Pvp vs pve (private servers)

The issue I see with PvE servers is that no one will have a reason to level up their factions/do tall tales in adventure mode anymore. I mean, why would they? It's risk free and you can just spam voyages/forts until you hit max level.

It will also mean that players on adventure mode servers will have empty boats and thus, have no reason to attack others. Unlike what people say on these forums, you don't actually get attacked every minute (usually they complain about losing loot they gathered for HOURS).

Anyway, as a player that likes the PvEvP design (I mean, this is why I bought it after all), if i had the choice, i would just do all my leveling on a private server. Then for ship battles I would go to Arena, which means adventure will die for a lot of players.

*Edit: About the "go play another game" comments, it's not supposed to be something rude. If players want the game to change because they don't like the way it is designed, maybe it really isn't for them.

No one said this is a game you are supposed to chill and gather loot, or a good kid game (I'm saying that because some parents come here to complain that their 6 y/o is crying or something). When I and others bought it, we knew exactly what we are getting.

The WoW comparison is not really good. WoW is Mainly a PvE game with some PvP content. It doesn't affect it in anyway, besides giving players that do like to pvp the option to fight each other (when we are talking about world PvP anyway). The PvE side of the game has enough content for it to stand by itself.

SoT however, is a PvEvP game that relies on player interactions. Remove the players and all you have is a game of shipping and selling items. Not to bash SoT too much, but it lacks depth. Besides Tall tales, everything else just revolves around killing skeletons, getting treasure and selling it. That's it.

The most important part of this game are the players, since you don't know who's nearby and what their intentions are. It resembles games like DayZ and Rust, where you have PvE content that is there to make players meet.

@xx-mirth-xx

WoW also had PvP servers where PvP was open to all who entered the contested zones. Then PvE'ers got mad and complained that there was TOO much PvP in a PvP server. So instead of telling the players to move to PvE servers, WoW went ahead and added flags TO PvP servers.

No catering to PvE'ers please, because no offense, they refuse to play games as its intended and just demand everything to be changed to suit their needs. There were PVE servers available for WoW but they play on PvP servers then complain there is too much PvP. Like seriously?

@Troubled-Cells

The thing that bothers me about the flag is that whenever a crew flying it is attacked they automatically cry that they are being discriminated against, and that the people attacking them are racists, bigots, blah blah blah. When in all honesty the reason why they are attacked is because that flag represents easy targets in this game.

During the attack, what usually ends up happening is 1 of 2 scenario's. 1 The PvE'ers get on the mic and start screaming obscenities at the attackers, telling them they are haters and etc etc for attacking their rainbow flag ship and then the PvP'ers use that information and reply with other expletives with the intent to trigger the players. 2nd scenario is that the PvP'ers are the ones using the expletives again with the intent to trigger the PvE'ers.

The triggered PvE'er will now be a salty petty little child and will try to get the last laugh by feeding the PvP'ers trying to them say things so that they can report them and get them banned.

The simple use of words does not imply bigotry or racism to me. Words are words.

Interactions like these are rarely ever truly hateful, its just players trying to trigger other players.

Rainbow flag of war = easy targets, that is all.

I don't know why PvPers don't want private servers. With Private servers PvPers could vs other PvPers. And PvEers could just do what they want. I am in between PvE and PvP so I would probably play both.

@troubled-cells

I wish I could find someone like that lol. My servers are usually empty. I have been getting into a habit of having a friend of mine starting a sloop for me so I can take it over because his servers seem to have more players in it.

Yesterday I got a good fight actually. There was a duo sloop I was fighting with.

The best part was while we were fighting there was a brig and sloop trying to sink the both of us. I attacked the brig, he attacked the sloop.

So in the middle of trying to sink each other we had to handle the the other ships attacking us.

We finally clear the field and try to go back to sinking each other but I was running out of supplies. That sloop was no slouch. We were pretty much on par but it was 2 against 1. Only saving grace was that my shots were only slightly better and my driving was definitely better. A skelly ship spawned and I forced the aggro onto the other sloop and the sloop dueced out to handle that.

I went to get more supplies and lost track of the sloop. Then I saw a galleon and went after that. Yesterday was one of the biggest PvP' days I've had in ages and it was fun. Freaking Galleon running away from a solo sloop. Really? I ended up sinking them, I was down to 5 cannon balls and 25 planks.

Yesterday was a fun day.

