Sea of Thieves - all hands on dick - The Something Awful Forums

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Sea of Thieves - all hands on dick

Zaphod42: Sep 13, 2012; If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now.

Can barrels out in the ocean or underwater wrecks have supplies like crates of sugar or whatever, or is it just cannonballs and bananas and planks?

Siets posted:

But in my alternate reality headcanon where Rare promised a pirate MMO with more content than WoW they clearly didn't deliver!!!

Disengenous bullshit argument. That's not what I said. I asked for TF2 levels of items, not WoW. Don't be a dick.

Babe Magnet posted:

story mode sounds like an awful idea and tons of ships is an even worse idea, but I support NPC ships if only to service PvP. Like the Skull Fort boils down to a lucrative encounter who's sole purpose seems to be forcing some rad as hell PvP, NPC ships could maybe be like Mobile Forts or some kind of powerful hell-ship you can caprute that makes you harder to kill/more murderous, but also makes it super obvious when you have it to incentivize people you chase you down and try and take it or something

at the end of the day, this is a PvP game

I never said story mode, so y'all are jumping to conclusions. I just meant some story beyond "player shot other players". Like, the way dark souls tells story in the background with tons of item descriptions that hint at things that combine to tell a backstory and flesh out the world.

There is a teeeeensy bit with the 3 factions, but you could do a bit more. There could be a flavor to the different islands and ships and stuff.

Even Quake 3 and Unreal Tournament had some details to their settings.

# ? Apr 4, 2018 02:10

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Apr 28, 2024 07:22

no_funeral: Jul 4, 2004; why

there is going to be a lot of lore coming, they've mentioned lore books etc. floating barrels do not have anything you can easily sell like spices, silks etc but shipwrecks have plenty.

# ? Apr 4, 2018 06:24

Meme Poker Party: Sep 1, 2006; by Azathoth

Sea of Thieves lore???? :eyepop:

# ? Apr 4, 2018 07:37

Dirk Pitt: Sep 14, 2007; haha yes, this feels good; Toilet Rascal

Zaphod42 posted:

Can barrels out in the ocean or underwater wrecks have supplies like crates of sugar or whatever, or is it just cannonballs and bananas and planks?

Disengenous bullshit argument. That's not what I said. I asked for TF2 levels of items, not WoW. Don't be a dick.

I never said story mode, so y'all are jumping to conclusions. I just meant some story beyond "player shot other players". Like, the way dark souls tells story in the background with tons of item descriptions that hint at things that combine to tell a backstory and flesh out the world.

There is a teeeeensy bit with the 3 factions, but you could do a bit more. There could be a flavor to the different islands and ships and stuff.

Even Quake 3 and Unreal Tournament had some details to their settings.

Do pirates need more lore than "player shot other players?"

# ? Apr 4, 2018 07:57

a cock shaped fruit: Aug 23, 2010; The true enemy of humanity is disorder.

Players also want to read about how GOOCHBEARD THE GRIM KILLED 900 MEN AND WOWEE WOAH THATS SPOOKY

I mean really to be fair Sea of Thieves is kiddy piracy, you won't get any good pillaging stories, just goofy stuff.

# ? Apr 4, 2018 08:14

McKilligan: May 13, 2007; Acey Deezy

I'm having a blast with the game, and as I eagerly await new content, I think it's time for some Pie-in-the-Sky Potential Wild Speculation, or, a list of poo poo that I want that isn't really realistic or based on anything but seems like would be a great addition. This is assuming that basic poo poo like more robust customization is a given.

