@personalc0ffee If servers were populated and stable, server hopping wouldn’t exist. It’s and endless cycle and it is unclear how much effort is actually going in to fixing it.
Server Hoppers Are Making The Game Stale And Unenjoyable
@scurvywoof Populated and stabl- are you sure those are even possible?
Populated servers ask that 4/5 of the ships you're looking to hunt down are doing the current world event, a voyage, FoTD, Shrines, Treasuries, Sea Forts, and not a tall tale. That's asking players to do things they wanna do without actually having to deal with hostiles in the first place.
You can't fix the game to fix the players, it's impossible to make players do things and then be okay with losing it constantly.
@nex-stargaze said in Server Hoppers Are Making The Game Stale And Unenjoyable:
@scurvywoof Populated and stabl- are you sure those are even possible?
Populated servers ask that 4/5 of the ships you're looking to hunt down are doing the current world event, a voyage, FoTD, Shrines, Treasuries, Sea Forts, and not a tall tale. That's asking players to do things they wanna do without actually having to deal with hostiles in the first place.
You can't fix the game to fix the players, it's impossible to make players do things and then be okay with losing it constantly.
This is why getting drunk and fishing is the best activity in the game-low risk high FUN very goofy
And if you sink you won’t be that mad as there was nothing of value you on your ship really-or you’ll just be too drunk to notice.
In all seriousness, a "fix" to server hopping will only exsist if the developers think it's in need of a fix, because they're the voice on what gets fixed and what isn't a problem, and if you don't like it-you can't really do much...@nex-stargaze It's definitely possible. I'm not bothered about world events. I just want to SEE someone. If I see at least 3 ships, that's what I consider populated. Last time I knew there was three ships on a server was about 2 months ago... they all left within 5 minutes of me joining :(
Ways to actually do what I've suggested? I dunno, probably not. In a perfect world, none of this would be an issue but, alas, we are not.
@personalc0ffee said in Server Hoppers Are Making The Game Stale And Unenjoyable:
If players are not staying on servers, that hurts the organic nature.
You know why players are changing servers? Because they are looking for players. Imagine we have 10x bigger map and 10x more ships and a range where we can see anything on the map, let's say the size of current map. No one would ever change the server. The problem lays in the design and server capacity. That's why we need Sea of Thieves 2.
Well said, Instead of focusing on "serverhopping = bad" you should focus your feedback on why it happens in the first place.
There would be no server hopping if people would be able to enjoy the game playing on the same server. Many of the streamers have said it multiple times, they dont want to server hop, they would much rather stay on the same server and keep playing, but the fact is there is far too few ships on the servers for people to keep playing on the same server. After a few fights the server is basically empty and there is nothing interesting for those to do who have grown bored of the repetitive PVE content there is to offer.
Having more server capacity and having more people merge in to the servers to fill them is the only real solution.
@hegemon3 said in Server Hoppers Are Making The Game Stale And Unenjoyable:
@personalc0ffee said in Server Hoppers Are Making The Game Stale And Unenjoyable:
If players are not staying on servers, that hurts the organic nature.
You know why players are changing servers? Because they are looking for players. Imagine we have 10x bigger map and 10x more ships and a range where we can see anything on the map, let's say the size of current map. No one would ever change the server. The problem lays in the design and server capacity. That's why we need Sea of Thieves 2.
The devs have come out and said that 6 ships is the sweet spot for the game because it makes the times when you do see other players more special. They didn't want it to be like an MMO where you're numb to the sight of another player because you're constantly drowning in a sea of gamertags.
I like that principle, however they have reduced it to 5 ships and I don't know that they ever increased that amount. I would say the absence of the 6th ship is definitely being felt. But since the devs intentionally have set the game up to where there are periods of time where you don't encounter other players, they should really make sure that the content that you have to engage with when other players aren't around feels fun and engaging by itself.
