HG PvP

  • Gosva5434
    Marauder
    Insider

    Let me start by saying that HG is one of the best ideas the devs decided to implement in SoT, and my post is not trying to diminish that accomplishment. However i think there is
    conversation to be had about said mode and how it's many flaws could improve. My experience with the mode has been pretty mixed and to give a bit of background i am an average player with around 600 hours, that recently managed to reach level 105 with guardians of fortune with 150 sinks and a bit over 50% win rate.

    • The lack of SBMM is making this mode really unbearable at times and quite unfair too. I shouldn't get matched against people that have the gold skeleton curse (lvl1000) and players that just started playing, who voted the HG out of curiosity and are anchored at an outpost, shouldn't get matched against me too. There could be some sort of stat tracker, which counts how many canonnballs you hit per match, your kills/deaths along with your average win/winstreak ratio and match you against players with the same stats, or at least a bit better or worse.

    • I know hit reg, food reg, sword and gun bugs aren't problematic only in this mode, but HG is where they really shine. There is nothing worse than losing a hard earned winstreak or even a single win due to these bugs, yet it happens more often than it should. The game hasn't been out for 6 months so although i understand Rare tries their absolute best to resolve those issues, i am sorry it hasn't been enough. Losing because someone tanked 4 sword swings and a pistol shot and they didn't die due to hit reg is never fun.

    • As far as progression goes i am a bit mixed on whether or not they should up the amount of allegiance you gain, but something i observed during community day was that losing was much more efficient than winning. The amount of rep i would get for a hard earned victory after 30 minutes was nowhere near what i would have gotten if i just lost on purpose. Which brings me to my next point.

    • Fights, especially solo sloop fights, take way too long. My experience so far has been a hit and run simulation for the most part which results in really prolonged fights that do not reward you accordingly for your time spent. Not to mention that certain people essentially try to hold hostage others by abusing the invite exploit and there is nothing you can do to stop them (if they are decent at helming and managing sails). I have seen quite a few suggestions about this and i think the best one is to have the circle shrink over time so that pvp can't be avoided (it is a pvp on demand mode after all).

    • Finally i think the way they handled the cosmetics was kinda wrong regarding this mode. Locking the legendary curse ,which was just a pass reward, behind this mode wasn't really necessary and it would be better if it was a reward for reaching level 30 with Athena's Fortune. Also the fact that there are no rewards prior to level 100 and after 200 really makes HG feel unrewarding as far as progression goes. There should be more rewards to give both new players trying out the mode and veterans who got their curses an incentive to play.

    I am sure i missed a lot of things so feel free to mention them and also let me know your own thoughts on this as well. Thanks for reading!

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  • BurnBacon
    Vanguard
    Insider

    shouldn't get matched against people that have the gold skeleton curse

    I met someone like this. I beat them horribly. Than I asked them, how did we get matched up and he had the curse.

    They answered truthfully. They joined a galleon crew and did not fight but sailed a ship and keep it a float while his crew did the fighting.

    So. Again, just because someone has the curse does not mean they are better than you or skill is greater. It just means they won enough matches to award it.

  • Captain Coel
    Commander
    Insider

    @gosva5434 Sbmm is in hourglass mode and works. It is ruined by the lack of participants in your pool of players. So instead of making you wait forever for a match with another crew that wins 50%. Eventually it chooses making a match over waiting.

    Also the curses are not a measure of skill. They are a measure of time.

    This about it like this. If you have a 50% win rate and can only do 2 matches a day. it's going to to take you months to get the curses. If you have a 50% win rate and can play for 20 matches a day it will be done 10x faster. Is one more skilled than the other?

  • WolfManbush
    Champion

    Hg has positive effects on the environment but as content itself they are never going to have the interest to truly ever do much with it as far as consistent quality matchmaking goes.

    The amount of activity they would need to create and then hold was never even realistic from the beginning, the appeal just goes down over time, even with new cosmetics and new gimmicks to try to get people to play the interest in throwing a boat in front of another is just always going to be low in an adventure game like this. Even less appeal when the organic environment has higher activity like it does now (and hopefully does in the future)

    What it is likely is what it'll always be, it's not as good as random adventure when it comes to pvp practice for most people because of the matchmaking inconsistencies. Even pve naval is better practice for a lot of people than HG.

    There are positives to it existing though

    consenting combat
    an option for a quick fight or two
    something to grind if someone truly wants it
    it helped give pvers a break for a few months and that helped a lot leading into season 9 changes

    It's about "it is what it is" as content can be.

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