Big Goddamned Beasts

Kraken can do what it's doing now, but needs to be much more aggressive/damaging.
Giant Crab/Clam/Crustacean/Scylla that creates a huge whirlpool around it with a treasure horde at the bottom. Defeating it means the whirlpool dissipates, but makes it impossible to get at the treasure below.
Roc, or other Giant Bird that's attracted to Treasure. Attacks boats, and if treasure is present, absconds with shinies in it's claws. Returns to nest after thieving. Nest only reachable via cannon-shot, spawns on any of those innumerable giant-rear end rocks that aren't listed on the map.
Megalodon, and Harpoon Cannons to chase it with. Instant death to swimmers. Can be damaged by combining a chum-bucket and explosive barrel (see ship section below below)
Successfully killing one of these (which should be very difficult) should unlock trophies to purchase for your ship.
Undead Treasure Galleon. Massive, floating fortress. Sails slowly across the map, from one edge to the other. Treasures in the bottom hold, and lots of skeletons between you and it. Do your best to get in, get a chest, get out. Shitloads of cannons on either side, with trademark skeleton accuracy.

For that Matter, ship-wise

Harpoon Cannons. Mounted and Fixed on the prow of a ship, unable to adjust aim like a cannon. Requires a gunpowder barrel to fire. Deals no damage in terms of holes, but can connect two ships together, or a ship and Monster. When taut, creates a walkable ropeway, and is reeled in similar to the ship's Anchor. The rope itself can be severed by jumping onto the rope and hacking away at it with your sword for a bit, but it should take a little while. Relatively short range. If the rope is taught, can be traversed like a bridge.
Ships with more treasure (10+chests) should be slightly slower. Gold weighs a lot.
Chum Buckets - You should be able to somehow acquire chum, (detonating an explosive barrel in shallow water near fish, or just blasting small fish with a blunderbuss) which can be hurled into the water to increase the number of sharks around your ship. Has a small chance to summon the Megalodon.

Treasure-wise

Chests stacked near or on top of one another "Spill" glittering piles of gold. Stacking a dozen chests in the same area creates a glittering pile of coin whose size is relative to the number of chests. Makes it harder to 'hide' chests on board, but would look incredible.
Mimics. In such a chest-heavy game, this is a no-brainer. Make them some kind of clam-like monstrosity that infests chests and is suitably dangerous if activated. Has a chance to spawn in any high-concentration of chests, and consumes treasure if unnoticed. When players are not present, attempts to noisily (loud slobbering/crunching) eat other chests and gain 75% of their value. Behaves exactly like a normal chest in all circumstances unless attacked, will not reveal self if players are present. Any chest has a small chance to 'become' a mimic if placed around enough others, which means that you can check every chest that you find, and they might seem safe, but they still have the potential to become a mimic later. When killed, players gain gold immediately instead of turning it in. Becomes more difficult to kill with increased value.

Respawn Mechanics

2 ships of the dead, sailing parallel to one another, locked in eternal battle in a raging storm rather than a placid calm. Players randomly spawn on one or the other, divided evenly, and can earn an early release by killing another player with a cannon shot, or if there are no other players to assault, performing other tasks like patching holes or bailing ectoplasmic water.
These ships can sometimes be found in actual storms on the map, insubstantial and wreathed in ghostly flame. Does nothing otherwise except be spoopy.
If a Skeleton fort is active, players have a chance to respawn on the island instead of the ship of the damned as defending skeletons. Only works if they are sufficiently far away, players killed on or near the island will not become skeletons.

McKilligan fucked around with this message at 08:53 on Apr 4, 2018

# ? Apr 4, 2018 08:17

Kitchner: Nov 9, 2012; IT CAN'T BE BARGAINED WITH.
IT CAN'T BE REASONED WITH.
IT DOESN'T FEEL PITY, OR REMORSE, OR FEAR.
AND IT ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT STOP, EVER, UNTIL YOU ADMIT YOU'RE WRONG ABOUT WARHAMMER; Clapping Larry

Ra Ra Rasputin posted:

.

On another note, honest trailers did one for sea of thieves, it is... not kind, but spot on regarding player interaction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIrsGFCxyJs

I think this is the first ever honest games trailer I've ever watched and I have to say its a bit cringey. I love the film ones, even when it's ripping into a film I like, but I dunno, just seemed it was a list of specific complaints read by the dude with a good voice, rather than something funny that flows well.

