Why a 4 man sloop is NOT a bad idea

@mri1ama most of this is assuming you are fighting the galleon straight up. Which regardless of crew size of course is a horrible idea. If playing the sloop correctly and keeping distance/using obstacles to kite the galleon into the sloop is basically unsinkable already. Considering you can throw water from the bilge all the way out the window.

So yes I’m a straight up broadside fight the galleon has a huge upper hand but only idiots fight in a sloop like that.

I've pointed out several of the balance issues in other posts between the 2 ships and I agree with some of your points. If they would fix the issues between ships 2 man sloop and 4 man galleon would be near perfectly balanced with the current max crews.

I could see maybe putting 3 on a sloop, but even that would be cutting it close balance wise. With 4 on a sloop its going to be a mess, but we shall see.

You've NOT totally ignored the 4 man sloop v solo sloop argument.
What's your take on that?

Edit, Op has edited post, so now I must edit mine too

there is a search button, how many same 4 man sloop topics can we take! lol

@sackard I get your point, but solo sloops already have issues. While its true 4 man sloop would just be an added problem for solo players, they already have 2 man sloops and 4 man galleons to contend with. Mind you I'm not supporting 4 man sloops I think its a terrible idea, just saying.

A 4 man sloop would get demolished by a 4 man galleon in a battle. 1 cannon firing vs 2 or 3, and the top deck being exposed to the taller galleon would mean the captain and the gunner would most likely get killed super fast, while the other two guys struggled to patch the holes while getting knocked around.

Someone in another thread pointed out an entirely different side to the discussion, which makes a lot of sense, so I wanted to include it here. I elaborated on the concept a bit.

Allowing larger crew sizes on sloops allows for more seamless gameplay and possibly less strain on the servers, because it allows players to join existing sessions more easily, rather than creating new sessions every time people want to play with their friends.

For example, let's say you start solo slooping. You find some nice stuff in a wreck, catch a few golden chickens and steal a captains chest off another sloop. On your way to the outpost, you spot a driftbottle, containing 3 maps with 5 treasures each! You set sail towards the first island, but suddenly, two of your friends come online and ask you to play together. What do you do?
Right now, your options are either to abandon your game to create a new one with your friends, or let your friends wait while you continue your adventure. You tell them you want to collect that treasure first, it's not everyday you find maps with so many chests, yadda yadda.. Your friends understand, but since they dont want to wait around, they create a 2 man sloop to pass the time. Eventually, you have collected all the treasure and sold it for a nice 10k and some sweet reputation. But now your friends are 10 waves deep into a skull fort and just sank the only galleon in sight, so they're pretty confident they can finish the fort uncontested... you can probably see where this is going.

Having the ability to simply join ongoing sessions would actually be a huge improvement of the gameplay experience, and the servers would not have to create a new session every time the setup of a crew changes. To take this a step further, maybe there could even be the option to change your ship type ingame.
For example, your crew of 4 has just done a fort and sold of all of the loot. It was a pretty exhausting fight, so 2 of the 4 decide to call it a night. The other two, however, have just popped a can of RedBull, and there is still that Gold Hoarder quest that the fort interrupted. Wait, is that a wreck to the east? Your galleon is pretty low on supplies, and sailing that thing with 2 people is a bit of a hassle, so you trade it in for a nice sloop and continue your adventure, all without ever leaving the game or server.

The entire experience would become more immersive with this change. With dynamic crew size like this, you could actually play an entire day on the same server, adjusting your crew size depending on how many of your mates want to join you. So please keep that in mind too and trust Rare to know what they are doing!

@alarthon
You're not meant to win every fight tho. If you play solo, you kinda accept that the odds are not in your favour.

@themustamissed said in Why a 4 man sloop is NOT a bad idea:

@sackard said in Why a 4 man sloop is NOT a bad idea:

You've totally ignored the 4 man sloop v solo sloop argument.
What's your take on that?

His take and many others is....Oh well. Well when they sail for 5 hours and see no players due to idiot ideas like this he will be back here crying. The amount of brain function on some gamer's today is scary.

I'm sorry, but I think you would agree, if you're playing solo, taking on a 4 man crew is a bit silly regardless of what boat they are on. Let's not blame poor player decisions and low awareness on "game issues".

