This game has been a permanent fixture on my hard drive for years now. As it got worse over time I would pop in periodically, but yesterday, after logging in, it was the last time. I saw online that they'd finally started to get some sense and were looking at removing diving. I finally felt like things were turning around with the design. Stop removing the friction. Stop listening to the people on the forum who don't actually want to play a sailing game and insist on making the game into something it was never meant to be.
But then I log in and what do I find, a whole bunch of boxes of supplies. I google it and yep, the game now just GIVES you supplies right on your ship in hourglass. No more having to balance getting supplies, arming up, planning... nope, here you go, we'll just spawn in supplies every time you dive in hourglass if we think you don't have enough.
I'm out. It's clear that the designers have a fundamental lack of understanding of what their own game is and that's not going to change any time soon. They seem to be trying to destroy the game one tiny little slice at a time.
You want to fix this game?
- Stop listening to the people who don't want a sandbox sailing game. It's a game about sailing and pirating in a giant sandbox. That's what made it great. It needs to have friction. You need to have to get supplies.
- You should have to carry your loot to different NPCs. Offloading your ship should be an undertaking. Some of the best games I ever had was being pursued by another ship while my crew and I tried to figure out ways to cash in our most valuable items. Sitting at Sovereigns hoovering loot off your deck with a harpoon gun is not gameplay.
- You should have to go and find supplies. Not buy them off the dock. Not have them deposited onto your deck after diving. Supplies should be a concern. Some of the best experience come from trying to stock up, that's part of the game.
- Get rid of diving completely. For the love of all that is good who thought this was a good idea?
- Make quests and treasure maps actually rare. Something that means something when you find one. Not just something that you pick off a table on your ship or find everywhere.
- If there are a bunch of people who JUST want to play hourglass and don't want to collect supplies or engage with any other part of the game, separate it out. Make it a dedicated game mode separate from the sandbox. Give them all the supplies they want but keep it off the main sandbox so supplies still mean something.
Come on people! It's not that hard, you had it right at the start!
