Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!

  • Ayy!!

    Soo... You guys all know about server/portal hopping. Some love it, some hate it and others just don't care about it. I'll just cut straight to the chase!
    Emissary flag status lost?!
    My idea is that after You "travel" between servers:

    • While sailing under the Reaper emissary flag You would become emissary level 1 no matter what level You had before. It would be like starting on a new server only You keep your supplies and loot.
      Pros:
      - would make it less boring for Reapers as they would need to raise thier emisarry level every time they "find" themselves on a new server to see what they can "borrow" from other players
      - would make it more similar to gameplay intended by creators
      - would make it easier to defend against Reaper crews as other players would have time to prepare against level 5 Reapers as they normally would
      Cons:
      - Nothing comes to mind.. since its easier to gain level 5 as a Reaper because ANY loot will increase your emissary and tall tales are rarely done with Reaper emissary.
      - would make it impossible to server/portal hop the old way.. but that is kind of the point, ain't it? :)

    Whlist sailing under any emissary flag EXCEPT Reaper You would lose a maximum of 2 (maybe 3) levels of your emissary depending on your current emissary level.
    Pros:
    - would make it fair against Reapers since they too would have a reduction in emissary level when they "get" to a different server
    - would make it more similar to gameplay intended by creators
    - would make it fair against Reapers since You give a chance for Reapers to attack You until You reach emissary level 5
    Cons:
    - would make it harder to earn money after You "appear" on a new server - if server/portal hopping is a thing with PVE crews

    All of the above would exclude server merge.

    In my humble opinion server/portal hopping needs a nerf.
    I am open to suggestions of course, hit me!!

    Have a Good One, Mate(y)s!!

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  • Im not against your idea to keep supplies and lose emissary level for reapers but i am not convinced by your arguments for only dropping 2 levels for the other emissaries. If reapers lose it all, it should be the same for everyone else.

  • Either everything should go through or nothing should go through.

  • Hold on, put Reapers all the way to level one but no one else? Even if it is easier to get Grade 5, that’s not very fair. That is honestly going to encourage server hopping more.

  • @scurvywoof said in Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!:

    Hold on, put Reapers all the way to level one but no one else? Even if it is easier to get Grade 5, that’s not very fair. That is honestly going to encourage server hopping more.

    Server hopping isn't very fair either..

    How would losing your emissary levels encourage server hopping exactly?

  • @scurvywoof said in Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!:

    Hold on, put Reapers all the way to level one but no one else? Even if it is easier to get Grade 5, that’s not very fair. That is honestly going to encourage server hopping more.

    @pithyrumble said in Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!:

    Either everything should go through or nothing should go through.

  • @pithyrumble agreed

  • I suggested in the past that portal hopping drops everyone’s emissary grade by 1. Adds a bit of cost (but not too much) and gives all the alert emissaries on the server a little time to prepare for the Reaper 4 that just dropped in.

  • @sn0kanon said in Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!:

    I suggested in the past that portal hopping drops everyone’s emissary grade by 1. Adds a bit of cost (but not too much) and gives all the alert emissaries on the server a little time to prepare for the Reaper 4 that just dropped in.

    While it may work for Reapers and give the others some time to react to a new Reaper on the server, it's exploitable by the other factions.

    1. Get to Rank 5
    2. Get emissary quest and deliver the loot from those
    3. Portal Hop
    4. Find some appropriate loot and get to rank 5 again

    Repeat step 2 - 4.

    E.g. Athena just have to do one leg of a Veil Voyage and they're level 5 again for some easy islands full of Athena loot and a Chest & Keg on the 2nd part of the emissary.

  • @lem0n-curry Yeah, good point, I don’t really think in terms of exploits so that mechanic hadn’t occurred to me. Probably best to drop the flag for everyone, or no one. Not sure which side I fall on, as I take advantage of it myself on occasion to escape a server full of budding Reapers but I feel like it’s more of an exploit than a feature.

  • It should stay the way it is. The only change I would be okay with is some kind of alert to players on a server when a reaper 5 merges/portals in, like an audio cue.

  • In my humble opinion server/portal hopping needs a nerf.

    Nerf to what? I dont see how nerfing a simple portal jump is gonna fix anything.

    Oh no a grade 5 reaper magically appeared on the server. Oh wait I don’t have a emissary, nvm XD

    Or I do have an emissary. Well guess I’m either gonna go drop flag or idk…prepare for a fight?

  • All or Nothing.

  • Every good sandbox has a good Risk/reward system. Server hopping g5 reapers are actually beneficial to this system in sea of thieves.

    As a g5 you are rewarded 2.5x gold and rep for any faction items sold, but, in turn become a target for any g5 Reapers sailing around.

    The issue is without a g5 reaper in your session there is virtually no added risk (which g5 hopping fixes)

    Don't get me wrong there is changes I would with the system tho.

