Want to promote ship to ship fights but don't want to leave people stuck outside the boat?
Make a prompt to bring the ladder down from in the water. This makes it a two part endeavor, One prompt to bring the ladder down and the Second to climb. Therefore, sword-dashing swimmers can't board while the ship is moving and you can still get back in if all the ladders are up and everyone's in the water. Problem solved.
@aaron-as-pirate a prompt? How immersion breaking.
Ladders don't need to be retractable. Naval combat needs a major overhaul before they think about changing ladders. Plus, the splash audio cue for when someone starts climbing your ladder could not be more obvious 😵.
Please RARE, having to pay attention is a key part of what sucks people into SoT.
I feel awareness is what people need. Once you're aware of the sounds players make in the water, it's very easy to identify that someone's near-by and then grabbing the ladder. Sometimes you might be distracted and not notice, but that's really part of the thrill of it (to me). Point is, there's plenty of warning and it's really quite easy to repel an attack with just a little experience (and a big gun).
@aaron-as-pirate I think that's the best solution I've read so far! :)
It would make boarding from the sea difficult, but not impossible, as if the crew of the ship isn't paying attention and fails to pull the ladder back up again, a second attempt could still work.
@aaron-as-pirate This is actually something the team explored and did have in the game at one point, until they started to forget putting the ladders down making it impossible to get on the ship even if it was your ship. It seems like a great idea, but unfortunately it can cause a lot more issues than it solves, could you imagine having a ship full of loot, forget to put the ladder down one time and you have to lose it all?
@ever-reddy @Aaron-as-Pirate the only other way to board a ship then would be to either cannon yourself (which doesn't happen often) or crash your ship into theirs. This would take out an entire element of combat. It would also make certain strategies in combat irrelevant.
And God help you if you have treasure and you're being chased. At least as it is people who aren't great at combat can try to board a pursuer and drop their anchor to by time for themselves.
If you're having trouble with boarding parties I'd suggest listening out for the cues that indicate someone is boarding you and keep an eye on the ladders.
@dhg-ixxrmacxxi said in Pull-Up Ladders - Simple Solution:
@aaron-as-pirate This is actually something the team explored and did have in the game at one point, until they started to forget putting the ladders down making it impossible to get on the ship even if it was your ship. It seems like a great idea, but unfortunately it can cause a lot more issues than it solves, could you imagine having a ship full of loot, forget to put the ladder down one time and you have to lose it all?
Why didn't just make it auto trigger if you put the anchor down/up.
@dcr-lt-kanada said in Pull-Up Ladders - Simple Solution:
@ever-reddy @Aaron-as-Pirate the only other way to board a ship then would be to either cannon yourself (which doesn't happen often) or crash your ship into theirs. This would take out an entire element of combat. It would also make certain strategies in combat irrelevant.
Indeed, although it would make others, like manoeuvring and ship-to-ship combat much more relevant. Or indeed firing yourself out of a cannon.
So it's not so much a case of removing the number of potential strategies as it is re-balancing them and bringing others back into the game.
And God help you if you have treasure and you're being chased. At least as it is people who aren't great at combat can try to board a pursuer and drop their anchor to by time for themselves.
Whenever I'm chased playing solo I frequently get away without getting into combat or by dropping their anchor. I simply out-manoeuvre them using rocks and islands. And I would think that people who aren't great at combat are less likely to employ boarding strategies anyway.
If you're having trouble with boarding parties I'd suggest listening out for the cues that indicate someone is boarding you and keep an eye on the ladders.
It's not something I personally have a problem with, but I think the issue for a lot of people is that while some players are better at close quarters, quick-reflex reliant pirate-on-pirate combat, others prefer the more strategic ship-to-ship combat, which has become a little less prevalent due to the ease with which you can board a ship at the moment.
@luciansanchez82 said in Pull-Up Ladders - Simple Solution:
I feel awareness is what people need. Once you're aware of the sounds players make in the water, it's very easy to identify that someone's near-by and then grabbing the ladder. Sometimes you might be distracted and not notice, but that's really part of the thrill of it (to me). Point is, there's plenty of warning and it's really quite easy to repel an attack with just a little experience (and a big gun).
