@grumpyw01f I agree with you. It's very apparent Arena will never be brought back, considering they actively lock threads discussing it. Rare still needs to make a revamp HG, and they could do that by adding Arena things into the game mode. A few examples they could add would be the Sea Dog Tavern or another loading spot. Having to wait on a ship under water was cool for like the first 5 mins, but now it is the most boring thing in the world. Being able to see other players in a tavern would do wonders to make people feel like the queues actually have people in them. Having ships with the same supplies (extremely hot topic), etc. the list is a mile long with what they need to do to change Hour Glass, because after getting the curses and grinding each faction a little after, I have no desire to keep grinding due to the issues that exist, and yet I love the pvp part of this game. The problem is that the matches can be fun, or you can spend forever simply chasing people in circles and an hour later get next to nothing for reward xp. On a galleon or brig it's not that big of a deal, but solo slooping and chasing someone has really killed this mode for me. Also, queuing up against the same people over and over is not helping.
Hear me out. I think the biggest issue for casuals, people with not much time, and new players learning is the time in between losses. Instead of being sunk and just respawning and immediately fighting again until the match is over, like in that other mode we had years ago, people sink, have to get server merged which takes time, then they have to vote up a new emissary, buy/collect supps, get their ship in order, vote to dive, and then wait in another queue that could be quick or slow, depending on various factors. Then it's possible they get matched with the same person/people that just sank them and they get destroyed again and think, why did I just waste another 5-15 minutes getting ready and diving all for that? It gives players more time to think, should I do this or play something else. The other game mode was basically constant action if you wanted it to be the entire duration of the match, and players did not have so much down time to feel bad about being sunk. Yes, the queue times could be crazy long to find matches, but I've also had 20-40 min Hour Glass queues. The waits are not as bad now, but the process still probably takes on average 5-10 minutes to get back into a looking for match.
Hourglass is Dying
@acnologia1403 I've been saying they need to add seaforts in for awhile. A capture the flag/KotH would be really cool with like a 3v3.
I'm the least qualified opinion here because I have probably played HG the least. When HR came out I thought it was the best thing SoT did in a long time. I still like (no, LOVE) the concept. But as a casual player the infinite grind is the worst possible choice for me. I'm not a good PvPer and I accept that 100%, and I would gladly lose my matches, while trying my best, if the rewards were pumped up significantly (for the losers). But the HG grind is the worst, most soul draining grind in the game. It really is a waste of my time, when I can enjoy so many other aspects of this game. Which is too bad....I really wanted to play more HG sessions.
Maybe I'll try again soon, but I know the outcome.
@grumpyw01f said in Hourglass is Dying:
@rikjaxx
Yeah, the ideas for making loss xp more fair are pretty good on this thread.In my opinion the players on the lower skill levels are more likely to abandon and the game should stop punishing them so harshly. If the low part is gone, then the mid part becomes the new part and the cycle continues. I don't think just improving as a player is enough, because a losing side is always necessary in Hourglass, or else the remaining player base will start destroying themselves. Improving in hourglass is not enough in my opinion, because it is still just avoiding being on the losing side, but the losing side still exists and they need to feel motivated to continue.
@dragotech123
[Edit: missed the tone of your post until writing the whole thing out. Oh well :( ]I don't mean just making loss xp higher. That doesn't change any behavior and would create the same problems at a different scale.
One of the good ideas I was referring to was making loss xp a multiplier of how much you stand to win. It starts low and goes up the more cannonballs you hit, chainshots you hit, players you kill, etc., but never going to as much as you would have gained from winning. Then if you lose a really close fight, you lose your streak and what you would have got from selling the hourglass, but you still get a reasonable payout because you did actually do really well.
This also effectively ends loss farming, because you stand to gain something from trying on every match. To loss farm to level 100, it takes 2,100 losses. And some players still do this! Just a little bit of incentive to actually play the mode would do so much.I agree that there are still problems with the mode as a whole that loss xp changes would never remove, and that's part of the original post, so I won't really go further than what I already wrote. I do think that improving would be more desirable if there were incentives to actually improve instead of just "improve or get steamrolled".
