Elephant in the Room: Pirate Legend Exclusive Content Controversy

  • MysticDragon297
    Master
    Insider

    i'd like to point out an elephant in the room. say that a brand new content update is on the way. half of that content is exclusive to pirate legends. how do you feel about that? and we are not talking about just cosmetics.

    say, "only pirate legends can attend in the "Pirate Legend" arena mode". or, "only pirate legends have access to temples (concept)". or, "only pirate legends can change their characters appearance." etc. etc.

    i'm pointing this out because i am worried that players would easily be offended by such content limitations; that they would have to be a PL or befriend a PL in order to explore this content.

    the thing about pirate legend is that it was featured to be a game changing stage. that becoming pirate legends means the beginning of the game and exclusive rewards. while there are exclusive cosmetics for pirate legends, pirate legend voyages are simply longer voyages with more rewards. my point being that some of us expected more exclusive content to the rank. but is it too late to apply more than just cosmetics?

    i myself am not a Pirate legend. because i like to explore and take it slow, i find myself nowhere near the rank. if pirate legend were to have more exclusive content, rather than be offended, i would welcome the motivation to finally achieve the rank. it would be good for the game if everyone else felt the same way, but again, it is possible that there are those who would think otherwise.

    TL;DR:

    Pirate Legend Exclusive content: good for PL, but Bad for non-PL? does it matter? should all future additional content be available to all players?

    READING COMMENTS THUS FAR:

    so it seem like i was correct to point out this topic to be potentially controversial.
    on one hand, some believe that exclusive Pirate Legend content would be unfair because it would potentially split the community. on the other hand, Pirate Legend originally promised more content than what the original game offered (ship building, unique quests, special items, captaincy, etc.) and thus deserves more exclusive content. while one side believes exclusive content would be fair because Pirate Legends can share that content with other players, others believe it to be unfair and feel forced to either progress to Pirate Legend or befriend a Pirate Legend.

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  • NunoAzuldimeter
    Champion
    Insider
    Boatswain
    Founder

    @mysticdragon297
    I think it is more then about time to have some more exclusive activities for legends.
    What's the point and motivation to reach legend when there's nothing rewarding you to be legend?

    Everything untill now has been added thinking about new players (and non legends). Everything that makes PL special is being taken away over time.

    So, overall, yeah being true, this isn't a good thing. IT'S A GREAT THING!

  • Nabberwar
    Lord
    Insider

    Pirate Legend is already a shallow pointless title. The only thing the title brings you is access to the title, an outfit, some ship cosmetics and the ability to purchase Athena Voyages. However new players/non Legends still can complete and obtain Athena Voyages. So this really isn't such a phenomenal feat anymore.

    Pirate Legend Exclusive content is long over due. If someone wants to be "offended" (God I hate this word), let them be. They are a small insignificant minority, that isn't worth bringing up to discuss. Who cares?

  • Arch iDeall
    Marauder

    As long as the exclusive content is there waiting for the new players (unlike the event stuff atm) I don't think many players would be upset. Personally I like that the Athenas can be shared with others - so maybe half the content could be again possible to share with new players, which is awesome because it promotes positive player interactions.

  • xCALYPT0x
    Master
    Insider
    Boatswain

    Did I miss some big reveal? When did they say the next update is going to have PL exclusive content?

    EDIT: After re-reading I realize you are talking about the hypothetical possibility of having PL exclusive content in the future and whether this would be good or bad. My brain is slow today.

  • SprungNickel427
    Marauder
    Insider

    where are you getting this from? I'm pretty addicted and heard no such thing. Source?

  • Murkrage
    Commander
    Insider
    Boatswain
    Founder

    @mysticdragon297 To be fair... about 95% of all the content is available to everyone and only 5% is limited to Pirate Legends. There still isn't a really good incentive for players to reach Pirate Legend or worry about becoming Pirate Legend.

    If more content exclusive to Pirate Legends is added, which I welcome with open arms, I feel it would really add to what a Pirate Legend is supposed to be: A Pirate you can look up to.

    A Pirate Legend was going to have items no other Pirate would have. It would be the grandest of grand, but it's not. So if they add things that make that happen, yep by all means go ahead and do it!

  • xCALYPT0x
    Master
    Insider
    Boatswain

    @murkrage Yeah, I wouldn't mind some PL exclusive content. I don't want huge chunks of content to be PL only but it would be nice to have some.