I don’t think this suggestion was made because repelling boarders is too hard, I think it was made because right now ship combat is almost pointless, and the standard procedure is to sprout wings and make a 30 yard sword dash to board. Having ladders up would just encourage more proper ship battles and strategy, which I think is a good thing.
And to the person who said they had this in the game but removed it because people got stuck off their ship, this suggestion would solve that problem.
@rockinpodunk Fair one, I did kind of miss the point there.
Having said that though, would "proper" naval combat be all that welcome? I'm probably thinking to too much of an extreme but in my mind I could see battles becoming overly drawn out and even boring if both sides just fired cannons at each other until either one ran out of cannon balls or planks. Boarding the enemy ship helps to keep the action fluid, forces players to be aware. I know there are other ways to board, but climbing ladders is just another method in the mix that keeps it all the more exciting to me.
@ever-reddy but how often does a ship battle end from both ships sailing around, only shooting cannons at each other? Most people consider boarding and even being boarded one of the thrills of playing. Rare even hid names while under water so people could stealth sabotage and board easier.
If the issue is that people aren't good at combat then maybe new combat elements and mechanics could be suggested to make the experience better for even those that aren't combat savvy.
@rockinpodunk said in Pull-Up Ladders - Simple Solution:
@luciansanchez82 said in Pull-Up Ladders - Simple Solution:
I feel awareness is what people need. Once you're aware of the sounds players make in the water, it's very easy to identify that someone's near-by and then grabbing the ladder. Sometimes you might be distracted and not notice, but that's really part of the thrill of it (to me). Point is, there's plenty of warning and it's really quite easy to repel an attack with just a little experience (and a big gun).
I don’t think this suggestion was made because repelling boarders is too hard, I think it was made because right now ship combat is almost pointless, and the standard procedure is to sprout wings and make a 30 yard sword dash to board. Having ladders up would just encourage more proper ship battles and strategy, which I think is a good thing.
How would it encourage ship battles at all? The problem is ship damage. Naval combat needs addressed not some bandaid ladder mechanic. If anything it would encourage ship ramming because ships still won't sink via naval combat.
Objectively we have to board because we have to stop repairs and subjectively I think boarding is exciting. I like the current system but would prefer deeper ship damage mechanics.
@dragonsire2016 said in Pull-Up Ladders - Simple Solution:
@dhg-ixxrmacxxi said in Pull-Up Ladders - Simple Solution:
@aaron-as-pirate This is actually something the team explored and did have in the game at one point, until they started to forget putting the ladders down making it impossible to get on the ship even if it was your ship. It seems like a great idea, but unfortunately it can cause a lot more issues than it solves, could you imagine having a ship full of loot, forget to put the ladder down one time and you have to lose it all?
Why didn't just make it auto trigger if you put the anchor down/up.
Who leaves the anchor down though?
This has been suggested many times before with the primary reason for shooting it down being that you could trap yourself off your own ship. There is a simple solution for this, and that is to add a way to raise/lower it from the deck of the ship and a way to lower it from the waterline along the hull such as a release rope or something. This would give an additional audio/visual cue that someone is boarding as you can see the ladder unroll and hear the steps slapping the hull.
I think it would be a great addition as I suck at repelling boarders, lol. For some reason they don't seem to fall off the ladder when shot or struck with a sword most of the time, and if they do fall they somehow boomerang back to the ladder and continue to climb on me.
@gloog said in Pull-Up Ladders - Simple Solution:
@rockinpodunk said in Pull-Up Ladders - Simple Solution:
@luciansanchez82 said in Pull-Up Ladders - Simple Solution:
I feel awareness is what people need. Once you're aware of the sounds players make in the water, it's very easy to identify that someone's near-by and then grabbing the ladder. Sometimes you might be distracted and not notice, but that's really part of the thrill of it (to me). Point is, there's plenty of warning and it's really quite easy to repel an attack with just a little experience (and a big gun).
