Forum Q&A On Monthly Updates

The Sea of Thieves forum was the staging grounds for a Live Q&A about the Monthly Content Updates with Senior Designer Christopher Davies and Game Designer Steve Dillon doing the answering. We’ve picked out a few of the choicest questions below, but be sure to read the full thread if you are interested in how they manage the flow for the Monthly Updates!

Justsaiyen93 asked, “Can we get a tease of what the November Update is called?”

CrispyDio: Here’s a slightly rubbish anagram for you: Hello EA — Bonus Dust

Blair187 asked, “ What is the biggest design challenge you face in sea of thieves?”

CrispyDio: Self-restraint. There’s so much that we want to add to enrich the game, each of which serves different player types and motivations, but we can’t do it all at once. Plus, we are always listening to you all and the things you’re asking for, and when we discuss features it’s impossible not to get excited about them all and want to deliver them all right now.

Peteloaf777 asked, “ When will you change the title screen from Anniversary Update?”

RealTerrorTesin: I may or may not have seen something like this recently. So expect something fairly soon…

Ser-swag-pants asked, “Is there a Holiday update planned for December, similar to the spooky Halloweenish one we are in now?

Also Are there plans for any larger updates like the Anniversary update? Or are we sticking 100% with the Monthly Updates from here on out?”

CrispyDio: There is definitely going to be a festive vibe to the December update.

As for the Anniversary Update, that was an unbelievable package of content. The updates over the next few months should hopefully offer you a much clearer view of the size and cadence of our planned content releases.

Justsaiyen93 asked, “ During the EGX they mentioned at an upcoming update called Emissarys. Can you elaborate on what it entails?”

CrispyDio: I can’t be too specific just yet, but we want this to be a feature for our longer-term, high rep players, giving the choice to opt in to reap higher rewards but at higher risk. It’s something we get very excited about when we talk about the player stories and situations that will play out.

Its5eth asked, “ Q: A good amount of players are starting to, or have already reached Athena Fortune 10. Will we be seeing any expansion to this endgame content in the near future?”

CrispyDio: Define near future! :P

Rather than simply adding another ten Athena levels right now, we want to broaden the ways players can earn Athena’s reputation before extending this progression.

Armandomayorga2 asked, “Will things being added like the dark relics be added ever to the OOS or not because of it being lore-related?

Is there a way that you guys plan on changing the quests a little as on Smugglers Run, there weren’t as many on Shipwreck bay? Maybe re-add the reaper flag?”

CrispyDio: We are always looking at what we can do with the voyages to encourage interesting encounters with other crews and, longer term, how we can refresh them with additional mechanics. We are definitely aware of the demand for this and are actively working towards growing our feature set for these monthly voyages.

Grievous32 asked, “Any chance to have new Skeleton Forts mechanic ?”

CrispyDio: As per the tweaks to Ship Battles this month, we’re always thinking about how we can improve existing features as well as delivering new ones.

Discussions about Skeleton Forts ended up evolving into the Fort of the Damned, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the Forts are being left out in the cold. There might be a slight tweak to these coming soon.

Ed-keppler asked, “Do you intend to reintroduce the earlier Reaper’s Runs and Mercenary Voyages and their respective rewards at some point in the future Content Updates or were they always meant as one time offers? If you have the tech, having some of those around permanently or even temporarily once again would be great to increase the amount of things players can do at one time!”

RealTerrorTesin: We’ve talked about it for sure. I’m a big fan of bringing older voyages back into circulation so players who missed out on them can experience them. We need to narrow down the right way to do this though.

Bloodybil asked, “For maxed out pirates, will we ever be able to hit lvl 50 again with factions and have a reward for leveling again?”

CrispyDio: I see a wonderful future where everyone has a reason to re-engage with Trading Companies, even when they’re currently sat at Rep 50, and it gets me excited. Get me drunk and it’ll probably all come spilling out. Blue-bear-12340 asked, “when will we have cats as pets?”

CrispyDio: Just as soon as we can coax it out from behind the washing machine with some treats.

Il-cryus-li asked, “Wondering if there will ever be a Captains Log kind of page. One of the things that I’ve always wanted is detailed stats about my pirate. Examples, how much loot I’ve stolen, cashed in total, deaths, kills, ships sunk, food eaten, hours played, skeletons killed. Stuff like that. Still have no clue how many hours I’ve actually logged”

CrispyDio: A log like this would become especially useful to track, not just individual feats, but those achieved by a Captained crew, wouldn’t it…?

Just-saiyen93 asked, “Before you guys leave can you leave us with one final tease for whats to come in the coming months?”

CrispyDio: No one’s spoiled “fire” yet have they?

Gloombeard asked, “How about a Skeleton Curse? The community is ready for it, for nearly two years now we’ve sailed around as neon green naked skeletons, and the community embraced it as a feature and source of fun. I think it’d be really cool if us players could embrace the Skeleton Curse and set out with our crews, all looking like skeletons with some slight customization freedom to allow for variety and uniqueness. (Coat, Hat, etc) as selections.”

CrispyDio: The community’s ready for it? I’m ready for it! Keep those empty eye sockets peeled…

Eggamer13 asked, “ Now that I think about it, you increased the value of the cursed chests. You made this change because you’re going to add more cursed chests, or just because you think it would be nice? (or both)”

RealTerrorTesin: The current Cursed Chests can be a whole lot of fun. They can also, at times, be Rage inducing in a a hilarious kinda way ;). It’s only right you receive a great payout for your troubles if you manage to handle the impact that a Cursed Chest can bestow upon your ship!

Ollietov asked, “ Are there any thoughts towards making a pirate’s ship feel more like their own? In anyway possible?