Okay, so let's try this:
My pirate crew in Sea of Thieves hasn't recovered from all the new year grog and I haven't sailed in 2020 yet. I'm totally free all this weekend. So who fancies a sail? I suspect this will fall flat on its face as most other Soc online meets have. But if anyone wants to hit the high seas, I'm game.
Hi game, I'm dad!
Hi game, I'm dad!
You're a terrible man. 
NECRO RESURRECTION.
I'm still playing this and always have room in the crew for anyone who wants to play. The only thing I still need to boost is Reapers (ugh) and Hunter's Call (UGH) but I'll happily do anything if it gets me booty. 
I’ve never played it and honestly wouldn’t even know where to begin. Is it entirely multiplayer? It all looks incredibly daunting.
It is entirely multiplayer, but it's a big world, and doesn't have many players to a server. As long as someone doesn't decide to actively hunt you, they're fairly easy to avoid.
It all looks incredibly daunting.
The biggest hurdle for me, starting out solo slooping, was getting used to running a ship by myself. Getting around the sea can feel like a bit of a handful to begin with, but honestly it's a huge part of the atmosphere and appeal, for me.
There's a much better tutorial now than there was when I started, though. And I can't think it the last time I was on a server where other players were a problem. The last few times I played, I think I saw a couple ships on the horizon, but most of the time everybody's doing their own shit and not looking for trouble.
And piety much anyone who is looking for trouble, these days, is flying a Reaper flag, and shows up on the world map.
Always up for a sail if people want to join in. As I said, one thing I haven't done requires two full crews of four (well, eight people… could be more than two crews). I can never find anyone willing to help in open play.
Jesus, playing as an Emissary is no joke. Two full Merchant rep levels (and 100k gold!) in just one Shrine and a single Voyage.
I've pretty much run out of stuff to spend gold on, though, unless/until they release some sails that actually look good with the Inky Kraken hull paint…
Jesus, playing as an Emissary is no joke. Two full Merchant rep levels (and 100k gold!) in just one Shrine and a single Voyage.
If you do a single sunken Merchant ship voyage as an emissary, you can go from Lv1 to Lv4 really quickly. Then it's just a tiny jump to Lv 5 and you're raking it in.
Are you doing shrines properly (getting the 'super' chest behind the altar) or just grabbing what you can and running? I love those shrines, proper Crystal Maze moments.
I've pretty much run out of stuff to spend gold on, though, unless/until they release some sails that actually look good with the Inky Kraken hull paint…
You mean like the rest of the Inky Kraken set? You need to kill a bunch of krakens in order to unlock it though.
There are loads of really nice cosmetics, I usually cycle depending on my mood. The ones you can earn from the emissary leaderboards for each company are really nice, and some of the Twitch reward ones are gorgeous. I'm a sucker for the Azure Ocean Crawler set though, nothing like being an awful crab lord.
My ship, unless I've got a crewmate to negotiate with, is outfitted with as much Scurvy Bilge Rat stuff as possible. Think I just have the wheel left to get, but I don't play seriously much (the last few voyages have just been idly sailing around when the kids asks to see "the pirate game") so I'm fairly broke.
Are you doing shrines properly (getting the 'super' chest behind the altar) or just grabbing what you can and running? I love those shrines, proper Crystal Maze moments.
I couldn't find the big chest in the last couple we did - the first two, it was sitting out in the open.
You mean like the rest of the Inky Kraken set?
Well, yes, but I don't like using matching sets. I try not to use any two items from the same set, ship or clothing (though I think my current hat and jacket are both Pirate Lord gear).
[…] I don't play seriously much (the last few voyages have just been idly sailing around when the kids asks to see "the pirate game") so I'm fairly broke.
Any time E asks to see "Daddy Pirate" she just wants me to go fishing.
Are you doing shrines properly (getting the 'super' chest behind the altar) or just grabbing what you can and running? I love those shrines, proper Crystal Maze moments.
I couldn't find the big chest in the last couple we did - the first two, it was sitting out in the open.
Ahhhhhh, my bad, I'm mixing the new shrines up with Gold Hoarder vaults. Not all shrines have the best chest in them.
