Ok, before I start, when I saw the launch day reviews on this sub I was skeptical at first when I saw the largely negative comments about 'How this game wasn't worth the money' etc. etc.. but I decided to give it a shot with the Free trial game pass Microsoft had graciously provided (Thanks Bill).

Logged in and took a little while to get the hang of it (and learnt the hard way that this wasn't the 'Sea of Friends'). Decided to solo a bit because I didn't have an adapter on my xbox controller and didn't want to be a burden to others. (Also wanted to get a hang of the game before i played with others).

My favourite type of quests so far are the treasure hunts (i'm too chicken to do the skeleton quests by my self and the merchant quests seem kind of annoying : maybe i'll try some later).

Best experience so far, I was docked in Daggertooth outpost and saw a ship come into the dock after I had sold my latest booty. I was wary about the oncoming ship (I had a few run ins with people who shot first and asked questions later). But this guy didn't shoot and I also kept my distance. After figuring out that I wasn't hostile he docked nearby and we started the emote dance (at the time i assumed he didn't have a mic either but later learned that he did... dunno why he didn't talk at the beginning ).

We had quite a few tankards (I puked) and he even gave me a sea farer's chest as thanks for not shooting first.

We chatted over Xbox chat and added each other then partied up and went on some voyages together.

We had one opportunity to fight another sloop but i was more concerned about things going wrong and us losing what booty we had amassed. So we opted to let them be and sell our booty.

I had another experience where I met up with this random dude, partied up with him and helped him with some riddle quests (he was horrible at it).

Anyway, so far seems to be an enjoyable experience. I'll be playing again using discord voice chat tonight (so wish me luck).

TL DR: SOT is a fun casual game to play and destress after a tiring work day. And you meet some fun people along the way too.