    With the condition that any non-PL can crew up with a PL and access the content, just like Athena voyages. That way friends can still play together without limitation and maybe we'll see PL's crew up with non-PL like the old days where everyone was dropping athena voyages for each other.

  • Murkrage
    Commander
    Insider
    Boatswain
    Founder

    @xcalypt0x I agree. I suppose it's more that I'd like to see way more exclusive rewards for PL. Outfits, weapons, ships etc.

    I'd love to have an exclusive voyage reward. Imagine doing an Athena and you can turn in the chest of legends to a different NPC at the outpost. No one will get any money for it, but you will get a voyage that is completely different from anything done so far (I have no idea what it would be) but it grands an enormous amount of gold.

    It would be locked away from non-PL, but still accessible through crewing up with a PL and getting them to put down that voyage.

  • dyfrin
    Master
    Insider
    Founder

    A deep rooted vision in this game, that devs have stated:

    They don't want to keep people from playing with each other by imposed barriers.

    Those barriers could be:

    • Areas of the map locked unless purchased.
    • Areas of the map locked unless progressed in game.
    • New/Better Items only accessible from purchasing content.
    • New/Better Items only accessible from progress in game.

    They made it that way thus far.

    While a pirate legend can only get the voyage, anyone on the crew also participates in it. While only a pirate legend can open the way, all can go in after them.

    Coming from "gated" content in EQ, I see where they are coming from. Having to spend hours to help another friend unlock an area isn't "fun".
    Coming from "purchased" content in LOTRO, I see where they are coming from. Having a friend not have an expansion means they can't go into the new area.

    I think the vision of the game not having barriers is good.

  • Ascawien
    Marauder
    Founder

    Whilst I get what you're saying about not wanting to impose barriers - or rather what Rare said and you're quoting, there DOES need to be something added that is exclusive to Legends. I'm fine for whatever those things are, to be able to be shared with whomever is in the crew with the Legend, although, unlike Athena rep, I would actually like any rep gain to be limited to ONLY those that can actually access the content - however, have all monetary gain be shared just the same as normal.

    Right now, there's an outfit, a title and some ship customisation as your EXCLUSIVE reward for getting to 50 with the three organisations (forgive me if I'm missing something that we get but it's basically it). We also get to do all of our commendations over again with our Athena rep... which is a controversial subject that many have complained about already, so I won't repeat it here.

    It would be really nice to have a reward for reaching Legend above and beyond what's currently available and also, something to incentivise players that haven't hit max level yet, to work their way up to it.

  • Vaca Hombre
    Champion
    Boatswain
    Founder

    More content for Pirate Legends?
    Definitely.

    Most of the content for Pirate Legends?
    No.

  • KING DEKA
    Legend
    Insider
    Founder

    I suggested this Idea Months Ago; My Idea is an new Trading Company besides Athena, I’m calling it „Hunters of Ancient Lords“ It’s an Lore/Quest driven Voyage where you can defeat at the End, one of the known peril Skeleton Lords like The 1st Gold Hoarder or Captain Flameheart! With exclusive Rewards and an different way to Play!

  • MysticDragon297
    Master
    Insider

    @sprungnickel427

    i brought up the topic because it was healthy to do so. getting this discussion out of the way before it potentially becomes an issue is a legitimate reason to bring it up.

  • Boxcar Squidy
    Captain
    Insider

    @mysticdragon297 it's an interesting topic.

    Back when the game launched, the first major update was supposed to be a whole bunch of content for PLs.

    People said no. Even those of us who had sold our souls, bartered the kids and put our relationships on ice to hit PL within the first month.

    We all wanted more content for everyone, not just exclusive to PLs.

    Apart from the commendations in Shrouded Spoils, Rare have done just that. They've made new content available for all.

    So is it time for some exclusive PL stuff? I don't think it would be too soon.

    If I'm honest Rare's priority right now seems to be Arena. Let's not pretend that Arena will be them just flipping a PVP mode switch. They're basically designing a new game using the systems and assets that they have already created. Maybe less work than designing a game from scratch, but it is by no means a small undertaking.

    The Arena will be for everyone.

    After Arena, and maybe as part of the Adventure mode rework would be the right time to look at PL's and Athena voyages and see whether there is exclusive PL stuff that could be added, like Ship Captaincy, maybe titles beyond PL like Mythical Pirate etc.