I have two shrines left to do, then I can tackle Larinna's quest. From what I can tell, that's both long and potentially hazardous given you have to leave your ship in open water all the time…
Ahhhhhh, my bad, I'm mixing the new shrines up with Gold Hoarder vaults. Not all shrines have the best chest in them.
Okay, yeah - we've managed to get a couple of the vaults, once we worked out what we were supposed to do!
I liked this but barely got anywhere so might be up for some kind of organised Soc Night. I honestly don't think I've ever played live with anyone on this site.
Sailing today in about an hour, until roughly 5pm CEST (4PM UK). Unlik anyone wants to join, but just saying. :)
We never get online much before about 9 or 10 pm (UK), because kids.
I'm in bed by 22:00 CEST because old man.
(and because my partner leaves for work around 7:15 most days)
I've not been to bed before 2am since 2008. Sleep is for the weak. Never did anyone any harm. Look at Margaret Thatcher.
She did do harm to a lot of people, to be fair.
I go bed at like 6am if I'm not working, like 4am if I am.
Last couple of seasons marred somewhat by persistent hunters who wouldn't leave us alone (and we've never been much good at PvP), but I'm slowly creeping up on level 60 for the season, and that sweet melty-candle capstan that every other fucker is also going to use.
I've made 100 for the last three seasons, but then we play fairly regularly. They've changed the trial system this time, so it takes more effort to get renown quickly. We've just been playing regularly, so it's totting up slowly. That said, first day of the season we played, we were on for five hours and I went from Lv1 to Lv27. I'm just shy of Lv40 now.
I beat a kraken last night!
It was only the second time I've ever directly encountered one (I did also spot one in the distance once, while sailing with aniki), and the first time I ever decided to try and fight.
Solo sloop (after Sarah logged off for the night), I was fishing at one of the sea posts and about to log off, when a Reaper Emissary sloop swung in looking argy. I set sail, hit them with a few firebombs, and just as their mast went over, I noticed I'd slowed to a crawl, and some tentacles were looking at me funny. Sarah happened to be in the room and rushed to log (back) in, but I managed to drive it off before she'd spawned on board - but after she'd joined the crew, so she also got credit. 
I didn't see if it was the firebombs or the kraken that did in the Reaper, but either way their stuff was left floating in the aftermath, so we made off with that, too. A thrilling end to the evening, all in all.
I'm jealous of those 'first' moments, they're few and far between once you've been playing for as long as I have. That's why I love how they're constantly adding new content - the underwater stuff that came in with season 4 was very exciting for me, and I'm looking forward to what's on the (virtual) horizon.
That said, speaking of firsts…
We finally did the last Glitterbeard journal tonight. We did all the books scattered around the world ages back, but the final journal has always eluded us because we're only ever two on a sloop, and opening the door requires eight people to work together. That's a minimum of two full galleon crews, which we never have. Honestly, I'd kind of given up ever managing it.
Towards the end of today's voyage, we were on a brig with my friend Sam (who used to work with me at Nintendo, but now works for Rare). Normally, we're anti-PvP but spotted a Lv1 Reaper taking on a skeleton fleet ship cloud event. Reckoning we could take them down in the fracas, we headed over there ready to smash them to bits. And then… we didn't. My partner held fire and we missed our opportunity to sink them. I was annoyed! So we smashed the skeleton galleon instead. Turns out, that was a good move because the Reaper allied with us. That made five people.
Then, just as we were scooping up the loot to take to Reapers' Hideout, a galleon rocks up with a full crew. They allied! That made nine. We went to Reapers, sold all the loot and I managed to convince everyone to go to Plunder for Glitterbeard (only one person in the group had already done it). Then, when we got to Plunder, ANOTHER boat came in to ally. That made 11!
Genuinely, the Glitterbeard thing is really touching… while we were doing it, I welled up and had to turn off my mic. I caught it all on my Twitch stream, and saved that part of the video to my phone so I'll never lose it. Really great moment.
I've played this game quite a lot and I understood about 30% of mart's post.
