@lordqulex I think it would be great if the forum displayed a country flag from where the account is registered/logged in.
So if someone from New Zealand would complain about not having opponents, a player from UK wouldn't say ''I don't know what you are talking about my MM is fine''
Try to log in in your country for HG match at 4-5 AM and you might find a regular experience of a person who is from a place where the game is not as popular. For example Brazil/Australia (just guessing)
One thing i noticed with hourglass battles as i play both on xbox and pc.
I always play with a controller no matter what system i am on, but initially when playing on xbox console i had the sessions open to players on both xbox and pc. My success rate was around 20% or out of 10 matches i would probably win 2 maybe 3. Right as i reached level 90 for Guardians i switched to allow xbox only players on the console just to see if it made any difference, and it did. My success rate went up to 80% and was winning almost every match.
Then i played on PC and again my success rate dropped, the fights were so uneven that it basically changes the whole method of how battles are played.
I guess just trying to suggest to anyone that has the opportunity to play on console with console only players, i would recommend this. Especialy if not proficient at pvp.
If you play on pc then it's basically hardmode for pvp. I know some might not have any other option other than to play on one system but if you play on console and also struggle then perhaps trying to find crews to help you on these forums or any of the social platforms where lots of players offer assistance for those that need help with hourglass might be a good next step since winning is basically the only real good way of obtaining significant amount of xp for now, especially at the higher levels.
@eva1977 So true... Maybe I should get my hands on someone's hand-me-down XBox, set up a mouse and keyboard and unlock my second curse overnight...
@lordqulex said in Make it EASIER to GET BASE CURSE or MORE WAYS to get ALLEGIANCE levels:
@i-jusa-i said in Make it EASIER to GET BASE CURSE or MORE WAYS to get ALLEGIANCE levels:
"I just find it hilarious that S9 killed hourglass"
Nope, it certainly did not. I've played matches and all of them started within 1 minute of diving.
"Individual experience may vary" I guess, but there have been more than a few "queue times are long"/"SBMM is broken" since S9 dropped and we all know why: low player participation.
Why is it that when YOU see something it’s the word of God and how the world is. If I say something or many others saying we haven’t had long matchmaking times or the invite/loss farmers exist, I just must be a weird wild exception. HG isn’t dead I honestly don’t think it will be or if it does it’ll be a looooong while.
Pvp Is part of this game it just is. I think that putting 2 curses behind pvp encourages most players to get in and get better at it. Most will tell you that they have definitely gotten better at fighting. Now add NEW LOOT, nerfed/more reasons to do forts, reaper chest streamers stay up, and tell me that this isn’t something l. Now that now most people have fought some and are more comfortable with it it’s going to hopefully bring back server fights over FOF or FOTD again. PVE is fine but when you add it in with pvp this is where the game shines.
Another win for S8 and the pvp community is that once a server is wiped instead of leaving the game and beginning the endless hop looking for fights or doing a tall tale portal hop, now we just dive. If we win and the server has some fun to be had we’ll go lower and play or at least investigate the server. Again if there is nothing we just straight dive and move on. It keeps the action a lot more fluid and keeps the game a little faster paced.
@lordqulex said in Make it EASIER to GET BASE CURSE or MORE WAYS to get ALLEGIANCE levels:
@eva1977 So true... Maybe I should get my hands on someone's hand-me-down XBox, set up a mouse and keyboard and unlock my second curse overnight...
That's not quite how it works. you would need to play on controller
@jj-h816 said in Make it EASIER to GET BASE CURSE or MORE WAYS to get ALLEGIANCE levels:
@lordqulex said in Make it EASIER to GET BASE CURSE or MORE WAYS to get ALLEGIANCE levels:
@i-jusa-i said in Make it EASIER to GET BASE CURSE or MORE WAYS to get ALLEGIANCE levels:
"I just find it hilarious that S9 killed hourglass"
Nope, it certainly did not. I've played matches and all of them started within 1 minute of diving.
"Individual experience may vary" I guess, but there have been more than a few "queue times are long"/"SBMM is broken" since S9 dropped and we all know why: low player participation.
