Balancing High Seas and Safer Seas: Ensuring Fair Play for All in Sea of Thieves

[Dosh]

In Sea of Thieves, players should have the option to choose between Safer Seas and High Seas, with both modes offering the same rewards and full access to all content. High Seas is perfect for players who love the unpredictability of PvP and the thrill of competitive encounters, while Safer Seas offers a more relaxed environment for those who want to focus on exploration, completing quests, and enjoying the world of the game without constantly having to defend themselves from hostile crews.

It’s important to acknowledge that High Seas has its place in the game. For many players, the challenge of PvP and the risk-reward system is what makes the game exciting. The adrenaline rush of combat, the joy of sinking ships, and the constant tension are part of the experience. For these players, the High Seas are where they want to be, and they shouldn’t be penalized for choosing this style of play. PvP-focused players thrive in this environment, and they deserve a space where they can enjoy that challenge.

At the same time, there are valid concerns for players who simply want to enjoy the game at their own pace, particularly those who have limited time to play, such as people working 9-to-5 jobs. These players often find themselves frustrated when they’re repeatedly attacked while trying to complete quests or explore. After working a long day, many players want to relax and unwind without the constant threat of being sunk or losing their progress to griefers. Safer Seas was introduced as a way to address this, but the limited rewards and restricted content make it feel like a lesser option, leaving these players without access to the full game experience.

Supporting both sides means recognizing that each mode serves a different purpose. High Seas is essential for those who love PvP and the risk of pirate warfare, but Safer Seas should be allowed to offer 100% rewards and access to all content to give players a fair chance to enjoy the game in a more peaceful setting. This change wouldn’t diminish the experience for PvP players; it would simply provide an alternative for those who want to avoid PvP while still earning rewards and enjoying everything Sea of Thieves has to offer.

Ultimately, offering both options Safer Seas with full rewards and High Seas for competitive play would create a more inclusive environment for all players, respecting different playstyles while reducing the frustration that some players face. Everyone should be able to enjoy the game, whether they prefer intense PvP or a more relaxed, exploration-focused adventure.

[Raft]

What's the purpose of your post? Are you saying it's not balanced now?

Safer Seas now has unlimited 100% gold and limited 100% reputation gains up to Level 25. It has all PvE content (excluding competitive/prestigious PvEvP content).

High Seas, for the additional hazards/risks of PvP, has unlimited 100%-250% gold (depends on flag) and unlimited 100% reputation gains. It has Safer Seas content and competitive/prestigious PvEvP content, and PvP content.

I think it's a good balance now.

[Dosh]

That’s definitely a step in the right direction, and I appreciate that Safer Seas now offers more opportunities for progression. However, limiting reputation gains to Level 25 and restricting prestigious content still makes it feel like Safer Seas is a lesser experience. Players who prefer PvE or have limited time to play should be able to fully progress and access all content without feeling penalized. It’s about creating true equality between the modes so everyone can enjoy the game their way. High Seas would still attract PvP-focused players, but giving Safer Seas equal rewards and content would make the game even more inclusive and enjoyable for all.

[Raft]

-- Rewards proportional to difficulty

Safer Seas is a "lesser experience", yes. For the "full experience", you need to play High Seas.

Playing on Safer Seas vs. High Seas is like playing on Hazard/Difficulty 3 vs. Hazard/Difficulty 10.

Surely you'd also expect better rewards when you play at higher difficulty?

-- Safer Seas content offers most of SoT content already

In terms of content experience, are you aware that you can play almost all raid voyages for the 3 main trading companies in Safer Seas? Yes 6/7 raid voyages are in Safer Seas.

Most of the High Seas restricted content are similar to other Safer Seas content if they're not contested. The Burning Blade ghost fleet pve experience is essentially like an Order of Souls ghost fleet. The Burning Blade skeleton ship pve experience is essentially like a fighting skelly gally. The Siren Song pve experience is essentially like a Gold hoarders treasure hunt voyage. FotD and FoF pve experience are essentially like any skeleton fort. These High Seas-exclusive contents are similar to many Safer Seas contents. They're restricted to High Seas only because they're designed to be contested/competitive. Multiple pirate crews are supposed to fight (or exercise some diplomacy skills) to gain from the competitive/prestigious loot.

So, if you actually understand what the restricted content is about, you'd realize you're not missing out on PvE-only gameplay experience.

In terms of reputation levels, beyond a certain point, reputation levels unlock cosmetics only - the barely visible rings. That's all. Are you seriously complaining about missing out on this?

If you have that much appetite for cosmetics/progression, you should increase your appetite for risk/hazard/difficulty as well.

[0b]

Go to safer seas
> have 0 challenge
> finish all content in 1 month
> quit game forever because boring and no friends play
>hmmmmmm i sure love the fact that I glazed the hell outta safer seas and never tried to get better!

[Fail]

Originally posted by Raft:

What's the purpose of your post? Are you saying it's not balanced now?

Safer Seas now has unlimited 100% gold and limited 100% reputation gains up to Level 25. It has all non-competitive/prestigious PvEvP content.

High Seas, for the additional hazards/risks of PvP, has unlimited 100%-250% gold (depends on flag) and unlimited 100% reputation gains. It has Safer Seas content and competitive/prestigious PvEvP content, and PvP content.

I think it's a good balance now.

This ^

Ultimately Safer Seas was never intended to be a full PvE mode.

[Keyrala]

Doesn't this looks like some chat gpt reply?

[R3vanNS]

Originally posted by Keyrala:

Doesn't this looks like some chat gpt reply?

Or like he copy-pasted some random blog post. Which could've also been made with cgpt xD

[Ranch]

I think safe seas should be brought up to the current high seas level, meaning you can reach pirate legend on safer seas. However, i do feel it is more than fair to offer increased rewards on high seas, maybe some exclusive events, an increase in gold earning/xp earning. This way people who want to play at the current rate of progression can without fear of pvp, and those who are ok with pvp or want to engage in it can do so while gaining increased benefits.

[Nerezza]

Originally posted by Raft:

What's the purpose of your post? Are you saying it's not balanced now?

Safer Seas now has unlimited 100% gold and limited 100% reputation gains up to Level 25. It has all PvE content (excluding competitive/prestigious PvEvP content).

High Seas, for the additional hazards/risks of PvP, has unlimited 100%-250% gold (depends on flag) and unlimited 100% reputation gains. It has Safer Seas content and competitive/prestigious PvEvP content, and PvP content.

I think it's a good balance now.

It does not include all pve content, athena voyages are locked even if pirate legend already

[Fail]

Originally posted by Nerezza:

It does not include all pve content, athena voyages are locked even if pirate legend already

(It's not very "legendary" of you to do it all without any risk though is it)

[Mrs Slitherss]

Originally posted by Fail:

Originally posted by Nerezza:

It does not include all pve content, athena voyages are locked even if pirate legend already

(It's not very "legendary" of you to do it all without any risk though is it)

People be really stretching the term risk, Its def riskier to play in higher seas but to imply there is NO risk in safer seas is crazy, maybe there would be more risk to the game mode if it was allowed to access the harder pve content

[Mommy Courage™]

OP: *Enters discussions with reasonable and fair post offering their opinion on topic.*
Steam discussion trolls: "sOuNdS lIkE gPt MaDe It!"
I agree with you OP, I think each point you made was valid. I'm sure you were looking for some debate but these folks contribute nothing to the discussion other than insults.