Rare, this concerns EVERYONE, please address.

@vdracule-mihawk I agree... Atm Everyone is a faceless stranger, it would enrich the game if we could encounter players more than once by allowing us to select at least more narrow server circles.

Every time we meet pirates it's always "Pirates! Why, anything could happen..." but it would be nice and more immersive if we could have situations like "Oh that's Sweltering Nick and his merry crew, as long as we keep our distance, they be givin' us no trouble!" or rumors like "Oh, Swolebeard be in possession of a cursed cutlass? (Sword cosmetic that glows with magic) I'd like to hear the tale of how he obtained this cursed blade!" followed by you and your crew embarking on a journey to find Swolebeard and listen to his tale, etc. :D

I really think this could make the game better overall... In addition, if people are given the chance to get to know eachother, they will eventually socialize, which is what Rare has wanted this community to do all along! :)

I wholeheartedly disagree. And it does not concern "EVERYONE" it concerns you and maybe all the people you know. Let's tone down the hyperbole, we didn't elect you to speak for us all.

As per the developers, a big part of the game development process was finding ways to prevent toxicity in the playerbase. And I can tell you firsthand from virtually every game that has had named servers where you can select and an element of PVP is involved you'll get clans. From clans you'll get dominated servers which are run 24/7 by the same people over and over again with the specific purpose of griefing anyone unsuspecting who logs onto 'their' server.

The point of not having selected servers is also very obvious. Why have 4 friends on 1 ship when I can have 4 friends on 4 ships all on the same server? It creates a team based element among ships that wasn't planned for originally.

@vdracule-mihawk after reading through the countless forums and the COUNTLESS complaints, this is an issue I can get behind. I do not tend to focus on my gaming foot print, mainly because, IMHO, gaming is an escape from your daily life and generally isnt going to carry into each other unless your super serious about it. BUT it would be nice to have a little recognition for our success. I like the idea of different servers, But i cant get on board with having PVE and PVP servers, which a lot of people are asking for. Having designated named servers will gradually split the players of differnet experience levels into natural selection. The heavy PVP players will gravitate towards "server D" and the less inclined will stay on "server A." It seems that Rare wants their goal to be growing a community, but they may not realize that there is more then one community and we should be able to choose the community we are a part of.

However, there is always going to be those jerks that swarm "server A" just to pick on the little guys, but thats not a problem that will every go away.

I too enjoy this game, I play every day almost, and I doubt I would stop playing if there was never a change made. I dont think changes like this one should happen tomorrow, but a gradually change to this idea would be fine and welcomed with me. Its an issue that most players could get behind; not splitting us up as a community, but rather giving us different community options.

Would have to agree with the points raised. To anyone that thinks they have 'rep' or are 'feared' on the server, well - no.

Hate to break it to you. For the majority of players you are just another rando pirate, or that ship with the blue sails that keeps attacking us, or that sloop with red sails that got owned at the fort last time.

Noone cares about your story (because there isn't one).

You're just another gamer/playertag floating above the body of the next target for mindless PvP.

@vdracule-mihawk " If server A is being dominated by pvp that night, switch to server B."

Precisely my argument as to why this is a GOOD idea. Also, most people are looking over the fact that everybody is on a pretty level playing field. In other named server games player progression isnt cosmetic, so if your a level 10 and see a level 70...your screwed. Where as in SoT if I run into a pirate legend, I still have a chance to beat him.

Players server jumping will never NOT be a thing, put designated servers would cut down on it by a large percentage, IMHO.

@vdracule-mihawk said in Rare, this concerns EVERYONE, please address.:

As it stands right now, the only reason to play SOT is to have a fun "session". Let's say you do just that: you amass great treasure, defend it through some great heart pounding PVP, and sell it to buy all the awesome cosmetics you've wanted. Then you log out and you no longer exist in the SOT world. All your heroic adventures and misdeeds are but a memory with no real meaning to it all. Even the famed title of Pirate Legend loses its luster after you realize your only a Legend to the handful of players (24 max if all 6 ships on your server are fully crewed galleons) that you may or may not encounter during your session.

So what's the point? Where is the MEANING behind it all?
Before I continue, I want to make it clear that I LOVE playing this game and still have tons of fun playing with friends or solo but the excitement is waning.

If having a fun "session" is all that matters to you and your crew then congrats SOT gives you plenty of opportunities to accomplish that, BUT if you're looking for more than that please keep reading.

