Playing this game Solo is frustrating pain

  • Cfrock
    Rogue

    Oh no, not another PvE argument. Well, not exactly.

    I don't have an issue with the PvP nature of the game, but when playing solo it becomes a different thing all together. The obvious consequence is that any crew on a Brig or Galleon is gonna chew you up, but even outside that, if your sloop is anchored and you're, say, searching a shipwreck, or doing something on an island, your ship is entirely vulnerable to be sunk without you even being around to see it. If other players decide to attack you there's almost nothing you can do to stop them, and fights become so laughably one-sided that they can't honestly be called fights.

    Playing solo basically puts you at a major disadvantage in pretty much every scenario, and the only options you have to avoid the more frustrating aspects of PvP are, themselves, frustrating and not helpful.

    Scuttling the ship costs you any loot you have and spawns you elsewhere in the sea. It's not a solution to the problem at all, it just gets you past the formality of waiting for the ship to sink.

    Running is possible in some cases, but arriving at an island you have objectives on only to then have to sail away while being chased is a pain. Your pursuers will either give up and still be in the area you then have to return to, starting the whole problem again, or they'll chase you to the ends of the earth and send you on a huge detour while wasting your time.

    Watching the horizon and staying vigilant will only get you so far. It's hard to watch for approaching ships when you're in the caves beneath Sailor's Bounty, or following maps in the crook of Plunder Valley. It's also tough sometimes to keep an eye out when you also have to adjust the wheel, sails, bail out storm water, fight a skeleton ship, or a meg, all on your own. Vigilance only goes so far when on your own.

    A PvE mode or setting is almost certainly never going to happen, and I don't think that I would even want one, but I do think solo players should only ever be paired up against other solo players. That's pretty much the only way to make the game balanced for them. I don't know how many people play solo, though, so solo servers, or matchmaking might be more effort than they're worth.

    SoT is a great game and I've been enjoying it a lot over the last couple of weeks, but playing solo and playing with a crew are almost two different games entirely, and one of them isn't nearly as enjoyable.

    I want to find ways the solo experience might be improved, and I think matching solo players only with solo players is one possible way to do that without sacrificing the core experience of the game. Everything would be the same, but all players would be on the same basic level, with the only advantage or disadvantage being skill and their own choices.

    I've seen some suggest PvE modes, a 'Passive' setting, or even designing a solo ship that's better at running. There are pros and cons for all of these, but I think solo servers, or a solo mode, would alleviate a lot of the frustrating aspects of the game while sacrificing as few other aspects as possible.

    What do you think?

    On a wider note, I've read through many discussions about PvE and I think many of the same arguments might come up here, so I want to address some of the kind of things that often come up.

    1. That's just the nature of the game so stop complaining.

    I think this argument fails to take into account that, despite the devs' intentions, there's a large part of the player base that simply doesn't engage with the game in that way or for those reasons. Often this is met with "You bought the wrong game", but that's not really true. There aren't many games out there that offer the sailing/treasure hunting experience SoT does, and saying people should just go find another isn't a practical response. It assumes PvP is the only part of the game that enjoyable or meant to be played, which isn't true for many people. Also, you're telling people to leave and disengage from the game, shrinking its player base and hurting it in the long run. Would you rather the game make some changes to accommodate more of its players, or would you see it die off faster?
    2. Git Gud

    This can only work up to a point. A solo player against two or more is always at a disadvantage, so simple skill is only going to take you so far. In regard to ship combat, your only hope is that your enemies are new to the game and don't know how to repair their ship or board yours. It's easy to say "Just camp the ladders," or "Just use a gunpowder barrel," but these aren't practical in real terms in almost every situation for a solo player. There's simply too many things you need to do on your own at once.
    3. Join a crew

    Again, this basically misses the point. A lot of people don't want to play with strangers for whatever reason, and your usual crew isn't always available when you want to play the game, as is the case for me. Regardless of what the devs intend, there will always be people playing solo. It's just going to happen for various reasons, and thinking of ways to include those players more is better than telling them they're playing the game 'wrong'.

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  • BurnBacon
    Champion
    Insider

    Solo sloop here.

    • Rowboat saves loot.

    • Keep watchful eye out every few moments your away from ship.