I remember this one time I was playing a game and I was running around in a desert when I saw a shadow which looked like a fish in the sand. In the next area there was a wee pudgy guy with a fishing rod sitting on a cloud, so I threw my hat on his head, took control of him and flew back to the shadow to fish it out of the sand. I managed this, only it wasn't a fish, it was a toadstool person who is also a friend of mine and he had a small moon for me.
This all made perfect sense at the time. Videogames are weird.
I remember this one time I was playing a game and I was running around in a desert when I saw a shadow which looked like a fish in the sand. In the next area there was a wee pudgy guy with a fishing rod sitting on a cloud, so I threw my hat on his head, took control of him and flew back to the shadow to fish it out of the sand. I managed this, only it wasn't a fish, it was a toadstool person who is also a friend of mine and he had a small moon for me.
This all made perfect sense at the time.
Still does. How dare you besmirch Call of Duty like that.
OK! So I played this for the first time last night and had an absolutely brilliant time with it.
Can someone explain the structure of the game though? I was playing with a couple of friends who'd only started playing a couple of days ago, so none of us really knew what we were doing. We were buying quests from an outpost, sailing off to an island somewhere, finding a chest/killing some skeletons, and returning to sell the loot. Couldn't find anything to actually spend the loot on other than cosmetics.
I mean that was great fun for an evening but there's obviously loads more in there, where should we be looking?
There is too much to tell. It'd take me an hour to type it all out. Seriously, give me a call on WhatsApp when you have a spare ten minutes and I'll talk you through things (including what's to come).
That is the core of it, though - there are Tall Tales, and the upcoming Adventures, but at its heart you head out into the waves to find treasure and emergent adventures.
Actually, no - you can still call me for more details, but that just makes it sound like the game is impenetrable. So, the basics:
Companies
There are three main ones to be found on every outpost: Gold Hoarders (a green tent), Order of Souls (ground floor of the only two story building) and Merchant Alliance (stall by the dock where the ship starts). You can buy missions from these: digging up treasure for the Hoarders, killing skeleton captains for the Order or catching/collecting goods to deliver for the Merchants. Each company will buy any loot you find that's connected to them, even if you just find it in the wild rather than on missions: chests and shiny trinkets to the Hoarders, skulls to the Order, crates and animals to the Merchant. Selling gets you gold, which you can use to buy more missions (and cosmetics).
Each company also has one bigger mission available: a long treasure hunt for a lost gold vault for the Hoarders, a battle against a ghost fleet for the Order or tracking down a missing merchant vessel for the Merchants. These are all fun and challenging in their own way.
There are also three other lesser companies: the Hunter's Call, which can only be found on smaller sea posts, the Sea Dogs (which only really exist in Arena, the PVP side mode they're closing down in March, so fuck knows what happens to them afterwards) and the Reaper's Bones. The latter is the PVP company in the main game, and they'll buy literally anything found lying around, collected from missions or stolen from other players. Trouble is, being a Reaper a) marks you as an arsehole looking for trouble and b) only gives you one place to cash in (the Reaper's Hideout) so you're an easy target for anyone looking to steal goodies.
Reputation
The main cut and thrust of the game. When you complete missions for companies, you earn reputation; the higher your rep, the better the missions you can buy from them which, in turn, rewards higher amounts of gold. To become a 'Pirate Legend', you need to get to Lv50 rep in three of the six companies. This gives you access to a seventh company, the Athena's Legend, which has even higher value loot.
Tall Tales
The main story of SoT, told across nine different extensive multi-part missions. Most of these have replay value because the story chapters/missions change from a selection, so you won't always be going to the same places twice. There's a Tall Tale menu buried in the Reputation section, and the icons on each tale match the icons on the ship map to show where each one starts. The first is in the tavern on any outpost, just interact with the book next to the mysterious stranger by the side of the bar.
There's also a separate five Tall Tales set for A Pirate's Life, which is the Pirates of the Carribbean content. It's decent, but leave it until you're used to the game. You access this from the shack on the beach of any outpost.
World Events
As a rule, there's always one world event going on that can be seen from almost anywhere on the seas. These are:
Skeleton Forts - a big white skull in the sky with green eyes, hanging over one of the forts. Multi-wave hoard mode with various types of skeleton enemies leading to a boss. Complete to get the fort key and claim the loot in the vault.
