Fixing the Reaper Emissary

@personalc0ffee said in Fixing the Reaper Emissary:

IMHO, Reaper needs fixed because it is too good on the PvE side.

It makes the most money and it is vastly exploited in alliances.

The way to fix the symptom is to adjust how Reaper emissary works.

The way to fix the exploit causing the symptom is to adjust the way alliances magically add gold value to loot.

Adjust mechanics so that only emissaries at Grade 2 or higher can see the exact location of Reapers on the map.

Adjust mechanics so that Grade 5 Reapers can only see emissaries Grade 2 or higher.

These two make more sense. (Tho I prefer the second one best) Also, I dislike seeing only Grade 1 flags as a Reaper. Maybe only Grade 3?

They to also make it. If there is a Grade 5 Reaper on the server or active? Any loot turned in while sailing as another Emissary besides a Reaper, you get bonus for survival? Risk = Reward

@gipperseadog

If people could only see Reapers once they've hit Grade 5, that takes away a whole lot of risk versus the reward for the emissary bonus they get on everything they turn in.

I see no reason for anyone NOT running an emissary to be able to see the location of Reapers. It only promotes server hopping Reaper hunters.

@burnbacon said in Fixing the Reaper Emissary:

These two make more sense. (Tho I prefer the second one best) Also, I dislike seeing only Grade 1 flags as a Reaper. Maybe only Grade 3?

The reason for eliminating the little ships on the Reaper table at outposts is because it would encourage people to stay on the server instead of leaving and choosing a theoretically less risky server based on the presence of a Reaper.

The other two make emissaries more risk/reward based as a whole. No Reaper wants to roll up on a Grade 1 Gold Hoarder sloop with a Marauder's chest onboard.

The alternative would be that once a Reaper hits Grade 5, they can see all emissaries as they can today, but they could also see the emissary level of whatever ship it is. They couldn't see they type of emissary, but they could see the level. That way they could let people raise their emissary level and let their meal get fat before hunting.

They to also make it. If there is a Grade 5 Reaper on the server or active? Any loot turned in while sailing as another Emissary besides a Reaper, you get bonus for survival? Risk = Reward

This is a neat idea as well. I like it! Though that also feels like it would get abused somehow on alliance servers...but that's more a problem with alliances than with your idea.

@d3adst1ck said in Fixing the Reaper Emissary:

I think having the map functionality at all just promotes players leaving because of information they shouldn't have in the first place. The only time you should be aware of another ship hunting you down is you seeing them and taking note of their movements/behaviour.

So...All reward and no risk?? I couldn't get onboard with that unless they heavily nerf'd the emissary bonus for Reapers

Get rid of the map abilities and give the Reaper's something else that is useful whether there are other emissaries or not.

Go on... interested in hearing some ideas.

I think that Reapers should be hidden on the map if they drop anchor. Going to an outpost can show you their toy ship on the table, but they will be invisible on the map if they drop anchor. Besides that, I feel emissaries through portals need to go. I've grown tired of checking my map, seeing nothing, and then within 5 minutes there's a Grade V Reaper headed straight toward me.

@d3adst1ck said in Fixing the Reaper Emissary:

I've thought about a version of an emissary voyage, which would give the reaper crew a bunch of maps. Some of these maps might be for high value loot, and some might be full/partial copies of an existing map of another crew somewhere on the server but with no way to tell which is which.

The only hint you'd get is if a map disappears, and you happen to remember which island it was on, you'd have some idea of where another crew is but without the radar abilities that we have now. This also blends nicely with the portal, since voyages get stripped when traveling through it and now all trading companies are applied the same penalties.

There's elements of this that I really like. That said, I feel it's so far removed from what Reaper is today that it'd be better served to do something like that under a whole new faction.

I've been putting together a concept for a new faction - the Sea Dog faction. I may just use elements of what you just described in my concept.

