Aim Assist for Console Players

@vorondil1 said in Aim Assist for Console Players:

@st-aabra hi there! We already have a lot of discussions on this topic, have you gotten a chance to look through some of those threads? Would recommend adding your insights there instead of creating a new one here. Also, Joe Neate has said that he will discuss crossplay issues/concerns in today's dev update, so maybe it would be best to wait until then and see what Rare is already planning on doing.

There are so many different threads now with the game spiking in popularity recently. I hope you're right and I'm looking forward to hearing about all the combat tweaks that are coming. I'm hopeful that this is one of them because they desperately need to do something to balance the cross platform PvP encounters. I hope they are tracking those statistics.... how often a PC players kills a Console player and vice versa. I'd be interested in seeing those numbers. If there's a specific thread with lots of info on this topic can you please link it to me?

@enticed-malice said in Aim Assist for Console Players:

@st-aabra you shouldnt be comparing pc to console. if you want aim assist on console, then aim assist needs to be on pc as well for those who use a controller. So this feature should be on input type, not platform.

Yes and I mentioned that in my post - that PC players should have this option as well if they are using a game pad. I just put console in the subject because that's the most common scenario. You're correct in that it should have been input type. If you're using mouse and keyboard aim assist would probably just mess with you.

@himwhoeatstime said in Aim Assist for Console Players:

@st-aabra The distribution of player skill overlaps between the two controllers quite a lot. The game is more about preparation and attentiveness than it is about twitch combat. If you're only concerned with being effective in combat, your best bet is to invest in a mouse+keyboard for yourself, which should be coming to the XBox Sea of Thieves soon. However, that is a totally different thing than being generally competitive in Sea of Thieves.

All players, even bad PC players, have more than enough tools and opportunity to make plays before twitchy combat becomes an issue. Aiming cannons is slow and equal between the two. Sailing skill and knowledge of the map and efficiency in staying stocked up doesn't require twitchy PC controls.

I don't know about most people, but my ship vs ship encounters come down to supplies, not twitch skill. You don't need perfect aim to keep someone off your deck. Guard your ladders. Otherwise, it comes down to being prepared, having enough supplies and a full crew who each know their role.

I agree with you in that being well prepared and experienced at Sea is of paramount importance. Gunpowder barrels are the great equaliser and that's how I've basically been surviving all this time. I am also incredibly paranoid about an opposing player getting on my ship because I know that if it's a mouse and keyboard player.... an opposing player getting on my ship is basically game over for me. If I get on an opposing PC players ship..... hopefully I have a gunpowder barrel with me.... otherwise I'm just useless. It's not fair.

I would love to use a mouse and keyboard to play this game. I was hardcore mouse and keyboard for life back in my youth. Some friends of mine who don't have consoles wanted to play Diablo 3 with me a few months ago..... which doesn't support game pad on PC. After 3 nights of playing the game I was experiencing what can only be described as excruciating pain in my hand and wrist. Sadly I've been forced to put mouse and keyboard gaming behind me.

@reedski said in Aim Assist for Console Players:

Oh I hope not, I've missed more shots because of aim assist than anything else, first thing I turn off when I play a shooter, I know whether I want to hit the guy infront of me or his mate over his shoulder, I don't need the AI to second guess me, definitely not around gunpowder, all you'd get is someone swimming infront of the keg monkey forcing you to hit them first.

I absolutely agree with you in that it should be an option that you can enable and disable per your personal preference.... but it needs to be there.

@targasbr said in Aim Assist for Console Players:

The magic of SoT is precisely the fact that most of the things in the game do not have any kind of assist. Where there is such a thing is where we really need it, like when we park the rowboat behind the ship, it's easy to place the cannonballs (it leaves the battle more dynamic), things like that. Putting an aim assist would make the game lose its proposal. Aiming is fun, challenging, only the best players have good aim (I'm not one of them). The less help we have, the better players we will become.

What makes Sea of Thieves PvP battles special is that they are different and unique from all other first person shooters. If you want a game where the person with the best aim wins there are countless other video games to choose from. I want the person with the best seamanship, knowledge, and strategy to win Sea of Thieves pvp battles.

@reedski said in Aim Assist for Console Players:

@st-aabra as long as I can turn it off I won't complain too much, but seriously I don't understand why people aren't willing to just practice and get better, no-one can just be awesome at everything first time

I have been playing video games since Donkey Kong Jr was released back in the 80s. I'm 38 years old now and have been playing my entire life. How much practice do I need in order to compete with a keyboard and mouse player? There is a fundamental difference in the controller type. It's not a question of practice.

@vorondil1 said in Aim Assist for Console Players:

@st-aabra I'm not a hard-core gamer, can you explain exactly what you mean by "auto-aim" (my only experience with this is Red Dead 2)? Is it sticky, so will it track with a moving player? At what range would it kick in? Will it work with hip-firing, and if not would it apply to the EoR?

Those are great questions and they are ones that Rare would have to work on in order to balance it correctly. Not an easy task but one that I'm confident they are capable of.

@reedski said in Aim Assist for Console Players:

@st-aabra apparently more...

So my options are spend an entire life practising my aim with a game pad in order to compete.... or switch to keyboard and mouse so that I can compete immediately.

I have been playing with mouse and keyboard since the original Doom. I used to absolutely destroy all my friends at every lan party we setup.... because the default controls for Doom, Quake, Duke Nukem 3D, etc.... it was keyboard only. You had to modify the controls in order to enable keyboard and mouse. Nobody wanted to play with me and they would force me to use keyboard only as well sometimes in order to make it competitive.

So for those PC players who say that it's all about practice and not about the control type. How about you switch to only using the keyboard. Don't use the mouse. That's how first person shooters were originally designed to be controlled. Practice really hard with keyboard only - then tell me how competitive you are against somebody using a mouse as well.

@reedski said in Aim Assist for Console Players:

@st-aabra keyboard and mouse support for Xbox has already been confirmed so I'm not really sure what the issue is if you're already competent with them?

I have carpal tunnel syndrome now because I played with mouse and keyboard video games for too long. I highly recommend everybody that plays video games on PC to play with mouse and keyboard in moderation and hook up your game pad whenever you can. This is a health problem you do not want. Trust me.

@reedski said in Aim Assist for Console Players:

@st-aabra sorry to hear that bud, must have skimmed over that bit, in that case then yeah, would be nice if (like the colourblind maps) they included it for accessibility

The generation that grew up playing video games is starting to get older. I'm 38 years old and I'm not the only one. You don't see many people who are older than 50 playing games right now..... but give it another 10 years and it will be incredibly common. My generation may get older but we're not going to stop playing. I have every intention of being a gamer at 80.... but not if it's going to hurt my health.

@reedski said in Aim Assist for Console Players:

@st-aabra Unreal Tournament was the same era and that was definitely keyboard & mouse

Unreal tournament came around the same time but slightly later. I remember it specifically as one of the first games released to have mouse + keyboard as the default controls. Everybody was freaking out trying to learn how to play with mouse + keyboard as they had only ever used keyboard before. Pretty important game in the history of fps shooters.

Just watched the Dev update and I absolutely love the changes. Giving swords a buff in close quarters combat will be a HUGE help to game pad players. Having the option to only play with other game pad players is also huge and is definitely the right decision. I still believe they should do their best to balance the combat so that we can play with PC players on an even playing field. Nobody wants to split the playerbase but the reality is that there really aren't that many people on each server to begin with so I don't think there will be matchmaking issues.

Using the Eye of Reach at point blank range is just silly and I hope that gets nerfed. It's supposed to be weak at that range - having it be the strongest weapon in the game at close quarters just kills the immersion.