A suggestion to Ease the Pain for PvEers, and possibly increase the reward for PvP.

  • TheArgonaut144
    Ship Mate

    Now I guess some of you are already bristling about this thread purely because it has PvE in the title. Give me a chance and hear me out at least. There are some sweeping generalizations about player types here too.

    The problem - From new player/PvEers point of view.

    The maiden voyage does nothing to prepare a new player for any contact with other players, and when new players or PvEers join it is a horrible shock to get your treasure taken and so on.

    The problem from PvPers or Experienced players point of view.

    There's nothing to do other than go after other players and as other players are hard to find it encourages server hopping and so on.

    My suggestion.

    There is a single port that entirely new players spawn on the first time they join on the far left of the map - possibly a new area or whatever. It has no means of turning anything in, so there's no Gold hoarders tent etc so it is literally there as a safe port for new players. Maybe even make it completely non conflict. Once the player has logged in ONCE there, the next time they join it is like usual. (with some minor changes below) This Port also has a bit more tutorial stuff on it, a little fishing jetty and easy to get supplies.

    It is also the base for a new faction I'll simply call The Navy, but you get the idea. The Navy has a fair few AI ships patrolling waters close to their home port with less ships the further to the right of the map you go .

    When a player sinks another player, they get a point of notoriety. When you get 10 (Or however many makes it balanced) the Navy start paying attention to you. They'll attempt to sink or arrest you or whatever. This only works if the Navy AI is pretty good and presents something of a challenge to experienced players. If you are notorious and get sunk by the Navy then notoriety is reset and you lose all treasure etc.

    More notoriety will mean players attract more attention from the Navy and bigger ships or fleets coming after you. Sinking a Navy ship would make you even more notorious. Notoriety carries across from one play session to the next. Your notoriety will have some influence on where you spawn in to prevent peaceful sailors spawning in notorious pirate territory and stop Notorious Pirates from spawning next to the Navy Port. Basically the more notorious you are the more likely you are to spawn towards the right hand side of the map. I appreciate this might mean a few less volcanic explosions might be required.

    In this way a notorious player might think going near to the Navy Port presents a larger risk and might stay in the middle and towards the right of the map. New players or those wanting a safer environment might stay to the left of the map near the navy. Those who enjoy a bit of both can hang around wherever.

    Selecting your quest on the captains table would have a bit more meaning as a peaceful sailor might only choose quests to the left of the map under the safety blanket of the Navy and Notorious Pirates might choose quests to the right of the map.

    More Notoriety would give a boost on gold being turned in. Players with Zero notoriety would get the base rate. Players with 20/30/40 notoriety would get that %age gold boost. Stolen loot no longer gives a boost.

    The General premise

    It allows players to choose the level of conflict they want to engage in to a greater degree, and possibly might prevent noob-stomping or repeated griefing/sinking of the same boat. Those players who want to terrorize the high seas can still do so with risk/reward being increased. Those who want to stay away from conflict can do so.

    Everyone can still sail wherever they like, but PvEers run into more notorious pirates the further right they go, and PvPers run into more Navy the further left they go.

    Amnesty's on Notoriety could be announced with and updates so any player can cruise into the Navy Port and request their Notoriety points be reset or stay away and keep their notoriety.

    There will be some issues. Losing you Notoriety to the Navy would mean you spawned in with the soft targets and the best way to get your notoriety back would be to sink everything you see. Maybe if the Navy see you start a fight near the Navy Port they'd converge and intervene much faster pulling in all ships in the area?

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  • Scarecrow1771
    Marauder
    Insider

    @theargonaut144 An extended version of the maiden voyage, like some kind of single player instanced "tutorial island" could be an interesting idea.
    But all the rest is unnecessarily complicated.
    Also I doubt that Rare is willing to add human npc faction that travel around and interact with players, as we the players are supposed to be the humans on the Sea of Thieves.

  • Octopus Lime
    Master
    Founder

    @theargonaut144 I'd be up for a big social hub that has no PvP (like a safe port). When you join the game, you and your crew spawn at this safe port where you could interact with other crews in the tavern, perhaps introduce mini games. Then when you are ready to set sail, you head to the dock and interact with something (shipwright perhaps) which would then put you into the setting sail loading screen as usual and you would join a regular server.

    It doesn't really solve any of the PvE/newer player issues though but thought I'd share it (it has been suggested before). I think what you have suggested is good on paper but would be a huge undertaking to implement and not really neccesary.

  • wagstr
    Master
    Insider

    @theargonaut144

    An outpost for fresh Maiden voyagers could make sense but you could not enforce safety properly in reality.

    People need to understand and get their head around the fact that players do not sink ships, water sinks ships..

    Not bailing sinks ships..
    Storms help to sink ships..

    There are a hundred ways to sink a ship without being directly responsible, working out what exactly sunk a ship is nigh on impossible in most cases.

    For instance if a new crew accidentally hit my ship with theirs leaving the Maiden outpost leaving a tiny hole what is stopping me from just watching my ship slowly fill up with water and sink?

    Who gets the notoriety, them or I?

  • TheArgonaut144
    Ship Mate

    It wouldn't really completely enforce safety, only on that single island with virtually nothing to do there.

    There would be more calculated risks for all player types, although it is a massive undertaking - I realise that.

  • Stundorn
    Castaway
    Insider
    Founder

    @theargonaut144

    Here is my input.

    Dont divide players into pve and pvp players.

    Branch out into both in a balanced way that fits the unpredictable pirate adventure you have each time you login.

    Problems solved.

