The State of Hourglass

Bonus rep days/weekends

As miserable as it may be there have been many in your shoes that just stuck to the bonus days and got it eventually.

I wouldn't even focus on anything else in HG at this point, the experience is too inconsistent to carry that weight. Bonus days and enjoy the game outside of that. If you lose you lose, if the matches stink they stink, if the it's buggy it's buggy, just focus on the bonus days until it's done.

If it takes another year that's alright, it'll be less unpleasant in the long run.

You're not being offered a consistent ladder to climb. It's got missing steps, it's a rickety ladder because of the lack of interest and participation. Just get up it how you can and then you can move forward. Bonus days are like finding some footing on your way up.

@secret-vveapon said in The State of Hourglass:

@wolfmanbush thank you for this. Genuinely. I thoroughly enjoy playing in adventure mode. I just wanted my curse to make it all the better. I appreciate you.

You're gonna get it done, just gonna be some time between now and then.

Everyone has time between where they are now and where they are going.

You got this, bonus days are gonna help you out and adventure will help you maintain your passion for adventure.

The struggle isn't on you and it won't stop you, you're definitely going to succeed over time. No doubt about it.

You've stuck with it this long, you've already shown what you are capable of during this.

On the bonus days just turn on your favorite tunes or background noise, cuddle pets if you have pets, talk to your favorite people on the phone or in some other way. No stress, no letting it be more than it is, it's just playing the game in a specific way for a while for a reward, that's all it is. Some cannon/weapon shooting and some strategy, it'll work out at the end of this.

@secret-vveapon I haven't done hourglass since season 11 launched, so I don't know if this would work. However, it seems to me that your best bet might be to pick up some gunpowder barrels, raise hourglass, and wait to be invaded. With more people diving and changing servers, it makes sense that the odds of getting invaded would be higher. When you do get invaded, blow up your opponent with the gunpowder barrels. As far as blowing up your opponent, I'd recommend you ram them with a gunpowder barrel near the bow of your ship, or bait them into chasing you, and board them with a gunpowder barrel. I know that doesn't seem all that effective, but in my experience, it's the only thing that works against hardcore players.

@secret-vveapon said in The State of Hourglass:

Then I go to hourglass and I feel like the ONLY people left playing this are the sweatiest pirates in the sea! ... Now, I'm getting absolutely demolished by people that haven't missed a canon shot since 2018. They're hitting immediately with no need for adjustment as the most insane distances.

Sweats and cheaters are now the bulk of hourglass. The pirates you're describing sound like the latter.

What I'm not cool with is going up against only that!

Casuals and PvEvP'ers are no longer participating in HG. The former doesn't want to deal with what you're dealing with, and the latter got cursed months ago.

I crave the challenge to push my limits to help me improve, but I actually have absolutely zero chance of improving when I can't do anything. I went up against a crew with my friend yesterday and they immediately had knocked him off canons with opening shots, knocked our mast, and then both hit every sniper and flintlock shot on us while we tried to catch mast. We couldn't do a single thing. Listen, I'm pretty good with a sniper, but not THAT good.

Cheaters.

Do any of you average, below average, and above average players do hourglass anymore?

Noooooooooooooooooooope! I got my curses about this time last year I think? I vaguely remember it being March or April?

If so, what's hour experience been like as of late?

Never touching the mode again. It's a toxic sweat fest.

Why can't I get at least an even match in hourglass?

Cheaters and toxic sweats.

@secret-vveapon I know I am not telling you anything you don't already know, but having curses isn't a matter of skill, it's simply a matter of how much time you're willing to invest. I know that a lot of people do the mode solely to get the curses, but a lot of them don't get them because they get too frustrated that they're fighting a lot of good players. Most of it is a mindset switch. If you view hourglass as a way to get better at PvP, and you look at losing as an opportunity to learn, to practice, and to get better, you're going to not only find less frustration, but you'll also find yourself winning fights you were probably losing.