@d4u2s0t Players have the right to do whatever they want, but I agree fighting anyone other than another solo sloop is prob not the best use of your time in game.

@mri1ama said in Why a 4 man sloop is NOT a bad idea:

5. Boarding. When it comes to boarding the galleon is far superior. Why? Height. The galleon you can board the sloop from any part without a ladder. The sloop you can only manage to jump on without a ladder via cannon or if you ram head on and jump off the bow.

Mast jump off a Sloop onto a Galleon is also widely used.

@zep-darkwater said in Why a 4 man sloop is NOT a bad idea:

@d4u2s0t Players have the right to do whatever they want, but I agree fighting anyone other than another solo sloop is prob not the best use of your time in game.

Agreed. I'm not saying don't do it, if you're just looking to have fun, it can be quite fun hiding lol. One of our crewmates hid on an enemy boat constantly lowering their anchor, the hiding again. Was awesome!

The point is, if your expectations are realistic, you can still have fun. If you want a challenge, or want to test your skill or whatever, fight a 4 man crew. If you're looking to complete voyages and not get sunk with your loot, it's a good idea to get on the crows nest and take a very good look around. In a sloop it doesn't take long, and you can easily get up there solo while in the open seas.

@Sackard @themustamissed as many others have stated what is the difference between this and fighting a 4 man galleon right now? The only difference would be I can more easily jump off and blow them up with a explosive barrel if I'm getting chased AND I can sail into the wind without worrying about them catching me?

I don't think this will be as big an issue as others are making it out to be. I play solo about 80% of the time and sink sloops and galleons alike. As I stated in my post I'm just throwing out some points as everyone on the other side of this argument is. We are ALL just theorizing until it actually happens and when it does we can see how bad/fine it is and they can balance accordingly. I just dont think it will kill galleons or make it any harder for a solo slooper.

@d4u2s0t My first sentence was more a disclaimer for people who might think I wish to tell others how to play. Yeah I totally agree with you. It's always cool to have fun, but if you expect to get any progress made fighting others solo is often times just going to be a futile attempt. That's assuming that the opposing crew knows what they are doing.

@stem589 True I honestly haven't seen too many people use that technique. But it does take a bit more effort than that of jumping off the side or any other part. The time it takes to climb the ladder takes away from other tasks like firing a cannon/patching etc.

Which the other forms of boarding would not. Of course when you board you are taken away from those tasks as well but you are also stopping the enemy crew from doing so.

@nebenkuh

For the simple reason of having friends joining an existing crew, I like the idea, but not so much from a balancing issue.

@nebenkuh said in Why a 4 man sloop is NOT a bad idea:

Someone in another thread pointed out an entirely different side to the discussion, which makes a lot of sense, so I wanted to include it here. I elaborated on the concept a bit.

Allowing larger crew sizes on sloops allows for more seamless gameplay and possibly less strain on the servers, because it allows players to join existing sessions more easily, rather than creating new sessions every time people want to play with their friends.

For example, let's say you start solo slooping. You find some nice stuff in a wreck, catch a few golden chickens and steal a captains chest off another sloop. On your way to the outpost, you spot a driftbottle, containing 3 maps with 5 treasures each! You set sail towards the first island, but suddenly, two of your friends come online and ask you to play together. What do you do?
Right now, your options are either to abandon your game to create a new one with your friends, or let your friends wait while you continue your adventure. You tell them you want to collect that treasure first, it's not everyday you find maps with so many chests, yadda yadda.. Your friends understand, but since they dont want to wait around, they create a 2 man sloop to pass the time. Eventually, you have collected all the treasure and sold it for a nice 10k and some sweet reputation. But now your friends are 10 waves deep into a skull fort and just sank the only galleon in sight, so they're pretty confident they can finish the fort uncontested... you can probably see where this is going.

Having the ability to simply join ongoing sessions would actually be a huge improvement of the gameplay experience, and the servers would not have to create a new session every time the setup of a crew changes. To take this a step further, maybe there could even be the option to change your ship type ingame.
For example, your crew of 4 has just done a fort and sold of all of the loot. It was a pretty exhausting fight, so 2 of the 4 decide to call it a night. The other two, however, have just popped a can of RedBull, and there is still that Gold Hoarder quest that the fort interrupted. Wait, is that a wreck to the east? Your galleon is pretty low on supplies, and sailing that thing with 2 people is a bit of a hassle, so you trade it in for a nice sloop and continue your adventure, all without ever leaving the game or server.

