Server hopping needs to be addressed

PvE players that do FotD or choose to stack loot should be exposed to the risk of other players on their server, not to the entire player base in their continent that is hopping to find them.

No one wants to do PvE events anymore because they are just hunted down not on the seas, but across servers.

PvE players who stack loot assume the risk for losing all of it. But that risk should be balanced against players on their server, not ALL the sneaklords in their server region.

I would suggest:

Someone who hops = placed into a new instance, for the case of people who want to do specific events. Someone who joins for the first time (or after a cooldown period) = fill up existing instances to max capacity.

@killy1682 I agree that server hopping needs to stop...not because of tucking or stealing FotD loot...just because of server stability and server merges, especially 2nd ones are a problem...

@killy1682

I want to explain something. Sneak lords, people hiding on ships or near islands. That is a HUGE commitment for the possibility of NOTHING.

The beauty of it?? Its so easily dependable. The only players who get robbed are the ones who don't bother playing like this game has PvP in it. I've played with PvE crews and the sheer mentality of "well I don't want to PvP so why should I have to be prepared for it? I'm not bothering anyone so they shouldn't bother me!" is STAGGERING.

The one I run into most?? "I haven't seen a ship for like 20mins we don't need a look out. We are fine"

I've been on boats where one player is letting boarders one left and right and I ask him HOW he can't hear them boarding "oh man I got music playing the background for atmosphere I can't hear lots of things"

There was one game I was playing and I player had JUST snuck onto the boat but I saw a shark near the boat. I asked the lookout if he heard anything and I get this "wait? Oh no man I stepped away to make food. Its boring just playing lookout so I went to do things around the house"

PvE players are LAZY and COMPLACENT. They continuously play this game its like Hello Kitty's Island Adventurer.

Want to know how many times I've had players take FoTD loot from me or my crew, or even Fort loot or ANY loot for that matter?? Zero. Whenever I play with my crew we play like this game is what it is, PvPvE. A game with pirates and we play and act like it.

Server hopping is never the problem, its players who for some reason continue to view this game as something other than an open world PvP game.

There seems to be plenty of personal attacks here so I guess I'll be forced to mention that I am high grade reaper, PL, competent PvP and PvE, etc. I play PvP in the sense that I do things to maximize interactions, like having loot, raising flags, and sailing towards ships. I've tucked on my share of FotD and attacked ships as a thief.

@Xultanis-Dragon nothing of what you said I disagree with. This game is harsh and unforgiving and I can see it eventually dying because the prey are weeded out of the game by the hunters. But that should happen because prey are hunted on servers, not hunted by server hopping. A PvE crew that chooses to take on risk by accumulating loot should be exposed to the risk of the SERVER, not the risk of the entire population of their server region.

@Nabberwar you have completely missed the point of my post. A good crew like the one you describe is exposed to the risk of the 5 other players on their server, not the 100 others in their server region that are hopping to find their loot.

Hiding a ship really isn't risky at all, even if you sink, because returning to the hotspot is basically zero risk. You lose nothing from failing because you can just hop and try again.

@killy1682
Just don't do any events! Don't gather loot.

Let them all server hop like crazy finding nothing to do. How exciting will that be for their channels and viewers.

Go fishing.. Close to the red sea!
Be the source of one's entertainment.

@d3adst1ck The empty slots in a server can be filled by players, or they can be constantly turned over by hoppers that get in and out of a server. We don't know Rare's algorithm for filling servers.

@killy1682 said in Server hopping needs to be addressed:

There seems to be plenty of personal attacks here so I guess I'll be forced to mention that I am high grade reaper, PL, competent PvP and PvE, etc. I play PvP in the sense that I do things to maximize interactions, like having loot, raising flags, and sailing towards ships. I've tucked on my share of FotD and attacked ships as a thief.

Its the reaction towards someone basically saying that PvP is an issue. Look at your post. You mention that server hopping is bad for the game but only because of the PvP it promotes towards players doing events. The fact that it might be considered an exploit is very debatable but the main focus is that your issue is described that server hopping is bad because players who are doing the event are being attacked.

You might not have tried to word it that way but thats how we all see it. Thats why. Basically think of a whole room full of animals just laying there and someone walks in and says "PvP bad" we all look up and growl and hiss at the person. Thats is whats happening.

