Anyone that's even mildly interested in SoT should read this (Gaming)

by Korny , Dalton, Ga. US. Earth, Sol System, Tuesday, February 13, 2018, 10:56 (2476 days ago) @ Speedracer513

This article at The Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/games/2018/feb/13/rare-sea-of-thieves-multiplayer-pirates

does a really good job of covering what we have to look forward to in the full game and what things might give it the staying power that'll make it worth the full $60 purchase.

Counterpoint, this article over at IGN pretty much confirms a lot of my fears about the game:

-There won't be much to do at launch besides trying to grind up to "Legendary" status with three factions, which opens up more rewarding quests, but they plan to grow the game down the road, "as early as" three months after launch.

-Legendary-level players will have functionally better ships than everyone below that status, further creating a balance divide between Sloop ships and galleons (remember, sloops can be even slower than Galleons).

-They consider this a "live game", which means that story will be added later on down the road, so while there is a plan for story, there won't be much at launch other than "events" in-game (Skeleton islands, Kraken).

I'm still excited for the game, but the ambitions are tied directly to a playerbase (and more importantly, one that sticks around, especially long enough for the Microtransactions to kick in), especially with not-afraid-to-kill-our-few-exclusives Microsoft looming over Rare. Hopefully the fact that it's tied to Game Pass ensures a healthy playerbase, and Rare can add all of the things that they hope to put in down the road (also a bit concerning, since they are super slow at making anything).

I dunno. I really want this game to succeed.