How PvE Could Work

  • jidenshaotoko
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    I've brought this up before at this very forum and I feel I need to bring it up again.

    I'd say 90% of my time with the game is spent playing with my wife. The other 10% I play either solo or with strangers. When I play solo or with strangers, I don't care when people occasionally try to engage in combat with me. I have no shame in admitting I suck at the combat because that's not a part of the game I invest time in, but bring it on. You'll probably get away with my treasure, but I don't mind. It's part of the game, like many of you seem really invested in shoving in people's faces.

    However, when I play with my wife, we spend all of our time chatting with each other while we aimlessly navigate the seas, until we stop at an island to explore. Sometimes, we do a couple voyages to break things up a little bit. If we see a ship pass us by we let them be. We don't want anything to do with their loot. Our play style is 100% focused on exploring the game, not combat. The problem with exploring the game in an environment where people feel enticed to attack you at every encounter is that you're bound to come across the beloved "griefers". You know who I'm talking about. Those people who don't seem content with engaging in the occasional combat. They follow you everywhere you go around the map and sink your ship over and over again, regardless of there being no treasure on your ship. And when they manage to sink your ship and you happened to not sink along with it, there comes the snipping part. Then you respawn at a different outpost and you start all over again, only to find them once more a couple minutes later, resuming the endless chasing loop.

    Whenever someone brings up PvE in this forum, I see 2349 people yelling things like "It will RUIN the game!!!", "It's a PIRATE GAME, we're supposed to STEAL!!!", "Go play something else NOOB!!!!".

    First, let me preface my suggestion by saying no. No. Nope. It won't ruin the game, you know why? Regardless of whether Rare eventually gets to add PvE into the game, your precious PvP will still remain in the game for you to play at any time you want. And if you say it will ruin the game because you fear people will just flock over to the PvE servers, abandoning PvP as a result, then perhaps PvP isn't as fun for everybody else as it is for you. I don't think people will flock over to PvE though, so hold your pants. I just assume we're a minority.

    People often against PvE make a good point about how it could potentially make progression unfair and eliminate the threat of losing your loot so here are my suggestions on how I think a PvE server could work:

    • Rip progression from PvE for all I care, but give us the option to explore the world without worrying about actual players.

    • If removing progression/commendations from PvE is off the cards for Rare, add a separate progression/commendation tracker to PvE that doesn't carry over to PvP.

    • Sea of Thieves already have GREAT systems in place with the Kraken, the Megalodon and the Cursed Ships, with possibly more to come. Rare could make these threats more frequent and in a larger number around the world in the PvE server.

    • If they absolutely have to have other players outside your party in a PvE server, make it so that no PvP is allowed, instead working as a co-op environment where everybody helps each other out in defeating these AI threats and gathering treasures, again with stats and progress being tracked separately from PvP servers.

    In short, think of PvP as a ranked server and PvE as an unranked one... or the Teletubbies server if you will.

    Now, please proceed to destroy me in the comments as a lot of people always do to anyone suggesting something against their beliefs. Here are a couple topics that could be used against me:

    • I'm a noob and have no shame about it
    • I suck at shooting, can't hit you even if you're 3 feet away from me
    • I'm easy to get treasure stolen from
    • I'm a millennial that despite common belief, don't like Starbucks and don't feel entitled to things
    • And no, I'm not 12 years old. Stop asking.

    Your turn.

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  • Shikia Caeleaum
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    @jidenshaotoko well tbh I am not someone who only says "PVP is part of the core elements of the game"....but there is always this following question with these PVE server I have:

    If there is PvE....how can you defend your treasure? By no means with PvP...let me explain.....the chests and treasure is NOT bound to a crew...everybody can pick it up and i do not think it is easy to bind them to a crew programming wise.....so imagine this:

    you come at an outpost where one person is with a boat (or only with a mermaid you cannot see)....you cannot attack him but he comes onto your ship and grabs a fort skull.....you CANNOT do anything since pvp is not there......so you can just stand there idly while he laughts at your face for cashing your stuff in.....

