Support NeoGAF

[ManaByte]

Sea of Thieves already had a progression system for the Pirates where you level up and eventually hit Pirate Legend, but today they added a persistent ship progression system that basically levels up a ship eventually to Legend status.





At first you can only own one of each ship type but the once a ship hits Legendary status you can buy another. They also added a bunch of stuff to speed up questing and loot turn ins. Seems like a better update than Season Six.

 

[Beer Baelly]

We don't deserve this Rare.

 

[Södy]

So is this finally worth and fun if I play single player?

 

[Bernd Lauert]

So is this finally worth and fun if I play single player?

Probably not. It's a co-op game through and through.

 

[anthony2690]

So is this finally worth and fun if I play single player?

You have always been able to play it solo, it just happens to be more fun with friends.

Looking forward to this update, easily rare's most successful game ever.

 

[aygomyownroad]

So is this finally worth and fun if I play single player?

It’s possible, but it’s a chore to play on your own. Need at least one more person

 

[ManaByte]

It’s possible, but it’s a chore to play on your own. Need at least one more person

Solo Slooping is better than any Souls game.

 

[Lady Jane]

So is this finally worth and fun if I play single player?

My same thoughts. Single player is too much of a chore and the progression is insultingly slow. I feel like I'm being punished when I solo in SoT.

 

[Lasha]

My same thoughts. Single player is too much of a chore and the progression is insultingly slow. I feel like I'm being punished when I solo in SoT.

Well yeah...the smallest ship is for two people. Playing solo is intentionally handicapping yourself.

 

[ManaByte]

Playing solo is intentionally handicapping yourself.

 

[Lasha]

How is it not? You can still sink other crewed ships if you are better. You're just playing with a handicap.

 

[ManaByte]

How is it not? You can still sink other crewed ships if you are better. You're just playing with a handicap.

The Sloop is designed for solo play, but two people can man it.

 

[STARSBarry]

The Sloop is designed for solo play, but two people can man it.

Then that means you have an advantage in it when you play with two... so why would you never not take that option? It's like how in Battlefield 3 the tanks where designed to be played solo, but that dousent mean I'm not going to be massively more effective with a man manning the secondary turret, rather than switching between the two myself.

 

[ManaByte]

Then that means you have an advantage in it when you play with two... so why would you never not take that option? It's like how in Battlefield 3 the tanks where designed to be played solo, but that dousent mean I'm not going to be massively more effective with a man manning the secondary turret, rather than switching between the two myself.

Sure and some people call for help when fighting a boss in Elden Ring.

 

[STARSBarry]

Sure and some people call for help when fighting a boss in Elden Ring.

Not doing so when available would count as a Handicap, all it is by definition is something that makes the process more difficult. Your making a conscious choice to not call for help therefore making the encounter more difficult, that is by definition a Handicap.

Could argue that when it's offline it's not, but that's because you are not presented with a choice at that point, but you could correctly state you are handicapping yourself by not playing online, because the option is available.

It's not always a negative which I think people are quick to jump on, people Handicap themselves all the time for the challange, the Halo skulls are a great example of this, or just selecting a harder difficulty.

 

[Lasha]

The Sloop is designed for solo play, but two people can man it.

A half-crewed ship in a PVP sandbox where most other ships will have 2-4 crew members who can repair, shoot, and steer simultaneously. Solo play is handicapping yourself. That's why solo sloopers always complain about being punished.

 

[ManaByte]

A half-crewed ship in a PVP sandbox where most other ships will have 2-4 crew members who can repair, shoot, and steer simultaneously. Solo play is handicapping yourself. That's why solo sloopers always complain about being punished.

One keg can deal with even a galleon crewed by four people. I’ve done it. Solo. And laughed at them as their ship sunk.

 

[Lasha]

One keg can deal with even a galleon crewed by four people. I’ve done it. Solo. And laughed at them as their ship sunk.

