Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!

To be fair, most of the casual/beginner playerbase takes a lot of time to do any activities compared to veteran players.
It's not rare to see a grade 1 emissary and deciding to let it grow a bit before trying to reap the fruit of their labor... only to see 30 minutes later that it is only grade 2 with very few treasures on board. That is why people often complaint about loosing hours of "work"... because they need a lot of time in order to have anything worth selling.

Casual/beginners are really really inefficients. Which isn't a bad thing at all. We all started somewhere, no shame in that.

But what that means is that they actually don't interact with the game systems the same way that we do.
If I have a few chests to dig up on an island, I check my map, I check the horizon, I spend maybe a few minutes on the island before returning to my ship. A casual wouldn't have accomplished anything in the same time frame (between finding the digging spots and fighting the npcs that we would mostly avoid/dispatch quickly).
Because they are less efficient at doing things, they will have a greater risk than us to be surprised by another ship.

Imo the best advice would be to focus on doing your activities faster. Try to be mindful about the task at hand and optimise loot transportation (position your ship in order to use the harpoon more for instance). Get to your destination, check map / the horizon, if clear do your voyage as quickly as possible (check the horizon when you get the chance) and position the loot in your harpoon range. Go to your ship and check the map for potential reapers, harpoon the loot and go sell at the nearest Outpost.

Another advice would be : don't fly an emissary flag until your confident that you can take the heat. A Reaper 5 won't be able to see you on their map and you won't attract as much attention. You will get less gold for your loot, but at least you will have loot to sell and it will be easier to become efficient if left alone a bit more.

A lot of people don't seem to understand why portal hopping is necessary until the Reaper emissary system is rebalanced. It's because other emissaries have all the time in the world to finish up their current quest stage and lower flag as soon as they spot a Reaper grade 1 on the map.

This makes it exceedingly hard for a PvP Reaper to find emissaries because by the time they get to 5 and can see others on the map the only ones still left with an emissary flag are the clueless and the empty boats who have sold all their treasure.

Portal hopping rebalances that equation and makes it possible for Reapers to actually hunt emmissaries rather than getting to grade 5 and seeing an empty map for the umpteenth time. PvP oriented Reapers need content too, it's not just about shielding all the other emmissaries from the already easily locatable glowing beacon on their maps.

@vakrisone said in Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!:

A lot of people don't seem to understand why portal hopping is necessary until the Reaper emissary system is rebalanced. It's because other emissaries have all the time in the world to finish up their current quest stage and lower flag as soon as they spot a Reaper grade 1 on the map.

This makes it exceedingly hard for a PvP Reaper to find emissaries because by the time they get to 5 and can see others on the map the only ones still left with an emissary flag are the clueless and the empty boats who have sold all their treasure.

Portal hopping rebalances that equation and makes it possible for Reapers to actually hunt emmissaries rather than getting to grade 5 and seeing an empty map for the umpteenth time. PvP oriented Reapers need content too, it's not just about shielding all the other emmissaries from the already easily locatable glowing beacon on their maps.

When we raise Reapers we have no issue finding other emissaries before reaching grade 5 and in cases also when we reach grade 5.

The portal hopping is mostly abused by people who after reaching grade 5 want to only PvP for the rest of their session - this is a PvPvE game, thus this by-effect from portals should be removed to keep that part of the game intact.

Other emissaries don't have benefit from grade 5 the rest of their session, neither should Reaper emissaries.

@lem0n-curry said in Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!:

When we raise Reapers we have no issue finding other emissaries before reaching grade 5 and in cases also when we reach grade 5.

That's great. Others aren't always so lucky though.

The portal hopping is mostly abused by people who after reaching grade 5 want to only PvP for the rest of their session - this is a PvPvE game, thus this by-effect from portals should be removed to keep that part of the game intact.

I mean Reapers is literally meant to be the closest thing to a PvP faction. Why is it wrong for a Reaper emissary to want to do PvP for their whole session?

As you said, this is a PvEvP game. Why is it okay for players to do PvE for their entire session - which is something you can absolutely do - but if a Reaper wants to portal hop for PvP it's not okay?

Other emissaries don't have benefit from grade 5 the rest of their session, neither should Reaper emissaries.