I consider myself to be about the skill level you describe and I am over 200 in both factions, but that's only because I've put in time in the mode. I am not always in the mood for hourglass, and sometimes I have long streaks where I won't win much at all, but I also have times when I win some, lose some, or sometimes I go on champion streaks. One thing I do know for sure is that adventure mode seems a lot easier due to my time in hourglass.

Also, don't buy in to all the people who try to say that cheaters are overrunning hourglass. Most of those people don't realize how good players in this game can actually be until they get in to hourglass. There are cheaters, no doubt, but they're a lot less common than people on forums and social media suggest.

@karadinn I like chocolate ice cream, my uncle prefers vanilla. I love Brussel sprouts, my brother prefers carrots. While backpacking my body craves carbs, my wife's needs protein. People have preferences. But if we were able to objectively measure the number of pirates who like hourglass and compare it to the number of pirates who want one or both curses, I feel the difference would be staggering. This is what happens when the most requested cosmetic since the inception of the game is placed behind a game mode tons of pirates really don't prefer or care to participate in.

I'm glad you consider losses as learning experiences. Many of us don't share that mentality and just don't care for hourglass for a plethora of reasons. But recommending pirates have a "mindset switch" is akin to "git gud" as far as I'm concerned. I'm not going to tell my wife we shouldn't have gotten that rice cooker because our instant pot makes rice and she needs a "mindset switch." People want the curses, and hourglass is widely unpopular.

Me and my friend basically have the same experience.

I would say we are both slightly above-average players. Most of the times, when we play normal High Seas, we are able to basically clear out the server, we win the majority of our fights. We are certainly not bad, but we are also certainly not top PvPers.

That being said, the hourglass matchmaking seems non-existent. It is very rare that we ever get a ship that's anywhere close to our skill level. We either stomp the other crew within 2 minutes, with them likely being fairly new to the game, or we are the ones being stomped within 2 minutes, usually people with the advanced PvP curses (like gold ghost curse).

I don't think this will change, though. I imagine the amount of players queueing for hourglass at any given time is fairly low, so trying to match up same-skilled crews would be very difficult, and queues would be very long.

Sadly, the nature of the beast and we have to deal with it. But keep at it, we'll get it someday!

@lordqulex I am really glad that you made this post because I can use it as an example to my students during writing how metaphor usage can obscure the point you're trying to make. Also, I never said "git gud", so you're also providing useful examples of how to make a strawman argument. Super invaluable.

My main point is that the only way you get the curses is if you invest time in it. Given that reality, you are faced with a few choices if you want to get the curses.

Be miserable the whole time. I've seen a lot of folks do this, and I've also seen some of them quit the game because they get so frustrated about their results in hourglass. I feel like that's where a mindset switch might be useful, because I think getting so upset and distressed that you quit the game is a suboptimal outcome, but maybe you disagree because you love Brussel sprouts.

Loss farm. As someone who didn't do this, I don't really mind or care if others did, because I don't think cosmetics mean anything except you invested time into getting them, and loss farming is similar enough in terms of time investment that I can honestly say that the curse was "earned". The only downside to this is that you lose value in terms of improving at the game, but since that's basically instant rice, maybe that's not for you.

Try your best and try to get better, but don't really worry too much about your losses. I feel like this is a pretty healthy approach to hourglass, and I would advocate for it because at the end of the day, this is a game, and it's about having fun. Now, if you are willing to engage in an activity you don't find fun in order to get something you want, then I think it's fair to say that it's worth it to extract as much value out of that activity as possible. You can not only get the curses, but you can also improve at PvP so you can defend your treasure in adventure! It might not be as valuable as vanilla ice cream, but it's probably at least equal to chocolate.

@secret-vveapon I am glad you had better fights. When I started hourglass, I won some, I lost some, and even now, when I feel like I have improved a lot, I still get obliterated. I've watched players miles better than I am or probably ever will be get obliterated. It happens to everyone.

