{"id":61147,"date":"2018-03-22T07:27:53","date_gmt":"2018-03-22T07:27:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=61147"},"modified":"2018-03-22T07:30:35","modified_gmt":"2018-03-22T07:30:35","slug":"xbox-ones-sea-of-thieves-is-no-more-than-10-of-a-finished-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/technology\/xbox-ones-sea-of-thieves-is-no-more-than-10-of-a-finished-game.html","title":{"rendered":"Xbox One’s Sea Of Thieves Is No More Than 10% Of A Finished Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

Xbox One’s Sea Of Thieves Is No More Than 10% Of A Finished Game<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

As expected, Sea of Thieves was released yesterday and the game is\u2026.very much like what we\u2019ve seen in the early tests the past few weeks and months. There was this running pre-defense of Sea of Thieves by Xbox fans that secret depths were lurking under the surface, that we were only seeing the tip of the iceberg but that simply is not the case.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sea of Thieves feels like a good deal when rolled into Microsoft\u2019s $10-a-month-for-a-whole-bunch-of-games Xbox Game Pass, but less so when you realize this is being sold as a $60 title to most players. Playing the game myself, watching more advanced people play \u201clater\u201d stages on Twitch, it seems very clear that this is a totally unfinished game, and yes, my earlier, much-derided predictions about Sea of Thieves having No Man\u2019s Sky\u2019s strengths and weaknesses were warranted.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some things about Sea of Thieves are great. I really like the fundamental mechanic of missions being little more than a map and an X, and it\u2019s up to you to figure out where you\u2019re going and what to dig up without giant flashing indicators on your screen telling you exactly where to go. And there\u2019s obviously a lot of fun to be had in a larger crew with friends, goofing around, trying to steer your ship properly, but being matchmade with randoms or being forced to play solo siphons almost all enjoyment out of Sea of Thieves immediately.<\/span><\/p>\n

The problem is that Sea of Thieves is not a complete game. It just isn\u2019t. It\u2019s maybe 5 or 10% of one, but given what other open world\/co-op games can offer you for $60, it\u2019s just astonishing how little Sea of Thieves offers. The issues? Where to start.<\/span><\/p>\n

All three factions feel the same with nearly identical, radiant fetch quests that have you go to X island to get X thing and return without sinking\/dying. Raids are just some waves of skeletons.<\/span><\/p>\n

The islands are almost entirely lifeless. You can see them all in about a day of play, and they almost never house anything interesting other than your quest objective, however pretty they may be.<\/span><\/p>\n

Enemy variety is almost non-existent, skeletons, snakes and an “endgame boss” kraken that has already been turned into a meme by players, as the thing is just tentacles with no actual body lurking under the water. Perhaps a metaphor for the entire game.<\/span>
\nProgression is almost entirely cosmetic short of a couple new weapons and items. And while you can change your ship\u2019s sails and paint, there are fundamentally still only two kinds of ships in this entire pirate game, which seems crazy.<\/span><\/p>\n

PvP is a poorly thought-through griefing nightmare. Other players almost always attack on sight, derailing your quests or just being flat out annoying. My last three quests in a row, I went to turn in a chest and came back to find that someone had stolen my empty ship for literally no reason other than to be irritating. The last time, someone called me a “c***” on their mic as I tried to swim after my departing ship, and then shot me in the head. Good times. It\u2019s The Division where the entire map is the Dark Zone, and it makes it incredibly hard for players to enjoy what little PvE content there is in peace.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s it. I can\u2019t even make more than five bullet points because that\u2019s almost the entire game right there. There are a few \u201cLegendary\u201d goals to attain after a metric ton of grinding, but I doubt many players will be engaged long enough to reach that point. Even many of the Twitch streamers I\u2019ve seen seemingly having a blast with this in front of tens of thousands of viewers eventually admit it\u2019s hard to know just how long they\u2019ll play because of the limited content, and that clearly the game needs a lot more added to it.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is a skeleton of a game that could be a lot of fun, but it is miles away from being fully fleshed out. Charging $60 for that, and having Rare promise that this is a game that “evolves” with a ton more stuff added in time, is taking the \u201cgames as an ongoing service\u201d model way too far. One of the first updates will be for a premium store, and this is before the game has like 90% of the content it needs. Everyone got mad about my No Man\u2019s Sky comparison, but honestly, I think that game launched in an even better state than what we\u2019re seeing here. At least the universe felt vast for a little while. At least the goals were tangible upgrades to your ship and suit. At least there was 2% of a storyline you were chasing through the stars. Sea of Thieves has nothing. Sea of Thieves requires you to have entertaining friends, or else it is incredibly difficult to have fun at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

What does Sea of Thieves need to be a \u201creal\u201d game? For starters:<\/span><\/p>\n

A wider variety of quests<\/span><\/p>\n

Distinctive differences between factions<\/span><\/p>\n

Different classes of pirates<\/span><\/p>\n

Way more enemies<\/span><\/p>\n

NPCs out in the world and on islands<\/span><\/p>\n

Less clunky combat<\/span><\/p>\n

Better options for solo players<\/span><\/p>\n

PvP limitations to prevent an insane amount of griefing<\/span><\/p>\n

Any semblance of a story<\/span><\/p>\n

A progression system based around something other than cosmetics alone<\/span><\/p>\n

An XP system, so even if you\u2019re failing\/dying, you\u2019re still making progress<\/span><\/p>\n

s was trying something different here, but the end result is something that really does feel like an Early Access game, and not a very good one, at that. To call this done, slap a $60 price tag on it and promise to add loads more content later (plus a premium store!) is ludicrous.<\/span><\/p>\n

I want nothing more to have a fun, open world pirate game about treasure hunting, high seas warfare and mystery solving. Everyone who ever played Black Flag wants that game. I didn\u2019t mind that Sea of Thieves was giving this to me in goofy cartoon form, so long as it worked. But it doesn\u2019t. Even if you\u2019re playing this game exactly as intended, with a tight-knit group of four, the content is simply not there. Will it be a year from now? Maybe, but I\u2019m sick and tired of games debuting obviously unfinished and promising to fill in the gaps later, and this is one of the worst examples of that. It\u2019s like moving into a house you paid full price for that\u2019s nothing but studs and living there as the construction crew builds everything else around you, with no guarantee they\u2019ll ever even finish.<\/span><\/p>\n

Right now, this game does not feel like it\u2019s worth my time. Not with so many other options out there, and not with what really does feel like a disregard for players, in terms of the state of things at launch.<\/span><\/p>\n

Update: Here’s a quote by Sea of Thieves Executive Producer Joe Neate (via IGN) about the lack of content:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSea of Thieves is designed from the ground up to be a game that grows and evolves, and we will release new cosmetic options ongoing as part of that, alongside new mechanics and ways to play. Our focus for launch is on delivering a great initial experience, and as we move beyond launch we will be assessing and reacting to player feedback across all areas of the game. We have worked with our community throughout the development of Sea of Thieves, and that will continue in exactly the same manner beyond launch.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/insertcoin\/2018\/03\/21\/xbox-ones-sea-of-thieves-is-no-more-than-10-of-a-finished-game\/#1845c2626beb<\/span><\/p>\n

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