Boarding ships & and naval combat

As a pirate game, boarding will always be a thing and that's how it should be.
Be glad that you can prevent them from boarding by guarding ladders... In blazing sails, using the ladder teleports you to the deck. BS also being a pirate game, boarding is a valid tactic than can finish a fight more quickly. This is just how it should be in a pirate game.
Boarding will always be a thing and not having ladders just removes the option to do it stealthly. So adding a feature that removes an option of gameplay is not a good idea IMO.

It's funny to see how the boarded always talk about this feature as being easy and without skill when the boarders know that's not true. It's far from being easy when the defending crew know what they are doing and... Well, you know, guard their ladders.

@galactic-geek sagte in Boarding ships & and naval combat:

I think any kind of TDM-inspired mode, or any new good competitive modes in Arena really, would only serve to take away from Adventure. It'll be Fortnite all over again - the predominantly PvP mode will usurp the PvEvP mode...

Maybe, and that's just a maybe, it will work out that way:
Hardcore pvp'ers go in the tdm mode and fight until they get bored or tired and then they hop in adventure and sail around and do some relaxing pve here and there, maybe even some naval battles.
After a while, when they feel the urge to pvp again they go back in that mode and fight....

If it could work out like that, then it would make life a lot easier for the pve community aswell.

@elanlai I'm sorry but I completely disagree with you here. One thing that separates a good crew from an outstanding crew is that an outstanding crew will always know when they are being boarded, and will be able to take them out with ease. Due to this, the only way to really fight an outstanding crew is by out-navaling them. For instance, my crew and I almost never get boarded as we have dedicated roles for each other, and when somebody attempts to board, we will all prioritise that boarder as they become the biggest threat.

To summarise, what I am saying is that boarding is one of the key features of Sea of Thieves and it is a high-risk high-reward situation when the crews know what they are doing. As the main boarder of my crew, I can say that I find it more fun than anything else in the game, especially against other Triumphant Sea Dogs.

@galactic-geek said in Boarding ships & and naval combat:

I think any kind of TDM-inspired mode, or any new good competitive modes in Arena really, would only serve to take away from Adventure. It'll be Fortnite all over again - the predominantly PvP mode will usurp the PvEvP mode...

I dont if it would take away from adventure. I mean in the PvP mode you wouldn't be able to do any kind of faction work and if they made it so couldn't earn gold or rep I wouldn't see an issue. It would in no way be a substitute for adventure mode, players would still need to play adventure to earn money, rank up, play events ect.

@kommodoreyenser I'm usually one for features that help new/less experienced players—and this undoubtedly does—but I think this also has the potential for a lot of gaffe's for the "lifting" ship.

The #1 I still mess up on is: remembering to equip my ideal "loadout" before going onto an island. Sometimes I might remember to unload all of my cannons/fruit/wood but I'll forget to reload, other times it's the opposite. But I imagine the lowering/raising of the ladder would be similar; and if Rare changed mermaid spawns, so maybe they would populate further while at the same island as your (stationary) ship, I could see this being a very balanced feature.

So even though it might be extremely helpful to new players, it could also be extremely frustrating and debilitating.

Who knows, it might even lead to more PvP fights on islands (since spawn camping would be much more difficult), which could lead to more people enjoying it. It also lends itself to more creative ways to board and steal other ship's loot, and challenge's veteran players to put their mastery of the game to the test in new ways.

@thagoochiestman Have already said my peace about it. Won't stop my crew from getting on your ship anyways. A chain shot and a good ram. Boom, back to square one and then people will have to complain about chain shot.

THE best will be your ladders are lifted and we blunder bomb you off your stationary ship.

@kommodoreyenser I think one of the points of this feature was that it wouldn't completely eliminate that tactic, it would just make it more difficult.

Nobody is denying that tactics will evolve and players will still get on ships, but the tactics you described also requires getting much closer to the ship and requires that ship to maneuver if they wish to avoid being sunk.

