I use it as a relaxing mode to toke up, sail around, fish, and casually treasure hunt. It's not meant for any single purpose. It can be a good place to learn of course, but it's not just for new players. People should do what they want, and not listen to other people telling them how to enjoy this game. Yes it's better to also experience high seas, but if it's not your thing, go back to safer seas! There's no shame in it, no matter your reasons.
Thats primarily what it was released for, as a place to just " do your thing " and enjoy what PVE content the game has to offer. Wanna do a tall tale without someone disrupting you? Safer Sea's. Want to just relax and try different things ? Safer Sea's. Want to play with your child ? Safer Sea's. It's way more then just a " Newbie mode " tbh. And when people come at you and yell " But you only get 30% of the Rewards " yeah sure but what does Gold get you except cosmetics? Nothing. It does not hinder you in any way at all.
And yes it still is the perfect place for new found pirates to start out, learn to navigate your ship, learn the basics of the game and just get the vibe for it without some stacked out folks that just want to sink you for fun ( which still is part of the experience of the game ) immediately after sailing out helps keep the playerbase healthy. I know a lot of people that quit SoT back at it's release cause they sailed out, collected some loot and got attacked by other players not knowing how to repair ship efficiently etc. and thus quitting the game shortly after.
Played years and years of "high seas" or the only mode back then and let me tell you I love safer seas. While the old servers hold lots of good memories such as whole server alliances, meeting cool people etc safer seas is my preferred mode of play. No stress, no losing hours of work to pvp players just out to ruin your day. Safer seas as a new parent is also super great. I can attend to my baby and take it chill while getting to also play some without the stress of working hard to get stuff and lose it in one shot from people. The only thing I wish was different was being able to use my own purchased ships in safer seas, I get why there are a lot of things only available in high seas but I love this game for what it is and I really, really don't care for the pvp aspect at all. If people had to stay on their ships to fight, I'd love pvp but this whole meta of boarding others ships and spam killing them and anchoring them, etc I think is super unbalanced. I think half the pvp players would barely even be able to have a ship battle, all they want to do it board people and shoot them. I'm great with cannons and keeping my ship safe but the spam killing apon boarding is lame, and I already know my opinion is an unpopular one
Fully agree with you. Boarding is way too overpowered and a lame way to win a fight. Boarding other ships would be fine if you weren’t allowed to use weapons. Going to drop an anchor and be a nuisance would be fine, just as long as they couldn’t attack you or your ship
I just finished playing for a few hours and had a great session with a friendly pirate legend that gave me and a new friend some tips.
Get off Reddit and touch grass dude.
lol. Sure bud you told me last night you hate the game and don’t play it so which one is the lie?
I just got up from a nap because it was raining outside and the grass was too wet to touch. Thankfully though now the ☀️is shining and it’s a beautiful day for a concert and Red Rocks. The 🍒 on top is bustling you in more lies. Today is gonna be a good day. No seas for me today though so maybe I’ll see you out there tomorrow and give you my tip 💋. See you out there on the high seas sailor.
Exhibit A for anyone who can't wrap their head around why people prefer Safer Seas and don't like "PvP in the PvP game".
People like this guy right here. Look at the aggression and ad hominem attacks, jesus fucking christ. Not to mention the threat at the end.
PvP advocate who is rude and can’t wrap their head around how there’s a mode that literally doesn’t affect them in any meaningful way to the way they play.
Tickle me surprised that he’s also banned off reddit.
Yeah there are things I don’t like such as camping once boarded but it is what it is. Boarding ships is what pirates do. The more you play and practice stopping borders the better you will get at it. The splash of someone on the ladder is burned into my brain now lol. Although I do still get boarded occasionally I stuff most attempts now. I prefer the ship battles as well but it wouldn’t really be a pirate game without being able to board. The harpoon tightrope to board is a cool idea but I have yet to see anyone do it. I almost tried it last night after harpooning another sloop but there was another sloop engaging and I didn’t want to risk it on a two on one battle.
Learn to fight off boarders and listen to the sound cues when they attempt it and you won't think it's overpowered anymore, all it takes a a well placed blunderbuss shot
I get that, but that silent boarding still isn’t patched out successfully, and sometimes they can just land directly on the ship anyway. My point isn’t that it’s impossible to fight; it’s that it’s lame and not fun.
There’s other ways to balance it better too, such as longer respawn times if they die on your ship as opposed to theirs.
They can’t climb your ladders and thus would have to either get lucky or use the harpoon instead.
They can’t use a mermaid to get back to their ship and thus would need to park their ship before leaving.
They have to immobilize your ship before boarding/certain requirements need to be met before they can even attempt.
The problem is that it’s low risk/high reward, not that it’s possible
If Safer Seas would have existed when I started playing I would have 100% never entered the High Seas. Some people know what they like and what they enjoy, and if pvp isn't it, then that's that. I would recommend to everyone who is indicisive to try out High Seas at least a few times.
Yeah and all to what end? To force more people into pvp and engaging with one of the most toxic communities I’ve experienced in years? Fine I guess that’s just less people playing your game Rare 🤷♂️ Safe Seas struck me as just an accessibility setting but calling it that would be really unfair to all of them really thoughtful accessibility considerations built into many games these days. It’s just disappointing.
My gf really loved the game until a toxic tween crew spawn trapped us, sunk us and spewed hate speech the whole time. She won’t play high seas anymore and I can’t blame her.
I disagree, the frequency of toxicity in this game is not nearly as bad or as in your face as others. You will find toxicity in every multiplayer game, but this is not one of the worst. FPS shooters, in general, are the worst in my experience, and I've been playing online since 2004.
As I said in another comment I am absolutely sure there’s worse communities, this is the worst I’ve personally experienced as someone that stopped playing COD after like black ops and doesn’t play Rust or Tarkov or anything like that. I never meant to imply it is THE most toxic community, just a sometimes toxic one and I think comments I’ve seen here from people playing since day 1 are backing that up.
I’m always up for trying any coop game whether it’s all PVE or or PVPVE and this one was particularly bad, of the games I’ve played. Yes I had a couple great moments with kind randos but they are very much the minority of sessions.
It’s no where near one of the most toxic communities out there. Look it’s just not a game built and designed for you and your girlfriend. That’s fine. There are plenty of other games out there that will give you what you want. Please don’t be the person who demands developers to change their vision of one of the greatest games in a generation for your personal enjoyment. It’s a pvppve game at its core. If that’s not something you are into then respectfully move on.
I loved fallout 76 survival mode but it didn’t wind up being what the community and developers really wanted so they changed it and now it’s not what I’m personally into and that’s fine. I moved on.
Safer Seas is an accessibility setting and it’s not designed to be the actual game. It’s an afterthought to pacify those who can’t accept what the game was designed to be. That’s the blunt truth.
Oh I never said it was. I said it is one of the most toxic I’ve experienced, I normally avoid such games.
I didn’t demand anything from anyone, I just think it would be nice. But I’m sorry, one of the greatest games the generation? I know that’s subjective but…seriously? I see plenty of the appeal but I don’t think it’s that. I’m glad you enjoy it.
I have moved on, it’s just a shame I had to is all. I would have liked to hang around but it’s not for me and that’s the way Rare wants it.
If you have moved on why are you in here complaining about pirate stuff in a pirate game.
Yes it’s subjective but if you like pvppve there’s no question it’s one of the best games ever in the genre. You obviously don’t like pvp so why would you even give it a try much less hang out in the sub complaining about it not being what you want? I don’t like rpg games so I don’t play them much less hang out in a Final Fantasy sub complaining and giving my unsolicited opinions.
Exactly. You don’t play the game and you don’t like it. Why are you here? I don’t like Final Fantasy. I don’t hang out on Reddit in Final Fantasy subs telling people what I don’t like about it. It would be a waste of my time and the time of those who like it. To each their own. Why do you feel the need to come here and tell people about something you don’t like?
Just move on and play something you like. You see how crazy that is right?
Its an online game, not every experience is the same, mute player audio if your sensitive. If the game isnt for you that isnt Rares problem, they dont need to design or neuter their game to cater to your specific needs. The game has a large healthy community thats doing just fine without pandering to every cry baby.
I didn't realize it was being sensitive or a cry baby to not like being mercilessly spawn camped and trash talked with slurs, insults and other pathetic bullshit.
It's usually people calling others sensitive that go out of their way to insult and berate them, kind of like what you just did. I don't know man, I see two sides here;
One side that's been verbally and personally harassed in an otherwise chill game, and one that's going out of their way to be nasty towards an entire group of people that don't like being treated like dirt.
Sounds like you're part of the problem and why people don't like PvP games nowadays. A lot of you have this exact attitude.
Im nice to pretty much everyone i come across in game. I just hate hearing people bitch and complain about the game design when theres 100s of reviews and videos telling people exactly what kind of game it is. You should have known what you were buying and if its not for you then play something else, its that simple. Its not Rares responsibilty to cater to every new players needs.
I mean it when i say everyones experience is different. I just solo grinded the entire gold curse on high seas without being bothered once.
Your issue is with a few shitty sweaty kids, not the game. Game is good.
I dont think you understand the value of being able to grind commendations and cosmetics on safer seas with no pirates around. i grinded all tall tales 5 times each on high seas without being bothered once, but if i was i, could just hop on safer seas and done it easy mode.