@klutchxking518 said in Fixing the Reaper Emissary:

I think that Reapers should be hidden on the map if they drop anchor. Going to an outpost can show you their toy ship on the table, but they will be invisible on the map if they drop anchor.

That's a super interesting idea. I really like this. It allows Reapers to do certain world events or whatever without sending up a red flag to server hoppers, but it also forces them to leave their ship in a compromised state given that they can't just drop sails and go at the drop of a...well...a sail.

Besides that, I feel emissaries through portals need to go. I've grown tired of checking my map, seeing nothing, and then within 5 minutes there's a Grade V Reaper headed straight toward me.

Totally separate issue, but I do agree that emissaried portal hopping (not just Reapers) is bad for the game as a whole and needs corrected.

@kakaroto9766

I agree that, often times, Reapers claiming they can't find prey when they hit Grade 5 are lazy. There are ships with loot on the server, you just have to put more effort into finding them.

The bigger issue I am trying to resolve with these minor tweaks is pop and hop Reaper hunters. These changes would directly impact their ability to do that, while not forcing anyone to stay on the same server. Remember, there are people that hop servers to find (or avoid) a specific event. There are plenty of times where I log in and see that Flameheart is up, roll my eyes and leave lol.

@kakaroto9766

There would have to be a middle ground if you put limitations on server hopping. Think about the folks that say "I got spawn camped by some toxic [expletives] before even leaving the outpost"...while I think the majority of those claims are exaggerated, we can't dismiss that they don't want to be on a server with a specific type of pirate.

Maybe the solution is a 5-10 minute server lock of sorts. The server you load into is your locked server for that amount of time. You can back out and log back in, but you're getting that same server if it's within that time frame. The only exceptions would be joining an open crew, or joining on a friend's crew.

@kakaroto9766

Maybe. But, I'd still maintain that my proposal largely discourages the pop and hop players while not outright preventing people from hopping for more productive reasons.

Sure, you could still hop and try to find FoTD's, but that could take someone a comically long time. It could take so long that they would hopefully be discouraged from even trying...and even then, we've all seen them baited before.

Sure, you could hop and try to find FoF's...but you'd still have to (in most cases) leave the dock to find out if someone's actually doing the FoF. And maybe on that trek, they find a different reason to stay on the server if they discover that nobody is actually doing the FoF.

You're never going to eliminate the players that just want to steal stuff. Nor would I want to eliminate those types of players. They serve a fantastic purpose, IMO. However, I don't believe it should be so easy for them to find their next plunder.

@sweetsandman disagree…reapers tend to be toxic so therfore we need to be able to see reapers at all times period

@madfrito99 said in Fixing the Reaper Emissary:

@sweetsandman disagree…reapers tend to be toxic so therfore we need to be able to see reapers at all times period

Is it Reapers that tend to be toxic? Or server hoppers that tend to be toxic?

Also, please define "toxic" as that label gets placed on everything from "that guy sank me" all the way to the people throwing around racial slurs.

@wolfmanbush a dit dans Fixing the Reaper Emissary :

@personalc0ffee said in Fixing the Reaper Emissary:

IMHO, Reaper needs fixed because it is too good on the PvE side.

It makes the most money, it can instantly see where all the treasure boats are as soon as it hits grade V or merges to a new server while grade V, it gets bonus grade progress for stolen loot, and it is vastly exploited in alliances.

Honestly, part of running RB is that everyone knows you are a Reaper and can choose to leave or stay on the server.

It's not too good with an organic experience

people hopping to hit reapers is the new tucking everyone and their mama is doing it.

They have chain shots they can buy supplies and they have close spawns and the reapers only have one place to sell for the bonus

deck is very stacked against random pve reapers right now

The biggest imbalances away from production and towards low effort no to low contribution pvp play can be found right now with the reaper faction.

Imo both your statement and the one you responded to have some truth.

My playgroup and I start our session with flying reaper's flag by default, unless there is a specific reason not to (emissary ledgers, commendations for a new update...). Mainly because it's way too good as a faction money wise and it's easier to sell to. We often joke about Reaper's being the only faction in the game.