If this game didn't have a social aspect, I don't see how it would survive honestly. So much of the PvE is tedious and the AI is very simplistic and robotic. This aspect of the game really needs a shot in the arm. It needs more depth so that it can be entertaining on it's own, encouraging players to embrace the moments when servers are slow just as much as they embrace moments of high social activity.
@i-jusa-i said in Server Hoppers Are Making The Game Stale And Unenjoyable:
There would be no server hopping if people would be able to enjoy the game playing on the same server. Many of the streamers have said it multiple times, they dont want to server hop, they would much rather stay on the same server and keep playing, but the fact is there is far too few ships on the servers for people to keep playing on the same server. After a few fights the server is basically empty and there is nothing interesting for those to do who have grown bored of the repetitive PVE content there is to offer.
I have to admit, when I hear people talk about empty servers I never understand. The servers I play on are always well populated. I typically wonder if it's the region I'm in, or my playstyle, or something else like that. And I'm sure that contributes, but I almost always see other ships on my server within minutes of setting out on whatever I decide to do that session. Then I read a quote like this and I realize that more often than not what people mean when they say servers are empty are that they don't see boats doing what THEY want them to do. A reaper hopped on a server and don't see flags on the map? Server must be empty. Someone loads into a server and checks the emissary tables and doesn't see boats down? Server must be empty. I sank three ships and now I don't know where anyone is? Server must be empty. Meanwhile the other boats are all out there doing their own thing.
Is it possible to sail from one end of the map to the other without seeing another ship? Sure, it happens. Especially now that we are down to 5 ships. But that doesn't mean the server is empty. It just means you (not you specifically, just a general "you") don't have the time or patience to look for them hiding away doing whatever they are trying to stay hidden doing. It seems like for the past couple years since streamers have started to complain about servers being empty (ie: they can't find people doing what they want to do so they can create content) members of the community have started to pile on and it generally feels unjustified. The boats are out there. People just don't want there to be any effort associated with finding them.
Again, y'alls mileage may vary. (And probably does). ;-)
Servers might be populated but as 3-5 ships are spread around the map its sometimes more than an hour before you see a player, sometimes it might be 3 hours and not a single player ship in sight.
When talking about server hoppers, we are talking about PVP pirates who want to steal from other players. If youre a pvp player and cant find a single other player in hours its not fun gameplay. This leads to server hopping to find populated servers / servers with emissaries to hunt with reaper 5.
@i-jusa-i said in Server Hoppers Are Making The Game Stale And Unenjoyable:
Servers might be populated but as 3-5 ships are spread around the map its sometimes more than an hour before you see a player, sometimes it might be 3 hours and not a single player ship in sight.
When talking about server hoppers, we are talking about PVP pirates who want to steal from other players. If youre a pvp player and cant find a single other player in hours its not fun gameplay. This leads to server hopping to find populated servers / servers with emissaries to hunt with reaper 5.
Yup, I understand. You are saying you want to readily see people to fight. And sometimes these people don't want to fight so they don't raise emissaries or they try and stay hidden. They see you a mile away but don't let you see them. You think the server is empty and here they are thinking they can't ever get away from the PvP.
IMO, anyone who plays this game as PvP only or PvE only will burn out quicker than those who have a true PvPvE playstyle. That's just the way the game was designed. It wasn't designed to give PvPers quick access to PvP every session. It just isn't. And it isn't designed to give PvEers a no risk environment. So yes, there will be days when you won't find the PvP you are looking for. It doesn't mean the servers are empty. It means people aren't doing what you want them to do. There's a difference.
in addition: since we are down to 5 ships, 1 might be doing a tall tale, 1 or 2 might be on outpost in the open crew limbo (players joining, leaving, joining rinse and repeat), that already leaves 2 ships in addition to your crews ship who are POTENTIALLY doing anything in the server. This also piles on on the servers feeling extremely empty with only 5 ships on them.
