I hate to be that guy I really do.
I love the game, the community, most of all I love the developer who have given me gaming memories that stretch back to my childhood. Sea Of Thieves almost feels like it was made for me.
The problem I'm having the absolute most with this game isn't so much the salty pirates, the only regular enemies being skelly's or the ranking up and reward system being a bit too dependent on repetition, it's the time it takes to complete an Athena's voyage. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way but there is more than good reasons why I feel it ought to be looked at again so please hear me out on this.
Health warnings for playing video games state that you should take a 15 minute break for every hour of play and although in today's world of gaming this is seldom stuck to by avid gamers, it is important to heed the warning. It's also a game developers responsibility to be responsible with the content they distribute to the masses. Additionally, obesity, heart problems and the occasional fatal blood clot is known to be more than just occasional issues for those of us who spend a lot of time seated playing video games. Even when we speed run an Athenas voyage, it takes longer than a healthy amount of time to complete and in a game that relies on real time events and PVP, taking a 15 minute break from gameplay every hour is usually an unpopular and unpleasant thing to do while engaged in a grind up through the ranks of legendary with a crew.
The athenas voyage is too long.
I know there are idealistic game demons who can rush an athenas out in just over an hour if they are lucky enough to have the wind on their side and uninterrupted by PVP'ers but most of the fun of doing high value voyages such as an athenas is from the risk presented by other players, this fun is lost because of the fatigue caused by the time an athenas coyage can take to complete...its unhealthy to play longer than an hour without a 15 minute break and some people take up to seven hours to complete an athenas quest f the wind is not on their side, every volcanoes erupts on time and they are interrupted by rival crews. I think the fun is lost because of the length of time they can 'potentially' take to complete -even at a dash. I also think it's unfair on the average players in the community who want to maintain their health but also want to achieve top level athenas rank. Something needs to be revised here. Maybe make the athenas voyage shorter, increase the value of an athenas chest and perhaps mark the ships carrying athenas chests to attract some PVP action? Something to balance time, risk and effort?
Athena's voyages are kinda unhealthy
@cmm-solo they could change the max Athenas rank to A2, make it so that the voyage consists of just digging up the Chest of Legends, eand change the value of the chest to 30,000. Oh and if you’re in an alliance the developers will slap a banana sticker on your forehead, an extra sticker for every boat in your alliance! :-D
@cmm-solo It's a way to put it, indeed...
I also share the thought about the length of this voyages... it's way too much... that's the reason why I don't even consider to make those on devil's roar.
When I have a day off from work, or in vacations, I always say those are the days we (me and my crew) can make DR Athena's. ahah, but no, we never make those xDmake a job of a game is unhelathy and most people grind and exagerate about gaming is unhelathy.
Therfore the Proression in this game is horizontal and only about cosmetics and titles and therefore just an option, you don't need to do it, it's up to you.
You also don't need to do Athena Voyages in DR or at all.
Ok, if you want that A10 figurhead or whatever you have to do it.
But you wont miss something about the gameplay if you dont have it.
You can easily adjust your playtime and play like you want.
If you are possesed about the progression, you will just feel it's not about any meaning like you can read in so many suggestions or complains from PL or PL A10 players who all have no incentives anymore to play the game.
I am here to have exciting stuff to happen, not to grind or to work.
sometimes, mostly i or we have fun and great adventures.
Sometimes its just PvE and this can become boring, but more often we need to deal with other players friendly but also hostile.
thats what the game is about, not progression, but the action and stories happen in the Seas.
And you don't need an Athena to do it and you easily can take a break, why not?
While on the Athena Mission do some of the maps or riddles or deliver the goods, go to an outpost, deliver everything and take a break with an empty ship, even if you got sunk, you loose nothing and can coninue on your voyage. Where is the problem?@cmm-solo said in Athena's voyages are kinda unhealthy:
Most importantly, to make it healthier.
If you’re truly concerned about following these health guidelines, I’d recommend the following:
-
Play for one hour, make sure to cash in before the 60 minute mark in case other pirates try to steal your loot.
-
Rubber band during your 15 minute break to ensure that you don’t get booted.
-
Repeat step 1.
-
Repeat step 2.
-
Dig up and cash in the Chest of Legends before the end of the 3rd hour, otherwise repeat these steps.
I doubt they make Athenas quests any easier as they’ve already introduced alliances and Ashen Chests of Legends. If you really want to reach A10 without doing all the work then I suggest joining discord.
-
You make some good points. I think the main reason Athenas can seem like a long grind is because after reaching 50 in three factions sailing hundreds of voyages, you are rewarded with the privilege to do the exact same things again with only a new chest at the end. It would have been so much better if there were different voyages and a few new items to be found in addition to the Athena chest. It can take time. I hear you that you have to go through nonstop to get the one thing you started it all for.