@Xultanis-Dragon nothing of what you said I disagree with. This game is harsh and unforgiving and I can see it eventually dying because the prey are weeded out of the game by the hunters. But that should happen because prey are hunted on servers, not hunted by server hopping. A PvE crew that chooses to take on risk by accumulating loot should be exposed to the risk of the SERVER, not the risk of the entire population of their server region.

Server hopping does promote a risk. Server hopping isn't a quick "oh man just hop for 2 seconds and get insta FoTD with Ashen Winds". Its not that easy. I've spent 30mins server hopping one time for Ashen winds which was at the other side of the map and by the time I was half way there the event was over, the ship turned in the skull and left. I wasted close to an hour for nothing.

You can't use streamers as a bases for ANY bases of comparison. Players like Pace have a slew of players server hopping FOR them. Thousands upon thousands of players server hopping for 1 player. Ever wonder why Pace is never the one who starts the crew??

Streamers are a bad comparison to use, so when discussing the game DON'T use them, its just not a comparison because they will use anything to make their stream popular.

Next is the discussion between PvE players and PvP players.

If you really look at the game as a whole, the game has pushed PvP out of the window. New emissary might have looked like a good event but its badly implemented. A good amount of PvP for a single week, thats it.

The game used to have things that we could PvP for when forts used to take 3 to 4 hours to spawn. You would be on a server and see an event and be like "OH YEAH WHOLE SERVER WILL BE THERE LETS GOOOOOO!!!"

Now if there is a fort and anyone is being attacked most players just leave, if they sink they just wait for the next one.

Server hopping isn't the problem, the problem is that in a whole, there is nothing worth PvPing over that will entice PvE players to join in.

PvE players used to go to forts just for the SAKE of maybe winning and getting fort loot, would come back repeatedly because its the fort who knows.

Now?? Nothing. The loot that is worth getting is EVERYWHERE which means no one will fight for it, the only thing is the monthly events which becomes redundant after the player gets the commendation.

I would have agreed with you if it wasn't SOOOO incredibly rare for me to get PvP fights without server hopping. I can go hours, days, weeks even without a ship even bothering to come fight me. There is nothing motivating anyone to stay on a server to fight over anything.

I type this pretty fast so I could have jumped all over the place but I hope you understand what I'm trying to say.

@xultanis-dragon I agree that action is stale lately, but I think it's for a different reason, that people like us that want action have driven out the "whales" that sit on servers and accumulate juicy loot. I am torn because I know that stacking loot (and risk) is part of the game, but I don't want it to disappear because people like us hunger for action and are willing to server hop to find that action.

If loot becomes easier to find then there should be more ships on the seas with loot, instead of having an event that sucks everyone to it like forts, as you say.

@nabberwar I've already given a suggestion, where first time login places you into populated servers, and subsequent hopping (for some time period after) moves you into an empty server. Only Rare has access to player statistics, but it should be easy to identify hoppers on their side. It's easy to see when an account repeatedly leaves and requests a new server to join, and there are probably separate categories for stolen and dug loot as they put out infographics every so often.

@captain-coel I love PvP and my crew tries to maximize changes by doing world events, having an emissary (and Reapers sometimes), and sailing towards any ship we see to check them out.

Many people replying here seem to think I'm here to cry after being tucked, but I'm here to plead for a solution to what I PERCEIVE to be a problem to the long term player base of the game. I want dedicated PvE crews to stack fat loot to fight over. I want crews from the entire spectrum of fort stackers to sweaty PvPers.

PvErs are the base of the Sea of Thieves food pyramid. If they leave adventure mode becomes Arena mode.

@d3adst1ck Why do you think a new server instance is more computationally expensive than a populated one? I bet nothing is generated or simulated in the world until within range of a player, and less players means less simulation, and less physics interactions when players are together.

@d3adst1ck I don't think the overhead of a new instance for one player is more than simulating a fully populated world. Anyways, under my suggestion that instance would be filled up by new players or those who have not hopped within a cool off period.

In any case, that is only my suggestion without knowledge of player statistics or other finer details about the player base. I'm sure Rare can come up with a more creative solution.