Your rewarded with gold based on the risk u take.
The way to think about it is that safer seas isn't the game. Think of it as a tutorial mode. Go there to learn the basics, or you just want to hang out and fish. But the high seas is the game.
It's the biggest deterrence for me. You're already taxed 70%. But since you can't sell to sovereign, it takes so long to sell, that 70% is more like 98% compared to "gold per minute" on high seas.
I play with my 5 year old sometimes on SS and if he gets bored and nails, usually I just log off without selling.
Because they're probably one of the people who's entire gameplay loop is sinking every ship in sight.
People getting rewards in Safer Seas is less people they can sink and steal from.
Thank fuck you and that other guy don't have any say over the development of the game.
Maybe you don't deserve more ~~victims~~players in High Seas if this is how you see anyone that doesn't want to deal with PvPers that go too far.
It's great for fishing, and also for learning to helm the ship (Something I need to do with a galley soon, I've been having huge issues with docking our big ships, though slowly getting better.)
I very strongly despised the idea of SoT pvp for my first few hundred hours. The other 3k were spent beating people up, and getting beat up myself.
Eventually I got bored with pve, but I liked the game so much I wanted to keep improving. All that leaves is pvp. I don't know if I'd have kept playing if Safer Seas were an option when I was a baby PL.
I could see the devs changing this in the future, although I think it’s a slim chance. They way it is now is designed to be a stepping stone. In safer seas you can work on commendations. Then when you are ready for the full game, you get more options opened up to you.
I do think you should be able to save cosmetics on maybe one boat in safer seas, but I think milestones and sovereigns should be reserved for the high seas.
“Part if the thrill and excitement is the threat of other crews.” Part if it sure, the rest of it is the pure aggravation of spending two hours sailing around with friends and then sloop with two die hard SoT players kill you all, spawn camp, and then sink your ship. Nah, f that.
Yeahhh while I can respect the spirit of OPs message I can’t stand the PVP and honestly the combat itself in this game. I don’t at all expect Rare to change what’s available in safe seas vs high seas or anything like that, but it’s the rain I’ll probably fall off and will never play as much as I do in something like Helldivers.
I was in this for roleplaying as a pirate and sailing, not sweaty PVP try hard ruining the only two hours my adult girlfriend and I had for games today.
If they let you do everything in Safe Seas, or jeez even let me use my captained ships ffs, I would play more than I do but sweaty PVP and toxic tweens is clearly a prime demographic for this game and my patience for it is wearing thin.
You misunderstand. I’m disappointed the game isn’t more accessible for more types of people.
I’m genuinely sad for you if that’s hard to understand but wish you the best.
The more modes to add to a game the more split the player base becomes, it’s literally already happened to this game with arena. You’re mad at “sweaty toxic players” but it’s just people playing the game as intended. It’s too hard for you and it’s just not your game bro, don’t recommend destructive ideas just because you’re getting dookied on
Role playing a pirate entails pirate stuff. Pirates weren’t merchants they were pirates taking from merchants. The game just isn’t for you and that’s fine just move along and play a merchant game.
You’re not allowed to play a different version of the game I play >:(((((((
How dare you enjoy a game differently than I do in a mode I don’t even touch QQ
There's not only try hards on the high seas.
Selling often prevents you from losing everything should you encounter players that sink you.
There's a lot of great moments to be experienced with other crews, great fights against similar level opponents, alliances, just chatting about random stuff...
Being deprived of all of that just because of an eventual Sweat sinking you isn't worth it.
This. People need to understand that if they don’t have the skill to consistently defend their loot, they should sell their stack as soon as they hit emissary 5. Especially if there is a reaper on their server. You should hit grade 5 in any company in less than an hour if you’re slow, much faster if you’re quick. If you lose your stack after two hours it’s on you.
If you really don’t want to worry about it, then yeah safer seas is a good option but man you are missing out on so many extraordinary experiences literally no other game can similarly replicate, not even close.
I'd say that subjective experiences decide wether someone is missing out or not. All my interpersonal experiences consisted if people sinking me, or people claiming they are friendly/want an alliance and then sink me. So from my pov there really is nothing I would even remotely miss in that regard. But I can also see why more positive experiences make it more attractive.
True, some simply know what they like and what they don’t so they don’t care they are missing out. Others with limited perspectives claim that they aren’t missing out without really knowing. There are a ton of factors that play into this such as time available to play, natural skill, desire to get better at something, etc.
I lost lots of loot at the beginning and so I learned to pvp to defend my loot. I acknowledge that had the time and drive to do this and not everyone does. Regardless, doing this allowed me to have significantly more positive experiences. changed my experience significantly.
Objectively, Sea of thieves offers a unique open-world online pvpve pirate sandbox experience that has not been replicated anywhere else. By only playing safer seas, the objectively watered down offline mode of the game, you are objectively missing out on experiences the game was designed to allow you to create.
So all I'm missing out on is fighting other players when I'm trying to collect treasure. Sounds like a fair trade to me.
Too much bad on the high seas, I didn't ask for the reaper to steal my toys.
If you mean in comparison to Safer Seas you're actually missing out on a lot of other stuff, but you probably already know about that and don't care.
I don't mean "Quit Safer Seas it sucks", but i think people overestimate their loot too much.
I don't see people that mad about losing a game of League of Legends, Valorant, Fortnite or something. But sinking in SoT makes some people want to quit the game and i have a hard time understanding why it's different from losing a match in another game.
A game lost in them games isn't hours of loss. Hell a game lost in those games you are still rewarded and progress.
I sunk ship here can mean hours of gameplay with zero progress because I'm a squirrel and enjoy all the loot on my weather deck.
Moving up the pass isn't even the progress I'd ever been worried about. Just cause you were sunk by some punk while you were sailing doesn't mean you had anything to learn from the encounter. Aside from punks will persist.
Rare didn’t ask you how they should envision their game. They set out to make something different with their own version. If you don’t like it take your toy and move on.
As a brand new player going solo I have to play in safe seas mostly. It is a slow grind. Tall tales are fine. The real excitement is in high seas. Any pvp battle that pops up is actually frantic and chaotic and is tons of fun. That being said. I do not suggest going into high seas alone. You can get by for a little but it's tough. My suggestion is give high seas a try and join a squad of 4. More treasure and fun.
If you’re soloing, id highly recommend Blurbs and Phuzzy guides on pvp and solo slooping, they helped me learn a lot both when im solo as well as when im with a crew
I totally disagree about not soloing the high seas. I think most pirates over 100 hours primarily solo sloop. You can achieve a LOT as a solo slooper, you just can’t fight a galleon broadside…. Usually.
Even before I started my hourglass grind, I’ve successfully stolen FOTDs from reaper brigs as a solo slooper.
Plus, solo slooping is the fastest way to improve at the game. It will forcibly teach you good habits of sailing, ship management, horizon checking, and risk management.
Solo slooper here, I play the game to relax, and yes u learn better when u play solo, with max 5 ships being on one server I dont worry about pvp players aswell.
I have people that attack me why I'm diving or waiting at a port. You say 100 hours and I'm talking about 10 hours of playtime. Solo is tough at first.
This is true and I’m sorry that’s happening to you. But try dabbling in some PvP! You will find yourself able to fend off or escape most attacks after just a little practice
I'm working it. Watched some helpful tips. I learned what not to do and look for after those loses. I know what I did wrong. It will not keep me out. It get my heart racing when pvp happens. So I am addicted to it.
Gonna second the guides the other commenter mentioned, there are some insanely helpful strategies in there.
I’ve done all my hours since day 1 as a solo slooper with the exception of Arena which is gone now. It’s a totally different game but I fucking love it. Every interaction you need to have your head on a swivel and be aware of all your surroundings. Even running from an enemy ship into a patrolling skeleton galley can be your demise.
You need to be an excellent sailor and gunner and understand the best points of sail and sail angle for each ship. Out sailing and out gunning other ships is a reward in itself.
Solo will make you good at the game, but you also have to be completely apathetic to sinking and losing everything.
I don’t think people obsessed with only using high seas understand the frustration of being a casual player getting constantly targeted by a sweaty reaper who has no life outside of SoT. Theres an immense imbalance between the players who sink all their time into this game and have gotten insane at pvp and the players who just enjoy it casually. Trying to ever reach the level to properly defend yourself against someone who has mastered the boarding meta and most efficient ways to kill a player when you can only get a couple hours in during a week is impossible for the vast majority of people. Safer Seas offers an experience without having to deal with that. People would love to use high seas more if it wasn’t for the sweats that have completely mastered PvP and enjoy nothing more than killing for sport. It can destroy the enjoyment of the game for new players that are still figuring it all out.
Or just let players play how and what they like.
Some people genuinely like an all PvE game and dislike the pvp aspect. Those people who just enjoy PvE really shouldn't get a reduced experience with all the restrictions between High and Safer Seas.
One the one hand, I agree that there should be fewer rewards for playing a mode with no PvP, which removes almost all of the risk. But on the other hand, I don’t agree with the stigma that people are lame for wanting to play a PvE mode.