    • plan ahead. Park ship in a spot to best get away or defend

    • Never drop anchor. Unless as an emergency stop or whatever. But don’t drop it when your searching a wreck/island.

    • Mindful of your time. Have you been on said island or wreck to long? Get back to ship and check for tucks or incoming ships.

    • your solo slooping. Lvl difficulty is high and dangerous. But not impossible to pull off if, Think smarter, not work harder.

    Above all, just have fun. It’s a game in the end.

  • CaliCorsairCat
    Legend
    Insider

    Yah, this is a tricky topic because it is hard to address the perceived disparities in the sloop / solo vs larger crews for all players. I agree the community is generally too closed-minded about thinking through the possibilities, though I will preface by saying that I am generally against splitting the community. For me, solo slooping is all about diplomacy, and if you have to voyage, choosing islands that are small to voyage on for the reasons you mentioned. Sloops aren't very good ships honestly. Good players will say that sloops are the best, but I think that's really a result of them having a greater percentage of control (i.e. "If I solo this sloop, nobody can screw up my playstyle"). I always like to ask those players a hypothetical which is "if you could duplicate yourself and have 3 identical yous crew a brig, would you do better or worse?) I've never heard an answer back...

    Sloops are easy to work, easy to queue into, but slow, easy to lock down from boarders, and easy to get knocked off of in a fight, and come with less players in the event you want to try and take the offense. The areas the sloop are weakest are honestly the most important factors when it comes to surviving a fight. Maneuverability is overrated when your anchor is down or when the opposing players know how to use harpoons to turn / raise sails correctly. Honestly, I solo Brig because of the intimidation factor and speed, which usually serves me better than the convenience of a sloop. My personal preference, it's not for everyone and honestly, I hate having to do it, but I despise the sloops slow top speed.

    For me, it is obvious the slow top speed of the sloop is the reason why they are hunted by larger ships frequently. If they were the same top speed as brigs for example when heading in cross-wind, you could discourage ships from chasing you down if you take off soon enough. I rarely see sloops chasing larger ships for this reason. Otherwise, sloops are very easy to catch in open waters, and even easier to board and keep anchored if you are distracted voyaging on an island as you described.

    I don't think solo slooping is going to get any easier anytime soon though. I'm not a huge fan of splitting the community even though I think you are right that solo only servers would be one of the ways to do this. I also wouldn't mind a kind of team server in which ships automatically queue in as teams of two ships that are permanently allied, so sloops can queue in as the second ship. Supersniper below is right, sloop was added to the game as an afterthought with the full knowledge they were inferior for playing the core game. One thing that is great about soloing is how fast you can dig chests, which helps offset the time on island, but everything else about the sloop itself is a compromise in the name of making them accessible.

    If there is a large enough community need, I would be in favor of splitting by solo vs larger crews, similar to how the need was identified to split galleon and sloop arena. Rare never releases data though so it's hard to have an informed discussion.

  • Snipper60
    Ship Mate
    Insider

    @cfrock Solo slooping is the hard mode of Sea of Thieves. The developers made the game to be best played with a crew, and then added the sloop so that solo players could have a ship that wasn't as big as the brig. Some tips I have are as follows:

    1. Watch the horizons. Not watching them can lead you to being sunk by a pirate who sailed up while you were occupied.
    2. Watch the map. Reaper's Chests, Reaper's Bounties, and Reaper's Bones Emmissaries are all shown on the map, and sometimes players have their location given away by carrying a chest/bounty.
    3. Don't get distracted by quests/voyages/PvE threats. If you do, you could let a ship sink you.
    4. Don't come into the game with a 'plan.'
    5. Keep a rowboat.

    Edit: Sloop wasn't added later. It was part of the game at launch.

  • Vaca Hombre
    Champion
    Boatswain
    Founder

    @calicorsaircat said in Playing this game Solo is frustrating pain:

    "if you could duplicate yourself and have 3 identical yous crew a brig, would you do better or worse?)

    Ugh!

    I'd probably go nuts. We'd all stand around because nobody would be assertive enough to take charge. We'd spend the whole time apologizing to each other for every slight mishap. In the end, we'd probably just hang out on an outpost, playing shanties and reciting bits from Freakazoid and MST3K.

