A sad sad tale...

  • Fett199

    Some back story:

    I have played the game since day one and have always had a good time playing it. I am glad to see how the game has changed for I took a 4 month pause to let some of the content build back up and have been very happy with it. I have mostly played as a solo sloop (which I know is suppose to be the hardest setting).

    Storytime:
    I logged on and did my usual build to get some supplies but not to much because I don't want to be the one that fills someone else's ship. Quickly did my cosmetics for my ship. I put my one gold hoarders quest down and away we go. I was mostly around Smugglers Bay and kept finding bottles with quests in the area Yahh!!! Only sailed by one ship that fired at me but I just sailed away because I was on a mission and didn't have time to bother with them. I found the mother load for a bottle.

    At this time I only had a few low end chest and was disappointed but one bottle ended up giving me 6 captain chest. Loaded up my loot and after all of my exploits had 10 chests 2 mermaid gems and a few trinkets. not bad for only about 30 mins solo. As I grab the last chest I saw that the ship that shot at me was trying to creep up on me around the island(probably wondering what I was doing so long on the island). I high tail it out of there and head for an outpost upwind. A storm was brewing and knew I would stay ahead of it so I was not to worried. Pretty happy with myself I was getting excited. I can see the outpost not more than 1 square away. Then it happened. The water turned dark and the tentacles came out. Great.... here we go.

    I wasn't to worried until the lighting started. My 30min voyaged turned into an hour long with the longest part with the kraken. I would fix and bail and try to escape but that darn storm kept me in the dang center of the kraken. I couldn't go up and steer because it would grab me and I would watch my ship slowly fill with water. I came to terms that this was it, the end. I stopped fixing and started loading. I put as many of my chest in my row boat as possible before my ships demise. After my ship sank I loaded up the last few chest. Off in the distance I see the outposts fire burning and hope has returned. I do one last check and see the mermaid gem floating in the water (one that I missed). I also see mermaid waiting for me to say hello. I had a comically full rowboat and one last gem to get. I go to grab that gem. Why.... why did I let greed get to me. I grab the gem but did not grab the gem. I did not realize I was to close to the mermaid. It brought me to my ship...… on the opposite side of the map....

    So if you find a row boat floating in the middle of the sea. It might have riches on it waiting to be yours.

    Conclusion:

    I would like to say that I was pretty angry last night. There was nothing I could do and when I realized I was going to have to row it wasn't a big deal. But the mermaid thing drove me crazy. For anyone going to say sail over and see if it was still there, I am a father of a toddler and my game time is extremely limited. I love this game but have come to the conclusion that it is near impossible with a little kid ( I am the only one with her at night so pretty busy). I gave up with random crew selection because I was taking way to much time to find a good one. I feel that solo is the only way I can play because there are many times I have to drop the controller to take care something ( someone not going to sleep/ nightmare). I don't want to be a dead character on someone else's crew.

    I am not for PvE and I like how the game is. I just think the timing on monsters and encounters could be better. I have had multiple things in a solo attack me at once.

    I know some of what happened is what the game is, I could have gone to the outpost more could have stay far away from the storm. It's just having limited time for this game makes it feel very impossible to progress.

    If anyone has any suggestion on how they play with limited time would be appreciated. (I can only play about an hour and a half at random times)

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  • Boxcar Squidy
    Captain
    Insider

    @fett199 You're definitely not the only parent who plays this game.

    Why don't you ask in the "Shipmate's Quarters" on here to see if you can find a fleet of elder pirates. There's bound to be people in similar positions who'd be understanding about watching the boat for a bit while you sort out the youngun.

    They might even have need of someone to do the same for them so it could be win/win.

  • COMBATxKITTY
    Commander
    Insider

    I remember my time out on the sea where I had great battles with other ships(sometimes right after a skull fort), defending the treasures on board only to have the freakin kracken happen next to the outpost, that happened more than once. We were of course low on supplies after fighting off the other pirates but luckily we always managed to beat the kraken just by the skin of our teeth. Its funny but not how that thing always manages to spawn at the worst times ever.