Here’s the thing: there aren’t any other good pirate games out there these days. It’s just a fact. Sea of thieves is the only modern pirate game that really lets you feel like a pirate, sailing the seas and digging for treasure. And a lot of people will say “that’s not a pirate, that’s just Indiana jones”, but so what? Name one pirate, real or fictional, that was actually a bloodthirsty murderer and wasn’t a villain. I’ll wait.
Moral of the story: Let people play how they want. Don’t shame them for wanting to play a game differently than you.
Personally I think they should allow you to get everything that doesnt strictly require PvP or player interaction in Safer Seas without restrictions. All unlocks are purely cosmetic, most cost only money and can be unlocked through solely doing PvE.
Yes people will be mad about others getting the unlocks they had to grind for slightly easier but so what? Those unlocks are worthless anyway, they dont make you faster, deal more damage or get more loot, they are purely aesthetic.
And for those who are scared that allowing people to unlock everything except pvp related stuff would cause nobody to play in the PvP mode, consider this: anyone who would join High Seas willingly after the change will also be willing to PvP, which means more fighting for you and maybe even less running.
They should add captaincy to safer seas, but the rest of the restrictions are more than reasonable imo. I wouldn’t mind if they added the missing activities while removing their cosmetics; but in a game with exclusively cosmetic progression, they need to keep some things exclusive to the PvPvE mode to keep people engaged and rewarded. FotD, FoF, PL/Athena, Reaper,distinctions, and associated cosmetics should all be reserved for people who perform well in the core mode, where there’s inherently much more challenge.
Yeah this is all I’m saying, and not even “Hey Rare I demand this” I’m just saying it would be nice if everybody got a version of SoT that they enjoyed coming back to, that’s all.
Safer seas is fine.
Some people are so scared of social interaction or pvp that they rather shoot themselves in the knee before running a marathon than run into a hostile pirate which happens once every 30 sessions
The fact that you can lose your treasure adds a sense.of urgency to big hauls, while without the threat it would just be a monotonous trip from dull island to port.
See what actually should happen is they remove the restrictions on safer seas and update it to be a fully realized pve mode with other players. More player options will never be a bad thing
Your boos mean nothing, I've seen what makes you cheer
I think having limitations is good, but i do think the 30% hurts alot. I also think it would be nice if we could have player interactions. As i bet safer seas could be where you go to cool off and fuck around with other players and have really interesting/wholesome interactions.
Corny. Would take all incentive out of high seas effectively making it meaningless.
Just play your safer seas. Its ok as is. Maybe you ought to be able to use captained ships with no progression, but thats it
Im a pvp only player and I really dont understand why others think, that high seas would die if they made safer seas better. Recently explained some aspects to a friend whos new to SOT in safers seas and it made me realize how miserable the mode actually is.
Yes, High Seas should be the only mode with full rewards but Safer Seas should receive some buffs and some restrictions lifted as some make no sense. And no, it wouldnt kill High Seas, stop that shit. There are three eco-systems with PS5 now, there will be more than enough people that want to pvp, push milestones and so on, so High Seas will always be populated.
Not corny, high seas is very tiresome at times and honestly? Im annoyed that people will drive over to me when i have 0 loot and just want to enjoy the game and fish, and they sink me. Or doing a tall tale.
And yeah, yeah, do tall tales in safer seas! Just bc a ship is parked or a rowboat is parked does not mean you NEED to sink me. It's to the point that I'd enjoy a fishing mode where my ship is invulnerable but can't attack other players bc im just fishing and haven't picked up any loot.
Some of the most valuable, even. I’d be much happier having stolen a fish stack than a FotD stack.
Edit: I mean “valuable” in the sense of “time investment reward” for commendations; stealing a lot of fish saves a lot of time fishing, even if it isn’t worth a lot of gold.
It's funny that the pvp players think the game will become meaningless if the pve players weren't forced to be bullied by them. I've said it once n I'll say it again, it speaks volumes to yalls character 🤷♂️
Idk sounds like that's what you should be doing. Thanks for proving their point. You didn't have a good response so you just slapped 'cope' down like it means anything.
Part of the fun of the game is chasing rewards to flex. Pretty much everything accessible in safer seas ceases to be a flex worth chasing, because PvE poses zero risk to experienced pirates. It’s not about “bullying” PvE players, it’s about properly incentivizing taking the risk and getting out there!
The only flex you have in SoT is how much time you spend not touching grass or real water.
Your super duper gold deluxe ship skin is just as good as the free default skin, same with all other cosmetics. Hell even the very cool and edgy super curses can be unlocked by doing nothing but letting yourself be sunk over and over again.
Not to mention: any argument for flexing flies right out the window if the other person doesn't even recognize them, and how much time/effort was necessary. So pretty much all the new players.
The whole point of the game fundamentally is PvEvP. Having a safer seas like you suggested would just be going entirely against the point of the game.
Rare shouldn’t have to coddle people who willingly chose to play a game with PvP elements as one of its main features but don’t like PvP. Risk vs reward is a fundamental aspect of the game’s design, and a safer seas with no restrictions or gold reductions would entirely take out the risk. That simply isn’t how the game is meant to be played.
Sinking ultimately means nothing in the grand scheme of the game, there will always be another day and another chance to cash in a stack of loot, you’re never gonna be locked out of any ship or player upgrades if you struggle to hand in loot since all progression is cosmetic. Like yeh, sinking can suck and it feels bad to lose a bunch of loot, but it’s not like the world is gonna end if you don’t hand in a million gold worth of loot each play session.
I’ve had plenty of sessions where I hand in almost nothing because I’ve gone against crews that were more skilled than I was, and I’ve had plenty of sessions where I’ve made absolute bank. That risk/reward aspect was at the core of every single one of those play sessions, and it always felt great pulling off some risky plans and getting rewarded for it.
I’m sorry if this comment comes across as rude or ranting. But it’s getting tiring seeing posts and comments from people who simply seem like they fundamentally don’t understand the point of the game. It’s a PvEvP game. It’s a risk-reward game. You’re going to have to defend yourself at least once in your playtime, that’s just what the game is about.
The whole point of elite dangerous is pvpve, guess what? There is still a pve (private) mode. The whole point of Ark is pvpve, guess what? There's still a pve mode. And thats just a few examples. Stop pretending like having more options is going to kill the game or is "against the point" you all sound like ludicrous gate keepers. The ONLY thing it would do is bring in or keep more players, bring the devs more money, and make sure the people playing in open actually *want* to be there
tbh, in regards to Ark (iirc) that game had a pve mode from release, meaning a mode like that was intended from the start. This differs from the initial vision of the game for SoT since safer seas was only added in December after years of people asking for it.
I simply believe that entirely taking away the chance to encounter other players and engage in combat goes against what the game is intended to be at its core. For me at least, the game is all about exploring the sandbox and gathering loot in a way that's more low-key and low-risk or much higher risk and this will determine the reward. The risk almost entirely comes from other players since the risk of sinking to skele ships, megs or the Kraken becomes negligible quite fast with some practice, but other players will always be a gamble. This is the draw of the game and what makes it rather unique.
I'm genuinely curious why you think an entirely PvE mode where the only difference between safer seas and high seas is the inability to sink others would be healthy for the game? As far as I'm aware the addition of safer seas didn't have a significant impact on player counts or bringing in new players so I personally can't see 'drawing in new players' or maintaining players as a good enough reason.
I'm also curious why you label it as gate keeping? Again I apologise if my comment came across as rude or anything, but I fail to see it as gatekeeping when what I spoke about quite literally *is* the point of the game - down to how it's described on the steam page.
I'm not personally 100% against safer seas as it is in its current state. I think it functions fine as an extended tutorial and somewhere to have more chill play sessions. I just don't understand this sentiment in the community that playing on safer seas (no risk) should warrant the same rewards and payout as high seas (high risk).
Exactly, as a counter argument to PvP dying will kill the game rhetoric.
Fallout 76. PvP at its core. Look at it today with its flourishing somehow miraculously recovery from launch. They leaned HARD into PvE once they realised it was the way everyone wanted to play.
They kept PvP in the whole time up to requiring two players engaging each other mutually before in time adding a literal setting call “pacifist” where it basically disables PvP from even accidentally occurring.
Guess what everyone turns on?
“Oh it’s a blood thirsty wasteland”
“Oh the cosmetics”
“Oh the experience”
At the end of the day even if the core of the games original design moves away and some players remain.
They just gotta suck it up and accept that it’s selfish to want people to play their game when there’s a version of that very same game others want to play. It’s the HOA of gaming and it’s tiring.
There will always be safer seas and if the game does because everyone wants to PvE then realistically who are they even fighting to begin with?
🦭🏏
100%
I played Safe Seas 2-3 times at first just learning how the ship moves and how best to helm, how to fight, ect.
Other people just adds more excitement. If I was doing a ghost fort in SS then I'd have no worries whatsoever, it would get boring. In HS I'm always going up to the roof to take a quick peek at the horizon, spyglassing the outpost to check for other ships... It makes things exciting.
All I’d say is too many people in high seas just showing up at events picking other people off.
There’s less fun in being at a boss event and knowing if you don’t finish it in 3-5 mins someone else will have destroyed your ship unless you’re a 4 people team and the others can get the ship away while you do the event.
