Cursed sails adds new depths to the sea of ​​thieves

Cursed Sails is the latest in a long list of free content updates for Sea of ​​Thieves and will present a new ship, new enemies and an alliance system allowing crews to team up and share the loot.
Since 1945 Sea of ​​Thieves lifted anchor for the first time in March, more than four million players have sailed in the Rare pirate playground.

largely to the Xbox Xflix-style Game Pass service), but despite the healthy adoption, it is fair to say that the game has received a mixed response up here.

Some players clearly like his light spirit of adventure, free-roaming structure and emphasis on social interaction and exploration. Others, however, have found the world sparse and empty, its repetitive quests and – ironically for the game based on the deep blue sea – have criticized it for being too superficial. Many have abandoned the boat and even the hardcore fans of the game have shown signs of mutiny.

To their credit, the Rare development team took into account all the feedback – positive and negative – and responded by deploying a steady stream of content updates, regularly adding new features and elements. gameplay to expand the world and attract crews for other captivating adventures.

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The last of these developments, Cursed Sails just started on Xbox and Windows 10, adding a new type of ship, a new scary threat to intelligence artificial and an innovative alliance system to encourage cooperation between crews (and treason)

For executive producer Joe Neate, keep the good ship of Thieves on a keel pair has been a journey of discovery – and the challenge of developing fresh content for a continuous "game as a service" means that he is always very comfortable at HQ from Rare to Twycross.

"It's weird, start a service. It's very different from the kind of approach "fire and forget". which some people might be used to. Even when you finally get to start, it's really just the beginning, "says Neate

Neate says that pirate crews will have to think differently and adapt their approach to overcome the challenge posed by ghost ships that terrorize the outposts of the game.

"Skeletal ships are armed with damned cannonballs – sometimes you will see one with a purple runway, if that strikes your boat, it locks the steering wheel in place.Others can make the whole crew drunk or sick, then you have to deal with all these effects while you are in combat.

"Also, boarding the skeletal ships comes with its own threats because everyone is shooting at you, you're dodging cannonballs and total chaos, "Neate says

The new AI ships are at the heart of the Cursed Sails story that runs for a limited time and is expected to fundamentally change the way players interact with merchants and traders.

"The Campaign Cursed Sails attracts a lot of players to face this new threat, the world," said Neate.

"These ships posed their challenges on every outpost: the NPCs are all terrified, they have climbed into their stores, and because of fear and terror they have reduced their prices at all levels."

The new story is a direct response to players who thought that the world needed more than treasure hunts and quests to keep them invested and interested. "19659005]" We have incorporated all this into tradition and legend from the "Cursed Sails" campaign to flesh out the world, "said Neate

" It's something that players respond well but at the same time it still works. with the emergent nature of Sea of ​​Thieves Even if you follow the same paths towards the same goals, your story will still unfold differently along the way. "

Another feature introduced in the expansion is a new ship – the briganti A new brigantine vessel, designed for crews of three, offers a middle ground between the giant galleon and the humble sloop.

"For the moment, players who do not try to fight use all the tools they have to show it: they raise their guns or hoist a flag more friendly than the Jolly Roger or use the trumpet to communicate. 19659004] "Covenants uses a flag system where someone raises a flag that matches yours and you are close enough, you will receive a contextual notification telling you that you have formed an alliance." You will be visible on the cards of the cards. others and you can go on quests together and the rewards will be shared between the crews

All this r more like Sea of ​​Friends than Sea of ​​Thieves but Neate was keen to point out that it would not be a pirate game without the possibility of a little skulduggery

"Even if you are in an alliance, you will always have a friendly shot. You will still be able to hurt yourself and there is still room for betrayal. We wanted these alliances to be uncomfortable – there is always a possibility of mutiny. It'll be fun to see how it's played. "

Despite the deployment of new features, Sea of ​​Thieves's fundamental concept remains the same: giving players the freedom to create their own unique high seas adventures without restricting their imagination or their creativity.

"We know what we want, we want it to create more stories interesting. The fact that you can have cooperative adventures but that you still have this chance of piracy and that people enjoy this trust, and people will do it. "

" Although the addition of new features makes the game richer, it is the players themselves that make it the richest. It was amazing how the community grew and evolved around the vision we always had.

While it is clear that the new extensions are designed to entice existing players to stay, Neate believes that Cursed Sails is an ideal opportunity for those who have not sailed on the Sea of ​​Thieves.

"There is no better time to enter and learn to play Sea of ​​Thieves and make new friends," he said

"Our player base has never been so rich. There are pirate legends coming out that help new players and we have designed the game so that it is quite possible. People are very welcoming to new players. You can be in solo sloop and meet people. "

" There are a lot of new features and a new campaign that's going to be fun. Last week, I tweeted a big thread from the experiences I had while meeting people.

With another expansion, Forsaken Shores, scheduled for September, there is even more new content on the horizon and Neate said the Rare team is still fully "Beyond Cursed Sails and Forsaken Shores we really want to do more in terms of enriching quests and story enrichment ", A said Neate.

"These are exciting times, we are just beginning and as a studio and as a team, we can not wait to see how far we can take it."

                
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