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Sea of Thieves death cost idea axed by Rare

Course correction.

Rare has ditched plans to implement a penalty upon dying in Sea of Thieves.

Last week Rare mentioned the idea in a blog post filled with upcoming features headed to the game - but it drew questions and ire from fans.

Rare later said the feature would not penalise players killed by other players - before now saying it had dropped the idea completely.

Fans were quick to ask questions about how a "death cost" would be implemented. Would this unfairly impact new players? Would it encourage griefing?

Writing on Twitter last night, Sea of Thieves exec producer Joe Neate said Rare had heard the feedback and the death cost plan was no more.

Neate expanded upon this in a launch status blog post released last night:

"One piece of additional feedback we've seen is around a proposed change listed in our release notes last week," he wrote, "and we've heard the sentiment there, so I can confirm that Death Cost is, well, dead. Thanks for the feedback here. We're listening."

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Sea of Thieves is now down for maintenance (until 2pm UK time) while Rare patches up some of the game's ongoing issues. Expect a hefty download when you next log on, if your PC/Xbox One has not updated the game client already.

Future patches will be smaller in size, but Rare is rushing out a full game update to fix issues with stability while demand to play is so high.

Not decided whether you'll jump aboard? Eurogamer's Sea of Thieves review is now live.

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