solo sloop only lobbies

against a generally competent crew of 3-4, I found I stand no chance

It happens to everyone; it kind of how things "should be" but as a clever solo, you can easily turn the tide.

but remember, many players quit SoT exactly because of those reasons, no friends to play with, not enough time to spare for training how to impress strangers in a stupid pirate game

Remember, nobody becomes good at a game overnight, and some who have been playing for 1000 hours will still discover they aren't all that.
and who tries to impress strangers?
Most people quit a game because it is too hard, which is natural. Some cant build creative works in Minecraft, some cant play fornite with those quick building shooters and many cant figure out Team fights work as a team (OW and MR)
Players quit because sadly..that how they were raised, expecting a trophy for just playing the game.

Let me ask you.
IF and when they do make a solo sloop-only server. What will be your excuse when you come across a sloop that has 4 players on it vs you? Because they decided to join together and not include you? Now you're in the same issue as before, 1v4 but you're in a solo sloop-only server. So what would the next step be to fix that?

You might add, "Well that wont happen all the time" and I will rely with "Being dominated by a 2,3,4 competivie crew against 1 doesn't happen all that often either.
But it also comes down to, you chose Solo sloop, learn it, adapt. Its Hard/Extreme mode and I can tell yeah, even a newbie can achieve greatness with a Keg or two.

Just being honest here, I've sunk a galleon-crewed Burning Blade, galleons, and brigs before while on a sloop. No, I wasn't able to do it overnight, but I kept at it, and kept practicing. I didn't practice to impress anyone, I did it so I could learn how to defend my ship against larger crews who thought I would be an easy target.

I'll never forget the time I was new, on a galleon with a random crew, and this solo sloop came by and sank us. I just kept watching in amazement, and couldn't wait to have enough experience and practice to do that myself. Solo-servers aren't needed, and I'd tell you there are other ways to address your concerns/issues (like to keep practicing, or perhaps join the SoT community discord to join crews looking for members), but from what I've read it doesn't seem like you're interested, so that's that I guess. Good luck.

never understood why Rare made the decision to make PvP unbalanced on purpose. A major blunder in my opinion

Everyone is equal footing here. You could find curseballs more than a 4 man crew and dominate. You could catch a galleon by surprise and sink before they react by a keg

What everyone can do. So can you.
Nobody has powers or upgrades others don’t before hand which makes it balanced enough. Heck a sloop still faster to turn and fire at galleons, getting behind them and takes two shots to down a mast while takes 1 for galleon.

@xdreegan said in solo sloop only lobbies:

@europa4033 said in solo sloop only lobbies:

Just being honest here, I've sunk a galleon-crewed Burning Blade, galleons, and brigs before while on a sloop. No, I wasn't able to do it overnight, but I kept at it, and kept practicing. I didn't practice to impress anyone, I did it so I could learn how to defend my ship against larger crews who thought I would be an easy target.

I'll never forget the time I was new, on a galleon with a random crew, and this solo sloop came by and sank us. I just kept watching in amazement, and couldn't wait to have enough experience and practice to do that myself. Solo-servers aren't needed, and I'd tell you there are other ways to address your concerns/issues (like to keep practicing, or perhaps join the SoT community discord to join crews looking for members), but from what I've read it doesn't seem like you're interested, so that's that I guess. Good luck.

"I'll never forget the time I was new, on a galleon with a random crew, and this solo sloop came by and sank us."

I think this had more to do with you getting sunk than anything, tbh.

You've missed the forest from the trees my friend. The point of that experience was, what I saw that day, how that sloop was able to sink us the way they did, proved to me that little ships can have no issues sinking larger ships with the right tactics. I was still new to the game and didn't know or think it was possible. It was one of the best learning experiences for me, and I couldn't wait to get to that level of experience, where I could sink larger ships myself on the smallest boat in the game. I didn't come to the forums asking for solo-sloop lobbies. That's my point.

@burnbacon Yes, BurnBacon, the game being unbalanced is a good thing, and the fact that you can't enjoy it after a 10 hour work shift with 5 spare hours of time off is purely a skill issue and everybody who's not a no-life streamer should quit, that will keep Sea of Thieves alive for sure!

@europa4033 The thing that vexes me about your attitude is, why not even consider it? how about "let's throw it to insiders, see how it goes"? NO. just no, throw it away, who needs balance, who needs fairnes, sinking is fun, guys! progress? HA! you want progress in the game? what are you? crazy?

my entire point is i don't want to rely on other people to enjoy a gaming experience, solo slooping is fun as it is, sure, but why not accomodate people who just play alone, keep the danger of meeting other ships but B A L A N C E I T, so it doesn't feel like a waste of time, money and effort, why is everybody in this community so resistant to reasonable ideas???

