Disable automatic mermaid spawns

  • Captain Steel X
    Seafarer
    Insider

    Have you ever been to a stealth mission, swimming a while in order to sneak on that ship that is doing the skull fort or w/e and while doing so constantly your mermaid appears, again and again and again, not only shinning in the dark but also making a sound, more often than not near their ship?

    Personally I feel mermaids should be re-worked to be called upon with an item that has a 2-5-10 minute cooldown, severely punishing the people that constantly drop off a ship to fail w/e they are failing at and at the same time being useful for when you need it the most, like a random cannon hit hitting you off the ship, while your ship is circling around you and there is no other option but to drow in order to get back on the ship.

    PS. I would be happy with an option to just turn ON/OFF the auto spawn.

    PS2: To the people who hate the stealthy and are going to trash talk it, the truth is I am tired of cannon / kegging ships. Skull forts are boring, literally two manning the fort skeletons for idk what 10/15 minutes tops (if no players engage), it's not fun, but to me it's fun to steal it with no brute force. Obviously when stealth fails, we sink them the old fashion way but as a last resort, but so far the biggest driver for the fails is the random chaotic mermaid spawns, that nobody wanted.

    Regards,
    Steel

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  • Stundorn
    Castaway
    Insider
    Founder

    The Merfolks are not our servants or under our control.
    It's lore based and not a mechanic only.
    I also like to sneak up other ships and such and i do it regularly, but no Merfolks as an indicator for a crew is maybe too much. Use a rowboat ;-)

  • Captain Steel X
    Seafarer
    Insider

    @bugaboo-bill I would be okay to kill the Merfolks so they stop bothering me for a while :D

  • Goedecke Michel
    Marauder

    @capsteels Originally, the sea people were meant more likely to be an underwater counterpart to the skeletons on land. If you know the artbook, you can see it attacking pirates near wrecks. So, if you shoot one, they might still turn against you :).

    As for your idea, I'm at @Bugaboo-Bill. For my personal taste, the chance to either discover the mermaid or overlook it is quite balanced, especially if you're under pressure during a fight or the waves are high. Sunshine is the enemy of the creeping pirate. Rain, fog, darkness and waves are on your side.

  • Captain Steel X
    Seafarer
    Insider

    @goedecke-michel Actually Mermaid's torches glow in the dark, plus the mermaid faces the crew member it spawned for, so it's quite easy to figure out the position of the person that is swimming. Also it's a way to find remaining members of a crew that you just sunk on the island or the water.

    I just feel it's one of those things you should be able to decide whether or not you want to get, after all it is there to "help you" but you don't need that particular help.

  • Nabberwar
    Lord
    Insider

    @capsteels
    Actually.... mermaids torches are only lit for the crew they apply too, as well as the smoke. If I see another crews mermaid, I only see the mermaid, no smoke or light.

  • Stundorn
    Castaway
    Insider
    Founder

    @nabberwar said in Disable automatic mermaid spawns:

    @capsteels
    Actually.... mermaids torches are only lit for the crew they apply too, as well as the smoke. If I see another crews mermaid, I only see the mermaid, no smoke or light.

    And also no sound @CapSteels

  • Goedecke Michel
    Marauder

    @bugaboo-bill sagte in Disable automatic mermaid spawns:

    @nabberwar said in Disable automatic mermaid spawns:

    @capsteels
    Actually.... mermaids torches are only lit for the crew they apply too, as well as the smoke. If I see another crews mermaid, I only see the mermaid, no smoke or light.

    And also no sound @CapSteels

    @NWO-Azcrack ^^^ no sound :)

  • Galactic Geek
    Seafarer
    Founder

    I have no issues sneaking up on numerous pirates despite the mermaid.

  • Chronodusk
    Commander
    Insider

    @bugaboo-bill said in Disable automatic mermaid spawns:

    The Merfolks are not our servants or under our control.
    It's lore based and not a mechanic only.
    I also like to sneak up other ships and such and i do it regularly, but no Merfolks as an indicator for a crew is maybe too much. Use a rowboat ;-)

    Yep, agreed! Rowboat plays are extremely underestimated and they cancel the mermaid!

  • Captain Steel X
    Seafarer
    Insider

    They do make sound when they spawn, not the song they sing. But the sound of them emerging from water.

    @goedecke-michel said in Disable automatic mermaid spawns:

    @bugaboo-bill sagte in Disable automatic mermaid spawns:

    @nabberwar said in Disable automatic mermaid spawns:

    @capsteels
    Actually.... mermaids torches are only lit for the crew they apply too, as well as the smoke. If I see another crews mermaid, I only see the mermaid, no smoke or light.

    And also no sound @CapSteels

    @NWO-Azcrack ^^^ no sound :)

    Not true, they make the sound when they get out of the water (not the song) but the spawning sound, which also serves as a warning when you are chasing a ship and they drop crew members off. Obviously there is no smoke but I do recall situations where I've seen the torch they hold glowing and no smoke (not my mermaid).

    @Chronodusk Row boats are easily detectable even at night... Also pretty unstable - huge waves can make it unusable or very tedious. In calm waters they are even easily spotted.

  • Xultanis Dragon
    Sailor

    @capsteels

    The mermaid is there to help balance how easy it is to hide in this game. First off with no mermaid spawning then players could camp outposts and hide with little to no risk or issue.

    Next, the mermaid spawning in the water again is for balancing issues. So that crews get a chance to know that someone is swimming towards the ship or that someone is near by.

    I get onto boats ALL the time no problem. I also hide on player ships no problem. If you are having issues and are getting caught, then the problem isn't the mermaid, its that you are bad at sneaking onto boats.

