Remove explosive barrels from the flotsam spawn table.

@waveybish said in Remove explosive barrels from the flotsam spawn table.:

Having random spawning sea mines in this game is a truly terrible idea.

For context this complaint is born from this specific scenario:
Doing a tall tale with my friend. We are right at the end of the wild rose. We've already fought off multiple encounters, it's all good.

Someone starts bee-lining for us, we prepare for battle. BOOM. Random keg. We are both thrown from the sloop. We sink before we can make it back. They didn't even need to fire a shot.

Why? I cannot see a scenario where someone would ever say the sentence "I LOVE those explosive barrels spawning randomly in the water". Even before this specific sinking I knew it was simply a bad idea. It is immediately obvious that this is a bad idea.

The only logical explanation for this being actioned in the first place is this. You are in your Monday morning scrum, some dev has just got the barrels to stop clipping in to each other and he is proudly detailing the successful implementation of flotsam. Some middle manager comes over, he is wearing khaki shorts and sunglasses indoors. He is bald. "Hey! You know what would be super cool gameplay??!!" He makes that "call me" signal with both hands and sticks his tongue out after he says this. He winks at the nearest woman who turns away and rolls her eyes. "We should like, TOTALLY spawn gunpowder barrels in there! Twitch chat says that would be TOTALLY omegalul!". The whole scrum groans. This guys will relentlessly mention these f-ing barrels at every single standup until it is eventually implemented. There is no point in arguing with thi guy. Through gritted teeth the scrum master says "Sure. We will factor that in to the next sprint."

I dunno, being chased or not, it's not really hard to look where you are going. Knowing that kegs can spawn in there, you should never plow through flotsam, and the seagulls and shinies in the water are a neat indication that there are some ahead of you.

@waveybish Personally I don't mind the barrels. Adds a touch of excitement while making way from island to island. I just watch out for the barrels and avoid them. I understand you were distracted by another ship but it happens. I still try and keep an eye out even if fighting someone else. Especially since they can drop kegs in the sea for you to hit as well or swim to you. I always keep an eye on the water. I have overseen them before and hit them but it's part of it and if I sink I don't mind it. I just jump back in and go again. Also I'm pretty sure that's not how Rare makes decisions to implement something into the game.

@waveybish They put birds in the sky above them for a reason. If you want to be successful at this game you need to be able to multitask.

@d3adst1ck said in Remove explosive barrels from the flotsam spawn table.:

The ship chasing you just as easily could have run into a floating barrel if they weren't paying attention and then you'd be the one laughing instead of complaining on the forums.

If you're not watching where you are going and run into a rock, should be remove all rocks and islands from the game? It's probably easier if you just watch where you are going.

And kegs are such a small obstacle over such a big surface, what are the odds to sail into one, especially with visual warnings?

It's like stepping on a rake in the middle of a field or hitting a pole with your car in the middle of an empty parking lot.

@waveybish

I see both sides :)

Adding them in adds more threat to the seas, you need to be aware of your surroundings. Watching for birds now is less "ooo supplies" and more "ohhh better not run into that!" Causing you to divert course and make corrections so you dont get hit. Still to theis day teammates stand around on the boat doing nothing between islands so the more threat the better!

On the flip side I've been sunk by these quite a few times cuz a solo player hitting them is rough to handle. It is survivable though, I you see them duck below deck and you should have enough time to repair if your still on the boat :)

So I guess I have a neutral vote lol I understand why they are there but I also wouldnt complain if they stopped spawning lol

@waveybish
I have been known to make use of these gunpowder barrels in the flotsam now that there are no safe places to store them on the ship.

Especially if I'm being attacked by a larger ship/crew. I can sail past, jump off grab a gunpowder barrel, swim to the attacking ship and use it on them. Sometimes I just sail close to the floating gunpowder and try to lead the attacking ship into it, which can work if they're not paying close attention..

@waveybish said in Remove explosive barrels from the flotsam spawn table.:

@thelastclap
are you just saying "I think we should have to constantly watch out for flotsam, even when we are in the middle of a soon-to-be epic ship to ship battle, because I find that to be a thrilling gameplay experience"?

Why not? Why not treat every patch of flotsam like potential danger and never be surprised?

@bloodybil

I'm aware that you can see flotsam from a distance. I am postulating that having to constantly look out for flotsam just because someone decided to spawn barrels in there is a bad idea. Some aspects of the game such as sea battles should be exciting enough to warrant you not having some trivial detail of the game (in this case a barrel in a spawn table) demanding you pay it attention literally at all times.

