Been playing for years and have never seen the game this unbalanced regarding ship types.
Since the recent spawn reduction playing in a sloop is simply not feasible. If I'm playing with only one other friend we are now choosing to play in the brig because nothing the sloop offers is competitive against a brig or galleon. With the new respawn timers not only is it harder to sink bigger crews but also now requires much more supplies due to the constant spam repair that can be done with only 15 second respawn times for larger crews. Imo this game has never been as unbalanced as it is right now and there needs to be changes or at least a mention from the developers about some way they can balance pvp for the sloop.
If you are fighting a good crew you have zero chance when fighting a larger ship when in the past there was at least some chance if not a good chance if you are the better player. I have lost to crews that in the past wouldn't even get close to sinking my ship because of these changes. The turn radius of the sloop no longer counts as "balance" anymore. The reduction in respawn time takes away any advantage you could gain in a sloop in open naval combat if the opposing crew has any idea what they are doing. It seems the game has become either sinking totally new players or having zero chance to sink good players if they are in a larger ship. Even the sloops "running" tactic is useless. You go considerably faster than the galleon against the wind until you turn and most likely get chainshotted and pvp vs 4 people who respawn as fast as you do or a brig can simply get a small angle of wind and constantly hit shots if the crew knows what they are doing. It doesn't seem right that the ship with one mast cannot reasonably get distance from a brig if going against the wind. The speed difference is negligible. Of course, this is a separate issue compared to the new respawn timer however the new respawn timer amplifies every short comings of the sloop imo.
The respawn timer either needs to be reset to what it was or increase for larger crews or the sloop in general needs a speed buff in all directions to rebalance the game imo. It is so unimpressive now that I wont be using it until some changes are made. I have tried to defend the sloop and try to make it work but I can no longer use this ship when seriously trying to stack loot anymore. It was always hard mode but now it is clown mode. Nothing about it justifies it being chosen when I play. Having one cannon shooting at a ship with 4 people respawning in 15 seconds is simply not feasible when trying to engage in pvp nor is the immense amount of supplies now needed to even compete with other crews on a server.
Please take into account I am talking about veteran players vs veteran players. I don't understand how anyone who tested these changes in pvp before release could reasonably consider these changes to be good ones. I know rare has stated that "these were the intended respawn times" however I don't believe that for one bit. You're telling me the respawn times where either bugged out to double the length for 4 years or just not changed for 4 years? Meanwhile the 2 minute black screen glitch still remains and is even worse because now the crew you were fighting is spawning back twice as fast lol.
When you have a pvp game revolving around all or nothing gains or losses I don't understand how you can halve the respawn time when there are a selection of different ships/crew sizes and think that this has no negative change on the balance of the game. It simply makes zero sense that these changes were introduced without changes/buffs to the sloop. It is so far behind in regards to "balance" it's a bit hilarious. Also, I have seen comments suggesting these changes are good for pve. This game has some of the easiest pve in all of gaming and in no way should having a better pve experience justify wrecking the entire balance of pvp for one crew type. If you are struggling with pve in this game it's time to start watching some YT videos and learn how to play.
I can't be the only one who has noticed how bad these changes have become and amplified all of the other problems with balance the game already had!
Please share your thoughts.