  • Xultanis Dragon
    Sailor

    @cfrock said in Playing this game Solo is frustrating pain:

    Oh no, not another PvE argument. Well, not exactly.

    I don't have an issue with the PvP nature of the game, but when playing solo it becomes a different thing all together. The obvious consequence is that any crew on a Brig or Galleon is gonna chew you up, but even outside that, if your sloop is anchored and you're, say, searching a shipwreck, or doing something on an island, your ship is entirely vulnerable to be sunk without you even being around to see it. If other players decide to attack you there's almost nothing you can do to stop them, and fights become so laughably one-sided that they can't honestly be called fights.

    Negative, just have to be good enough to take them on. You see in every one of your cases, you have control over that. I play the game solo a lot and have never once got snuck up on while playing solo. I would search sunken ships, do my quests, but never had a ship just magically sneak up on me. Watch the horizons.

    Playing solo basically puts you at a major disadvantage in pretty much every scenario, and the only options you have to avoid the more frustrating aspects of PvP are, themselves, frustrating and not helpful.

    You chose to be at that disadvantage. If you don't want to be, then find a crew, gets some friends. Learn how to play the game.

    Scuttling the ship costs you any loot you have and spawns you elsewhere in the sea. It's not a solution to the problem at all, it just gets you past the formality of waiting for the ship to sink.

    You only need to scuttle if you are being spawn camped, but if it gets to spawn camping you already lost the loot anyways. Which is funny because "scuttling" isn't any different then someone sinking you, so how does losing your loot matter any more or less when you scuttle vs sinking?

    Running is possible in some cases, but arriving at an island you have objectives on only to then have to sail away while being chased is a pain. Your pursuers will either give up and still be in the area you then have to return to, starting the whole problem again, or they'll chase you to the ends of the earth and send you on a huge detour while wasting your time.

    Running is possible in all cases, not just some. It is possible in ALL. Can always cancel that voyage and start another one if you are afraid of going back to that island. You are the one being rigid and being unable to adapt.

    Watching the horizon and staying vigilant will only get you so far. It's hard to watch for approaching ships when you're in the caves beneath Sailor's Bounty, or following maps in the crook of Plunder Valley. It's also tough sometimes to keep an eye out when you also have to adjust the wheel, sails, bail out storm water, fight a skeleton ship, or a meg, all on your own. Vigilance only goes so far when on your own.

    Watching the horizon and staying vigilant is Rule #1 of staying alive in this game, especially if you are solo. Its real easy. Check the horizon, no ships? You have time to do things. Check the horizon again, you see a ship? What type of ship? Will they have wind if they decide to head towards you? If yes, then be aware and be ready. If no, then you have time.

    All of this comes with knowledge of the game and learning.

    A PvE mode or setting is almost certainly never going to happen, and I don't think that I would even want one, but I do think solo players should only ever be paired up against other solo players. That's pretty much the only way to make the game balanced for them. I don't know how many people play solo, though, so solo servers, or matchmaking might be more effort than they're worth.

    No. Don't play solo if you can't handle it. Why add something when you can just get more friends to play with?

    SoT is a great game and I've been enjoying it a lot over the last couple of weeks, but playing solo and playing with a crew are almost two different games entirely, and one of them isn't nearly as enjoyable.

    Last couple of weeks, so you are brand new to the game and already suggesting ways that the game needs to change? Play with a crew if you can't play solo. Don't like playing with a crew? Then tough, your decision to play solo, no one is forcing you.

    I want to find ways the solo experience might be improved, and I think matching solo players only with solo players is one possible way to do that without sacrificing the core experience of the game. Everything would be the same, but all players would be on the same basic level, with the only advantage or disadvantage being skill and their own choices.

    Solo is already super easy and you just want to make it even easier. This would also split the player base again to another demographic which is unneeded. You are new to the game. There are solo's that sink brigs and galleons alone all the time. I've stolen forts from galleons solo.

    I've seen some suggest PvE modes, a 'Passive' setting, or even designing a solo ship that's better at running. There are pros and cons for all of these, but I think solo servers, or a solo mode, would alleviate a lot of the frustrating aspects of the game while sacrificing as few other aspects as possible.

    What do you think?

    No, completely and utterly disagree.

