Fix Hourglass or Remove It

Hourglass is undeniably the worst mode that has been introduced in the game.

Well, its not even a Mode to begin with, it more Tool.

Matches being completely one-sided in some instances,

Explain.

the randomness of the game (one-balls, hit reg, etc.) make matches feel luck-based

Or well prepared players?

and the mode's abysmal progression has led to many of my crewmates quitting the game because they do not want to deal with the mess that has become Hourglass.

Progression? What progression? You lvl up win or lose, and you get some Curses behind levels. Regardless of that, the Tool is working as it should: I want to Fight but dont wanna sail around, So...Instant PvP.

There are simple fixes that I think are just common sense:

Make allegiance xp affected by the emissary flags' bonuses

What does this solve? You gain more Exp...but that all. Still the same Hourglass.

enhance matchmaking based on the crew's average allegiance

So you wanna fight...against other players who may or may not been piggy backed? Or wait...endless hours for those same "average allegiance" lvl. I still stick with the W/L ratio, faster and care less.

increase the win xp and decrease the lose xp

Again, it seems more you want to lvl up faster...regardless. This wont fix anything, just makes the whole leveling process quick and more likely, once you gotten what you want. You stop. No need to continue.

and BAN CHEATERS.

You got any solutions? Something that Rare hasnt tried or can?

If they are not implementing these changes to better the Sea of Thieves, then change the name to Sea of Friends, because it's obvious they abandoned their competitive and combative fanbase.

Oh well? Last i checked, SoT is Pvpve and it not about being competitive. Enjoying a simple game with simple tools and crazy silly stuff.

I can't learn any tactics to improve because each match is either too unfair to improve

Failure is best teacher. But some reason you dont seem to learn from it, Why are you losing? What tactics are you trying, not trying? Simple ?ion to ask yourself. Stuff you learn in school to be frank.

Rare, I beg of you, please fix your game so that people who actually play the game right can have fun.

"Fix your game" Ok..so is it Hourglass that is bugged or whole game? Got to be straight with yeah, I never understand these posts when they say this stuff.
and doesnt seem like you are playing "Right" since, I am playing myself and having a Blast of Fun.

@worst-tdmer well put and I agree!

One-balls aren't random or lucky. MC's will actively aim for bags, and seeing them coming/dodging them is a skill you learn as you improve. Watch two very good crews fight and see how often they get balled.

I have replayed some fights I recorded and there are some obvious one balls that somehow didn't hit. I know it's mainly skill to hit a one ball, but there are some times where it was obvious it should not connect.

Everyone deals with hit reg and bugs. It goes both ways. The difference between a good crew and bad is how much room they allow for bugs to play a factor. For example, hit reg only matters during crucial moments, like when you're boarding or being boarded. A good crew will never let the enemy board them to the point where 1 reg = sinking. A good crew will never send a board where 1 reg = their boarder dying = them sinking. i.e. they know how to manage risk and don't place all their eggs in one basket/shot.

I like this point, my issue is the constant reg and unreliable servers. I have had games where it was constantly not hurting the opponent, and just a few minutes ago my gun fails to even shoot (This sounds stupid, but I believe it's been a bug that's been addressed).

Instead of focusing on progressing your levels, your crew should be focused on progressing their skill. Level progression gets a lot easier when you win the majority of your fights.

I usually do, so does my crew, but so many people I play with do not even care about the mode because of the awful progression. I gave two solutions to fix this. My solutions address not only the lack of xp you get from winning but also punish loss farming so that more people can have an incentive to get more wins. In the winning aspect, a lot of my fights are completely unbalanced (sounds like a skill issue, but I have ran into cheaters and people who are so out of my skill range that it is unfair). I still win the majority of the time, but it doesn't make sense how the only thing not boosted by emissary is the faction the emissary associates with.

This is the opposite of what they've done, and I'm honestly surprised that they haven't tried to make hourglass more appealing to casuals yet. They've kept hourglass as a competitive 1v1 mode where the best crew wins.

The only thing I can agree with you on is cheaters being an issue.

