rather than rant, im just going to state that i believe a lot of people when they say the kraken is underdeveloped, and that is it. i like the general design of the Kraken, because it gives devs more freedom to develop the AI and the black water motivates players to stay on their ship.

first things first, i dont care, nor to i think it matters whether or not the kraken is a single 3d model. i am confident that rare can develop the encounters final stage to feature the krakens head appearing from the water just like its limbs. thus, i will suggest this, but i am confident it is on rares list of things to do.

Gameplay Fixes

the gameplay is simple and gives the devs more freedom to develop the AI. there are currently three types of limbs: limbs that can grab players, limbs that can grab a players ship (damaging it), and limbs that.....just do nothing. like, nothing at all, they are just there so that you can damage the Kraken with a cannon and keep track of how many limbs it has left. but i feel as if in order to damage the krakens limbs, it has to be damaging you, and we do not need a representation of the Kraken's health if the limbs have death animations.

so for my first suggestion, can we remove this type of limb. the limb death animations should be the only thing that represents your progress with the encounter, plus the lack of knowing your progress would make the Kraken much more threatening.

my second suggestion is to have the limbs that can attack you or your ship attack/appear more often. there are times when players can go through the entire encounter without their ship being damaged. sometimes the Kraken does not even grab your ship at all. in general, the Kraken needs to be more aggressive.

Additional Gameplay (future updates)

the devs said that the Kraken will evolve over time, meaning either more tentacle types or more ways that a kraken could attack your boat.

just going to make this clear again, add a head as the final stage in the future; if i may add a more detailed suggestion, Kraken could tip a boat over and reveal itself beside it.

my second suggestion is to add more ways the Kraken could attack.

limbs that pierce the side of your hull and appear inside, blocking routes within the ship until damaged.

limbs that pierce all the way through your ship and appear on the other side, blocking routes within a ship while also attacking players on deck.

limbs that directly hit the side of your ship.

EDIT:

limbs that spray water on your ship, filling the hull with water.

limbs that appear after the first limb that wraps itself around your ship. the limbs could wrap themselves around each mast and bow, then the kraken quickly pulls your ship down when all limbs have a hold of your ship.

Quality Additions

basicaly, additions that would make the encounter more interesting besides pure gameplay.

my first suggestion is rock the ship more often during the encounter

my second suggestion is to either decrease the helms turning speed or have it turn on its own like in storms shortly after the encounter has started.

my third suggestion it to quickly drag players down underwater if they remain in the water for too long, then start sound effects of the players muffled screaming, a monstrous sound, a loud chomp, a gulp, then the player appears on the ferry.

my forth suggestion is to simply add a physical in-game reward for at least surviving the encounter, such as a shipwreck or platform suddenly appearing from the water, carrying a special chest or cosmetic reward.

again, i like rares version of the kraken (limbs spawning just below the surface, the black water, and its current methods of attack), But yes, the Kraken does seem to be underdeveloped as well not being as aggressive as it should be and thus could use some quick fixes for now, then major updates later on.