What we need is more server capacity, and if thats not possible, we need to have the servers populated with players actually playing the game and not waiting for open crews, since they sometimes never even leave the outpost.
@chronodusk said in Server Hoppers Are Making The Game Stale And Unenjoyable:
@hegemon3 said in Server Hoppers Are Making The Game Stale And Unenjoyable:
@personalc0ffee said in Server Hoppers Are Making The Game Stale And Unenjoyable:
If players are not staying on servers, that hurts the organic nature.
You know why players are changing servers? Because they are looking for players. Imagine we have 10x bigger map and 10x more ships and a range where we can see anything on the map, let's say the size of current map. No one would ever change the server. The problem lays in the design and server capacity. That's why we need Sea of Thieves 2.
The devs have come out and said that 6 ships is the sweet spot for the game because it makes the times when you do see other players more special. They didn't want it to be like an MMO where you're numb to the sight of another player because you're constantly drowning in a sea of gamertags.
I like that principle, however they have reduced it to 5 ships and I don't know that they ever increased that amount. I would say the absence of the 6th ship is definitely being felt. But since the devs intentionally have set the game up to where there are periods of time where you don't encounter other players, they should really make sure that the content that you have to engage with when other players aren't around feels fun and engaging by itself.
If this game didn't have a social aspect, I don't see how it would survive honestly. So much of the PvE is tedious and the AI is very simplistic and robotic. This aspect of the game really needs a shot in the arm. It needs more depth so that it can be entertaining on it's own, encouraging players to embrace the moments when servers are slow just as much as they embrace moments of high social activity.
Yup, players need to remember this.
6 crew is the max and unless they've changed it 6 is what the entire game is developed around. I agree with you Chrono, I do believe it is 5 crew right now. Seen 4+our the other day when we were hunting emi's.
Like I said server hopping, begets more server hopping and yes it is one of many core issues with the game that has knock on effects. Just because players might like doing it or enjoy doing it, doesn't mean it isn't causing issues with the wider game as a whole. I feel if, when it appeared, Rare had taken steps to squash and mitigate it; we wouldn't have the problem we see today. But we are so far beyond that now, so I just don't know what they are going to do to fix it or if they even can.
When people say servers are empty they dont mean the server has no players. They mean theres nothing of interest going on on the server. Nothing worth chasing, no fight worth seeking. They dont mean they want to "instantly see something to attack", they mean theres a high chance they will sail for an hour and not find a single fight. Thats not fun.
We are talking about reasons that lead to server hopping.
The reasons are:
- servers feel empty
- PVE has been done by the player a thousand times already and they dont find it fun to do any more.
@i-jusa-i said in Server Hoppers Are Making The Game Stale And Unenjoyable:
When people say servers are empty they dont mean the server has no players. They mean theres nothing of interest going on on the server.
Again, nothing of interest TO YOU. PvPers don't get to define what an "empty server" means anymore than a PvEers gets to demand private servers because the servers are too full.
They dont mean they want to "instantly see something to attack"
Except that seems to be what you're saying. You said a server "feels empty" if there's nothing of interest (to you) happening. IE: you don't see emissaries on the map. You hop as a grade 5 Reaper, don't see any emissaries on the map, so you hop again. Rinse and repeat. Meanwhile, three islands over from you is a brig stacking vaults. Sail around for a bit and see what you see. Sometimes you won't see anything (as you well know) and sometimes you will. That's the nature of a PvPvE game. I understand why streamers can't do that. They are trying to make money playing this game and PvP brings the views. But for a casual crew just looking for PvP, server/portal hopping around probably isn't going to get you what you're looking for.
@tangus-00 said in Server Hoppers Are Making The Game Stale And Unenjoyable:
@i-jusa-i said in Server Hoppers Are Making The Game Stale And Unenjoyable:
There would be no server hopping if people would be able to enjoy the game playing on the same server. Many of the streamers have said it multiple times, they dont want to server hop, they would much rather stay on the same server and keep playing, but the fact is there is far too few ships on the servers for people to keep playing on the same server. After a few fights the server is basically empty and there is nothing interesting for those to do who have grown bored of the repetitive PVE content there is to offer.