There's two main issues with SOT that essentially makes everything you and your crew do have very little if any meaning--and absolutely no effect in the SOT world and will soon be forgotten. The two main issues are: not having Named Servers and a disjointed world with no in-game community.

What's the point of having all the cool cosmetics and being known as The Greatest Pirate Legend in a game where you will never encounter even a fraction of the playerbase? What's fun to me is making a name for myself and my crew that everyone can respect/fear and looking the part. If you're still reading then you should feel the same way. In SOT this is pointless because you're randomly put on a No-named Server. You and your crew don't have a Home. You now exist in a world where other players could really care less about your reputation. You don't even have a way to see the other players on your server.

I've watched many streams and videos, seen numerous forum posts from self-proclaimed Pirate Gods that have Godly crews that sink every ship they battle and have never been defeated. I think to myself "man, I'd love to have my crew fight with that crew" but the sad reality is without Server Selection and millions of people playing, you'll never cross blades or trade cannon fire with them. Rare, this is a very serious issue and the one main reason why myself and my friends would abandon ship. Our existence is meaningless.

Solution: Create Named Servers and let us pick which server we play on each time we log in.

All of our character data is saved in the cloud and relocated anyway when we log out/in or get merged to a different server so I would think this is possible. Of course, being able to pick your server does have it's own issues--the major one I see is all of your friends wanting to play on the same one and then having complete dominance over everything. There are solutions to that problem as well, but I'm going to stop here for now.

I'll continue later with the 2nd major issue--disjointed world with no in-game community--and possible solutions to Server Selection.

Thanks for reading and please I encourage constructive feedback. Do you agree/disagree with the above? Why?

Basicly you want the option to play not only on full servers any which you like but also give everybody the option to pick a server with basicly very few or no other players to be able to solo skeleton forts or join in with friend form undestroyable fleets and what not....

I really like what your saying and your intensions with this but your system will do more harm then god at least without some sort of barrier that will eventually make it impossible to freely choose your own server again... im not sure.. i like to idea that a whole bunch of people would be able to join in on unofficial fleets this way but again could too easily be abused to haress other players more then it is. It basicly makes the game even more unbalanced and unfair as it is if you go blindly with this

Please be more in details and i am happy to support your idea

@vdracule-mihawk said in Rare, this concerns EVERYONE, please address.:

@genereder Upon logging in, you would see a screen with a list of servers organized by Name Only. You'll have no idea as to how many players are on that server until after you have chosen it. So let's say you want to join server A as a 3 man galleon. If there's 3 slots open (max currently 24) it will load you into that server, but if there's not enough slots open it will tell you "Not enough open slots for your party size."

I'm not sure what you mean about "some sort of barrier that will make it impossible to freely choose your own server again." Can you explain?

Making current amount of players info invisible while still only making servers visible that has enough slots free for your crew size is smart i like it. But how would you prevent a 10 person clan from forming a 2galleon+1sloop fleet on server "Abc" with all of those 10 people just clicking on that "abc" you know what i mean...

@vdracule-mihawk said in Rare, this concerns EVERYONE, please address.:

@sn4res said in Rare, this concerns EVERYONE, please address.:

To anyone that thinks they have 'rep' or are 'feared' on the server, well - no.

Which is exactly what I want to change. What would a player/crew have to do in this game to make you fear/respect them?

For me to feel that way they could do a few things such as beat me in a fair sword fight (undefeated) or sink my ship 3 times in a row. Of course this would probably just encourage me to pvp them even more to become better lol.

It's hard to say really..

I read your comment while at work and thought about it a fair amount while driving home. And SoT in it's current state just doesn't seem to have anything that allows a player to stand out.

I've met some awesome players, and some very skilled ones too - but I don't remember any of them. They were just 'the other players'.

Sure the character model/skin is 'supposedly' pretty unique but how often do you really pay attention to what others look like?
Do you even get the chance to check them out, or notice that they have a fancy hat before one of you is dead?

Most of the time I barely bother to read the player tag because essentially it doesn't matter.
Rare wanted everyone to have individual pirates and carve their own story, yet made the game a glorified arcade-mode. You jump in, you have some fun and you leave.

The customisations available offer no diversity and certainly do not advertise any level of skill, as they are all achieved the same way - via gold.

The fact that the entire crew benefits from every success is also a problem. Lets not forget that the very first PIRATE LEGEND - didn't participate in a single quest/activity. yet obtained the status regardless.

