TDM MODE

It's a game that mostly revolves around ships - why would Rare create a TDM mode like that without ships ?

Don't hold your breath.

The only reason to TDM in Arena is to cheese the kill count weapon commendations. If they were to give a TDM mode, I'd expect the commendations to change to fit accordingly.

@gutterangel said:

The only reason to TDM in Arena is to cheese the kill count weapon commendations.

Kekw. No.

@theblackbellamy Ok. Yes.

@omega1174

Sea of Thieves is a game whose main purpose is to provide a shared world PvPvE experience in a fantasy Pirate realm. 97% of all play time across the playerbase is spent engaging with that experience where 3% is spent in Arena. Three percent. Of that 3% Arena play time, how much of that is TDMs versus people playing Arena as intended?

As someone else pointed out, one of the cornerstones of this game is sailing on a ship. Why would they create a mode with no ships? Even the combat system is primarily focused on Ship Vs. Ship combat - Rare clearly are far more passionate about fully crewed ship battles over individual Pirate combat - this is why you have a very simple personal combat system whereas the ship combat is far more fleshed out, functional, and complex.

So, with all of that said…

I’m trying very hard to imagine why it would be worth the development time and labor to go and add a TDM mode… It just doesn’t fit Sea of Thieves and really wouldn’t pay off for the game at all.

@gutterangel
1] People cheese weapon kill commendations by spawncamping, not TDMing.

This is because TDMs have rules. Spawncamping does not. When TDMing, you have to wait for your opponent to ready-up and shoot out to the island. While spawncamping, you can kill opponents immediately as they spawn in.

TDMs have weapon restrictions. Spawncamping does not. Try bringing your sword and blunderbuss to a public TDM where everyone else is using flintlock and EoR. Tell me how it works out for you. Lol.

Fort islands are wide and open, compared to the confined spaces of a galleon or sloop. So, PvP exchanges tend to last longer in TDMs than in spawncamps. This means you end up with fewer kills in a TDM than you'd have if you spawncamped the whole match instead.

2] TDMing can help you practice your movement, aiming/tracking, and timing. Most TDMers that I've come across are usually just concerned with developing these skills. They're not there for cosmetics.

I've had all my weapon commendations ages ago. So why do I TDM almost daily, if "the only reason" I would do so, is to cheese kills?

3] There's a reason I don't usually respond to "voyage help" or Tall Tale threads. Because I'd have no idea what I'm talking about, and I wouldn't want to look foolish if I said something inaccurate. :D

@theblackbellamy You're assumptions of me are incorrect. Assume you're talking to someone that wouldn't speak up unless I feel I know what I'm talking about.

Your special circumstances of having all triumphant and legendary sea dog as opponents in an arena TDM on a fort are just that, special.

Your passive aggressive attempt to belittle me is sad.

You're in the wrong game if you all you do is TDM. Do you need a dev video explicitly stating NO to you to tell you so like another crowd on here did?

@gutterangel said:

You're assumptions of me are incorrect.

What exactly did I assume about you?

I spent a whole post criticizing your claims; I said nothing about you.

You commented that the only reason to TDM is to "cheese weapon kills". I explained to you exactly why this is inaccurate.

Given the available alternative of 1v4 camping, I would say a fair fight against readied opponents, with the same loadout, is not cheesing. I also pointed out the skills one develops while TDMing, that TDMers generally value over "cheesing kills."

In all of this, I made zero assumptions about you.

Your special circumstances of having all triumphant and legendary sea dog as opponents in an arena TDM on a fort are just that, special.

Well here we come across another instance where you possibly misinterpreted something I said. At what point did I suggest that all my opponents are T/LSD? ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

All I said was that I already have my commendations, but I still TDM. This was just to highlight that there is a reason to TDM even after one has all weapon skins.

Of course not everyone who TDMs is T/LSD. I TDMed before I was T/LSD lol; but I "cheesed" my weapon kills through camping.

You're in the wrong game if you all you do is TDM. Do you need a dev video explicitly stating NO to you to tell you so like another crowd on here did?

Ah, see now you're the one making assumptions :P

At what point did I say "all I do is TDM"? I said I do it almost daily. There are certainly players who confine themselves to sloop arena, and all they do is TDM for several hours in a day. That's not me.

I mess around in Adventure too. Mostly just stealing loot or goofing off with the crew. Sometimes I'll naval in Arena to help friends with their wins. And then, to keep my aim sharp, I'll TDM.

But since you brought it up, do I need a dev video explicitly telling me not to TDM? Yes. Till then, I'll have my fun.

@theblackbellamy I don't have the patience right now to dissect what you said and regurgitate it back to you with my counterpoints.

I agree with things you are saying about players needing pirate on pirate practice and skill.

So TDM might not be just for cheesing the commendation in your crowd, but I feel it mostly is based on what I've seen of them in a long time with this game. I think if it weren't, it would be done in adventure where you can communicate to your opponent and their aren't commendations tied to the results. If they implement a TDM mode in arena, then those commendations should absolutely change with that.