The entire experience would become more immersive with this change. With dynamic crew size like this, you could actually play an entire day on the same server, adjusting your crew size depending on how many of your mates want to join you. So please keep that in mind too and trust Rare to know what they are doing!

Then they should add it so that you can go to the outpost, and change your sloop to a Galleon. Then you can invite your friends and sail away as a bigger crew on a bigger ship, not an OP Sloop... Cause that will be abused.

@themustamissed said in Why a 4 man sloop is NOT a bad idea:

@d4u2s0t said in Why a 4 man sloop is NOT a bad idea:

@themustamissed said in Why a 4 man sloop is NOT a bad idea:

@sackard said in Why a 4 man sloop is NOT a bad idea:

You've totally ignored the 4 man sloop v solo sloop argument.
What's your take on that?

His take and many others is....Oh well. Well when they sail for 5 hours and see no players due to idiot ideas like this he will be back here crying. The amount of brain function on some gamer's today is scary.

I'm sorry, but I think you would agree, if you're playing solo, taking on a 4 man crew is a bit silly regardless of what boat they are on. Let's not blame poor player decisions and low awareness on "game issues".

I have done it when I have nothing to lose. And again you missed the point as you are trying to twist what I said. As of now you know what a Gally has for a crew - 3-4. You know not to f**k with them unless you're like me and don't care. You see a sloop, you know it has 1-2 people so you know that you can fight it/fend it off/run and so on. Wanna tell me how you do that as a solo player with 4 man sloops? I won't hold my breathe. Again brain power..... use it...

I encourage more teamwork, less "I'm right, I'm right"

Example, you say use brainpower. Does your spyglass not work? Why are you approaching a ship that you don't know how many people are aboard? And also, don't assume. I have run into 3 man sloop crews. Not sure if they were 2 crews that joined up, or they stole someones ship, but you will and can find more than 2 on a galleon. I won't be rude, and say "Use your brain", but I would recommend having higher awareness before attacking if the amount of players is a concern. that should solve your issue.

We've had plenty of nights with any number of crew on our galleon ranging from 1 to 4. Assuming crew size based on ship is a mistake, and I would encourage you to not rely on ship size, as it's currently not reliable.

@zep-darkwater I hoped the OP would answer, considering he stated "As far as I'm concerned this is all blatant speculation and lack of knowledge. Here's some things to think about."
I feel reasonably able to put up a fight with a galleon, when solo. I can roughly guess where the swimmers will be coming from, due to it's lack of maneuverability, and disadvantage once it has launched swimmers, but as a sloop can be handle solo, 3 swimmers and no maneuverability penalty, is a major advantage in my mind.

Edit; Not all posts are showing in order posted for me it seems. Op had replied but was not showing at the time.

@drbullhammer um no because the whole point of raising all sails is to not move at all. You act like they will still be sailing. I dare you to raise your sails on a sloop while the galleon does the same. I'd rather be a sitting duck for one cannon over a sitting duck for 4. If you raise all sails on the galleon you are engaging turret mode where you can turn on a dime whilst sitting in place.

Again read what I said above. Two crews of the same skill. If one did board it would be a 1 to 1 trade and you then are getting pelted by all the galleons cannons while you still fire one and I'd you raised sails as you said you'd be a sitting duck as I mentioned. Also two people raising sails on a galleon is quite fast. Unskilled galleons will have 1 person on two different sails. Skilled galleons will do 1 sail at a time with each sail.

@williamherschel yes but couldn't you just do the same in a galleon. I have sailed a galleon alone a good couple of times it's not that hard. I understand that it people are upset because now they won't know how many people are on any given ship.

BUT that is also an advantage for solo sloop players because galleons and others will be more timid to chase said sloop because they dont know if there is 1 or 4.

@toastywrath well then the sloop only has the advantage in defensive play rather than offensive. Which doesn't seem that OP to me. Because if a galleon gets set upon by a sloop raise all sails and turret the s**t out of them. However if they run you know what you are getting into if you chase them down which is basically how it goes now anyway.