@burnbacon

IF and when they do make a solo sloop-only server. What will be your excuse when you come across a sloop that has 4 players on it vs you? Because they decided to join together and not include you? Now you're in the same issue as before, 1v4 but you're in a solo sloop-only server. So what would the next step be to fix that?

I'll probably find a weapon and wait for the Wild Hunt, because SoT players being able to accomplish a common goal without clawing at eachother's throats would surely mean that Ragnarok is upon us

and besides, everyone but one would die once and would have to come back on their own sloop, so i don't really see that as an issue, it's simply a non-starter argument, might as well have literally said "get good" and it would be a better retort than that light novel you have just blessed us with.

@burnbacon It's just always the same conversation with you "seasoned veterans" it's been the same song and dance for the last 6 years, it went from laughing at "PvE servers" to accepting that some people just want to play on the Safer Seas, you actively block every attempt at a discussion because "that's how it should be" it's a toxic and pointless attitude, please, show me one good ACTUAL reason for this feature to be a bad idea for the game ONE actual reason besides "get good", trying to convince me we don't need balance and semantics for solo sloop lobbies to be a bad idea and i swear i'll shut up about it forever.

@heretic1873

In general, and with all else being equal, a brig is going to obliterate a sloop, and the more people there are in a crew the better the outcome will be.

However, it's not exactly equal, and I've found of late that the new tools provided (harpoon gun & cannon of rage) are actually excellent in fending off larger crews. Specifically, the cannon of rage is something that's only 'unlocked' after an hour or so of play; so crews that are just running around hunting for sinks aren't going to have the same arsenal as someone who's been playing for an hour or so. I sank a duo today — one of them had just under a 100 days in game, and I was solo, defending a flamehart fort, and used a combo of harpoon gun, cannon of rage, bonecallers, and snipes to defend myself.

My boat was just circling nearly full speed around the island with nobody on it but I guess they didn't know because they were so distracted by the stationary cannon fire.

A few hours later, with two cannons of rage on the rear of my ship, I was able to get a pursuing brigantine to back off by just hitting them with some cannonballs, it's tough for them to want to continue when they'll be approaching with a pretty big disadvantage.

NGL, the sandbox stuff works. Rare just needs to stop with the silly nonsense like as seen in the weekender 'activities'. It absolutely reeks of desperation.

my entire point is i don't want to rely on other people to enjoy a gaming experience, solo slooping is fun as it is, sure, but why not accomodate people who just play alone, keep the danger of meeting other ships but B A L A N C E I T, so it doesn't feel like a waste of time, money and effort, why is everybody in this community so resistant to reasonable ideas???

So your wanting not just a solo sloop but also a Solo server since you don't want to rely on other people to enjoy it, which would also fall into meeting/fighting other players.

So how can we balance a solo sloop-only server to give everyone a fair chance? You can't. You will always meet players in any lobby who will exploit any small percent and cause the whole lobby to suffer.
Is it more reasonable to just...Adapt to what the game offers instead of begging for more yellow paint and arrows to tell you how to play and hold your hand?

Again I ask, IF they made a solo sloop server.
What's preventing them from ganging up on a singled-out ship? Bullying, being more toxic?
At this moment, it so boring to only see sloops on a server where Galleons can be part of the server, but nobody plays those because they are "difficult."

I dont know, it just weird to want a solo server or sloop-only server when it much more entertaining to find all ship types randomly encountered.
But hey, your not here to Win arguments, your here to explain your side/feedback and why it be good idea. So far...it hasnt been proven, and if it were more proven it would be more dangerous and filled with hateful players.

But then again will have those same solo players...demanding they make it so you can invite friends to that same server so everyone can be solo sloops instead of just joining a crew.
and with solo sloops, any Achievement that requires multiple people to do something would be more hellish to complete. Making the game harder than smarter.

@heretic1873

I guess I just don't understand how I've been able to do it (with patience, practice and experience) while others say it's impossible and we need to split the community up with dedicated servers for those who apparently haven't even bothered. Why stop there? Why not have brigs on their own servers too, same with galleons? Then we go to the factions themselves, gold hoarders get their own servers, OoS too, that way nobody has to worry about reapers and the game most definitely will be balanced, all because a few players don't think it's fair that reapers get to see them on the map.

I'd like to know what is stopping you from practicing and getting better at it, like others have already done. What is it that's holding you back?