I have to admit, when I hear people talk about empty servers I never understand. The servers I play on are always well populated. I typically wonder if it's the region I'm in, or my playstyle, or something else like that. And I'm sure that contributes, but I almost always see other ships on my server within minutes of setting out on whatever I decide to do that session. Then I read a quote like this and I realize that more often than not what people mean when they say servers are empty are that they don't see boats doing what THEY want them to do. A reaper hopped on a server and don't see flags on the map? Server must be empty. Someone loads into a server and checks the emissary tables and doesn't see boats down? Server must be empty. I sank three ships and now I don't know where anyone is? Server must be empty. Meanwhile the other boats are all out there doing their own thing.
Is it possible to sail from one end of the map to the other without seeing another ship? Sure, it happens. Especially now that we are down to 5 ships. But that doesn't mean the server is empty. It just means you (not you specifically, just a general "you") don't have the time or patience to look for them hiding away doing whatever they are trying to stay hidden doing. It seems like for the past couple years since streamers have started to complain about servers being empty (ie: they can't find people doing what they want to do so they can create content) members of the community have started to pile on and it generally feels unjustified. The boats are out there. People just don't want there to be any effort associated with finding them.
Again, y'alls mileage may vary. (And probably does). ;-)
In my experience when someone is complaining about an "empty server" it means they can't find targets to shoot.
Yes you can sail from one end of the map to the other without being seen and players do this, especially the ones that don't want people on their boat.
I agree, with exception if the server has been up a very long time it can bug out and won't merge in new players. That CAN happen and it is something they need to address. IMO, a server should keep merging in new players right up until 5-10 min of shut down and it should display a message. No player should be allowed to sail on an server that is no longer merging in other players, period.
In regards to boats hiding and doing their own thing, yes. A lot of players do not run emissary anymore because of server hoppers. I touched on this in my previous statement about emissaries coming into to replace the ones you've sank.
Most players are server hopping now to find 1 of 2 states:
- A PvP crew is looking for boats on tables or other Reaper's so they know if they should hunt or leave.
- A PvE crew is looking for no boats on tables and high level Reaper's to know if it is safe to gold grind and voyage.
Both of these indicate to the player whether to take the server or not in different ways.
Server hopping has DRASTICALLY hurt the organic nature of Sea of Thieves play on both the PvE and PvP sides of the game. By allowing players to continue to just leave a server whenever they want with no risk and no penalty has created these problems and have stuck us in this awful catch 22.
Server hopping has been an issue since Year 1.
So what youre saying is to fix server hopping: Tell people to stop and do PVE too?
You do undestand we are not discussing what I like to do or what you like to do, we are discussing server hopping, its reasons and potential fixes to it. So why are you constantly arguing with me about how you like the servers and how you like to do pve and how you dont care to portal hop as you like to do pvpve?
I am trying to give reasons as to why portal hopping exists, why people do it, and what would help to decrease the amount it is done. And youre not getting the point of this thread.
You do understand that switching servers by selecting quit game and joining another server is still server hopping? This thread did not define "portal hopping", which has its downsides too.
@i-jusa-i said in Server Hoppers Are Making The Game Stale And Unenjoyable:
You do understand that switching servers by selecting quit game and joining another server is still server hopping? This thread did not define "portal hopping", which has its downsides too.
Server hopping and portal hopping are the same problem, two different methods.
They created the same problems.
Server hopping and Portal hopping may be different in their mechanical aspects but what they do to the game is still the same, with some minor differences.
I am against BOTH and have been since Year 1.
"But for a casual crew just looking for PvP, server/portal hopping around probably isn't going to get you what you're looking for."
Sorry, but this is false.