    **1: FoF style alert when a g5 joins the session:**Think of a g5 Reaper as a "opt-in" emergent threat of sorts (opt-in being that they can only see emissaries)

    2:Reapers flags sellable to all factions: It makes no sense that other emissaries should be delivering anything to reapers.

    3:More risk to g5 hopping: when selling as a g5 reaper the emissary bonus on loot is attached to the flag instead of going straight into your pirate piggy banks. Eg: If I sell a chest for 1000gold as a g5 the extra 1.5% (1500gold) is attached to the flag only to be redeemed when lowering. This gives players the choice to either lower, get their gold and loose g5 bonuses or keep their flag up risking their flag and the 1.5% of their gold attached if they sink.

    4:Return of the 6th ship slot: The 6th ship slot should return as a "Invader only" ship slot meaning you can't just server alliance to hide from reapers.

    5:Merging loosing crews: if a reaper looses a fight they should be moved to a different server.

  • @fishst1ck If your emissary is going to return to level one, what’s the point of going through the whole portal hopping process? There is none other than keeping suppliers that can be easily gotten in a new server anyway.
    Server hopping is perfectly fair, as the player/s in question still start from scratch on that server.
    @pithyrumble

  • @burnbacon The main problem would be that You can't prepare for a fight, no time since it's completely luck based whether You notice them or not. That leaves the drop flag option. Which I can do in time or not - luck again. Furthermore why should a Reaper crew be able to use a game mechanic that forces other factions to lower their emissary flag while other factions don't have that power over the Reapers?

  • @moogbeard That would actually solve the main problem in my opinion. Have You told this to the devs before?

  • @pithyrumble Care to explain please? "Everything" is a vague word.

  • @lafrules That is fair. But it can't be the same for Reapers and others since some faction may gain loot faster then others do.

  • @moogbeard Sorry, may bad. Almost perfect. They should lose atleast 1 level of their emissary as Reapers while we are warned by their presence. So that way Reapers won't be able to "pick" a server as they see fit. Keep in mind other factions are not guaranteed good loot when they join a server - they have to go through all the "steps" before gaining the good loot and not just rush in there - and a Reaper emissary level 5 seeing other emissaries anywhere is somewhat overpowered this way.
    Still a really good idea in my opinion.

  • Just make a server-wide sound when a Reaper cheats...I mean 'portal hops' and place them as far away from other players as possible.

    Either that or, upon cheating...sorry 'portal hopping'; all your cannons should be locked from firing for a few minutes.
    This places the risk for hopping directly on the hopper, instead of rewarding them with a free kill if they hop & appear next to another player.

  • @scurvywoof I assume You're talking about the Reaper emissary being level 1 after portal hop. It shouldn't be that much of a problem since they can secure all the loot they are after. I am mostly trying to find a "cure" to portal hopping.
    Reaper emissary level 5 can go to other servers while still having the "perk" of seeing other emissaries. Now imagine the exact same, the exact same situation as this for other factions, wouldn't that be overpowered aswell?

    • For example.. an athena emissary level 5 could portal hop and after that they would know exactly where are the athena loots are - on the map - and most likely good loot as well. As if someone would collect it there for them.
  • Oh please. Whatever next, a reaper 5 that cleans out a server and gets merged should loose its level too?

    Just fight them. Most the time it’s just little kids that have used a fortress to get to 5 anyway.

  • @f-hollo

    Everything: Flag stays, level stays, supplies stay, voyages stay, loot stays, lamp colours stay. Everything goes through the portal with you. Open the floodgates and watch the ensuing chaos.

    Nothing: Flag and loot drops at the entrance, voyages erased, supplies erased, pockets emptied, supply crates also drop outside of the portal, lamp colors get reset. You want a new server, okay, you are freshly spawned on a fresh server. No one Porral hops anymore because there's no reason to.

    Everything goes through or nothing goes through.

  • The folks that complain about Reapers portal hopping are the same ones that will load into a server and hop before setting sail because they see a Reaper (of any grade) somewhere on the map. Puff out your chest and stay on the same server or don't run an Emissary.

    It was WAY too easy to avoid Reapers before portal hopping existed. Portal hopping simply mitigated that risk aversion that people were already doing. I don't want portal hopping to exist, but this is one of the worst solutions I've seen for so many reasons.

  • @sweetsandman said in Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!:

    The folks that complain about Reapers portal hopping are the same ones that will load into a server and hop before setting sail because they see a Reaper (of any grade) somewhere on the map. Puff out your chest and stay on the same server or don't run an Emissary.

    It was WAY too easy to avoid Reapers before portal hopping existed. Portal hopping simply mitigated that risk aversion that people were already doing. I don't want portal hopping to exist, but this is one of the worst solutions I've seen for so many reasons.