If you play hourglass and you try while getting your curses, you'll get better naturally and mechanically through repetition and experience, even if you never make an attempt to learn from your mistakes. You'll also learn to lose badly and persevere through some negative experiences. I know that doesn't feel like you're getting anything valuable from it, but honestly, learning to deal with losses and continuing past that transcends the game.

@karadinn said in The State of Hourglass:

@lordqulex I am really glad that you made this post because I can use it as an example to my students during writing how metaphor usage can obscure the point you're trying to make. Also, I never said "git gud", so you're also providing useful examples of how to make a strawman argument. Super invaluable.

I pity your students because their teacher apparently does not know how to read or has a light grasp on the English language. I never quoted you as saying "git gud," I suggested that telling people to bridle their emotions and have a "mindset switch" regarding hourglass is a gross oversimplification of the situation, and a remarkably difficult if not impossible thing to do for many pirates. I called it akin to "git gud;" similar to, and may I go so far as to say equivalent to. You're implying that "everyone is approaching this hourglass thing all wrong and if you just saw it my way the entire thing would be so much less miserable!"

My main point is that the only way you get the curses is if you invest time in it. Given that reality, you are faced with a few choices if you want to get the curses.

Yes, this is the crux of the argument against the curses being a "flex" that is "earned" by gatekeeping PvP'ers.

Be miserable the whole time. I've seen a lot of folks do this, and I've also seen some of them quit the game because they get so frustrated about their results in hourglass. I feel like that's where a mindset switch might be useful, because I think getting so upset and distressed that you quit the game is a suboptimal outcome, but maybe you disagree because you love Brussel sprouts.

Agree 100%. But by saying "a mindset switch might be useful" you're implying that it is a trivial thing to do. This is where we disagree. Yes, if someone can just look at HG from a different angle, has the desire to improve their PvP skills, the EQ to sideline their emotions after losing a match, and the awareness/memory to be able to analyze where they went wrong and what to do next time, that would be a very useful thing to do! But what you're failing to realize is that many pirates don't like (or prefer, hence the metaphor) the PvP in this game and never will. They don't want to have a mental switch. Some pirates aren't mentally strong or quick enough to do the analysis required after a battle.

That is why I said a "mindset switch" is akin to "git gud." You're oversimplifying the situation, and offering an idea as a blanket solution that many pirates won't be able to apply. I.e., an absolutely useless recommendation.

Loss farm. As someone who didn't do this, I don't really mind or care if others did, because I don't think cosmetics mean anything except you invested time into getting them, and loss farming is similar enough in terms of time investment that I can honestly say that the curse was "earned". The only downside to this is that you lose value in terms of improving at the game, but since that's basically instant rice, maybe that's not for you.

Yep. But you need to understand this is an uncommon sentiment. Many in the PvP enthusiast community want to gate-keep the curses behind forced PvP by suggesting that hourglass shouldn't award allegiance for losses at all. They want to remove everyone from the activity that isn't a good-faith participant and they don't understand that would discourage new pirates from playing the game mode, meaning its community would never grow and it would suffer a death by slow bleed-out.

Try your best and try to get better, but don't really worry too much about your losses. I feel like this is a pretty healthy approach to hourglass, and I would advocate for it because at the end of the day, this is a game, and it's about having fun. Now, if you are willing to engage in an activity you don't find fun in order to get something you want, then I think it's fair to say that it's worth it to extract as much value out of that activity as possible. You can not only get the curses, but you can also improve at PvP so you can defend your treasure in adventure! It might not be as valuable as vanilla ice cream, but it's probably at least equal to chocolate.

Again, you're oversimplifying the situation. "but don't really worry to much about your losses." Easy to say, very hard for many to do. Look at the graphics and the adverts for Sea of Thieves. Do you really think the bulk of the player base is old enough, mature enough, and has the EQ to this? I don't think so.

So again, the problem here is that Rare locked a highly desirable reward behind a contentious, widely despised activity. I was advocating this day one of hourglass. So people will complain, some will loss farm, some will gate keep, and some will offer their solution up as the one true solution everyone needs.