    On a wider note, I've read through many discussions about PvE and I think many of the same arguments might come up here, so I want to address some of the kind of things that often come up.

    1. That's just the nature of the game so stop complaining.

    Good, you should already know. Listen to the advice.

    I think this argument fails to take into account that, despite the devs' intentions, there's a large part of the player base that simply doesn't engage with the game in that way or for those reasons. Often this is met with "You bought the wrong game", but that's not really true. There aren't many games out there that offer the sailing/treasure hunting experience SoT does, and saying people should just go find another isn't a practical response. It assumes PvP is the only part of the game that enjoyable or meant to be played, which isn't true for many people. Also, you're telling people to leave and disengage from the game, shrinking its player base and hurting it in the long run. Would you rather the game make some changes to accommodate more of its players, or would you see it die off faster?

    There isn't. Theres only new players that complain about this and every other iteration of the threads you mentioned. Have you bothered to see the players that create those PvE threads or solo threads? They are brand new to the game like you are. Complete rookies who don't know anything yet believe they know whats best. They are brand new just like you making the same posts.

    The game has been going on for 2 years. Did you just get it on steam?

    There aren't many games out there that let players decide how they want to play in a open world box either, yet because you don't like that aspect you want to change it?

    1. Git Gud

    If only they would, if only.

    This phrase is believed to be used negatively but its not. Gaming used to have a lot less hand holding back when I was a kid. Nowadays you tell a person to put some effort in and we are told to not shame them or we are told to "shut up try hards".

    Actually learning how to play the game and getting good at it is called being a "try hard". Its as if the belief of putting effort into being good at a game is an insult nowadays. If you are good you are a try hard.

    If someone complains "OH EMMM GEEE, this is just impossible and too hard. Dev's change it because I am too bad. I hate this game, everyone should listen to me!" and we respond with "oh its not that hard, it is very possible, just have to get better at the game" we are called try hards and that the "git gud" mentality is toxic.

    You want and everyone else should "git gud". Only problem for yall is that it takes time and no one of you want to put in the time or the effort. Everyone is so used to instant gratification and the protection from the fear of failure that any response they receive of "hey maybe its not really that hard, you just have to learn how to do it properly, or just get better at the game" is met with whining and childish temper tantrums.

    Things take time to learn and it takes time to "git gud", effort is required. Players are so used to everything being easy and handed to them. So if players are taking "git gud" as an insult then thats their problem.

    A lot of you can be really great at this game, you just REALLY have to put in some kind of effort. "But I do nothing but lose" - some players are like that, but eventually you start picking up small nuances of the game play and you start picking up on details you were missing. Soon you aren't losing all your fights, just some. Then you start winning more and more, and then eventually you feel comfortable with your ship and don't freaking stress everytime you see a ship.

    So to you and everyone I say again "Git Gud", because I know you can do better. Just don't be afraid of failing a lot and have the willingness and the patience to learn.

    This can only work up to a point. A solo player against two or more is always at a disadvantage, so simple skill is only going to take you so far. In regard to ship combat, your only hope is that your enemies are new to the game and don't know how to repair their ship or board yours. It's easy to say "Just camp the ladders," or "Just use a gunpowder barrel," but these aren't practical in real terms in almost every situation for a solo player. There's simply too many things you need to do on your own at once.

    Its not just about crew vs crew skill. Skill can only do so much for either side. If you are skilled enough at sailing, they will never catch you. The smaller ship will always get away from the bigger ship. So when sailing in a sloop, your only real worry is another sloop.

    The talks about "oh man galleons sank me and yada yada, not fair 1v4." If you can't get away from a Galleon with a sloop, then the problem is with you not the game.

    I can sail circles around Galleons and brigs, lots of us can. Player misconceptions - if I can't do it, no one can, so its unfair. Negative, its been done.

    1. Join a crew

    If you can't do it solo, then join a crew.

    Again, this basically misses the point. A lot of people don't want to play with strangers for whatever reason, and your usual crew isn't always available when you want to play the game, as is the case for me. Regardless of what the devs intend, there will always be people playing solo. It's just going to happen for various reasons, and thinking of ways to include those players more is better than telling them they're playing the game 'wrong'.