They do though. Other emmissaries can also portal hop. And they can also keep grade 5 for as long as they want as long as they keep an attentive eye on their map or are ready to defend themselves. And they get the bonus of not showing up on the map as a big neon sign unless or until a Reaper 5 appears.

@vakrisone said in Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!:

@lem0n-curry said in Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!:

When we raise Reapers we have no issue finding other emissaries before reaching grade 5 and in cases also when we reach grade 5.

That's great. Others aren't always so lucky though.

The portal hopping is mostly abused by people who after reaching grade 5 want to only PvP for the rest of their session - this is a PvPvE game, thus this by-effect from portals should be removed to keep that part of the game intact.

I mean Reapers is literally meant to be the closest thing to a PvP faction. Why is it wrong for a Reaper emissary to want to do PvP for their whole session?

As I said, it's a PvPvE game; people shouldn't expect being able to do 100% PvE but also not do 100% PvP.

As you said, this is a PvEvP game. Why is it okay for players to do PvE for their entire session - which is something you can absolutely do - but if a Reaper wants to portal hop for PvP it's not okay?

They probably spend some time avoiding other ships. They also not have the freedom to do whatever they want - they probably skip world events, avoid "busy" bits of the maps while their voyage doe send them there &c. And they probably aren't "lucky" enough to avoid PvP each and every session.

I don't want to take away PvP from Reapers, but they shouldn't have access to it without doing actual work of finding other ships on the serve(s) they land on. using portals gives them just that: an easy way to avoid looking for PvP on their server by having targets on probably most servers they land on.

Other emissaries don't have benefit from grade 5 the rest of their session, neither should Reaper emissaries.

They do though. Other emmissaries can also portal hop. And they can also keep grade 5 for as long as they want as long as they keep an attentive eye on their map or are ready to defend themselves. And they get the bonus of not showing up on the map as a big neon sign unless or until a Reaper 5 appears.

Yeah, sailing around with a grade 5 is a very safe way to play the game ... Reaper 5 are not their only enemy here.

@lem0n-curry said in Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!:

@vakrisone said in Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!:

@lem0n-curry said in Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!:

As I said, it's a PvPvE game; people shouldn't expect being able to do 100% PvE but also not do 100% PvP.

I agree.

As you said, this is a PvEvP game. Why is it okay for players to do PvE for their entire session - which is something you can absolutely do - but if a Reaper wants to portal hop for PvP it's not okay?

They probably spend some time avoiding other ships. They also not have the freedom to do whatever they want - they probably skip world events, avoid "busy" bits of the maps while their voyage doe send them there &c. And they probably aren't "lucky" enough to avoid PvP each and every session.

No. But neither is a Reaper "lucky" enough to find PvP each and every session. Which is kind of my point with portal hopping. You can definitely do PvE for your entire session. But when someone wants to do PvP for their entire session and uses portal hopping to do it it's suddenly frowned upon? That's what I don't understand.

I don't want to take away PvP from Reapers, but they shouldn't have access to it without doing actual work of finding other ships on the serve(s) they land on. using portals gives them just that: an easy way to avoid looking for PvP on their server by having targets on probably most servers they land on.

Likewise, a Reaper 1 showing up on the map gives other ships an easy way to avoid them. Too easy in my opinion, which is why portal hopping evened out that equation somewhat. Is it perfect? No. But I think it's a lot fairer than having a giant glowing 15-20min warning sign on the map that allows most experienced emissary crews to sell everything and take their flag down before a Reaper goes from 1 to 5.

Other emissaries don't have benefit from grade 5 the rest of their session, neither should Reaper emissaries.

They do though. Other emmissaries can also portal hop. And they can also keep grade 5 for as long as they want as long as they keep an attentive eye on their map or are ready to defend themselves. And they get the bonus of not showing up on the map as a big neon sign unless or until a Reaper 5 appears.

Yeah, sailing around with a grade 5 is a very safe way to play the game ... Reaper 5 are not their only enemy here.

I am primarily a Solo slooper and I do it quite often. Most of my sessions I sail around with a grade 5 merchant flag or grade 5 Athena and grind up my ledger position without much issue. Occasionally I see a Reaper pop up on the map and I go and sink them before committing to a full Veil run for example. Either I sink and hop servers or they sink and I continue my quest.

@tossico94 said in Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!:

@lem0n-curry

Ew. Reapers are literally The pvp faction of this game,

That's a myth.

the fact that you use it to do a tornado in marauder arch doesn't mean it's that the way.