Server hopping is simply the best way to find action in the lowly populated servers.
If I am playing with a pvp crew, we have all of our crew hopping servers until they find something of interest. Then the crew joins them. After this thing of interest has been fought/stolen/whatever, we sell and start to hop again if theres nothing on the server.
This does not mean we all stay on our ship and we all portal hop. This means 1 player stays behind to portal hop (as it takes ages to do, and often leads to nothing) while the rest hop servers noramlly. Most of the times we end up leaving the portal hopping ship and joining one of the crewmembers on another server.
How are you going to stop players from switching servers?
The only fix is a server that players dont need to leave to find the action they seek. So as I said, we need servers with more population, more things to draw players together, more ships actually doing something that isnt adventures/talltales/sitting at outpost buying pants.
@personalc0ffee said in Server Hoppers Are Making The Game Stale And Unenjoyable:
In my experience when someone is complaining about an "empty server" it means they can't find targets to shoot.
IMO every ship is a target (even those on tall tales, but don't tell anyone I said that). ;-) I think the key word here is "find". And I agree when people say they can't find ships they mean that they don't see them handed to them on the map. I'm suggesting if people stop complaining they can't find ships just handed to them (ie: empty servers) and actually get out there and look for them they will find the PvP they are looking for. But it's going to take a similar amount of effort that it takes the PVEers to actually get that loot in the first place. That's where the balance comes from.
Server hopping has DRASTICALLY hurt the organic nature of Sea of Thieves play on both the PvE and PvP sides of the game. By allowing players to continue to just leave a server whenever they want, with no risk, and no penalty.
I agree with the first part, but not sure about any penalty. I wouldn't penalize, but I would strongly incentivize staying on the same server. I don't know how you would do that, though. Contrary to what many people think, I don't think increasing the server cap would fix anything. If you increase the server capacity to 10, for example, you are just increasing the number of people doing tall tales, not raising emissary, and sitting at outposts. So you can have a 10 boat server that still feels empty to a PvPer. There has to be another way. I'm not sure what it is because (to me, at least) the issue revolves entirely around the attitude of the people playing. Anyone too strongly focused on PvP (servers are always empty) or on PvE (why do I see Reapers everywhere I go) will be always be disappointed.
@i-jusa-i said in Server Hoppers Are Making The Game Stale And Unenjoyable:
How are you going to stop players from switching servers?
The only fix is a server that players dont need to leave to find the action they seek. So as I said, we need servers with more population, more things to draw players together, more ships actually doing something that isnt adventures/talltales/sitting at outpost buying pants.
You can put them back on the same servers they left within a specified time limit.
You can institute timers that prevent them from joining new servers within a specified time limit.
Players that are leaving due to toxicity, would be unaffected because they are just going to a new server, they aren't hopping endless servers to find "action"
The point that many things can be done and yes it might upset some people but the game would be better for it in the long run and would go a long way in stabilizing the player populations.
@i-jusa-i said in Server Hoppers Are Making The Game Stale And Unenjoyable:
@tangus-00
You do undestand we are not discussing what I like to do or what you like to do, we are discussing server hopping, its reasons and potential fixes to it. So why are you constantly arguing with me...Constantly arguing with you? I'm replying to you when you ask me questions or respond back to me. I've never attacked you and even mentioned that when I said "you" I wasn't referring to you specifically. But if you feel this is just an argument then that's good enough for me. I saw you replied to me below but I haven't read that yet. I'll just move on and let whatever you said there be the last word. Or, if that's not good for you, you can reply to this and have the last word that way. I'll move on and discuss this with the rest.
...about how you like the servers and how you like to do pve and how you dont care to portal hop as you like to do pvpve?
Haha, definitely someone who hasn't been in a crew with me before. ;-)
So youre going to force players, who got sunk / got spawn camped / had cheaters on their server etc. back to the same server they just wanted to get out of?