@grumpyw01f said in Hourglass is Dying:
@dragotech123
[Edit: missed the tone of your post until writing the whole thing out. Oh well :( ]I don't mean just making loss xp higher. That doesn't change any behavior and would create the same problems at a different scale.
One of the good ideas I was referring to was making loss xp a multiplier of how much you stand to win. It starts low and goes up the more cannonballs you hit, chainshots you hit, players you kill, etc., but never going to as much as you would have gained from winning. Then if you lose a really close fight, you lose your streak and what you would have got from selling the hourglass, but you still get a reasonable payout because you did actually do really well.
This also effectively ends loss farming, because you stand to gain something from trying on every match. To loss farm to level 100, it takes 2,100 losses. And some players still do this! Just a little bit of incentive to actually play the mode would do so much.I agree that there are still problems with the mode as a whole that loss xp changes would never remove, and that's part of the original post, so I won't really go further than what I already wrote. I do think that improving would be more desirable if there were incentives to actually improve instead of just "improve or get steamrolled".
No worries, text can be misunderstood due to lack of voice tone, so I apologize if I said something I didn't mean.
I agree with that give a flat boost to loss xp is not the right answer. I simply want to feel like I am making progress even if I lose. I am repairing my ship, I am landing shots, I repel boarders every now and then, but it all means nothing if I can't secure the sink. This bring me to my previous point that I mentioned a long time ago: if I know I am going to lose, why even bother fighting? The loss xp is the same no matter if you drop anchor or fight through heaven and hell and the enemy clutched the win, the loss will be the same, the difference is the time and effort invested. Wasting resources and time for something that could have ended in 30 seconds with the same result is the kind of thing that turned me off from hourglass, and I can see why loss farmers exist.
Honestly the entire problem with HG is the fact they tied the curses to it.
The reason everyone complains about the grind... is because theyre only engaging with HG to get the curses, not because they enjoy the gameplay loop.
If HG was just PvP on-demand only the people wanting a fight would engage with it, without feeling like its obligated in order to reach the curses.
This doesnt really help anything; Ive given suggestions on how to improve the HG experience for 2 years with no changes in sight, just commenting
I agree that Hourglass has become less appealing to new players as an option for Gold or Cosmetic progression, and one suggestion I’ve seen on other posts and in a YouTube video is a Ledger System, similar to the Emissary Ledger system that rewards you for placing in a certain percentage. The only issues I see in this would be the smaller ‘average’ player base of Hourglass letting the higher and more interesting cosmetics be hogged by the extremely sweaty and seemingly undefeated Hourglass players (you know who you are). The best suggestion I can offer in the sense of a Ledger system is a point system in which each victory gives a certain number of points, and at certain numbers of points say, monthly, a cosmetic reward is unlocked. More Skeleton Curse cosmetics would be well appreciated in the Ledger as well.
Also MORE PRE-100 COSMETIC UNLOCKS! Maybe a Servants of the Flame and Guardians of Fortune ship/clothing/equipment sets so there are more rewards for players as they work their way up to Level 100 for the Curses, and, while I know I keep saying this, more Skeleton Curse cosmetics! The Ghost Curse was made in such a way that there are infinitely more looks, outfits and characters than the Skeleton Curse, which has maybe thirty or so cosmetics, if that. I know it’s basic but I’d love to look like an average bone Skeleton Captain with a feathered hat and torn jacket. Or even just a crew skeleton with a blue or red bandanna and ties on my arm bones. And maybe some Reaper’s Bones equipment? The other companies have pretty much full Equipment sets but the Reaper’s Bones got left behind. Perhaps they could also be tied to the Servants of the Flame Allegiance grind…
As an addendum to the "sweaty pvpers 'hogging' HG ledger rewards" the standard HG rewards are tied to participation, you can attain them just by playing HG eventually.
