Empty servers (almost)

  • Tepht
    Ship Mate
    Insider

    Let's face it folks, the game game is dying slowly as the players are split in many ways and will die even faster with The arena.

    -Alliance server with 5-6 galleons aka private server (via Ip tracker) is killing the game
    => you barely come across a single galleon or brigantine during a 4-6 hour session nowadays due to mass people abusing from what i call a game exploit (i.e using ip tracker to join a premade alliance from lobby)
    Now you just see a server filled with 3-4 sloops at max for the most part of the time.

    -Xbox players now have the option to opt out from crossplay
    => from my observations pretty much all Xboxers turned it off leaving us PC players a very small communauty to play with. the reason to that? PC players have an advantage they say, in my humble opinion its totally false as i know several Xboxers who can deal with pc players with ease. its more a "git gud situation" to be honest.

    -The arena will split the communauty even more in the future.
    => Some players will play exclusively the arena and quit playing adventure mode, some will play both. But it will definitly reduce the playerbase in adventure mode. In my case, i'm not going to play The arena. I bought an open world game like it was advertised, not a battle royale game.

    So sad such a great game is dying cause of bad choices...this my opinion.

  • Login To Reply
    54
    Posts
    41.9k
    Views
  • Galactic Geek
    Seafarer
    Founder

    Good thing it's only your opinion then. Because the game is doing rather well, IMO.

  • Geobiwan
    Captain
    Insider
    Founder

    @yarrrold In your post you said that "you barely come across a single galleon or brigantine during a 4-6 hour session". You don't play the game for me, so how can you make that assumption? I come across brigs constantly, sure ill admit galleons are less common nowadays, but I still see 'em.

    Xbox players currently do not have the option to turn off playing with PC players. And even if they did, every single Xbox player I know and play with is going to continue to play in cross play.

    Saying players will only play arena and that will split the community is also just innacurate. Sure some people may exclusively play arena, but the way Rare has designed the servers it wont matter. The only way adventure mode would have empty servers is if the game had fewer than 20 people playing in adventure mode. And even in that scenario the server merging would still do a good job of keeping the world populated.

    The game isn't dying and the choices aren't bad.

  • PirateCraggy
    Legend
    Insider

    @yarrrold

    You have your opinion, and you are entitled to it.
    You seem to be playing a different game than me, and having a much different experience too.
    SoT is more alive than ever... I just don't see what you claim to see.
    Personally I have never being so excited for a game before.
    The 30th of this month.... can't come soon enough, ... the journey continues.

    Craggy

    edit: I do agree with you re. the need for "Arena".
    I personally bought & fell for the original game (Adventure).
    I didn't want Arena or will I play it, it's just not my thing.
    But I do respect others that choose to, it's their choice.
    Many Pirates out there on the Sea... seeking different "treasures", so whatever floats your boat!! :)

  • MetaChront
    Master
    Insider

    I think it might have to do with insider as well a lot of people I think are waiting for arena etc.

  • CallMeBackdrafT
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    @yarrrold sorry but you are wrong, had a 5 hour session last night, met and sank multiple brigantines, multiple galleons and multiple sloops. In total the amount of different ships would be an excess of the amount of ships that fit on a server meaning that during the duration of the session multiple ships have joined and left during said session

  • Chronodusk
    Commander
    Insider

    @yarrrold

    If they're using IP tracker, wouldn't that be a form of network manipulation, which is bannable? Would appreciate a Rare employee chiming in on that if possible.

    I'm hoping Rare is tracking and banning those who are doing that. I don't care if someone goes out and asks to take over multiple ships through organic means, but if someone is using network software/devices to influence the matchmaking system they need to be banned.

  • InboundBomb
    Commander
    Insider

    @yarrrold
    The game is doing as well as to be expected as such. As for the Xbox/PC selection I will opt out of playing against PC players in the Arena only. I just want an equal platform to play against.

  • Joe Krakatoa
    Commander
    Insider

    By all accounts, SoT has exceeded expectations at every step of development and beyond launch.

    Joe Neate has talked about how Rare has a dashboard that monitors the games metrics, and how Rare/MS has various levels of criteria that they feel SoT has successfully met.

    So, at twenty players a server max, I'm guessing your not seeing any of them because the map is huge.

    Because after a year, this game is as popular as ever.

  • Eric1371
    Master

    I almost exclusively play open crew on a galleon and I will probably only play arena enough to see what it’s about and then back to adventure mode, and crossplay opt out hasn’t happened yet. I am the antithesis of your entire opinion.

  • KattTruewalker
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder
    Deckhand

    @yarrrold said in Empty servers (almost):

    Let's face it folks, the game game is dying slowly as the players are split in many ways and will die even faster with The arena.