@troubled-cells

Yeah, my friends have been playing in the Opt Out servers every now and then. They tell me that every single ship they have run into, they have rekt. I laugh at the stories they tell me. Players being completely unguarded against ships being near by, ignoring players climbing up and down ladders just to see if players are paying any attention.

I'm going to buy an Xbox for the sole purpose to play on Opt Out servers to just terrorize everyone. Hunt down and steal from everyone. Its going to be awesome lol.

As someone who's played MMOs since 1995, which is probably longer than some of you who have been alive, here's the deal:

PvP games are always niche.

Always.

There's a reason World of Warcraft has flagged PvP, PvP areas, and PvP only servers, as well as a cuddly PvE server.

The problem always arises: PvP blood knights snack on newcomers. Newcomers say, "Forget this" and leave.

And then you're stuck with a game that only longtime griefers play.

I've seen it for 25 years.

The best PvP MMO I've ever played was Dark Age of Camelot. There were the safe areas, and areas you wandered into at your own risk. And the safe areas weren't even "safe". They were heavily guarded by friendly AI, but a sufficient force could overwhelm it.

And that's the other part, too. There are no factions. There are no "friendly" players because it's every man, woman and child for themselves. There is no sense of community, at all. Even in games like Rust, you can find players who will not grief you.

You may think Sea of Thieves will last, because it's Microsoft-based and Game Pass, but once there's a better option, people WILL abandon you for the better option. Then all you'll have is a game in which hardcore PvPers are grumbling about low population and bragging to everyone else that the game is niche because it's special, but when really, it's just gatekeeping.

I've seen MMOs come and go. Sea of Thieves will go extinct when something better comes along. I'm sure Everquest fans thought their game would last forever, too.

The answer is not "git gud". The answer is balance the game so that people can ease into PvP at THEIR discretion.

For people who want to say "It's not Sea of Friends, it's Sea of Thieves", my response is "You're not playing a video job. It's a video GAME."

If someone asks you "Why should I play" and your answer is "don't": you have a problem.

EDIT: Oh, and there are some of us who can't whip up friends to play so go solo (which is awkward but doable.) No matter how good we are, we're not going to defend our little sloop even from mediocre 2 man crews. Does that mean we shouldn't play at all if we're alone? Hmm?

@jonah-falcon

Yup, you have no idea what you are talking about.

That is talk from a PvE'er and from someone who doesn't actually understand communities at large or MMO's, or the differences between this game and other games.

You talk about bloodthirsty? The harshest game out is EvE Online. That game has been out since 2003 and is one of the most unforgiving games for new comers, but guess what, that game is still going strong to this day.

PvP is a niche?? Really? Then why are the best and most profitable games on the market PvP games? CoD, Battlefield, even Star Wars Battlefront 2 is making a come back.

No one in Everquest thought the game would last forever, no one thinks their game will last forever. Every game will eventually die out. The fact that you try to say PvP'ers are the reason the game will die is ignorant. Games die because graphics get outdated and yes like you said something better comes along.

A game will always die when players find something better. The sad thing for you is that PvE casuals will always hop to the new thing regardless of how much they are catered to. If you want proof look at WoW. PvE players finally got bored and stopped playing and the game has never been as popular as it once was.

You cater to the demographic you are aiming for. You don't try to cater to everyone, you especially don't try to cater to PvE casuals that will just leave whenever their feelings get hurt.

PvE servers will kill this game. PvE players need to just "git gud" and learn how to play a game for once instead of crying all the time.

EDIT I just solo'd 2 brigs the other night and a 4 man galleon on a sloop by myself. The only competition I had was against another duo sloop that was almost as good as I was but I still out played them.

This is a game and we are having fun. You can have fun too if you stop demanding everything to be done your way. Its like playing checkers and telling everyone you play by different rules because you are bad with the original game.

You can play your way, within this game. However, when you start trying to dictate how the game should change to better suit your selfishness then we have problems.

Learn to play the game and get better at it.

@xultanis-dragon said in Pvp vs pve (private servers):

@jonah-falcon

Yup, you have no idea what you are talking about.

That is talk from a PvE'er and from someone who doesn't actually understand communities at large or MMO's, or the differences between this game and other games.

You talk about bloodthirsty? The harshest game out is EvE Online. That game has been out since 2003 and is one of the most unforgiving games for new comers, but guess what, that game is still going strong to this day.

PvP is a niche?? Really? Then why are the best and most profitable games on the market PvP games? CoD, Battlefield, even Star Wars Battlefront 2 is making a come back.

