Joe Neate is back once again with another Sea of Thieves developer vlog. In this edition of the regular video series, he explains why the team changed what happens when capstans are hit with cannonballs, offered a general glance at the game’s next updates going forward, and more.
If you’ve been in the Arena and have been purposefully aiming for ship capstans to cause them to drop anchor mid-sail, you probably noticed that’s not a thing that happens anymore. According to Neate, the practice of doing that was too much of a disruption to the flow of ship battles and so capstan damage no longer triggers the anchor. Capstans still will take damage and need to be repaired just like any part of the ship; you just can’t ground people purposefully anymore. Neate also explained that this change is part of the team’s growing efforts to layer on new things to the Arena overall and reward strategic play. Things like Cursed Cannonballs and Explosive Barrels are planned soon; it’s more a question of how these things can be leveraged for strategic thinking.
On the subject of planned updates, Neate hinted at a new bit of content coming to Adventure Mode, which will arrive to Insiders this week and is planned to launch in Sea of Thieves proper in mid-July. Neate was mum on the specifics of this activity, but he likened it to the Reaper’s Run activity and the “social dynamics” it brought. Neate also noted that future updates are still being worked out as the team falls into its regular update cadence and explained that they’re still trying to figure out when is the best time to share details. So, basically, if you were among those clamoring for a development roadmap, you’re out of luck for now.
Neate also provided some news about Shelley Preston’s promotion to Lead Designer for the game and the team’s plans for GuardianCon 2019. You can get the full skinny in the video below.