    -Xbox players now have the option to opt out from crossplay
    => from my observations pretty much all Xboxers turned it off leaving us PC players a very small communauty to play with.

    They don't, this option isn't available yet.

  • InboundBomb
    Commander
    Insider

    @barnabas-seadog
    When did they lower the player amount? The player count I remember was 24 players or 6 ship max.

  • Joe Krakatoa
    Commander
    Insider

    They didn't, my mistake.

  • Trenix90
    Marauder
    Insider

    @galactic-geek said in Empty servers (almost):

    Good thing it's only your opinion then. Because the game is doing rather well, IMO.

    While I disagree with the points the OP makes, I very much disagree with you too, that the game is doing fine. The biggest problem is that the game is boring and there isn't enough things to do. Doing fetch quest are boring, there is little ship maintenance, there is no progression, cosmetics are unappealing and limited, FPS mechanics are trash, and melee combat is bad.

    There is limited weapons, no smoke, no fires, dude the game isn't complete. The price is also way too steep. It's no surprise why barely anyone plays.

  • KattTruewalker
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder
    Deckhand

    @trenix90

    I'm sorry you feel that barely anyone plays the game anymore.

    The Rare team have reiterated a number of times recently that player numbers are super healthy, they're happy enough to invest time and money into new content and the game will continue to be supported and added to over the coming years.

    I find Sea of Thieves far from boring but understand that different players have different expectations and that's what makes the seas and the forums a place of diverse opinions and ideas.

    Plenty of new content incoming which is also going to create a range of new choices and challenges at the end of the month.

    Ryan Meitzler  /  Feb 5, 2019  /  News

    Sea of Thieves Player Population Has Been "Super Healthy" Since Launch, Says Rare Studio Head

    Sea of Thieves Player Population Has Been "Super Healthy" Since Launch, Says Rare Studio Head

    In several tweets from Rare's Craig Duncan, Sea of Thieves is still offering a thriving community with more adventures to enjoy in 2019.

  • Trenix90
    Marauder
    Insider

    @katttruewalker said in Empty servers (almost):

    @trenix90

    I'm sorry you feel that barely anyone plays the game anymore.

    The Rare team have reiterated a number of times recently that player numbers are super healthy, they're happy enough to invest time and money into new content and the game will continue to be supported and added to over the coming years.

    I find Sea of Thieves far from boring but understand that different players have different expectations and that's what makes the seas and the forums a place of diverse opinions and ideas.

    Plenty of new content incoming which is also going to create a range of new choices and challenges at the end of the month.

    Ryan Meitzler  /  Feb 5, 2019  /  News

    Sea of Thieves Player Population Has Been "Super Healthy" Since Launch, Says Rare Studio Head

    Sea of Thieves Player Population Has Been "Super Healthy" Since Launch, Says Rare Studio Head

    In several tweets from Rare's Craig Duncan, Sea of Thieves is still offering a thriving community with more adventures to enjoy in 2019.

    All games say they're doing fine. If they were doing fine, they'd prove it with statistics, not just words. Games only provide statistics when they have nothing to hide.

  • ViperishEmu2992
    Marauder

    There's 6 ships or 20 players maximum per server (in adventure mode). If a server is too empty they will merge servers to remedy the problem.

    In theory nothing from your "in-game" experience will ever reflect whether there are 500 or 5 million people playing this game at any time.

    There can be no argument that Arena and cross-play opt-out will reduce the pool of players that you could be matched up with. You are correct on that point. But with just 19 other PC players playing Adventure mode you couldn't know if the servers were empty or not. (In practicality the number would have to be more like 200+).

  • Trenix90
    Marauder
    Insider

    @viperishemu2992 said in Empty servers (almost):

    There's 6 ships or 20 players maximum per server (in adventure mode). If a server is too empty they will merge servers to remedy the problem.

    In theory nothing from your "in-game" experience will ever reflect whether there are 500 or 5 million people playing this game at any time.

    There can be no argument that Arena and cross-play opt-out will reduce the pool of players that you could be matched up with. You are correct on that point. But in theory as long as 19 other PC players are "on-line" playing Adventure mode you couldn't know if the servers were empty or not. (In practicality the number would have to be more like 200+).

    When you join an open crew and are entirely by yourself for hours, trust me, you can tell that barely anyone plays. It wasn't like that in the past.

  • ViperishEmu2992
    Marauder

    @trenix90 I agree that less people are playing this game these days. But I base this conclusion on the drastic decline in interest on streams, twitter, chatrooms and discord.

    I don't think that you can measure this from within the game because it only takes 20 players to fill a server. And with server merge even empty servers will soon become fuller. So even if just a few hundred players are online then you shouldn't notice.

    Since the introduction of the Devils' Roar the Seas do seem a bit emptier to me too. But besides that I still run in to plenty of other Ships. Maybe you've just had bad luck?