    Thats a personal problem. You aren't the only one who goes through this. I do, others do too. We just solo and deal with it no problems. No one is telling them that playing solo is "wrong". We are telling them that if they can't hack it, to get more players to play with.

    Lets play out a scenario -

    You have a crew, but they aren't online and you want to play. "well my friends aren't online, nothing I can do but play alone." - Thats your choice, you can use LFG, discord, reddit, the forums even. FIND PLAYERS TO PLAY WITH. You don't want to play with rando's? Good another personal decision made by you. No one is forcing you to play alone, no one is forcing you to play with other players. You pick a choice, you deal with the consequences as they come.

    In all of these scenarios they are all personal decisions. No one is forcing you to go solo. No one is forcing all those other players to play solo either. That is a choice you are making. You have lots of avenues to find players to play with as do other players, if you choose NOT to use them, then that is a PERSONAL choice. Why should Rare help you mitigate your choices just because you are a little scared of being attacked??

  • TK theTerror
    Sailor

    @cfrock said in Playing this game Solo is frustrating pain:

    Brig or Galleon is gonna chew you up, but even outside that, if your sloop is anchored and you're, say, searching a shipwreck, or doing something on an island, your ship is entirely vulnerable to be sunk without you even being around to see it.

    Boy do I identify with this... I've stood on an island (hidden or on the beach loudly cursing) watching my ship be stolen, blown up, set on fire, etc. in about 70% of my game play. [Disclaimer: I am new, been playing maybe 10 days max]

    This game is incredibly hard when you're new and alone for whatever reason that might be.

    Despite that I've recently seen some incredible solo sailors on YouTube that manage to pull of amazing things. It's inspiring that it can be done.

    That said, I like the idea of PvE when you just want to relax for a bit and enjoy the asthetics and world in game.

  • ZWAANY
    Captain
    Insider
    Founder

    It's simple ask rare for a PVE only server or do number 3. You already answered your question.

  • III porker III
    Captain
    Insider

    Sloop is hard mode, solo sloop is only meant for the best of the best. Either get a crew or be prepared for a tough time. I have solo'd many things in this game. Its tough but thats the fun in running solo.

  • KING DEKA
    Legend
    Insider
    Founder

    @cfrock sagte in Playing this game Solo is frustrating pain:

    Oh no, not another PvE argument. Well, not exactly.

    I don't have an issue with the PvP nature of the game, but when playing solo it becomes a different thing all together. The obvious consequence is that any crew on a Brig or Galleon is gonna chew you up, but even outside that, if your sloop is anchored and you're, say, searching a shipwreck, or doing something on an island, your ship is entirely vulnerable to be sunk without you even being around to see it. If other players decide to attack you there's almost nothing you can do to stop them, and fights become so laughably one-sided that they can't honestly be called fights.

    Playing solo basically puts you at a major disadvantage in pretty much every scenario, and the only options you have to avoid the more frustrating aspects of PvP are, themselves, frustrating and not helpful.

    Scuttling the ship costs you any loot you have and spawns you elsewhere in the sea. It's not a solution to the problem at all, it just gets you past the formality of waiting for the ship to sink.

    Running is possible in some cases, but arriving at an island you have objectives on only to then have to sail away while being chased is a pain. Your pursuers will either give up and still be in the area you then have to return to, starting the whole problem again, or they'll chase you to the ends of the earth and send you on a huge detour while wasting your time.

    Watching the horizon and staying vigilant will only get you so far. It's hard to watch for approaching ships when you're in the caves beneath Sailor's Bounty, or following maps in the crook of Plunder Valley. It's also tough sometimes to keep an eye out when you also have to adjust the wheel, sails, bail out storm water, fight a skeleton ship, or a meg, all on your own. Vigilance only goes so far when on your own.

    A PvE mode or setting is almost certainly never going to happen, and I don't think that I would even want one, but I do think solo players should only ever be paired up against other solo players. That's pretty much the only way to make the game balanced for them. I don't know how many people play solo, though, so solo servers, or matchmaking might be more effort than they're worth.

    SoT is a great game and I've been enjoying it a lot over the last couple of weeks, but playing solo and playing with a crew are almost two different games entirely, and one of them isn't nearly as enjoyable.