@burnbacon said in solo sloop only lobbies:

never understood why Rare made the decision to make PvP unbalanced on purpose. A major blunder in my opinion

Everyone is equal footing here. You could find curseballs more than a 4 man crew and dominate. You could catch a galleon by surprise and sink before they react by a keg

What everyone can do. So can you.
Nobody has powers or upgrades others don’t before hand which makes it balanced enough. Heck a sloop still faster to turn and fire at galleons, getting behind them and takes two shots to down a mast while takes 1 for galleon.

^ This. A sloop is a much smaller target to hit than a galleon, way more agile. It takes 5 seconds to raise the anchor. You have a single sail to manage, it's quicker to bilge, and you can ignore holes and bucket periodically (been there, done that). A solo that can hit that large target a bit out (which comes from practice) can deal a lot of chaos to overwhelm that ship. Knowing what to fire and where, is key. It won't happen overnight, but with enough practice and experience, it'll happen. You just have to go out, do it, and keep trying.

But OP doesn't want that to be the answer, so our hands are tied here.

But how does a solo-player fight off a skilled (!) boarder while keeping pressure on a galleon that is still maned with three people to repair the damage and shoot back?

Traps, Blunder, Cargo crates create issues to jump/switch weapons. Blowpipe has nice splash damage.
1 boarder, all the got to do is miss once, now that galleon is down 1 man. 3 on cannons? 2 on cannons and 1 on wheel? Maybe you pop a few holes in them, so now among the three..someone has to plank, cannon, wheel, and manage sails. All the while, someone has to mermaid and wait to respawn.

Besides all that, WHEN have you ever encountered a well-oiled galleon crew? 1/4? 1/10? Among a galleon crew, someone is always the black sheep and messes up.

But don’t take my word for it, just watch any PvP focused Streamer.

That seems to be the cause of worry for players who arent streamers. You think everything a streamer shows or does happens daily.
Paraphrase your words "Even very talented galleon crews, have issues sinking a decent solo slooper" just because it 1 man and they dont have to worry what another player does.

Sloops have everything within arms reach, Galleons have to run...a lot to reach locations.

Come on guys, are we really arguing if strength in numbers is an important factor in PvP?

One sided argument, everything else is stated facts but nobody wants to face it.

All of the sloops advantages do not make up when fighting an enemy that has four times your own skill & strength.

The likelihood is very slim you will find a crew that dominates you. EVEN if you encounter a crew such as this... Oh well. That 1 time, and mostly you will never meet them again in your session. Unlike sloops, galleons are LARGE Slow against wind ships. You will see these monsters and out run them.
It also not about the ship type advantage, it about the player. Taking advantage of a galleons weakness which are alot.

Yes you can still win, but it’s unlikely to happen.

You are more likely to lose to a solo sloop more than a galleon at this current time in the game.

@europa4033

I'll never forget the time I was new, on a galleon with a random crew, and this solo sloop came by and sank us.

what I saw that day, how that sloop was able to sink us the way they did, proved to me that little ships can have no issues sinking larger ships with the right tactics.

Your own story points out the reality of a solo sloop being able to sink a larger crew. I've done it hundreds of times. It has less to do with "tactics", and more to do with inexperience and/or a lack of cooperation on the other side of the battle. Yes, there's skill involved in doing it, but you're not tackling any truly experienced larger crew as a solo.

Sinking larger crews full of potatoes as a solo still generates that "feel good" sensation...but it's easy to get humbled by a crew that has even mild experience.

why did Rare decide to have hourglass-fights amongst equally large crews by default?

Because they know the majority of the players are solo or duo. Sloops are the main fighters in Hourglass.

impossible for a galleon or brigantine crew to choose a fight against a solo player.

See above. As a galleon, you want to fight against other galleons, In Hourglass but most cases every player is in a sloop. Ive reached the moment where I can choose to fight "bigger ships" and the wait time to find a galleon? Good lord....I rather fight two or three sloops.

Plus that is Hourglass, nothing to do with wanting Sloop only servers, now your picking up a whole new topic.
Why cant Galleons Fight Sloops in Hourglass. With that, I say bring that up with Rare and see what happens.

Rare thinks it‘d be unfair.

Yeah, unfair for the galleon, by the time they turn the ship to aim at the Sloop, it already turned, fight 10 shots and sailed away.
And if one player jumps ship to board an hourglass, Risk someone not turning the wheel and heading off into the circle edge, and with it now shrinking even worse. Again, Galleon weakness.