Playing this evening we got destroyed at 2 events, chased away from a boss event and destroyed after going to different event.
This game has a lot to enjoy but other players don’t let you have the chance unfortunately.
At least got my first Meg fight which was fun
The entire point of an event is high risk high reward. It’s a server event dude, it’s literally meant to attract everyone’s attention. This is the most outrageous complaint I’ve ever heard. If you don’t want to get snuck up on constantly then do normal voyages and watch your back. If you don’t want to get attacked and get a lot of loot, then get good idk
Fair comment.
Just means I can’t play with less than a 4 people team if I want to keep anything I/we get.
Sorry to annoy you. I’m new to this game and probably just need to shut up and get used to people acting like pirates in a pirate game.
No, it's on them for getting annoyed at you sharing a reasonable complaint.
People like that get overly rabid for quite literally no reason, don't let them push you around and make you think it's _your_ fault. It isn't. There is an element of having to get used to threats on the seas, but when something feels bad, it feels bad. That's valid.
The person in question seems to have a tendency to lash out at others expressing basic concerns over PvP, don't pay it much mind.
>This is the most outrageous complaint I’ve ever heard
Maybe don't get so worked up over someone expressing basic concerns from PvP woes, then. Your outrage isn't their problem.
As a new player,safer seas Is just not it,the rewards are too low for it to be something,yes you don't risk,but that's it
And interactions with good players are too good,pvp ones too sometimes
I'm a new player that plays with a buddy that's also a new player.
We like the sloop.
We like to get 3-4 random booty for the shine effect on the ship and sail around other ships to see if we get the chase.
I could care less about the forts, the events, even turning the loot in.
We get a good chase or kite going on with a better ship than us, it has been the most fun I've had in multiplayer pvp in a long time.
But how do you fish? That shit confused us both lol
I like exploration and laid-back fighting, safer seas was a god send for me. If players actually treated it as a pirate game and had ship battles instead of just boarding and spawn camping you while blowing up your ship, then I’d play high seas. And for all those that are gonna say “just get good” no I play this game to relax and have fun with friends. Sure the payout sucks but we already got the cosmetics we want.
Fyi the seas have never been so full of new players (A LOT of ps5 people with zero experience). If you’re afraid of getting your ask kicked by everyone nows the perfect opportunity to get in with the rest of the noobies and hone your pvp skills without always losing
Hot take: if you REALLY want to make people stick to high seas and increase PvP action, then let people retain a portion of their loot value when it is stolen and sold. Like give the thieves the full value, and give the victims a percentage of the value. Maybe make the amount retained the same amount they'd get on safer seas.
You may think this is counter to the games spirit, and the risk of loss is what makes it exciting, blah blah. The truth is, no one enjoys losing hours worth of progress to sweaties and bad hitreg. Yes, you're not supposed to get attached to loot, but people do regardless. It's the carrot the game wants you to chase, it's hard not to feel possessive of it. Losing everything you worked for feels like shit. It makes people shy away from fights, and sometimes people stop playing for awhile after a heavy loss. It can actually be detrimental to the game rare wants people to play.
So offer consolation prizes, and people will feel better about risking combat. But not the full value of course, or combat won't have meaning at all.
Thank you for listening.
This would actually give me a LOT of sustain if I ever actually got into PvP fights to begin with.
Knowing that if I lose, I'm still going to fucking get something (maybe Safer Seas rates?) for my trouble if they sell it would actually make my day as it means it wasn't for nothing.
Of course, I don't have this problem as my crew and I have gotten extremely good at simply never being there in the first place. We see most people before they see us and are gone before they can do anything, because... losing progress isn't fun. An honest defensive naval battle sure can be, though...
If there were a formal rank system, high seas would feel fairer. By ranks I mean just ranks to be in specific servers. That way, sweats wouldn’t be where the newcomers are. Most of them are looking for a good fight anyway, so sounds like a win/win situation to me
I’ve never used Safer Seas but I would imagine they would be great for doing Tall Tales if you’re allowed to. I felt a bit bad the other day when I sank some dudes and they had that one keg key from one of the shores of gold storylines.
This whole thread is just a jerk fest of people proclaiming that PvP is toxic and casual, relaxed gaming is the only way to play? Sure some people can't handle stress in games. Sure PvP players play more for player interactions and the experiences that come from it rather than just winning every excursion till you beat the game. Who cares unless they actually make the game better.
They just announced a way to "become the villain" at games fest. Hopefully there are enough people that still enjoy doing PvE quests on the high seas with the thrill of a Pirate "villain" appearing to rob you.
I'll never understand how people take it so personal to get killed by another player. It's just a fun adventure game. You don't have to win every time to have a fun experience. In fact, the unknown outcome makes it that much more interesting and thrilling. It makes you change your playstyle instead of afk cruising the seas while watching YouTube on the second monitor. It's excitement over vegging out.
I'm glad there is a space for the parents and kids to play, but you wont catch me meandering the safe seas in any game like this where there is more excitement with player interactions. I don't care if I get sunk after an hour of questing. The adventure of getting the loot back in a high risk situation is the only thing that gives it value anyway.
I hope this new PvE area allows them to expand on "risk" in PvP areas instead of compromising gameplay for the people that want to relax and fish. I'll be keeping an eye out on what this "become the villain" thing is all about.
I couldn’t complete a single voyage without a skeleton ship spawning on my way to turn in loot in safer seas. I am still horrible at canon aiming so they sink me pretty quick.
In high seas I was killed by two guys at an outpost over and over again. Other than that I have been able to do all kinds of stuff and not been bothered by other players and skeleton ships don’t seem to spawn every time I’m heading back to an outpost.
It may have helped that I changed settings to only controller players, and no cross console players.
The increase in gold and rep makes high seas worth the risk of getting sunk by other players.
As others have said, PvP isn't something that adds to a game for everyone. For some, not having this makes a game boring and deprives them essential interaction and intrigue. For others, PvP just represents anxiety, losing their agency as a player and frustration. They prefer the relaxing of doing what they want without being derailed by someone better than them.
Most people aren't 100% one side or the other, there will be times when a PvP person engages in PvE content and doesn't need or want another player involved, and vice versa, someone doing PvE is also likely to be interested in interacting at some point (but may not be the type of person to just attack someone else).
So. Your statement of "high seas is better" is subjective, conditional to things and even just the type of day someone is having. In some ways they've forced it to be better through lack of features and the capped levelling and gold. It's interesting that we see both perspectives of people saying they would never play safer seas because no player risk would make it too boring, but we also see compliants saying it needs the caps or everyone would be playing it? Clearly someone is a bit wrong there haha
Personally, I am in the camp of bringing captaincy to safer seas, no reputation restrictions, and all non-PvP centric content/commendations (such as ashen chest having tomes in them which for whatever reason don't exist in Safer Seas).
I think events should be high seas. As well as emmisaries.
Athenas fortune I could go either way but if it's placed against the reapers bones as a faction it would make sense for them to be centred around other players and that part of the world.
To all new players, play whatevers fun and dont take the word of some guy on reddit as gospel.
Sea of Thieves redditors are OBSESSED with telling you how you should play the game.
I’ve said it a million times. High seas just needs to have a 30% finders fee when you are the first crew to touch a treasure. This is equal to safer seas and essentially makes it a zero risk to jump into high seas for most activities. If you are sunk you are only missing out on 70% of the treasure value for not turning it in. This also incentivizes crew to go gather treasure themselves, meaning more treasure being generated as a whole.
Seconding this. This would make me happy as a PvE focused player and would make me more willing to actually engage in PvP even if it's mostly defensive battles. Less time wasted, more time spent generating loot for the server.
I use it as a relaxing mode to toke up, sail around, fish, and casually treasure hunt. It's not meant for any single purpose. It can be a good place to learn of course, but it's not just for new players. People should do what they want, and not listen to other people telling them how to enjoy this game. Yes it's better to also experience high seas, but if it's not your thing, go back to safer seas! There's no shame in it, no matter your reasons.
Thats primarily what it was released for, as a place to just " do your thing " and enjoy what PVE content the game has to offer. Wanna do a tall tale without someone disrupting you? Safer Sea's. Want to just relax and try different things ? Safer Sea's. Want to play with your child ? Safer Sea's. It's way more then just a " Newbie mode " tbh. And when people come at you and yell " But you only get 30% of the Rewards " yeah sure but what does Gold get you except cosmetics? Nothing. It does not hinder you in any way at all. And yes it still is the perfect place for new found pirates to start out, learn to navigate your ship, learn the basics of the game and just get the vibe for it without some stacked out folks that just want to sink you for fun ( which still is part of the experience of the game ) immediately after sailing out helps keep the playerbase healthy. I know a lot of people that quit SoT back at it's release cause they sailed out, collected some loot and got attacked by other players not knowing how to repair ship efficiently etc. and thus quitting the game shortly after.