So further down the line when I meet 'OneEyeJoe' and see he has the top PvP flag hoisted, I may or may not be that bothered, because for all I know he could have been locked in the brig for the entirety of his crews fight the day they got that flag.

I'm trying to think of other games I have played where I DID know of other players by rep alone, and what features made them stand out, why I knew them etc. And it was mostly down to unique rewards / titles / gear and achievements.

We knew who the top PvP players were, because a board tracked them all. We could also identify them because in some cases they had some really cool/flash gear or special colours/titles (obtained by the individual player completing a task, or winning a PvP tournament etc - not simply by participating, actually winning/completing the task individually)

We also knew of those who had achieved great things on the server (completed hard raids etc, or crafted a specific item with mats only available from the hardest instances).

Maybe further down the line SoT will allow players to really make their mark. But currently, it's just a casual drop-in, drop-out, bit of fun.

I guess in short - if everything can be obtained by cheesing it / flipping coins repeatedly until you land heads, without relying on individual skill/achievement. Then gaining any sort of rep is impossible.

@vdracule-mihawk said in Rare, this concerns EVERYONE, please address.:

@sn4res All of what you said is spot on and the casual bit of fun part nails the current player experience to a tee.

Human Nature dictates the more we're exposed to someone or something, the more we begin to recognize and familiarize ourselves with that person or thing. I think players will start to stand out the more we encounter them, but our ability to do that is extremely limited to a one off session and then you may never see that same enemy crew ever again!

Also, I think a PVP faction with unique rewards would go a long way for player recognition. You come across the Pirate Legend with the glowing sword you know they had to kill X amount of players to earn it!

You know, your suggestion would actually go someway to solve that issue.. And in an entirely cosmetic way too.
Kill 100 players with a sword alone - and you get a ghostly blue glow to the sword, kill 200 and it glows green or red or w/e. No statistical advantage to it, it just looks bad-a*s and gives other players an immediate sign that you are something to be feared when wielding a sword.

Cosmetic changes linked to in-game player achievements would be ace. And make those flaunting them stand out from the ones that just bought the stuff with gold.

@vdracule-mihawk said in Rare, this concerns EVERYONE, please address.:

@sn4res All of what you said is spot on and the casual bit of fun part nails the current player experience to a tee.

Human Nature dictates the more we're exposed to someone or something, the more we begin to recognize and familiarize ourselves with that person or thing. I think players will start to stand out the more we encounter them, but our ability to do that is extremely limited to a one off session and then you may never see that same enemy crew ever again!

Also, I think a PVP faction with unique rewards would go a long way for player recognition. You come across the Pirate Legend with the glowing sword you know they had to kill X amount of players to earn it!

This will definitely take care of the problem of not being recognized! I love that everything is cosmetic and not better or worse then another thing. BUT if SoT if going to be strictly cosmetic, those mechanics should go beyond purchases, they should be earned through combat statistics; blunderbuss kills, sword kills, cannon ball direct hits, etc. The same would apply to ships, a stat for ships sank or skull forts finsihed, etc, would give special skins. This would give a look to pirates who went above and beyond to find them and also give us that fear factor some players are craving. (IMHO they should still have to be purchased lol)

I feel that implementing this would be an easy enough task, and it would also add a statistical side to the game kind of like....and im sorry for the comparison....but...Fortnite. Fortnite keeps track of your kills, deaths, and wins and it would be great to see in SoT. It would add another form of grind and accomplishment for players, and also give PVP heavy players an excuse, rather then just being aggressive pirates.

Adding features like this would almost rid us of the want for separated servers, you see a (insert ship design) ship on the horizon, you run, because you know what that pirate had to do to get that skin.

@vdracule-mihawk said in Rare, this concerns EVERYONE, please address.:

@sn4res said in Rare, this concerns EVERYONE, please address.:

Kill 100 players with a sword alone - and you get a ghostly blue glow to the sword, kill 200 and it glows green or red or w/e. No statistical advantage to it, it just looks bad-a*s and gives other players an immediate sign that you are something to be feared when wielding a sword.

Cosmetic changes linked to in-game player achievements would be ace. And make those flaunting them stand out from the ones that just bought the stuff with gold.

Glowing sword of bad-assery... yes please!

Soon to be glowing sword of [mod edited] no doubt.. Oh well, at least we had our moment :D