Safer seas vs high seas

Lol yeah it has me as castaway. Oh well, not here to show how good I am, just speak up for a huge part of the fan base

The only thing that really messed the reaper design up is the mass hopping and player content machine that imbalanced the environment for it. This has improved now post season 8 but it was generally terrible for a couple of years before that.

Reaper hunts emissaries (or pve grinds), big dogs hunt reapers. That's a functional organic formula, just all the cheesing through hopping and server sharing messed it up.

Pvp pressure has been reduced so much in recent seasons that it doesn't make any sense to invest anything else into safer seas.

The reality of development times kinda ended up with safer seas happening at the time they no longer really needed it, it's fine to have and I support it existing but any sort of tinkering with it is very much not necessary imo. High seas isn't what SoT once was, it's very chill and casual out there now. A server here or there with some intensity is supposed to happen.

It's so different now from a risk/reward point of view. It went from low reward and high risk (for organic play) to high reward and mid to low risk. It's just not the same organic experience anymore, it's FAR less harsh, even for inexperienced players. The QoL for adventure play is sky high compared to the past as well.

I do appreciate the opinion, but I must disagree with it at least with high seas until safer seas was created. After that, I stopped playing high seas. The system to send other people after Reapers basically just made a group that was little better than Reapers and gave them incentives for it as well. It basically was like having a gang problem and making the solution to continue incentivizing that gang and create another gang to bring balance to the streets lol.
I can guarantee that if high seas has gotten better, it's cause safer seas took away the Reapers' hold on the average player. Then the trolls got bored and left, which hey that's awesome. Let's give safer seas everything high seas has. Since there's no upgrades that actually improve your chances against someone else, what's the harm? I'm not saying you hold that opinion, but pointing this out for a lot of the anti-safe seas peeps out there. Is that guy having a shiny hat earned from safer seas really dampening someone else's experience?

@manfighter03 said in Safer seas vs high seas:

Let's give safer seas everything high seas has. Since there's no upgrades that actually improve your chances against someone else, what's the harm? I'm not saying you hold that opinion, but pointing this out for a lot of the anti-safe seas peeps out there. Is that guy having a shiny hat earned from safer seas really dampening someone else's experience?

People dismiss significance the same way about cheesing and exploiting pve.

The reality is that a lot of people participate less and put in less effort when significance is reduced.

This game ONLY works well and with healthy server ecosystems if everyone does their part. Whatever it is they do, we all need their participation in the content and the effort to achieve.

That's a struggle in season 11 and every season in general, significance has been reduced so much because of everything from cheesing to exploiting to throwing boxes of secrets to people for community events that people don't have that hunger for the hunt, the risk of loss on an adventure.

When there is universal significance the environment thrives, individuals thrive, people reach heights they didn't think they would. They inspire and find inspiration.

It's fine to just sail, there is beauty in that, but the opportunity to chase environmental significance is absolutely necessary to maintain the hunger for exciting and unforgettable adventure.

So the problem there is that Reapers have very little to lose when they sink. They always have less loot, and most don't care for it. It's a troll paradise.

As far as my cannons work, yeah I'd mentioned that I the original post. I have a fly swatter too, but I don't want to spend my whole day swatting flies

As for the significance, I'm unclear as to the point there. There's significance in safer seas, you still have to earn everything, just with no trolls. Reaching greater heights is by taking on harder quests, seeking out armed forts, increasing difficulty. That can all be done with safer seas and keep the significance as far as I can see. I'm not saying that pvp doesn't add another thing to worry about, but unfortunately it's almost all annoyance and not much of a difficulty slider

Look behind you, a three headed monkey!

Anchors away mods!

@solomantiger said in Safer seas vs high seas:

High Seas was so terrible that they lost their player base and had to expand to PlayStation, nuff said

I've seen people say this but it doesn't make any sense.

The only way that deal gets made is with impressive numbers on the business end.