Having ledger rewards for the top 2/3 of participants as well wouldbt neccesarily be a bad thing. The more people participating means the more people are included in that top 50% to 75% (or whatever the cosmetic ledger reward cutoff is)
I think adding more game modes, like 3v3 and king of the hill or something alongside more rewards pre level 100 would be the biggest way to revive HG. Rare also could incorporate a tutorial for first time players, who could practice sinking a stationary boat and then a moving boat, so they could get the practice and understanding of what will happen in HG. Most of us that have been playing forever think it's common knowledge of what would happen in a PVP mode, but I can't tell you how many times in open crew that I talk to people who literally had zero idea what hourglass was and then they say they voted on it, ended up in a match and got demolished, as is to be expected. But, maybe having an introductory lesson or two before going into HG would be beneficial for the swabbies to know what they are getting into?
@burnbacon
you're missing the point man. OP is suggesting a way to match similar skilled players up in hourglass so they ARENT easily sunk by a majority of high skill opponents.Would a rookie get good by getting smacked around all the time? 9/10 its just discouraging and hourglass will go the way of arena because casual players dont enjoy getting kicked around in every encounter. a rookie vs a rookie is a toss up and provides much more opportunity for learning. Someone gets good and they sit in higher tiers more often, someone gets really good and they dont get easy wins by punching down as befits their skill level. if all someone wants from pvp on demand is a fight whenever they want then high skill players lose nothing and low skill players get to enjoy the game more.
In the case of a high skill player crying about not getting matched up with rookies to punch down on, i couldnt care less about their problem.
"Hourglass isnt a competition/competitive mode"
There are literally factions that compete against each other, what are you on about?"Hourglass isnt a competition/competitive mode"
There are literally factions that compete against each other, what are you on about?Just a red herring.
Nowhere in OP's post did he argue that HG was a "mode" or should be like a "battle royale." But that wasn't going to stop Bacon from pedantically pointing out that it is in fact not a "mode," but just a PvP on-demand tool.
And he's right about that. And it makes no difference in any case.
That PvP tool can still be made more appealing to a larger playerbase, so that it sees more recurring activity, and doesn't discourage casual players from participating.
@sirpebble323 said in Hourglass is Dying:
Also MORE PRE-100 COSMETIC UNLOCKS! Maybe a Servants of the Flame and Guardians of Fortune ship/clothing/equipment sets so there are more rewards for players as they work their way up to Level 100 for the Curses, and, while I know I keep saying this, more Skeleton Curse cosmetics! The Ghost Curse was made in such a way that there are infinitely more looks, outfits and characters than the Skeleton Curse, which has maybe thirty or so cosmetics, if that. I know it’s basic but I’d love to look like an average bone Skeleton Captain with a feathered hat and torn jacket. Or even just a crew skeleton with a blue or red bandanna and ties on my arm bones. And maybe some Reaper’s Bones equipment? The other companies have pretty much full Equipment sets but the Reaper’s Bones got left behind. Perhaps they could also be tied to the Servants of the Flame Allegiance grind…
I totally agree. The main reason I got through the 100-200 grind was just to unlock a new cosmetic every ten levels or so. If that was applied to 1-100, it would have a much better chance of retaining players just so they don't feel like they're grinding for nothing. Because small steps that pave the path to a bigger goal make your effort more rewarding.
Some have had the idea that you should unlock a partial skeleton curse at 50. Sounds like a great idea. I'd like to see some sort of reaper clothing/equipment set that is unlocked along the 1-100 grind. Throw in something equivalent for Guardians and you're done. It doesn't have to be much, just enough to give players a sense of accomplishment in the short term.
Then, of course, ledger systems and challenges to give more incentives for regular engagement. Gotta plug my stuff of course...
The most important thing that Rare needs to address is the streak system. I'm now level 350 in servants and 100 in guardians and I still think it's garbage. One night I went on a 9 streak (my highest so far) only because all of the players I went against were either loss farming or very new to HG. And I got rewarded so much for that? Yet the ONE game where I beat a streamer or a gold skelly I get awarded almost nothing.