    Rofl. Wrong.

    Reapers portal hopping are cheating, plain and simple. It's not a question of being a dismissive jerk & claiming 'People who complain are cowards!'

    1. Reapers show up on the map so they can't hide.
    2. Portal hopping AVOIDS this mechanic by flagging, then jumping to a new server.
    3. When you appear, you can appear 3 feet from another player, who would have had 0 warning that a Reaper is now on their map, and 0 way to avoid them.

    By these 3 facts; portal hopping is cheating and it's not just something 'people who see a Reaper & flee' complain about.
    It's, literally, dodging intended mechanics to attack people who have no way to see the Reaper BEFORE they portal hop and no way to avoid them AFTER they suddenly appear 5 feet away.

  • @eguzky You can call it cheating, exploiting, whatever you want to call it...doesn't matter. For now, Rare gave it their stamp of approval.

    We want to clarify that for now, we consider [Emissaried Portal Hopping] as legitimate use of the Tunnels of the Damned. - Rare Employee

    I don't want portal hopping to exist...but the risk/reward mechanics of the Emissary system should not so easily be able to be averted by the other Emissaries. I've proposed a solution (elimination) to portal hopping before, and I stand by it being the best way to truly make the Emissary system be a risk/reward system. I'm happy to post it in here as well if interested.

  • @sweetsandman said in Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!:

    @eguzky You can call it cheating, exploiting, whatever you want to call it...doesn't matter. For now, Rare gave it their stamp of approval.

    We want to clarify that for now, we consider [Emissaried Portal Hopping] as legitimate use of the Tunnels of the Damned. - Rare Employee

    I don't want portal hopping to exist...but the risk/reward mechanics of the Emissary system should not so easily be able to be averted by the other Emissaries. I've proposed a solution (elimination) to portal hopping before, and I stand by it being the best way to truly make the Emissary system be a risk/reward system. I'm happy to post it in here as well if interested.

    Honestly; My money is on Rare not being able to find or implement a good fix, so they had to give it their seal of approval.

    It basically dodges the drawbacks of being a Reaper and is, therefore, cheating.
    I will take this stance and keep it, regardless of what Rare says, because the mechanics say otherwise.

  • @pithyrumble said in Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!:

    Either everything should go through or nothing should go through.

    My vote would be nothing goes through.

    I've lost a couple crew mates that are very averse to PVP and won't play with me anymore because of losing all our loot to other players that jumped us at the end of a voyage. When they did play with me they would only raise an emissary flag if there were no reapers on the server. When a reaper emissary would appear, we'd know we needed to wrap things up before they reached grade 5 and could see us on the map. But with server hopping a grade 5 reaper can literally appear out of nowhere and be equipped with endless cannon balls and wood putting you at a huge disadvantage.

    I don't mind PVP. I don't seek it out but I am up for an occasional hostile encounter with other players. And the reaper grade 5 perk of being able to see other emissaries on the server is fine if you earned grade 5. But I feel it should be earned on the server. If you come out of nowhere at grade 5 on my server, from my perspective you didn't earn the right to know where I am at all times.

  • @pithyrumble No middle ground then?

  • @sweetsandman Please explain it then.

  • @sweetsandman I am interested, please post here.

  • This megathread is asking feedback on the same topic, although s0nicbob used a more cryptic title:

    https://www.seaofthieves.com/community/forums/topic/139210/mega-thread-tunnels-of-the-damned-migration

  • @sweetsandman said in Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!:

    I don't want portal hopping to exist...but the risk/reward mechanics of the Emissary system should not so easily be able to be averted by the other Emissaries.

    Sorry, but this is just ridiculous. Other emissaries don't avert the risk/reward system, they play it exactly as it is intended to be: you want the reward of a higher amount of gold and rep at the risk of the Reaper-5 knowing exactly where you are, or do you think it's not worth it. Are you also gonna claim that people should be forced to do all world events, because otherwise they would avert the risk/reward system of that world event?

    A risk/reward system doesn't mean you are forced to do that part of the game, it means you are being given a choice and you can opt in or opt out. Other emissaries chosing not to play as an emissary with a Reaper-5 on the server is just making a choice in that risk/reward system, just like intended.

    It is the portal hopping Reaper-5's who want to avert the risk/reward system, because part of the risk of being a Reaper-5 is that others don't want to play as an emissary because they don't think the risk it worth the reward, since being seen on the map for other emissaries is just making voyages very hard to impossible, since you need to leave your ship. Portal hopping Reaper-5's want to take away that risk they have and that destroys the risk/reward system and doesn't give people the intended opportunity to make their choices.

  • @eguzky I like the idea of there being a sound or some indication of a ship arriving by portal. I know whenever I get a server merge I normally drop what I was doing to check my map table for new Reapers.

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