  • Lucky Monkee
    Master
    Insider
    Founder

    Dont you just like the pirate prophets going around and yelling that the game is daying everyday?

    The opt out fear is wierd, like fear of the dark. there is nothing in it. Literally.

    And the arena "splitting the playerbase" argument is like saying different parts of the map seperate people. Its "built" into the story, its part of the progression, it scratches your pvp itch. And that it does so that even I who I stay afay from crossing swords enojoys the battles.

    so yes, the world is ending.

  • FuzzyPyrate
    Master
    Insider

    People have been proclaiming Sea of Thieves as dead for months now.....despite the fact that player numbers are on the rise...lol!

    In my personal gaming experience, I have noticed that more players spend time in the Devil's Roar (especially legends), because the loot in that region pays out more coin and XP.

    This has been a big help for me as I have been able to clear many forts playing solo without worry of another ship coming in to claim my glory. As a result I am now 49/45/50. I can taste the triple 50 on the horizon!

    As of late, I've just been doing the Bilge Rat Mercenary missions to boost my OoS reputation. I rarely venture into the Devil's Roar unless it's to take out that fort. (Have not yet done so!)

  • Galactic Geek
    Seafarer
    Founder

    At the end of the day, all that really matters is if it's worth it for you. There's no need to say the sky is falling, because it helps no one - especially if it's true. Otherwise, keep playing and enjoy the time you do have with it, however long that may be.

  • WarOnPants2664
    Master
    Insider

    Considering how few people it takes to fill a server, empty servers are much more likely a symptom of bad matchmaking than the game dying. I have a feeling that the system tries to split crews up under certain circumstance like Qing at the same time to keep people from getting multiple ships on the same server. If it does that they it's going to create too many servers that it can't fill efficiently. Who knows? Matchmaking is pretty bad and I would like to see it improved regardless.

  • Ghostfire1981
    Vanguard
    Insider

    @oneeyed-w1lliam said in Empty servers (almost):

    People have been proclaiming Sea of Thieves as dead for months now.....despite the fact that player numbers are on the rise...lol!

    In my personal gaming experience, I have noticed that more players spend time in the Devil's Roar (especially legends), because the loot in that region pays out more coin and XP.

    This, is exactly what we are doing. (Athena level 8, and slowly working upwards.) Plenty of sailors in the Devils Roar region. :)

  • Shuoink
    Master
    Insider

    making crossplay optional is the best thing they ever did for the game.
    If anything this is bringing more life into a game that MAY have been dying for a time.
    I hadnt played in months but this new update coming has gotten my old crew back together. Looking forward to it. IMO your opinions are incorrect

  • CallMeBackdrafT
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    @trenix90 a developer, publisher or the like is in no way obliged to share this data.

    People seem to feel more and more entitled to that information for some reason, but let me ask you how much do you earn an hour (money wise) how many hours do you work?

    Are you required to share that information ? Nope you are not same as RARE or Microsoft game studios required to tell you how many players are playing and in what way.

  • GeneralBuckfoi
    Marauder
    Insider

    @callmebackdraft

    It is a common misconception that because the game is dying for the original poster (getting bored), the game is as good as dead and everyone should abandon ship (excuse my pun) and go play Apex legends because that gets the heart pounding.

  • SwimPlatypus7
    Marauder

    @yarrrold said in Empty servers (almost):

    Let's face it folks, the game game is dying slowly

    I would not say the game is dying, but more or less going though the phases of popularity based on whatever metric you want to account to that.

    Right now it's kinda obvious that the population is down a bit because the game population is far more time of day sensitive than it was 6 months ago.

    Now when I log in and play with my friends I have had 2 entire play sessions where we encountered literally no one..

    And one play session where we only saw a sloop and a brig, neither was close nor worth the pursuit when piloting a galleon.

    IMO if the game is indeed as popular as some say it is, then it would behoove Rare to improve the AI / Algorithm used to establish server populations on the servers.

    No one likes a dead server excluding the "PVE" only players, and I can't say that I am PVP only, because that would be factually false.

    I purchased this game for the simple fact that its a mix of PVP and PVP at the same time and that it's cross-platform..

    This fact that it's cross platform is appealing as an X-box player because it ensures you have a far better opportunity for game longevity than if the game was locked to only X-box where player trends kill games very quickly.

    IMO Rare needs to fix the server situation so that the players are on populated servers.. If there are only 3 ships on a server then this should trigger a server merger so that the "near cap" condition is always met.

  • KlutchxKay
    Legend
    Insider

    From the changes i'm seeing in the insider build, they seem to be trying to fix things and avoid making crossplay optional. If they wanted to, they would have added it much sooner. But they've been giving the entire game an overhaul. The optional crossplay seems to be their last resort, if their combat balancing doesn't work. We'll see though.