There is a lot of "I don't like this so SoT is in trouble" but that's never really been the case. The experience of the game for players can vary but the business end is likely consistently promising, going off stuff that we know in the public.

I disagree with stuff they do all the time and would rather play SoT than any other game, even in frustration, that'll be similar for a lot of players in this game.

I strongly encourage everyone to go watch the documentary. It is incorrect, in my opinion, to believe that the "intended" play style of gold hoarders is to dig up treasure, and the "intended" play style of Reapers is to hunt ships. No. Gold Hoarder voyages have you dig up treasure. Reapers try to accumulate any treasure by any means and sell it for a premium, at the risk of everyone seeing your ship's on the location.

In the documentary, it is very clear that the intended playstyle for any and every emissary is to collect treasure, fight others over treasure, and sell treasure. Reapers may be incentivized to hunt emissaries because the Servant is the only NPC that accepts flags, but it is very clearly intended that all emissaries and pirates fight each other over treasure. Other pirates are the unnecessary obstacle we are volunteering to overcome; PvP is the game, and PvE is simply the mechanic to generate the stakes/ante for the game.

When you understand that, you understand why safer seas is a place for families to play (away from the trolls), and not the intended playstyle of the game. It is a classroom to learn how to play before heading into High Seas, the intended way to play the game.

Arena was a perfect example of what I'm talking about. Reapers aren't there for the treasure or the adventure. They were designed to troll, and so the trolls flocked to it. I'm honestly convinced that a huge chunk of Reapers don't even care that it's sea of thieves. It's just another game that allows them an outlet for their trolling. A good way to prove this is how self destructive Reapers are when you fight them. Arena didn't work out not because people didn't want the ship battle, but because trolling was essentially nulled in an area where everybody there is 24/7 out to sink ships and nothing else. Nothing a troll hates more than a challenge or less people to troll. Also when I say reaper, it's not just those who wave reaper flags. Many of them will take down the flag after you've successfully fended them off a few times. Doesn't stop them from trolling or from being the same thing, just helps them to not be so easy to out maneuver with good strategies

@lordqulex and in this it's easy to refute. This basically ignores that trolls exist, and what someone intended and what something actually became are two very different things. Gold hoarders are there to dig up treasure, and fight for it. Reapers are there to sink ships... that's it. Being able to gain from sinking a ship as any em doesn't really mean anything. The reality is different from what people argue is the point of the game. High seas had become so toxic that ems weren't even used by a large majority of players on the server cause it just sent up a flare for trolls. How do I know they were trolls? Cause they would sink their own ships in combat, never pick up the treasure if they did eventually sink the ship, and never participated in anything else in the game. That's a troll. Winning, losing, treasure no treasure means nothing to a large portion of them.

Also, this comment makes me believe you have not been on safer seas. You still do plenty of tough fighting, as I'd mentioned earlier. Humans aren't much more difficult cause most the people I'm fighting are self destructive trolls. This is not a tutorial area. There is a separate mode for that. It's not where you get better or learn the game. If you don't know how to play the game, you'll get sunk or get bored on safer seas rather fast.

@hiradc so this is another post that did not read my original post, or did not use effective reading comprehension. Use any mechanic you want in safer seas, and yes there is definitely plenty of threat. Will you get the satisfaction of trolling? Nope. You are correct there, Reapers would probably not have as good of a time. Stick to high seas

Hey guys, I really appreciate opposed opinions but please read the first post in its entirety before posting. I also will be hopping off soon, and if I have come across as rude it was not intended. For those with short attention spans or trouble with understanding the original post, allow me to summarize. No one loses except for trolls by letting safer seas have access to the high seas content. If you don't like that a guy got a shiny hat from safe seas, ignore that guy and move on. In fact, you won't even see that guy. Cause he will be on safe seas. Reasons are detailed on the original post. Much love to the community, and to those who have posted. Anchors away pirates!