@gutterangel said:

but I feel it mostly is based on what I've seen of them in a long time with this game.

I can't speak to what you've witnessed personally. But I can tell you, as someone who does participate regularly, that what you're saying is not true with regards to the majority of TDMers.

Do people lock down servers for "win trading" or "kill trading"? I'm sure it happens. I'm sure PvE-server-alliance-discords manage to hold servers so they can take turns unlocking the fancy purple weapons.

But this isn't TDMing. And to suggest that TDMing is "only about cheesing kills," as your originally did, is false.

I think if it weren't, it would be done in adventure where you can communicate to your opponent and their aren't commendations tied to the results.

Adventure is an absolute pain to set up ships in. It's way easier to queue-up with fellow TDMers in Arena. Plus it's easier to keep score in Arena, if you care about that kind of stuff.

As for communication, people usually jump in a discord vc or xbox/gamebar party if they plan on communicating with each other during the match. It's more common in casual TDMs. Players who play competitively will keep to themselves so that opponents can't hear their callouts.

@theblackbellamy You keep taking what I say and putting your little spin on it making it out of context and then explaining on what you want to act like I said. Go back and re-read what my first post says. TDM in Arena mode is to cheese the arena commendation's. If they implement TDM mode then the kill count commendation's should change, simple as that. I won't engage your dirty tactic on the forum after this. Blocked, simple as that.

@gutterangel said:

TDM in Arena mode is to cheese the arena commendation's.

Nope. You can repeat it as many times as you want, but I've already addressed how you're misrepresenting what it is.

If they implement TDM mode then the kill count commendation's should change, simple as that.

Sure. I've got nothing against that.

Blocked, simple as that.

¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

I made a post a few days ago about this but did not get much traction. Basicly you get a set of gloves and can hand them to players to be on your dueling team and slap others to challenge them. Then throw the glove down at their feet. If they pick it up a 5 second counter starts then you duel. Damage from or to a third party stops the duel.

Second opption is a fight area at the sea dogs taven between area rounds. Maybe a dry dock area with no cannons and each of the ship types.

But what ever happens it can't take away from the main game AND should have it's own set of commendations.

@gutterangel
You’re clearly not the best at this game haha. If you didn’t know already darling, a huge majority of TDM players don’t care about commendations. They’re probably a lot better than you and have reached their LSD and TSD a long time before you started playing the game just as I’m sure I have. If you’re not good enough to compete and earn your commendations then you shouldn’t get them and should go back to completing tall tales. But next time u see TDM taking place check to see just how much more experienced they are than you and check to see whether they actually need commendations chances are they don’t
-love witty

A good idea. However I don't agree with the food part. Being unable to grab more food punishes the good players for getting into a lot of fights. With your spawn idea, there would be no spawn-kill protection. As most forts (excluding some, lost gold etc) are tiny. How about 2 seconds of invulnerability that goes away when the player fires a weapon. And when someone spawns, fill their inventory with food, preferably coconuts as they don't heal too much, or too little.

Fill each barrel with 1-2 coconuts. And also scatter a few more ammo crates around the forts.

I love the idea!

Additionally new commendations. Such as "Deadeye Streak" - "Earn 25 kill streaks with the Eye of Reach" And it would unlock a new skin for the sniper. Pretty much a copy & paste for the other weapons. As well as "Deathmatch Champion" - "Win in a Deathmatch 100 times" - Unlocks a set of cosmetics. (guns, ships, hook, peg, jacket, hat, pants, boots, etc.)

And a scoring system, 1 kill = 1 point.. Whoever has the most at the end wins.

Sadly I'm not sure if Rare could implement this correctly. Obviously everyone wants it to be Double-Gun only... But knowing rare, they'll include swords too.

@lem0n-curry said in TDM MODE:

It's a game that mostly revolves around ships - why would Rare create a TDM mode like that without ships ?

It doesn’t revolve around ships lol. It revolves around pirates. This mode would be for pirates to improve their fighting skills.

@gutterangel We've found ourself a professional PvE arena player! TDMs were created because the competitive PvP players wanted some place to be competitive, with other competitive PvP players. Not to cheese commendations. If someone wanted the commendations, and went to go TDM for them, they'd get stomped into the dirt. Infact, it's much slower than just spawncamping someone to get them. You need to factor in, how most public TDMs are just a 1v1. It's roughly 30 seconds for someone to respawn after dying. Then they have to shoot over and fight, which could be anywhere from 5 seconds to 2 minutes. And a match only lasts 15 minutes.

But now TDMs are here only for fun. Because competitive sot died. A long time ago.

I had been suggesting this for a long time too. I believe adding a tdm mode could fix a lot of problems in the normal naval arena.

Why are people so against a TDM mode when they complain about people TDMing and "ruining" their "authentic arena experience" (digging chests up)