idea of allowing players to betray their crews, but they found even among their own work colleagues, finding treasure often resulted in chaotic bouts of betrayal that harmed the core experience. Rare's vision for Sea of Thieves is that it's your crew against the world, but the studio has long-term plans to allow crews to ally together in some form of a guild-like system. The studio does have plans to allow players to experience Sea of Thieves solo or in smaller groups too, with plans for smaller, more agile ships that require fewer players to crew successfully.
"Although Sea of Thieves has been designed primarily as a multiplayer co-operative game, we understand that there will be times that maybe players haven't got their friends online, or maybe they don't want to play with people they don't know. Or they might just want to go out there on their own and explore. We have prototyped different sized ships, and smaller sized ships that suit one to two players, and we've had these interesting scenarios where we've had these little ships circling the big ships like flies – it creates a really interesting balance." – Rare
I asked if Sea of Thieves will feature any class roles or specializations, but they said they didn't want to pigeonhole players. Instead, players will be able to undertake any activities they feel like. According to Rare, all play styles will be supported, from exploration to plundering, all the way up to more difficult, shared "raid-like" objectives. Neate said that there will be creatures in the world both above and below the sea, in addition to on land. He said that encountering a Kraken in Sea of Thieves will be an "intense" experience, and the studio is committed to providing more of those sorts of experiences.
Sea of Thieves isn't free to play, but Rare repeatedly emphasized that the game will evolve and develop over time with new content. While the full business model hasn't been announced, I'm not confident that Sea of Thieves can "evolve" with updates without some form of micro-transactional model to fund development. Sunset Overdrive was supposed to receive dynamic updates over time, but beyond a few snippets of paid DLC, very little changed. The Division patches have been very slow paced as well and have often failed to address some of the community's biggest concerns.
My key take away from Sea of Thieves was the raw, amazing, exciting potential contained within that very brief, bare-bones demo.
My key take away from Sea of Thieves was the raw, amazing, exciting potential contained within that very brief, bare-bones demo. With the tragically canceled Fable Legends stranded in Sea of Thieves' wake, it's ultimately on Microsoft to ensure Sea of Thieves receives the right amount of investment and care for Rare to realize their vast ambitions. Sea of Thieves could be a big, big, deal, with the right amount of attention.
Watching Rare's cartoony pirates frantically scurry around this sprawling ship was humorous in its own right, but our interview group laughed out loud when Rare's Joe Neate had his character start playing accordion as the ship sank, in a defeated lament. Laughter typified my experiences with Sea of Thieves, as the loudest cheers of E3 came from the game's stand, as players indulged their inner pirate.
Everyone I met from the studio shared that unique, definitively Rare spirit, that gave us some of the most memorable characters and games ever made. It's somewhat heart-warming to report that Rare has pivoted all the way back to the top of Triple-A pile with ease. Make no mistake – Rare is back, ye scurvy dogs. Sea of Thieves deserves your undivided attention.
Sailing the high seas with Sea of Thieves, Rare's whimsical pirate adventure
Up until now, Sea of Thieves has been shrouded in a mist of intrigue, with only scant details to accompany its slick, but uninformative debut trailer. At E3 2016 I was lucky enough to not only play the game but spend a significant amount of time discussing it with Rare's Joe Neate and Gregg Mayles, along with studio lead, Craig Duncan.
Sea of Thieves has the potential to be a verybig deal. Here's what I learned.
Sea of Thieves is an always-online open world, where groups of up to four players will be able to band together to explore, plunder loot and progress a misfit pirate crew. Neate said that everything you'd expect from a connected RPG would be available in Sea of Thieves — from character progression, upgrades, quests, and more difficult group objectives.
Neate said that the trailer the studio showed at E3 (embedded above) provides hints at different activities you'll be able to take part in for Sea of Thieves. From my time with the demo, the potential this game has to be a huge hit is crystal clear.
Neate said that when Rare sat down to decide what game to build next, they felt the need to take on a new challenge. The studio looked at what was popular in the industry with the aim of bringing the Rare charm and humor to an existing paradigm. The studio became particularly interested in shared-world games, such as Destiny and The Division, where players spend hours and hours together, forging their own stories.
"We just wanted to get a group of players, put them together in this shared world and basically go, 'Just go out there, and have fun and adventures and create your own fun together.'" – Rare
Gregg Mayles said that they have less of an interest in linear games at present and that player freedom will factor in heavily to Sea of Thieves. Rare doesn't want Sea of Thieves to be a game every player experiences in the same way; they're also eager to get Sea of Thieves into players' hands as soon as possible. The studio has put up a Sea of Thieves forum, so they can begin taking feedback on the direction the game should take. Indeed, when I asked if the game would have some kind of crafting system, Neate said that it wasn't in right now, but it would ultimately be up to the community to decide what features get added to the game down the line – nothing is off the table for the future.