I assume it's not the same writers as the film ones though?

On the note of NPC ships not only has rare specifically said that's not happening, but I hope it stays that way. I like the fact that the only thing sailing the o eons are other players. If you want the ship vs ship combat, you have to hunt other players. You can't just sit there playing PvE content.

Also while I like the idea of more treasure slowing your ship down, we need more incentives to hoarde treasure on your ship to make PvP worthwhile, not less.

Kitchner fucked around with this message at 12:40 on Apr 4, 2018

# ? Apr 4, 2018 09:00

Numbnuts: May 20, 2012

McKilligan posted:

a lot of words

i hate the mimic and ship of the damned ideas. or parts of them anyway. The game is too drat grindy to come back to your ship after doing a four part riddle and find youve had two captain chestd slurped up, and an early respawn system sounds like itd just make fighting another ship at a fort a pain in the rear end.

if you can voluntarily feed mimics to have them be traps in your hold hell yeah

also obviously you get chum by vomiting in a bucket

# ? Apr 4, 2018 10:41

Liquid Communism: Mar 9, 2004; Out here, everything hurts.

DogonCrook posted:

I gave them poo poo for that interview where they said they cultivated a friendly environment, and ill be damned if it isnt. I mean thats no thanks to them i think, it seems like they stumbled on it, but if i can compare it to like elite dangerous or something, i like it more. They somehow made it so ganking isnt the big bogeyman it usually is to these communities. Here they seem to recognize it as gameplay and thats no small feat. Open world pvp is usually really toxic subject but here it hasnt been in my expeirience. I would be pissed if they gently caress that up.

To their credit the death ship was genious for promoting a light atmosphere. Yes i just suicide bombed you and yes im about to do it again but in the meantime, lets do a jig! It owns.

It's really a result of relatively small servers. With at most 5-6 galleons on a server, you're not going to get constant mult-ship ganks everywhere like you would in say EvE.

# ? Apr 4, 2018 10:49

AirRaid: Dec 21, 2004; Nose Manual + Super Sonic Spin Attack

Servers are back up, and there's a ~400MB patch to get first.

# ? Apr 4, 2018 13:39

AndrewP: Apr 21, 2010

AirRaid posted:

Servers are back up, and there's a ~400MB patch to get first.

Ships now respawn out of view of where they were sank. This is a good change.

# ? Apr 4, 2018 14:20

Zelder: Jan 4, 2012

a cock shaped fruit posted:

Players also want to read about how GOOCHBEARD THE GRIM KILLED 900 MEN AND WOWEE WOAH THATS SPOOKY

I mean really to be fair Sea of Thieves is kiddy piracy, you won't get any good pillaging stories, just goofy stuff.

Goochbeard did nothing wrong

# ? Apr 4, 2018 14:39

Capri Sun Tzu: Oct 24, 2017; by Reene

ZeusCannon posted:

Pretty sure those skellys that look like birds are kraken skellys and yes I know that makes no sense

Funkmaster General posted:

Krakens are usually depicted as giant squids, and squids have beaks, so... it pretty much does make sense.

Squids are INVERTEBRATES, Funkmaster. NO bones

# ? Apr 4, 2018 15:20

Kitchner: Nov 9, 2012; IT CAN'T BE BARGAINED WITH.
IT CAN'T BE REASONED WITH.
IT DOESN'T FEEL PITY, OR REMORSE, OR FEAR.
AND IT ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT STOP, EVER, UNTIL YOU ADMIT YOU'RE WRONG ABOUT WARHAMMER; Clapping Larry

AndrewP posted:

Ships now respawn out of view of where they were sank. This is a good change.

Literally the only major change.

It's welcome but I wish they would pick up the slack a bit and add some new poo poo.