Before the replies even start up;
I am very strongly against server hopping and always have been. I think the play style and sentiment is detrimental to the Sea of Thieves and the effects we see now, are a direct result of that play style and will continue to be until a solution presents itself. Yes, said solutions might change or upset the way players currently engage with and do things in the game. That's perfectly fine for me.
I am only concerned with the health and well being of the game as a whole and in longevity.
@i-jusa-i said in Server Hoppers Are Making The Game Stale And Unenjoyable:
So youre going to force players, who got sunk / got spawn camped / had cheaters on their server etc. back to the same server they just wanted to get out of?
I touched on this earlier because I knew it was going to brought up.
I said timer's wouldn't kick in on these instances because a player is not actively hopping. They are simply merging out.
You do keep responding with comments about what you like and what you assume I like, when I am speaking generally about the mindset a server hopper has. You also keep attacking what I say and arguing againts it, like its my own personal opinion only. We are discussin the general aspect of hopping, what leads to it, and what could reduce it.
So your comments like:
"Again, nothing of interest TO YOU. " (assuming im only talking about me personally)
"Sail around for a bit and see what you see." (telling me how to play the game when we are clearly not discussing tips on how to play the game, we are discussing how to potentially fix hopping)
"PvPers don't get to define what an "empty server" means" (does not matter, if they feel like a server is a waste of time they will hop, again nothing to add to the actual discussion at hand)I can list more examples if you wish.
You need to understand that this thread is about the aspect of hopping in genereal, and there is no need constantly direct your responses to me and my experiences in the game. That is not the discussion at hand.
Instead, comment on what you think is the reason server hoppers are doing what they are doing
Instead comment on why you think portal hoppers dont do it for the reasons I listed and
Instead try to comment on other potential fixes that could lead to less portal hopping.Maybe you understand what I mean now?
Being concerned for the health of the game, are you not concerned that a lot of players might leave the game if they have to first sacrifice 0.5-1 hours to even see if there is anyone on the server to fight? Do you not think this is bad for the games longevity?
Could you list some reasons portal hopping hurts the game? I personally have not felt any negative aspects of portal hopping. Just the other day we had a sweaty reaper 5 gally hop into the server on my open crew, while 1 of us was on a long afk break. We still managed to evade them and keep our loot, after an exciting chase. It only added more fun and exitement to my gameplay. All 3 of us on our open crew brig had a fun time evading and annoying the gally with all sorts of moves.
@chronodusk said in Server Hoppers Are Making The Game Stale And Unenjoyable:
Lately, things have been more predictable than not, thanks to server hoppers.
Really? Server hoppers are making the game predictable?
I thought it was the fact that having players attack you on sight 99% of the time is what makes it predictable. In fact I would say I am the only player who's likely an outlier who actually makes an effort to NOT shoot at people on sight.
Reading more replies here, I really don't see what people are griling about.
If it is true that the servers are empty and such or that there is no action happening... You call that a problem? Sounds like heaven to me.
Then again some of my last few sessions had me meet a player that one-shot killed me within the first ten minutes, so... What do I know about all this talk about empty servers? :p
@personalc0ffee said in Server Hoppers Are Making The Game Stale And Unenjoyable:
I am very strongly against server hopping and always have been. I think the play style and sentiment is detrimental to the Sea of Thieves and the effects we see now, are a direct result of that play style and will continue to be until a solution presents itself. Yes, said solutions might change or upset the way players currently engage with and do things in the game. That's perfectly fine for me.
I generally have less of an issue with server hopping than I do with portal hopping. On the nights when my crew and I decide to portal hop as a Grade 5 reaper we pretty much know we will have the upper hand in almost every encounter, and I don't mean in skill level, but in readiness and supplies. And we have every motivation to take fights since we bring no loot to the table and more often than not the other ships we find have loot. Win win for us and lose lose for them. Something needs to change there. Even if they sink us and get a grade 5 flag, unless they are reaper's they can't turn it in for any substantial value. Certainly not enough to justify them sticking around to fight as opposed to running. I think that's a good place to start - allow emissaries to turn in reaper flags to their faction at whatever multiplier they currently happen to be at with their company.