Doesn't change the fact that you did it with a handicap. I've killed fully crewed galleons while in a solo brig. It was significantly harder than doing so with a crew because I chose to handicap myself.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Solo Slooping is better than any Souls game.

 

[nikolino840]

My same thoughts. Single player is too much of a chore and the progression is insultingly slow. I feel like I'm being punished when I solo in SoT.

You have to be already an expert player of SoT to play solo...i see many SoT streamers playing solo...but they like Sea of thieves so are not random players

 

[hlm666]

lol they just keelhauled ubisoft.

 

[ManaByte]

lol they just keelhauled ubisoft.

UbiSoft did that to themselves.

 

[hlm666]

UbiSoft did that to themselves.

rofl ubisoft just sent rare this.

 

[ManaByte]

rofl ubisoft just sent rare this.

And Rare replied with:

 

[adamsapple]

I admire Rare's commitment to keep the community going for this game.

Take notes Ubisoft/EA.

 

[Black_Stride]

I admire Rare's commitment to keep the community going for this game.

Take notes Ubisoft/EA.

Rainbow Six Siege?
For Honor
Apex Legends?
Battlefront?

While we look at EA and Ubi as some monolithic studio we need to break that down and give praise to their studios that are punching above their parent companies weight class.

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

This game might be a blueprint on how to develop a GAAS. I don't play it but they constantly keep updates to engage the users. It's insane.

 

[Södy]

Probably not. It's a co-op game through and through.

You have always been able to play it solo, it just happens to be more fun with friends.

Looking forward to this update, easily rare's most successful game ever.

It’s possible, but it’s a chore to play on your own. Need at least one more person

My same thoughts. Single player is too much of a chore and the progression is insultingly slow. I feel like I'm being punished when I solo in SoT.

Thanks. I knew I could play solo but it wasn't a lot of fun.

 

[Shifty]

Just in time.

 

[Greirat]

Do the upgrades in this "progression" system actually make a difference to the ship? Or is it just cosmetic?

 

[ManaByte]

Do the upgrades in this "progression" system actually make a difference to the ship? Or is it just cosmetic?

It's all cosmetic. You can't have an open PVP game where one no-life can play for 2,000 hours and massively upgrade a ship to one shot everyone on the map.

 

[Greirat]

It's all cosmetic. You can't have an open PVP game where one no-life can play for 2,000 hours and massively upgrade a ship to one shot everyone on the map.

Plenty of PvP games have progression systems though

 

[ManaByte]

Plenty of PvP games have progression systems though

There's a difference between something like COD that uses SBMM where if you spend 1,000 hours to unlock every attachment on your gun, the SBMM will match you with similar people as opposed to a MMO style game like this where that sort of matchmaking doesn't exist. Even WoW got rid of full open PVP servers years ago partially because a level 1 player having a level 100 in full epics sitting on their corpse all day isn't fun.

 

[Greirat]

I was thinking more like Tarkov, Hunt, DayZ, etc. it works fine in those games and it's fun to earn things that change up the gameplay.

 

[ManaByte]

I was thinking more like Tarkov, Hunt, DayZ, etc. it works fine in those games and it's fun to earn things that change up the gameplay.

Again, those aren't MMOs.

 

[Greirat]

You think Sea of Thieves is an MMO? 20 players per server is hardly "massive"

 

[ManaByte]

You think Sea of Thieves is an MMO? 20 players per server is hardly "massive"

It's more of a MMO than the FPS games you listed.

 

[Kev Kev]

Ugh, it pains me so much that I can't play this game offline. I'd be dumping hundreds of hours into it if I could, and actual money as well! But, alas...

For those asking about playing alone, it's definitely doable and worth trying. I put a good 30 hours into the game playing solo and had a blast, but I got tired of getting killed and losing so much progress. If you can get beyond that however, you might find you love the game. I highly recommend it if you like adventure/exploration type of games with really fun gameplay loops.

You don't need to play with anyone at all, you just need to be ready for getting your shit kicked in and losing hours of progress at any moment. Even if you're really good at the game it can happen. Some might love that "challenge" but I just got tired of the disappointment and frustration.

