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[Sosokrates]

Platform(s): Xbox One, PC (Windows 10 Store) - Crossplay Enabled
Closed Beta Dates: January 24th, 2018 (12 p.m. GMT | 10 p.m. AEST | 7 a.m. EST | 6 a.m. CST | 4 a.m. PST | 1 p.m. CET) to January 29th, 2018 (8 a.m. GMT | 6 p.m. AEST | 3 a.m. EST | 2 a.m. CST | 12 a.m. PST | 9 a.m. CET)
Developer: Rare
Publisher: Microsoft
Size: 7.5gb

Sea of Thieves is a new type of multiplayer game that delivers all you need to live the free-roaming pirate life. Whether adventuring as a group or sailing solo, you'll encounter other crews... but will they be friends or foes, and how will you respond?

There are countless ways to make your mark on Sea of Thieves'stunning world. The more voyages and adventures you see through to the end, the greater your reputation becomes and the more opportunities unfold before you.

Whatever destiny a traveller on the Sea of Thieves chooses to follow, it begins with exploration. This ever-changing ocean realm is rich in islands, each curled protectively around its secrets, and outposts where hauls are cashed and tankards bashed with friends and strangers alike.

COMBAT ON THE WAVES

When you're fighting over treasure, looking to settle a score or just itching to make a name for yourself, your ship's cannons are a great way to put your rivals in their place – namely, the bottom of the sea. If your own ship's taking a battering from enemy fire, you'll need to decide how best to divide your time and your crew between evasion, repairs and fighting back – not to mention repelling possible boarders!

FRAGMENTS OF THE PAST

The Sea of Thieves' vast expanse is steeped in myth and legend, filled with curious ruins and outlandish encounters spoken of wherever crews meet to swap their stories. Whether you find yourself witnessing mouldering wrecks in the world's wildest regions or plundering painted shrines beneath sun-dappled jungles, there's a rich history here waiting to be awakened – and within that history, riches waiting to be taken!

A TRUE SHARED WORLD

Co-operation is your watchword in Sea of Thieves. The events you experience and the memories you make become the stuff of legend with friends in tow. Bring a ready-made crew or discover new partners in plunder, bonding under the Pirates' Code. Prefer to sail solo as you earn your sea legs? You can do that too!

Every ship that comes coasting over the horizon in Sea of Thieves, large or small, is crewed by real players on their own voyages, so it's up to you how you interact and what kind of crew you choose to be. Create allies or enemies, be benefactors or betrayers, exchange banter or broadsides – you make the call! Of course, what you can't know in advance is how other ships' crews might have reacted upon seeing you...

Official Sea of Thieves Behind the Scenes: Xbox One X

Sea of Thieves Inn-side Story #13: The Voyage System

Official Sea of Thieves Xbox One Controller

 

[hiphopcr]

with Gamepass this is guaranteed to be a megahit

 

[VectorVictor]

with Gamepass this is guaranteed to be a megahit

Yes, but I'm sure it will cut into physical sale copies, and outlets like Eurogamer and Polygon will take their potshots at Microsoft accordingly when the physical sales don't match lofty expectations.

 

[Alx]

I only gave it a quick shot, unfortunately I'll be away for next few days and will miss most of the beta.
The part I tried didn't seem too different from the alpha, except for the new item/weapon and some UI details. I also found a "captain chest" in a wreckage (sold for 400+), it's the first time I got one of those.
I also tried it on PC, it's barely playable on a Surface Pro 3 but it still runs (the water is ugly though). It's quite pleasant on my old PC that is much older but has a dedicated GPU. But it really makes you appreciate the looks on the Xbox.

Apparently the DVR functions work (on console only), but the captures aren't uploaded. Quite pointless if you can't share them.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Like the Alpha I'm a bit confused at times as to what to do/what is going on? Playing with randoms usually so that might be a problem.

Basically what I'm asking is, what do you do to start off missions or treasure quests or whatever it is. Also, I died by a skeleton, when I joined back I was on my ship I couldn't find the rest of my crew, gamertags are over their heads when I first met up but when I respawn I couldn't see any to get back with my crew.