AFAIK having a Reaper flag up doesn't mean I cannot do certain things - nice sneaking up BTW. We weren't red sea running by choice (which we don't do) - just no time to even see where we were going else we wouldn't have collided with the rocks :).

Pve loot give less reputation to level up Indeed.

Portal hopping takes time btw, and when you are in the new server you don't spawn in front of a ship, most of the times you lucky if you get 2 emissaries before they sell.

Still PvP on (almost) demand, and as long as you're not joining PvE Alliance servers, PvE on demand isn't a feature.

But it's boring repeating the same argument over and over again to someone who can't just accept to sink in a pirate game.

Uh, what now ? Care to elaborate ? Otherwise keep your accusations and strawmen to yourself.

You talk like reapers have an advantage in skill towards others, like other emissaries are disabled. It's not wolf and sheep's game, everyone can defend his ship, reapers are not an higher level entity that have an advantage on poor defenseless emissary.

They do have more of an advantage in finding other emissaries by portal hopping.

@vakrisone said in Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!:

@lem0n-curry said in Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!:

@vakrisone said in Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!:

@lem0n-curry said in Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!:

As I said, it's a PvPvE game; people shouldn't expect being able to do 100% PvE but also not do 100% PvP.

I agree.

As you said, this is a PvEvP game. Why is it okay for players to do PvE for their entire session - which is something you can absolutely do - but if a Reaper wants to portal hop for PvP it's not okay?

They probably spend some time avoiding other ships. They also not have the freedom to do whatever they want - they probably skip world events, avoid "busy" bits of the maps while their voyage doe send them there &c. And they probably aren't "lucky" enough to avoid PvP each and every session.

No. But neither is a Reaper "lucky" enough to find PvP each and every session. Which is kind of my point with portal hopping. You can definitely do PvE for your entire session. But when someone wants to do PvP for their entire session and uses portal hopping to do it it's suddenly frowned upon? That's what I don't understand.

A person can certainly have the luck of not encountering hostile ships or try their best of keeping away from others. Not a certainty by a long mile though. When people set out to have a session without any PvP there is no guarantee. I don't know the odds of portal hopping and finding an emissary on every next server, but my guess is that those odds are better than not ending up fighting or trying to escape from another crew.

I don't want to take away PvP from Reapers, but they shouldn't have access to it without doing actual work of finding other ships on the serve(s) they land on. using portals gives them just that: an easy way to avoid looking for PvP on their server by having targets on probably most servers they land on.

Likewise, a Reaper 1 showing up on the map gives other ships an easy way to avoid them. Too easy in my opinion, which is why portal hopping evened out that equation somewhat. Is it perfect? No. But I think it's a lot fairer than having a giant glowing 15-20min warning sign on the map that allows most experienced emissary crews to sell everything and take their flag down before a Reaper goes from 1 to 5.

I guess the ships we encounter on our servers are too greedy to make haste with lowering their emissary. You can fight them before you're grade 5 you know.

Other emissaries don't have benefit from grade 5 the rest of their session, neither should Reaper emissaries.

They do though. Other emmissaries can also portal hop. And they can also keep grade 5 for as long as they want as long as they keep an attentive eye on their map or are ready to defend themselves. And they get the bonus of not showing up on the map as a big neon sign unless or until a Reaper 5 appears.

Yeah, sailing around with a grade 5 is a very safe way to play the game ... Reaper 5 are not their only enemy here.

I am primarily a Solo slooper and I do it quite often. Most of my sessions I sail around with a grade 5 merchant flag or grade 5 Athena and grind up my ledger position without much issue. Occasionally I see a Reaper pop up on the map and I go and sink them before committing to a full Veil run for example. Either I sink and hop servers or they sink and I continue my quest.

Nice. See, not everyone lowers or flees when a Reaper appears :).

@vakrisone a dit dans Server/Portal Hopping FIX?! :

I mean Reapers is literally meant to be the closest thing to a PvP faction. Why is it wrong for a Reaper emissary to want to do PvP for their whole session?
As you said, this is a PvEvP game. Why is it okay for players to do PvE for their entire session - which is something you can absolutely do - but if a Reaper wants to portal hop > for PvP it's not okay?

