Hello to everyone reading this, I do not usually make posts and stuff, but hear me out.
I have played Sea of Thieves at launch with friends and had a lot of fun with it, my friend we kind of just left it, and playing alone was, for the lack of a better word "tedious". So I left the game as well, now that I came back to give it another shot, I have to admit there has been a lot of updates and I enjoy the game playing alone a lot better than before. However, my biggest issue has not been addressed, the geometry of the Sloop. The sloop is designed to be a single or duo player ship, but that is not true, the sloop is designed as a duo ship, that can be sailed alone, just as the Brig is designed for 3 people that can be sailed with 2.
This is my biggest concern, yes, you can sail the Sloop effectively, no, it isn`t horrible to sail, yes, I have a skill issue. However, with the added destruction to the ship (I love that btw, it adds a lot of gameplay potential) and the geometry of the sloop constantly forcing you to back and forth between the lower and upper deck, not to mention the map placement (yes it has gotten better and more visible). Its just... tedious, and I do not like it, like I said, not great, not horrible, it really feels like 2 manning a Brig.
Disclaimer: I am not a sage, I do not hold all the answers, I am not a game dev, I am just a guy who is sharing his opinion, that may or may not be beneficial for the players/game (Also I am very biased, because I NEED THIS PLEAAAAAASE DEVS GOD OR ANYONE I AM DONE WITH THE SLOOP). Now here comes my suggestion, a boat that is small maybe the same size as the Sloop made for a single person to man, like a sail boat. The Sloop is great for 2 man no need to change (yes I realize that the addition of a smaller boat may require for the sloop to be slightly larger or giving it added benefits). I have prepared a very NOT professional drawing with a link that may or may not work: https://ibb.co/r2J6tzSY
This is how I imagine it: Starting with the important changes, elevated back like the Brig that naturally slopes down with a SINGULAR staircase between upper and lower floors, which is very important, so a person even if they need to go back and forth they do not need to do the twisty-turny bs (Also I just now realized that the length of the stairs in my drawing is wrong, it has to be longer and stuff needs to be rearranged). A grate located behind the helm, right under it, is the map, so a person can more easily read the map without leaving the immediate vicinity of the helm (Yes, I do take heavy inspirations from the design of the Brig I love that ship), also, the removal of the jail (I know that is not what its called) there is a lot more space, as to how to arrange the space available....idk... The rest is just standard stuff, you have everything you would need as a solo player.
Now regarding ship damages, the Sloops damages are fine, I do not know the exact numbers, but I found it to be easy to mitigate damage on the ship, I had a fight with a 2 man sloop I got away with the ship in the end, yes, it was difficult, yes I had to manage getting away and repairing the ship perfectly, but at the end of the day you are playing solo, having to deal with the same amount of pain as a 2 man group is fair. I want this ship to be balanced, I want it to have an ease of use, not a cheat code for solo.
Speaking of balance, I already mentioned ship damage so thats done. If it is "larger" than the sloop, meaning it sits higher up overall (because of the slope), it wouldn`t be all that bad, if it is easier to hit than the Sloop so be it, I also put the cannons in the drawing a bit further up, it was a mistake, but to be honest, having it there makes it more difficult to shoot.
So, Conclusions: The ship I am proposing is single player, which has an ease of use, but it does not have as much pvp prowess, like a merchant vessel. I feel like this is fair, as a solo you are not looking for pvp, you are most often outnumbered anyway (yes, I know there are people who do it, the Sloop this exists, so you do not lose anything), but when people come to you picking a fight, you are even MORE at a disadvantaged. So, if you do not want to be at a disadvantage, use the Sloop and as mentioned before, a solo is more than capable of Captaining a Sloop.
Thank you, for coming to my Ted talk.
Any suggestions or concerns feel free to berate me in the responses (I will do my best to address them).
