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Sea of Thieves‘ first week of availability hasn’t been entirely smooth, with the game suffering from a variety of server problems and other technical issues. A new update–the first since launch–has now been released to alleviate some of the problems that players continue to deal with.

Following a batch of server maintenance, the update is now available on Xbox One and PC. As detailed on the game’s official website, this “contains a wide array of fixes across our services, stability, and game experience.” It’s a sizable download, ranging from 10 GB on Xbox One to nearly 20 GB for the Xbox One X and PC versions. Rare explained that it opted to go for a full game update because it was the fastest way to get the fixes into players’ hands. “If we’d wanted it to be a smaller client update we would have had to delay by a number of days, and felt the priority here was releasing the improvements to our player base,” the company said.

Rare also shared full patch notes for the update (version 1.01) on its forums. These detail the long list of bugs that have been addressed, which range from Black Dog pack items not showing up and snakes facing the wrong direction to lost cosmetic changes and chests that can’t be picked up. There are also improvements to performance, and screen tearing should be less common. You can see the full patch notes below.

Much as it did after the launch issues, Rare also shared another developer update video, which you can watch above. It’s noted that demand for the game has been “off the charts” and the current priority is to get it working as intended. Several known issues remain even with this update installed, and those are discussed in the video. Those include delayed gold and reputation rewards, delayed Achievements, and Bounty quest skeletons being impossible to find.

Rare also said it’s listening to fans’ requests for improvements to the game and that it’s discussing those and will talk about them in a future video. One change it has already confirmed in response to feedback is the cancelation of the proposed death cost penalty. You can read more about the game in our Sea of Thieves review and check out some beginner’s tips to help you get started.

Sea Of Thieves Update 1.01 Patch Notes

Fixed Issues

• Players who have redeemed their Black Dog Pack pre-order code will now correctly see these items in their in-game chests. Not received your code? Check your Xbox Live messages over the next couple of days.
• Characters should no longer lose details such as hair colour and scars.
• When digging up a chest, there is no longer a chance that it will be impossible to pick up
• Players should no longer intermittently be missing items and weapons when loading into the game
• Weapon, clothing and ship cosmetic changes made after migrating server will now persist across sessions
• Players will now correctly see other players titles
• Snakes will now behave correctly, turning to face the player when agitated
• Animal and skeleton movement around slopes has been improved
• The game will no longer enter an unresponsive state after accepting a game invitation whilst matchmaking
• Merchant Alliance notifications for handing in various items have been corrected
• Lighting has been tweaked in order to improve performance on multiple islands and outposts
• Fixed tinnitus sound which persists after being killed by multiple explosive barrels.
• Seagulls now fly over floating barrels.
• Players can no longer be held by a seemingly invisible Kraken tentacle.
• Fixed a range of potential game crashes.

Performance Improvements

Significant performance optimisations across all platforms, specifically targeting the 4K native resolution of Xbox One X.

• Drastically reduced the likelihood of tearing when using the small ship.
• Reduced the likelihood of tearing when inside the Taverns.
• Sizeable framerate improvements when traversing large islands.
• Reduced likelihood of framerate hitches when navigating outposts.
• Optimised Foliage for smoother experience in overgrown jungle areas.

Further improvements and optimisations for all platforms are ongoing.

Known Issues

• Player gold and reputation can be delayed when cashing in a reward.
• Player achievements can be delayed.
  • For an update on both of these issues, please read our Launch Update written by Executive Producer, Joe Neate.
• Bounty quest skeletons sometimes do not spawn or cannot be found.
  • If you encounter this bug, a potential work around is to sail away from the island until it’s out of range, and then sail back in to trigger the Island Name banners.
• Joining a player whose ship is parked at an active skeleton fort will prevent the joining player’s radial menus being opened.
• Rare Lore Items throughout the world will read in English, regardless of current language settings.
• “Hunter of Cursed Crews,” Commendation is not updating.
• Players may become comically smaller after fighting the Kraken.

Sea of Thieves conveys nature’s beauty and wrath with aplomb, and sailing across the open ocean in a creaky vessel can make you fall in love with its impressive presentation. This romantic connection can be felt most when sailing alone, but Sea of Thieves is primarily designed to be played with a trusty crew. Doing so allows you to revel in buffoonery and appreciate the value of teamwork, delivering an entirely different perspective on what it means to be a pirate.

These awesome moments make the initial hours of the game feel like you’re embarking on a special journey, but this love affair is quickly tested both by the game itself and other players, some of whom on PC are already employing hacks to put your interactions on uneven footing. Sea of Thieves is just that: a game that belongs to conniving robbers, who see fit to disrupt well-meaning players despite gaining no prize other than gold for purchasing cosmetic items. This is to be expected to a degree, and I’d be lying if I said there weren’t moments when I screwed over someone else for the sheer delight of asserting power and punishing another player’s naivety.

Even so, sabotaging others didn’t make me happy for long, and certainly didn’t provide me with anything meaningful enough to warrant developing my underhanded side. To that end, playing as a trusting do-gooder is often more fulfilling, though the aforementioned aggressors and a surprising lack of depth to missions curtailed this approach, too. After 30 hours, I’m left wondering when I’ll jump back into the game again. A part of me feels like I’ve seen it all; another part of me knows I’m using that as an excuse to take a break from grinding through another shallow quest in search of gold.

