Season 13: Revamping Hourglass PvP for Fairer Rewards

  • Sansoif
    Ship Mate
    Insider

    Hello Sea of Thieves Enjoyers! Now that Season 13 is out, we need to talk about an issue that's close to my heart: the Hourglass. Once again, the update brings us fantastic new content, including stunning new skins with the Skeleton Curse: Obsidian Bones. While the skin is top-notch, there's a problem. For me, even though the skin is beautiful, I don't have the desire to grind through 200 levels—or even 500 for the most determined players.

    Engaging in PvP isn't an issue for me; I enjoy it. However, for the average player who dreams of owning these skins, it would require grinding for thousands of hours in a game mode that is fundamentally flawed. This isn't fair or reasonable. The Hourglass PvP system needs a rework, addressing several points that have been raised by numerous forum members, such as:

    Daily Rewards: Implementing daily rewards to encourage players not to exhaust themselves with PvP but to enjoy completing their quests and then embark on other adventures. This approach would make the game mode more enjoyable and less of a relentless grind.

    Aesthetic Rewards: Adding cosmetic rewards (skins) not just for the pirate, but unique weapons or ship cosmetics to maintain a sense of gratification for those who want and love to engage in a lot of PvP.

    Balanced XP Gain: Adjusting the XP required to level up, not in an excessive manner, but so that players can progress based on the time they invest, whether they win or lose. XP should vary smoothly, offering a small increase for quick wins and a significantly boosted amount for intense 40-minute battles, even if the players lose. This system would incentivize players to participate in matches and feel rewarded for their efforts, encouraging them to return to the game mode after completing their daily quests.

    Ranking and Matchmaking System: Introducing a ranking and matchmaking system for the hardcore players who want to compete against the best. This could include reviving the currently unused Arena and creating a Hall of Fame for the top-scoring pirates. The top three players could be honored with statues featuring their skins and names.

    Putting exclusive skins and rewards behind an unreasonable grind makes the mode feel elitist and discourages the majority of the community. Over 80% of players may never attain these rewards, which closes the door on what could be an excellent game mode. By making these changes, we can create a more inclusive and enjoyable experience for all players.

  • Login To Reply
    15
    Posts
    8.0k
    Views
    generalfeedbackcompetitioncommunity
  • Guildar9194
    Master

    Ranking and Matchmaking System

    How would that even work?

    could include reviving the currently unused Arena

    Devs have said Arena, and its cosmetics, are not coming back.

    Creating a Hall of Fame for the top-scoring pirates.

    Which would encourage cheating and cheesing. The second you add a scoreboard, people cheat to be at the top of it.

  • undedd jester
    Sailor

    @guildar9194
    To be fair people already cheese and cheat the current system.

    If you discount the arena and cosmetics, the rest of it would be a good set of changes:

    • Daily rewards would incentivise people to have pops at PvP for a boost as and when, without having to participate in exhaustive grind.

    • Having scaling rewards based on the duration of the fight whether you win or lose would keep the participants engaged and reward players for sticking a tough battle out. This would also make loss farming less viable.

    • Having a ranking list would allow players who can't maintain streaks to get boosts to gain experience based on who they go against. If you play vs. players ranked higher than you, you can gain additional bonuses to progress if they beat higher ranked players. You could even tie it in to the previous feature and multiply the time survived with this rank difference modifier, so you get rewarded based on how long you lasted. The players higher up the ranks get rewards for maintaining streaks, lower level players get rewards for sticking it out trying.

    There are good ideas here.

  • JohnEloot
    Commander
    Insider
    Founder

    Crazy to me how the first response points out all the negative without even acknowledging the good ideas that are included with your post. I agree with most of it 👍 Nice ideas.

  • MisereNZ
    Captain
    Insider

    Would also like to add you should have to be flying either a reaper, Athena or Guild flag to do hour glass.

  • Thamb0
    Master
    Insider

    @sansoif YES. Hourglass needs massive upgrades and so so much work. These are all great ideas. I would personally vote yes to all of this. Arena cosmetics were also some of the best cosmetics on the game, so bringing back recolors/original or whatever would be massive for adding in more rewards that actually look amazing. Daily Rewards need to be a priority though!

  • Sansoif
    Ship Mate
    Insider

    @guildar9194 Hello,

    Regarding matchmaking and ranking, I don't have all the answers. I'm just sharing ideas and suggestions that I found appealing from recent forum discussions, compiling them into one post.