Why is it that when YOU see something it’s the word of God and how the world is. If I say something or many others saying we haven’t had long matchmaking times or the invite/loss farmers exist, I just must be a weird wild exception. HG isn’t dead I honestly don’t think it will be or if it does it’ll be a looooong while.
Pvp Is part of this game it just is. I think that putting 2 curses behind pvp encourages most players to get in and get better at it. Most will tell you that they have definitely gotten better at fighting. Now add NEW LOOT, nerfed/more reasons to do forts, reaper chest streamers stay up, and tell me that this isn’t something l. Now that now most people have fought some and are more comfortable with it it’s going to hopefully bring back server fights over FOF or FOTD again. PVE is fine but when you add it in with pvp this is where the game shines.
Another win for S8 and the pvp community is that once a server is wiped instead of leaving the game and beginning the endless hop looking for fights or doing a tall tale portal hop, now we just dive. If we win and the server has some fun to be had we’ll go lower and play or at least investigate the server. Again if there is nothing we just straight dive and move on. It keeps the action a lot more fluid and keeps the game a little faster paced.
The problem is perspective and experience. I see constant posts about bad queue time and bad HG experience, and you do not. I see posts about people quitting HG and talk to pirates I play with on discord, and you do not. The streamers I watch have left HG, the streamers you watch do not. My word isn't passed down from Mt. Sinai, but in my experience (playing, watching, reading, discussing), HG is experiencing a lull right now because players who want PVP are seeking it at Forts of Fortune, and Forts of the Damned right now. It's like that silly picture of two people standing on either side of a number, one stating it's a 6 and the other a 9. We're both just seeing different sides of the coin, but the unknown variable is our MMR.
Mine's probably not too high, so my queue times and matches are kinda trash right now. I don't know what yours is, but whatever it is it seems like a much healthier population than my MMR neighborhood.
And again, we're just talking to different players. Many players I speak to aren't even bothering at all with hourglass because they don't like PVP, aren't moved by the curses, or have given up, et cetera. My experience is different than yours so we're talking from two different perspectives. Neither of us are wrong, we're just describing what we're seeing and from my perspective, long term, HG is headed the direction of arena: 3% play time. Streamers I watch have moved on to FoF and FotD because it's the new shiny content. Their viewers all but forgotten about in favor of spotting the new chest!
But to your third point, server hopping is back with a vengeance on the official Discord. Everyone is using it again to find FoFs and FotDs. So many LFCs server hopping because that's where the PVP on demand is rn. That's why I think my queue is empty.
From my perspective.
@captain-coel Just curious, so if you plug in mouse and keyboard to Xbox, you are not allowed to play on Xbox only servers no more?
@zig-zag-ltu said in Make it EASIER to GET BASE CURSE or MORE WAYS to get ALLEGIANCE levels:
@captain-coel Just curious, so if you plug in mouse and keyboard to Xbox, you are not allowed to play on Xbox only servers no more?
I'm telling you, as a professional software developer, I can absolutely play on XBox servers with a mouse and keyboard. You think there's no way to convince an XBox I'm using a controller when I'm not? LOL
@zig-zag-ltu correct.
@LordQulex and if you do that I hope you do get caught as that results in a microsoft ban for violating the tos.
@lordqulex PM me if you know a way to convince my PC it's an Xbox. I would get the reapers curse over my next days off then :D
Also, mind sharing how it's done? just curious, never even owned an xbox in my life only ps4.
"I see constant posts about bad queue time and bad HG experience"
You do understand people dont make posts when their que times are good?
You dont go calling your ISP when your internet connection is all good, you call them when its down.
@i-jusa-i said in Make it EASIER to GET BASE CURSE or MORE WAYS to get ALLEGIANCE levels:
"I see constant posts about bad queue time and bad HG experience"
You do understand people dont make posts when their que times are good?
You dont go calling your ISP when your internet connection is all good, you call them when its down.
Yep, and no one calls a "How's my driving?" number to say "fantastic!"