Fort of Fortune - as above, but it's a skull with bright orange cracks glowing. Much harder version of a fort, but with very valuable rewards. Expect to see players fighting over these.
Skeleton Fleet - a massive cloud in the sky shaped like a ship. Multi-wave naval combat in open water, ending in a battle with two skeleton galleons regardless of what ship you're sailing. Challenging, you collect the loot from the water when you've sunk the ships.
Flameheart - massive orange floating head in the sky. It's a multi-wave ghost fleet fight around one island, ending in a much stronger ghost galleon at the end. Tricky at first, but doable once you know how. Loot is good, but they're retiring him in March and he'll become the last stage of any top level ghost fleet missions from the Order instead.
Ashen Winds - a big red spinning tornado over an island. Boss battle against a very strong enemy with three waves, ultimately leading to the final part where he can summon meteors from the sky ('World's End'). Really dramatic, good fun. Loot is good.
If you're looking for good loot and quick reputation, world events are the way to go. But they're shared, so expect to encounter other players also looking for their share of the spoils (or waiting for someone to finish it before nipping in and stealing the lot). If there's no world event in sight and you're in open waters, watch out for the kraken!
Emergent Gameplay
Just sailing around is playing too. You might find flotsam (barrels and loot) just floating in the sea. You might happen across a sunken shipwreck with things inside if you're willing to explore (and not drown). There might be a skeleton captain on an island that drops a map or mission when you kill it. You might find a bottle with a mission in it, or even a rare blue coral bottle that sends you to a shrine to collect a special treasure. You might get attacked by a skeleton ship or, worse, a megalodon and need to fight your way out of the situation. Lots going on, even when you're just sailing between islands.
Commendations
There are shitloads of these, relating to all kinds of things you can do in game. As you earn them, they give you reputation depending on which company they're related to (except for Bilge Rat ones, which are just general tasks).
Seasons
Literally everything you do in the game also earns you renown. If you see a notification in the top left of the screen, that's renown being acknowledged. This ties into the levels of a season, you can earn up to lv100 to get gold, doubloons (fancy coins for more cosmetics and occasionally special missions) and cosmetic rewards. You can also buy a Plunder Pass for more rewards, but it's not worth it unless you're really into the game.
That'll do for now. I didn't even touch on emissaries because that's a side thing and I glazed over shrines, which are underwater instanced dungeons with more loot inside.
The new content starts next Thursday, when they bring in mysteries and seemingly burn Golden Sands outpost to the ground. GASP.
Blimey Mart. Thank you for that. More than enough to be getting on with.
I think I might drop in solo for a little bit, at least explore the outposts and look through the menus and work out where everything is. I was just running around after my (marginally) more experienced crewmates last night. Also it seemed to be perpetually night-time, I'm hoping for some sunny skies at some point so I can see where I am going!
That's a really good summary.
Trouble is, being a Reaper a) marks you as an arsehole looking for trouble and b) only gives you one place to cash in (the Reaper's Hideout) so you're an easy target for anyone looking to steal goodies.
I only ever considered the first of those; I never even thought about going hunting for the bastards, if only because we're generally quite bad at PvP. Occasionally I'll see one parked over a shrine, though, and feel a twinge of temptation…
I think I might drop in solo for a little bit, at least explore the outposts and look through the menus and work out where everything is.
Solo slooping is the best way to learn how to do everything, but it's also 'hard mode' because you have to do everything yourself. When you're set upon by a skeleton ship and you need to man cannons, steer the ship, manage sails AND bilge/repair the lower decks, it becomes quite tough.
Did you do the Maiden Voyage? That's accessible from the main menu, and is worth doing. I think it might force you to do it actually, if you're a new player. But it's a big mission that's worth spending time on… when the Pirate Lord says to explore the island, do it! There's stuff to find all over, including a hidden cache of gold and doubloons to get you started - if you can find the key to the ship's hold, that is!
Also it seemed to be perpetually night-time, I'm hoping for some sunny skies at some point so I can see where I am going!
It depends where you are. The Shores of Plenty and Ancient Isles (left side and across the bottom of the map) are generally blue skies, unless you're in the ever-moving storm. The Wilds (top right of the map) is generally miserable and looks dark, even when it's daytime. The Devil's Roar (far right side of the map) is full of volcanos and is always dark. Don't go there until you know what you're doing.
