Ever since Rare launched its pirate action-adventure gameSea of Thievesin 2018, the live-service title has undergone a series of changes. With updates, new cosmetics, new modes, and seasonal events,Sea of Thievesrode the wave of popularity from a slightly lackluster launch to becoming a fan-favorite game. Online games will rely on constant change, rebalancing, and new additions to keep players invested. Sometimes these changes are for the better, adding new characters or popular modes, but sometimes they can leave gamers feeling a little frustrated or short-changed.
Rare’s announcement that it will bereducing the number of ships onSea of Thievesservers from six to five has left players divided, with some fans praising the decision while others think the developer is making a mistake. With a variety of pros and cons on each side, the seemingly small update has caused a lot of waves. With any live-service game, it’s inevitable that a developer will seek to switch things up from time to time, keeping the core gameplay fresh and exciting. Sometimes it can make a misstep, but only time will tell whether the update to the server sizes was a good choice or a poor one.
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More Open Seas
While some fans are less-than-happy about the decision to change the number of ships in theSea of Thievesservers, others welcome the update. Some players choose to play an even more solitary experience, preferring to shun potential crewmates andsail the waters ofSea of Thievessolo. While other gamers enjoy the more social aspects of the game, they’ve still praised the update as it means that encountering another pirate ship will become less likely. This will decrease the number of encounters that escalate to combat, which see player crews exchanging cannon fire across the open seas and potentially risking the destruction of their ship.
For groups of gamers that would prefer to avoid constant combat, one fewer ship on their horizon also means that they can focus on the moreexploratory aspects ofSea of Thieves,like finding the Coral Fortressor checking out the new treasure map-laden quest board added with the slew of Season 5 updates.
Without an additional crew sailing about a player’s server, there is also less competition for treasure and resources, in addition to a lower risk of running into a potentially antagonistic ship. With slightly less crowded waters, players don’t have to feel as on-edge and enjoy more features of the game as they navigate the environments and seek out their own adventures inSea of Thieves.
Fewer Pirates To Play With
On the other hand, there are also fans ofSea of Thievesthat would prefer the server size to include six ships, or in some cases, even more per server. There are players thatlove the aspects of PvP inSea of Thieves, and think it’s a feature that should be made more prominent. With more ships about, the chance to run into an opposing crew is increased, and players will have the chance to wage war against enemy ships far more frequently. Some players have even complained that they have trouble finding any other ships at all, let alone ones that are eager to engage in a sea-based skirmish.
With map expansions and additional areas added, encounters are becoming few and far between as it is. With player density down across various regions, there are some fans calling for not only the ship cap to be increased, but also the cap on the number of pirates that can roam aroundSea of Thievesservers. Even withhotspots appearing like ghost shipsto attempt to corral players together, the smaller server sizes make these meetings far less likely.
However, although the number of ships is decreasing, the number of pirates per server inSea of Thievesis remaining the same. By keeping the maximum number of pirates at sixteen, Rare is hoping to address imbalance issues in crew sizes. There is also a balance to be found with server size and performance, and in order to make theplaying experience ofSea of Thievesas optimal for players as possible, some sacrifices might need to be made in other areas.
Sea of Thievesis out now for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