 

[I collect VHS tapes]

game is fantastic and new update is great

I only started playing this game a couple months ago but I’m totally hooked

I hit gold curse last night too in anticipation of this update

 

[ManaByte]

Ugh, it pains me so much that I can't play this game offline. I'd be dumping hundreds of hours into it if I could, and actual money as well! But, alas...

For those asking about playing alone, it's definitely doable and worth trying. I put a good 30 hours into the game playing solo and had a blast, but I got tired of getting killed and losing so much progress. If you can get beyond that however, you might find you love the game. I highly recommend it if you like adventure/exploration type of games with really fun gameplay loops.

You don't need to play with anyone at all, you just need to be ready for getting your shit kicked in and losing hours of progress at any moment. Even if you're really good at the game it can happen. Some might love that "challenge" but I just got tired of the disappointment and frustration.

That's why you stop off at a fort, grab some kegs, and make them PAY.

 

[Lady Jane]

You don't need to play with anyone at all, you just need to be ready for getting your shit kicked in and losing hours of progress at any moment. Even if you're really good at the game it can happen. Some might love that "challenge" but I just got tired of the disappointment and frustration.

Yeah the skill gap isn't large for this game. No matter how good you are, a Galleon with decent players is going to bring you down. I understand the need for chaos in this world and how a Galleon should be powerful, except the rest of solo play isn't efficient enough to make the risk worth it. That's the issue.

 

[I collect VHS tapes]

Yeah the skill gap isn't large for this game. No matter how good you are, a Galleon with decent players is going to bring you down. I understand the need for chaos in this world and how a Galleon should be powerful, except the rest of solo play isn't efficient enough to make the risk worth it. That's the issue.

I’ve sunken several gallys as a solo sloop, cursed balls help a ton though.

If you get the impression they’re too skilled to fight, a sloop can easily lose a galleon. Point sails to wind and watch galleon disappear.

Once you stop caring about losing loot, the game becomes a billion times more fun. Money is easy enough to get either way. I’ve been playing for I think around 2 months and already have DA sails and other DA shit.

 

[Lady Jane]

I’ve sunken several gallys as a solo sloop, cursed balls help a ton though.

If you get the impression they’re too skilled to fight, a sloop can easily lose a galleon. Point sails to wind and watch galleon disappear.

Once you stop caring about losing loot, the game becomes a billion times more fun. Money is easy enough to get either way. I’ve been playing for under 2 months and already have DA sails and other DA shit.

What's the most efficient way to collect money as solo? I haven't played in two years but been keeping up with updates.

 

[ManaByte]

What's the most efficient way to collect money as solo? I haven't played in two years but been keeping up with updates.

The new fortresses they added in Season 6.

 

[I collect VHS tapes]

What's the most efficient way to collect money as solo? I haven't played in two years but been keeping up with updates.

I rarely solo sloop, but IMO the best way to make money as a solo sloop is the sunken ships as a merchant. I did a lot of it early on, but I've made some pretty good friends through the game and now I rarely run solo.

at the outpost, buy every single commodities crate they sell (the sugar, minerals, etc.) you can flip these at different outposts, and make a lot of money when reselling at level 5 emissary

do 3 sunken ship merchant voyages. as soon as you finish one, pop the next

hit 5 emissary, go to different outpost (the voyages will put you near a different outpost so you don't have to go out of your way), sell all commodities for huge profit, buy more voyages

having said that, I only solo sloop when I plan on being on for 1-2 hours only and I'm usually just messing around with PVP or just doing whatever.

I know a lot of people like this game solo but I have 100x more fun playing with friends. you'll make a lot more money too if you get some friends who can efficiently do something like FOTD, world events, or legend of the veil.

I do FOTD when I need gold, world events when I need gold but am tired of FOTD, and LOTV when I want to mix things up. I recently hit 30 Athenas so I'll probably take a break from LOTV, but it is a good gold maker. I still need to do 100 veils to get the commendation, so yeah.

if you can even find one buddy to play with, merchant sloop voyages will be a lot easier, faster, and more fun.