    I know you want to enjoy your experience with your wife in a peaceful environment...sometimes I am the same (tbh raising the reapers mark is something that DECREASED my pvp experiences i wonder why :P ) but I rather have these slight encounters with aggressive ships than people stealing your loot when you are alive and cannot do anything -.-

  • Slave2theSAvE
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    @shikia-caeleaum I guess just ask them nicely to give it back?!? 😆

  • Shikia Caeleaum
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    @slave2thesave uhhhhh ^^° when they already took it I do not think they want to give it back ^^°

  • Slave2theSAvE
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    @shikia-caeleaum exactly, thats why a sword or pistol works so much better

  • Shikia Caeleaum
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    @slave2thesave yeah I know ;) I am not against pvp I just wanted to say...if there ever be a pve.....then there should be no voyages....no treasure lying about...no loot from forts etc...
    which basicially is an upgraded google map streetview from sea of thieves ^^°

  • Slave2theSAvE
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    @shikia-caeleaum sorry jokes dont translate well in text form, im totally with you on this.
    I dont want to see PvE mix with the main game either, i love my PvP and i can also understand where some players are coming from with wanting to explore. Im not against the idea of there being a PvE only side of the game and have suggested in another thread once before, they can have PvE, go for it, but it must be completely seperate from the main game, no progress, no commendations and no loot carries over to this side of the game.

  • Shikia Caeleaum
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    @slave2thesave yeah I would be fine with a no loot or voyage server as well ;) but i do not think that rare has the time to code such a thing since trust me it is much much work....

    so probably no pve/explore only servers.... I would be fine with a tortuga like addition to the pvp map though ^^° like an instance where you meet other peaceful crews :D

  • Slave2theSAvE
    Master
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    @shikia-caeleaum Yeah that would work great too. Actually thats a good point for @jidenshaotoko, you should try to utilise the alliance system with some other ships on your server, most other players are first and foremost just looking to find treasure or take on skellys etc. Chances are you guys can band together and will stand a better chance against the griefers, power in numbers.

  • Lord Pharqwad
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    @jidenshaotoko I think zero progression private servers are the way to go, for reasons @Shikia-Caeleaum mentioned and also for RP and the ablility to host your own server. Might even draw in twitch audience almost like Twitch RP did for Ark.

  • Shikia Caeleaum
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    @lord-pharqwad that would be amazing like private servers with only the crews you want in :D could be even made into a "battle royale" community event hosted by the players themselves :D

  • Lord Pharqwad
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    @shikia-caeleaum didn't even think of that! Time to add a server list forum tab :D

  • jidenshaotoko
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    @shikia-caeleaum That's where the co-op aspect I mentioned on my post would come in. The PvE server could work as a big co-op server where a smaller number of ships (preferably people in your party) would join in to take part in voyages as a big group, fencing off more frequent AI threats to up the stakes and give you some challenge on your way to outposts.

    Nothing you do on this server would carry over to PvP. What you do in a PvE environment - including voyages, levels, titles, commendations and cosmetics - would remain in PvE. If you hop in on a PvP server, then you'd take from wherever you where last time you played it.

  • jidenshaotoko
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    @slave2thesave Ever since they released this update, we've been flying the Alliance flag. Didn't work once for us. That's not to say every single ship we came across attacked us. Some just ignored us like we usually do with other people. Some engaged in combat and when we fled, they just ran their course and let us be. It's when you find that ship on a mission that chases you everywhere you go that makes us feel like never playing the game again.

    We've had chases lasting up to 50 minutes before we gave up and quit the game. 50 freaking minutes. I wish I was just extrapolating numbers to make a point, but unfortunately I'm not. That turned us off from the game for about 2 entire months. Today we had another similar experience.

    We had pulled up at an island where we found one of those Mermaid statues and we were trying to figure out how to destroy it when we noticed a ship quickly approaching. We let them be, even though two of them jumped on our ship perhaps to look for treasure. Both my wife and I ignored it and kept dealing with the Mermaid. We didn't have any sort of interaction with the ship that boarded ours since we were both playing in the living room with our microphones off. I figured as soon as they realized we weren't carrying any treasure they would just hop back onto their ship and go away, but nope.