I would not mind the length of time so much if there was more variance in the voyages and rewards. The cosmetics alone definitely do not inspire my spouse and I to sail on through the Athena levels like we did before reaching Pirate Legend.
What it means to be Pirate Legend needs to mean so much more than it does now. There is really nothing legend about it now. The whole bundled Athena voyage idea needs to have all the barnacles accumulated from doing the same thing over and over scraped off its hull. New shiner post Pirate Legend voyages and content must come sooner than later.
Until then there is no reason not to lighten up the time and grind of Athenas. Like @Bran-the-Ent said there is nothing else waiting. An easy way to do this would be to dial back the skeletons. Have them do less damage and have less health. They could also allow us to pick the combination of voyages we want to do. Then after we do so many we get the Athena chest map. Nothing wrong in giving us pirates the freedom to sail the voyages we like. After all we should earn something.
Getting to legend and getting to A10 is sadly not enjoyable as it stands simply because of the amount of time it can potentially take and it's not healthy but many people who play the game desire the cosmetics and the bragging rights of those cosmetics, it's just a shame that the only real bragging rights you get is 'I've spent more hours' instead of 'I've done something challenging.' Arguably, playing any game for seven hours is 'challenging' but perhaps not in the healthiest way...
I don't think legendary or A10 should come easily but I also don't think a single voyage for an Athenas chest should potentially take as much time as it currently does. I think marking ships that are carrying athenas chests would be a good counter to the challenge factor of 'time spent' on account of the full circle of 'things to do' in addition to the other factors weighing into that equation i.e. Wind, volcanoes, PVP, personal availability.I know you can skip the cargo runs, only dig up high value chests and only grab high value skulls and dash through riddles to get to the good part which is unearthing the athenas chest and taking the risks to get it cashed in but what I find takes away from the fun is the investment of time it can potentially take to get there.
My idea of a solution to this is to spawn athenas chests at a good distance from any outpost and to mark the unearthed chests (like the reapers flag) on the map.(in addition to shortening the voyage.)@they-sank said in Athena's voyages are kinda unhealthy:
@cmm-solo they could change the max Athenas rank to A2, make it so that the voyage consists of just digging up the Chest of Legends, eand change the value of the chest to 30,000. Oh and if you’re in an alliance the developers will slap a banana sticker on your forehead, an extra sticker for every boat in your alliance! :-D
I actually want it to be more challenging and equally less time consuming. Perhaps lessen the value for being in an alliance and greaten the value for being solo? Mark it on the map. I'm not implying it should be easy at all I just think the time it takes the average player is a bit demanding. Why should people who love the game not have an equal opportunity to reach A10 and all the cool looking stuff that goes with it just because they have other things to do with their time like jobs, studies, social lives?
Make it a challenge sure but don't penalise a huge demographic of a player base because they can't sacrifice 7 hours out of their lives to play your game. And yes, Even some very good players can find themselves in scenarios that prolong the process of achieving an athenas cash in at present.
I say, get rid of the insentive to join alliances by splitting level and money rewards equally and proportional to the amount of ships you have in your alliance, make an 'athenas mark' where athenas chests are Present on the map and put us in a challenging situation where we have to really make an effort to cash in safely but yeah, cut the time demand down.@they-sank said in Athena's voyages are kinda unhealthy:
@cmm-solo said in Athena's voyages are kinda unhealthy:
Most importantly, to make it healthier.
If you’re truly concerned about following these health guidelines, I’d recommend the following:
-
Play for one hour, make sure to cash in before the 60 minute mark in case other pirates try to steal your loot.
-
Rubber band during your 15 minute break to ensure that you don’t get booted.
-
Repeat step 1.
-
Repeat step 2.
-
Dig up and cash in the Chest of Legends before the end of the 3rd hour, otherwise repeat these steps.
I doubt they make Athenas quests any easier as they’ve already introduced alliances and Ashen Chests of Legends. If you really want to reach A10 without doing all the work then I suggest joining discord.
This is a work around but not a good long term solution to essentially lock a slot on a server to save your progress. Its a bad design if this is what you have to do. This has nothing to do with challenge. And this doesn't work if your in a group with other players.
-
@x-crowheart-x said in Athena's voyages are kinda unhealthy:
...They could also allow us to pick the combination of voyages we want to do. Then after we do so many we get the Athena chest map. Nothing wrong in giving us pirates the freedom to sail the voyages we like. After all we should earn something.
Wholeheartedly THIS is the simple answer. It fully allows the gamer the choice of how long they want to play, but makes it no "easier" to get the Athena Chest.
Also: Fully on board with new voyage types for Legends. Even though I'm not a legend, this seems fitting, and would make me even more thankful for joining a legend crew. This would make legend players feel truly legendary.