I don’t think this suggestion was made because repelling boarders is too hard, I think it was made because right now ship combat is almost pointless, and the standard procedure is to sprout wings and make a 30 yard sword dash to board. Having ladders up would just encourage more proper ship battles and strategy, which I think is a good thing.
How would it encourage ship battles at all? The problem is ship damage. Naval combat needs addressed not some bandaid ladder mechanic. If anything it would encourage ship ramming because ships still won't sink via naval combat.
Objectively we have to board because we have to stop repairs and subjectively I think boarding is exciting. I like the current system but would prefer deeper ship damage mechanics.
Agreed, I think they just need to either a) increase the speed water enters the ship through a hole or b) increase the amount of time it takes to put a plank on
This would see a lot more ships sinking through naval warfare rather than just by boarding and spawn killing the enemy.
If you don't want to get boarded and have a naval battle, then don't let anyone board and don't let people board the other ship and shoot cannons.
However if you do that things will get boring because all damage can be repaired and jousting with another ship will get boring really fast.
I consider myself to be a good helmsman I can position/ manouver realy well with a galleon and can often outmanouver ships.
My mates and I are really good at picking up the audio cues for boarding so we rarely get anyone on board disrupting so if we wanted to slog we could. However these types of suggestions ruin the game for a lot of people who like boarding. So I suggest you go back to the drawing board.
@gutterangel said in Pull-Up Ladders - Simple Solution:
I’m almost convinced this is a campaign by a group of friends taking turns bringing up this topic until they get their way. It’s not even a subtle rewording. It’s almost identical to the several other topics on this bad idea meant to protect the unaware.
I have evidence of this a few months ago the very same thing happened. All the accounts had under 30 posts.
@gloog said in Pull-Up Ladders - Simple Solution:
@rockinpodunk said in Pull-Up Ladders - Simple Solution:
@luciansanchez82 said in Pull-Up Ladders - Simple Solution:
I feel awareness is what people need. Once you're aware of the sounds players make in the water, it's very easy to identify that someone's near-by and then grabbing the ladder. Sometimes you might be distracted and not notice, but that's really part of the thrill of it (to me). Point is, there's plenty of warning and it's really quite easy to repel an attack with just a little experience (and a big gun).
I don’t think this suggestion was made because repelling boarders is too hard, I think it was made because right now ship combat is almost pointless, and the standard procedure is to sprout wings and make a 30 yard sword dash to board. Having ladders up would just encourage more proper ship battles and strategy, which I think is a good thing.
How would it encourage ship battles at all? The problem is ship damage. Naval combat needs addressed not some bandaid ladder mechanic. If anything it would encourage ship ramming because ships still won't sink via naval combat.
Objectively we have to board because we have to stop repairs and subjectively I think boarding is exciting. I like the current system but would prefer deeper ship damage mechanics.
If boarding wasn’t as easy, you’d have to be a lot better at ship combat. I don’t see how that wouldn’t encourage ship combat.
I do agree that naval combat needs tweaking. It’s too easy to keep ships afloat, but at the same time, I think boarding is too easy as well, and really the only effective way to sink a ship. Ramming is definitely a viable tactic, and the only way a real boarding party worked is when your ship was close enough to send people across on ropes or planks.
I like the idea of raising ladders because it gives players more choice, but wouldnt prevent more skilled pirates from boarding.
I just think it would make ship to ship encounters more interesting.
I don't find anything wrong with boarding, or the ship combat in itself, which for a cartoony game is surprisingly realistic. Contrary to what Hollywood and comics would like to make you think, ships were rarely sunk in battle before the advent of explosive munitions. If a ship was sunk it was usually the result of the powder magazine going off or from the inability of the crew to keep the ship afloat(and usually that was because most of the crew was dead or injured), long after the battle had been decided.
What I do think is needed though is for repairs to be a lot more dangerous. Being hit while repairing shouldn't just deal modest damage and knock you back, it should fly through the hull and shave off at least half your health if not kill you outright, like cannonballs and the resulting splinters were intended to do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpNS0JpnUNY
