Mini-games for landlubbers

  • Prescafatty
    Commander
    Insider

    I know SoT servers have a technical limit of six ships per server. But the world could be made more robust and alive by letting in pirates who don't want to be on ships.

    How would this work? After players select "Adventure Mode" they're given the option to stay ashore and select one of multiple mini-games that HAPPEN IN ADVENTURE MORE:

    Team capture the flag—Two pirate teams compete on a random island.
    Last pirate standing—Deathmatch on a random island.
    Marooned—A mini-survival game. You are stuck on an island. Build beacon fires on the beach. Stay alive long enough to flag down a player ship to rescue you and return you to an outpost (player crews would get bonuses for these rescues).
    Outpost pub games—gambling and dice games. Bet your hard-earned gold. Cheat. Kill pirates who try to cheat you.

    This would breathe a ton of life into Adventure Mode. Imagine sailing past an island and seeing an all-out war between two pirate clans? Or spotting a haggard castaway desperately trying to flag you down?

    Also, for players who don't have time for a three hour grand adventure, these mini-games are a way to get a quick 1/2 hour session in, and they're perfect for solo play.

    What do you think?

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  • D3ADST1CK
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    Pretty much all content that takes players away from their ship becomes abandoned eventually. I don't think they should lean into this type of content.

    The focus should be on the adventure part of the game, because that is what people want.

  • Lovelocc
    Lord
    Insider

    They did already try mini games, like the Arena, but that didn't work so well so until they've tweaked it I say we don't bring this idea back.

    And if you're worried about players who only play for shorts amount of time, Rare has already found a way to keep their interest with Seasons.

  • Prescafatty
    Commander
    Insider

    @d3adst1ck said in Mini-games for landlubbers:

    Pretty much all content that takes players away from their ship becomes abandoned eventually. I don't think they should lean into this type of content.

    The focus should be on the adventure part of the game, because that is what people want.

    I agree! All of these mini-games would happen inside of Adventure mode. Adding more players onto the server would A) make the experience more awesome for people who are on ships B) give players who only have 30 minutes an opportunity to play Adventure mode. I know a lot of people who are turned off by SoT b/c of the time commitment, and there are plenty of evenings where I only have an hour but would still love to play SoT.

  • D3ADST1CK
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    @prescafatty said in Mini-games for landlubbers:

    I agree! All of these mini-games would happen inside of Adventure mode. Adding more players onto the server would A) make the experience more awesome for people who are on ships B) give players who only have 30 minutes an opportunity to play Adventure mode. I know a lot of people who are turned off by SoT b/c of the time commitment, and there are plenty of evenings where I only have an hour but would still love to play SoT.

    I don't see how A applies, because it just adds a bunch of people not involved with them at all. In fact it will probably interfere with either the ship players or the ones trying to do the mini game if they happen to have to do a task on the random island assigned to the mini game. The outpost games also create a problem by having that outpost occupied all the time.

    You can also play SoT with less than an hour available - I do it all the time.

  • twodozenrats
    Master

    The thing is, it's a good idea, but perhaps it is better if these things occur organically through roleplay and cooperation, rather than implemented features.

    • Capture the flag? Find another crew and use a piece of treasure with your ships on either side of the island (or islands) and set whatever rules.
    • Marooned? Solo sloop and scuttle your ship at an island without mermaid-ing back. If you want to reward a crew that picks you up, be a temporary crew member keep some treasure on the island to give them.
    • Last pirate standing is a hard one, you'd need to find max five other people solo slooping on the same server and who all want to participate- so I wouldn't object to this being implemented officially.
    • Outpost pub games and similar ideas have been suggested by others, you could probably look around the forms to find one. I'm going to remain neutral to this idea.
  • SweetSandMan
    Legend
    Insider

    While I do like the concept of presenting a quick adventure solution that isn't Arena, I don't think these are the right approach.

    I think creating mini player activated World Events is a much better solution as it would generally add to the productivity of the server instead of separating them into surf and turf of sorts.

    Imagine you could log in, stop over and chat with Larinna, grab a "voyage" that's like a mini FoTD, or a mini Ashen Winds, or even better...all new events! I think more player activated World Events is exactly what the game needs to begin with, and that plays very well into the quick sessions as well. I've got some ideas on what those new events would look like...maybe I'll create a thread on that here soon.

  • SappyMeerkat
    Seafarer
    Insider

    Dude yes we need more island fight options!

  • IB3I DoP3 TriX
    Ship Mate
    Insider
    Founder

    I think a mini game section would be a nice idea, but only if it was connected to a social hub where pirates could meet to group up. Also a nice place to show off your cosmetics and maybe give some motivation to the new pirates that enter the world. Seeing something cool and knowing what they want to progress towards. A lot of people turn away from the game because they don't take the time to set goals for themselves, a hub where you see other players and what they have accomplished would help provide some inspiration IMO.

  • Prescafatty
    Commander
    Insider

    @sweetsandman Love the idea of mini-player activated World Events! My only question is... could these be done without a ship? Could I log in and be transported straight to a fort, where myself and 9 other players have to fend off hordes of incoming skellie ships?

    And then a skull goes up, and the rest of the server can get involved if they want to?

  • SweetSandMan
    Legend
    Insider

    @prescafatty said in Mini-games for landlubbers:

    @sweetsandman Love the idea of mini-player activated World Events! My only question is... could these be done without a ship? Could I log in and be transported straight to a fort, where myself and 9 other players have to fend off hordes of incoming skellie ships?

    And then a skull goes up, and the rest of the server can get involved if they want to?

    I mean it's all very conceptual, but yeah in my head there would be a global visibility to that event similar to the FoTD. Whether it's a Skull, a phantom head, a Beacon like the Reaper chest. Whatever it is. It doesn't have to be at a traditional fort either. They could do region-based things. Maybe a phantom horde battle at Thieves Haven. Maybe a Mini- Skeleton fleet at Smugglers Bay. Maybe a swarm of Megalodons near Old Faithful. Maybe a Siren battle in the bay of Discovery Ridge.

    The options are endless. But in my head they would be quick to sail to from the outpost you spawn in at and require minimal supply-ing up.

    They could even partially abandon the true "loot" concept of the events and make a component of them a gold reward for completion of the event based on how much damage you did to whatever the threat was. Like let's say you're battling a horde and on the last wave another crew shows up and joins the battle either as a friend or foe. You did 90% of the total damage and they did 10% of the total damage...so as soon as the event completes you'd get 90% of the total gold reward.

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