# ? Apr 4, 2018 15:23

Capri Sun Tzu: Oct 24, 2017; by Reene

no_funeral posted:

the game is quake/cs/unreal but on boats, and you can steal treasure. its an arena FPS, with boats, where you can get drunk and roleplay. its an FPS. but with boats.

I like this game for what it is, while agreeing with the most common criticisms. But get out of here comparing the combat to quake/UT that is the dumbest thing I've read in the entire thread AND I read many of Kitchners posts

# ? Apr 4, 2018 15:23

McKilligan: May 13, 2007; Acey Deezy

Capri Sun Tzu posted:

I like this game for what it is, while agreeing with the most common criticisms. But get out of here comparing the combat to quake/UT that is the dumbest thing I've read in the entire thread AND I read many of Kitchners posts

I dunno, I just got out of a game where a dude was bunny-hopping around our ship like a motherfucker one-shotting us with the BB and if that doesn't bring up twitchy CS/Quake style memories I don't know what does.

# ? Apr 4, 2018 15:38

Kitchner: Nov 9, 2012; IT CAN'T BE BARGAINED WITH.
IT CAN'T BE REASONED WITH.
IT DOESN'T FEEL PITY, OR REMORSE, OR FEAR.
AND IT ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT STOP, EVER, UNTIL YOU ADMIT YOU'RE WRONG ABOUT WARHAMMER; Clapping Larry

McKilligan posted:

I dunno, I just got out of a game where a dude was bunny-hopping around our ship like a motherfucker one-shotting us with the BB and if that doesn't bring up twitchy CS/Quake style memories I don't know what does.

It's ok, he's just mentally incapable of comparing one game to another unless they are identical in every aspect (among other things). He threw a little tiff when I compared it to EVE Online in some aspects too.

# ? Apr 4, 2018 15:42

Ghosthotel: Dec 27, 2008

Nah, it is extremely dumb to start calling this game an Arena FPS with boats when it has pretty much none of the qualities that people love about that genre except you respawn when you die. I don't think anyone was expecting a full blown pirate MMO (in this thread anyway) but the developers certainly marketed this game like there would be a ton to do besides just the pvp and now that the game is out and there isn't you get really stupid defenses like "Actually it's an Arena FPS with boats"

# ? Apr 4, 2018 15:45

Capri Sun Tzu: Oct 24, 2017; by Reene

I would be OK with comparing it to UT if we could shoot cannonballs midair with the sniper rifle to create a shock combo :hellyeah:

# ? Apr 4, 2018 16:38

Legs Benedict: Jul 14, 2002; You can either follow me to our bedroom or bend over that control throne because I haven't been this turned on in FOREVER!

Please, that would rule so loving hard

# ? Apr 4, 2018 16:45

Siets: Sep 19, 2006; by FactsAreUseless

Honestly, the closest comparison is Elite: Dangerous. A sandbox open-world game that is light on theme park content and heavy on immersion and core gameplay mechanics.

# ? Apr 4, 2018 17:02

Zaphod42: Sep 13, 2012; If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now.

McKilligan posted:

Respawn Mechanics

2 ships of the dead, sailing parallel to one another, locked in eternal battle in a raging storm rather than a placid calm. Players randomly spawn on one or the other, divided evenly, and can earn an early release by killing another player with a cannon shot, or if there are no other players to assault, performing other tasks like patching holes or bailing ectoplasmic water.

These ships can sometimes be found in actual storms on the map, insubstantial and wreathed in ghostly flame. Does nothing otherwise except be spoopy.

If a Skeleton fort is active, players have a chance to respawn on the island instead of the ship of the damned as defending skeletons. Only works if they are sufficiently far away, players killed on or near the island will not become skeletons.

These are great ideas.

# ? Apr 4, 2018 17:04

Zaphod42: Sep 13, 2012; If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now.