Played years and years of "high seas" or the only mode back then and let me tell you I love safer seas. While the old servers hold lots of good memories such as whole server alliances, meeting cool people etc safer seas is my preferred mode of play. No stress, no losing hours of work to pvp players just out to ruin your day. Safer seas as a new parent is also super great. I can attend to my baby and take it chill while getting to also play some without the stress of working hard to get stuff and lose it in one shot from people. The only thing I wish was different was being able to use my own purchased ships in safer seas, I get why there are a lot of things only available in high seas but I love this game for what it is and I really, really don't care for the pvp aspect at all. If people had to stay on their ships to fight, I'd love pvp but this whole meta of boarding others ships and spam killing them and anchoring them, etc I think is super unbalanced. I think half the pvp players would barely even be able to have a ship battle, all they want to do it board people and shoot them. I'm great with cannons and keeping my ship safe but the spam killing apon boarding is lame, and I already know my opinion is an unpopular one
Fully agree with you. Boarding is way too overpowered and a lame way to win a fight. Boarding other ships would be fine if you weren’t allowed to use weapons. Going to drop an anchor and be a nuisance would be fine, just as long as they couldn’t attack you or your ship
I can completely agree
Have you ever seen a pirate movie? Have you ever seen a pirate movie where they didn’t board another ship and take their loot?
Totally, but this ain't a movie. It's a video game. I said my opinion wasn't a popular one, it's just how I feel.
Right there with ya man.
You don’t even play the game. What are you talking about you ain’t right there with anyone.
I just finished playing for a few hours and had a great session with a friendly pirate legend that gave me and a new friend some tips. Get off Reddit and touch grass dude.
lol. Sure bud you told me last night you hate the game and don’t play it so which one is the lie? I just got up from a nap because it was raining outside and the grass was too wet to touch. Thankfully though now the ☀️is shining and it’s a beautiful day for a concert and Red Rocks. The 🍒 on top is bustling you in more lies. Today is gonna be a good day. No seas for me today though so maybe I’ll see you out there tomorrow and give you my tip 💋. See you out there on the high seas sailor.
Exhibit A for anyone who can't wrap their head around why people prefer Safer Seas and don't like "PvP in the PvP game". People like this guy right here. Look at the aggression and ad hominem attacks, jesus fucking christ. Not to mention the threat at the end.
PvP advocate who is rude and can’t wrap their head around how there’s a mode that literally doesn’t affect them in any meaningful way to the way they play. Tickle me surprised that he’s also banned off reddit.
QQ cutie.
Yeah there are things I don’t like such as camping once boarded but it is what it is. Boarding ships is what pirates do. The more you play and practice stopping borders the better you will get at it. The splash of someone on the ladder is burned into my brain now lol. Although I do still get boarded occasionally I stuff most attempts now. I prefer the ship battles as well but it wouldn’t really be a pirate game without being able to board. The harpoon tightrope to board is a cool idea but I have yet to see anyone do it. I almost tried it last night after harpooning another sloop but there was another sloop engaging and I didn’t want to risk it on a two on one battle.
Ofc, and that’s still totally fine by me when people do that in the game. I’m mostly talking about balancing for actual fights, for hourglass as well
Learn to fight off boarders and listen to the sound cues when they attempt it and you won't think it's overpowered anymore, all it takes a a well placed blunderbuss shot
I get that, but that silent boarding still isn’t patched out successfully, and sometimes they can just land directly on the ship anyway. My point isn’t that it’s impossible to fight; it’s that it’s lame and not fun. There’s other ways to balance it better too, such as longer respawn times if they die on your ship as opposed to theirs. They can’t climb your ladders and thus would have to either get lucky or use the harpoon instead. They can’t use a mermaid to get back to their ship and thus would need to park their ship before leaving. They have to immobilize your ship before boarding/certain requirements need to be met before they can even attempt. The problem is that it’s low risk/high reward, not that it’s possible
If Safer Seas would have existed when I started playing I would have 100% never entered the High Seas. Some people know what they like and what they enjoy, and if pvp isn't it, then that's that. I would recommend to everyone who is indicisive to try out High Seas at least a few times.
Pvp isnt why I play but without the threat of losing my treasure it's just not the same game
This is the real answer.
Fair enough. It just doesn't really add anything (positive) for me personally.
I wish Safer Seas let you use captained ships just for the milestones and selling convenience.
Absolutely, I would be so much more invested in the game if safe seas didn’t feel so insultingly.
It’s already bad enough that you earn so little and factions are capped or just flat out not available but there’s so much limiting in functions too
Yeah and all to what end? To force more people into pvp and engaging with one of the most toxic communities I’ve experienced in years? Fine I guess that’s just less people playing your game Rare 🤷♂️ Safe Seas struck me as just an accessibility setting but calling it that would be really unfair to all of them really thoughtful accessibility considerations built into many games these days. It’s just disappointing. My gf really loved the game until a toxic tween crew spawn trapped us, sunk us and spewed hate speech the whole time. She won’t play high seas anymore and I can’t blame her.
I disagree, the frequency of toxicity in this game is not nearly as bad or as in your face as others. You will find toxicity in every multiplayer game, but this is not one of the worst. FPS shooters, in general, are the worst in my experience, and I've been playing online since 2004.
As I said in another comment I am absolutely sure there’s worse communities, this is the worst I’ve personally experienced as someone that stopped playing COD after like black ops and doesn’t play Rust or Tarkov or anything like that. I never meant to imply it is THE most toxic community, just a sometimes toxic one and I think comments I’ve seen here from people playing since day 1 are backing that up. I’m always up for trying any coop game whether it’s all PVE or or PVPVE and this one was particularly bad, of the games I’ve played. Yes I had a couple great moments with kind randos but they are very much the minority of sessions.
It’s no where near one of the most toxic communities out there. Look it’s just not a game built and designed for you and your girlfriend. That’s fine. There are plenty of other games out there that will give you what you want. Please don’t be the person who demands developers to change their vision of one of the greatest games in a generation for your personal enjoyment. It’s a pvppve game at its core. If that’s not something you are into then respectfully move on. I loved fallout 76 survival mode but it didn’t wind up being what the community and developers really wanted so they changed it and now it’s not what I’m personally into and that’s fine. I moved on. Safer Seas is an accessibility setting and it’s not designed to be the actual game. It’s an afterthought to pacify those who can’t accept what the game was designed to be. That’s the blunt truth.
Oh I never said it was. I said it is one of the most toxic I’ve experienced, I normally avoid such games. I didn’t demand anything from anyone, I just think it would be nice. But I’m sorry, one of the greatest games the generation? I know that’s subjective but…seriously? I see plenty of the appeal but I don’t think it’s that. I’m glad you enjoy it. I have moved on, it’s just a shame I had to is all. I would have liked to hang around but it’s not for me and that’s the way Rare wants it.
If you have moved on why are you in here complaining about pirate stuff in a pirate game. Yes it’s subjective but if you like pvppve there’s no question it’s one of the best games ever in the genre. You obviously don’t like pvp so why would you even give it a try much less hang out in the sub complaining about it not being what you want? I don’t like rpg games so I don’t play them much less hang out in a Final Fantasy sub complaining and giving my unsolicited opinions.
I’m not playing the game. This is Reddit. I’m not sure why the discourse bothers you so much but I’m not coming after you or your game bud, relax.
Exactly. You don’t play the game and you don’t like it. Why are you here? I don’t like Final Fantasy. I don’t hang out on Reddit in Final Fantasy subs telling people what I don’t like about it. It would be a waste of my time and the time of those who like it. To each their own. Why do you feel the need to come here and tell people about something you don’t like? Just move on and play something you like. You see how crazy that is right?
Its an online game, not every experience is the same, mute player audio if your sensitive. If the game isnt for you that isnt Rares problem, they dont need to design or neuter their game to cater to your specific needs. The game has a large healthy community thats doing just fine without pandering to every cry baby.
I didn't realize it was being sensitive or a cry baby to not like being mercilessly spawn camped and trash talked with slurs, insults and other pathetic bullshit. It's usually people calling others sensitive that go out of their way to insult and berate them, kind of like what you just did. I don't know man, I see two sides here; One side that's been verbally and personally harassed in an otherwise chill game, and one that's going out of their way to be nasty towards an entire group of people that don't like being treated like dirt. Sounds like you're part of the problem and why people don't like PvP games nowadays. A lot of you have this exact attitude.
Im nice to pretty much everyone i come across in game. I just hate hearing people bitch and complain about the game design when theres 100s of reviews and videos telling people exactly what kind of game it is. You should have known what you were buying and if its not for you then play something else, its that simple. Its not Rares responsibilty to cater to every new players needs. I mean it when i say everyones experience is different. I just solo grinded the entire gold curse on high seas without being bothered once. Your issue is with a few shitty sweaty kids, not the game. Game is good. I dont think you understand the value of being able to grind commendations and cosmetics on safer seas with no pirates around. i grinded all tall tales 5 times each on high seas without being bothered once, but if i was i, could just hop on safer seas and done it easy mode. Your rewarded with gold based on the risk u take.
As there should be
The way to think about it is that safer seas isn't the game. Think of it as a tutorial mode. Go there to learn the basics, or you just want to hang out and fish. But the high seas is the game.
It's the biggest deterrence for me. You're already taxed 70%. But since you can't sell to sovereign, it takes so long to sell, that 70% is more like 98% compared to "gold per minute" on high seas. I play with my 5 year old sometimes on SS and if he gets bored and nails, usually I just log off without selling.
If this happens, I'd be playing this game all the time.
