Fixes for Server Hopping and Player Activated World Events

2 World Events is already a thing with exactly this setup:

1. Server Spawned Events (Forts, Fleets, Flameheart, Ashen Lord, Kraken, FoF)

2. Player Spawned Events (FotD)

So you can have instances where a Server and Player event are spawned at the same time already. I assume the reason we don't have additional Player events is because that could cause situations where 3 or more events (Server Event & 2+ Player Events) are active at a time which would likely strain the server too much presently. Granted, they do note server stability improvements from time to time in the Patch Notes, so it is possible they might sooner or later clear the overhead to allow that to be a thing.

@schwammlgott said in Fixes for Server Hopping and Player Activated World Events:

@sweetsandman 2 events...probably won't work, because of server stability

There can already be 2 active with 1 Random and 1 FoTD.

That's the only thing I think is worth thinking about...no to the rest

Fair enough.

@schwammlgott @redeyesith

Maybe I should have bolded this bit in my description

If 2 events are active, no bets can be placed.

This would allow for people to activate the FoTD as it is today (or place a bet). But, 3 events could not be activated at any given time. The FoTD is way too involved to activate and is why you rarely see them...or hop servers to find them...

I love the little ships!

Like most of the things in this game, they are pleasing to the eye, and visiting each one is essentially a little 'ritual' that we have to do when joining a server - I quite enjoy it.

I think the bigger issue is that the vast majority of crews who run OOS, GH, and MA are interpreted as prey, while the reaper is interpreted as a predator. Adding some gameplay tweaks to balance this contrast (like actually making the reaper flag worth something to the other trading companies) might actually encourage other crews to stick around on a server when a reaper pops up.

@schwammlgott said in Fixes for Server Hopping and Player Activated World Events:

@sweetsandman You mean, when I want to start a FotD and 2 events are already active (kraken counts as a event too), I am forced to wait or finish one of them and get fast enough back to the FotD to start it? Are you serious?

Yes I'm serious. Also, I think it would be good to change up how the FoTD is activated. The whole get a ritual skull and all these lights is a cool idea...but nobody does it because it's way too complicated to get all the lights (unless you're on a fresh server). Make the bet for the FoTD at the tavern be a ritual skull. Get rid of the need to get the lights and it wouldn't be such a big deal....made an edit to the OP to reflect that thought/issue.

@d3adst1ck said in Fixes for Server Hopping and Player Activated World Events:

If you want to kill Open Crew and make it really hard for new players to get into the game, this is how to do it. If they happen to get stuck in an open crew full of disruptive players, they're now stuck there for at least 5 minutes.

I suspect they won't want to play that lottery too many times before they just give up.

Maybe I wasn't clear enough. My suggestion is specific to CLOSED crew. You can join on other (read: open) crews however many times you want.

@sweetsandman I mean, most of the time you just need the Skull. When a server is first launched the FotD has all the lanterns lit inside already. I often stop there to obtain lights I need or to kick off the FotD cause I have a Skull on me (as a solo Sloop most often I will frequently do this and just leave the Fort and draw the aggressive crews to it so I can go about my business in peace for a bit). So honestly, most of the time it isn't that hard to get going.

@redeyesith said in Fixes for Server Hopping and Player Activated World Events:

@sweetsandman I mean, most of the time you just need the Skull. When a server is first launched the FotD has all the lanterns lit inside already. I often stop there to obtain lights I need or to kick off the FotD cause I have a Skull on me (as a solo Sloop most often I will frequently do this and just leave the Fort and draw the aggressive crews to it so I can go about my business in peace for a bit). So honestly, most of the time it isn't that hard to get going.

Perfect, so by your own admission, it shouldn't be that big of a deal to have to wait for one of 2 World events to despawn/complete before you can start up a FoTD... although I think reworking the current mechanics is long overdue since most mid-tier players don't bother with it at all.

@sweetsandman not at all what I said, actually. On demand stuff should be on demand. If you have the steps done that you need for it, then you should be able to do it. I would find it quite annoying, in particular in an instance where I did have to farm lanterns (cause you still need to sometimes), so no I don't think that would be good. And what of moves like mine, where I triggered an event I had no intention of doing as a plan to get more aggressive crews distracted. That event might sit for a long while. I certainly wouldn't want to wait 10/20/30+ minutes to activate an event I put in the effort to setup because that is going on with the other event (and potentially no one is actually doing it, or people are tucking waiting on someone to come back that won't which will keep the event from despawning cause there is a crew there this extending the life of the event).

Now, if they can get the servers to a point where they could manage 3 events at a time I'd be open to more player activated events (cause the benefit that those have, generally, is that someone wants to do them). Otherwise I think we have our player event.

Reaper Emissary. Make it so that you don't see them on your map unless you're at least Grade 2 in another company. Conversely, to make it fair, Reapers can only see Grade 2 and above emissaries when they've achieved Grade 5.

Only one I agree with.
I kind of like this idea. It also makes it so Reapers gain something worth attacking. Come on, Grade 1 ships have Nothing worth wasting.

BUT....that to say if a grade 1 hasnt been hoarding loot for awhile and simply lowers and raises the flag every so often....

@redeyesith Fair enough. I still maintain that the FoTD activation needs a simplification. This would be a nice way to introduce that simplification.

@sweetsandman the only simplification I would make for it is through reintroducing the Bilge Rat Voyage to go hunt the Flame of Fate Skeletons (I wouldn't mind a couple of their Voyages coming back really - Gunpowder Stashes and Mercenary ones along with these). Make them feel like the rag tag adventure seeking crew they are meant to be.

That would allow players who really want to get that going to do it a little quicker than normal, and the way that all panned out sort of made the whole FotD process feel like it was a mini story along with the slightly grindy gameplay which is nice. And it would make player activation seem more deliberate in some ways as opposed to the somewhat more chance based process.

@redeyesith 100% agree with that. When those voyages came out I thought they were really well done and going to be a permanent fixture. I got really excited. Then really disappointed when they vanished.

I also love bringing back mercenary voyages and suggested as much in my post. They were unique ways of experiencing a lot of the existing content, and in some cases rewarded you for taking risk by flying the Reapers Mark flag.

“Content creator”

Rolls on deck laughing