Hourglass is dying for attention

My solo session tonight involved 5 grapple gun runners, 1 brigantine third party, 3 legit fights, and about 30ish minutes of gathering supplies. 3ish hours total and about 25 minutes of legit fights

For life of me. I can’t see if that is a problem or those are improvements.

My solo sessions. Sweaty try hard, blunderbomb ram ship and anchor drop.
I rather have what you got.

@worst-tdmer You are 100% right. Runners have improved my ladder guarding and chain shot accuracy tremendously, but I don't enjoy or want to chase someone in a voluntary PvP mode. Third parties give you an amazing opportunity to practice tanking, but losing a streak to a brigantine as a solo sloop can certainly ruin a session for the average player.

My concern isn't winning or losing even, it's about an engaging experience. Taking part in the famed "Battle for the Sea of Thieves."

I'm shocked when people bring up these issues and are written off by comments suggesting it's a skill issue. Is there truly nothing that could be done to improve this mode that has gone unchanged for years? Is 25 minutes of actual fighting in a dedicated 3 hour session the ultimate form of game design and implementation? Why has Rare all but forgotten the entire PvP player base?

@worst-tdmer

I am not able to consistently sink runners in 5-10 minutes so that definitely plays a part in my distaste for their play style, but I completely understand your point on engagement. I still think it is an issue that needs to be addressed in some way. I don't know how or what could be done, or even if it 100% should be done, but I enjoyed solo HG far more before the grapple gun's addition. Maybe a TDM hourglass mode could give those players what they are looking for, I would certainly enjoy it.

As for third parties, would removing them make the experience worse in any way? There may be arguments for it but I just don't see the benefit.

Overall I'm just looking to have a meaningful discussion about the future of a game mode that I enjoy. I don't have all the answers, but something as simple as an instant requeue with your chosen emissary after a loss could improve the experience ten fold.

@toozeet said in Hourglass is dying for attention:

@worst-tdmer

I am not able to consistently sink runners in 5-10 minutes so that definitely plays a part in my distaste for their play style, but I completely understand your point on engagement. I still think it is an issue that needs to be addressed in some way. I don't know how or what could be done, or even if it 100% should be done, but I enjoyed solo HG far more before the grapple gun's addition. Maybe a TDM hourglass mode could give those players what they are looking for, I would certainly enjoy it.

As for third parties, would removing them make the experience worse in any way? There may be arguments for it but I just don't see the benefit.

Overall I'm just looking to have a meaningful discussion about the future of a game mode that I enjoy. I don't have all the answers, but something as simple as an instant requeue with your chosen emissary after a loss could improve the experience ten fold.

Arena had it's own private server where ships could fight without being interrupted by 3rd parties. Since 2% of a player's time was spent there, it wasn't worth the upkeep costs to keep this private server running, and to save money, they decided to end Arena. Since the private server was taken down, there's nowhere else to have pvp matches, but on high seas, which means getting 3rd partied has to be part of the package, which Rare said they're completely fine with. It's what you have to deal with if you wish to partake in hourglass. It's not perfect, but having a private server wasn't the answer either.

"lEgIt fIgHtS" Really? HG is on demand PvP. I agree that straight up running isn't playing, but if they are making an attempt to sink you, they are playing it right. Does not matter if you would prefer naval or prefer TDM. If someone makes their boat go in circles in the middle of the circle while grapple spamming you, then deal with them. If you can't hit a boat doing circles with no one on it, you need to re-evaluate your strategies. Play to your enemy. If they are board spamming, put traps on the ladders. The skill ceiling for this game mode is enormous indeed, and it includes playing the game in multiple different ways.

@potatosord

I figured this would be around the average response to this post so thank you.

Yes really "lEgIt fIgHtS"

My overall impression from your response is "skill issue." I don't want to play out a 30 minute game of voluntary on-demand PvP chasing someone whether I win or lose. I also have a feeling there are plenty of other players who share my thoughts on this. Probably some have tried the mode only to experience fights like these and never return.

As to Naval vs TDM it could not matter less. I am not screaming into the void that everyone should raise sail, turn right, and hold a perfect orbital the entire match. Plenty of my fights are all over the place and they are an absolute blast. If they successfully board me and sink me or sail me out I have no qualms about it. However, 10 failed board attempts with a grapple gun while I have no holes in my ship is questionable at best.

I am trying to start a discussion on how Hourglass could be improved. I would like to see more people enjoy it, whether they are new, current, or returning players. My session last night was unusual in the types of opponents I faced, but it brought some things to the top of my mind. Do you have any recommendations or ideas other than "get good"?

@europa4033

What about putting the circle in the red sea for faction champion battles? Even selecting dedicated areas inside the map that are typically less populated? I understand the Arena game mode wasn't profitable, but in my understanding these solutions would not require Rare to bare any additional costs.