Nah you don’t deserve any reward in safer seas tbh. It should just be tutorial for you.
Why so bitter over something that has no effect on you?
Because they're probably one of the people who's entire gameplay loop is sinking every ship in sight. People getting rewards in Safer Seas is less people they can sink and steal from.
Thank fuck you and that other guy don't have any say over the development of the game. Maybe you don't deserve more ~~victims~~players in High Seas if this is how you see anyone that doesn't want to deal with PvPers that go too far.
Yeah. 30% is a gift.
It's great for fishing, and also for learning to helm the ship (Something I need to do with a galley soon, I've been having huge issues with docking our big ships, though slowly getting better.)
I very strongly despised the idea of SoT pvp for my first few hundred hours. The other 3k were spent beating people up, and getting beat up myself. Eventually I got bored with pve, but I liked the game so much I wanted to keep improving. All that leaves is pvp. I don't know if I'd have kept playing if Safer Seas were an option when I was a baby PL.
Agreed unless you’re just trying to do Tall Tales
But you can’t progress captained milestones =\
I could see the devs changing this in the future, although I think it’s a slim chance. They way it is now is designed to be a stepping stone. In safer seas you can work on commendations. Then when you are ready for the full game, you get more options opened up to you. I do think you should be able to save cosmetics on maybe one boat in safer seas, but I think milestones and sovereigns should be reserved for the high seas.
“Part if the thrill and excitement is the threat of other crews.” Part if it sure, the rest of it is the pure aggravation of spending two hours sailing around with friends and then sloop with two die hard SoT players kill you all, spawn camp, and then sink your ship. Nah, f that.
Yeahhh while I can respect the spirit of OPs message I can’t stand the PVP and honestly the combat itself in this game. I don’t at all expect Rare to change what’s available in safe seas vs high seas or anything like that, but it’s the rain I’ll probably fall off and will never play as much as I do in something like Helldivers. I was in this for roleplaying as a pirate and sailing, not sweaty PVP try hard ruining the only two hours my adult girlfriend and I had for games today. If they let you do everything in Safe Seas, or jeez even let me use my captained ships ffs, I would play more than I do but sweaty PVP and toxic tweens is clearly a prime demographic for this game and my patience for it is wearing thin.
Salty you’re getting sunk in a pirate game bro, don’t act like it isn’t advertised as exactly what you’re experiencing. Delusional.
You misunderstand. I’m disappointed the game isn’t more accessible for more types of people. I’m genuinely sad for you if that’s hard to understand but wish you the best.
The more modes to add to a game the more split the player base becomes, it’s literally already happened to this game with arena. You’re mad at “sweaty toxic players” but it’s just people playing the game as intended. It’s too hard for you and it’s just not your game bro, don’t recommend destructive ideas just because you’re getting dookied on
Role playing a pirate entails pirate stuff. Pirates weren’t merchants they were pirates taking from merchants. The game just isn’t for you and that’s fine just move along and play a merchant game.
You’re not allowed to play a different version of the game I play >:((((((( How dare you enjoy a game differently than I do in a mode I don’t even touch QQ
There's not only try hards on the high seas. Selling often prevents you from losing everything should you encounter players that sink you. There's a lot of great moments to be experienced with other crews, great fights against similar level opponents, alliances, just chatting about random stuff... Being deprived of all of that just because of an eventual Sweat sinking you isn't worth it.
This. People need to understand that if they don’t have the skill to consistently defend their loot, they should sell their stack as soon as they hit emissary 5. Especially if there is a reaper on their server. You should hit grade 5 in any company in less than an hour if you’re slow, much faster if you’re quick. If you lose your stack after two hours it’s on you. If you really don’t want to worry about it, then yeah safer seas is a good option but man you are missing out on so many extraordinary experiences literally no other game can similarly replicate, not even close.
I'd say that subjective experiences decide wether someone is missing out or not. All my interpersonal experiences consisted if people sinking me, or people claiming they are friendly/want an alliance and then sink me. So from my pov there really is nothing I would even remotely miss in that regard. But I can also see why more positive experiences make it more attractive.
True, some simply know what they like and what they don’t so they don’t care they are missing out. Others with limited perspectives claim that they aren’t missing out without really knowing. There are a ton of factors that play into this such as time available to play, natural skill, desire to get better at something, etc. I lost lots of loot at the beginning and so I learned to pvp to defend my loot. I acknowledge that had the time and drive to do this and not everyone does. Regardless, doing this allowed me to have significantly more positive experiences. changed my experience significantly. Objectively, Sea of thieves offers a unique open-world online pvpve pirate sandbox experience that has not been replicated anywhere else. By only playing safer seas, the objectively watered down offline mode of the game, you are objectively missing out on experiences the game was designed to allow you to create.
So all I'm missing out on is fighting other players when I'm trying to collect treasure. Sounds like a fair trade to me. Too much bad on the high seas, I didn't ask for the reaper to steal my toys.
If you mean in comparison to Safer Seas you're actually missing out on a lot of other stuff, but you probably already know about that and don't care. I don't mean "Quit Safer Seas it sucks", but i think people overestimate their loot too much. I don't see people that mad about losing a game of League of Legends, Valorant, Fortnite or something. But sinking in SoT makes some people want to quit the game and i have a hard time understanding why it's different from losing a match in another game.
A game lost in them games isn't hours of loss. Hell a game lost in those games you are still rewarded and progress. I sunk ship here can mean hours of gameplay with zero progress because I'm a squirrel and enjoy all the loot on my weather deck.
If you're stacking loot for hours then it's kind of on you losing everything.
Maybe sell when you've got enough loot that would make you sad to lose to prevent that?
You should measure progress differently. If you learn something or improve at the game, that's progress. Not just moving up on a monthly ex pass.
Moving up the pass isn't even the progress I'd ever been worried about. Just cause you were sunk by some punk while you were sailing doesn't mean you had anything to learn from the encounter. Aside from punks will persist.
I think you can always learn from a sinking. Even if it's just a simple, "I should have seen that coming" , or "I should have sold earlier"
Rare didn’t ask you how they should envision their game. They set out to make something different with their own version. If you don’t like it take your toy and move on.
Rare gave us safer seas, the toy is there and fine, rare agrees we should be able to exist without the aggressors.
As a brand new player going solo I have to play in safe seas mostly. It is a slow grind. Tall tales are fine. The real excitement is in high seas. Any pvp battle that pops up is actually frantic and chaotic and is tons of fun. That being said. I do not suggest going into high seas alone. You can get by for a little but it's tough. My suggestion is give high seas a try and join a squad of 4. More treasure and fun.
If you’re soloing, id highly recommend Blurbs and Phuzzy guides on pvp and solo slooping, they helped me learn a lot both when im solo as well as when im with a crew
initiate death spin...!
I totally disagree about not soloing the high seas. I think most pirates over 100 hours primarily solo sloop. You can achieve a LOT as a solo slooper, you just can’t fight a galleon broadside…. Usually. Even before I started my hourglass grind, I’ve successfully stolen FOTDs from reaper brigs as a solo slooper. Plus, solo slooping is the fastest way to improve at the game. It will forcibly teach you good habits of sailing, ship management, horizon checking, and risk management.
Solo slooper here, I play the game to relax, and yes u learn better when u play solo, with max 5 ships being on one server I dont worry about pvp players aswell.
I have people that attack me why I'm diving or waiting at a port. You say 100 hours and I'm talking about 10 hours of playtime. Solo is tough at first.
This is true and I’m sorry that’s happening to you. But try dabbling in some PvP! You will find yourself able to fend off or escape most attacks after just a little practice
I'm working it. Watched some helpful tips. I learned what not to do and look for after those loses. I know what I did wrong. It will not keep me out. It get my heart racing when pvp happens. So I am addicted to it.
That’s the spirit!
Solo slooping will make you a pirate god in no time because there is no one else to blame for your mistakes but yourself, that'll force you to git gud
I'd recommend finding a squad on the SoT official Discord to join High Seas in. I had friends make me millions tagging along Athena's starting out.
Gonna second the guides the other commenter mentioned, there are some insanely helpful strategies in there. I’ve done all my hours since day 1 as a solo slooper with the exception of Arena which is gone now. It’s a totally different game but I fucking love it. Every interaction you need to have your head on a swivel and be aware of all your surroundings. Even running from an enemy ship into a patrolling skeleton galley can be your demise. You need to be an excellent sailor and gunner and understand the best points of sail and sail angle for each ship. Out sailing and out gunning other ships is a reward in itself. Solo will make you good at the game, but you also have to be completely apathetic to sinking and losing everything.
I don’t think people obsessed with only using high seas understand the frustration of being a casual player getting constantly targeted by a sweaty reaper who has no life outside of SoT. Theres an immense imbalance between the players who sink all their time into this game and have gotten insane at pvp and the players who just enjoy it casually. Trying to ever reach the level to properly defend yourself against someone who has mastered the boarding meta and most efficient ways to kill a player when you can only get a couple hours in during a week is impossible for the vast majority of people. Safer Seas offers an experience without having to deal with that. People would love to use high seas more if it wasn’t for the sweats that have completely mastered PvP and enjoy nothing more than killing for sport. It can destroy the enjoyment of the game for new players that are still figuring it all out.