    Not only they proceeded to blast our ship with shot after shot until they sank it, but also both those guys started snipping us until we finally gave up and quit the game.

  • Shikia Caeleaum
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    @jidenshaotoko ah kk :D if it is meant as a private server then I am all in :D
    if it is like an open server where random crews can join then the griefing (chest stealing etc) would definetly go to a new lvl -.-

    if there will be NO money and rep and commendations going to the "full version" server then as said I am all in for a "light version" :D

    Edit: maybe you should not be able to buy cosmetics... I know it would be bad that you really cannot get anything from the pve server but separating the cosmetics would be harsh...maybe just not unlocking or buying anything is fine :) (except for the voyages that do not count into the commendations)...

  • jidenshaotoko
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    @shikia-caeleaum I'd personally not care if Rare decided to add a PvE server with no commendations, titles or cosmetics at all and just allowed you to do voyages and encounter the occasional AI threat, but I think this would be off the cards because I believe they'd rather give players a reason to keep playing their game.

  • Slave2theSAvE
    Master
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    Perhaps a vote to migrate to a different server option in the crew menu would be a welcome addition. But obviously there would need to be a lock out time after migrating to prevent endless server hopping.

  • NeedSmokes
    Commander

    I play both solo and with crews, i wouldn't care at all if PVE servers were introduced.
    A while back there was the argument that people would level up too fast with no outside threat, but it now is quicker to level up on a normal server with the aid of the alliance system, something you wouldn't have if you were alone on a PVE server.
    People should be allowed to play how they want too. But it would take the edge off the game when you know there is no threat to your loot as you are sailing about, and for that reason, perhaps the titles etc you can unlock should not apply to a PVE server.

  • Nefrit Od
    Master
    Insider

    @jidenshaotoko can i ask how long have you playing this game ?
    There are 3 seas and 22 islands in each one, there is nothing to explore for this time long (its half year already from release date).
    Plus if you interesting only in exploring, why bothering if some one attacking your ship ? Let em sink it - you need only islands. Not loot, not your ship - only exploring, as you mentioned before.

  • jidenshaotoko
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    @nefrit-od I've been playing since one of the very first alpha builds, pre-ordered the game and have been playing on and off since day 1.

    You do understand that your concept of exploration might differ from the one my wife and I have, right? You may not find fun in navigating the ocean, but we do.

    When people sink your ship, you spawn on a different island, usually pretty far from where you were headed. And from personal experience, if you try to head back to the island you were heading to in the first place, it's pretty much a guarantee that you're going to come across the very ship that sank you. And when you're on land, most people are not content with only sinking your ship, they'll follow you around the island until they kill you.

  • Nefrit Od
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    @jidenshaotoko написал в How PvE Could Work:

    @nefrit-od I've been playing since one of the very first alpha builds, pre-ordered the game and have been playing on and off since day 1.

    You do understand that your concept of exploration might differ from the one my wife and I have, right? You may not find fun in navigating the ocean, but we do.

    When people sink your ship, you spawn on a different island, usually pretty far from where you were headed. And from personal experience, if you try to head back to the island you were heading to in the first place, it's pretty much a guarantee that you're going to come across the very ship that sank you. And when you're on land, most people are not content with only sinking your ship, they'll follow you around the island until they kill you.

    <However, when I play with my wife, we spend all of our time chatting with each other while we AIMLESSLY navigate the seas, until we STOP at an island to EXPLORE. <
    Your words not mine but that't not answering my question WHAT are you exploring in this small seas since Alfa ? :D

    Example: you heading to snake island (to exlore!) you don't want pvp you just want:
    a) explore island
    You can park at it without a problem and run around on island to do what ever you wan't. You be dead in only 3 options - from snakes, from skellys, from other people who came here not for Exlporing but for chests, skulls, merchant stuff.
    b) explore seas (so basically you just want to sail around)
    And that's the easiest part coz you said that you playing with wife - so its Duo Sloop which is:

    • best ship at maneuverability
    • faster ship against wind
      No one can catch you and fight you in a melee if you don't wan't it.

