TLDR:

Sea of ​​Thieves (aka Sea of Cheaters) is what I would call a missed masterpiece, I really wish I could recommend this game but no matter how hard I try, I can't do it.

---

My conclusions:

This game can be terrifyingly fun and deeply frustrating at the same time.
I first played this game when it came out in the now distant 2018 thanks to the €1 Gamepass so I can see it with the eyes of a person who knows what SoT was at the time and knows what SoT is today.

Let me start by saying that I don't criticize the idea of ​​fighting and sinking other player's ships.
It's perfect for those who like competition and those who like to snatch the loot from others.
However I don't approve how the game doesn't respect that part of players who have no interest in competing and just want to continue their journey with serenity.
I always laughed at the uselessness of the advice given on the Ferryman's ship once you died, whose message can be perfectly summarized with: "Sick of being sunk by others? SUNK YOURSELF". Wow, really comforting.
Initially I didn't mind PvP at all because, simply, there weren't many broken mechanics and strategies like now, also thanks to the fact that people didn't aim only to tryhard and bug abuse/cheat/exploit the entire time.

I think I speak for everyone when I say that what was so captivating about SoT were the stunning environments, the sense of novelty and naval combat, to this day we still have no games comparable to SoT or worthy rivals.
Is it a fun game? Yes definitely.
But I suggest you pay close attention to what you are about to buy and what you are going to get into.

Bad PvP and community issues aside, this game requires insane amounts of hours to both loot, level up and earn some gold.
The first 20/50 hours are pure entertainment, if you haven't spoiled anything, the sense of discovery and adventure that you will experience on every journey will be unmatched, especially if played with some friends, even played as a solo has its charm.
Once you become an expert sailor you will begin to understand the real mechanics of the game and only then you will begin to really understand what SoT is like and get an idea about the game itself.

New payers and the ones who haven't already done everything in the game a minimum of 999 times will be forced to cope because there is no lobby system and most likely will be in the same lobbies with tryhards whose life revolves entirely around this game and bug abusing, exploiting and cheating.
Trust me: trying to catch up with these 3000+ PvP hours players is nearly impossible if you don't want to invest a minimum of 5+ hours per day playing SoT.

I won't dwell on the scandals Rare has been involved in. (unjustified bans, unmotivated defenses of Streamers etc, etc)
Below I list some of the pros and cons I encountered both now and when I played SoT years ago.

PROS

• The game, just like any other multiplayer around, is extremely fun to play with friends.
  
  
• Regarding PvE I got nothing to say; compared to the past they have made great strides by adding a lot of stuff to do, exploration is certainly not lacking.
  
  
• The overall mechanics of exploration are probably the best thing about the game: being able to sail, find hidden treasures, do quests, missions, events, raids, main stories and so on.
  
  
• The settings and the care with which the map is made are simply spectacular.
  The sea, the day/night cycle, the sky, the stars, the aurora borealis, the atmospheric changes... it's all amazing, really.
  
  
• Personally, I have always really liked the fact that the ship requires real management and that its efficiency also changes based on the capacity of the people on board, thus creating a unique and inimitable synergy between the members of the crew.

CONS

• It's a big time sink.
  
  
• The tutorial is incomplete and barely explains the basics, not at all preparing players for what really awaits them during their adventure across the seas of SoT.
  
  
• The optimization, the netcode and the hitreg has only gotten worse over the years and the devs have never fixed it, just like the rampant problem of cheaters and bug abusers.
  
  
• The game is scripted in such a way that as soon as you have some loot on the ship, megalodons, krakens, storms and whatnot start spawning all and only around your ship.
  
  
• Personally I find that the ballistics of the cannons has gotten much worse over the years, it seems to be shooting 999kg cannonballs and always having to make absurd calculations to hit even at a distance of 50 meters.
  
  
• The game doesn't have a way to "defend" new players from beasts with 3000+ hours on their back, so good luck minding your business and trying to learn the ropes step by step because there will be almost zero opponents of your similiar skill level resulting in a useless/frustrating experience most of the times.
  
  
• The game is poisoned by a subset of chronically online players, who will exploit the game in every way possible to sink you, which they don't always do just to get your treasure.
  They just do it because they want you to know that they're better than you since they play this game 18 hours a day and are using the latest strategies.
  
  
• There's no need to try to sweeten the pill, like 90% of multiplayer games the biggest negative side of SoT is the community for countless reasons:
  Endless toxicity, extreme and unjustified tryharding by people who, if they don't bully/insult others heavily, have no way of curing the "small pp" syndrome they suffer from.
  
  
• Grinding, grinding and more grinding.
  It all costs too much, it's a constant grind even to buy a pair of pants, and having to do some missions three to five times to get a skin is just ridiculous, it's definitely the wrong way to extend the longevity of a videogame.
  Also because after a while it gets repetitive despite the content that the game offers since, whether you like it or not, the things to do are always the same so even leveling up your companies becomes a sort of job.
  
  
• Although you already have a small group of friends to play with (therefore having already overcome the first major obstacle that the game puts in front of you) the skill gap between new and old players is too wide, creating gatekeeping like on For Honor where if you are a new player for the first 300/400 hours (minimum) you have to get bludgeoned in the teeth then, perhaps, you'll start to understand something assuming your crew is willing to waste all this time to be able to "have fun".
  In this game there is no middle ground: either you are a new player/casual player or a tryhard who has been playing religiously since day one and did nothing but PvP 24/7.
  
  
• A HUGE flaw of this title is the fact that the so-called "solo players" will have an awful experience in the vast majority of content that the game has to offer.
  Maneuvering the ship, sailing, exploring, PvE components but above all the PvP part are terribly disadvantageous for lonely sea dogs or for people who want to spend a couple of hours making a more casual and relaxing game session... you are "forced" to have other people to fully enjoy the game with, and this is something I never liked.
  If you don't already have a group of friends with the same goals as yours (be it PvP or something else) you are
  constrained to go around the various Discord servers and socialize/group with complete strangers just to be able to spend a couple of hours profitably and even if you are willing to do that, the vast majority of what people are looking for nowadays is straight pvp and you better be experienced right off the bat or your not getting invited to play.

My components:
RTX 3060TI 8GB
I5-9600K 3.70Ghz
16 GB RAM DDR4 3000mhz

[b][h1][u]TLDR:[/u][/h1][/b]Sea of ​​Thieves (aka Sea of Cheaters) is what I would call a missed masterpiece, I really wish I could recommend this game but no matter how hard I try, I can't do it. [hr][/hr][b][h1][u]My conclusions:[/u][/h1][/b]This game can be terrifyingly fun and deeply frustrating at the same time. I first played this game when it came out in the now distant 2018 thanks to the €1 Gamepass so I can see it with the eyes of a person who knows what SoT was at the time and knows what SoT is today. Let me start by saying that I don't criticize the idea of ​​fighting and sinking other player's ships. It's perfect for those who like competition and those who like to snatch the loot from others. However I don't approve how the game doesn't respect that part of players who have no interest in competing and just want to continue their journey with serenity. I always laughed at the uselessness of the advice given on the Ferryman's ship once you died, whose message can be perfectly summarized with: "Sick of being sunk by others? SUNK YOURSELF". Wow, really comforting. Initially I didn't mind PvP at all because, simply, there weren't many broken mechanics and strategies like now, also thanks to the fact that people didn't aim only to tryhard and bug abuse/cheat/exploit the entire time. I think I speak for everyone when I say that what was so captivating about SoT were the stunning environments, the sense of novelty and naval combat, to this day we still have no games comparable to SoT or worthy rivals. Is it a fun game? Yes definitely. But I suggest you pay close attention to what you are about to buy and what you are going to get into. Bad PvP and community issues aside, this game requires insane amounts of hours to both loot, level up and earn some gold. The first 20/50 hours are pure entertainment, if you haven't spoiled anything, the sense of discovery and adventure that you will experience on every journey will be unmatched, especially if played with some friends, even played as a solo has its charm. Once you become an expert sailor you will begin to understand the real mechanics of the game and only then you will begin to really understand what SoT is like and get an idea about the game itself. New payers and the ones who haven't already done everything in the game a minimum of 999 times will be forced to cope because there is no lobby system and most likely will be in the same lobbies with tryhards whose life revolves entirely around this game and bug abusing, exploiting and cheating. Trust me: trying to catch up with these 3000+ PvP hours players is nearly impossible if you don't want to invest a minimum of 5+ hours per day playing SoT. I won't dwell on the scandals Rare has been involved in. (unjustified bans, unmotivated defenses of Streamers etc, etc) Below I list some of the pros and cons I encountered both now and when I played SoT years ago. [b][u]PROS[/u][/b] [list][*]The game, just like any other multiplayer around, is extremely fun to play with friends. [*]Regarding PvE I got nothing to say; compared to the past they have made great strides by adding a lot of stuff to do, exploration is certainly not lacking. [*]The overall mechanics of exploration are probably the best thing about the game: being able to sail, find hidden treasures, do quests, missions, events, raids, main stories and so on. [*]The settings and the care with which the map is made are simply spectacular. The sea, the day/night cycle, the sky, the stars, the aurora borealis, the atmospheric changes... it's all amazing, really. [*]Personally, I have always really liked the fact that the ship requires real management and that its efficiency also changes based on the capacity of the people on board, thus creating a unique and inimitable synergy between the members of the crew. [/list] [b][u]CONS[/u][/b] [list][*]It's a big time sink. [*]The tutorial is incomplete and barely explains the basics, not at all preparing players for what really awaits them during their adventure across the seas of SoT. [*]The optimization, the netcode and the hitreg has only gotten worse over the years and the devs have never fixed it, just like the rampant problem of cheaters and bug abusers. [*]The game is scripted in such a way that as soon as you have some loot on the ship, megalodons, krakens, storms and whatnot start spawning all and only around your ship. [*]Personally I find that the ballistics of the cannons has gotten much worse over the years, it seems to be shooting 999kg cannonballs and always having to make absurd calculations to hit even at a distance of 50 meters. [*]The game doesn't have a way to "defend" new players from beasts with 3000+ hours on their back, so good luck minding your business and trying to learn the ropes step by step because there will be almost zero opponents of your similiar skill level resulting in a useless/frustrating experience most of the times. [*]The game is poisoned by a subset of chronically online players, who will exploit the game in every way possible to sink you, which they don't always do just to get your treasure. They just do it because they want you to know that they're better than you since they play this game 18 hours a day and are using the latest strategies. [*]There's no need to try to sweeten the pill, like 90% of multiplayer games the biggest negative side of SoT is the community for countless reasons: Endless toxicity, extreme and unjustified tryharding by people who, if they don't bully/insult others heavily, have no way of curing the "small pp" syndrome they suffer from. [*]Grinding, grinding and more grinding. It all costs too much, it's a constant grind even to buy a pair of pants, and having to do some missions three to five times to get a skin is just ridiculous, it's definitely the wrong way to extend the longevity of a videogame. Also because after a while it gets repetitive despite the content that the game offers since, whether you like it or not, the things to do are always the same so even leveling up your companies becomes a sort of job. [*]Although you already have a small group of friends to play with (therefore having already overcome the first major obstacle that the game puts in front of you) the skill gap between new and old players is too wide, creating gatekeeping like on [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/304390/FOR_HONOR/]For Honor[/url] where if you are a new player for the first 300/400 hours (minimum) you have to get bludgeoned in the teeth then, perhaps, you'll start to understand something assuming your crew is willing to waste all this time to be able to "have fun". In this game there is no middle ground: either you are a new player/casual player or a tryhard who has been playing religiously since day one and did nothing but PvP 24/7. [*]A [b]HUGE[/b] flaw of this title is the fact that the so-called "solo players" will have an awful experience in the vast majority of content that the game has to offer. Maneuvering the ship, sailing, exploring, PvE components but above all the PvP part are terribly disadvantageous for lonely sea dogs or for people who want to spend a couple of hours making a more casual and relaxing game session... you are "forced" to have other people to fully enjoy the game with, and this is something I never liked. If you don't already have a group of friends with the same goals as yours (be it PvP or something else) you are constrained to go around the various Discord servers and socialize/group with complete strangers just to be able to spend a couple of hours profitably and even if you are willing to do that, the vast majority of what people are looking for nowadays is straight pvp and you better be experienced right off the bat or your not getting invited to play. [/list] [u]My components:[/u] RTX 3060TI 8GB I5-9600K 3.70Ghz 16 GB RAM DDR4 3000mhz