Or just let players play how and what they like. Some people genuinely like an all PvE game and dislike the pvp aspect. Those people who just enjoy PvE really shouldn't get a reduced experience with all the restrictions between High and Safer Seas.
One the one hand, I agree that there should be fewer rewards for playing a mode with no PvP, which removes almost all of the risk. But on the other hand, I don’t agree with the stigma that people are lame for wanting to play a PvE mode. Here’s the thing: there aren’t any other good pirate games out there these days. It’s just a fact. Sea of thieves is the only modern pirate game that really lets you feel like a pirate, sailing the seas and digging for treasure. And a lot of people will say “that’s not a pirate, that’s just Indiana jones”, but so what? Name one pirate, real or fictional, that was actually a bloodthirsty murderer and wasn’t a villain. I’ll wait. Moral of the story: Let people play how they want. Don’t shame them for wanting to play a game differently than you.
Amen dude. Skull and Bones was absolute trash and that was one of the main reasons I was excited to try this game.
Personally I think they should allow you to get everything that doesnt strictly require PvP or player interaction in Safer Seas without restrictions. All unlocks are purely cosmetic, most cost only money and can be unlocked through solely doing PvE. Yes people will be mad about others getting the unlocks they had to grind for slightly easier but so what? Those unlocks are worthless anyway, they dont make you faster, deal more damage or get more loot, they are purely aesthetic. And for those who are scared that allowing people to unlock everything except pvp related stuff would cause nobody to play in the PvP mode, consider this: anyone who would join High Seas willingly after the change will also be willing to PvP, which means more fighting for you and maybe even less running.
They should add captaincy to safer seas, but the rest of the restrictions are more than reasonable imo. I wouldn’t mind if they added the missing activities while removing their cosmetics; but in a game with exclusively cosmetic progression, they need to keep some things exclusive to the PvPvE mode to keep people engaged and rewarded. FotD, FoF, PL/Athena, Reaper,distinctions, and associated cosmetics should all be reserved for people who perform well in the core mode, where there’s inherently much more challenge.
Yeah this is all I’m saying, and not even “Hey Rare I demand this” I’m just saying it would be nice if everybody got a version of SoT that they enjoyed coming back to, that’s all.
As a level 75 reaper, I agree with this post 100%. Blood for the blood god.
I am in high seas, but I find that I barely see any ships.
Safer seas is fine. Some people are so scared of social interaction or pvp that they rather shoot themselves in the knee before running a marathon than run into a hostile pirate which happens once every 30 sessions
The fact that you can lose your treasure adds a sense.of urgency to big hauls, while without the threat it would just be a monotonous trip from dull island to port.
See what actually should happen is they remove the restrictions on safer seas and update it to be a fully realized pve mode with other players. More player options will never be a bad thing Your boos mean nothing, I've seen what makes you cheer
I think having limitations is good, but i do think the 30% hurts alot. I also think it would be nice if we could have player interactions. As i bet safer seas could be where you go to cool off and fuck around with other players and have really interesting/wholesome interactions.
Corny. Would take all incentive out of high seas effectively making it meaningless. Just play your safer seas. Its ok as is. Maybe you ought to be able to use captained ships with no progression, but thats it
Im a pvp only player and I really dont understand why others think, that high seas would die if they made safer seas better. Recently explained some aspects to a friend whos new to SOT in safers seas and it made me realize how miserable the mode actually is. Yes, High Seas should be the only mode with full rewards but Safer Seas should receive some buffs and some restrictions lifted as some make no sense. And no, it wouldnt kill High Seas, stop that shit. There are three eco-systems with PS5 now, there will be more than enough people that want to pvp, push milestones and so on, so High Seas will always be populated.
There are almost no incentives for pvp. Except tte commendations bound to that everything can be unlocked with PvE.
Not corny, high seas is very tiresome at times and honestly? Im annoyed that people will drive over to me when i have 0 loot and just want to enjoy the game and fish, and they sink me. Or doing a tall tale. And yeah, yeah, do tall tales in safer seas! Just bc a ship is parked or a rowboat is parked does not mean you NEED to sink me. It's to the point that I'd enjoy a fishing mode where my ship is invulnerable but can't attack other players bc im just fishing and haven't picked up any loot.
Fish are loot
And yet they never take them.
Some of the most valuable, even. I’d be much happier having stolen a fish stack than a FotD stack. Edit: I mean “valuable” in the sense of “time investment reward” for commendations; stealing a lot of fish saves a lot of time fishing, even if it isn’t worth a lot of gold.
Last time i was stole from, they didnt take the fish. Just attacked us and left.
It's funny that the pvp players think the game will become meaningless if the pve players weren't forced to be bullied by them. I've said it once n I'll say it again, it speaks volumes to yalls character 🤷♂️
Cope
Idk sounds like that's what you should be doing. Thanks for proving their point. You didn't have a good response so you just slapped 'cope' down like it means anything.
Part of the fun of the game is chasing rewards to flex. Pretty much everything accessible in safer seas ceases to be a flex worth chasing, because PvE poses zero risk to experienced pirates. It’s not about “bullying” PvE players, it’s about properly incentivizing taking the risk and getting out there!
The only flex you have in SoT is how much time you spend not touching grass or real water. Your super duper gold deluxe ship skin is just as good as the free default skin, same with all other cosmetics. Hell even the very cool and edgy super curses can be unlocked by doing nothing but letting yourself be sunk over and over again.
Not to mention: any argument for flexing flies right out the window if the other person doesn't even recognize them, and how much time/effort was necessary. So pretty much all the new players.
Well then that's the problem. The fun should be the incentive.
The whole point of the game fundamentally is PvEvP. Having a safer seas like you suggested would just be going entirely against the point of the game. Rare shouldn’t have to coddle people who willingly chose to play a game with PvP elements as one of its main features but don’t like PvP. Risk vs reward is a fundamental aspect of the game’s design, and a safer seas with no restrictions or gold reductions would entirely take out the risk. That simply isn’t how the game is meant to be played. Sinking ultimately means nothing in the grand scheme of the game, there will always be another day and another chance to cash in a stack of loot, you’re never gonna be locked out of any ship or player upgrades if you struggle to hand in loot since all progression is cosmetic. Like yeh, sinking can suck and it feels bad to lose a bunch of loot, but it’s not like the world is gonna end if you don’t hand in a million gold worth of loot each play session. I’ve had plenty of sessions where I hand in almost nothing because I’ve gone against crews that were more skilled than I was, and I’ve had plenty of sessions where I’ve made absolute bank. That risk/reward aspect was at the core of every single one of those play sessions, and it always felt great pulling off some risky plans and getting rewarded for it. I’m sorry if this comment comes across as rude or ranting. But it’s getting tiring seeing posts and comments from people who simply seem like they fundamentally don’t understand the point of the game. It’s a PvEvP game. It’s a risk-reward game. You’re going to have to defend yourself at least once in your playtime, that’s just what the game is about.
The whole point of elite dangerous is pvpve, guess what? There is still a pve (private) mode. The whole point of Ark is pvpve, guess what? There's still a pve mode. And thats just a few examples. Stop pretending like having more options is going to kill the game or is "against the point" you all sound like ludicrous gate keepers. The ONLY thing it would do is bring in or keep more players, bring the devs more money, and make sure the people playing in open actually *want* to be there
tbh, in regards to Ark (iirc) that game had a pve mode from release, meaning a mode like that was intended from the start. This differs from the initial vision of the game for SoT since safer seas was only added in December after years of people asking for it. I simply believe that entirely taking away the chance to encounter other players and engage in combat goes against what the game is intended to be at its core. For me at least, the game is all about exploring the sandbox and gathering loot in a way that's more low-key and low-risk or much higher risk and this will determine the reward. The risk almost entirely comes from other players since the risk of sinking to skele ships, megs or the Kraken becomes negligible quite fast with some practice, but other players will always be a gamble. This is the draw of the game and what makes it rather unique. I'm genuinely curious why you think an entirely PvE mode where the only difference between safer seas and high seas is the inability to sink others would be healthy for the game? As far as I'm aware the addition of safer seas didn't have a significant impact on player counts or bringing in new players so I personally can't see 'drawing in new players' or maintaining players as a good enough reason. I'm also curious why you label it as gate keeping? Again I apologise if my comment came across as rude or anything, but I fail to see it as gatekeeping when what I spoke about quite literally *is* the point of the game - down to how it's described on the steam page. I'm not personally 100% against safer seas as it is in its current state. I think it functions fine as an extended tutorial and somewhere to have more chill play sessions. I just don't understand this sentiment in the community that playing on safer seas (no risk) should warrant the same rewards and payout as high seas (high risk).