The ostensibly ultimate goal is to become a legendary pirate captain, a prestige that comes with a supposedly notorious-looking ship meant to instill awe. To reach that level of notoriety, you have to increase your reputation with the game’s three factions, each to the maximum level, by completing a series of quests. These include defeating reanimated skeletons of fallen pirate captains, digging up buried treasure, and capturing very specifically colored pigs and chickens. If hunting small animals sounds boring, you’re right on the money; the fact that it’s a dominant activity in the game is mildly baffling. The other two pursuits have their charms at first, but once you realize that the basic requirements of each faction’s quests are forever the same, monotony quickly sets in. Given that, maybe it’s not surprising that people opt to rob others of their treasures as a means to impress factions.

Again, the only reward for earning reputation–even for sticking it out and becoming a legendary pirate–is looking fancy. New guns are always only as good as the ones you started out with, and expensive attire is designed to impress, not to protect you from harm any better than a basic set of rags. This might be enough for some people to stick it out through the repetitive quests and often frustrating engagements with other players, but I can’t imagine why a dash of color here and a new collar there would inspire the ardent perseverance required.

All that said, I can still appreciate the dynamics of working with a friendly crew, and if I ever return to Sea of Thieves in the near future it will be to recapture those special moments. There’s almost no better way to kill time during a voyage than to act like an idiot on deck. Chugging grog to the point of vomiting is a regular occurance, as is catching it in a bucket to toss on a crewmate, clouding their vision with bile and booze. The drunker you get, the less stable you are, and the higher the chance that you’ll accidentally stumble overboard, much to the delight of everyone.

Coordinating with a team of three other sailors to properly stock your vessel and manage its equipment is the most immediate venue for skill development. The only time you’re truly tested is when engaging in battle against another ship, where you’re required to manage the speed and orientation of your boat, load and fire cannons on deck, and patch up holes from enemy fire before your ship fills with water and sinks. It’s great when you can fend off an attacker, but conversely demoralizing when stripped of your riches. Just because you sign up for that risk when you dedicate yourself to the game doesn’t mean losing all your treasure is any less of a hit to your enthusiasm when another crew takes over your ship.

Sea of Thieves offers other notable surprises, such as the appearance of a cloud-skull in the sky with glowing eyes, signaling a “raid” consisting of waves of enemies nearby. You can tackle these well enough with a four-person crew, but you are free to team up with others as well; just be prepared for them to turn on you when it comes time to collect the bounty of treasure.

You may also run into the infamous, massive Kraken mid-voyage, a moment that is exciting the first time around, but subsequently one worth avoiding. The Kraken’s gigantic octopus arms writhe out of stained black water–really, a trick to prevent you seeing that the kraken is just a group of disconnected arms without a body in the middle. Its arms can either grab your ship or pluck sailors from the deck, and you’ve got a limited amount of time to pummel it with cannon fire to free would-be victims. In the end, all you can do is damage it enough so that it slinks away–a deflating discovery that makes you think twice about future engagements, especially given that there’s no tangible reward for your victory.

There may come a time when Sea of Thieves is able to entice me back, and I imagine that will be with a mix of new mission types and hopefully the promise of rewards that allow for new types of interactions, if not improve my character’s capabilities. For now, it’s a somewhat hollow game that can be fun for a handful of hours when played with friends, and something worth trying out if you happen to be an Xbox Game Pass subscriber. Even though it’s hard to wholeheartedly recommend, I like enough of what I see to hold out hope that things will eventually improve as the game continues to be patched and updated with new content.

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It’s been over five years since Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) was sen in a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie. Thanks to Captain Marvel, though, that’s about to change. During the course of Marvel’s Avengers, the SHIELD operative was seemingly killed. That didn’t last long though, as Coulson was resurrected and continued his place in the MCU on ABC’s Agents of SHIELD. As far as fans know, though, the Avengers themselves have no idea he’s alive.

Now, Coulson’s return to the big screen comes with one major wrinkle. Marvel Studios has announced that principal photography on Captain Marvel is underway, with Gregg’s name listed among the cast. The press release reads, “The story follows Carol Danvers as she becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.” The release was accompanied by the photo below.

At this point, it remains unlikely that Coulson will be reunited with his favorite superheroes. Captain Marvel is set in the 1990s, long before Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) assembled the team of Avengers. Jackson will also appear in the film, marking his first time in the MCU since 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.

While it will be the younger versions of both Coulson and Fury in the movie, it’ll be exciting to see them back in MCU movies nonetheless. Hopefully, the film gives Coulson the chance to gush about his Captain America fandom to Danvers (Brie Larson).

Captain Marvel also stars Ben Mendelsohn, Jude Law, and Gemma Chan. Notably, both Lee Pace and Djimon Hounsou, who starred in Guardians of the Galaxy as Ronan the Accuser and Korath respectively, are also listed among the movie’s cast. Given that both are members of the Kree alien race and the film is set during a war between the Kree and the Skrulls, their inclusion is an exciting addition.

Captain Marvel hits theaters on March 8, 2019.