Why not look out for danger around you, especially in a so-called epic ship to ship battle? Boarders, rocks, kegs (from flotsam or from players swimming towards you), why do you make it sound like such an inconvenience to have to keep your head on a swivel, especially during combat, and having to look out for danger of any kind?

What kind of combat or general experience do you expect, that wouldn't require you to look in front of you, where your ship is currently heading, and having to pay attention?

I'm not trying to be rude here, I'm just genuinely curious since multitasking, reaction time and situational awareness are pretty much cornerstone gameplay elements to SOT.

Flotsam without the explosive barrels would make for boring Barrel Roulette.

@archaell said in Remove explosive barrels from the flotsam spawn table.:

The barrels might be annoying, but they are more annoying for the larger ships which have harder time seeing and avoiding them. As someone who is mostly Slooping, I kind of like that.

Yeah it keeps you on your toes, and for bigger ships you have a bigger crew and multiple sets of eyes to keep a lookout for dangers.

This is your fault for having low awareness. Not the game's fault.

Scenario:
Someone chasing, they are gaining. Kegs on the left of our ship. Crewmate jumps in as we pass, grabs keg and swims closer to the chasing ship.
Boom. I love these kegs

Anyways, as some have pointed, Just "watch" the seas. It not that hard. You have two people on a Sloop yes? Then one at the wheel and one at the front. See some birds dead ahead of your ship, go around.

The chances of you hitting are very slim at best anyways as they dont always spawn together. So it more just bad luck for you than anything.

You seem like a greenhorn so we can understand you have yet to fully grasp how the Sea can be a god sent or a cruel devil.

@waveybish said in Remove explosive barrels from the flotsam spawn table.:

I am aware of how to avoid the barrels I am saying that I should not have to in the first place what the hell even is the point of them. Nobody seriously uses them, they are so rare as to be impractical to utilise they are literally just a troll made up by some khaki wearing bald dad-bod.

Pirates gotta learn that SoT is full of subtle nuances. Like the telltale audio cue of a pirate leaving the water as he climbs your ladder. Disregard these at your own peril.

We all know what a PITA those explosives are. They are there for no other reason than to troll unaware sailors. Bald dudes with dad-bods in khaki are giggling at the salt.

Working as intended.

I LOVE 💜💜💜 those explosive barrels spawning randomly in the water!!

Omg they're so much fun to sail right by or jump in and grab to take to a Skeleton Lord fight.

Sometimes you're just playing Barbie Pirate Friends below deck and BOOM! Action time!!!

They should add Stronghold Kegs too 🤩🧜🏽‍♀️

@waveybish
Also, if you want to know who to blame, check at this Q&A with Rare from a few months ago:

https://www.seaofthieves.com/forum/topic/97681/live-q-a-adventure-with-joe-neate-mike-chapman-and-ryan-stevenson-now-finished/140?page=4

Funny embarrassing and true story. Before the GPB were added to the open seas I had an encounter with a rouge barrel. Sailing along and boom! Someone must have just been tossing them overboard.

So it was my fault for not seeing it. I thought it was hysterical that the luck I had to hit that.

No offense but if you go down to a barrel that’s floating within an area that’s easy to see. How do you react to players attacking you on a TT? I think they’re a good gameplay mechanic. You ever sink a player ship and when all their treasure comes up their GPB do as well? Same thing here.

I remember the night I discovered the floating powder kegs. My friend and I were just sailing along, I hadn't read any of the recent news or patch notes (it had been months since we last played), so when we saw the flotsam in the water I didn't think twice about it. I was adjusting sails and he was getting our bearing when there was suddenly an explosion, our ship lurched and we had to scramble to repair the damage.

I admit that I was pretty mad at Rare for that one. But then I got over it. Now I just avoid sailing through the flotsam, or use it as an opportunity to load up on powder kegs.

You're 100% correct, but the community seems to like them. As a solo, these barrels can kill and sink me easier than any pve threat... If you are up front when you hit one you die and the boat sinks. There's 0 counter play other than looking in front of you every 20 seconds... I don't find that fun. At least make the seagulls more visible or something... I can see shipwreck seagull rings no problem, but barrel seagulls can be incredibly difficult to spot at times and its a bigger threat to solos than a lot of the player base.. yes, they're that bad for solos.