Sea of Thieves has been around for a few years now and has grown every year with some great additions from seasonal content through to amazing story-based adventures with crossover franchises, such as Pirates of the Caribbean and more recently Monkey Island. Built as an online only experience players can explore the world as part of a crew, or solo with their own small skiff, and complete voyages for various factions while trying to survive encounters against other players on the open seas. This made for some incredible moments when out-maneuvering or defeating hostile ships when on these voyages, but also introduced an element of anxiety when you may just want to have a chilled experience playing with friends – that constant risk made even the simplest of tasks slightly less fun if you weren’t looking to engage in competitive play.
In all fairness, that is and was the point of the game, playing as a pirate in a game filled with other players playing as pirates. Ship to ship combat and player duels are a core pillar of the experience just as much as exploration and treasure hunting are.
Well, the team at Rare have heard the feedback from players who are looking for a less competitive experience and are adding an exciting feature call Safer Seas to the game this December. This new mode will allow players to create a private session for them and a few friends to engage in activities they choose without the fear of other crews interrupting their experience. While a level cap and reduced rewards will be provided in this mode, players can at least use this feature to explore the world and complete activities in a more relaxed manner.
For me this a great addition, as often my partner and I really enjoy the cooperative elements of the game and don’t value the competitive modes as much. I’m looking forward to going on treasure hunts or exploring sunken ruins without having to be on constant lookout for players who value the competitive experience more.
Check out the Season Ten Preview below which features some details on this new mode:
