Abstract
Sea of Thieves has kicked off its newest Thriller occasion, The Hoarder’s Hunt.The four-week occasion will see gamers fixing puzzles each in-game and elsewhere on-line, with real-life treasure to be received.We spoke to the crew behind the Thriller to find the way it was impressed, the way it was made, and be taught a bit of about what’s in retailer.
Because the story goes, in 1730, Olivier Levasseur stood on the gallows, awaiting his execution for a lifetime of piracy – which had included the theft of an unlimited treasure haul from a Portuguese galleon, subsequently buried on the Seychelles island of Mahé. Requested for any final phrases, Levasseur eliminated a necklace from his neck, shouted, “My treasure for he who can perceive!”, and threw it into the watching crowd. That necklace was hung with a parchment that includes a 17-line cryptogram, seemingly providing the situation of his hidden riches. For greater than three centuries, treasure hunters have tried and did not decode the message on that parchment, and the gold stays misplaced to this present day.
It’s a becoming inspiration for Sea of Thieves’ new thriller, The Hoarder’s Hunt, which can take gamers each in-game and past within the hunt for a real-life treasure – a golden cranium, which shall be awarded to the primary participant that solves a large number of puzzles (with extra bodily treasure for the following 110 gamers to achieve the top of the method, and in-game rewards for others who participate). These puzzles won’t be fairly as tough to decode as Levasseur’s treasure, nevertheless it actually received’t be a easy course of.
For Lead Designer Chris Davies, the promise of the occasion is easy: “To ship the last word treasure hunt. Sea of Thieves is 5 years outdated, and we’ve completed numerous permitting gamers to pursue that pirate fantasy of looking for treasure, and digging it up. [So,] how can we provide the last word model of that? Taking it exterior of the sport in addition to in-game and truly provide real-world treasure for our group to go looking out.”
To do this, The Hoarder’s Hunt will function out-of-game puzzles, unfold out throughout the net world, which can lead you to otherwise-locked in-game Voyages, which in flip result in extra out-of-game clues to decode. All of this shall be wrapped up within the story of a brand new character, H, who – for the following 4 weeks – will ship gamers cryptic messages, serving to direct them to their subsequent purpose, resulting in a race to the prize (and you’ll signal as much as obtain H’s first message now). The primary participant to complete that closing Voyage will obtain the golden cranium as their reward.
Apart from Levasseur’s gold, the occasion has been impressed by different treasure hunts, from Cadbury’s Conundrum promotion (which supplied actual golden eggs for people who might clear up complicated puzzle books), to Prepared Participant One’s story about a web based hunt with monumental real-life rewards. But it surely’s additionally a response to earlier Sea of Thieves occasions. Earlier than launch, Uncommon arrange a quest to earn real-life golden bananas, and the sport’s first Thriller occasion noticed gamers cracking the case of who killed Sea Canine DeMarco. However The Hoarder’s Hunt goals to enhance on each.
The hunt for the Golden Bananas noticed fewer and fewer gamers capable of take part till its finish – The Hoarder’s Hunt will stay open to all proper till its conclusion. In the meantime, the Thriller of DeMarco was pretty open-ended, resulting in a really lengthy thriller, dominated by clues solely from Uncommon’s personal social channels. This hunt shall be way more open nevertheless it’ll be time-limited, giving gamers extra fascinating puzzles, however with an endgoal at all times in sight.
To do that, Uncommon has labored with real-life puzzlemasters, tasked with creating really mind-boggling duties that can ship gamers everywhere in the web within the hunt for the following answer – with a view to creating a really fascinating dynamic: this needs to be a collaborative effort, with a number of gamers working collectively to uncover options – till it transforms into a person hunt for that closing treasure.
“What we don’t need,” explains Davies, “is people, puzzle specialists, to sort of squirrel themselves away and clear up these individually. We wish this to be one thing the place the group must lean on one another, the place they speculate on potential avenues of investigation to seek out the options. And by getting the group working collectively, that’s what makes it such an fascinating dynamic shift, [until] individuals attain that time of, ‘Okay, that is really a race with a cool prize on the finish of it.’”
And that closing race shall be fascinating to see – the second this turns into a real dash for the top shall be a check for gamers’ ethical compasses in addition to their brains. It’s really the primary participant to unravel the thriller that earns the reward – not their crew. The ultimate golden cranium comes with 4 removable golden keys, permitting the victorious participant to reward their crew – however they don’t should. That’s very a lot by design:
“[This is] the last word check of the Pirate Code,” says Head of Model and Licensing, Adam Park. “As a result of essentially as a crew you possibly can go and win this prize however whoever proposed that voyage would be the precise winner. In order that individual might at that time flip round and select to maintain the prize for themselves, or it’s been made in such a means that it may be break up with the keys – they will share their spoils however once more, it’s going to be one other fascinating check of how individuals really behave. I do know what I’d do… you’d by no means hear from me once more.”