Any advice/tips appreciated, I don't think a Alpha/beta has confused me this much before either that or I'm totally not getting what the game is, a little in game tutorial or something would of helped.

 

[solis74]

cant wait.

 

[Gavin Stevens]

Ok so I’ll say this after going back.

Don’t play anything other than solo. At least not at first.

If you play solo you start with your own boat on an island with shops, mission givers and all sorts, and have a total blast of a time playing. Was much better once you had actual structure, enjoyed it a lot more. But the other two options are poor at best, and don’t feel right in the slightest. You really should only be playing those with friends I feel.

So yeah. New players, play solo first. I don’t know why they said it was for expert players? Because this was the most natural way for me to play.

 

[Inviusx]

Can people talk about it this time?

 

[munroe]

Can people talk about it this time?

Yep, there's no NDA this time around so feel free to talk about it, stream it, whatever.

Just been playing some and it seems a bit lacking in some areas compared to the end of the alpha. I can't seem to find the other quest giver who tasks you with taking down skeletons

 

[Alx]

Like the Alpha I'm a bit confused at times as to what to do/what is going on? Playing with randoms usually so that might be a problem.

Basically what I'm asking is, what do you do to start off missions or treasure quests or whatever it is. Also, I died by a skeleton, when I joined back I was on my ship I couldn't find the rest of my crew, gamertags are over their heads when I first met up but when I respawn I couldn't see any to get back with my crew.

Any advice/tips appreciated, I don't think a Alpha/beta has confused me this much before either that or I'm totally not getting what the game is, a little in game tutorial or something would of helped.

Quests are bought in the green tent with the gold plated guy (there was another quest provider in the alpha but she doesn't seem active in the beta).
Once you have quest scrolls, you go to the captain cabin of your ship where a table is dedicated to discussing quests. You select the scroll you want to propose, other players can propose their own, and you all vote for the one to activate (if you're playing solo you vote too but you automatically win).
Once the quest is activated, the associated maps are added to your RB menu.

 

[Sosokrates]

Ok so I’ll say this after going back.

Don’t play anything other than solo. At least not at first.

If you play solo you start with your own boat on an island with shops, mission givers and all sorts, and have a total blast of a time playing. Was much better once you had actual structure, enjoyed it a lot more. But the other two options are poor at best, and don’t feel right in the slightest. You really should only be playing those with friends I feel.

So yeah. New players, play solo first. I don’t know why they said it was for expert players? Because this was the most natural way for me to play.

Could not disagree more solo is harder because you have multiple jobs to do.
Plus its more fun playing with others.
Just been playing itvthe last 4 hrs and found a crew with mics no problem.

Really fun game, and the graphics are great even at 1080p.

 

[Alx]

Yeah but playing solo gives you time to get familiar with all the stuff you're supposed to do on a ship, instead of running after your teammates or getting in the way. Once you know how to operate the ship, shoot a cannon, repair a hole and bail, count your steps and dig,... then you can join a team and have those tasks shared among the crew.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Quests are bought in the green tent with the gold plated guy (there was another quest provider in the alpha but she doesn't seem active in the beta).
Once you have quest scrolls, you go to the captain cabin of your ship where a table is dedicated to discuss quests. You select the scroll you want to propose, other players can propose their own, and you all vote for the one to activate (if you're playing solo you vote too but you automatically win).
Once the quest is activated, the associated maps are added to your RB menu.

Hey thanks for the tips, appreciate it

 

[Revolutionary]

Yep, there's no NDA this time around so feel free to talk about it, stream it, whatever.

Just been playing some and it seems a bit lacking in some areas compared to the end of the alpha. I can't seem to find the other quest giver who tasks you with taking down skeletons

Yeah they definitely removed some things from the alpha, which I think was a bad idea considering this is many gamer's first proper look at the game thanks to Twitch. The amount of content was already lacking in the alpha - now I'm seeing comments (from streamers, no less - their viewers eat up their words) that the game gets old after a mere handful of hours.

