Season 16 - Game is Catering to PVP

  • Peter Llauro
    Castaway

    It really feels like the balance has shifted too far in favor of PvP, and many PvE-focused players are being left behind. Reapers can hit level 5 incredibly fast, and once they do, everyone shows up on their map — regardless of what they’re doing. It often leads to being constantly chased, especially by Galleons, which makes solo play extremely difficult.

    The fact that Reaper rewards can only be turned in at the Hideout — a spot that’s frequently camped — just adds to the frustration. If you’re playing solo on a Sloop, it’s hard to make meaningful progress. You might get one mission done, but then spend the rest of your time avoiding stacked crews.

    And before anyone says “Sloops are faster against the wind” — sure, that’s true. But eventually, you have to turn, and a Galleon with four coordinated players will close the gap fast.

    I’m not against PvP. It’s a big part of what makes Sea of Thieves exciting. But it feels like PvE has become almost irrelevant this season, and that’s a shame. There used to be more room for different playstyles, and right now, it feels much more limited.

    I love this game and want to see it thrive, but I hope the devs consider rebalancing things a bit — not just for the hardcore PvPers or streamers, but for the broader player base as well.

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  • BurnBacon
    Vanguard
    Insider

    Did we not just have 2 back to back season mainly for pve??

    I love this game and want to see it thrive

    7 years. Seems to be thriving just fine

  • Peter Llauro
    Castaway

    Im not saying its not doing fine. But I feel that a lot of people refuse to play or abandon it because of the PvP.

    I just got a couple of friends into the game and we played regularly. But this season killed their enthusiasm for the game.

    PvE is always bigger than PvP.

    But im not saying PvP is bad. Actually its engaging and really fun, but when the game becomes so focuses on PvP, you loose the PvE completely.

    Im not sure if i´m being clear enough. Just that this season seems to be catering to a small group of players at the cost of a majority of players that prepher the PvE aspect of the game.

  • SITjk13
    Seafarer

    @peter-llauro
    This is hype, it will pass.

  • PC MonkFish
    Marauder
    Insider

    I'm a solo myself and I think it helps to accept that certain aspects of the game are out of reach given the inherent disadvantage you have.

    I don't bother attempting to accomplish the Reaper monthly ledger given the tedium of selling at Hideout and risk, man the Burning Blade after hitting my 4 streak commendations or a Fort Of Fortune during peak time.
    I will more than likely not bother with the Reaper new voyage as I am just giving someone an easy steal from a larger crew - allowing them to progress THEIR commendation.
    Occasionally I might be successful at completing these tasks but would rather avoid completely the more frequent fails.

    There would be no way to balance out this disadvantage of solo play against larger crews.

    I wouldn't want the THREAT of PvP to be removed though, as it does make the PvE more compelling when I am playing.

    The new Reaper voyage looks to have good engagement from the servers I have been on - so if would be hunters are completing that voyage or fighting others who are, I am happy to vibe under the radar.

  • Kaoteek
    Lord
    Insider

    @burnbacon said in Season 16 - Game is Catering to PVP:

    Did we not just have 2 back to back season mainly for pve??

    Not really. S12 was weapons & tools, S13 was Burning Blade, S14 was weapons & tools for tucking, and S15 was the HC update (which, it could be argued, was just as much about PVE as it was about making the HC, usually a chill faction, more competitive and more of a target for other players, with stealable loot, emissary flag, rare Megs on the map, and the Spear balanced for PVP).

    (granted, I'm playing devil's advocate here, and half of those PVP additions ended up being non-factors due to design issues or nerfing, but still)

  • RealStyli
    Vanguard
    Insider

    Reapers can hit level 5 incredibly fast

    Yeah, I'm honestly surprised that this exploit hasn't been patched yet... it's been almost 6 months?

    As for the game catering to PvP, it always has done, but I agree that they shifted balance a bit too far in favour of hunters.

    The game is PvPvE, but when you make it too easy for those PvP hunting to find PvEers, you drive those sorts of players away and the game ends up suffering as a result. I've mentioned this for years, that it's a game of cat and mouse, and Rare have been giving the cat a free lunch for a long time.

