Would be very cool if we could make s private lobby just to have fun with friends or peacefully learn PvP skills or TDM without having to find yourself with your friend on the same server which takes some time. In those private lobbies there would be 0 gold making/rep leveling/no commendations etc.
Private lobbies
@europa4033 said in Private lobbies:
I personally would love seeing this, however I can understand from a developer's viewpoint, it would be pointless. I'm imagining them asking, "What's the point of a private server that'll require time and resources when you can hourglass to practice naval/TDM for free, and earn rep/gold to boot?"
This.
Also, I can only see them adding this if they find a way to monetize it.
What you are asking for is Dueling which could be done in the main game world or safer seas. This is regularly suggested and supported by a majority of the player base. The need/want for it is twofold.
- Having an easy way to practice and/or teach new players on sword play and shooting without having to spend a bunch of time looking for a friendly crew to TDM with or starting an alliance server.
- Giving players something to do while sailing from one side of the map to the other or waiting for a world event to finish before sweeping in for the steal. Yes, you can always work on getting supplies, etc., but it doesn't take good crews long to become stocked to the point of not needing any more supplies for the rest of the session.
How to start a duel using existing game mechanics.
a) A new interactable location on each ship and maybe at forts. This would work similarly to voting on the captain or emissary tables, resembling a bullseye that you stab a knife into.
Pro: Can have 3-4 crew members duel all at once.
Con: Requires a new location to be taken up on each ship. You have to be on your ship each time to start or join a duel. This is not a big deal. It could be the stern of the lower deck of each vessel.
b) An emote that both players can use on each other, similar to the 'add friend' emote. Challenging the other crew member to a duel, if they do it back the duel is on.
Pro: Easy to do anywhere.
Con: Only allows 1v1 duels unless chain challenges are allowed.
Duel status indications & ending a duel
The color of dueling crew members' nameplates changes, indicating that they are in a duel. This could be purple, like the allied crew, or another color. A trip to the ferry would end the duel. Either side voting back on the bull's eye or doing a "surrender duel" emote would also end the duel. Optional termination of the duel could include any player taking damage from another crew or NPC, e.g., a skelly ship.
Damage system: two options
- Standard damage: The system works the same as if you are fighting an allied crew member. You take real damage and can die and go the ferry.
Pro: Easy to implement, all it would take is setting the player status to allied rather than crew.
Con: You can get caught off guard by a third party waiting to strike once you have injured each other. But that not going to happen often, its your choice to duel and there are a butch of other things in the game (tall tails, Journals, NPCs etc) that also mean you can get caught off guard. So toughen up, buttercup.- Special damage (advanced): Works similar to Dueling in other games like WOW. You get a second health bar. All blunder, fire, explosive, and fall damage is subtracted from both your standard damage AND your special damage health. This ensures that Dueling cannot be used as a shield against NPCs and enemy crews. The special damage bar also takes damage from dueling crews' swords and ranged weapons, while standard damage does not. Eating heals both standard and special damage. Once your special damage hits zero, you slump into a "dead" emote. You can choose to "offer" to end the duel or wait to be revived, in which case both parties restart with full special health.
Pro: You will be at full health as soon as an enemy crew turns up unless you have taken damage from throwables etc.. You do not have to go back to re-vote or re-emote to start dueling again.
Con: Harder to implement, which means a lot more work for Rare.A handful of the same commenters don't like this idea, they make the same glass half full objections each time. All of these are not only unlikely to occur often but also do not make any sense in the wider concept of the game. So to head them off:
-
Players not wanting to duel getting attacked by crew.
The system requires both side to agree to the duel, don't agree to duel and you will not get attacked. -
Toxic players tricking new players to duel.
There are already a butch of toxic things players can do to each other. Lock someone in the Brig for no reason, killing via blunder bombs or kegs, sail the ship into the rocks on purpose etc. Tricking someone into a dueling seems pretty weak sauce by comparson, especially considering the trick with the system descriped above would only work once. The vaste majority of the time it it would be willing individuals taking part, and the benfit of having this as a teaching tool would far exceed the cost even of both senrios occurred at the same rate. -
Dueling players getting caught off guard by NPC and other players.
It is your choice to duel. If you do not want to risk it, then don't duel. More over, the game has a ton of things like Journals, easter eggs, etc that distract players all the time. Getting rolled up on by another player is part of the game. Sounds more like a lack of awareness than a problem with Dueling being an option
@miserenz Just saying "The majority of the playerbase wants this" does not make it true. Almost no one cares about friendlyfire/duels. Go do hourglass if you want to practice.
What makes it true is I made a list about a year ago. It was almost a 5 to 1 ratio in favour. More over when sailing in game and the topic has come up, I have sailed with zero pirates who did not like the idea.
Practice is for hourglass. So I am still waiting for an objection that makes sense, so far there has been none.
6 out of 7