Edit: As for my thoughts on the game, I think it's awesome mechanically (piloting a ship and such) and absolutely gorgeous visually. Nothing quite like getting into a ship chase and leading it into another ship to get into a huge battle in the middle of a storm.
But the progression loop is severely lacking. Find treasure -> Sell treasure -> buy cosmetics just isn't cutting it for me.
I hope they make some major changes (like including actual loot - not just treasure chests with a pricetag) but I'm not holding my breath considering the game is only two months out.

 

[Jessie.Bristol]

Seems to have a bit less content then the Technical Alpha. There really needs to be more content then they have shown thus far. Also, something I have noticed previously was that this game seems to exacerbate dirty screen effect. My 4K HDR monitor has decent gray uniformity (not great, but still decent), but this game seems to make it very noticeable. It isn't really noticeable in other content like movies, tv shows, or other games like Halo 5, Gears 4, Forza 7, or Fortnite.

 

[Sosokrates]

Im bad, Ive figured out a way to really troll ppl in this.

 

[MaximusPayne]

Does anyone have an extra beta code lying around? Been watching a few streams and looks very interesting. If not, I will hust have to check it out on Gamepass.

 

[munroe]

Im bad, Ive figured out a way to really troll ppl in this.

I like swimming up to boats while the crew is hunting for treasure, and raising the anchor and lower the sails then bail back to my ship and slowly watch their ship sail off. Mwahaha

 

[Horns]

I like swimming up to boats while the crew is hunting for treasure, and raising the anchor and lower the sails then bail back to my ship and slowly watch their ship sail off. Mwahaha

That's evil, but sounds like fun.

 

[Revolutionary]

Im bad, Ive figured out a way to really troll ppl in this.

There are SO many ways to grief players in this game. I just ganked a group of 2 as they were approaching the Gold Hoarders NPC to trade in their treasures and stole everything they had while they were waiting to respawn. I actually felt kinda bad afterwards but hey, that's the life of a pirate I guess.
But yeah, griefing has been a common complaint in the previous tests.

 

[solis74]

Does anyone have an extra beta code lying around? Been watching a few streams and looks very interesting. If not, I will hust have to check it out on Gamepass.

Yeah the streams look good.

 

[Sosokrates]

There are SO many ways to grief players in this game. I just ganked a group of 2 as they were approaching the Gold Hoarders NPC to trade in their treasures and stole everything they had while they were waiting to respawn. I actually felt kinda bad afterwards but hey, that's the life of a pirate I guess.
But yeah, griefing has been a common complaint in the previous tests.

I like swimming up to boats while the crew is hunting for treasure, and raising the anchor and lower the sails then bail back to my ship and slowly watch their ship sail off. Mwahaha

One game these guys were being dick about my steering.
So when we stopped at an island one of the guys found gunpowder barrels so him and I when back to the ship with gunpowder barrels and we dropped them in the bottom deck. I remained at the bottom deck while the other players were still on the island. It was then time for my revenge on my mean crew so I got my pistol and shot a gunpowder barrel , it exploded and immediately created about 3 leaks I swam back to the island and watch my crew freak out when they came back to a sinking boat.lol.

 

[Gavin Stevens]

This reminds me of something that happened to me last night. I did a quest, managed to get my chest back to my ship, and then managed to get back home to sell it. Pretty standard stuff.

I then bought a new quest, and went back to my ship... only for the quest to not be there. I went back and forth and still, nothing... so I bought the next one, too... and nothing...

I got a bit pissed that this beta clearly hasn’t been tested.

I messed around for a bit, and then saw the old mermaid waving. Sadly wasn’t a sexy one, had a beard. So not my type. But I used him anyway and went back to my ship...

Only to find my ship was half way over the map.

Some guy had done the same as me. Got back to the island, and then went back to the boat. MY boat. And the buggered off. So all the time, we were in two different boats, hahaha! Tit was sat there playing his music, no doubt just laughing...