No one in Everquest thought the game would last forever, no one thinks their game will last forever. Every game will eventually die out. The fact that you try to say PvP'ers are the reason the game will die is ignorant. Games die because graphics get outdated and yes like you said something better comes along.

A game will always die when players find something better. The sad thing for you is that PvE casuals will always hop to the new thing regardless of how much they are catered to. If you want proof look at WoW. PvE players finally got bored and stopped playing and the game has never been as popular as it once was.

You cater to the demographic you are aiming for. You don't try to cater to everyone, you especially don't try to cater to PvE casuals that will just leave whenever their feelings get hurt.

PvE servers will kill this game. PvE players need to just "git gud" and learn how to play a game for once instead of crying all the time.

EDIT I just solo'd 2 brigs the other night and a 4 man galleon on a sloop by myself. The only competition I had was against another duo sloop that was almost as good as I was but I still out played them.

This is a game and we are having fun. You can have fun too if you stop demanding everything to be done your way. Its like playing checkers and telling everyone you play by different rules because you are bad with the original game.

You can play your way, within this game. However, when you start trying to dictate how the game should change to better suit your selfishness then we have problems.

Learn to play the game and get better at it.

Here we are. "Git gud".

How old are you?

Dude, I've been doing PvP since 1995.

Don't tell me how to play games, or that I'm "doing it wrong".

I really should ignore you, because you're the sort of kid who will complain about the "pleebs" enjoying their clubhouse. Sort of a "No Gurlz Allowed." [UPDATE: I love how the shortcut for "plebian" is a banned word. I'm guessing why. (chuckle)]

Here's a hint for you:

If your attitude is "well, if you don't like it, don't play", guess what?

People won't play.

Microsoft will look at the dwindling server and wonder why the heck they should pay for a server that isn't attracting players.

Then you'll wonder why such an awesome game is being shuttered.

I've seen 'em come.

I've seen 'em go.

And by the way, gatekeeping isn't a good look.

UPDATE: And yes, PvP only MMOs and games are very niche.

Do me a favor: compare World of Warcraft's subs with ... uh... wait... are there any subscription PvP MMOs left? Or are they all free to play now? Anyway, yes, niche.

Because little hint: people play the games they want to play and with people they want to play with. And they don't want random strangers ruining their fun.

As I mentioned before, the best PvP only MMO was Dark Age of Camelot (born from Darkness Falls). That's because even though it was PvP only, it allowed players to know when they were going to jump in the dark waters of PvP, and let them do it when they wanted to.

And again, if you have experienced players making the game unplayable for new players, that wrecks the game.

If you care about it, you'll be upset there are no new players joining in.

If you don't, then you're ecstatic you have a game all to yourself and likeminded players, and that's when a game gets shuttered.

@jonah-falcon said in Pvp vs pve (private servers):

Here we are. "Git gud".

Man, truth hurts right? Someone telling you that maybe you should put more effort into something instead of asking for a participation trophy must hurt your feelings, except I don't care about your feelings. I don't even care about my feelings. Facts are facts. "Git Gud" put some semblance of effort into the game and learn how to play properly.

How old are you?

How old are you?

Dude, I've been doing PvP since 1995.

Lol, have you now? Really since 1995? Man, you must be sooooooo good. Man if only there were other people who were playing video games since the start of gaming....wait....there have been. I'm also probably more knowledgeable and have more experience in a competitive scene then you have lol.

Don't tell me how to play games, or that I'm "doing it wrong".

I like when players are told to get better at the game they immediately go with "Don't tell me I'm doing it wrong!! My mom told me I'm special!!"

Dude I don't care who told you what, or what you tell yourself. Again, I don't care about feelings, I care about facts. Just because players say they want to play chess and then demand the rules be changed because they can't win is a personal problem.

We all play the same game under the same rules. We want the rules to stay, you want the rules to change. You are demanding everyone else play the way you want because you aren't good enough.

I really should ignore you, because you're the sort of kid who will complain about the "pleebs" enjoying their clubhouse. Sort of a "No Gurlz Allowed." [UPDATE: I love how the shortcut for "plebian" is a banned word. I'm guessing why. (chuckle)]

Go for it, ignore me. Why do I care? lol. You are probably the type that says "Don't bother replying because I won't reply" then when I say something you come right back demanding that the thread be locked. lol.

Here's a hint for you:

If your attitude is "well, if you don't like it, don't play", guess what?
People won't play.

