Seriously, can we do something about bonecallers in hourglass?

  • ShrimpaN
    Sailor
    Insider

    I am not one to complain about bonecallers, but it's becoming more and more obvious that they must be tweaked in some way in order to maintain the integrity of legitimate PvP engagements.

    The way it stands now, with bonecallers being able to call down three skeletons, detracts from the legitimacy of these conflicts. My opinion is that their spawn mechanics need to be crew-size scaled. For example, limit it to one or two for sloops, two for brigs, and three for galleons. The frequency with which I’ve encountered boarders sitting in the water, repeatedly tossing multiple bonecallers, is frankly absurd. It would be much more balanced if the holding limit were restricted to one or two bonecallers, similar to the limitations on traps. The introduction of bonecallers has just altered my perception of real PvP, particularly in terms of boarders. It's not even certain anymore if they're even interested in close combat or are simply relying on bonecallers to decide the battle for them. It's like a significant drop in the emphasis on hand-to-hand combat, with players increasingly depending on bonecallers to turn the tide in their favor, distorting the underlying mechanics of PvP. It's a shift away from the strategic combat that these engagements are supposed to be defined by.

    The point people always bring up is that Sea of Thieves is a sandbox game, and that you should be free to do whatever you want. While I agree with this, I see hourglass as a stand alone gamemode, with its own rules and own player base. As said by many others, Rare never expected to have a competitive range of players, so they don't cater to our needs. They are more focused on increasing content in the game (which they can barely even keep up with) instead of just listening to their community. It's not only the PvP side of the game that is constantly neglected by Rare but also the PvE side with cheaters, exploiters, and toxicity. What I'm trying to say, is that the team at Rare really needs to shift their focus from the constant content updates to the actual state of the game (server lag, hit reg, exploits and bugs, etc.)

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  • WolfManbush
    Champion

    There are so many cheesy strats and exploits when it comes to supplies in this game that I think they should just give everyone a set amount of the power supps per server and that's it, other than robbing them.

    Then they refresh with a dive.

    The main issue is that the quantities are so often a mess, not that the stuff exists in general. What we saw in 13 is that a very significant amount of people are willing to do some extremely cheesy stuff for personal gain. The supply situation has suffered to that for a very long time.

    As far as content goes, Season 15 is pretty clearly popular with the general base of the game, feedback section really doesn't take away from its general popularity. Numbers got a nice bump, I run into nonstop hunters even right now. In unpopular seasons the activity barely lasts a few days. Game needed a player/activity bump and they've done that better in 15 than they have in many seasons. My guess would be that the console players are really getting into this season.

  • BurnBacon
    Vanguard
    Insider

    integrity of legitimate PvP engagements

    I’m sorry. But I have a tool that you can also get yourself that may or may not give me an advantage. I’m gonna use them.
    It all fair

  • heslashthem
    Legend
    Insider

    @shrimpan

    I see hourglass as a stand alone gamemode, with its own rules and own player base.

    Wrong. Hourglass lives within Adventure and therefore all the tools available within are useable. Sometimes a fight isn’t fair, and that’s okay. But you know what? You can always collect a bunch of bone callers too before going into battle to use on your opponent.

  • Mighty Mike8445
    Master
    Insider

    I don't mind bonecalles in hourglass but I can't stand the trash talk that follows, like the ppl that use them think they achieved something when it allows them to get on my boat, like no, I my crew can't handle several bonecallers, filling up with water, our sails being knocked down, cosntant cannon fire, and somehow having to watch ladder in all of that because there's a player in the water, like yeah, you got us under wraps, but not being able to recover isn't what deserves trashtalk, especially if bone callers arebing used, might at well have a single player on the ship at that point

  • ShrimpaN
    Sailor
    Insider

    @tesiccl I'm not saying they aren't allowed to be used in hourglass, I'm saying they're unbalanced and need to be tweaked in any way

  • GraveSilence272
    Marauder

    @mighty-mike8445 said in Seriously, can we do something about bonecallers in hourglass?:

    ...the ppl that use them think they achieved something when it allows them to get on my boat,

    If they got on your boat using bone callers, they DID achieve something.

    ...like no, I my crew can't handle several bonecallers, filling up with water, our sails being knocked down, cosntant cannon fire, and somehow having to watch ladder in all of that because there's a player in the water,

    That's the whole point though? That's how combat works - first team to get overwhelmed loses.

    ...not being able to recover isn't what deserves trashtalk...