We really need a better way to tell where your boat is

 

[CaptainSmirnov]

Looks fun but would be playing solo most likely, need to see more whether I can get through most of it like that

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Any advice on how to meet back up with your team mates if you die? When I respawn back on a anchored ship after being killed I can't see where they are!

 

[ultrazilla]

Anyone at all have a spare beta PC code via PM? I thought I had signed up for the Insider but got no code.

 

[Sosokrates]

After playing for a bit there some amazing details you just dont see much.

Things like
*If two ppl do a job such as raising the sales or lowering the anchor it will be done faster as opposed to just one person doing a job.
*When in a storm water will seep into the ship

Plus the general gameplay works very well, weather its operating cannons, bailing out water or doing other ship duties they all work very well and it feels very polished.
The criticism that the shooting and combat may not be the best is a dumb one because its perfectly adequate for a game of this type, saying the combat is bad in SOT is like saying minecraft has terrible platforming controls.

Also playing SOT has reaffirmed my beliefs that it is very likely to bring the Minecraft audience, it shares a lot of the style of mincraft. Similar things such as teamwork and doing work like tasks to achieve a goal.

 

[munroe]

Any advice on how to meet back up with your team mates if you die? When I respawn back on a anchored ship after being killed I can't see where they are!

If you're already on the ship and they're on an island or something, the best way to meet back up is just talk to them and see if they can tell you roughly where they are

 

[Artistic]

Had no idea on what to do to start the game. Give it more time hopefully before the beta is finished.

 

[Scala]

Does anyone have an extra beta code? PM please. <3

 

[Angie22]

I hope Outsidexbox does a stream with this game. Sounds super fun for a friends stream game to watch.

 

[YoshiMax]

Drink Grog until sick
Catch sick in bucket
Delight your friends

 

[Revolutionary]

Drink Grog until sick
Catch sick in bucket
Delight your friends

Protip: keep a bucket of puke on you to blind enemies
Had two pirates attempt to board my ship and I managed to throw puke in their faces as they were climbing the ladder, and then introduced them to my Blunderbuss

 

[Alx]

So I reached the conclusion that single player PvP is no fun at all. There's hardly any strategy to it, just run around each other while slowly trading shots until one player dies and the other trolls him by sinking his ship or sending it away.
I do enjoy the game solo, even when I have to out-sail a menacing ship, but as soon as I get to face someone else, the enjoyment is gone (even that one time when after meeting a guy on the outpost we started playing music and drinking grog... after a few seconds the he started shooting at me).

 

[AnimalFather]

open beta when?

 

[neclas]

Is Xbox Live Gold needed to play this game on Windows 10?

 

[Louis Cyphre]

Yeah they definitely removed some things from the alpha, which I think was a bad idea considering this is many gamer's first proper look at the game thanks to Twitch. The amount of content was already lacking in the alpha - now I'm seeing comments (from streamers, no less - their viewers eat up their words) that the game gets old after a mere handful of hours.

Edit: As for my thoughts on the game, I think it's awesome mechanically (piloting a ship and such) and absolutely gorgeous visually. Nothing quite like getting into a ship chase and leading it into another ship to get into a huge battle in the middle of a storm.
But the progression loop is severely lacking. Find treasure -> Sell treasure -> buy cosmetics just isn't cutting it for me.
I hope they make some major changes (like including actual loot - not just treasure chests with a pricetag) but I'm not holding my breath considering the game is only two months out.

This is also my worry. Almost sounds like an Early Access game where they will continue to make changes and add content as time goes by. That would be a great way (in theory) to keep gamers subscribed in Gamepass.

 

[SmoothRunningGun]

The gameplay is still bad.

 

[Deputy Moonman]

If Rare could implement more interesting treasures like cosmetic loot the game could become really addicting. Need cool outfits, hats, armor, visual upgrades to your ship and even maybe temporary non-cosmetic boosts that give you more speed and faster dig times. Pets would be awesome too. Something that follows you around for other players to see. To be a compelling game they need to have compelling rewards. Something that can outlast repetitive game play.