If there's no reason for people to take fights then many PvPers get frustrated with the runners and trying to find their content so they hop. So I think one way to de-motivate portal hopping is to motivate people to fight. Again, not sure how we would go about doing that, but the emissary flags seems like a good place to start. I'm also tempted to say another approach would be to make PvE loot quicker to obtain (I spent an hour on this fort and then someone shows up and sinks me, etc.), but you can't walk along a beach without finding loot now so this might not be the answer either.
It's a complex problem and I maintain that more than anything it comes down to the attitude of the people playing than a mechanic the game can implement. I just don't know how you shift that.
I have been increasingly using the portal hopping mechanic, and will speak candidly about the reasons why I am gravitating toward this option as a long-time player of sea of thieves. I share this as a generally peaceful and merciful pirate who doesn't like sinking sloops on larger ships, or killing new players. But I'm becoming less and less forgiving as the game becomes less and less appealing. I acknowledge that I am becoming the very thing I hate about the game, and that's okay. I accept that I'm the bad guy when I plunder and steal, and can decide to be the good guy next session. It's a bit of a chaotic neutral mentality I think unites all pirates.
The one positive I will say about server hopping is that it does at least encourage players to keep flying a grade V reapers flag, which is worth something. Server hopping before the days of portals usually meant they brought nothing to the fight at all, no supplies to gain and at most a grade 1 flag. But I overall see it as a necessary evil for the game during a time of very little new replayable content.
But I think there are a few specific factors that are all leading me down this path:
1 - Events are not working right now, the flameheart fleet battle has been removed, and Rare has failed to reinvigorate and spice up this content for veteran players. Nothing more to say, PvP is more fun right now. Shrines, Treasuries, and Sea Forts have their moments sure, but generally I don't think are alluring enough to veteran players.
2 - Similar to above, existing events are not designed to encourage enough cooperation. Yes, people hate "forced" cooperation, but events are not challenging enough or big enough for multiple ships to contribute without just killing each other right away. The game was at its best when players reached a kind of non-verbal understanding to unite to take on more challenging / time sensitive content, and to just grab what they could and maybe worry later about who gets what loot. I am referring to a time before alliances, before emissaries, and during the time of mercenary voyages that offered higher value voyages and encouraged players to work together to optimize and claim the most reward. It wasn't forced cooperation, it was just necessary if you wanted to make the most money and were okay taking a little risk. This was a great formula, but now, there isn't enough reason to let other crews near you. Just ally and part ways, or fight right away. No middle ground is needed, and so the game is stale because of it.
3 - The social element is under threat from multiple angles, and queuing up as server hopping reapers is the easiest way to get likeminded people together quickly. In addition to the above problems which manifest as declines in sociability between crews, it is worse than it has ever been to just easily queue up into Sea of Thieves. Some examples include: people aren't using open crew for a lot of very good reasons that I won't get into, looking for group on xbox live is now flooded with spam accounts and the app is just difficult to manage on PC in general, and captaincy caused a rift by making people less likely to want to join someone else's ship. To me, this is one of the bigger reasons I am turning to server hopping. I am not finding as much enjoyment in the social element as I used to which went a long way to making me more friendly.
4 - Groupthink. Again, related to above, the challenge of getting a diverse group of people together with different ideas about how to make money / have fun means that players are now queuing in with the expressed goal of sinking ships. That is their fun. A subset of people with this mindset has always existed, and will continue to exist regardless of changes to server hopping. But nowadays, it is easier than ever to be the bad guy when you have a group of people mutually agreeing to sink all ships on sight. You feel no remorse, you even feel guilty about telling your crew that "maybe we should just let this one guy go" since you spent time and energy to stock up and track them down. After all, it is just how you chose to play that day. You didn't set out to sink that person specifically, but you also didn't weigh their individual experience with the game either or how it would affect them as an aspiring player of Sea of Thieves. They are just lambs to the slaughter, and that's totally okay. It's a pirate game, but I think it does make me the bad guy, and that doesn't feel great.