“That’s why I’d by no means crew up with you Adam,” laughs Davies.
All of this has led Uncommon to assume in new methods about the way it delivers this Thriller. For the out-of-game puzzles, the mantra has been that there’s no puzzle too tough, so long as the clues have been offered pretty, and that no less than a number of gamers might crack the code and share it with the group. I received’t give something away, however be ready to search for clues in some very surprising locations.
Even the in-game Voyages are a brand new endeavor, although:
“We’re calling them Hunt Voyages,” says Davies. “Finally, you’re attempting to find one of many keys that can be utilized to unlock the chests which were added to each Gold Hoarders tent. It’s a singular Voyage, completely different to what we’ve completed earlier than. It’s going to ship you all through the places within the sport, island-hopping, to do a map-wide scavenger hunt for these keys. However clearly, after 5 years, our super-engaged gamers know these places just like the again of their hand. And what we really need this to really feel like is, even if you happen to haven’t performed the sport as a lot, even if you happen to’ve not too long ago joined the sport, you’ve nonetheless received an important probability of successful these.”
The important thing to that’s the new character, H. Gamers have been fixing in-game riddles for years, however H speaks to gamers in a wholly completely different means: “H will see issues by means of a barely completely different lens and describe issues in a barely completely different means. You’ll be able to’t depend on how we normally describe these points of the scenes, it is advisable interpret H’s lexicon and the way they speak about this stuff, attempt to perceive what H was seeing after they have been making these notes and following of their footsteps.”
In impact, H would be the sport’s personal model of the Thriller’s inspiration, Levasseur, providing inscrutable supplies for gamers to puzzle over, talk about, and work collectively on – till they strike out on their very own to obtain the last word prize. However don’t dilly-dally; you’ve lots lower than 300 years to determine this one out.
The Hoarder’s Hunt begins in Sea of Thieves in the present day. Join now to participate.
Sea of Thieves 2023 Version
Microsoft Studios
$39.99
$19.99
Xbox One X Enhanced
PC Sport Cross
Xbox Sport Cross
Xbox Stay Gold membership required to play on Xbox One; offered individually.
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2023 Version Out Now
Have fun 5 years since Sea of Thieves’ launch with this particular version of the sport, which features a copy of Sea of Thieves itself with all everlasting content material added since launch, plus a ten,000 gold bonus and a number of Hunter cosmetics. The Hunter Cutlass, Pistol, Compass, Hat, Jacket and Sails will make sure you minimize a formidable determine as you set sail for journey!
Concerning the Sport
Sea of Thieves presents the important pirate expertise, from crusing and preventing to exploring and looting – every little thing it is advisable reside the pirate life and turn into a legend in your personal proper. With no set roles, you’ve full freedom to strategy the world, and different gamers, nonetheless you select.
Whether or not you’re voyaging as a bunch or crusing solo, you’re sure to come across different crews on this shared world journey – however will they be pals or foes, and the way will you reply?
A Huge Open World
Discover an unlimited open world crammed with unspoiled islands and underwater kingdoms. Tackle quests to hunt for misplaced loot, forge a popularity with the Buying and selling Corporations and battle foes from Phantoms and Ocean Crawlers to Megalodons and the mighty Kraken. Attempt your hand at fishing, make maps to your personal buried treasure or select from tons of of different non-obligatory objectives and side-quests!
Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life
Play the Tall Tales to expertise Sea of Thieves’ distinctive narrative-driven campaigns, and be a part of forces with Captain Jack Sparrow in Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life, an acclaimed unique story that brings Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean crusing into Sea of Thieves. These immersive and cinematic quests present round 30 hours of the last word pirate journey.
A Sport That’s At all times Rising
With every Season bringing in new sport options each three months alongside common in-game Occasions and new narrative Adventures, Sea of Thieves is a service-based sport that’s nonetheless rising and evolving. Test again frequently to see what free content material has been newly added, and see how far you possibly can climb by means of every Season’s 100 ranges of Renown to earn particular rewards.
Turn into Legend
In your journey to turn into a Pirate Legend you’ll amass loot, construct a popularity and outline a singular private type together with your hard-earned rewards. Adventurer. Explorer. Conqueror. What is going to your legend be?