So if there are regular "queue times/SBMM are trash" posts, then one could conclude that, for some pirates, queue times and SBMM is perpetually trash...
@lordqulex Or, if there are regular posts, it could simply mean there are over all more players playing the game. Maybe that doesnt fit your narrative though.
There are always some who are unhappy, but youre the one who stated "S9 killed HG".
@duristranos I’m sure they are gonna continue to expand on it, it just came out. I’m sure there are going to have tons of updates.
@lordqulex a new chest and nerfed forts aren’t gonna kill S8. Of course people went on to that for the time being. I stole my first chest of fortune yesterday!!!!! I love that play, I love the fights, I love the strategy, but once the server died we dove into HG and won. That server had an ashen winds being done so we went there next. It’s an easier, more engaging, and fun portal hop. If I sink.. oh well still got a new server.
I 💯 believe that S8 in its biggest goal was to get people moved comfortable with PVP. So that the WE get more attention and larger fights happen on the servers instead of the endless running. Hence they also fixed red sea’ing your loot. I think they will encourage/“force” more encounters
@i-jusa-i said in Make it EASIER to GET BASE CURSE or MORE WAYS to get ALLEGIANCE levels:
@lordqulex Or, if there are regular posts, it could simply mean there are over all more players playing the game. Maybe that doesnt fit your narrative though.
There are always some who are unhappy, but youre the one who stated "S9 killed HG".
Depending on how the SBMM engine works, probably not. Yes, I will concede that more players in HG could make queue times longer if the servers can't handle the load and are slowing down because of it. But if there were more participation in HG that would be the end of it; more players means a wider skill range means matches would be closer. The caveat to that (since you seem bent on finding them so I'll just help you out here) is if new players are playing HG and their MMR hasn't been set yet. They will almost certainly experience bad games at first before they settle into their bracket.
But don't take my word for it, let's look at twitch. There are drops going on. I'm going to search Sea of Thieves and look at the top 10 streamers right now:
FotD, (signing off, doesn't count...), non-HG reaping, WE, FotD, FoF, FoF, FotD, FotD, defending HG while FotD, and FotD. One. One streamer on the first two pages has hourglass up. Tell me again how the game mode is popular and thriving.
@dragotech123 I’ve got so many invite farmers lately bro. Usually weeknights and later in the eve. I have many screen shots and screenshots of messages from these people losing their minds when the slow death circle emerges.
@jj-h816 said in Make it EASIER to GET BASE CURSE or MORE WAYS to get ALLEGIANCE levels:
@lordqulex a new chest and nerfed forts aren’t gonna kill S8. Of course people went on to that for the time being. I stole my first chest of fortune yesterday!!!!! I love that play, I love the fights, I love the strategy, but once the server died we dove into HG and won. That server had an ashen winds being done so we went there next. It’s an easier, more engaging, and fun portal hop. If I sink.. oh well still got a new server.
I 💯 believe that S8 in its biggest goal was to get people moved comfortable with PVP. So that the WE get more attention and larger fights happen on the servers instead of the endless running. Hence they also fixed red sea’ing your loot. I think they will encourage/“force” more encounters
We shall see. We all know well the ebb and flow of the Sea of Thieves player base. Concurrent players spike when something is released, slowly drops over the course of the seasons, repeat. Hourglass is last week's news.
I hope you're right, after pirates feel comfortable with skeleton ships, HG is the next logical progression. But Rare's messaging is all wrong. It just feels like this community doesn't want PVP on demand. Sure, participation will spike next weekend, but that's just pirates who want the curse and to never think about HG again.
@dragotech123
After a lose in HG, you can always scuttle your ship and switch servers without having to go back to the main menu again. (New change)
@ix-indi-xi said in Make it EASIER to GET BASE CURSE or MORE WAYS to get ALLEGIANCE levels:
@dragotech123
After a lose in HG, you can always scuttle your ship and switch servers without having to go back to the main menu again. (New change)
I know about scuttling and changing seas, but what I meant, is that I wish I could take the place of someone here who is getting paired against invite farmers, while they take my place in my stamp.