    I want to find ways the solo experience might be improved, and I think matching solo players only with solo players is one possible way to do that without sacrificing the core experience of the game. Everything would be the same, but all players would be on the same basic level, with the only advantage or disadvantage being skill and their own choices.

    I've seen some suggest PvE modes, a 'Passive' setting, or even designing a solo ship that's better at running. There are pros and cons for all of these, but I think solo servers, or a solo mode, would alleviate a lot of the frustrating aspects of the game while sacrificing as few other aspects as possible.

    What do you think?

    On a wider note, I've read through many discussions about PvE and I think many of the same arguments might come up here, so I want to address some of the kind of things that often come up.

    1. That's just the nature of the game so stop complaining.

    I think this argument fails to take into account that, despite the devs' intentions, there's a large part of the player base that simply doesn't engage with the game in that way or for those reasons. Often this is met with "You bought the wrong game", but that's not really true. There aren't many games out there that offer the sailing/treasure hunting experience SoT does, and saying people should just go find another isn't a practical response. It assumes PvP is the only part of the game that enjoyable or meant to be played, which isn't true for many people. Also, you're telling people to leave and disengage from the game, shrinking its player base and hurting it in the long run. Would you rather the game make some changes to accommodate more of its players, or would you see it die off faster?
    2. Git Gud

    This can only work up to a point. A solo player against two or more is always at a disadvantage, so simple skill is only going to take you so far. In regard to ship combat, your only hope is that your enemies are new to the game and don't know how to repair their ship or board yours. It's easy to say "Just camp the ladders," or "Just use a gunpowder barrel," but these aren't practical in real terms in almost every situation for a solo player. There's simply too many things you need to do on your own at once.
    3. Join a crew

    Again, this basically misses the point. A lot of people don't want to play with strangers for whatever reason, and your usual crew isn't always available when you want to play the game, as is the case for me. Regardless of what the devs intend, there will always be people playing solo. It's just going to happen for various reasons, and thinking of ways to include those players more is better than telling them they're playing the game 'wrong'.
    Lol why I’m playing this game since 2018 Release Solo? Adapt and Overcome! Sry for the hard words but it’s true, I love the Solo experience :)

  • DominusInkk
    Ship Mate
    Insider

    @cfrock You could get some friends in real life to play the game. I bought a copy for my friend and he absolutely loved it.

  • Stundorn
    Castaway
    Insider
    Founder

    @Cfrock

    Playing this game Solo is frustrating pain

    can be, but not neccessarily!
    It can also be very much immersive and a challenge.

    Game was not build for SP, the Sloop was added later in Development.
    At firt there were only Galleones.
    Sloops were added to please smaller Crews and friends, but it was Duo Sloop at minimum, not solo.
    People asked for Solo Sloop and Rare made it possible to run a Sloop solo, said it's hard mode. this was before release.
    Later they also added the 3 player ship.

    It's a MP game, you can solo, i enjoy it to solo sometimes, but i aproach the game different then. I am more immersing myself, i'm not out for big piles of booty, i RP and sometimes i bring every loot i get on the way to the Outpost. No hoarding, not becuase i can, but because my Pirate is cautious like hell, because he needs to if he watches the Horizon and see other ships, potential agressors.

    Or i hoard a lot at an island for silly reasons or i just play like i am stranded and need to survive on an island, collect all, then go for a rowboat and yeah...

    the most fun is if i do adventures rather than play efficently and such.

  • Lucky 13 X
    Captain
    Insider
    Founder

    @supersnipper60 said in Playing this game Solo is frustrating pain:

    @cfrock Solo slooping is the hard mode of Sea of Thieves. The developers made the game to be best played with a crew, and then added the sloop so that solo players could have a ship that wasn't as big as the brig. Some tips I have are as follows:

    1. Watch the horizons. Not watching them can lead you to being sunk by a pirate who sailed up while you were occupied.
    2. Watch the map. Reaper's Chests, Reaper's Bounties, and Reaper's Bones Emmissaries are all shown on the map, and sometimes players have their location given away by carrying a chest/bounty.
    3. Don't get distracted by quests/voyages/PvE threats. If you do, you could let a ship sink you.
    4. Don't come into the game with a 'plan.'
    5. Keep a rowboat.

