'Sea Of Thieves' Death Tax Called Off by Rare After Community Outcry
"Sea of Thieves" may not have the smoothest of starts for a multiplayer game, but at least, the players of the pirate-themed adventure can depend on game developer Rare listening to their feedback. The studio recently called off a "Death Tax" mechanic after a huge reaction from the "Sea of Thieves" community.
Perhaps the developers of "Sea of Thieves" simply want players to feel the stakes whenever they set out to do something dangerous in the game, even if it's just through their gold purses. The now-canceled "Death Cost" update was supposed to take away a small amount of gold from a player every time they die.
"Rates are dependant on the cause of death, so the more avoidable the death, the less patience the Captain will have when we enable this feature!" Rare warned players ahead of time just as they were about to launch the new mechanic via a forum post on their official website last week.
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That was Thursday, March 22, and over the next few days, "Sea of Thieves" players raised objections about the "Death Cost" encouraging in-game behavior, like some players killing off the characters of others repeatedly, a practice called "griefing" that is very much frowned upon in any game.
The uproar prompted Rare to post an update, to say that the "Death Cost" feature was one that they "never intended to charge players for [player-vs-player] related deaths, as we understand the negative impact this would have on player experience."
Still, the proposed "Death Cost" feature has its detractors trying to suggest some alternatives. "The thing that hooked me about this game is the sheer, gleeful anarchy of it. Life is cheap, and stupid/epic deaths are highly amusing," one player noted, at the same time recognizing that it's a measure to discourage players from just dying, again and again, to get past hard objectives, like the Skeleton Forts.
Finally, on Sunday, March 25, Rare producer Joe Neate posted a lengthy status update for "Sea of Thieves" that, among many others, laid out their final say on the "Death Cost" mechanic.
"One piece of additional feedback we've seen is around a proposed change listed in our release notes last week, and we've heard the sentiment there, so I can confirm that Death Cost is, well, dead," Neate affirmed in his post.
"Thanks for the feedback here. We're listening," he added, assuring players that they will be looking out for comments and reactions whenever they propose a new feature.
Neate confirmed their decision to kill the "Death Cost" on social media as well, and in his Twitter post last Tuesday, March 27, he offered an admission that they may have mishandled the whole controversy, as minor as it is.
"We messed up with the messaging around this, and it's now gone. Thanks for the honest feedback & discussion on this," he concluded in his Twitter update.
