Forsaken shores makes solo play impossible

  • TravistyJCx13x
    Ship Mate

    After owning this game since it came out I think I'll finally be uninstalling it. I enjoyed being able to play this game solo but after the latest update it's now impossible to play solo if you want to experience the new content.
    The old content has dried out and lost it's fun new content is necessary to keep people playing but if your new content punishes certain play styles you're pushing your players away.
    With forsaken shores solo play is impossible. Not everyone has a huge friend list of people to play with. And with a decreasing player population it's hard to find decent people to play with in the game sometimes depending on your play schedule. Some people just prefer to play solo. Most random players I encounter are toxic trolls or obnoxious children. And sometimes I'd rather just do my own thing then do what a group/crew wants.

    Why it's impossible to succeed in solo:
    While playing solo sail your ship to any island in the devil's roar and guarantee it can and probably will be sunk by a volcano. They all have a hit range of two squares on the map.
    According to several articles and game guides none of the islands are safe and I've personally witness my ship get hit at each island.

    An eruption can last for 3 minutes so if you're near the volcano when it starts to erupt its impossible to outrun in a row boat and good luck sailing solo while repairing and trying not to die.
    1 magma ball does 4-5 holes worth of damage to a sloop and takes over 75% player health on the bottom deck. If your on top deck it can instant kill.
    Literally I was spawn killed twice. And the volcano seem to aims for the player closer to it. They don't fire magma balls randomly 360°, majority each blast came towards the ship while in range like a bombardment of aimed canonballs with a set hit pattern. Outside of range they seemed more random when another ship entered range blast seem to concentrate in a cone towards that ship with very few going the other direction.

    If you decide to park your ship a little further away be prepared to spend a few minutes in a rowboat just to get to the island, oh what fun, seriously what's fun about rowboats. Then when you're ready to leave the island your rowboat has been probably blown up by the volcano. They break from a single direct hit... Because ya lets make them incredibly necessary and also incredibly fragile. I had a row boat break from detaching it from my ship, as soon as hit the water it broke. Ya that makes sense let's make it take damage from using it each time...
    Then if by some small chance you survive the island, find what you need, and row back to your ship. Your ship will be gone because some other player decided to sink it after finding it sitting unattended, unless you're in an empty server or a server without griefers (luck you)

    If by some chance you do complete a voyage. Good luck selling the loot and buying the new items. Theres only one outpost in the devils roar... perfect place for trolls to wait there to kill you before you sell/buy anything.

    Long-short
    So while playing solo either a volcano will sink your ship if its anywhere near an island.
    Or if its safely parked away from the island another player will sink it.
    Either way your ship will probably sink.
    Then when you go to the only outpost there to buy new clothes or sell your loot you'll get killed by a crew of trolls
    Theres absolutely no way to really progress further if you play solo.

    For Rare
    Congrats Rare you keep taking a great concept and ruining it by putting no thought into how players behave with your work. Please think of how certain actions have consequences. One outpost selling all the new content is a huge issue for starters at least add a second. Maybe tone down the range or frequency of volcanic eruptions. Increase rowboat health or make it so detaching it from the ship doesn't damage it, increasing the speed slight would be nice too. Geyser locations on some islands are an issue I was standing on stool trying to read one of the books left by captain morrow when a geyser erupted from the wood I was standing on...
    You have such great concepts and ideas I just wish you'd put more detail thought into everything. Think of how each action effects the game as a whole, instead of just loading it up with cool ideas refine the best of those ideas before adding them.

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  • UrihamRayne
    Legend
    Insider
    Founder

    All signs pointing to how solo play is harder but there are stubborn people who will not take the advice we give them over and over again. If you are really leaving, so long.

  • Galactic Geek
    Seafarer
    Founder

    I did it all solo just fine; it wasn't easy, but that's kind of the point... As for there only being 1 outpost, that's absolute rubbish - you have 6 others to choose from (nobody ever said that you had to turn it in at the Devil's Roar outpost).

  • Crimsonraziel
    Master
    Insider

    Exaggerations make posts unreadable.

  • chitownsACE3
    Master

    @galactic-geek Obivously you havent tried selling the Ashen loot outside of devils roar its prolly not worth anything.

  • Friedwilly
    Commander
    Insider

    I am a member of this group and I can always find players to join up with or as we say 'looking for crew'.

    alt text
    https://www.seaofthieves.com/forum/topic/30248/the-iron-fleet-official-recruitment-thread-economy-wages-market-gambling-rpg-discord-community

  • Gundy the Shark
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    @chitownsace3 pretty sure the price is based on the type of loot as opposed to where it’s sold. So the ashen loot is probably still worth double the equivalent normal loot when sold outside of the Roar.

  • Friedwilly
    Commander
    Insider

    @r4bbi-the-shark said in Forsaken shores makes solo play impossible:

    @chitownsace3 pretty sure the price is based on the type of loot as opposed to where it’s sold. So the ashen loot is probably still worth double the equivalent normal loot when sold outside of the Roar.

    So if you take it out of Devils Roar it's worth more? I was disappointed with how little I got for an Ashen Seafarer chest at Morrow's Outpost.

