It was supposed to be a triumphant homecoming. The 18th season of Sea of Thieves, titled "Return to The Devil's Roar," promised to revitalize the game’s most hated region with new loot, new lore, and the menacing Eternal Guard enemies. But following the release of Act 2 on January 22, the seas have become less about adventure and more about exploitation.
A game-breaking loop involving the newly introduced Orb of the Banished has left the pirate sandbox drowning in gold, hyper-inflation, and a community that feels increasingly unheard. For a game approaching its eighth anniversary, the state of the seas feels surprisingly fragile—a symptom, perhaps, of a studio that has had a brutal year behind the scenes.
At the heart of the chaos is the Orb of the Banished. Introduced in Act 2, this glowing artifact was designed as the ultimate reward for conquering the Molten Sands Fortress. Under normal circumstances, clearing this raid takes time, coordination, and a lot of bananas.
But players aren't doing it normally.
Almost immediately after the update dropped, crews discovered they could stack these Orbs by manipulating the vault’s respawn mechanics. With a base value of 50,000 gold—skyrocketing to over 156,000...