 

[WaterAstro]

The gameplay is still bad.

Yeah, the melee/shooting system is pretty shallow. They're so basic that you can't be better than another player. It's just some random death battle of who shoots first or who gets lucky with the terrible aiming mechanics.

The ship battle is serviceable. It's not even about the cannons or maneuvering that's the problem, it's the stupid respawn and resource system. It's just a battle of whoever has more planks and cannons wins. It doesn't matter who is the better player. You can just keep planking the holes even if you're getting hit, and even when you die, you just respawn on your ship with no penalty. If they made it that your ship will sink after too many hits regardless of repair, that would be better because repairing and scooping out water is just too easy. There are just too many mechanics that aren't penalized enough that it's really boring to pvp.

 

[Sosokrates]

The gameplay is still bad.

No its not, its a solid foundation for what it is trying to accomplish the fact that all the sailing, swimming, shooting, treasure hunting etc mechanics work as well as they do is quite the achievement.

 

[Louis Cyphre]

The gameplay is still bad.

With comments from you in the past like these below I think I'd rather hear responses from someone whose, let's just say, a little more rational.

If you're buying consoles for power you're doing it wrong. It's about true exclusives and X1 still has none.

Aren't they releasing a new console this week? And promotion for taking a constant ass beating from Sony and now Nintendo? Must be nice...

Nada. Halo 5 is trash. Sunset is way overated(it's ok).

 

[Tams]

It sounds like it's looking promising, and the issues mainly seem to be things that could be fixed by just changing a few values.

Mainly, I just want that Xbox One controller.

 

[WaterAstro]

No its not, its a solid foundation for what it is trying to accomplish the fact that all the sailing, swimming, shooting, treasure hunting etc mechanics work as well as they do is quite the achievement.

"Solid foundation" for a game more than two years in development by a "top tier" developer isn't good enough. There's only two months before it releases, and if all they have is this and whatever they shown in the progression trailer, it's going to be a pretty shallow adventure. They need way more PVP interaction features and PVE content if they want to last more than a month because this game is more barren than Destiny.

 

[EBE]

Can you customize your character? Not with accessories, I mean a full character creator. Well, maybe not full but you get the idea. Any word on if you might be able to?

 

[Sosokrates]

"Solid foundation" for a game more than two years in development by a "top tier" developer isn't good enough. There's only two months before it releases, and if all they have is this and whatever they shown in the progression trailer, it's going to be a pretty shallow adventure. They need way more PVP interaction features and PVE content if they want to last more than a month because this game is more barren than Destiny.

Well Im not talking about the full game now am I!
Im talking about the beta lol.

 

[WaterAstro]

Well Im not talking about the full game now am I!
Im talking about the beta lol.

They have two months, and two months really means they have no time because it takes two months to print, ship discs, and put them on shelves.

Unless they're patching double the content into the game, you're not seeing much more than this beta, which is really only missing the trade and magic quest givers.

 

[Sosokrates]

They have two months, and two months really means they have no time because it takes two months to print, ship discs, and put them on shelves.

Unless they're patching double the content into the game, you're not seeing much more than this beta, which is really only missing the trade and magic quest givers.

How do you know this?

The beta is only about 7gb.

They are most likely with holding a whole bunch of stuff from the beta.

But if your concerned Im sorry to hear that.
But until there is evidence on the table that states the full game is not much more then the beta I would just relax.

 

[WaterAstro]

How do you know this?

The beta is only about 7gb.

They are most likely with holding a whole bunch of stuff from the beta.

But if your concerned Im sorry to hear that.
But until there is evidence on the table that states the full game is not much more then the beta I would just relax.

That's what Bungie said too, and like a whole load of lying devs to get people to preorder. I'm over it. I'll take a more realistic position.

 

[Sosokrates]

That's what Bungie said too, and like a whole load of lying devs to get people to preorder. I'm over it. I'll take a more realistic position.

Ok.... enjoy yourself.