    The diving voyages (lower end) need to be looked at again to make them less viable as an easy way to quickly hop servers, which was never their intention. And I think they need to have a look again at the Burning Blade ship block, which only turned casuals away from doing it (as we called out beforehand). In fairness, addressing the SoSS respawns is a good step.

    We have Safer Seas now though, so my advice is to do the bare minimum on High Seas that you need (Emissary Ledger and Events) and do the rest on Safer Seas - it's handy for grinding some commendations. It might not get you as much Gold or Rep (or any Rep) but they are monitoring the usage of Safer Seas, and you can vote with your playtime. Plus, the hardcore PvPers would just tell you to go play on Safer Seas anyway, so might as well fulfill their monkey paw wish and keep the High Seas empty.

  • Peter Llauro
    Castaway

    @realstyli EXACTLY.

    Safer seas are a cool addittion, although it kind of defeats the point of the game. Its a great tool to learn though.

    I played as a reaper for years. I´m a capable player. But I cant fight against a full brig of 3.

    Also the problem there is that I cannot enjoy my PvEing because I will be hunted... easily. And it kills like 75% of what the game has to offer.

  • HiradC
    Lord
    Insider

    Last season geared entirely at fishing and hunters call did you feel the same way?

    It will feel overly contested early in season when sweaty players are grinding their comms.

  • heslashthem
    Legend
    Insider

    You’re playing a PvPvE game, elements of both will have their time to shine and this time it’s the PvP side. It’s about time some fun mechanics were to be had for the Reapers so levelling up for them was brought in line with everything else.

  • D3ADST1CK
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    I still believe a lot of the issues would be fixed if they removed a lot of the map radar, but instead they just keep adding more.

  • Capt Greldik
    Master

    @peter-llauro said in Season 16 - Game is Catering to PVP:

    It really feels like the balance has shifted too far in favor of PvP, and many PvE-focused players are being left behind. Reapers can hit level 5 incredibly fast, and once they do, everyone shows up on their map — regardless of what they’re doing. It often leads to being constantly chased, especially by Galleons, which makes solo play extremely difficult.

    The fact that Reaper rewards can only be turned in at the Hideout — a spot that’s frequently camped — just adds to the frustration. If you’re playing solo on a Sloop, it’s hard to make meaningful progress. You might get one mission done, but then spend the rest of your time avoiding stacked crews.

    And before anyone says “Sloops are faster against the wind” — sure, that’s true. But eventually, you have to turn, and a Galleon with four coordinated players will close the gap fast.

    I’m not against PvP. It’s a big part of what makes Sea of Thieves exciting. But it feels like PvE has become almost irrelevant this season, and that’s a shame. There used to be more room for different playstyles, and right now, it feels much more limited.

    I love this game and want to see it thrive, but I hope the devs consider rebalancing things a bit — not just for the hardcore PvPers or streamers, but for the broader player base as well.

    You are not required to get the reaper commendations. Just like I am not required to get the shores of gold curse.

    I agree that the method of getting reaper 5 really quickly should go (assuming we’re talking about the same thing) but players will still get reaper 5 and still see your emissary on the map.

    It’s so easy to play incognito in sot. If you don’t want the risk, don’t put up an emissary and don’t go to the fof unless it looks safe. If you want all of the reward then expect the risk.

  • HiradC
    Lord
    Insider

    @d3adst1ck ill let you in on a closely guarded secret. Devs want player interaction. I'm not saying they always want pvp. But the map size, the location of reapers, events being announced across the whole server. They do want player interaction, if 5 or 6 different ships are all doing their own thing in their own zone it is boring.

  • D3ADST1CK
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    @hiradc all evidence points towards map markers making player interaction easier to avoid.

  • HiradC
    Lord
    Insider

    @d3adst1ck all evidence is a bit of a stretch. So were you asking for radar to be removed.....to increase pvp?

  • D3ADST1CK
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    @hiradc Radar provides too much information. Players use it to decide whether to switch servers all the time to avoid PvP because it's incredibly powerful to know the exact location of other ships.

    It removes an element of skill that comes from situational awareness because once you're visible on the map, you can't use visual obstructions to hide your approach nor escape. It's a less interesting interaction between hunter and hunted.