@dragotech123 said in Make it EASIER to GET BASE CURSE or MORE WAYS to get ALLEGIANCE levels:
I wish I could switch stamps/servers with you. Perhaps you would enjoy more to face my oponents since they are the kind of players that go for chainshot barrages, aggresive boarding and double gunning.
lol we have run into some sweats on your stamps bro
@jj-h816 said in Make it EASIER to GET BASE CURSE or MORE WAYS to get ALLEGIANCE levels:
@dragotech123 said in Make it EASIER to GET BASE CURSE or MORE WAYS to get ALLEGIANCE levels:
I wish I could switch stamps/servers with you. Perhaps you would enjoy more to face my oponents since they are the kind of players that go for chainshot barrages, aggresive boarding and double gunning.
lol we have run into some sweats on your stamps bro
Indeed, and that is the opponents I get on a constant basis.
@dragotech123 for sure, take a break and return to previous styles of play you like. The curses will be there. I just started up on servants not long ago. Not in a rush though. Looks like a lot of fun stuff this season
@jj-h816 Thanks. I just wish Rare didn't exaggerate on grinds and repetitions.
Look, I consider myself a PvE focused player, and I enjoyed the voyages, the tall tales, and all that stuff, but doing each tall tale 5 times, or 100 veils, or 25 forts of the damned (thank goodness these ones are easier now for solos) are perhaps going a bit overboard.
I enjoy doing sea forts, they are not the most effective way to make gold, but I like the spanish version of the maiden voyage as a theme, and at the end you can have the fort for yourself, some of them are very cozy and open the possibilities for roleplay. That's what I like about them. I already got all the commendation for sea forts but I keep repeating them because I enjoy them, that's what I'd like more in terms of replayability, doing something again because it is fun, not because there is an unfinished task. I wish Rare could go with the game in this direction a bit more.
Anyway, thanks for the best wishes, I want to avoid burnout, but my only fear is that the playerbase for HG may be heavily reduced someday and teh curses become unaccessible anymore.
@unbreakice said in Make it EASIER to GET BASE CURSE or MORE WAYS to get ALLEGIANCE levels:
@jj-h816 The gold curse is so ridiculously easy to get. All you have to do is make a post asking if anyone has the checkpoint and boom done 5 times. The only part you have to do individually is find journals. It's due to your own incompetence that you didn't get the GC for so long.
Some of us don’t cheese everything in the game and for me personally it was quite a grind as I HATE doing the tall tales.
@jj-h816 said in Make it EASIER to GET BASE CURSE or MORE WAYS to get ALLEGIANCE levels:
@unbreakice said in Make it EASIER to GET BASE CURSE or MORE WAYS to get ALLEGIANCE levels:
@jj-h816 The gold curse is so ridiculously easy to get. All you have to do is make a post asking if anyone has the checkpoint and boom done 5 times. The only part you have to do individually is find journals. It's due to your own incompetence that you didn't get the GC for so long.
Some of us don’t cheese everything in the game and for me personally it was quite a grind as I HATE doing the tall tales.
I feel the same way about movies: there simply aren't that many I like to watch more than once because I know what's going to happen, the story isn't new or exciting for me, so watching them again is just tedium.
And the journals, come on! It's one thing if the journals are on the islands the TT sends you to, but no, the TT sends you to Kraken Falls and a journal is on Smuggler's Bay. My eyes just rolled so far back in my head I could see my brain hurting from that nonsense.
The only saving grace is that you can generally complete a TT is 2 hours or less, so you can get the gold curse in 90 hours of cumulative play. That's not a huge ask.
You act like other pirates don’t step in and wreck the play through, that Rare doesn’t toss an anchor spamming skelly galleon at you or volcanoes. All these things happen so playthrough length and difficulty vary, much like the pvp stuff. The journey to the first curse was not that bad guys. I get that a lot of people don’t like the play style, my point exactly about the gold curse! Some got it in weeks others are still grinding. It’s ok to have something to grind towards.