    I don't believe in trashtalk, it's crude and shows low self-esteem - BUT! if trashtalk is ever ok, surely it's ok when you've won fair and square?

  • Mighty Mike8445
    Master
    Insider

    @gravesilence272 I meant this as in the unreasonable circumstances, like of course they did something but do you know how easy it is to sit in the water and spam bonecallers on someone? Which is why I said I don't mind them, but I hate the lack of logic when it comes to players thinking anyone can handle all of that, like I said, at that point they've solidified a win, good for them, but trash talk relating to not being able to handle it is what doesn't make sense to me, that's when I've experienced such trash talk, literally everything negative is happing on the boat and the dude direct messages me "you can't even handle a couple of bonecallers", like where's the logic? Of course we can't!!! Filling with water, pounded by cannonballs, masts down, enemy player in water, filling with water, being attacked by skeletons that stop you from repairing and distract you from watching ladder, it's an amazing tasting once you get someone's sails down but to trash talk someone about not being able to handle it once it gets to that point doesn't make sense, if they wanna trash talk relating to us letting it get to that point, as in them getting our sails down or us not firing back enough in fear of being one balled, sure, trash talk about that, that's fair, but the other stuff doesn't make sense

  • ThunderSalt1250
    Rogue
    Insider

    Bonecallers, cursed cannonballs, kegs, random players joining in, and all that fun stuff are, whether you like it or not, a part of PvP, and that leans into hourglass as well. Can it cause weird advantages and lack of balance between the opposing ships? Absolutely. Do I think it can cause frustration to lose a streak due to the opponent using weird tactics? Sure. Would I prefer hourglass PvP to be more static and always force both ships to be on equal footing? Nah.

    The best way to look at it is that it isn't a "super competitive" game mode, and frankly, if I sink because of the opponent using weird or crafty advantages, good on them. Even if I got upset from losing my ship before, there was always something I could've done better or been more tactical about. You still get quite a bit of rep even if you sink, and it's not super long to get back into another hourglass match (most of the time...) so it's just a part of the experience.

    Now, I do think for the sake of people and folks who'd like a more balanced competitive PvP mode, Rare could endeavor to either make an alternate version of hourglass or just try the arena again, but as other people have said hourglass PvP is very much engrained in the adventure mode, and that leads to all the bizarre strategies and caveats that entails.

    As an addendum, in my experience with bonecallers a player can only have 3 skeletons at a time out, regardless of how many bonecallers they throw at once. I personally don't see bonecallers as any more of a threat to a ship (especially a sloop) compared to a firebomb or blunderbomb, since bonecaller skellies don't have very much health and are easily dispatched. Much like firebombs they are more a tool to cause a bit of chaos, and if an enemy is shooting you with those instead of cannonballs, your ship isn't ultimately any worse for wear.

    Ultimately I don't find such tools and utilities as unfair, as both ships are able to find and use them, and I think there are more serious issues to PvP and hourglass than bonecallers and other silly things (please Rare fix ships so that someone can't just anchor between a dock and an island so the ship is impossible to sink). I can see where you're coming from but I think you're treating hourglass PvP as something it really isn't at the end of the day.

  • Senjai
    Rogue

    @tesiccl said in Seriously, can we do something about bonecallers in hourglass?:

    @shrimpan

    I see hourglass as a stand alone gamemode, with its own rules and own player base.

    Wrong. Hourglass lives within Adventure and therefore all the tools available within are useable. Sometimes a fight isn’t fair, and that’s okay. But you know what? You can always collect a bunch of bone callers too before going into battle to use on your opponent.

    I agree. In fact this is why they closed Arena, because it was a standalone game mode. You even get extra rep for having extra treasure on your boat during hourglass fights lol.

    The introduction of bonecallers

    Might i suggest using blunder bombs, or a sword? Bonecallers are nothing more than a distraction, skellies can't damage your ship.

    What I'm trying to say, is that the team at Rare really needs to shift their focus from the constant content updates to the actual state of the game (server lag, hit reg, exploits and bugs, etc.)

    You know that's exactly what they said they're focusing on for this season right? You're right that rare isn't catering to the competitive players needs, because competitive players are not the target audience of the game.

  • Dalannah
    Ship Mate
    Insider

    If someone's gone through the effort of obtaining bonecallers ahead of HG, knowing the risk that they might sink and lose their supply, then they are in their right to use them. They're not common out in the world.

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