  • D3ADST1CK
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    I don't think solo play is any harder in Forsaken Shores. I was cruising around there for around 3 hours last night and didn't lose my ship once.

    What it does do is increase the time to do anything by a stupid amount. There is nothing hard about Forsaken Shores, it is just annoying.

  • TravistyJCx13x
    Ship Mate

    @urihamrayne
    I'm well aware of ways to find crews, thank you though. But the original reason I got into sea of thieves was the ability to hop on a sloop solo and sail. While successfully soloing around experiencing everything and progress in a world that also allowed me to interact with other players if I chose or avoid them.
    Now the developers are obviously forcing solo players to group up or fall behind. That's taking away from the game not adding to it. And when the originally promised players to be able to play how they want it's going back on their word.
    After spending hours and multiple ship sinking I was able to touch foot on each of the islands but its impossible to complete a voyage on them alone.

  • TravistyJCx13x
    Ship Mate

    @d3adst1ck
    You must have been in a dead or lucky server.
    Theres very few safe place to leave your ship that it wont be hit by a volcano they did that on purpose to make use rowboats.
    And everytime I left my ship in a safe place another crew came and sunk it, different crews too. Because safe places are usually out in the open ocean.
    I'll agree it's definitely annoying but it's definitely more difficult too crew or not, even the developers would agree to that. They intended it to be challenging for a crew and in doing so they made it impossible for solo unless you're in a dead server where your only threat is a volcano or two at a time.

  • TravistyJCx13x
    Ship Mate

    @galactic-geek
    The single outpost in the devil's roar sells different voyages and different items so ya if you want to buy more new voyages or new items you have to go to that single outpost and with my luck I always get griefers waiting there, sincerelybgood for you if you don't. I wish I had good luck and didnt run into griefers every server.
    And again you must have gotten a lucky or dead server because parking the ship in a place where it wont get hit by an eruption is easy. But it leaves it open for other players to easily attack and in every server I played in they did.

  • AlzHeimeerS
    Master
    Insider

    Well If you learn How to use the rowboat its rly fast, and you can hide the sloop use rowboat, take hedings from your map and row around, its rly sneaky because its hard to see, i normaly park close to the vulcanos (get less hits then on your ship) and i dont understand Why you are so agenst playing with other players??? Tons of fun

  • Metosco

    how to hate a game in 24 hours

  • Guepard4
    Captain
    Insider
    Founder

    No, Devil's Roar is impossible. You can still play the rest of the map.

  • theMasterplan84
    Master
    Insider

    I just finished a 4 hour session. Visited all the islands and finished the quest line. Think I sunk twice.

    Tbf the server I was on was a bit of a sea of friends server so if I was on a more aggressive server it probably would of been difficult but the actual area isn't difficult and definitely not impossible

  • Metosco

    i hate this game

  • UltraLoser4242
    Captain
    Founder

    @metosco said in Forsaken shores makes solo play impossible:

    i hate this game

    Sigh...

    If you aren't having fun with the game, you should post a well-thought out, constructive post with reasons why you feel that way (exactly what the OP did), and maybe suggestions on how you feel you'd have more fun. Simply writing unhelpful or literal hate-posts will never get any sort of positive response.

    Why, specifically, do you "hate this game"? Do you agree with what the original post said? Or are you just rage-typing?

  • D3ADST1CK
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    @travistyjcx13x Nope, there was a galleon, brig and 2 sloops within my immediate view. I sunk one sloop that tried to come after me and took his rowboat.

    Its not a challenging area, it just a lot of extra time sinks; wait for volcano to die down, walk slower around the island to avoid geysers, leave the island multiple times when the volcano acts up, etc...

  • CallMeBackdrafT
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    @chitownsace3 devils roar loot sells the same inside or outside the roar, we have tried and the averages are exactly the same

  • CallMeBackdrafT
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    @auntrusty-mango there is no “PVP” flag...
    There is a flag that shows you on the map yes but not for a specific reason people use it to fight people use it to gather people for an alliance... its all up to the person.

    I can choose not to fly the reapers mark (the flag you are probably talking about) and still choose to fight every single galleon, sloop or brigantine we see

  • CallMeBackdrafT
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    @auntrusty-mango look at the dev updates, the patch notes NOWHERE is it stated that its a pvp flag, just like the jolly roger not being one.

    Do you need to be on guard for people waring it, yes.

    But rare specifically stated that it can be used in whatever way.

    Yes it is called the reapers mark the genuine pirate flag is called the jolly roger whilst in piratey times here in the real world there was nothing “jolly” about it.

    Dont judge a book by its cover.

    It is not by definition a pvp flag and yes my crew and multiple with us have used it to form alliances

  • Sgt Paloogoo
    Commander
    Insider

    Right now solo play is really hard because of grieving.
    Why is there a greater probability of grieving in the Devil's Roar?
    Cause it's a gold rush lad!
    Everybody is going there right now!

    But give it a few weeks and there won't be as many people there, and solo play will be easier.