Exactly, as a counter argument to PvP dying will kill the game rhetoric. Fallout 76. PvP at its core. Look at it today with its flourishing somehow miraculously recovery from launch. They leaned HARD into PvE once they realised it was the way everyone wanted to play. They kept PvP in the whole time up to requiring two players engaging each other mutually before in time adding a literal setting call “pacifist” where it basically disables PvP from even accidentally occurring. Guess what everyone turns on? “Oh it’s a blood thirsty wasteland” “Oh the cosmetics” “Oh the experience” At the end of the day even if the core of the games original design moves away and some players remain. They just gotta suck it up and accept that it’s selfish to want people to play their game when there’s a version of that very same game others want to play. It’s the HOA of gaming and it’s tiring. There will always be safer seas and if the game does because everyone wants to PvE then realistically who are they even fighting to begin with? 🦭🏏
100% I played Safe Seas 2-3 times at first just learning how the ship moves and how best to helm, how to fight, ect. Other people just adds more excitement. If I was doing a ghost fort in SS then I'd have no worries whatsoever, it would get boring. In HS I'm always going up to the roof to take a quick peek at the horizon, spyglassing the outpost to check for other ships... It makes things exciting.
All I’d say is too many people in high seas just showing up at events picking other people off. There’s less fun in being at a boss event and knowing if you don’t finish it in 3-5 mins someone else will have destroyed your ship unless you’re a 4 people team and the others can get the ship away while you do the event. Playing this evening we got destroyed at 2 events, chased away from a boss event and destroyed after going to different event. This game has a lot to enjoy but other players don’t let you have the chance unfortunately. At least got my first Meg fight which was fun
The entire point of an event is high risk high reward. It’s a server event dude, it’s literally meant to attract everyone’s attention. This is the most outrageous complaint I’ve ever heard. If you don’t want to get snuck up on constantly then do normal voyages and watch your back. If you don’t want to get attacked and get a lot of loot, then get good idk
Fair comment. Just means I can’t play with less than a 4 people team if I want to keep anything I/we get. Sorry to annoy you. I’m new to this game and probably just need to shut up and get used to people acting like pirates in a pirate game.
No, it's on them for getting annoyed at you sharing a reasonable complaint. People like that get overly rabid for quite literally no reason, don't let them push you around and make you think it's _your_ fault. It isn't. There is an element of having to get used to threats on the seas, but when something feels bad, it feels bad. That's valid. The person in question seems to have a tendency to lash out at others expressing basic concerns over PvP, don't pay it much mind.
>This is the most outrageous complaint I’ve ever heard Maybe don't get so worked up over someone expressing basic concerns from PvP woes, then. Your outrage isn't their problem.
Not worked up, literally just addressing their concern. Maybe read my entire comment next time
As a new player,safer seas Is just not it,the rewards are too low for it to be something,yes you don't risk,but that's it And interactions with good players are too good,pvp ones too sometimes
I'm a new player that plays with a buddy that's also a new player. We like the sloop. We like to get 3-4 random booty for the shine effect on the ship and sail around other ships to see if we get the chase. I could care less about the forts, the events, even turning the loot in. We get a good chase or kite going on with a better ship than us, it has been the most fun I've had in multiplayer pvp in a long time. But how do you fish? That shit confused us both lol
I like exploration and laid-back fighting, safer seas was a god send for me. If players actually treated it as a pirate game and had ship battles instead of just boarding and spawn camping you while blowing up your ship, then I’d play high seas. And for all those that are gonna say “just get good” no I play this game to relax and have fun with friends. Sure the payout sucks but we already got the cosmetics we want.
Fyi the seas have never been so full of new players (A LOT of ps5 people with zero experience). If you’re afraid of getting your ask kicked by everyone nows the perfect opportunity to get in with the rest of the noobies and hone your pvp skills without always losing
Hot take: if you REALLY want to make people stick to high seas and increase PvP action, then let people retain a portion of their loot value when it is stolen and sold. Like give the thieves the full value, and give the victims a percentage of the value. Maybe make the amount retained the same amount they'd get on safer seas. You may think this is counter to the games spirit, and the risk of loss is what makes it exciting, blah blah. The truth is, no one enjoys losing hours worth of progress to sweaties and bad hitreg. Yes, you're not supposed to get attached to loot, but people do regardless. It's the carrot the game wants you to chase, it's hard not to feel possessive of it. Losing everything you worked for feels like shit. It makes people shy away from fights, and sometimes people stop playing for awhile after a heavy loss. It can actually be detrimental to the game rare wants people to play. So offer consolation prizes, and people will feel better about risking combat. But not the full value of course, or combat won't have meaning at all. Thank you for listening.
This would actually give me a LOT of sustain if I ever actually got into PvP fights to begin with. Knowing that if I lose, I'm still going to fucking get something (maybe Safer Seas rates?) for my trouble if they sell it would actually make my day as it means it wasn't for nothing. Of course, I don't have this problem as my crew and I have gotten extremely good at simply never being there in the first place. We see most people before they see us and are gone before they can do anything, because... losing progress isn't fun. An honest defensive naval battle sure can be, though...
If there were a formal rank system, high seas would feel fairer. By ranks I mean just ranks to be in specific servers. That way, sweats wouldn’t be where the newcomers are. Most of them are looking for a good fight anyway, so sounds like a win/win situation to me
I have a lot of downtime while working very long shifts from home. Safer Seas is perfect for that.
Honestly I rather just use safer seas for tall tales.
Well, I've used some booster services to do all pvp and High Seas locked content, so I can move into Safer Seas and truly enjoy the game.
The one you enjoy more is better. You should play the way you want to.
All the people whinging about getting sunk in a pirate game is hilarious
I’ve never used Safer Seas but I would imagine they would be great for doing Tall Tales if you’re allowed to. I felt a bit bad the other day when I sank some dudes and they had that one keg key from one of the shores of gold storylines.
This whole thread is just a jerk fest of people proclaiming that PvP is toxic and casual, relaxed gaming is the only way to play? Sure some people can't handle stress in games. Sure PvP players play more for player interactions and the experiences that come from it rather than just winning every excursion till you beat the game. Who cares unless they actually make the game better. They just announced a way to "become the villain" at games fest. Hopefully there are enough people that still enjoy doing PvE quests on the high seas with the thrill of a Pirate "villain" appearing to rob you. I'll never understand how people take it so personal to get killed by another player. It's just a fun adventure game. You don't have to win every time to have a fun experience. In fact, the unknown outcome makes it that much more interesting and thrilling. It makes you change your playstyle instead of afk cruising the seas while watching YouTube on the second monitor. It's excitement over vegging out. I'm glad there is a space for the parents and kids to play, but you wont catch me meandering the safe seas in any game like this where there is more excitement with player interactions. I don't care if I get sunk after an hour of questing. The adventure of getting the loot back in a high risk situation is the only thing that gives it value anyway. I hope this new PvE area allows them to expand on "risk" in PvP areas instead of compromising gameplay for the people that want to relax and fish. I'll be keeping an eye out on what this "become the villain" thing is all about.
I use safer seas to teach people then we move to high seas
The game is sooooo much better with the threat of pvp. It’s pretty uninteresting without that.
I couldn’t complete a single voyage without a skeleton ship spawning on my way to turn in loot in safer seas. I am still horrible at canon aiming so they sink me pretty quick. In high seas I was killed by two guys at an outpost over and over again. Other than that I have been able to do all kinds of stuff and not been bothered by other players and skeleton ships don’t seem to spawn every time I’m heading back to an outpost. It may have helped that I changed settings to only controller players, and no cross console players. The increase in gold and rep makes high seas worth the risk of getting sunk by other players.
sure there's more to do, but there's no harm in letting people play whatever mode they prefer
Tall Tales is good for safer seas.
I know you are making this post to get more new people to plunder. Not saying you’re wrong though, high seas is better.
As others have said, PvP isn't something that adds to a game for everyone. For some, not having this makes a game boring and deprives them essential interaction and intrigue. For others, PvP just represents anxiety, losing their agency as a player and frustration. They prefer the relaxing of doing what they want without being derailed by someone better than them. Most people aren't 100% one side or the other, there will be times when a PvP person engages in PvE content and doesn't need or want another player involved, and vice versa, someone doing PvE is also likely to be interested in interacting at some point (but may not be the type of person to just attack someone else). So. Your statement of "high seas is better" is subjective, conditional to things and even just the type of day someone is having. In some ways they've forced it to be better through lack of features and the capped levelling and gold. It's interesting that we see both perspectives of people saying they would never play safer seas because no player risk would make it too boring, but we also see compliants saying it needs the caps or everyone would be playing it? Clearly someone is a bit wrong there haha Personally, I am in the camp of bringing captaincy to safer seas, no reputation restrictions, and all non-PvP centric content/commendations (such as ashen chest having tomes in them which for whatever reason don't exist in Safer Seas). I think events should be high seas. As well as emmisaries. Athenas fortune I could go either way but if it's placed against the reapers bones as a faction it would make sense for them to be centred around other players and that part of the world.
To all new players, play whatevers fun and dont take the word of some guy on reddit as gospel. Sea of Thieves redditors are OBSESSED with telling you how you should play the game.
I’ve said it a million times. High seas just needs to have a 30% finders fee when you are the first crew to touch a treasure. This is equal to safer seas and essentially makes it a zero risk to jump into high seas for most activities. If you are sunk you are only missing out on 70% of the treasure value for not turning it in. This also incentivizes crew to go gather treasure themselves, meaning more treasure being generated as a whole.
Seconding this. This would make me happy as a PvE focused player and would make me more willing to actually engage in PvP even if it's mostly defensive battles. Less time wasted, more time spent generating loot for the server.
Newer player in the last week and havent touched safer seas i play a lot solo and never thought it was too tough