the pvp combat is so tiresome and frankly unfun, i don't mean ship combat, that's mostly fine. im talking about the incessant unabated boarding people can do. sending someone to the ferry of the damned is hardly a set back especially when you are dealing with a crew of 3+ people. unless you cou-de-grace them simultaneously, you aren't afforded any breathing room from their constant boarding antics.
now, i don't mind when people board with the intent to actually steal or cause my ship to sink. WHAT I DO MIND is people camping a ship with the soul purpose of griefing, to spawn kill you endlessly til you scuttle. scuttling is a terrible "solution" to this problem. it would be like telling someone to hit the suicide button in their menu on a shooter like halo or battlefield because someone is BMing (bad manner) by camping a spawn simply "because they can." Scuttling is a bandaid and no real solution. it's an idiotic "solution" i might as well quit your terrible game if that is the kind of "solution" you are offering without entertaining any other idea into the mix. i have been spawn camped enough times even when they have gotten my loot and have technically won that it is outrageous, the community won't fix itself so im asking you to fix your game to fix this terrible community. i have had people deliberately board up holes in my ship so they can continue spawn camping my ship, it's ridiculous. if scuttling or scuttling to a new sea is the solution. i'll just play a better, less flawed game, because this is a glaring flaw.
scuttling is an unstuck tool for your ship no different than a "suicide/respawn" button that exists in a fair few games menus for the soul purpose of not preventing griefing but removing your character from an immobile or "stuck" position, and not meant to just "end" an undesirable encounter. it is only treated as an "end" to an undesirable encounter because you all have been high on the idea of "preserving the game as intended" which is a fantasy and a fallacy.
in all my years of gaming, i have never heard of deliberate spawn camping with the intention of griefing to being anything other than abhorrent. most games have "spawn protection" or "base protection" either ejecting, debuffing, or otherwise punishing people engaging in such behaviour. games that forgoe these protection usually see a fall in their player base some years down the line before it either gets remedied or the player base slowly vaporizes as people decide they have had enough.
having to respawn and constantly deal with a full boarding crew that has no intent of sinking you or even stealing your stuff is nothing but frustrating. and a gameplay loop that needs remedied lest i and other people like me who have been sick of this terrible game design, decide to jump ship to any other game that is willing to offer more fun than this community currently does.
so here is my idea: if an opposing crew member has died on your ship, they cannot touch your ladder ropes for 5 minutes or otherwise get on your deck by other means. if they cannon launch to your deck, they are instantly met with a loading screen back to their ship, and will repeatedly be met with a loading screen with repeated attempts until the timer is finished. your boarding has failed and now you have to wait before you can attempt a board again.
with this solution, people could still camp with the purpose of sinking you, but people with the purpose for griefing would be severely hampered from being able to grief as they will eventually be killed by the defending crew by thinking they have infinite time to just camp someone for their own amusement.
another solution i have seen spitballed, and i actually quite like it more than the one i proposed above, because people will still be able to board and won't cry and moan about a lockout.
stacking debuff on an invader/invaders for repeatedly killing enemy crew members aboard their ship, with a 5 minute cooldown before the debuff bleeds off.
for example
incur 3+ kills on a solo player, the invaders take 10%-15% more damage per death incurred after the first 3, from any damage source coming from the crew they are invading
incur 5+ kills on a duo crew, the invaders take 10%-15% more damage per death incurred after the first 5, from any damage source coming from the crew they are invading
incur 7+ kills on a trio crew, the invaders take 10%-15% more damage per death incurred after the first 7, from any damage source coming from the crew they are invading
and so on, im sure you get the idea, and that's just one way to do it, it could be done a number of different ways than i layed out hear. it wouldn't stop people from being piratey and it wouldn't allow bad faith players to keep a near indefinite advantage just because ships have 2 or 3 very predictable spawn locations they can camp.
spawn protection should be a thing because people spawning in have to gain their bearings again after they come back from the beyond, they have to figure out again where the enemy is and they have to deal with their machines load time, they might load in server side before their client shows them loaded in, so after they load in they may see themselves in the down state ready for the ferry again BEFORE THEY EVEN HAD A CHANCE TO PUT AN INPUT IN TO TRY AND DODGE. there is nothing fun or fair about that for the one spawning and is bad sportsmanship for the one putting the spawner down like ol' yeller. that type of gameplay is only fun for the sadistic an unimaginative.