@toozeet It's not me saying "skill issue", it's me saying they are using a tactic that is so unsound that they have a significant chance of crashing themselves into an island while doing it. I used to be a guy who did that. If a boat is just going in circles in the middle of the ocean with no one on it, what makes you unable to sink it? It's literally free. I went from a guy who would try that to a guy who knows that if they're gonna do that you just wait for them to run out of grapples and keep blundering them off then turn in and hammer them, left or right cannon. It takes them longer to reload and come back than you so you can have more than 5 blunders (buss or bombs) to make sure they don't board.

@potatosord

Yeah I get it. Why is any form of discussion around hourglass changes so controversial?

@toozeet Because there are people like you who think that there is a wrong way to play hourglass. Hourglass is barely a game mode, it's closer to a dive voyage. You dive to a fight, the only point is to sink your opponent. It's on demand PvP that takes place in the normal adventure world on purpose. It's just an expedited way to say "fight me". How you choose to fight, whether diving to hourglass, or approaching a FoF to try to sink the guy on it, or anything you can do in the game is your choice and as long as your goal is to sink or otherwise get rid of your opponent to get to the loot. There is no wrong way to play hourglass like there's no wrong way to attack someone doing a FoF. Whatever gets them off it, as long as you're actually trying.

@potatosord

I think our main point of contention is what actually constitutes our individual definitions of "trying to sink" or "attempting to sink" us. Running while making lackluster attempts to board your opponent in a voluntary on-demand PvP mode is the wrong way to play. It is a waste of time and it should be seen as shameful and embarrassing, maybe even punishable, to draw out games in this way.

I exclusively play Sea of Thieves in 2025 for Hourglass. I don't particularly care for the PvE or loot and running in adventure is perfectly acceptable. The reason I go to hourglass is to avoid the running. Players knowingly vote it down under no pressure with the understanding that they will fight another crew. Something should be done to encourage players to actively fight. We'll have to agree to disagree.

I'm currently 1002 in Servants, and I can show you on 1 hand how many times I've gotten 3rd partied. As someone here already said, it's not enough of an issue for them to do anything about it (and your suggestion of a red sea circle has been mentioned several times in the past). Unless something changes in the next few years, I have a feeling that hourglass is going to stay as it is.

@worst-tdmer instant requeue would be an incredible addition. I don't care to "speedrun" supplying at all. I'm there to fight people. Set supplies in Hourglass would do even more. Adds another layer of balance and depth to the mode. I mean if it didn't bother players, people wouldn't be downloading cheat engines just to skip the supply phase.

@worst-tdmer set supplies just makes fights equal. It's not about having a ton of supplies or too few supplies. It just makes it so you actually have to be good to win (aka can't curse dump or blunder spam). It also just eliminates the supply phase, which means more time doing the fun stuff. If you really wanted you could just give people supplies based on their streak or something when cashing out. It's not that deep, if they care enough about having supplies in adventure (which why would you, you can beat most things starting with base supps 😭), they can just go to a fort and get plenty. If they wanna go from adventure to hg it literally doesn't matter, they get their supps and that's it. I mean ig if they're defending they can keep it.

And yeah, people do cheat to skip supply phase. Along with some other "inconvenience" fixes.

@worst-tdmer So its just not an issue because you just win? And anyone who wants set supps is bad? Everyone knows you can win or lose a fight based on supplies. There's not even an argument against that. And everyone knows it would be more convenient to be able to insta requeue hourglass. It's not even up for debate. Your points are purely rooted in your ego. Which I'm sure isn't backed up by any real skill.

@worst-tdmer So you're just boiling it down to, "there was an opportunity"? There isn't always. Having infinite supplies provides an easy out of any situation. Any opportunity can be closed with enough curse balls, blunderbombs, and stalling. At the highest level of this game, with infinite supplies it can take 10+ minutes to turn an opportunity into a win. If you don't have supplies for that, or if they have supplies to get out of that, it can easily be extended to 30 minutes or completely prevented all together. It is not a fair playing field. It is not "good" for the highest skilled players. It's not good for anybody.

@europa4033

That makes sense. I have 346 games played and have been third partied maybe three or four times, so around once every hundred games which is negligible.

I don't know, Hourglass is a blast and I would like to see that it gets the attention it deserves. It has garnered an incredibly engaged community that seems to have been largely forgotten by Rare. Even if they leave the gameplay exactly the way it is and add something like a ranked system, seasonal incentives, weekly in game tournaments, the list goes on. I am not a developer and am not anywhere near this line of work, so I may be way out of line in assuming things.

@toozeet said in Hourglass is dying for attention:

@europa4033

That makes sense. I have 346 games played and have been third partied maybe three or four times, so around once every hundred games which is negligible.

