As its eventual release date approaches, members of Rare take the time to discuss Sea of Thieves and its details during a Reddit AMA session.
By now, gamers are already aware that the open-sea pirate adventure game becomes available on March 20. For those who were unable to catch the ask-me-anything meeting live, the team behind the game mostly kept information to a minimum and teased some extras here and there. This is presumably to boost the hype for the gaming and not give away anything that might ruin some surprises.
The Crew And The Captain
The one-hour long event featured five team members from the game studio. Fans got to ask questions from people like Shelley Preston (Senior Designer), Mike Chapman (Design Director), Ted Timmins (PC Design Lead), Joe Neate (Executive Producer), and, notably, Craig Duncan (Studio Head). The group reportedly maneuvered around questions with flexible replies and allegedly set expectations for more down the line.
"We've taken a show not tell policy for the entire project so far and we're committed to that," explained Neate when asked about the possibility of an update roadmap to give players an idea of what to expect from the developers.
Expectations Will Possibly Be Unmet
Readers apparently noticed that Rare could possibly ship a bare-bones game with its expected content to likely arrive further on via post-launch updates or DLC. During the betas conducted for Sea of Thieves, some players were quick to criticize the absence of the standard character customization option to personally design their in-game avatars.
Instead, in its place is a system that was met with mixed reactions from gamers. The studio calls it the "Infinite Pirate Generator" system, which limits users to select from a randomly generated character, which they could re-roll until their desired design is available. Familiar customization-sliders like the one recently featured and praised in Monster Hunter: World is sadly not included.
"At launch, when you pick your pirate their hair color will remain the same (you'll be able to change styles in the vanity chest!). We're currently working on changing color but figuring out how to deliver it. We have tech working in the IPG (Infinite Pirate Generator) and now we're working on how to bring that to the vanity chest," wrote Timmins when asked about more customization options.
"Like hair color, we're working on the design of how we get tattoos to players. We love the idea of unlocking a tattoo after an in-game event. Our IPG tech means we can do this, we think its super cool and we'll look at it post-launch," he added.
Concerns And Other Information
It seems like the above-mentioned comments support the speculation that Sea of Thieves might have been rushed to meet its launch deadline. The Reddit AMA mostly featured questions from fans about content that should have been included from the start, according to skeptical sources.
However, it seems Rare is confident that their product is good enough to go live soon. There might be a possibility that its missing features could dissuade some players from its purchase on day one. Additionally, it is the first first-party title to debut on Microsoft's reworked Xbox Game Pass service.