You're right that doing PvE is guaranteed (because the environment will always be there) but doing only PvE during a session isn't. It can happen but it is luck dependant.
You're also right that PvP can be way more scarce. There is a possibility that you could never encounter a ship during a single session if you are insanely unlucky.

But there is a reason behind this. Someone who only does PvE create loot (that can be stolen / defended), someone who only does PvP creates nothing of the sort. The game isn't designed to offer non-stop PvP (at least up to this point). You can find it unjust, but it is how it is.

Imo wanting tools in order to only do PvP is pretty much the same than wanting the tools to do only PvE.

That being said, I don't think that Portal Hopping is a big deal and I see benefits to it's existence, given the current design of the emissary system.
But the argument shouldn't be that people need tools in order to do only PvP. They really don't.

@lem0n-curry said in Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!:

A person can certainly have the luck of not encountering hostile ships or try their best of keeping away from others. Not a certainty by a long mile though. When people set out to have a session without any PvP there is no guarantee. I don't know the odds of portal hopping and finding an emissary on every next server, but my guess is that those odds are better than not ending up fighting or trying to escape from another crew.

Guessing odds and comparing theoretical data is a wasted pursuit. The facts are that the developers decided to leave portal hopping as a feature. That feature has allowed a more equitable platform for PvP Reapers to access Reaper-based content and currently it does not need to be nerfed, in my opinion. And certainly not in the way the OP suggests where Reapers get dropped to grade 1 but other emmissaries don't.

I guess the ships we encounter on our servers are too greedy to make haste with lowering their emissary. You can fight them before you're grade 5 you know.

Indeed. You can also check your map table semi-periodically to stay ahead of any Reaper 5 portal hopping in.

Nice. See, not everyone lowers or flees when a Reaper appears :).

I wouldn't use myself as the baseline standard for measurement. A solo slooper that does Veil voyages with emmissary and preemptively attacks Reaper flags... I'm an edge case at best. In the borderline masochistic subgroup :)

@grog-minto said in Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!:

@vakrisone a dit dans Server/Portal Hopping FIX?! :

I mean Reapers is literally meant to be the closest thing to a PvP faction. Why is it wrong for a Reaper emissary to want to do PvP for their whole session?
As you said, this is a PvEvP game. Why is it okay for players to do PvE for their entire session - which is something you can absolutely do - but if a Reaper wants to portal hop > for PvP it's not okay?

You're right that doing PvE is guaranteed (because the environment will always be there) but doing only PvE during a session isn't. It can happen but it is luck dependant.
You're also right that PvP can be way more scarce. There is a possibility that you could never encounter a ship during a single session if you are insanely unlucky.

But there is a reason behind this. Someone who only does PvE create loot (that can be stolen / defended), someone who only does PvP creates nothing of the sort. The game isn't designed to offer non-stop PvP (at least up to this point). You can find it unjust, but it is how it is.

Imo wanting tools in order to only do PvP is pretty much the same than wanting the tools to do only PvE.

That being said, I don't think that Portal Hopping is a big deal and I see benefits to it's existence, given the current design of the emissary system.
But the argument shouldn't be that people need tools in order to do only PvP. They really don't.

Indeed. I'm not necessarily arguing for PvP-only tools. And portal hopping is far from a PvP-only tool. Anybody can use it to switch servers while keeping their supplies and flag.

I'm just saying portal hopping is fine as is for the state the game is currently in.

@tossico94 said in Server/Portal Hopping FIX?!:

@lem0n-curry

A myth? XD

U weren't red sea running true, because would be weird red sea running from a sloop. Yet u sank by it.

Thats the only reason this topic is created.

Aye we did get sunk, but hadn't blamed portal hopping for that (well, up until now that is 😁), IIRC we blamed (*) a combination of our greed to sail all the way to Marauders at the end of our session to dig up some chests (I don't think we're actively doing the Tornado if there was one, we wouldn't have put the brig under the arch if that was the case) to get our rank up before turning in, a disconnect from my crewmate while you approached (he returned when I was on the ferry after the failed keg attempt), on a brig without our third, a skloop that only seemed to have shots for us and a capable crew against us.

We sunk, it happens and while we would have preferred a different outcome, the only bad taste we had was because of the accusation of red sea running.

(*) we got sunk there twice in a few weeks, so I might have mixed up some bits of the experiences.