    They do seem to want to make PL a more valuable goal to work towards, they mentioned as much when discussing allowing PL's to play We Shall Sail Together out in the world a couple of streams ago. I think their priority is, and will remain providing content for the majority of the player base, so I wouldn't worry too much about people who haven't achieved Legend (yet!) being left out in the cold.

  • MrPhilfy
    Master
    Insider
    Founder

    I totally agree with you. I am personally only a few levels away from Pirate Legend and due to the lack of exclusive content open to Pirate Legends I fear I will hit Pirate Legend then just fall away from the game. Literally the only Exclusive things a Pirate Legend has is the ability to access the legen hideout, the athena quests and some cosmetics.

    To me this isnt good enough. Considering the long long grind to get to 50/50/50 in the first place I feel there should be a bigger reward

  • Ghostpaw
    Legend

    I hit PL a while back. I still enjoy playing the game as much as before. There are quite a few PL only items to work towards when the feeling strikes me. If they provide more PL stuff, great , but if not, it will not discourage me. I just love what I have already.

  • Hynieth
    Master
    Insider

    This is why rare put the pirate legend exclusive Ship Captaincy in the freezer for the time being and focussed on bringing things to the game we all could enjoy.

    To be honest now is the time for Rare to release PL exclusive content if ever they want to do it. A lot of people are pirate legend or Athena level enough to see they have a friend being so.

    Sure it's annoying to be left out of content in the first place but to be honest I've got friends who rerely play and are PL, so yeah enough time has passed.

    So just remember, the PL exclusive content has already been pushed back to give us droves of content we can all enjoy, it's time to reward the ones who've played for a long time.

  • CoyoTe4711
    Captain
    Founder

    and what would be so bad about content that is locked behind PL?
    gives everybody something to work for, right?! motivation is good. There is barely motivation for PLs to play atm, yeah there is the athena content, but that being dropped late most PLs atm play to get those commendation rewards which most of them already did before the commendations were introduced. so they are just grinding everything out without having really anything else to do. so PL exclusive content would be nice, having new players complain about it would be like complaining that you cant join a heroic max level raid in WoW when you just hit lvl 20 after the starter zone. No, you wont get everything handed to you on a silver platter. and yes, its alright to have to work for things, even in videogames. it might not always be fun, but sure as hell it is rewarding in the true sense of the word.

  • JoeySav
    Founder

    @mysticdragon297 what would be wrong with having actual end game content in the game? There's barely any real reason to strive for pirate legend other than cosemitcs and "different" quests. I've had this game since it launched and got to 35 35 35 and just stopped playing until this week again. I love this game a ton and rare has done a good job at making the game better but stuff for people to look forward to when they play other than cosmetics that isn't super game changing is not a bad thing.All of the games i have literal thousands of hours into like wow, eso, guild wars 2 (this one doesn't apply as much) and destiny all have similar goals to strive towards this is why games have these in the first place and it isn't just open to all from the rip. To want everyone be able to jump in an access everything is a noble goal people will walk away quicker from the game than they would if they had actual goals to get to. In my personal opinion take it for what it's worth they should add something for end game content, but make the journey to pirate legend shorter for newer players coming into the game , it doesn't have to be super quick just shorter than it was for people who got there before to give new players a little boost to get there in a decent time frame while still being rewarding and not handed to them. The way the game is right now , it takes FAR to long to get to Pirate Legend with very little rewarding pay out for doing so.

  • Boxcar Squidy
    Captain
    Insider

    @ghostpaw Agreed. I'm taking things slowly and just enjoying myself, no pressure to do anything in particular, just whatever everyone else is interested in. It helps that I'm as happy to spend an evening as a poultry delivery man as I am to spend one chasing down ships to see if they want a fight.

    To be honest though Legendary Thieves are the real Pirate Legends these days. Anyone can hit PL with enough time, but Legendary Thief? That still means something, in most cases. I know you can cheese it to an extent.

    I respect that title, because I'm trying to get it legitimately and it is no joke.

  • JoeySav
    Founder

    @sludgymermaid Trying to be like summit, cute probably bad at the game.

  • Goedecke Michel
    Marauder

    Legends need no extra content. They have their athena, and everyone can be part of it. Don't split the community.

  • Boxcar Squidy
    Captain
    Insider

    @goedecke-michel I really can't see Rare adding anything that ONLY pirate legends can do.

    If they add stuff for PL it'll be stuff that can be shared with the crew regardless of the crew's levels.