5 - Gold is useless. Doubloons are useless. What more can I say, why work to earn gold at all if you have more fun just taking it? Most crews I queue with don't even care about the gold, it's all about the glory.
6- Server hopping as a reapers makes the game more care-free and less rage inducing. Everyone hates losing and getting stolen from, especially in a game like Sea of Thieves. But, if you sink as an aggressor, sure you might hang your head in shame, but you are unlikely to be upset or angry at wasted time. It ironically is probably one of the more carefree ways to play the game. You aren't fighting over loot that you worked for, you can quit whenever you want, and you aren't really losing anything. Playing as the aggressor is probably the best way to play with randoms if you are prone to anger, which we all are at one point or another.
Overall, I don't like that I am turning to server hopping more and more, but it is just what happens when a game becomes stale and unenjoyable. It is a positive feedback loop in which bored pirates turn to quick thrills only to empty out the server and must start fresh. Does server hopping make the game more stale and unenjoyable? Yes, for some. For those who are attacked most of all.
We are overfishing right now, depleting a finite resource of new and PvE focused players who are still enjoying the content. But that is only because I think Rare has overfished us. The player base has a finite amount of patience for new content in a live service game, and when it doesn't come, we make our own. Maybe what has been added recently really resonates with some, but for me, it hasn't been. PvP, particularly naval combat has always been a strong suit of the game, and portal hopping is the best way to enjoy that content. Again, a necessary evil until something better comes along.
@kalgert said in Server Hoppers Are Making The Game Stale And Unenjoyable:
@chronodusk said in Server Hoppers Are Making The Game Stale And Unenjoyable:
Lately, things have been more predictable than not, thanks to server hoppers.
Really? Server hoppers are making the game predictable?
I thought it was the fact that having players attack you on sight 99% of the time is what makes it predictable. In fact I would say I am the only player who's likely an outlier who actually makes an effort to NOT shoot at people on sight.
Well, that’s at least 2 of us, then.
Anyone else wanna join the friendship club?
(We have free grog!)So to the people who think hopping is a huge issue right now; What is the actual problem it causes?
Is it the fact that portal hoppers who hop with reaper lvl 5 get to surprise emissaries too easily?
I have been able to beat many lvl 5 reapers who have portal hopped in. Sure I have lost to some too, but how is that a "game killing issue" as some people in this thread make it out to be? No matter the supplies they have, it always mostly comes down to skill. I have also been able to quickly sell to the new sovereigns a lot faster than the hopping lvl 5 reaper could have ever reached me. All that I had to do was keep an eye on the map incase any appear.
The most skilled PvP crews I play with use portal hopping very infrequently as its slow as hell, never guarantees any emissaries are actually on the new server, the emissaries on the new server might be far away and they get to just sell as long as someones checking the map table for reapers, the emissaries might be low levels and have nothing on them etc. Most of the hopping is done by simply switching servers and checking what world event there are, if the even has drawn any other players into it, if there are reapers on the server etc. The same can be said of many streamers, portal hopping is not the most common thing for them either.
What is the problem with normal hopping that is causing issues to the game? Can point out the issues and how they are causing serious harm to the game?
I wish it wasnt needed, I wish there was enough population on a single server to keep playing on the same one, but currently its simply not the case. I wish there were more world events to actually draw players together, fighting over a single goal. As a person who finds the repetitve and simplistic PVE content the game has to offer mundane and boring (after 1000+ hours of playing, it simply gets rather boring to do yet again), I would much rather hop to seek player interaction and exiting fights, which is the best aspect this game has to offer, than go spam mouse 1 at skeletons.
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