The open beta officially ends today. We want to thank the playtesters who sailed ahead of everyone else, wrote long reports, and patiently replayed the same quests over and over just to make sure the flow felt right. Most of the changes below come straight from your notes.
Rebalancing the spice economy was the biggest concern. In the beta, price gaps for pepper and nutmeg between islands were too wide, so a player who found one good trade route could skip several levels in a single voyage. We tightened the early price range, added a daily stock limit per merchant, and made prices drift slowly with trade volume. Trading is still profitable and still a legitimate way to level up, but it no longer breaks the progression curve in the first ten levels.
Crafting the Pirate Dinghy was also sped up. Many playtesters reported that gathering materials for your first ship felt like a chore rather than an adventure. We reduced the Teak Wood requirement, Sailcloth can now be found in shipwreck chests around the bay, and forging the Iron Anchor is faster. On average, new players now reach open water about ten minutes sooner than before.
On the technical side, we fixed a number of ship-navigation spots that frequently snagged hulls inside the bay, especially around the narrow docks and the river mouth. Several misplaced collision blocks were cleaned up, and the harbor entrance was widened slightly without changing how the buildings look.
All beta progress has been reset ahead of the official Season 1. We know this stings for anyone who built a lot, but the reset was necessary so the economy starts clean and nobody begins the season with a large head start. In exchange, every beta participant received the cosmetic title “Pioneer Deckhand,” which will never be handed out again.
A few pieces of feedback did not make this release — particularly requests for a shared fleet warehouse and adjustments to cannon range. Both are on our work list and will be discussed openly on Discord before they ship. Thank you again; Season 1 is far better because of you.