    Incorrect. Brig was added long after game launch. It was sloop for two players and brig for 4 at the start of game in March 2018.

  • Lucky 13 X
    Captain
    Insider
    Founder

    @bugaboo-bill said in Playing this game Solo is frustrating pain:

    @Cfrock

    Playing this game Solo is frustrating pain

    can be, but not neccessarily!
    It can also be very much immersive and a challenge.

    Game was not build for SP, the Sloop was added later in Development.
    At firt there were only Galleones.
    Sloops were added to please smaller Crews and friends, but it was Duo Sloop at minimum, not solo.
    People asked for Solo Sloop and Rare made it possible to run a Sloop solo, said it's hard mode. this was before release.
    Later they also added the 3 player ship.

    It's a MP game, you can solo, i enjoy it to solo sometimes, but i aproach the game different then. I am more immersing myself, i'm not out for big piles of booty, i RP and sometimes i bring every loot i get on the way to the Outpost. No hoarding, not becuase i can, but because my Pirate is cautious like hell, because he needs to if he watches the Horizon and see other ships, potential agressors.

    Or i hoard a lot at an island for silly reasons or i just play like i am stranded and need to survive on an island, collect all, then go for a rowboat and yeah...

    the most fun is if i do adventures rather than play efficently and such.

    you role play being stranded and then use rowboat? Awesome!

  • Stundorn
    Castaway
    Insider
    Founder

    @lucky-13-x

    Yeah, if there is one.

    I did a whole journey in a rowboat :)
    Multiple Maps. Stole some booty from other ships completely unnoticed, was amazing fun!

  • Da German420
    Legend
    Insider
    Founder

    i think we have mixed server cause the devs believes its so fun its the adventure when a galleon show up and you just alone on your sloo.and a real reason could be the servers cant handle 6 brigs or galleons on the server in adventure mode ,yes the ships are balanced but not the crewsizes and get a crew is a poor argument caue sometimes we wanna play solo i mean who would play halo for example 2 vs 5?

  • CotU42
    Lord
    Insider

    Congratulations your point 1, 2 and 3 are spot on. You already know your answer. To add:

    • If you are anchored you are not parked properly.
    • If you don't see them coming you are not paying enough attention

    This is a crew game, this is a multiplayer game with PvP and you can actually outplay and destroy galleons and brigantines. It requires you to be able to keep the fight being a naval battle, you need the supplies and abilities to manage the situation and you need the patience because it is going to be a drawn out fight in most cases.

    As someone that can do Athena voyages solo without selling a single chest till the very end and doing dozens of them while never losing a single Athena's chest ever! The fact is that solo is viable, it is all you can ask for. If you are fed up with being in a 1vX situation... stop playing solo and find a crew!

    This is an open world multiplayer shared world, you are able to play as you please, you are able to do it and the tools are there to achieve your goals. Don't come here to complain that as a solo you have a harder time... you are playing the hardest crew size in the game! It is your choice, you do realize that pirates are not solitary beings, join a crew or #BeMorePirate and be the old sea dog captain that you want to be.

  • Snipper60
    Ship Mate
    Insider

    @lucky-13-x Thank you for pointing that out!

  • IcyMethodMan
    Master
    Insider

    @Cfrock I as mainly solo player am not getting "chewed up" by bigger ships, I'm that guy that if not straight up beats the 4man crew at least gets the reaction of "can't believe he's solo". It took a lot of hours to get to this level however.

    It is what it is though, if you choose to stay/play solo you need to expect to be in a disadvantage as at the end of the day you're knowingly choosing to go up against big crews on your own.

    I get the I don't have friends to play with argument but you could always be active in lfc threads or discords or even open crew. It's not optimal but you do have those choices so choosing to go solo is your choice.

  • Ghostpaw
    Legend

    @lucky-13-x said in Playing this game Solo is frustrating pain:

    Incorrect. Brig was added long after game launch. It was sloop for two players and brig for 4 at the start of game in March 2018.

    It was intended to be galleons only. Sloops were added prior to release because enough of us requested it. Rare went along with it but made it clear this would be considered “hard mode” and that the game would remain primarily focused on larger crews.