    Did you have a row boat on your ship? I didnt know we could do that.

  • Fett199

    @combatxkitty Yeah, row boats randomly spawn on island. Just row it to the aft of your ship and you can dock it. It has got me out of a few binds before.( if you know where all the outposts are)

  • testakleze
    Vanguard
    Insider

    @fett199 I have sessions that are shorter or frequently interrupted due to the same situation. If I have my crew to play with, they are accepting and let me go afk with no lip. To make sure I don't drop from inactivity I have a method I could share with you, but i know afking is an issue with this game so I won't post it in here for people to exploit.

    Without a crew I solo sloop. There are a few reasons I use the sloop but mostly because of the weaker kraken and megs, and also the slower holes in the back of the ship. Those higher up holes can almost be ignored as long as their aren't too many and if you keep up on bucketing. During a kraken fight I leave them to cut back on planks. Until I get a lot though. I rarely stock my ship more than one load of supplies put into the barrels and then another load on me. When I get to a new island I'll dump my supplies and try to restock my person on the island. Never use my anchor and always park close to shore but in go-position. If something happens I can get back to my ship quickly and just drop sails to take off.

    You seem to already go for islands with lots of treasure which is smart. Multiple bottles is great. I've noticed smaller islands can be generous with random loot too and they are much quicker to clear and leave. You seem to check for mermaid statues so I'm sure you find random sunken treasure too.

    Always avoid other ships. If you see one near by acting weird, don't hesitate to take off to another area out of sight and drop a new voyage. You might waste some time sailing but it will let you know quickly if they are interested in you at all. If they don't chase, you can return to your voyage. Dealing with a ship can take a lot of time so it's good to avoid it before it starts.

    Always have a rowboat. It's like a second life for your ship. If it sinks for any reason, you can still salvage your treasure just like you did with the kraken. It's good to note the rowboat goes unnoticed to the kraken, megs, Skelton ships, and sometimes even player ships. They are useful in carrying chests of sorrow too. If a ship starts to chase, you may be able to fake them out by sailing around an island, having them turn around the other side to cut you off, and you drop the rowboat and take off when you are out of sight. They chase your ship off sailing on its own as you are using the island for cover to rowboat your treasure to an outpost.

    A lot of my early time solo slooping, I was doing chicken runs. Merchant voyages are good because if you know where to go and know how to respawn animals, you only make one stop before going to an outpost. If a ship pulls up on you, you don't have a huge supply of treasure because you turn it in each voyage. If you get sank, not much of a loss. If they search your ship they will see you are doing merchant voyages and if they are smart they will ally with you and let you do your thing. If they take your animals or crates, they only get about 10% of the worth but letting you turn it in under an alliance will give them 50%. Gold animals are also worth quite a bit. It's good to note that skeletons that spawn during a merchant voyage are few and far between, and also really weak.

    Sunken ships can be useful and quick to search. Try to hit them if they are close but I don't go out of my way to chase one down.

    There are methods to deal with the different threats like skelly ships. If you have any issues with them you can look up guides on soloing. I try to avoid them when at all possible.

    Most importantly, I try to have fun. I play to enjoy myself and if I'm not having fun, I don't see the point in continuing. We may have limited time to play but if I have a good thirty minute session, chances are I'll be happier about it and feel more accomplished than if I had a bad session that lasted 3 or 4 hours.
    Do what you want. If you want to grind, do it.
    Explore? Check it out.
    Sail around and relax as you watch the sun set and get a moment without a toddler climbing all over you? One of my favorites.
    Just do what you are in the mood for because enjoying the game will make you want to come back to it again and again. Then the grind will complete itself.

  • Fett199

    @testakleze

    Thanks for the great response. I do probably 90% of what you talked about. Using the row boat as an escape pod is a great idea I will have to try. Must be satisfying to see people chase down your ship off into the distance. Merchant quests I will have to give another shot. I usually do gold hoarders because it is the most "piratee".

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