Ghosthotel posted:

Nah, it is extremely dumb to start calling this game an Arena FPS with boats when it has pretty much none of the qualities that people love about that genre except you respawn when you die. I don't think anyone was expecting a full blown pirate MMO (in this thread anyway) but the developers certainly marketed this game like there would be a ton to do besides just the pvp and now that the game is out and there isn't you get really stupid defenses like "Actually it's an Arena FPS with boats"

Yep. But goons gonna goon.

# ? Apr 4, 2018 17:07

FileNotFound: Jul 17, 2005

Siets posted:

Honestly, the closest comparison is Elite: Dangerous. A sandbox open-world game that is light on theme park content and heavy on immersion and core gameplay mechanics.

I think Elite Dangerous is a phenomenal example of a game that has so much potential that is being wasted - so yeah this is a really good fit.

# ? Apr 4, 2018 17:10

Meme Poker Party: Sep 1, 2006; by Azathoth

FileNotFound posted:

I think Elite Dangerous is a phenomenal example of a game that has so much potential that is being wasted - so yeah this is a really good fit.

Hell... same.

# ? Apr 4, 2018 17:11

Siets: Sep 19, 2006; by FactsAreUseless

FileNotFound posted:

I think Elite Dangerous is a phenomenal example of a game that has so much potential that is being wasted - so yeah this is a really good fit.

That's one way to spin it. :rolleyes:

Some people enjoy the sandbox genre and/or enjoy their space trucking. Elite is the game for them.

# ? Apr 4, 2018 17:12

Capri Sun Tzu: Oct 24, 2017; by Reene

Siets posted:

Honestly, the closest comparison is Elite: Dangerous. A sandbox open-world game that is light on theme park content and heavy on immersion and core gameplay mechanics.

Its hard to classify because there isn't another game in this space. Its got sandbox/mmo/fps elements, but they're all shallow. The core gameplay loop is the coop sailing. So maybe, uh, Pulsar or something

# ? Apr 4, 2018 17:15

no_funeral: Jul 4, 2004; why

Capri Sun Tzu posted:

I like this game for what it is, while agreeing with the most common criticisms. But get out of here comparing the combat to quake/UT that is the dumbest thing I've read in the entire thread AND I read many of Kitchners posts

- everybody is on the same footing power wise
- you can bhop with no movement penalty
- you can respawn infinitely on a short timer

its an arena FPS with boats. i never said the COMBAT was similar to either of those games. the format however, is. the comparison was a reply to somebody who was suggesting ideas for the game which would contradict its core gameplay loop, which is pretty simple to understand if you could read the tone of my post.

# ? Apr 4, 2018 17:17

Capri Sun Tzu: Oct 24, 2017; by Reene

I guess you're not wrong on the most technical of levels but precision and speed are what people associate with arena shooters

# ? Apr 4, 2018 17:21

Comrayn: Jul 22, 2008

I love to sail

# ? Apr 4, 2018 17:27

Meme Poker Party: Sep 1, 2006; by Azathoth

Typically an arena FPS puts designated combatants in small area with an obvious route to combat. Even a very slow paced one like PUBG has a designated combat zone that continually shrinks in order to facilitate action. That's the "arena" part. Either the map is small enough that conflict will be inevitable, or there are mechanics to drive people to fight.

What doesn't really sound very arena-like is "uh we put some number of boats in the instance, probably. There may be actually be nobody. Also they could be anywhere on this large map so you won't know if they exist or not until you stumble upon each other. There is no way for anyone to locate anyone except roaming."

# ? Apr 4, 2018 17:28

sigher: Apr 22, 2008; My guiding Moonlight...

Siets posted:

That's one way to spin it. Some people enjoy the sandbox genre and/or enjoy their space trucking. Elite is the game for them.

Yeah but people also like Euro Truck simulator, some people just like boring poo poo.

no_funeral posted:

its an arena FPS with boats. i never said the COMBAT was similar to either of those games. the format however, is.

