Are You Still Interested In Skull & Bones (Ubisoft)?

I mean, do we even have an idea of what it is at this point? I feel like I haven't seen anything of the game since E3 2018. Has anything else been released since then?

I'm interested in any good game, so if it comes out and turns out to be a unique and fun semi-sim pirate game, I'll probably check it out. As it stands though, the development seems to be in pretty rough waters. The only Ubisoft game I actually have enjoyed in the past half decade has been Rainbow Six: Siege, and that's because it eschews damned near everything that Ubisoft games are known for nowadays.

I have actually been playing Black Flag this week. It's a good game and I see why people loved it when it came out, though the Assassin's Creed parts where you have to stealth or deal with the stupid plot or, worse, walking around Abstergo definitely drag it down.

So whether I'm interested in Skull & Bones depends on what it turns out to be. If it's Black Flag without the Assassin's Creed parts then I'm very interested. If it's Destiny but with pirates I'm probably not.

There already is a popular live services pirate game called Sea of Thieves so I'm really not sure why you'd go after that space. I guess Skull & Bones would be more serious and less comedic but it still seems like an oddly specific niche for two competing projects. My hope is that this is just marketing speech BS and we get something like Immortals: Fenyx Rising but with pirates; by which I mean an Ubisoft style open world game but not directly attached to the current franchises.

Put me down for completely forgetting this was a thing.

Still?

That thing never looked good and I say this as someone that quite liked Ac4

It's such a strange idea in the first place but at the same time I wouldn't count it out just yet. Say what you want about Ubisoft they have a decent track record with at least making interesting multiplayer concepts. Structurally this business model doesn't have as much appeal to me as I'm not super into live-games at the moment. I loved Black Flag minus the Abstergo garbage, though is it meant to be solely shooting and sinking ships? I don't recall if boarding combat is meant to be a thing in this or not but does that mean they'll update it to current AC melee standards? Maybe they'll even throw some For Honored DNA in there for good measure. Trip on this though: imagine a live multiplayer Rebel Galaxy...space ships instead of water ships...

I don't think Skull & Bones ever had enough "meat on the bone" to be a success without years of expansion and improvement... and Ubisoft seems to have learned this lesson on Siege, which took quite some time and no small effort to be crafted into a success.

Oh heck nope.

I'm still very interested in what this game should've been. The question becomes, have Ubisoft managed to turn things around after learning they misjudged what people wanted. My biggest worry is that they gave the game to a "B tier" studio, which would indicate it's also a B tier project. I'm having a hard time seeing the game getting the treatment it needs to establish itself as a fresh IP.

I'll be honest, I completely forgot about this game.

I really enjoy most Ubisoft games but I have zero interest in Skull & Bones. It seemed like an odd concept for a full game back when it was announced, and now hearing that it has been stuck in development hell does not inspire confidence.

I voted no. I'm not interested in "live games" or multiplayer. The way it was announced and then hidden from the public doesn't inspire confidence, either.

However, I would be totally down for a Black Flag 2 in the style of the current AC games. Doesn't need to have the AC baggage. I'd enjoy a story-driven single player pirate game with decent swordplay. What if it was about Ching Shih?! Now I'm just sad I'll never get this game.

How does someone get burried in a game? I feel bad for anyone intered in anything, even worse a Ubisoft game. Let them out!

Given all the crap that's come out about Ubisoft; their practices, treatment of staff and sexual allegations etc I just feel put off by going anywhere near their games.

I enjoyed the ship combat in Assassins Creed as part of a greater game, but from what i heard it sounded like Skull & Bones was supposed to be this fully focused esports ship battle game. I don't know if i would be interested to queue up for a 3v3 lobby and then shoot some ships down for 15 minutes , see a bar fill up and do it all over again. If i was super interested in that kind of PvP vehicular gameplay, i would be playing Guns of Icarus. A game you can jump into and have fun with for a few hours, but not necessarily an online game i want to play for months.

Sea of Thieves stole it's lunch. I don't even think there's anywhere for Ubisoft to pivot.

Well said.