I also keep saying this:
Hourglass needs a nice way to tie back into High Seas. After handing in your hourglass you should be able to find special loot at forts or in shrines that was pertinent to your hourglass battles and reflective of the skill of your opponents. If you fought an opponent of a 'platinum' mmr you will get some loot reflective of that, and more if you beat them. The loot has no Allegiance value but does raise either Reapers Bones or Athena's reputation and there will be special rewards for gifting it to other players (like the Humble and Generous gifts). It would bring a much welcome pacing to how Hourglass currently functions.
Didn't answer the question though. I'm curious how everyone is doing these last few months after claiming it was.
No need to be aggressive over a question. You dont have to answer or reply if you havn't gotten an answer as of yet.Keep Calm, Sail On.
@burnbacon
😂 ok.I have a friend who really wants the ghost curse. I never grinded for it, because I love my skelly. But I play Guardians Hourglass with him.
Despite all its shortcomings, hourglass is fun for me when I get better and help someone else get better. By coincidence, we're at the same level, so we'll receive the reward at the same time. I've never seen someone so willing to go back into it time and time again. He has only played the game for a few months, so a strange situation for sure.
Hourglass is getting something of a second wind right now, people are more excited for PvP, especially with the skeleton cosmetic tease from the Burning Blade trailer. I'm guessing we've got some people who haven't got their skeleton curse, hopping back on because of new stuff.
I even finished a game and got instantly attacked after by someone else who happened to see use really close to their ship. They voted on their hourglass, so I was glad to get another streak number!
It's not dying, in fact I've had better queue times for a couple months now in both solo and duo hg. Watching a lot of other with the same quick queues.
However, the quality of matches, specifically in solo has deteriorated in quality. I've noticed a lot of experienced 'sweats' take a break for other games.
The running, the meta gaming strats (fishing rod boarding, spam silent boarding, etc) have made it less desirable to play and it's starting to take its toll on experienced players that are near end game, including myself. Adding into the failed EAC and people using cheats to destroy the experience of veteran players.
Unfortunately I have no solution to a drawn out match where only one ship is actively engaging a fight other than a closing circle, which creates other problems and other meta strats.
Having said that, there are a ton of inexperienced crews, loss farmers, and players that don't even realize they have voted on the hourglass. This is free wins and for those having trouble grinding will get these free wins along the way.
@dragotech123 Hey bro first off congrats on the curse I’m glad you got it man. I sailed with ya some but man you had some lag on the SA servers.
Ok so a few things. I think I would still HG without the curse but a hat or jacket is meh for rewards I’d say.
I’m ok with some other ways to obtain ghost/skelly but it needs to have a fairly high risk to go along with it.
Loss farming. Here is some stuff my friends and I have been discussing…. I think that loss farmers can and are attributing to a skewed MMR. Here’s why, if I fight you and let’s say I would have lost to you but you sail out immediately. I get placed into a higher MMR based on THAT win and you being the superior crew lower yours. So that when the “winner” moves on he is now possibly fighting much more skilled opponents and when the loss farmer fights again it’ll put them up against easier crews causing those crews to get leveled by a higher level player. It sorta lends itself to a bad circle.
I agree many players are demoralized by losing, but why……..
When I load in to HG I don’t think “man I’m about to get a 100 streak” nope I load in and fight. I have played SOT long enough to know that a lucky one ball can cost you a fight and it’s not worth the anger over……. EXCEPT CHEATERS I absolutely get being sick of losing to crews with less than a day in game that are invincible, hit every shot, AND teleport.
Cheaters are ruining the mood and game currently. Easy Anti-Cheat just turned into the ban hammer and ban some people but not other for completely arbitrary reasons. The community is starting to wake up to this and it’s been making its rounds on YouTube along with other forums. The lack of consistency is beyond frustrating.
Other than that man I can see your point on most of it. Cheers man, see you out there
@jon-sea-nah said in Hourglass is Dying:
@dragotech123 Hey bro first off congrats on the curse I’m glad you got it man. I sailed with ya some but man you had some lag on the SA servers.
