Sea of Thieves

[dyne]

So very rad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp1w...ature=youtu.be

[dyne]

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...ted-time-event

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYyz...ature=youtu.be

After something of an extended lull in regular updates, Sea of Thieves has launched a fresh limited-time event, Black Powder Stashes, marking the start of a new, and very welcome, monthly content delivery plan for developer Rare's multiplayer pirate adventure.

It's a welcome attempt by Rare to reestablish a regular cadence of updates for Sea of Thieves - and to ensure that players always have something new to look forward to on the horizon - having struggled to maintain the live service's content momentum since the tail-end of last year.

August's update will be known as Dark Relics, with more information due closer to the time.

[dyne]

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...nsaction-store

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t43...ature=youtu.be

Pets, as has been the plan all along, will eventually launch as the flagship items in Sea of Thieves' new storefront, "as a way to generate additional revenue...as we continue to run it as a service".

As Neate puts its, items sold on Sea of Thieves' micro-transaction-based storefront will be "completely optional". They'll offer "no power advantage", and there'll be "nothing that separates players". Additionally, purchasers will always know exactly what they're buying, with no loot boxes or similar systems in sight.

Alongside pets, Rare says it plans to offer emotes for sale, as well as special ship cosmetics. The latter will "celebrate much loved games and characters" - similar to the Banjo-Kazooie and Perfect Dark figureheads given away in-game last year.

Elsewhere in today's developer update, Neate offered some long-awaited news on Sea of Thieves' previously promised opt-in cross-play functionality, which enables console players using controllers to split from the mouse and keyboard pool. Seemingly, the feature is now in a sufficient state to bring to Insiders "fairly soon" and will be available in the competitive Arena mode first - with Adventure mode to follow.

Rounding off today's update, Neate also shared word on two other much-discussed Sea of Thieves features. Firstly, Rare has apparently been investigating the game's sometimes wonky hit registration and now believes that it's "made some significant improvements" where projectiles are concerned. Internal testing has been been "super promising", says Neate, and the gun improvements will be joining swords in Insider testing soon.

[dyne]

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...ainable-future

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHNA...ature=youtu.be

Last month, however, Rare unveiled a new plan of attack for Sea of Thieves, pledging that its multiplayer pirate adventure would adopt a new monthly content release schedule. And now, as the game receives the second of those updates, Dark Relics, executive producer Joe Neate and creative director Mike Chapman have explained, in conversation with Eurogamer, the whys behind the decision, and what this should mean for the future of Sea of Thieves.

That's only part of the picture, however. With more teams working away on updates for Sea of Thieves' competitive Arena mode, new additions to Adventure mode, and new Tall Tales, among other things, each monthly update will also provide an avenue to introduce new features as and when they're ready to go.

All of which adds up to a surprisingly rich update; but, explains Neate, "Last month and this month, I would consider to be our 'small' updates". Although Rare is clear that it wants to move away from the mega-sized, expansion-style updates it produced in Sea of Thieves' first year, that doesn't mean the end of new large-scale features. "Currently, our plan is not to do another Anniversary Update where we bring in all of these features together," Neate explains, "but there will definitely be moments that align in our monthly cadence when a number of features and a Tall Tale might come in together, and it's a sizeable update in terms of new content and features. You're going to get a much more regular delivery of meaningful sized updates alongside smaller ones, without going to those colossal ones."

In fact, Rare's serious enough about introducing regularity and predictability for players, that it's not just pledging a monthly update, but one that will arrive on the second Wednesday of every month from now on.

As such, Rare's happy to share a few details on its September release, teasingly referred to as Reaper's Bones; it'll introduce the first wave of Sea of Thieves' long-awaited pets (one part of the game' imminent cosmetics-based Pirate Emporium micro-transaction store), alongside the usual new voyages, rewards, and features. Long-time players may also be amused to hear that the update will finally see the mysterious shop above the Order of Souls opening its doors.

[dyne]

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...sea-of-thieves

During the latest Sea of Thieves weekly stream, a Rare developer accidentally mentioned fire will make its way to the game.

This week, about an hour and four minutes into his first stream back after the ban, Thomas cheerfully begins to tease the fire mechanic, which players hadn't actually been told about yet.

"I think the biggest thing we've announced that we have coming soon is fire, so hopefully there'll be something for you-" James starts, before quickly being interrupted by co-streamer Andrew Preston, senior designer for the game.

[Ocean H]

A New Way to Play

Just as we hope that the Skull of Siren Song will encourage competitive play, we recognize that for some players, a quieter, more independent experience can be preferable. That’s why, in December, Season Ten’s third major feature will introduce an entirely new game mode that grants players the ability to sail the Sea of Thieves alone or with a crew of friends, within their own private game session.

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2023/09/...ves-season-10/