    Arena Skins: I wasn't suggesting bringing back the existing ship skins, but rather introducing new PvP-related ship skins for Athena or Reaper. I just want to see the Arena repurposed because it saddens me to see such a space unused. It could be much more useful as a gathering place for the best pirates to engage in high-stakes Hourglass matches.

    Cheaters: Yes, introducing a ranking system might attract cheaters and malicious players aiming to disrupt the top of the leaderboard. However, I believe it would be up to EAC (Easy Anti-Cheat) and Rare to monitor and manage this issue.

    Just my humble opinion.

  • BurnBacon
    Vanguard
    Insider

    I don't have the desire to grind through 200 levels—or even 500 for the most determined players.

    So it isn't a game problem, but players will to grind for maybe...couple years of content that wont change.

    However, for the average player who dreams of owning these skins, it would require grinding for thousands of hours in a game mode that is fundamentally flawed.

    Not flawed. It keeps you more ingame and if you REALLY Really reeeeaaaally want them. You will keep playing longer and come back.

    This isn't fair or reasonable.

    I know a few games that follow this same grind, nobody complained back then. Some unlocked these rewards in days, some got them down the road. It all fair, everyone is equal footing.

    Introducing a ranking and matchmaking system for the hardcore players who want to compete against the best.

    Define "Best" because as many have come across. Loss farming is still a thing, people sailing the area avoiding each other until someone quits. Those "wins" arent actually wins.

  • Sharkfire75
    Ship Mate
    Insider

    These are great ideas! I've always wanted the skeleton curse but grinding up 100 levels in servants of the flame is completely unrealistic for me. These are great ideas but hourglass needs even more changes than this to reach its full potential

  • Sansoif
    Ship Mate
    Insider

    @burnbacon a dit dans Season 13: Revamping Hourglass PvP for Fairer Rewards :

    So it isn't a game problem, but players will to grind for maybe...couple years of content that wont change.

    Not flawed. It keeps you more ingame and if you REALLY Really reeeeaaaally want them. You will keep playing longer and come back.

    Do you think it's reasonable to have to play for years to earn a reward? Many players, unfortunately, don't have that much free time, even though Sea of Thieves is their favorite game. Through my message, I'm contributing to the conversation in hopes of making the game more inclusive for all players.

    I know a few games that follow this same grind, nobody complained back then. Some unlocked these rewards in days, some got them down the road. It all fair, everyone is equal footing.

    Define "Best" because as many have come across. Loss farming is still a thing, people sailing the area avoiding each other until someone quits. Those "wins" arent actually wins.

    I understand your perspective about wanting to add long-term goals and the satisfaction of showing off your "rare" skin to others. However, the elitist aspect doesn't appeal to me. I believe the satisfaction of grinding and investing time in the game should be rewarded. A skin should be obtainable by reaching a minimum number of points in Hourglass. Better skins could be awarded based on the "tiers" players reach through Hourglass ranking. This way, players can still have prestigious rewards without making it inaccessible for most of the community.

  • Ghutar
    Legend
    Insider
    Founder

    First win of the day should guarantee 1 lvl in faction.

  • Sansoif
    Ship Mate
    Insider

    @ghutar Hey,

    no, I don't think so. However, adapting it to a daily reward for a successful Hourglass mission, yes. I don't want to make Hourglass too simple; I want it to be balanced in a way that everyone feels gratification and has the desire to play. This way, players are rewarded for their efforts without making it overly accessible.

  • Ghutar
    Legend
    Insider
    Founder

    @sansoif for me it's nice way to boost participation, without making it too easy (just going with that for base curse would take 100 days of login and wining).

    It's simple solution that would not end in perhaps unindended behavior like prolonging fight to do some dailys.

  • Fysics3037
    Marauder
    Insider

    Daily rewards maybe, ranking no and it already has mmr, no to rebalancing levels, and we already have other rewards for HG, just mainly on the GoF side.

  • Sansoif
    Ship Mate
    Insider

    @ghutar

    It's simple solution that would not end in perhaps unindended behavior like prolonging fight to do some dailys.

    It's up to Rare to adapt daily quests to prevent any bad behavior. The tasks should be accessible without needing to prolong the length of the fights

Login To Reply
15
Posts
8.0k
Views
generalfeedbackcompetitioncommunity
1 out of 15