Now we're true to the pvpve nature of the game and find the Reaper hunters being a nice addition to our daily adventures, but it is true that there has been a surge for some times now.
For an experienced crew, Reaper is way too good imo and makes the other factions less relevant, which is bad.
For a crew with less experience (who will win less and find the losses more difficult to swallow), at this time, I'm convinced that it's a recipe for frustration.

@calico-jack3172 said in Fixing the Reaper Emissary:

Simply remove the ability to see eachother on the map , no matter the emissary grade...make it harder for everyone.

This. It would be fair for all and good for immersion as well.

Also let all emissaries sell reaper flags to their own merchants, that way both sides have something to win.

@korpp1s no. as previously stated reapers tend to be toxic period. people have it in their mind of they are running reaper they myst sink others ships. this is not the case at all and its used as an excuse to back up their toxicity

@madfrito99 said in Fixing the Reaper Emissary:

@korpp1s no. as previously stated reapers tend to be toxic period. people have it in their mind of they are running reaper they myst sink others ships. this is not the case at all and its used as an excuse to back up their toxicity

It's not toxic to sink other ships. RB is supposed to target emissaries. If you don't believe me, just read the RB description again: https://www.seaofthieves.com/news/all-about-emissaries

Often times other emissaries are more toxic about fighting, but maybe that's because they gain nothing for fighting reapers. That's why it would be fair if they could at least sell the flag.

@madfrito99 That's just plain rubbish. Sinking someone's ship isn't toxic at all. It is how you do it (insulting etc) that determine if you're toxic or not.

A Reaper crew that sink someone saying only gg is not being toxic. A PvE crew getting angry at being sunk and insulting the opposing crew is actually being toxic.

@grog-minto a reaper sinking a ship that has nothing is toxic. reapers were not designed to just sink ships. they were designed to sink enissary ships and bring back loot to the reapers hideout. they can get loot from anywhere not just emissary ships. it has been morphed into “hey lets run reaper and sink ships” thats not the purpose of a reaper

To fix the Reaper Emissary you need to change most of the community. Because right now if i try to fight a reapers on the map 90% of then run away when they are supposed to be fighting witch is how the Reaper Emissary works: you fight and sink people and steal loot. But as we all know most reapers are VERY brave pirates so they stack world events and other stuff in the boat and if they see ANY boat come near them they RUN for 1 2 3 4 hours if needed

@lt-l00t said in Fixing the Reaper Emissary:

To fix the Reaper Emissary you need to change most of the community. Because right now if i try to fight a reapers on the map 90% of then run away when they are supposed to be fighting witch is how the Reaper Emissary works: you fight and sink people and steal loot. But as we all know most reapers are VERY brave pirates so they stack world events and other stuff in the boat and if they see ANY boat come near them they RUN for 1 2 3 4 hours if needed

Two sides to that one, 90% of the ships that try to initiate first when I am a reaper come to the fight with no flag up. 9.99% bring a Reaper 1, fail, and then return repeatedly with nothing up.

If Reapers are supposed to sink emissary ships and steal loot, why would they choose to engage an aggressor with none of these things onboard?

@wolfmanbush said in Fixing the Reaper Emissary:

reaper hunting is fine, server hopping is fine, pirates pvping how they want to is fine.

I agree players PvP'ing how they want is fine. However, Server Hopping and Reaper Hunting does not help with the economy of each server. I'll explain by addressing this part:

what isn't fine is feeding into specific types with features that make the shared environment less fun and the risk/reward imbalanced. This specifically has been done with chain shots, supplies for purchase, and close respawns.

If we address chain shots (which I think we both agree needs to be addressed) and buyable supplies, all it does is potentially elongate the battle. Most of the players hopping are highly skilled and can take down most players without chainshots and and extra 50 cannonballs. The chainshots currently just make it an even quicker kill. If anything, it would make the server less productive because the fights would just take longer.