Updates on Server Stability?

  • Neo Lux13
    Marauder
    Insider

    Can we please take a few updates to focus on getting server stability back to a useable point?

    I know that sounds like a Rant, but hear me out.

    issues like HitReg have been in the game for years, and it perfectly understandable that it isn't an easy thing to fix. However as of late, Especially with Captaincy, Servers have become more and more unstable. Not Unstable in that they keep crashing, but more so that issues like HitReg and Desync are amplified 10 fold. A major update or 2 before Captaincy, I was able to play fairly reliably, even on international servers (up to 250 ping). Yes, an occasional bullet might reg, but overall it was a still a fun and reliable experience. As of the last few updates, servers can't even seem to be able to handle people selling their loot. probably 7/10 of my sells have actually registered and given gold. Speaking of gold, the entire point of this game is to make currency and spend currency. In maybe 3-4/10 servers, it's not possible to do that either. I've had entire 6 hour sessions where no-one in my crew has been able to buy any supplies, any merchant crates or even any cosmetics. We either get stuck with an endless loading screen, or we get messages such as "I'm having trouble preparing my inventory right now" or "I'm sorry I can't find this item".

    Don't get me wrong, it is really good to see some of these big changes coming to the game, but when these changes come with 50% more hitreg issues, -30% viable sells and even a chance to not be able to spend my gold? It kind of sullies the experience for me.

    Basically, can we just sit back and take a few updates to overhaul, fix and even remove some unnecessary systems in game to help alleviate these issues?

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  • Galactic Geek
    Seafarer
    Founder

    @neolux13 I'm sorry, but this has been asked for before, and it's already clear that Rare won't, or can't, do that.

    For starters, it doesn't really make sense to do it. If they did, they would lose far more of the pirate-base from simple boredom from not having anything new than they would have from the bugs. Secondly, they have many teams working on many different things; not just bugs. For example, it doesn't make sense to pull the sound design team from their work to fix bugs - unless it's a sound design bug.

    I sympathize with your request, I really do, but I think that you have exaggerated just a tiny bit - it's not actually that bad. In most cases, it's still largely okay to sail the Sea, which is why you still see pirates upon the waves and a steadily growing community.

    Rest assured that they are working on it, even if it's nit exactly at the pace that you would prefer. More updates are coming, and along with them, there will bug fixes too. Admittedly, there may also be new bugs, but that's par for the course in any game. All they can do is try their best and fix them as they come, and do it the right way, so that things aren't made even worse - which is something that you have alluded to that I don't personally think is true. Hit-reg has gotten better slowly over time. Not fixed, but definitely better.

    Remember what Dory says: "Just keep swimming." 🐟

  • WolfManbush
    Champion

    People have shown that they will put up with ridiculous levels of performance inconsistency in this game.

    Performance has been getting worse for a long time and even pvpers stick around. The overkill crews are going to get through it simply because they enter situations with the deck stacked far in their favor but the people (that don't pve) that tdm or actually challenge themselves on a regular basis with pvp it kinda blows my mind how long they have lasted.

    What's really gonna be an issue is that the food chain was allowed to go to unsustainable chaos for a couple of years while combining with the poor performance.

    People stick around through the poor performance, that has just been shown over and over but the low organic activity and how milestones were implemented that have longer term pirates questioning "why do this again?" has caused significant decline in organic activity. These activity numbers are propped up with padded stats from alliance servers but that isn't substance and organic play shows that. The low organic play is what the pvpers/content creators are less likely to put up with as it makes for uninteresting and non entertaining content.

    People are actually quitting more and actually branching out more rather than just saying they are going to or just venting while still playing.

    The issue is that people that create interesting scenarios through their activity aren't coming back at this stage of the game's life. There will be no surge of people that put in all that work just to get wrecked regularly anymore. Different types of players getting brought in and a worsening environment to be the risk takers, there are just less and less people willing to carry the activity anymore outside of alliances and hopping pvp.

    Personally I think the game went too long without competition and because of that they never really had a situation of "we have to fix this", the people stayed and played through all the growing and amplifying performance issues. The content creators advertising the game were locked in, it's the only game many of them get the views/clicks for and there is a bunch of people very dedicated to chasing that dangling carrot of partner that keep the people already here engaged enough in the game to stick around.

    They just never really "had" to fix it which comes with competition, and there was no real competition.

  • BurnBacon
    Vanguard
    Insider

    Speaking of gold, the entire point of this game is to make currency and spend currency.

    Really? The entire point Of the game?
    And here I been doing adventure and tall tales and fishing just for the fun of it.

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