    Summarily:
    You wan't additional game mode but you can do what you asked in this one. Plus tons of people using alliance system (try to use your mic in game). Third - use search button on a forum there are topic with:
    Sloop tips
    combat tips
    Noobies tips
    Etc.
    Which will help you escape unwanted situation.

    And another one that people are often forget about when doing topics like you did.
    This game has a potential to have a Good PVE stuff, but yet its not i game.
    Coz its Player versus environment - and "environment" right now is skelly forts and skelly ships + quests (the one you get from addons and a normal ones like goaldhoarders) but that''s regular and not huge.

  • VenviP1983
    Captain
    Insider

    I also play this game with my wife and we are enjoying it. I wish that SoT has PVE mode. It will bring relaxing athmosphere in game, good mood and feeling of nice time spent in game going voyages or taking fort. For now it is stressful, but beautiful and interesting game.

    I don't understand people who are saying that PVE will ruin the game or just advising how to adopt the way you play in PVP to escape other ships. Who wants PVP - plays PVP. If you prefer relaxed journey choose PVE. But we still don't have an option.

    We all know that a lot of gamers only can get their satisfaction by sunking other ships no matter what (even if you say that you are friendly). It is just the fact of life that people are violent and enjoy making harm to other people.

    So I also want to have PVE mode just to have relax after hard working day, without inexplicable violence from other gamers.

  • jidenshaotoko
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    @nefrit-od Read my other replies for answers to pretty much all the points you brought up. You can dissect the way we play the game however you want, it still isn't the same while only PvP is available.

  • jidenshaotoko
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    @dutchyankee In our case, it's not so much about losing treasure. It's about people getting us out of whatever we were doing because they want combat no matter what. They can take all our treasure or simply not find any within our ship, if they're on a mission, they'll make a point to sink your ship and kill you regardless.

    We've tried our fair share of server hopping already. It's just a temporary measure to a problem that's just waiting to show up again. Server hopping is especially frustrating when we set out to a distant island and then we have to start all over again when we switch servers.

  • J4dio
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    @jidenshaotoko I too have been playing since early Alpha, put many, many hours in, also, I play with my wife. We play every single night (I think we've missed 3 nights since release) we are both pirate legends and absolutely love the game. We are good at avoiding fights, (or I'll talk my way out of one) because we know we aren't the most skilled PvP people, but we will take it on the chin should we get killed/sunk.

    I really don't mind it as it is, but I totally support the PvE option server, with separate characters to a PvP server, because just like you said, sometimes after a long day, you just want to relax and explore, with a bit of ai threat, not get chased by mindless people for no reason, or get harassed verbally when you happen to come across those types.

    In essence, this game is beautiful, I would probably still choose the pvp servers, to keep the edge, but some nights, a nice exploration & laid back voyage would be better. Especially when you could meet up with others that just want to voyage and enjoy the environment Rare have made.

  • jidenshaotoko
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    @venvip1983 Pretty much our situation here. We love the game and enjoy it a lot, so much so that despite these drawbacks we often want to come back to it. But as you put it, when you're not in mood for combat and you come across people hell bent on engaging, the fun becomes stress. PvE would go a long way to accommodate different play styles.

  • jidenshaotoko
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    @j4dio said in How PvE Could Work:

    I really don't mind it as it is, but I totally support the PvE option server, with separate characters to a PvP server, because just like you said, sometimes after a long day, you just want to relax and explore, with a bit of ai threat, not get chased by mindless people for no reason, or get harassed verbally when you happen to come across those types.

    In essence, this game is beautiful, I would probably still choose the pvp servers, to keep the edge, but some nights, a nice exploration & laid back voyage would be better. Especially when you could meet up with others that just want to voyage and enjoy the environment Rare have made.