  • Trenix90
    Marauder
    Insider

    @callmebackdraft said in Empty servers (almost):

    @trenix90 a developer, publisher or the like is in no way obliged to share this data.

    People seem to feel more and more entitled to that information for some reason, but let me ask you how much do you earn an hour (money wise) how many hours do you work?

    Are you required to share that information ? Nope you are not same as RARE or Microsoft game studios required to tell you how many players are playing and in what way.

    People seem to feel more and more entitled to insult others because they cannot otherwise win an argument. It's against the pirate code by the way, most likely the same one you probably took part to put together. You'd think you'd follow it and set an example. Also at no point did I say that Rare has to tell us anything. However if they're going to tell me how successful the game is without providing statistics with it, I'm not going to believe them.

    Your analogy makes no sense either by the way. I'm not going to take anyone's word for anything, I rely on actual facts and proof. All businesses provide statistics when they're proud of them. For example, like stating that they have millions of players that bought the game. Yet what about how many concurrent players are playing? Nope, wont provide that, lets just ignore the question. We also know for a fact that majority of the accounts are from friend invites, free game passes, game passes, rather than purchases. They wont tell you that either, trust me.

    I have a business that sold 1 million units of a product too, do you believe me? I have to not back it up with anything, what are you entitled?

  • Capt Niteshade
    Marauder

    @trenix90 wow, not really sure how to take your opinion anymore, I need to take stock now and evaluate...

  • CallMeBackdrafT
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    @generalbuckfoi ow you are absolutely right. I find it extra funny that the OP just dumps his “idea” of the game hare and never responds again, this is not how forums should work but hell they do nowadays, apparently.

    I cant count the amount of times i have seen posts like this anymore, i belice the first one was within a month of release. And guess what i wass right then too. The game wasnt dying then.

  • CallMeBackdrafT
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    @trenix90 i dont think i was insulting anyone and if so i am sorry, also no i had nothing to do with the pirate code whatsoever i dont know how you got the idea that i did but anyways.

    And then to part about believeng things people tell you yes or no:

    I think in no way did i tell people that they just have to believe RARE or anyone to just believe what they state, however what i did say is that said companies are not obliged in any way to share said info, in case of SoT it might even be a harder metric to share due to being the first, first party title to be on gamepass. You and me dont know what contracts are locked into that, meining: even if 7 BILLION people are playing the game it would say nothing about the games health.... since even though that number would mean 100% of the world’s population is playing the game nothing is stated if they would even make money, or would be able to keep the servers up and running for the next month or so.

    “We also know for a fact that majority of the accounts are from friend invites, free game passes, game passes, rather than purchases. They wont tell you that either, trust me.”

    • your words

    You are stating that a majority of players come from friend invites, since you only believe metrics where did you gat that data from ?

    For one there was only of a week of player that could get invited to the game for free, this has come and past so all players now are either paying game pass subs or bought the game...

    Free game passess are payed for by microsoft, the devs will still get payed, if otherwise no dev would accept said conditions...

    And are you aware of the share RARE gets for gamepassess when a person only plays SoT ? Or plays SoT 20, 30, or 50% of their subscription?

    Well since nobody ever shared these metrics i guess not. For all we now a single full game sale would deliver 2ct to the dev and a gamepass subscription would net them over a buck.

  • Galactic Geek
    Seafarer
    Founder

    Here's the thing - if a game was dying, the developers wouldn't tell you. A good example is Killer Instinct - it was a MS-1st party title that released to great acclaim, had lots of updates over the course of about 2 years that included new features, customization, characters, stages, and it was free to play. Then it all just stopped - no more announcements, no more major updates, nothing. It's not dead, as you can still play it, but it's not really worth playing now because getting into a match takes forever (since nobody's on), and even if you do, it'll be against the best of the best of hardcore players.

    I have reason to believe that this is essentially what happens to every game, and what will eventually happen to SoT - just not right now... Even if it does, due to the nature of its matchmaking, it won't have the same problem as KI. As long as people keep playing and as long as Rare keeps pumping out updates to entice them into keep playing, SoT will be fine - and as is, we have been promised at least a whole additional year of features, so I wouldn't start worrying until then, and only if the announcements stop coming.

    A game like SoT is never officially dead until the servers go offline.

  • RobinIArgh
    Castaway
    Founder

    I know many who quit due to the lack of optional cross play. It's not even a feature yet.

    Personally i havent played this game and thought it was any less filled than day 1. Big map? Less ships than I have fingers? You may just not be near anyone....

    I had no idea about the alliance premade lobbies, seems like an issue.

Login To Reply
54
Posts
41.9k
Views
1 out of 54