Sea of Thieves is designed to give players a sense of being in a tightly-knit band of friends. I alluded to The Division's Dark Zone multiple times while talking to Rare, and while it shares similarities, it's by no means a good comparison for Sea of Thieves.
Like the Dark Zone, human controlled pirates and ships will dynamically phase in and out of your world, utilizing matchmaking algorithms to limit the chances of coming face to face with higher level ships or clans of swashbucklers. In our meeting room, the TV screen displayed Sea of Thieves as it was connected to the show floor, showing players blowing up each other's ships in real time. Neate said they had made careful considerations with how often players will encounter other players because they don't want to make players constantly paranoid and distracted from their own adventures.
Neate said that while they do want players to feel a sense of loss and risk when it comes to meeting potential enemies, they don't want it to be as punishing as something like Day Z, EVE Online or Elite Dangerous. In some of these games, losing your items or ships can result in hours or days of lost grinding. It sounds as though Sea of Thieves will be a perilous, but ultimately forgiving, world where the sense of loss shouldn't make you want to quit the game completely.
The demo build Rare had available for Sea of Thieves was very stripped down; there was no melee combat or shooting. It was designed solely to give players an idea of how the game's co-operative naval combat and social features would work in quick, E3-style 15-minute bursts. And it was total, unmitigated awesomeness.
Luckily, I was playing with two Rare developers, who knew some advanced tactics for steering the ship. The best comparison to Sea of Thieves' naval experience I can think of is Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, where players need to work together to control different parts of the game's ship. The person in the Crow's Nest has much longer view distance, and can spot enemy ships on the horizon. Communicating that information to the helmsman, players can then decide whether to steer towards it. You can change the angle of the sails, and wind direction has a potent, but not punishing effect on the speed of your vessel.
As someone who is quite reserved and uncommunicative on Xbox Live, Sea of Thieves made voice-based organization feel a little more welcoming. If you want to pilot those larger ships successfully, the optimal way to do so is by communicating with friends in real time, letting your crew know when you'd set the sails, when you'd dropped the anchor, that you were going to patch holes in the hull, and so on.
It sounds as though Sea of Thieves has the potential to devour hours of people's lives (specifically mine).
There was certainly a sense of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag as our ship came side by side against our enemy, and we all rushed to man cannons to blast the enemy ship into kindling. Our ship was taking serious damage, sending us scrambling below decks to block holes in the hull. Rare noted that in newer builds, players can use buckets to displace the water that gathers within their ship to toss it overboard.
Speaking of water, Sea of Thieves sports some of the most gorgeous effects I've ever seen in a game. You'd probably hope they would be given the game's premise, but it almost felt like a pre-rendered video, not far removed from a Pixar movie. The condition of the sea isn't static, it becomes rougher and calmer dynamically, giving the world a sense of realism. Day and night cycles throw vivid sunsets against the horizon, painting shimmering, warm reflections on the sea. The character designs were fun and vibrant, and everything was washed in that enticing, colorful Rare charm.
After I had stopped being distracted by the superb visuals, I realized we'd sunk the enemy vessel, and the scurvy dogs we faced were now heading straight into Davy Jones' locker, helpless in the water. The demo build had some cheat commands to help people get quickly back into the game, but the core premise felt equal parts hilarious and exciting. It just felt so right.
"It's just such an obvious fit for this kind of vision that we're trying to achieve. Thanks to popular media and films, growing up as a child with stories, everybody kind of knows the idea of what being a pirate is. You almost don't have to teach players the basics of what to do." – Rare
Joe Neate pointed out that the demo lacked a tutorial on purpose because they feel as though players can quite quickly figure out how to sail a ship thanks to popular culture's emphasis on pirates. That said, there does seem to be plenty of room for advanced tactics. The Rare devs in my crew were dropping the anchor while moving, to slingshot the ship for quick turning. It then took several of us working together to pull the anchor back from the depths in mid-combat, but the additional speed gave us a huge advantage over competing vessels.
Rare were keen to point out that the demo build we played was only a "sliver" of the full experience, and it's certainly not all about blowing up enemy ships. When you see an enemy ship on the horizon, it doesn't necessarily mean the players will be hostile either – they may want to trade, or they may want to band together to take out something bigger. Seeing another pirate ship on the horizon should be a "magical moment" says Neate, straight out of the best pirate movies and media.