    This pretty much sums it up. When I'm in the mood to play PvP, I often play alone or with strangers. With my wife, it's time to relax and not stress about other people.

  • jidenshaotoko
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    @dutchyankee It works sometimes and I agree, it's the best solution at the moment. But a more permanent solution would definitely be the addition of a PvE server, so it rules out the griefing entirely.

  • J4dio
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    @jidenshaotoko Exactly, we aren't what I'd call "bad" players, and never mind any ai fights, but when it comes to PvP, that's when she gets annoyed, especially when they are calling out crazy things or spawn camping (yes I know, just scuttle ship / swap server etc. etc.) but the annoyance is already there, so it becomes pointless.

    After a hard day at work, sometimes, you just want to relax in a lovely game, not having to worry about some idiots who want to kill you when you have nothing on-board, relentlessly. I'd rather not see her get wound up by morons, if she's not in that mood.

    As I say, I know we'd still play on PvP servers, but once a week just to chill a PvE server would be a nice option to have.

  • Captn StormRage

    @jidenshaotoko said in How PvE Could Work:

    @venvip1983 Pretty much our situation here. We love the game and enjoy it a lot, so much so that despite these drawbacks we often want to come back to it. But as you put it, when you're not in mood for combat and you come across people hell bent on engaging, the fun becomes stress. PvE would go a long way to accommodate different play styles.

    I played a game called Ultima Online like twenty years ago which had two different server types (pvp/pve & pve) because the players asked for it and it turned out really good. The (PvP/PvE) server got double the loot because of more danger and everyone I knew would hop back and forth depending their game mood. The game is still going on today and if a game as old and dated as Ultima is still around then that pretty much goes to show you Sea of Thieves very well would go a long ways if they dare at least try it.

    IMHO a PvE only server added along side the way it is now would help this game immensely. A PvE type server only added wouldn't hurt this game, if someone wants to complain about it would ruin PvP then I'd say Cursed Cannonballs did way more damage to this game than a PvE server ever could or would... IMHO again, of course.

    As far as what if another ship tries to take your loot in a PvE only situation then they could make it bound to a ships crew as in only the ones whom obtained it first or such has rights to move/cash it in as that scenario with loot drops already exists in other games.

  • D Jaguar
    Captain
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    @captn-stormrage I am just excited you talked about Ultima! I didn't care for Ultima Online, but the game series before the online version was great!

  • D Jaguar
    Captain
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    @jidenshaotoko join one of the many discord crews. They do server take overs by asking others for their ships and offering items in return. the seas can become very peaceful for you.

  • Blam320
    Legend
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    I hate to be that guy, but you really should have looked (looked only and not posted) in the archives. There were “PvE servers pls” threads in abundance in the early days after launch.

    They’ve disappeared, and for good reason: Rare confirmed long ago that separate servers are not going to be an addition to Sea of Thieves, as it violates the sense of emergent experiences that they want to remain a core part of the game, on top of other logistical and balance difficulties.

  • xCALYPT0x
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    @jidenshaotoko FIRE AND BRIMSTONE TO YOU FOR EVEN SUGGESTION SUCH A LUDICROUS IDEA!!

    Jk :) I've never cared for the PvE server suggestion because I have always wanted to avoid splitting the community in any way. That being said, if the discussion is around a private server that you would have to host yourselves (someone in your crew) I would not be against that at all. If there isn't an official Rare hosted PvE server I find it hard to believe they would draw too much attention away from the actual game.

    The developer in me would also like to add some mods :)

  • OttersTeeth

    I'd be in for an unofficial PvE server. @Shikia-Caeleaum rightly brought up the point of defending treasure in PvE.

    Here be a thought: What if everyone in the server gains a little gold and XP (PvE server gold and XP that is, some that doesn't translate to PvP) for all treasures brought in on that server.
    But as soon as you pick something up, (or maybe even dig somthing up) you are the only one who can now move it.

    The game can already register that you killed a skeleton or whether or not you finished a fort or exploded some skellies, for the commendations. Perhaps this would not be too much of a leap to add.

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