If it's more of Black Flag, then yes. The only Assassin's Creedy parts I'd want to see kept is actually having melee combat. If it's just ship combat (i.e. no boarding), then I'd be a lot less interested.

Big part of the fun of Black Flag for me was feeling like I was a character controlling a ship, rather than it feeling like I was just the ship.

Also, good character creation would be a huge plus.

@theht: I want hand to hand melee combat and wouldn't mind some on shore segments (searching for buried treasure or raiding towns or whatever.)

What I don't want is more Assassin's Creed melee combat. Do something new and interesting with the systems. Immortals: Fenyx Rising at least attempted some new ideas, though it's pretty shallow, but there are lots of more interesting melee combat styles that could be integrated.

Basically I guess I'd be happy with pirate Ghost of Tsushima. A game that's structured like Assassin's Creed and shares a lot of elements with it, but plays differently and isn't burdened with that series' played out tropes.

I could see myself liking a ships only game but it would have to be really really refined and good. The problem with ships only is that making ship to ship combat both fun (not too simmy) and deep (if that's the whole game it has to be much deeper than Black Flag's) is very difficult.

I'm open minded, i'm not crazy about it but i'm ready to be surprised by anything.

I think the world has passed that gameplay by. Felt good at the time but so much has happened since that I'm certainly no longer interested. Plus, I got sea of thieves if I want to pirate around.

I thought this got cancelled.

I was terribly sick of the ship combat by about halfway through Black Flag, so no thanks.

I think most pirate game aficionados would agree Sid Meir's Pirates' was a pinical strategy, action, and adventure videogame.

What I liked about Sid Meir's game was there were aspects of trade, romance, on-land battles, capture & escape, sea battle, discovery, etc. I would then add aspects of Mass Effect 2 where there are dilague and choice options, maybe even add three paths: Blood Thirty Warlord, Robin Hood Freebooter, and Elite Government Controlled Privateer.

That what I would want form a new pirate game take everything of sea-battle from Black Flag, but instead of the Assassin's Creed on-land gameplay they replace it with a more robust trade mechanic that is about creating trade connections and relationships on the trade cities. Also, I would like the levels of ships from Black Flag to be improved were each size of ship can be improved. A player woudl start teh game with a tiny Gunboat that only requires one crew. Then as you move up from Gunboat to Schooner, Brig, Frigate, Warship and Man-O' War. Part of the upgrade system take from Sid Meir's is that you find "specialized" crew in travers and improve crew members as you make connections - Bosuns, Gunners, Carpenters, Cooks, Navigators, Marine lieutenant, etc.

As soon as they announced the online-focus, I was out for good.

That ship has sailed

ITS BEEN A FULL YEAR SINCE I MADE THIS THREAD!!!!

I really wanted a good pirate games that was like Assassins Creed 4 Black Flag, I didn't think taht was asking a lot. I guess I was wrong! And, I have to agree with what peopel said a year ago, they truely screwed up any fo this game being enjoyable by trying to mak it and online game. I bet all most peopel eager to play this game wanted as a nice single player game; a nice narrative, some great puzzles, and wondrful at sea battles.

@monkeyking1969: And i want to feel like a pirate. I want to influence the market, i want to explore the carribean. I want to find treasure and fight a Kraken. I want to customize my boat, i want to manage my crew and avoid mutiny. I want to keelhaul enemies and have to plug holes to prevent me from sinking!

Yeah, so I just clicked on this thread, saw that it was a year old, and looked to see if I had commented on it. I feel the same way.

Everyone should go play Risen 2 if you want to be a pirate.

Just kidding...well, half kidding. The game is pretty good.

I too forgot that this was a thing.

Yes, all that too!

I waited so long between AC 4 Blakc Flag, and the annoucment of Skull & Bones being what might give me what I wanted. Yet, now never to get that dream game, it feels like a double betrayal. I wanted a pirate games that just got rid of the AC stuff - it was so close to being real - this must be how Half-Life fans feel.

@shindig said:

Sea of Thieves looks and feels like a cartoon. Just take all the things people complained that game didn't have and make it gritty.