@rambobrad how is it me ruining a game if I'm playing on a private server? Your post makes no sense. Plus it sounds like you're just trying to get a rise out of me, so you might be one of those trolls. I've asked this already but please reread the post and don't treat this like a YouTube comment section. I'm playing the game exactly as intended, as I also explained in the original post. I explained how they are trolls in the original comment. You caught me while I'm on the john so I'm being polite in answering this obvious troll bait. If you weren't that person, you would give clear information that wasn't already talked about and refuted within this post. Please answer with actual points

@rambobrad which was replied to, and given response by not only myself, but others as well. Again, please reread the post. Also, I get it, we probably won't come to common ground. That's fine. What should be expected here is clear communication not bickering. If the ecosystem part is what you are referring to, I believe that was one of the first comments by a much better explained individual. I appreciate his opinion on the state of the system and how safe seas affects it. I disagree and gave my points in detail.

Again, we don't have to agree. Just please make new points or read the old ones. Commenting on how you feel about those points serves nothing other than self satisfaction and does not serve the system of the game as we are discussing

The only pirates that are sour in this thread are the sad little reapers that couldn't cut it in the first place, and are angry that the game became harder with the safer seas option. I'm a Pirate Legend, and achieved it while sinking reapers and collecting treasure. I bought all the cosmetics that I wanted and earned millions in gold. I love the option of a safer sea because once I've sunk all the ships in my server flying a reaper flag, I've always wanted to see what these quests were about that I couldn't experience. The game was better before the emissaries, because the core game is amazing. I agree that you should be able to earn all ship cosmetics and ship customizations in the Safer Seas because not everyone wants to be bothered by the gnats of the sea and would rather fight skeles, megs, krakens, and forts. Also understand that not everyone wants to spend their entire night guarding the ship when on a quest. If this makes you mad then get better at the high seas and let people enjoy a less annoying experience. Thanks Rare for making an incredible game and keeping it updated!

@manfighter03 said in Safer seas vs high seas:

@lordqulex and in this it's easy to refute. This basically ignores that trolls exist, and what someone intended and what something actually became are two very different things. Gold hoarders are there to dig up treasure, and fight for it. Reapers are there to sink ships... that's it.

Patently false—if this were true then you wouldn't be able to sell loot to the Servant. Reapers are there to collect and sell loot, just like everyone else. I think the primary confusion here is that you are using the name of an in-game organization to describe a group of pirates that share a mentality.

Being able to gain from sinking a ship as any em doesn't really mean anything. The reality is different from what people argue is the point of the game. High seas had become so toxic that ems weren't even used by a large majority of players on the server cause it just sent up a flare for trolls. How do I know they were trolls? Cause they would sink their own ships in combat, never pick up the treasure if they did eventually sink the ship, and never participated in anything else in the game. That's a troll. Winning, losing, treasure no treasure means nothing to a large portion of them.

Yes, the trolls would use the Reaper grade five bonus as a mechanic to find ships to sink. Yes, they would portal hop to find richer seas. Yes, I frowned upon this too but the devs did address this a long time ago and it is an acceptable playstyle.

Also, this comment makes me believe you have not been on safer seas. You still do plenty of tough fighting, as I'd mentioned earlier. Humans aren't much more difficult cause most the people I'm fighting are self destructive trolls. This is not a tutorial area. There is a separate mode for that. It's not where you get better or learn the game. If you don't know how to play the game, you'll get sunk or get bored on safer seas rather fast.

I have played safer seas. I have, since its release, helped a friend join the game. He hated safer seas because there was no challenge. PvE in safer seas NPCs don't have more health or increased spawn rate. It's just high seas without other players. Maybe it's not difficult because we've been gaming for 30 years. Maybe it's not difficult because we're on PC/KBM and not a controller. Who knows, but it's widely understood that PvE in this game is not challenging, and designed to be that way since the crew-size PvE nerf in a previous season.