You mean the game where it might take you 20 minutes to find another combatant is similar to Quake and UT? The game with a massive MMO map, PvE and grindy fetch quests is like the fast-paced skill shooters of yore? What?

If you're saying just the combat is like Quake or UT you're still wrong.

# ? Apr 4, 2018 17:28

Wintermutant: Oct 2, 2009; Dinosaur Gum

Capri Sun Tzu posted:

So maybe, uh, Pulsar or something

When I tried to sell some of my friends on this game, they ended up just reinstalling Pulsar again instead, so I think that works.

# ? Apr 4, 2018 17:33

DogonCrook: Apr 24, 2016; I think my 20 years as hurricane chaser might be a little relevant ive been through more hurricanws than moat shiitty newscasters

Chomp8645 posted:

Typically an arena FPS puts designated combatants in small area with an obvious route to combat. Even a very slow paced one like PUBG has a designated combat zone that continually shrinks in order to facilitate action. That's the "arena" part. Either the map is small enough that conflict will be inevitable, or there are mechanics to drive people to fight.

What doesn't really sound very arena-like is "uh we put some number of boats in the instance, probably. There may be actually be nobody. Also they could be anywhere on this large map so you won't know if they exist or not until you stumble upon each other. There is no way for anyone to locate anyone except roaming."

If you cant find a fight in this pvp game literally made for children you might be retarded.

# ? Apr 4, 2018 17:40

Meme Poker Party: Sep 1, 2006; by Azathoth

DogonCrook posted:

If you cant find a fight in this pvp game literally made for children you might be retarded.

That's really not what I said at all but ok!

# ? Apr 4, 2018 17:41

FileNotFound: Jul 17, 2005

Siets posted:

That's one way to spin it. Some people enjoy the sandbox genre and/or enjoy their space trucking. Elite is the game for them.

I got my Imperial Cutter in ED. I played the poo poo out of it and as much as I enjoyed it everything, every single feature, every single drat aspect of the game felt extremely shallow - really the only depth is in ship fitting but that part of the game is riddled with balance issues....

# ? Apr 4, 2018 17:43

DogonCrook: Apr 24, 2016; I think my 20 years as hurricane chaser might be a little relevant ive been through more hurricanws than moat shiitty newscasters

Chomp8645 posted:

That's really not what I said at all but ok!

If you werent suggesting its hard to find action on a server than yeah i dont know what the gently caress you are trying to say.

# ? Apr 4, 2018 18:00

Meme Poker Party: Sep 1, 2006; by Azathoth

DogonCrook posted:

If you werent suggesting its hard to find action on a server than yeah i dont know what the gently caress you are trying to say.

I thought it was pretty clear that I was talking about what makes an "arena" game arena and how it doesn't really apply to this one. I wasn't even saying Game Good or Game Bad or anything. Just that it's really not an arena game and calling it one is a mislabel.

You don't have to be so defensive about it.

# ? Apr 4, 2018 18:03

sigher: Apr 22, 2008; My guiding Moonlight...

DogonCrook posted:

If you werent suggesting its hard to find action on a server than yeah i dont know what the gently caress you are trying to say.

Some people have reported going hours without encountering anyone. This isn't a rare thing

# ? Apr 4, 2018 18:12

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Apr 28, 2024 07:22

BadSamaritan: May 2, 2008; crumb by crumb in this big black forest

The game rewards opportunism. Cruising around and getting chests/skulls until you see a boat you want to plunder (or get away from, now that you�ve been collecting treasure). If all you want to do is fight other boats, the player density might be disappointing, but I�ve found the number to be pretty spot on for �Ooh... you guys want to go mess with them?�.

I do wish there was a bit more incentive for exploring non-quest islands and the waters around them, since exploring the first sandy uncharted island was *magical* but there was nothing to be �gained� from the stop.

# ? Apr 4, 2018 18:22

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Sea of Thieves - all hands on dick

«‹›207 »