So that strategy would actually increase the overall amount of naval combat/interactions (or at least increase the importance of naval strategy), which was one of the other goals of the original post.

@bugaboo-bill said in Boarding ships & and naval combat:

@kommodoreyenser and the attacker can do aswell as he also need to fear to get boarded and their attack/ chase to be stopped by a boarder, no?
If i get chased i sail into the wind and board followers to keg them, drop their anchor, kill them or to just keep them away from adjusting sails for 2 seconds.

You say there is no benefit for attackers, because you think an agressive crew is capable of defeding their ladders?
Based on what ? your experiences, but not overall experiences i'd guess.

I stopped many agressors by boarding them way before they even thought i were already there and way before they board me!

@wagstr

with all respect, but you are playing down once opinion and sugestion based on their playtime???
Woo, like i said in recent threads - this is sorry to say very less reflected and a little bit biased and elitist, dont you think?

BTW i play longer than you or kommodore, so my opinion is more worthy?
I partaked in Alpha and Beta programm, i was a pioneer before Insiders was a thing.
So from your logic, you wouldnt be able to tell me anything about the game, because i follow the game project longer, played more, partaked more in the overall experience of SoT!?

Everyones opinion is regardless of playtime worthy and to be treated with respect and not to be rated down because of anyone thinking he has more insight. It can also make you operationally blind!
Someones opinion and suggestions, no matter if it was the first hour only has to be valued as high as everyones else.
Thats what makes an inclusive game and community,
And just in the news :
https://www.seaofthieves.com/de/news/reaffirming-community-policy

I'm well aware that nobody in this game is really fit to even tie your bootlaces Bill, we get that.

My point was in part anybody who has put a few hundred hours or more into the game has a slightly different opinion on the combat/adventure balance than one who has been playing for 1 or 10 hours obviously. That might not be a very 'woke' opinion but it is a fact.

Also, even more to the point, my comments were more of a dig at the 'new' people who are using obvious alt-accounts created especially for the case of furthering whatever cause.. A simple glance at some profiles often confirms this..

Look bottom line, if people want no or very limited boarding, it already exists in the game.

Equip the shroudbreaker and sail into the red around Shores of gold. Can't cannon over because instant black screen, if they try to swim to you they will get black screened unless your ships are very close to each other. There ya go. No reason to waste dev time on being able to pull up your ladders.

@bugaboo-bill said in Boarding ships & and naval combat:

@kommodoreyenser mockery par excelence - thats why people call the community toxic!

If the dev's and the community at large followed along with every request to make the game easier, simpler, less combative, we all would only have a sword, no throwable, a ship with no cannons, and unarmed skeletons as an entire game transformed into a loot fetch simulator.

There is no doubt making ladders retractable makes defending your ship little more than pounding the F key to put planks in holes, and throwing water overboard via a bucket. Sound like fun? Probably not to most the player-base if this is introduced.

Also, aggressive crews that are any good won't pull up their ladders ever because they understand getting knocked off in combat is a huge possibility/near inevitability and being 1-2 crew down because they can't climb back aboard or merm right away usually means getting sunk. Solo? Forget about it, you get knocked off with holes, you would sink without question.

The ONLY way to balance adding such a mechanic would be to have a very delayed/no merm spawn while all ladders are up. Prove me wrong and suggest a better downside to having them raised.

@bugaboo-bill

You should know better than to ask me to name and shame on the forum Bill..

Suffice to say I have seen (more than one) less than two week old profile stacked with Tomes commendations, FOTD commendations, Athena commendations, sailed 500,000m+ and haven't even cronched on 5 different types of fruit yet...

One of their earliest commendations also always seems to be playing a shanty in a Tavern with other crews too... Always asking to do away with all in-game PvP as well.. I just wonder why, maybe the sort of 'servers' they have gotten used to?

No evidence of previous games played even in some cases... Almost as if somebody else did all the hard work for them in SoT.

Like you say anyway it gets tiring discussing the same thing over but feel free to shout me out again in another 5 days or whenever by all means..