

Either they don't have any on board, or we enter into a slow-speed chase for 10 minutes before we both tire-who wants to lose their hard-earned, possibly boringly-earned, haul in a fight with someone who almost definitely has no loot of their own on board? Disappointingly, I very rarely end up with any loot from player encounters (I think it happened once). But spotting a ship is uncommon enough that, should I decide to take on the pirate's life, I go for just about any ship I can see. The more loot on board, the greater the nerves as you book it to an outpost to sell it.Ī clever pirate can read cues to know whether or not their target has loot on board: If they're parked at an island, they're probably completing a quest (getting treasure), and if they're headed toward an outpost, they're probably planning to sell their haul. It sits wherever you put it on your ship, protected only by your ability to avoid, or fend off other players, who can snatch it (or sink you and then snatch it) and turn it in themselves for the reward. What nearly justifies the simplicity of the quests-they do get boring-is that cooperative effort to traverse the sea, as well as Sea of Thieves' violent nucleus: Your loot does not disappear into an invisible inventory, and doesn't stay with you if you log off. The line between piracy and griefing is blurry.
