I think there are some things that could be implemented, that could make the PVP experience (especially for newer players) feel less overwhelming (without restricting the freedoms of experienced and enthusiastic PVPers). These ideas are not intended to make things (mechanically) easier for anyone, or to close the skill gap between good and bad players, or render the skills that experienced PVPers have developed less effective. This is about making the overall experience of fighting other human pirates feel less alien, less overwhelming, and less of a shock to the system for those that don't engage in it regularly.
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Faster, harder PVE enemies.
The difference in difficulty between PVE enemies, and any vaguely competent human player is unnecessarily large. Going from a ghost or skeleton slowly trudging towards you in a straight line, giving you plenty of time to get your weapon out, miss the first few shots, find an ammo crate and reload, take a sip of your drink and stop to read the instructions, to having a human player sprinting at you at full speed, dodging left and right, swapping between melee and ranged attacks, constantly switching between attacking you and running away, and then killing you before you can finish your eating animation can be quite a shock. It's hardly surprising that players find the experience overwhelming (especially when you combine this with them directly talking / shouting at you as mentioned below). Give players some faster, dodgier PVE enemies that are an actual challenge to hit and kill, and that have a chance to kill you one on one, rather than increasing the challenge by just adding more sword lunge fodder. I'm not saying get rid of the fodder, or make them more difficult. Being outnumbered and killing lots of enemies feels good and I don't want to deprive anyone of their dopamine. But adding a new type of fairly common/ farmable enemy that's at least somewhat of a challenge would be a huge step forward. -
Jumping/ bouncing/ flying PVE enemies.
Similar to the above, the difference between the worst case scenario of a ghost occasionally making a half-hearted attempt at strafing or listing lazily to the left (man, these guys know some maneuvers), to having a human pirate bouncing all over your ship, jumping over you, and generally spending as much time in the air as they do on the ground is unnecessarily large. Currently, PVP adds a (very literal) new dimension to combat that players have to try and learn, in what is definitely a non-learning environment. Give us some PVE enemies that have to be tracked vertically as well as horizontally so new players have a chance to incorporate that into their skillset and PVP combat doesn't feel quite so alien. -
Incorporate dying, sinking, and losing your treasure into the tutorial.
Basically what I said in my previous post here: https://www.seaofthieves.com/community/forums/topic/181690/suggestion-better-onboarding-for-new-players/2
Get players comfortable with the experience of dying, sinking, and losing all their treasure right from the very beginning. Incorporate these things into the tutorial so players understand that losing your loot and starting again is a fundamental part of the Sea of Thieves experience, and not some horrible thing that's not supposed to happen and the game would be great if they took it out. -
Mute other crews by default (and maybe turn on speech to text?), and include a warning when unmuting them.
Yes, abusive language should not be tolerated, but unfortunately it's very difficult to draw a hard line between abusive language and "unfriendly banter". Regardless of what it is they're actually saying, I can imagine that having someone constantly shouting down the mic at you as they spawn kill you, can be an intimidating and upsetting experience, regardless of whether the language they're using is technically "abusive" or not. It is a normal, human reaction to feel intimidated when people shout aggressively at you, even if all they're saying is "ELEPHANTS ARE NOT PINK" or "I AM A MASSIVE GIRAFFE" over and over again. When they're saying things like "YOU SUCK. YOU'RE SO BAD. WE'RE GOING TO KILL YOU AND STEAL YOUR TREASURE." it's understandable that people might struggle to emotionally detach from the situation. I think including a small warning when you unmute other crews along the lines of "Are you sure? Human pirates can be shouty and aggressive when they attack, which some players may find alarming or triggering." could help people make better informed choices, and remember that simply turning these people off is an option. -
Give PVE enemies a more complex agenda and interactions with the environment.
When a PVE threat emerges, whether a skeleton on an island, a ghost, a kraken, meg, skelly ship etc. etc. you know exactly what its goal is. It is trying to kill you, and you have to kill it first. Nice and simple. You can just ignore everything else and focus on them till they're dead. When human pirates attack or board your ship, they may try to drop your anchor, steer you into an island, steal your resources, burn your ship, run away and hide somewhere, drop your loot over the side etc. etc. PVP requires a much higher awareness of your surroundings and all the things an enemy could do other than just attacking you. I think having some PVE enemies do at least some of these things could help players build situational awareness, and instinctively get into the right headspace of being aware of what's around them and what an enemy might try to do when combat begins.