  • CallMeBackdrafT
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    @auntrusty-mango

    For your convenience:

    The video about the update where the Reapers mark was introduced

    Quote from joe (1m35s into the vid):

    So obviously we are adding this with the intent of people using it to put themselves on the map and POTENTIALLY call people in to have fights with other crews BUT i expect we are going to see people using it in really interesting ways maybe people want to use this to find people in the world and become friends form alliances

    So per definition it is not a PVP flag and as stated i and my crew have used it in different ways, i believe there is even a streamer that uses it to call people in for a game show called “Loot and Lore”

    It has no definition it just puts you on the map.

  • Galactic Geek
    Seafarer
    Founder

    @travistyjcx13x said in Forsaken shores makes solo play impossible:

    @galactic-geek
    The single outpost in the devil's roar sells different voyages and different items so ya if you want to buy more new voyages or new items you have to go to that single outpost and with my luck I always get griefers waiting there, sincerelybgood for you if you don't. I wish I had good luck and didnt run into griefers every server.
    And again you must have gotten a lucky or dead server because parking the ship in a place where it wont get hit by an eruption is easy. But it leaves it open for other players to easily attack and in every server I played in they did.

    Have patience if you want to buy something from that specific outpost - an opening will present itself (or better yet, a friendly crew). As for leaving your ship open to attack while soloing, that's what alliances are for - make one with players you trust and let them guard your ship for you.

  • UrihamRayne
    Legend
    Insider
    Founder

    @travistyjcx13x said in Forsaken shores makes solo play impossible:

    @urihamrayne
    Now the developers are obviously forcing solo players to group up or fall behind.

    There was never any doubt from the inception of this game, well even the point of conception of this game, that this was meant to be a shared world experience, the game was designed around the galleon and the sloop came after it. Solo play is an afterthough, not a priority, solo players tend to be quite confused when it comes to this matter, because most games are singleplayer first, multiplayer second. SoT is different, and the developers made that clear, you have a story of your own, but you probably should do it with friends, else you will struggle.

    I was here to hear complains about solo players telling us they wanted separate servers from galleons back in march.
    I was here to hear complains about solo players not being able to beat skull forts becuase galleons were too much for them, so they demanded that forts became exclusive to whoever got there first.
    I was here to hear complains about solo players not being able to complete the megalodon quest, because they didn't find 4 other people to cooperate with them.
    I was here to hear complains about solo players not being able to beat the cursed skelleton crews.
    And I will be here to hear solo players complain about the next thing that upsets them.

    You ain't news.

  • Andreas5524
    Master
    Insider

    @travistyjcx13x
    I don't like to read, so I just read the start of your post. But, as solo player, I can say:

    You CAN do it!

    1: Park your boat as close to the island as possible. That will help you get to your boat faster if the vulcano goes wild.

    2: Load up on planks. Have 20 planks ready and you can survive the vulcano.

    3: Bail the water out from the little hole above the ammo box. This will make it fast to bail the water. (I am assuming you are on a sloop)

  • SupriseAutopsy
    Ship Mate

    @urihamrayne yes, you're right. There's nothing wrong with the game design at all. Its the players fault for choosing the wrong play style in an "open-world-sandbox-style" game. You can play any pirate you like, as long as you like playing with 3 other people. And the matchmaking is great, nothing wrong here. If you get paired with a 4 year old, an afk, and someone that doesn't have a mic its your fault for not opening an account on discord. It can't be that testing the game experience for solo and duo play is overlooked, that can't be it no. Stupid sloop users, you only made up almost half of all players last time Rare released any numbers, why should they care about the opinions of such a small group?

  • GunmetalLake308
    Marauder

    I completely disagree. Yes. The volcanoes are hard and hit you from really far but I played solo for two hours today and only sunk once and I was at fault because I anchored too close It’s not SUPPOSED to be easy it’s meant to be a challenging area. The volcanoes give you more than enough warning time to get to your ship and leave It’s not impossible it’s just annoying

  • LapaNonam

    Really? I've been doing solo for the past few hours

  • OttersTeeth

    I've only played solo and had very few problems. Also haven't been in very aggresive servers I think (though I got sneak-attacked by a galleon a couple of times).

    Sail a brig (they are frickin' fast), park close to the island with the heading and sails all ready so you can make a quick escape. As soon as you notice an earthquake: stop what you're doing and run back to the ship, if there's a plume of smoke at the crater: set all sails and run. If it's just an earthquake: reposition your ship and return to the island once the quake is over.

  • Captain Red Maw
    Captain
    Insider
    Founder

    @chitownsace3 said in Forsaken shores makes solo play impossible:

    @galactic-geek Obivously you havent tried selling the Ashen loot outside of devils roar its prolly not worth anything.

    It sells for the same price outside of Devil's Roar

  • HolyEcoly
    Sailor

    Gamertag: HolyEcoly
    Discord Name: HolyEcoly#0074
    Region/Time Zone: NA/PDT
    Platform: Both PC and Xbox
    Experience (if any) with the game: I've played for about 6 months on and off.
    Additional info you may want to include

  • Rogan944

    @chitownsace3

    Obviously you haven’t tried selling ashen stuff outside the devils roar cuz it’s worth exactly the same everywhere 🤦🏻‍♂️

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