"Ultimately our vision for this game is that whenever you see a set of sails on the horizon, the number one thing is that that's another crew of players, right? This is a shared world. That magical moment from every pirate movie where you look through the telescope and see a set of sails. You don't know what they want, who are they? You're just kind of trying to work it out from a distance. Are they wanting to trade? Are they wanting to team up and create a fragile alliance to take out something bigger? That's the magic of our game. That's the vision. That's really what we want to land." – Rare
Rare acknowledged that players do want definitive goals, such as quests, things that can be earned and so on, and that Sea of Thieves would fully support that sort of play. As noted, the cinematic trailer hints at the full breadth of variety on the way to Sea of Thieves. Diving under water, finding mermaids, avoiding sharks, battling skeletons, recovering buried treasure. You'll also be able to anchor in NPC ports, purchase items from shops, upgrade and customize weapons, clothes, and of course, your ship itself. You can alter your ship's visuals, buy upgrades for the hull, the cannons, and practically every part. It sounds as though Sea of Thieves has the potential to devour hours of people's lives (specifically mine).
Rare said they experimented with the idea of allowing players to betray their crews, but they found even among their own work colleagues, finding treasure often resulted in chaotic bouts of betrayal that harmed the core experience. Rare's vision for Sea of Thieves is that it's your crew against the world, but the studio has long-term plans to allow crews to ally together in some form of a guild-like system. The studio does have plans to allow players to experience Sea of Thieves solo or in smaller groups too, with plans for smaller, more agile ships that require fewer players to crew successfully.
"Although Sea of Thieves has been designed primarily as a multiplayer co-operative game, we understand that there will be times that maybe players haven't got their friends online, or maybe they don't want to play with people they don't know. Or they might just want to go out there on their own and explore. We have prototyped different sized ships, and smaller sized ships that suit one to two players, and we've had these interesting scenarios where we've had these little ships circling the big ships like flies – it creates a really interesting balance." – Rare
I asked if Sea of Thieves will feature any class roles or specializations, but they said they didn't want to pigeonhole players. Instead, players will be able to undertake any activities they feel like. According to Rare, all play styles will be supported, from exploration to plundering, all the way up to more difficult, shared "raid-like" objectives. Neate said that there will be creatures in the world both above and below the sea, in addition to on land. He said that encountering a Kraken in Sea of Thieves will be an "intense" experience, and the studio is committed to providing more of those sorts of experiences.
Sea of Thieves isn't free to play, but Rare repeatedly emphasized that the game will evolve and develop over time with new content. While the full business model hasn't been announced, I'm not confident that Sea of Thieves can "evolve" with updates without some form of micro-transactional model to fund development. Sunset Overdrive was supposed to receive dynamic updates over time, but beyond a few snippets of paid DLC, very little changed. The Division patches have been very slow paced as well and have often failed to address some of the community's biggest concerns.
My key take away from Sea of Thieves was the raw, amazing, exciting potential contained within that very brief, bare-bones demo.
My key take away from Sea of Thieves was the raw, amazing, exciting potential contained within that very brief, bare-bones demo. With the tragically canceled Fable Legends stranded in Sea of Thieves' wake, it's ultimately on Microsoft to ensure Sea of Thieves receives the right amount of investment and care for Rare to realize their vast ambitions. Sea of Thieves could be a big, big, deal, with the right amount of attention.
Watching Rare's cartoony pirates frantically scurry around this sprawling ship was humorous in its own right, but our interview group laughed out loud when Rare's Joe Neate had his character start playing accordion as the ship sank, in a defeated lament. Laughter typified my experiences with Sea of Thieves, as the loudest cheers of E3 came from the game's stand, as players indulged their inner pirate.
Everyone I met from the studio shared that unique, definitively Rare spirit, that gave us some of the most memorable characters and games ever made. It's somewhat heart-warming to report that Rare has pivoted all the way back to the top of Triple-A pile with ease. Make no mistake – Rare is back, ye scurvy dogs. Sea of Thieves deserves your undivided attention.
Before moving to Kinect they still made quality games. Never been a reason to me to think they still can't.
I agree, I loved their old stuff. It's just been wayyyy too long since they made something I was really interested in. When MS bought them I thought it was the greatest deal ever, and until now it has probably been one of my biggest gaming disappointments.
I'm really hoping this game will end up being as much fun as it seems to be.
Whether it's more like an MMO or just a PvP type game it sounds like Sea of Thieves is just another awesome multiplayer experience. Tailor made for Xbox Live. It's going to be awesome.
Did you actually get to play it, or just basing that off the media?
If so, impressions please!
I wish I did. My thoughts we based off the media solely. While many are looking for the best graphics, favorite sequels, or whatnot; my eyebrows rise for games that I feel are truly pushing the envelope for something entirely new (ie "Dreams") or something that recaptures and reinvents gameplay that hasn't been seen in awhile (ie "Sea of Thieves").
The game has certainly received some good press and everyone is hoping Rare can deliver on their past pedigree that was unfortunately diverted to Kinect gaming for awhile. Even though their Kinect games didn't do well, it was more a result of Kinect than the games themselves. SoT is going to be Rare's homecoming back into the fold as one of the top developers in the world, so I hope the game does well so it can receive plenty of ongoing support after release.