The in-game clock is pretty quick, so you don't have to wait long for the daytime. Daytime does seem to last slightly less time than the night, but it doesn't… it gets fully dark at 10pm, and then dawn is around 7am. Maybe check your TV settings too, as the game is quite dark in places just because.
I didn't mention the Fort of the Damned! Don't go there. Definitely DON'T head towards a skull in the sky with red eyes. Swirling ribbons of light, marking sunken ships with Reaper's Chests on board, are also worth avoiding until you can hold your own in a fight… if you're carrying one, everyone on the map will be able to see you!
Definitely do head towards a skull in the sky with red eyes.
What is that? I'm not very up on world events.
One thing: when one world event ends, veggie the next one starts, the kraken will attack a random ship on the map. If you kill enough tentacles, it will withdraw, and each tentacle drops a bit of loot - kraken meat, and usually one or two other bits. It's not great, generally, but a sloop only has to kill 2 or 3 tentacles to escape, so it's not quite as scary as it might seem if you're running solo.
Swirling ribbons of light, marking sunken ships with Reaper's Chests on board, are also worth avoiding until you can hold your own in a fight… if you're carrying one, everyone on the map will be able to see you!
On the other hand, you can take everything else off the wreck without attracting additional attention.
I've grabbed those chests a few times, but I don't remember ever having been chased for one. Even when there are Reaper Emissaries on the map, they don't seem to bother with them.
Did you do the Maiden Voyage? That's accessible from the main menu, and is worth doing. I think it might force you to do it actually, if you're a new player. But it's a big mission that's worth spending time on… when the Pirate Lord says to explore the island, do it! There's stuff to find all over, including a hidden cache of gold and doubloons to get you started - if you can find the key to the ship's hold, that is!
I didn't, and that's what I need to go do now I think. I literally got pulled into a game with a couple of people that had been playing for a few evenings, so I spent the first half an hour following them around from place to place and trying to work out how to use the radial menus. By the end of the evening I felt I'd had quite a good overview of how to sail a ship and what to do in the game, but there's no substitute for properly exploring at your own pace when you're new to something.
It depends where you are. The Shores of Plenty and Ancient Isles (left side and across the bottom of the map) are generally blue skies, unless you're in the ever-moving storm. The Wilds (top right of the map) is generally miserable and looks dark, even when it's daytime. The Devil's Roar (far right side of the map) is full of volcanos and is always dark. Don't go there until you know what you're doing.
It was indeed in the top right of the map, around Dagger Tooth Outpost. It never really seemed to get light at all, although it was very atmospheric in a green kind of way. I'll suggest relocating in our next session.
What do you buy with all the gold? Is it just cosmetics? I bought a shirt and a hat and was fairly happy.
Definitely do head towards a skull in the sky with red eyes.
What is that? I'm not very up on world events.
Sorry, that should have been DON'T, not do. :)
Fort of the Damned is the fog-shrouded fort in the middle of the map (used to be Old Boot Fort). It's not a world event per say, as it needs to be activated by players using the coloured lamps you can collect from the Ferry of the Damned (six in total, each earned by dying in a different way). When it's active, there's a huge skull above it with red, not green, eyes. It takes ages to activate and even longer to do, but the loot is worth it. However, it's also a beacon to arseholes who'll come and tuck on the fort before stealing everything without putting in the effort to earn it. Arseholes also use it as bait: they'll activate the fort, then hide nearby until curious folks come along, then swoop in and blow them to pieces to get whatever loot they're carrying…
There's a commendations for finishing it 50 times but, as we hate anything to do with real people and don't like attracting attention, I haven't done it. I have, however, had a few instances where I've rowed over to an active FotD and hidden outside on the back of the island… turns out, if you're standing on the island when it's completed by someone else, you get the credit for it as well. Boring, but better than nothing…
I also didn't mention Glitterbeard, which is lovely but can't be finished as a side quest unless you have two full crews of four people (or any combination of eight players) to do the last quest. I've only done it once and it genuinely made me cry. So beautiful.