Ok so a few things. I think I would still HG without the curse but a hat or jacket is meh for rewards I’d say.
I’m ok with some other ways to obtain ghost/skelly but it needs to have a fairly high risk to go along with it.
Loss farming. Here is some stuff my friends and I have been discussing…. I think that loss farmers can and are attributing to a skewed MMR. Here’s why, if I fight you and let’s say I would have lost to you but you sail out immediately. I get placed into a higher MMR based on THAT win and you being the superior crew lower yours. So that when the “winner” moves on he is now possibly fighting much more skilled opponents and when the loss farmer fights again it’ll put them up against easier crews causing those crews to get leveled by a higher level player. It sorta lends itself to a bad circle.
I agree many players are demoralized by losing, but why……..
When I load in to HG I don’t think “man I’m about to get a 100 streak” nope I load in and fight. I have played SOT long enough to know that a lucky one ball can cost you a fight and it’s not worth the anger over……. EXCEPT CHEATERS I absolutely get being sick of losing to crews with less than a day in game that are invincible, hit every shot, AND teleport.
Cheaters are ruining the mood and game currently. Easy Anti-Cheat just turned into the ban hammer and ban some people but not other for completely arbitrary reasons. The community is starting to wake up to this and it’s been making its rounds on YouTube along with other forums. The lack of consistency is beyond frustrating.
Other than that man I can see your point on most of it. Cheers man, see you out there
Thanks a lot.
To be honest, my journey to the ghost curse has been quite painful. I had some ups and some downs. At the very beginning of Season 8 I was optimistic and wanted to grind for the curse, and I even told myself that this could have been a great opportunity to improve and learn to defend myself since I used to run all the time before that. But as I got losses over and over, my enthusiasm slowly vanished. Trust me, I was willing to improve, I was willing to go for the wins, but every single time I lost I got this tiny ammount of XP. I couldn't see if I was doing something specifically wrong, which areas I needed to improve, and which areas I was good at and could use to my advantage. With no way to measure how close I was to success and the game simply telling me "You lost" with that fixed ammount of allegiance and the sinking ship animation I started to feel frustrated.
I watched youtube videos on how to improve, I watched lots of them. Even with more knowledge in theory, I still got sunk, I still had a huge ammount of losses before I managed to improve, and that was because another player wanted to be my mentor, he had to see me play and tell me what exactly I was doing wrong. Nothing inside the game told me where to improve or what to reinforce, it was an external source. I've been in other games where they have medals or other xp systems where a good performance or completing objectives reward you more, I can even say that I played games where a good fought battle that I lost rewarded me even more than a quick easy win. That's not the case with Sea of Thieves hourglass. It's only win or lose, without taking into consideration any action I took.
In season 9, I simply decided to quit hourglass for good unless it was boosted event like Gold and Glory or Community Days, because it felt awful for me to try to increase my levels on my own. The thing is that there are people who enjoy hourglass and other that don't, but I can't deny that lots of hourglass players are there just for the curses, and they would leave as soon as they get 100.
I think loss farming is an effect instead of a cause, because with no time limit and fixed ammount of allegiance being awarded depending on the result then I can see why players want to finish their matches quicker. But that is also another thing that hit me hard. Loss farmers were advancing much faster than me, because they got their loss xp sooner while I fought hard and still sunk, getting the same. I'd simply would like the game to recognize my effort and time invested a bit more, but instead I actually got punished by losing more time. You could say that I improved my PvP skills a bit, but as a solo slooper I prefer to avoid interactions with other crews because it always ended bad for me. I prefer to outsail my oponents, and I don't start fights myself.
If there had been another method of getting allegiance that I found more fun I would have done that instead. Or if the reward for level 100 would have been another thing other than the curses perhaps I would have never ever bothered touching the hourglass once. I was in SoT since 2018, and never played Arena. PvP in this game simply wasn't my thing. I feel it's a bit too clunky for me, too many registration issues, and I would had to either adapt to double gunning meta or not bother at all.