  • Super87Ghost
    Commander

    @d3adst1ck I agree with you. It's also the reason why i think the reaper emissary shouldn't put you on the map (or give you the ability to spot other emissaries when you're reaper-5): PvP'ers don't want to be a reaper because of that, since it warns their prey where they are ánd because people flee the server/stop doing emissaries when there is a higher ranked reaper on the server. And because PvP'ers don't fly an emissary, the prey then complaints that matches are one-sided in the risk-reward (all possible rewards for the hunter and all the risk for the prey), since the prey can't get anything of value of they win the fight, if hunters had more of an incentive to fight as reapers, the prey could still win something of value (only thing they should change is that a reaper flag should be able to be turned in to other companies).

  • Panda Pirate923
    Commander
    Insider
    Founder

    The balance is off, I've sunk quite of bit of cash in the past into the emporium but quit buying from the emporium until we have a more balanced game.

  • Panda Pirate923
    Commander
    Insider
    Founder

    @hiradc I disagree

  • DANK JIMB0
    Captain
    Insider

    I want to give a different perspective. I play with a group of people that do a bit of everything, but they are bloodthirsty. Run reapers and sink the entire server on both console and PC servers.

    When I play solo, I play a lot smarter and mindful of what I'm doing. I'm not going to do an FOTD or even a FOF unless the server is dead and I happen to be running no emissary. When I'm with my crew, we stack and play sloppy at times because we have 4 people who can all pull their weight.

    The game is great for this reason. Sorry, but you are not going to likely do as much as you think you can with just a solo or even a duo. It is balanced in that if you choose to play by yourself on high seas you will be at a disadvantage. I'm okay with that.

    You should plan your voyage accordingly. Most players who have played this game know their strengths and weaknesses.

  • Capt Greldik
    Master

    @super87ghost said in Season 16 - Game is Catering to PVP:

    @d3adst1ck I agree with you. It's also the reason why i think the reaper emissary shouldn't put you on the map (or give you the ability to spot other emissaries when you're reaper-5): PvP'ers don't want to be a reaper because of that, since it warns their prey where they are ánd because people flee the server/stop doing emissaries when there is a higher ranked reaper on the server. And because PvP'ers don't fly an emissary, the prey then complaints that matches are one-sided in the risk-reward (all possible rewards for the hunter and all the risk for the prey), since the prey can't get anything of value of they win the fight, if hunters had more of an incentive to fight as reapers, the prey could still win something of value (only thing they should change is that a reaper flag should be able to be turned in to other companies).

    In my experience, those seeking “prey” run reapers 100% of the time. Having the ability to see other emissaries on the map is a huge benefit to that pursuit.

    I don’t think that “pvpers don’t want to be a reaper” is a real thing.

  • Capt Greldik
    Master

    @panda-pirate923 said in Season 16 - Game is Catering to PVP:

    The balance is off, I've sunk quite of bit of cash in the past into the emporium but quit buying from the emporium until we have a more balanced game.

    Why is the balance off? Because there are some commendations for reapers to get now? Primarily commendations requiring pve?

    Translation: many players are upset that there are commendations requiring them to be visible on the map to some extent.

  • Rare Jumbie
    Commander
    Insider

    @peter-llauro

    As an avid PvP fan, this season did not "cater" to me. It's PvE wrapped in a PvP guise and satisfies neither group who clearly prefers only PvP or PvE. You're probably not going to do this quest as it marks you on the map, and I'm not going to do this quest because I find it to be too similar to all of the PvE content that has come before it.

    I do like the new cannon though.

  • F3arM0d3
    Master
    Insider
    Founder

    I agree that the game developers are catering to PvP way too much and that the base game is suffering for it. Without PvE the game lacks substance and is just a harassment machine.

  • DerMasterBob
    Commander
    Insider

    @f3arm0d3 sagte in Season 16 - Game is Catering to PVP:

    I agree that the game developers are catering to PvP way too much and that the base game is suffering for it. Without PvE the game lacks substance and is just a harassment machine.

    There hasn't been a pure PvP update since season 8.
    So no the game isn't catering to PvP, the last update was pure PvE, S14 was a mixture, same goes for season S13.
    Most updates are either PvE or PvEvP, but PvP updates are very rare, there have only been 2 so far, Hourglass, Arena and the Arena is gone.

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