I've found a few of the Glitterbeard journals, but haven't actually read them; didn't know there was a quest associated.
I've grabbed those chests a few times, but I don't remember ever having been chased for one. Even when there are Reaper Emissaries on the map, they don't seem to bother with them.
We definitely have, especially the gold Bounty chests. We've also had it where we got to Reaper's Hideout to cash in, but another boat had already got there, hidden its crew on the island and sailed off… they ambushed us when we arrived with the island cannons and took everything. Bastards.
I like that you can bury them and the mark vanishes, but you still know where it is… good way to build up a haul of them, so long as you don't lose the map bundle.
What do you buy with all the gold? Is it just cosmetics? I bought a shirt and a hat and was fairly happy.
Well, yes. But you also need gold to buy missions, supplies (from the Merchant, you can get cannonballs, wood for repairs and a crate of bananas, plus storage crates to gather up island supplies with) and tradable commodities. The latter isn't something many folk do any more, but you can buy surplus stuff from one outpost for cheap, then take it to an outpost that needs that commodity and sell it for a tidy profit. So, it's not all just about the clothes and weapons…*
(* but it's mainly all just about the clothes and weapons)
I've found a few of the Glitterbeard journals, but haven't actually read them; didn't know there was a quest associated.
It's not a quest exactly. A guy who worked at Rare died really young and unexpectedly, so they put in a whole story about him and his crew. You can read the whole thing and it's really touching, there are 12 books in all around the world. You can keep track of them in the Bilge Rat commendations area (the Umbra section).
When you read everything but the last one, you have enough info to find Glitterbeard's secret hideout - however, you can also do this immediately, you don't need to read all the books before you read the ending. It all culminates on the clifftops of Plunder Valley, with eight people standing in a circle around a tree in a specific order, playing a specific shanty just as the sun goes down. It's really, really beautiful. Makes me well up again just thinking of it. I did record the footage of when I did it, will try to share somehow.
you also need gold to buy missions
Ah OK. All the missions I got yesterday cost 0g, I'm assuming that's just because they are really low-level tasks.
Yep. As you pass reputation milestones within a company, you can buy titles from the representatives. This then unlocks better missions, which cost more. You can get a new title every five levels, up to the level cap of 75 (this also unlocks company-specific clothes, equipment and ship cosmetics too for purchase).
Buying an emissary flag for a company is a one-off purchase of 20,000 gold. But I didn't explain emissaries yet.
You can't buy missions from the Sea Dogs (all their stuff relates to winning in Arena), Hunter's Call (they're all about fishing, killing krakens/megs and mermaid/siren gems) or Reaper's Bones (which is entirely organic and just based on how much trouble you cause…).
I think a key thing to know, though, is that there's no real point to the game - it really is mostly just a sandbox for the adventures you want to have. There isn't an ending, or an endgame.
A lot of folks who turbo-ground the factions in the first few weeks after release in a race to Pirate Legend were very disappointed. Becoming Pirate Legend is a reward, really, rather than a goal.
I think a key thing to know, though, is that there's no real point to the game - it really is mostly just a sandbox for the adventures you want to have. There isn't an ending, or an endgame.
A lot of folks who turbo-ground the factions in the first few weeks after release in a race to Pirate Legend were very disappointed. Becoming Pirate Legend is a reward, really, rather than a goal.
Yes, absolutely this. Every adventure is different, you don't know what you'll end up doing. Debs and I regularly go in with a plan for the day, then get sidetracked by whatever we come across and end up not doing what we'd intended at all. The game is basically what you make it. Going in with the aim to finish everything as quickly as possible is just pointless because once you do, there's nothing to do at all.
Update is out, ahead of next Thursday. RIP Golden Sands.
Was running Curse of Strahd tonight, but logging in now (briefly) to have a look…
Okay… Golden Sands is properly eerie now.
Understandable, if odd, that all the cosmetic chests and buried treasure board still function, though.
I've been testing the upcoming adventure mystery stuff in the Insiders programme, it's not bad. Lots of spooky ghost stuff and bad Reaper people.
I have the insider build, but never play it. You used to get some bonus stuff for it, is that still a thing or is it just a preview now?