Good, then other players who like the game will play. You seem to believe that the game is hard down the middle, players who PvE and players who PvP. That isn't how you play the game. The game is PvPvE. The game is in a constant state of both at the same time and all times. There are players who do both and are happy with doing both. There are some who PvE and then use PvP to protect themselves. There are PvP players who constantly end up being attacked by PvE encounters.

If there are players who don't like the game then they shouldn't play. We will get the community we want and we can build on top of that. Every game that has tried to cater to the casual player has never been critically acclaimed.

They said the same thing with Dead Soul games. "Its too hard this game will fail" and then it becomes a incredible franchise. Funny thing is that it didn't start with Dead Souls, it started with Ninja Gaiden on the original Xbox. The game was super hard and it was a breath of fresh air for all the players who wanted a game to challenge them. Again same thing was said "its too hard, its going to fail".

It didn't fail. Dead Souls didn't fail and now lots of publishers are using that type level of play in their games. Hell even breath of the wild was joked as being Zelda dead souls addition.

Microsoft will look at the dwindling server and wonder why the heck they should pay for a server that isn't attracting players.

Dwindling doesn't mean bad. Trying to keep a huge influx is what is bad. You will always have higher number players in the beginning. What you shouldn't do is try to cater to everyone to keep the numbers at the highest point. What you should do is focus on the players who are staying. Rare had a dream and wanted to cater to a demographic. They did and its working. Its still working.

Then you'll wonder why such an awesome game is being shuttered.

No game last forever, if it shudders it shudders. I've never seen a game die because of PvP. Sorry just hasn't happened. I've seen the opposite though.

I've seen 'em come.

I've seen 'em go.

Good, thats how its suppose to be, again a game can't be for everyone and you shouldn't try to make it for everyone. You are going to fail if you plan that way.

And by the way, gatekeeping isn't a good look.

Neither is begging for a participation trophy.

UPDATE: And yes, PvP only MMOs and games are very niche.

No they aren't.

Do me a favor: compare World of Warcraft's subs with ... uh... wait... are there any subscription PvP MMOs left? Or are they all free to play now? Anyway, yes, niche.

EvE Online had subscriptions when WoW went free to play :). Also if WoW was so awesome, why did it go free to play? Maybe because they were losing players interest right? Not good enough for players to pay for a subscription anymore? Lol

Because little hint: people play the games they want to play and with people they want to play with. And they don't want random strangers ruining their fun.

Awwww again someone got their feelings hurt. You bought the game willingly. The game was marketed in hopes that players would understand that the game was constantly in a state of PvPvE. That they would have to protect the loot they gathered from players who would try to steal them.

The ones who complain about being attacked always talk "I had 4/5/8 hours of loot and was attacked out of nowhere. I hate this game blah blah blah blah"

Really? Hours of play completely uncontested and then they talk as if their family was attacked personally. No broksi. Defend the loot, get better at the game.

As I mentioned before, the best PvP only MMO was Dark Age of Camelot (born from Darkness Falls). That's because even though it was PvP only, it allowed players to know when they were going to jump in the dark waters of PvP, and let them do it when they wanted to.

In your opinion. DAoC wasn't as popular as EvE Online. No where near as popular and it died shortly after. DAoC came out when all the other games that came out trying to copy EverQuest.

Sorry, your opinions aren't facts.

EvE Online - 7,375,380 estimated players - 350k daily
DAoC - 194,675 estimated players - 4k daily

Hmmm......man, truth hurts right? Also EvE is again the MOST unforgiving game and it hasn't changed those rules. Guess you don't know gamers are much as you think you do huh??

And again, if you have experienced players making the game unplayable for new players, that wrecks the game.

We were all new at one point. We all had to learn the game. We all went through it. The sad thing is that the OG players had a rougher time then players do now but they players now cry like their dogs are being murdered and their parents kidnapped.

The game is so incredibly passive that its sad really. Its stupid. Get better at the game.

If you care about it, you'll be upset there are no new players joining in.

Still one of the most played games on xbox and it has been for 2 years. You ever think that maybe the community doesn't want PvE and PvP to be split? 2 years of whining and crying and players are still playing the game.

If you don't, then you're ecstatic you have a game all to yourself and likeminded players, and that's when a game gets shuttered.

Again you lost that argument when I pointed out EvE Online. Congrats, get better at the game.

@conal-cuan

LOL, I need to steal that gif lol.