Allegiance Balance?

I dunno, neither team is choosing their opponent. Also I'd say the majority of unbalanced fights will usually end the way you'd expect, so the gaining more xp aspect for loss and the winner less is the only real outcome which seems harsh.

Sbmm i know in other games like overwatch has a ranked system where you have a skill rating so the loss takes your Sr down less, its hard to compare since you're getting loss xp anyway.

Concerned loss farmers would find ways to cheese this even further

I wouldn't mind longer fights giving a bit more rep, this could be abused but as long as its balanced so a quick fight and requeuing still gives more I think would be OK.

I have sunk people who are technically better than me but its usually either more supplies or just being consistent with resets so they get frustrated and go for desperate plays which you can punish.

Yeah this is just a skill difference issue.

I'm not going to argue with a matchmaking system that gets me a fight, win or lose, when I'm already having trouble starting a decent streak.

The biggest issue with this mode is everyone sees it as a grind-fest and not a method to get better at PvP. Those who make their goal only focused on getting XP just to obtain the curses are the ones who are having a fit because they refuse to improve their skills while also wanting to have one of the few (good) PvP cosmetics that should tell you, you're in danger right now. If you're not winning your matches, you should be focusing on improving, not "I'm never gonna get the reward I want for playing this mode". That's gonna kill your motivation to keep playing. That is why I'm on the defense of most of the current state of the Hourglass. It's not perfect, but it's a method that brings PvP back into the spotlight and truly become a chance to develop skill. I'd rather not tamper with the grind because I'd rather spend time improving myself, or at least, stomaching the challenge set in my direction.

As long as you're competent enough to not get sailed out, you're going to get loss xp, and you can get to your goal a little later than other, but at least you earned it.

@dragotech123 said in Allegiance Balance?:

I played this mode a lot, trust me, I did, but the loss xp is extremely low and the progress heavily relies on streaks.

Those who can win constantly are the ones making meaningful, those who who try and still lose are going to progress at an incredible slow rate.

Seriously, I've been playing this mode for a while now, I had the optimism of becoming better at PvP, of getting more skill, but almost always I get crushed by other crews and the time I've spent trying to improve is not being reflected in the xp I've got.

It feels discouraging and demoralizing, the effort, the time, the tension trying to keep the ship afloat while keeping preassure with the cannons is not being rewarded because every loss is the same tiny portion of xp that barely moves the bar to the next level.

This is exactly what I'm talking about. You're focusing on XP gain over potential improvements in battle. If you know the best way to gain XP is to streak, and you cannot streak, why are you worried about XP gains when you should be learning how to improve yourself so you can streak?

Focus on improvement of your own skill before you start worrying about being rewarded for it. Doubly so, be glad you're actually getting any compensation for your failed efforts. This game, by design, is still cutthroat, and now with actual skill-based mechanics and knowledge, is even rougher when it comes to PvP, but that's how the game's always been, and it still has enough of a healthy standing playerbase to this day.

You are of course all aware that an SBMM as in an ELO system, which is in place here, is designed to have people win/lose about 50% of their games and therefore is fundamentally not compatible with a "streak" system ?

This is a fundamental flaw, and once we get matched across stamps, it's even gonna more towards actually 50/50.

It is only logical to assume, then, that either :

• They did not put enough thought into it and the system just cannot work
• They did think of it and the unbalance is designed

Either way, animation-canceling double-tap sweats who didn't realise there are better "SHOOTERs" out there and that this is a ship game benefit from the system while the vast majority of the player, who have no clue into how combat works because it's a buggy mess but actually ARE the core players of this game are being rewarded XP pixels by pixels.

Now about the "git gud" toxic gamer mentality here. I did got good. I did farm the ghost curse, sweating, cursing, waiting..... It was long. It was a pain. The curse don't feel like a reward at all but a constant reminder of those 3 weeks I spent doing nothing else, and this is killing me. This curse is just a proof of my video game addiction. Any sane person would have considered this nuts and momve on to something else.

And no, I don't want to "git gud" to the point I'm exploiting the game to it's most hidden animation-canceling tricks or equipping those disgusting DA sails on all my ships. I want to play a video game, not become a kind of monster.

And now we go again for the other curse. This is still a pain, and it will not be enjoyable. As far as skill goes, I improved A LOT, I can admit that, but this is just NOT fun, not enjoyable. I'd rather do something else (as for te improvement, it's easier said than done. No way to improve if that's your first HG match ever and you get matched vs a ghost already (which happened to my opponent yesterday, poor guy, just because my W/L ratio is kinda 1)

This game, by design, is still cutthroat, and now with actual skill-based mechanics and knowledge, is even rougher when it comes to PvP, but that's how the game's always been, and it still has enough of a healthy standing playerbase to this day.

You all seem to forget that this game LOST a very large amount of players already, because of stuff like that (FOMO, constant grind sometimes not even registering because the servers are made of wood...). They are so used to use ethically bad retention techniques that people are seeing through this. And that gives them a very negative image in my opinion

Getting matched 4 times in a row vs the same sweaty opponent doesn't really show "healthy standing playerbase" either now does it ? Your eyes are closed. People that aren't PVP god are leaving this mode.

Edit : Worst part of all this is now I tend to avoid organic PVP even more, since it doesn't even give you those 3 pixels of allegiance.
Same as captaincy here : They took something actually FUN and turned it into a grinding NIGHTMARE

@dragotech123 said in Allegiance Balance?:

If the system told me something like "Don't worry, you're doing great! Don't give up, you can do it, just keep trying!" maybe I would 't feel discouraged, but watching my ship at the botton of the ocean with sad music just feels like "You lost, you don't get anything, come back when you can win".

Honestly that saddening screen is just a modern take of a "Game Over" screen. I appreciate it for the atmosphere, but I would be lying if I said it doesn't make me sad to go through it constantly.

Though, it's a Game Over screen, for an active war. It's what you're gonna see for failing to keep your boat afloat in the fight for the Sea of Thieves. So the best thing to do after that saddening screen, is to either try again, or log off.

It's okay to piecemeal this content. Grinding it aggressively when you're not in the mental shape to do so will be draining, and not Rare's fault in the slightest. I'm currently taking a break from S8 currently as my mental state is not in the right area for SoT, call it long-awaited burn-out, I have irl things to tend to before I come back to funni pirate land.