I don't think I'll bother much with the Burning Blade this season, I'm not interested in the cosmetics related to it so I'll avoid it and do the activities I like. To be perfectly honest, I only did the guardians of fortune for the sake of looking like a ghost, I never had the intention of bragging that I'm good at PvP. I wanted a simple cosmetic, not a trophy.
I understand that some players love Hourglass, in fact I admire the dedication for those who have the golden variants. But for me it wasn't that fun at all, and only commited to the hourglass grind for the curse with the possibility of learn how to defend myself as a second goal. I don't know how many players feel the same, but both here on the forums and in Reddit I've seen posts and comments about people feeling hourglass is very difficult, it is a grind, it is only populated by loss farmers and top tier players, and so on. We're even in a thread called "Hourglass is dying" and I didn't started it, so maybe the number of people who also feel the same is much bigger than I thought.
I consider myself more of a PvE focused player rather than a PvP one, but I obtained the ghost curse instead of the shores of gold curse. It is that much how I wanted to look like a ghost for the sake of it, instead of trophy of dedication. I don't have the shores of gold curse, and I doubt I'll do the tall tales 4 more times. I enjoyed the story line, but doing it extra times seem to me like artificial replayability. It's a lot of sailing, and I prefered the other tall tales anyway, I even repeated the other 3 story lines several times after having all commendations because they don't involve much of the tedious sailing.
My point is: Fun is subjective to each individual. Some enjoy certain activities, others prefer different ones. What someone finds exciting and thrilling for others can be stressful and paranoic, what someone finds chill and relaxing for others is dull and boring. But I see some players disatisfied with the current state of hourglass, and would like a change. And since only a small portion of players adquire the skeleton curse I can see why very few parts have been added since Season 8. First we had the Reaper Bones part but that was because of the distinctions update where other companies got a costume. And now we have new skeleton parts, but that is because of the return of Flameheart. The bonesmith shop does not recieve many additions unlike the outpost cosmetics, and I believe it is because the developers don't want to spend resources on cosmetics that only a small portion of players have.
Sorry for the wall of text. I simply wish that hourglass respected my effort and time a bit more, or else I would have never asked for alternative methods. Or make hourglass more forgiving and casual friendly to increase the population.
This is a little off topic, but anyone on this thread is probably interested in Hourglass in some way, so I figured I'd add this: I just posted an hourglass level calculator that'll help you determine how much you have left to do to get to a desired level. I've been using it for a while and I decided to make it public.
https://www.seaofthieves.com/community/forums/topic/172202/hourglass-level-calculator
Funny that to get to 100 on single wins alone is 235... That's pretty close to 240. Just an interesting fact to me.
https://www.seaofthieves.com/community/forums/topic/172202/hourglass-level-calculator
Very cool!
Funny that to get to 100 on single wins alone is 235... That's pretty close to 240. Just an interesting fact to me.
Always end up nerfing these things :P
And congrats on the new fit. I'm at 254/187, G/S respectively. Main crew played a bit of HG this past weekend, but I think we're gonna wait till the waves calm down a bit before our next sesh.
I think something else that should be added to defense hourglass and faction tribute is
A: an option on the war map to taunt invaders and end the cooldown timer early, so defending ships get invaded faster.
B: a marker on ships maps that shows tribute grade to make that ship seem more like a raid boss.
C: Claiming Sea Forts and Skeleton Camps that adds a massive multiplier to allegiance earned but also decreases the cooldown timer between invasions.
I don’t expect Rare to make many changes to hourglass unless the community is united around it, but fleshing out the defense aspect would be a step in the right direction.
A: an option on the war map to taunt invaders and end the cooldown timer early, so defending ships get invaded faster.
The 20 minute cooldown is the only reason I don't often defend battles. I am over level 500 in Servants but have only defended 6 times. I would also like a way to bypass the cooldown. The problem I see, however, is that this may end up having a negative effect on hourglass participation. Hourglass loot grade gives a multiplier to payouts, which would then make defending the more desirable option for participating in faction battles. If everyone's trying to defend, then how do you get them to fight? I think that there could be some way to improve it, but realistically, defending needs to be the worse option to ensure that matchmaking has players to invade people with.
