Hourglass as it stands now needs improvement. Firstly, and one of the most pressing issues, is the cheating problem. It ruins every single player’s experience and while there is hardly anybody cheating on adventure, hourglass is awful, particularly if you have a high MMR. Considering the cheaters always find a way around easy anticheat, Rare should make hourglass accessible to pirate legends only. By making Pirate Legend the requirement to raise Hourglass, this solution tackles the alt account issue commonly utilized by cheaters. Forcing cheaters to grind through Pirate Legend on a new account would, theoretically, make ban evasion a much more tedious task. Some people may have an issue with it as it would lock out newer players, however Rare has previously implemented features which are similar in nature (such as the Skull of Destiny Voyage).
Aside from the Pirate Legend requirement, there are other basic quality of life improvements that Rare could implement, such as instant supply re-queues and Hourglass crates. For the former, instant supply re-queues would have your boat resupply automatically whenever you hit the dive option. The amount that would resupply could be tweaked as necessary for balance, however this would drastically reduce the tedium of having to resupply nearly every match. For the latter option, Hourglass crates, the shipwright could offer purchasable Hourglass crates that are only available once a crew has raised the hourglass. These could include a range of items, such as chainshots, high-tier food, cannons, and wood. Either of these options would make the PVP experience much more streamlined and enjoyable.
Beyond additional functionality or features that Rare could add, there is a list of bugs that plague the mode and severely hinder the experience. The most common and frustrating bugs include: mast bug, cannonballs having no trail when emerging from second deck, double reload bug (particularly with the Blunderbuss), the infamous “Gun no shoot” bug, jump bug, and everyone’s favorite; Merchant crate scam.
Finally, the last relevant issue I’d like to cover is the default arena spawns. Spawns near rocks, volcanoes, active sea forts, and active world events (Ghost Fleets, Ancient Megs, ect..) are a game ruiner at worst and an annoyance at best. Moving the Hourglass spawns to better locations, such as the edges of the map or at the very least open water areas, would even the playing field and help allow player skill to be the determining factor in a victory.