    That seems to be a core design principle. From the sounds of things it will even apply to pets.

    It'd be nice if PL's had their own type of voyage that wasn't just voyages from the other three trading companies stitched together and brought to life Dr. Frankenstein style though, that's the sort of thing I'm thinking about.

  • Ghostpaw
    Legend

    The reason I am playing SoT and not Guild Wars, WoW, Neverwinter, and so on is because in SoT any of my friends can join in at any point, fully participate, and benefit from whatever content we are working on. I end up maintaining three characters on the other games with level-locked content. One to play with friends who are new to the game, one for friends in mid-game content, and one for end game. THAT feels like a grind to me and gets boring fast. And when I play on my lower level toons, the one I want to work on gets nowhere. No thanks! Been there and I’m sick of it. There are enough titles out there with that type of system. I love SoT because I can play the one character while my friends can join at any time to participate without first having catch up to the rest of us.

  • entspeak
    Captain
    Insider

    Wait... are we manufacturing a controversy here? From the get go, the expectation was that upon reaching Pirate Legend, there would be something different. In reality, that didn't happen, but that was what Rare led folks to believe - that being a Pirate Legend meant something. So, where's the controversy, exactly? Adding PL exclusive content should be expected.

    Has there actually been a mention by the devs of PL exclusive Arena sessions? I don't recall hearing anything like this.

  • Goedecke Michel
    Marauder

    @boxcar-squidy fullak

  • Millsey24
    Captain
    Insider
    Founder

    @ghostpaw completely agree! I would welcome something 'extra' for being PL but if that dosen't arrive I will continue to sail and adventure and enjoy the game for what it is together with the extra content Rare release.

  • dyfrin
    Master
    Insider
    Founder

    @theunionjames
    This is probably the route they will take.
    Something only PLs can initiate, but something others can join in.

    A "zoned" area of the map like underwater or something could work, much like Athena's hideout now.
    It may be "off limits" to a full group of non legends, but only if they don't socialize with others.
    Perhaps like the summon the megaladon it will take a couple crews, in that case the PL will need others as well.

    I wonder what % of active players are PL.
    If it's over 25% then open games would have a high chance of having one.

  • MysticDragon297
    Master
    Insider

    @bran-the-ent

    yes, there appears to be a controversy no one bothered to point out until now.

    from the comments thus far: on one hand, people dont want more pirate legend exclusive content because it splits the community. on the other hand, pirate legend was featured to be a game-changing achievement, promising players access to more content than the original game offered (ship building, unique quests, special items, captaincy, etc) but that was never the case. while one side believe that exclusive content would be fair because Pirate legends can share that content with other players, other believe it to be unfair and feel forced to progress to Pirate Legend or befriend a Pirate legend.

  • NoFears Fun
    Master
    Insider

    @murkrage said in Elephant in the Room: Pirate Legend Exclusive Content Controversy:

    @mysticdragon297 To be fair... about 95% of all the content is available to everyone and only 5% is limited to Pirate Legends. There still isn't a really good incentive for players to reach Pirate Legend or worry about becoming Pirate Legend.

    If more content exclusive to Pirate Legends is added, which I welcome with open arms, I feel it would really add to what a Pirate Legend is supposed to be: A Pirate you can look up to.

    A Pirate Legend was going to have items no other Pirate would have. It would be the grandest of grand, but it's not. So if they add things that make that happen, yep by all means go ahead and do it!

    I was going to say pretty much exactly the same thing. Currently, most people don't even want or use the existing PL cosmetics, because they are kind of ugly. Even the newest cosmetics are not very appealing compared to other cosmetics. The Athena level cosmetics are pretty good, but anyone can earn them. I would welcome choices of cosmetics for PL that are completely exclusive to PL. The more that is added the bigger the incentive is for everyone to work towards PL.

  • Psyanotic
    Marauder
    Insider

    face palm
    Yes, let's not reward people who have grinded out Pirate Legend.
    heavy sarcasm.

    But for real though. Why is that a "white elephant in the room"? Why would having exclusive Pirate Legend cosmetics or an exclusive arena server for Pirate Legends hurt someone's feelings? If anything, a Pirate legend only arena server would benefit the casual players by letting experienced players face off against each other by themselves.
    I guess i just don't understand why someone who has put a couple hundred hours into the game to achieve the rank of Pirate legend isn't allowed to bask in the glory that is exclusive content. Put in the work and reap the rewards my friend.
    -Cyanide

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