B: a marker on ships maps that shows tribute grade to make that ship seem more like a raid boss.
This would be cool!
C: Claiming Sea Forts and Skeleton Camps that adds a massive multiplier to allegiance earned but also decreases the cooldown timer between invasions.
I think that hourglass could seriously use a reason for faction battles to occur organically in adventure, without needing to dive. But I don't see how that could be implemented without causing the same problems as A... Maybe if specific criteria needed to be met for something to happen, or a limited-time event that involved this?
Watching so many threads about hourglass recently and people talking about doing doing hourglass exclusively during Gold and Glory or Community Weekends led me to believe that it is indeed flawed and it wasn't just me.
This weekend I spent some time searching some topics on Reddit and many players share the same opinion.
If the majority of players do it only in boosted events and the rest of the time the pool of players is much smaller then I think something is wrong with it.
Sure, it won't close like Arena, it's part of Adventure mode so it will never be erased. But I am afraid that outside of the small group of players who enjoy it, it may see little use just like the Quest Board. But unlike the Quest Board you actually need a human opponent.
@dragotech123 I agree with you, it's very flawed! It's simply because the grind outweighs the fun by a large margin. If it's instant PVP, I don't want to spend my time spending money on crates, loading up my supply barrels and then getting into a fight where the opposing crew has over 1000 cannonballs and 30-40 chains, etc. I also don't want to fight people with this "gear fear" who play uber safe because they know they just spent the last hour collecting supplies in adventure mode. The game mode can be amazingly fun, but the tedium to entry after each battle, and the missing QoL features to expediate and create fair encounters just turns off so many people. Having achieved both curses, I can say that I had plenty of fun moments, but the overall experience needs so much work. That, and the fact that Rare just introduced the mode and never did anything with it again doesn't do much to help the situation. Most PVP related game modes need constant attention and updating, especially in a "Live Service" game. Also, adding cosmetics to unlock/wear from level 1-100 is highly needed!
@dragotech123
It's funny how these boosted time periods are the only time where Hourglass is as well supported as it was meant to be... and yet it only increases the number of forum posts expressing disappointment with its implementation. As I said in the original post, the interest is there, it's just not being fostered by the current state of it all.Watching so many threads about hourglass recently and people talking about doing doing hourglass exclusively during Gold and Glory or Community Weekends led me to believe that it is indeed flawed and it wasn't just me.
It's not just you. This indicates players want to min/max the allegiance to time ratio, which to me is an indication that the reward is much more appealing than the grind. They're willing to play hourglass, when they are appropriately rewarded for doing so.
It's simply because the grind outweighs the fun by a large margin.
1000%
If it's instant PVP, I don't want to spend my time spending money on crates, loading up my supply barrels and then getting into a fight where the opposing crew has over 1000 cannonballs and 30-40 chains, etc.
Then, don't? When I was finishing up my grind to 100 in each of the factions, my motto was "win fast, lose fast." When I last touched hourglass a win was worth nine losses (IIRC). It was better for me to sail in with base sups and sink them real quick, or get sunk real quick, because even a win is inefficient if it's not fast enough. Usually I'd ram-strat and patch because most bloodthirsty hourglassers will board you at all costs to ferry lock you, even if it means they forget they have a hole in their ship. (Remember if you ram their side, you get a T1 hole and they get a T3 hole. 😉) Sure they'll ferry me as I drop my anchor and patch my holes, but as long as their ship sinks or OOBs before mine I get the W. You'd be shocked how often that works, even against the same opponent.
1000%
@lordqulex Ya, try telling that to my crew XD. I literally said the same thing about go in fast and just sink or swim. My two brig mates had to always buy full supps and then spend 5 minutes running the outpost filling up the storage crate, AND then cooking every piece of meat before we can dive XD. I do base supps in solo, but even then it's sometimes toxic because many are just runners so my cannonballs dwindle fast every time they run away XD. Oh well.