I don't know, Hourglass is a blast and I would like to see that it gets the attention it deserves. It has garnered an incredibly engaged community that seems to have been largely forgotten by Rare. Even if they leave the gameplay exactly the way it is and add something like a ranked system, seasonal incentives, weekly in game tournaments, the list goes on. I am not a developer and am not anywhere near this line of work, so I may be way out of line in assuming things.

I'd love to see a monthly fight night myself.

@worst-tdmer idc about how "often" it happens. It's still an issue. And it's not necessarily fun to play the game when everyone has 5 pines and infinite chains. The game is more interesting with lower supplies. There's less cheesy strats, the match times are shorter and more high intensity, and getting back into a match is faster. Those are all positives in my book. If we're looking at giving Hourglass an instant requeue option, you would need to figure out how supplies are going to work. Just making it set supplies completely removes the whole issue and improves the mode in a variety of other ways. I still don't see anything on "why not" from you.

Also I don't really need lectures on how the top level fights play 😉

@worst-tdmer Yeah you said set supplies would do XYZ, but that doesn't make any sense. And when I pointed that out, you just continued to double down and insult. Idc about set supplies because "that's why people think they're losing". I never said that. It's just about a fairer, streamlined, competitive environment to play in. If it was anti-competitive like you say, then competitive tournaments like LoT, GG, or even just scrims wouldn't have set supplies.

@worst-tdmer "seems like you think supplies are the end all be all for fights, people are constantly using blunderbombs and curses. Neither of these things are true."
I'm not gonna say I'm top level by any means but the only time supplies have been an issue for me are when the person I'm fighting is better at creating pressure than me and the match goes on for so long I run out.

"If the devs saw it that way, curse balls/blunders/bonecallers would just not work in hourglass."
At ally 320 I can say that in all my time doing HG I have not once seen a player use a bone caller from their cannon, and 99% of my fights did not have cursed balls show up at all. It's so edge case that it doesn't matter that they exist. Could an anchorball give a tactical advantage at the highest level of play? Sure, it could guarantee the victory to have a wireless anchordrop. But they are so rare that to rely on them as a tool weakens your ability to use the rest of the tool gamut and risks corrupting your thinking if it misses and you only have 1, or it hits but there was a time later in the fight it would have been better, etc. Just too inconsistent to rely on.

"The only people with "infinite chains and pineapples" are either cheaters or crews who earned them by winning. Like every fight, if they’re better than you/cheating, the supplies wouldn't matter; if they’re worse, you’ll sink them anyway."
5 pineapples is too much to this guy? Anyone can get that for like 6k gold at any outpost as soon as they spawn. I think that you should be able to buy chainshot, since right now chainshot actually is important to gameplay meta and aside from the 4 you get for free with your ship, the amount you can have of them is entirely RNG based.

"You realize you have control of how long and intense fights are, right? If you want short fights, make them short. Supplies aren't what draws out fights, it's the inability to create opportunities/capitalize on them."
When I started HG I wanted to get good, so what I did was played hyper aggro. I would shoot as much as possible, keeping the best angle possible, no repairs basically ever, until I was able to consistently sink people without needing to repair more than 1 or 2 holes per match(until the battle ended). Live by the bucket, die by the bucket. One time to test my might, I did a fight where I didn't shoot a single cannonball. I shot 54 fireworks in a row, without needing to repair a single time.

"Set supplies would really just be either punishing good players/ruining the ability to go back and forth between HG and adventure, or ruining adventure mode for non-HG players; all to satisfy players who lose a lot in hourglass and can't be bothered to spend 1 minute getting supplies."
Yeah pretty much

Entertaining argument pirates..

I agree w @Worst-TDMer

HG is okay as is.. could it use some tweaks, sure. but overall the systems sound.
-Any attempt to add a scoring system could be exploited for Rep.
-Resetting sup's between matches for a is a terrible idea simply cus the HG battles take place in an Adventure server.
ALOT of people want HG out of Adventure & put on its own private server with no match variations and equal everything.
and i can see the appeal of that for a competative game.. but this aint COD.
As is, you have equal opportunity. Which is good and should make everyone happy.. if you want to spend time supping up for a small advantage.. have at it. If you dont want to spend anytime on supplies, then dont.. BUT, dont complain about supplies when you lose to a player to spent time loading up.

Nobody ever takes Defending HG crews into consideration.
I enjoy doing my own thing, collecting loot & doing voyages while HG defending... makes the session more exciting.
How would resetting supplies inbetween my battles work?! ill tell ya, it wouldnt.

So, as much as some would like a perfectly equal HG match.. (which it already is an equal opportunity)..
There are too many variables that would be effected.