They need to make it have better rewards and an easier entry for casual players so they can learn. I was thrown right into it and had to learn from hour long guides on YouTube. If they could base the matchmaking mostly on allegiance level, it could help newer players by making them face newer players.

Matches being completely one-sided in some instances,

Explain.

I face some crews that I absolutely demolish, and vice versa. Sometimes there is an obvious skill and experience difference that unfortunately turns a lot of people off. The matchmaking clearly messes up in that aspect, I believe it should balance it out more so it could be a fair fight for all involved.

the randomness of the game (one-balls, hit reg, etc.) make matches feel luck-based

Or well prepared players?

No idea what you mean here. Well-prepared players cannot predict a high wave, multiple reg problems, or even simple server bugs. The game feels unstable to a point where some things happen by chance and there's no way to combat it.

Progression? What progression? You lvl up win or lose, and you get some Curses behind levels. Regardless of that, the Tool is working as it should: I want to Fight but dont wanna sail around, So...Instant PvP.

The curses and cosmetics, the only thing keeping the mode alive for most players. The entire mode is built around progression, you get titles, curses, clothes, and ship cosmetics the higher you go. Commendations can be unlock too.

There are simple fixes that I think are just common sense:

Make allegiance xp affected by the emissary flags' bonuses

What does this solve? You gain more Exp...but that all. Still the same Hourglass.

Fixes the progression, also makes sense to have the emissary boost affect the Hourglass xp.

enhance matchmaking based on the crew's average allegiance

So you wanna fight...against other players who may or may not been piggy backed? Or wait...endless hours for those same "average allegiance" lvl. I still stick with the W/L ratio, faster and care less.

The W/L ratio would work if it had a bigger playerbase. The allegiance matchmaking idea could act as ranks, where a certain section of allegiance could be one rank, and so on and so forth. That way, people could fight with others around the same allegiance.

increase the win xp and decrease the lose xp

Again, it seems more you want to lvl up faster...regardless. This wont fix anything, just makes the whole leveling process quick and more likely, once you gotten what you want. You stop. No need to continue.

I actually never had an issue with the progression until I got into the 70-100 region. This was poorly worded, but I make it like this to incentivize winning and prevent loss-farming. They could just make it a little more, like 2 sink=1 level, but have a cap on the increasing amount.

and BAN CHEATERS.

You got any solutions? Something that Rare hasnt tried or can?

1. Replace or enhance anti-cheat
2. Hardware ban to prevent smurfs for cheaters
3. Look at report tickets, I currently have 2 waiting and it's been almost 4 business days

I can't learn any tactics to improve because each match is either too unfair to improve

Failure is best teacher. But some reason you dont seem to learn from it, Why are you losing? What tactics are you trying, not trying? Simple ?ion to ask yourself. Stuff you learn in school to be frank.

Once again, cheaters and randomness ruin this. I replayed some fights and improve, but still like high-waving, inconsistent one-ball shots, and just server issues in general prevented me from getting the full experience. It's like doing a test and the diagrams are all blurry and unrecognizable.

Rare, I beg of you, please fix your game so that people who actually play the game right can have fun.

"Fix your game" Ok..so is it Hourglass that is bugged or whole game? Got to be straight with yeah, I never understand these posts when they say this stuff.
and doesnt seem like you are playing "Right" since, I am playing myself and having a Blast of Fun.

Overreacted my apologies, but the game is at its end. Content is becoming staler and staler with each season, the community feels unheard, and they are trying to bring back old players with nostalgia bait. I have fun in the game, and there's tons of other things to do, but the entire game does need to be fixed because of server problems. Once they are able to fix servers and make them run smoothly and handle more, then they can continue fixing other things that aren't as important.

Overreacted my apologies, but the game is at its end

If these words are. True
Why care? Why bother with changing it. If game has an end or “dying” let it. Drop it and move on.

It troublesome to read how the game is dead, dying and if it don’t do this. It be the end. Let it be so and move to the next big game.

the game is at its end

Game’s been dying for 7+ years. Usual doomerism.