    Just figure out the mechanics behind the mermaid and get better at it is all I can say. The mermaid is there for balance. Its better to leave it as is since everyone else is doing fine sneaking onto boats, which makes your idea unnecessary.

  • Chronodusk
    Commander
    Insider

    @capsteels

    Well I don't know about you, but I've snuck onto and hid on many a ship where people never saw my mermaid.

    Hell, I've even been caught off guard without seeing the mermaid, and I stay on the lookout for that sort of thing most of the time.

    Just goes to show that the mermaid doesn't really ruin that type of gameplay.

  • Galactic Geek
    Seafarer
    Founder

    @chronodusk Doesn't matter if it belongs to you or the enemy, if you're there on a boat, then that mermaid won't be there in the water.

  • Goedecke Michel
    Marauder

    @onscreensix9146 sagte in Disable automatic mermaid spawns:

    theese players talking right here should be in a server together. playing against eachother .. sneaking around... attacking... looting eachother (if any of them did do missions so there was some loot).. think about how much fun battleing you ppl could have had.

    This is what I thought, before I read your answer: if any of you did do a mission to have at least one chest to steal... Lol.

  • PithyRumble
    Sailor
    Insider

    Sneaks aboard a ship...where's the loot? Where is everyone?

    Meanwhile, the same conversation is being held on the other boat! 😋🧜‍♀️

  • NWO Azcrack
    Master

    @goedecke-michel
    Ya i meant to get back to you on that. No sound is right. Sorry mate, workin 50 hours this week, so not much time to post 😪

  • CallMeBackdrafT
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    @goedecke-michel yes and no, the lore of mergolk goes deeper then just being hostile

    Merfolk are cursed sailors that are, where lost at sea at some point.

    The curse takes hold slowly and in the first stages they become the mermaids we know, love and hate in the game that help sailors in the water to get back to their ship.

    Then after time passes the curse takes on a more firm grip on the afflicted and they become the evil merfolk in the artbook and deeper lore that actually hold malice against any and all humans in the world.

  • Captain Steel X
    Seafarer
    Insider

    @PithyRumble actually there is always loot on our ship, nobody has the time to turn in unless it is at least a fort worth of loot ~20k - 30k. There is just no good players to take it from us...

    @TheHaters haters, my crew manages to steal at least 1-2 forts a night and sink between 5 and 10 ships per session (roughly 2-3 hours), not bragging but without getting sunk all night (obviously due to random circumstances we can actually get sunk once or twice a week but win the war at the end of the day), let me know if you are interested and I'll share the stream.

    And because without proof it is just letters
    Sloop/Brig/Galleon/Player kills/Times we got sunk stats on the right, just before we sell all the stuff we got at the end of the night. (we are rolling a sloop)

  • Crimsonraziel
    Master
    Insider

    @capsteels I don't doubt your numbers. Please don't feel like I take them into question.

    That being said, what is this on the right? How can I trust these numbers are accurate? Is there something I need to now about this?

  • Captain Steel X
    Seafarer
    Insider

    @crimsonraziel I can share the video if you like, but all the comments are in Bulgarian. Or the stream we are usually running almost every evening 22:00-01:00 GMT+2

  • Glannigan
    Sailor

    Mermaids are a part of the game. Leave them be. Shouldn’t mess with them Because a handful Of people
    Want to pretend to be Navy Seals.

  • cookieconsumer6
    Ship Mate

    @capsteels great idea, i think you should have to whistle/call so that a mermaid will come to your aid. this will make more sense, mermaids are not our servants in lore, but they are friendly. @Goedecke-Michel i think those mermaids are the cursed ones (go to discovery ridge and look at the paintings to see what i mean). @Nabberwar you can't see the smoke if on the enemy team, but i am pretty sure you see the light.

  • Galactic Geek
    Seafarer
    Founder

    Just last night my sloop was stolen while I was on an island helping a new player and friend to SoT. Seeing it on the horizon, along with a brig that was shelling it, I sword-surfed across the waves to get a mermaid...

    ...and none came.

    I swam further out, away from the island, away from my ship.

    ...and none came.

    I looked on at my sloop fearing that it might sink. The mast went down.

    ..and then a mermaid finally appeared.

    ...but nowhere close. In fact, it seemed like it had to be 100 yards away, and ironically, it was towards the ship.

    Cursing to myself, and questioning why I didn't just swim towards the ship in the time it took for the mermaid to appear, I aimed my EoR at the tardy sea denizen and open-fired.

    Then everything went black, and I appeared in front of my boat.

    On a beach.

    Somewhere across the world.

    I fell to my knees.

    "NNNOOOOOO!!!"

    Most of the time, mermaids work, but when they don't it hurts oh so bad... 🤕

  • WickedGame6677
    Captain

    Side note:

    My problems with the mermaids: They take too long to spawn if you get knocked of the ship whilst sailing. What's worse is when your ship is circling (a tactic I use against Ghost Ships), because I think the game never considers you far enough away from your ship to bother sending a mermaid. And, mermaids almost always spawn a fair distance from where I am. It means a 10 second swim. If they just appeared next to me that'd be great.

  • NWO Azcrack
    Master

    @galactic-geek
    This happened to me yesterday. Jumped off at an ouposts to grab supplies. Friend sails away. Sword lunge after he was far away. No mermaid. Swim another couple minutes. Nothing. Uuuuhhhhhh whats goin on here? Sat there for about 30 seconds. Nothing. Starting to get worried so i just kept swimmimg. Took almost 5 mins for it to show up. Looks like we got ourselves a new bug

  • ShanickRedbeard
    Legend
    Insider

    @bugaboo-bill the mermaids are friends. Ramsey created the friendship. Lore can evolve, sepcially in SoT. So like in the books the mermaids could hand out tools so we can sing their Songs for help. Easy as that

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