EDIT: I would recommend dropping your emissary each time you return to an outpost then re-raising it. you'll unlock commendations and be a much smaller target for reapers if you're emissary 1 vs emissary 5

 

[MMaRsu]

It's more of a MMO than the FPS games you listed.

Its not an mmo and neither are those shooters

 

[Fuz]

It's all cosmetic. You can't have an open PVP game where one no-life can play for 2,000 hours and massively upgrade a ship to one shot everyone on the map.

No?

 

[ManaByte]

I rarely solo sloop, but IMO the best way to make money as a solo sloop is the sunken ships as a merchant. I did a lot of it early on, but I've made some pretty good friends through the game and now I rarely run solo.

at the outpost, buy every single commodities crate they sell (the sugar, minerals, etc.) you can flip these at different outposts, and make a lot of money when reselling at level 5 emissary

do 3 sunken ship merchant voyages. as soon as you finish one, pop the next

hit 5 emissary, go to different outpost (the voyages will put you near a different outpost so you don't have to go out of your way), sell all commodities for huge profit, buy more voyages

having said that, I only solo sloop when I plan on being on for 1-2 hours only and I'm usually just messing around with PVP or just doing whatever.

I know a lot of people like this game solo but I have 100x more fun playing with friends. you'll make a lot more money too if you get some friends who can efficiently do something like FOTD, world events, or legend of the veil.

I do FOTD when I need gold, world events when I need gold but am tired of FOTD, and LOTV when I want to mix things up. I recently hit 30 Athenas so I'll probably take a break from LOTV, but it is a good gold maker. I still need to do 100 veils to get the commendation, so yeah.

if you can even find one buddy to play with, merchant sloop voyages will be a lot easier, faster, and more fun.

EDIT: I would recommend dropping your emissary each time you return to an outpost then re-raising it. you'll unlock commendations and be a much smaller target for reapers if you're emissary 1 vs emissary 5

You can usually get 5 emissary with one merchant cargo voyage as long as you're grabbing ALL of the crates along the way.

 

[I collect VHS tapes]

You can usually get 5 emissary with one merchant cargo voyage as long as you're grabbing ALL of the crates along the way.

I usually stack 3 to save time. If you pop one right when you finish one, you usually spawn the next voyage nearby (or at least it feels that way)

I just try to burn through 3 then grab 3. If you go to an outpost after each one, you can buy more commodity crates to flip, so it’s not a bad idea. Won’t feel as bad getting sunk either if you aren’t stacking 3.

Merchant is overall pretty chill imo. I think some people underestimate how much money you can make. it works really well with 2 people as one person can be lookout while the other swims in the wrecks. you can also clear the random sea fort much easier, in the event you get bored of just doing merchant stuff.

I will keep suggesting that you find other people to play with. the community is great as long as you filter out the kids (I literally only make LFG posts that say no kids). this game honestly probably has one of the best, if not best, online communities I've encountered. the people who play are so chill.

 

[ManaByte]

I usually stack 3 to save time. If you pop one right when you finish one, you usually spawn the next voyage nearby (or at least it feels that way)

I just try to burn through 3 then grab 3. If you go to an outpost after each one, you can buy more commodity crates to flip, so it’s not a bad idea. Won’t feel as bad getting sunk either if you aren’t stacking 3.

Merchant is overall pretty chill imo. I think some people underestimate how much money you can make. it works really well with 2 people as one person can be lookout while the other swims in the wrecks. you can also clear the random sea fort much easier, in the event you get bored of just doing merchant stuff.

I will keep suggesting that you find other people to play with. the community is great as long as you filter out the kids (I literally only make LFG posts that say no kids). this game honestly probably has one of the best, if not best, online communities I've encountered. the people who play are so chill.

Do merchant voyages during Gold and Glory weekends.

Leveling up renown, do skeleton captains or open a vault (that gives you a TON).