  • Lucky 13 X
    Captain
    Insider
    Founder

    @ghostpaw said in Playing this game Solo is frustrating pain:

    @lucky-13-x said in Playing this game Solo is frustrating pain:

    Incorrect. Brig was added long after game launch. It was sloop for two players and brig for 4 at the start of game in March 2018.

    It was intended to be galleons only. Sloops were added prior to release because enough of us requested it. Rare went along with it but made it clear this would be considered “hard mode” and that the game would remain primarily focused on larger crews.

    Ok I conceded that point.

  • Seedy Platypus
    Marauder

    This is a public service announcement: Please make shorter posts or a clearly defined table of contents. It would help us all understand you better.

  • ScytheG5188
    Ship Mate

    Little tip if you just want to avoid people

    in a sloop, sail against a headwind with your sails flat out, just tried it with a galleon that was pretty bad but aggressive, they fell behind pretty easily. And did it again to a Brigantine.

    Not sure why everyone is so aggressive, I just say Hi and people firebomb my ship, then run away when I kill them all and start putting holes in theirs.

  • CptGranch
    Seafarer
    Insider

    Miruzu is it you? (:

  • Krashino
    Rogue

    So, I've solo slooped for a LONG time now, mostly got Pirate Legend solo. Its not for everyone to be honest but it is definitely doable.

    First off, ANY voyage that sends me into a cave gets scrapped, simple as that. I actually do most, if not all of my solo slooping in the Devil's Roar BECAUSE of the lack of long winding caves I cant easily get out of. If you have to spend a large chunk of time running around dodging traps, its not worth it. I have literally scrapped Athenas just because it sent me underground to kill a bunch of skeles.

    Second, you can always escape a larger ship. Sail against the wind, use the environment, use world events, you always have options. You being hunted down by a Brig and happen to be close to Flameheart? Sail RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE of that, you're agile enough to dodge cannonfire, they arent. They get pelted and either break off or sink. Your worst nightmare tends to actually be other Sloops, because they are the ones who can easily catch up to you and its a lot harder to use the environment against them.
    Third, I find things like Meg and pop up skele ships easier to deal with while soloing. These things are much less tanky for you and if you DO happen to see someone bee-lining towards you, you can easily use these things as weapons against that other ship. Kraken's a nightmare, I just avoid fighting and hope like hell I can get out of its range.

    Finally, there is no rule saying you HAVE to stay on your ship at all times while sailing, line your ship up against the wind and hop off to sabotage. Your ship will be fine as long as you dont line your ship up to sail into anything. Enemy ships will be moving slow enough to get on and get their anchor down, or to knock a few holes in with a keg, there's always an option. If someone is being stubborn start dropping kegs in the water behind you.

    Like I said before, solo slooping isn't really for everyone, and the game does cater to groups of players for a reason. Its definitely possible though and I kinda prefer it this way, it helps teach you how to be a more than competent crew member when you do hop in a group, and its just a lot more fun that way. I now have a regular group I play with but even now I still prefer to solo it for a bit from time to time.

  • the fuzzy hat
    Castaway

    Yes, it is and its a sad state that other games already have intuitive solutions to the problem of PvE or PvP. World of Warcraft gives player the incentive of greater rewards for deciding to opt into PvP. Something that would end the issue of there being no PvE option to players who aren't interested in that aspect of the game entirely, while giving players who are willing to take the risk even if they may not enjoy PvP a reason to go to those servers.

    Considering a vast majority of ganking experience, either direction in my experience is a bigger crew just mauling smaller crews its even similar to WoW in that players don't want a fair fight when in the open world. They want an easy win and quick rewards at the expense of players who don't stand much of a chance a majority of the time, worse still, at least in WoW its 5-10 minutes of my time at worst, in Sea of Thieves I could potentially lose upwards of 3 hours of progress. I personally don't have a problem with it, Sea of Thieves progress is essentially "meaningless" in the sense its just cosmetics and commendations, but its not hard to see why people complain all the time.

    Why Rare believes that PvP is a foundational aspect of the game is kind of a silly and pretentious viewpoint. Players playing the game choose what makes the game good to them or what aspect of the experience matters to them most. You would think a developer would try facilitate an environment that people to play the way THEY want to instead of forcing their vision of the game down the throats of players and telling them to get lost otherwise.

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