  • Stundorn
    Castaway
    Insider
    Founder

    More in detail

    @theargonaut144 sagte in A suggestion to Ease the Pain for PvEers, and possibly increase the reward for PvP.:

    The problem - From new player/PvEers point of view.

    The maiden voyage does nothing to prepare a new player for any contact with other players, and when new players or PvEers join it is a horrible shock to get your treasure taken and so on.

    Maybe. RAMSEY can give some warm words about it before releasing new pirates to the SoT?!
    I agree in general.

    The problem from PvPers or Experienced players point of view.

    There's nothing to do other than go after other players and as other players are hard to find it encourages server hopping and so on.

    I disagree, because me and my crew are long term players, year one Legends and even now mostly accomplished everything already related to Adventure.
    Pure PvP players hoping servers, playing TDM in Arena and all thst are just a chore to the community.
    They provide nothing, but mostly only toxicity to the game experience.
    It's not PvP, it's how they PvP and how they stomp on others.
    PvP with an adventerous RPirate crew is funny and always a great experience.
    I just had 2 yesterday.
    A funny 3 man french Sloop we sunk when the tried to ambush.
    And all was fine and funny.
    And some toxic tuccers from a Brigantine who were killed by our piratess and then insulted her and us alltogether.

    My suggestion.

    There is a single port that entirely new players spawn on the first time they join on the far left of the map - possibly a new area or whatever. It has no means of turning anything in, so there's no Gold hoarders tent etc so it is literally there as a safe port for new players. Maybe even make it completely non conflict. Once the player has logged in ONCE there, the next time they join it is like usual. (with some minor changes below) This Port also has a bit more tutorial stuff on it, a little fishing jetty and easy to get supplies.

    And thw bullys will lure on the boarder of that Zone.

    It is also the base for a new faction I'll simply call The Navy, but you get the idea. The Navy has a fair few AI ships patrolling waters close to their home port with less ships the further to the right of the map you go .

    Sorry no,, because of lore and many more.
    Btw it's the GMU - Grand Maritime Union, not the Navy

    When a player sinks another player, they get a point of notoriety. When you get 10 (Or however many makes it balanced) the Navy start paying attention to you. They'll attempt to sink or arrest you or whatever. This only works if the Navy AI is pretty good and presents something of a challenge to experienced players. If you are notorious and get sunk by the Navy then notoriety is reset and you lose all treasure etc.

    So i will be punished for sinking toxic trashtalking pvpers successfully???

    More notoriety will mean players attract more attention from the Navy and bigger ships or fleets coming after you. Sinking a Navy ship would make you even more notorious. Notoriety carries across from one play session to the next. Your notoriety will have some influence on where you spawn in to prevent peaceful sailors spawning in notorious pirate territory and stop Notorious Pirates from spawning next to the Navy Port. Basically the more notorious you are the more likely you are to spawn towards the right hand side of the map. I appreciate this might mean a few less volcanic explosions might be required.

    This gets cheesed too easily, people make new alts simply.
    You can cheese it with a premade setup too.
    And regularily playing and defending successfully get punished too.
    Sorry, wont work as you think it should.
    Also triggera the hardcore PvP tryhards even more.

    In this way a notorious player might think going near to the Navy Port presents a larger risk and might stay in the middle and towards the right of the map. New players or those wanting a safer environment might stay to the left of the map near the navy. Those who enjoy a bit of both can hang around wherever.

    Selecting your quest on the captains table would have a bit more meaning as a peaceful sailor might only choose quests to the left of the map under the safety blanket of the Navy and Notorious Pirates might choose quests to the right of the map.

    More Notoriety would give a boost on gold being turned in. Players with Zero notoriety would get the base rate. Players with 20/30/40 notoriety would get that %age gold boost. Stolen loot no longer gives a boost.

    The General premise

    It allows players to choose the level of conflict they want to engage in to a greater degree, and possibly might prevent noob-stomping or repeated griefing/sinking of the same boat.

    It doesnt, because it can be cheesed easily and those who want a balanced experience are left out.

    Those players who want to terrorize the high seas can still do so with risk/reward being increased. Those who want to stay away from conflict can do so.

    And what about the players who aproach both in a balanced way?
    I neither do terrorize, nor do i want peace. I set sail for an unpredictable pirate adventure.
    That's what it is about.
    You split the players up into this or that, when the intended way to play is to branch out into both aspects and have an unpredictable
    adventure.

    The game is great, the playerbase is at maximum medoicre and rather gaming the system than having a pirate adventure.
    That's not fault of the game or devs.
    It's exagerating gamers exploiting every pixel they can find.

    Remove serverhopping.
    Tons of problems solved.
    Force playwrs into the adventure they cannot tweak to their favors!!!

  • Nabberwar
    Lord
    Insider

    @theargonaut144

    It is also the base for a new faction I'll simply call The Navy, but you get the idea.

    Just no, one of the core pillars in this game is thieving. You should not punish players for what is considered a normal way of playing by sicking the AI on them. This isn't GTA where the game revolves around doing crime and facing off against the authority. We are all playing the same game, why do some players deserve protection over the others? We are all equals according to the code, so why are some more equal than others?

    I wouldn't be against a more thorough tutorial, or Rare making a sort of apprenticeship program. One that connects new Pirates with the old, but I see no reasons to cater to the PvE crowd. They don't get to use the same excuses as the newbies. Their refusal to engage in PvP is no problem but their own. You will never improve on something when you avoid doing it. They are not an endangered breed that deserves a safety blanket. We all bought/play a game that tells you from the start that people can and will steal from you. This isn't a secret and by hitting set sail you agree to be a target to the whims of the crews around you. Their refusal to accept that isn't mine nor Rare's problem.

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