Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.

@zodrainn said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

Hi!
Almost the whole map is covered in large amounts of water that lack interesting creatures and features. When you dive into the depths of the ocean you are greeted by well, sharks... Sharks and void. Yes, we have megalodon, mermaids, and krakens, but I think something is missing. I personally don't think that the ocean NEEDS any more DANGEROUS creatures or action-filled confrontations with frightening species of aquatic fauna. Well, maybe, but I think it mainly lacks something friendly. Perhaps just a blue whale roaming the deep blue? Something that will scare you simply from its sheer size, like the Reefback Leviathan in Subnautica. Nothing crazy, just something to fill the empty void of the Sea of Thieves ocean. It would be cool if they could throw themselves in the air and smash rowboats to bits if they were to land on one. Blue Whales might appear in all regions except the devil's roar. Encountering a blue whale would make the ocean a lot more interesting.

My second ocean related suggestion would be the stingray, which is my personal favorite. They live in shallow waters and appear often on beaches. They can hide under the sand and will attack if you step on them. They will use their tail to deal serious damage (like sharks) but only when provoked. This will prevent them from being too annoying as they will not chase you to every corner of the map, and you can also avoid confrontation very easily. My idea is that they will spawn in clusters on beaches, some hiding in the sand. This will make you tread the bottom of the ocean with care. However, they won't spawn in deeper waters. I think this would make a nice addition to the game.

My third suggestion is the Freeze Bomb. Like the Fire Bomb, you can throw it on enemy ships. It will temporarily freeze the anchor, wheel and cannons (whatever it hits), and make the floor slippery. The freezing will not prevent you from using the wheel, only make it turn way slower. Same with cannons and anchor. When a player walks on frozen deck they can expect movement similar to the grog effect.

I hope you find my suggestions helpful!

Whales won't happen because there would be incentive to hunt or hurt them, and Rare won't openly support such a world-wide illegal practice.

Neither will Stingrays, out of respect to Steve Irwin.

The freezebomb is simply too overpowered in almost every respect.

@red0demon0 said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

@galactic-geek said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

@zodrainn said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

Hi!
Almost the whole map is covered in large amounts of water that lack interesting creatures and features. When you dive into the depths of the ocean you are greeted by well, sharks... Sharks and void. Yes, we have megalodon, mermaids, and krakens, but I think something is missing. I personally don't think that the ocean NEEDS any more DANGEROUS creatures or action-filled confrontations with frightening species of aquatic fauna. Well, maybe, but I think it mainly lacks something friendly. Perhaps just a blue whale roaming the deep blue? Something that will scare you simply from its sheer size, like the Reefback Leviathan in Subnautica. Nothing crazy, just something to fill the empty void of the Sea of Thieves ocean. It would be cool if they could throw themselves in the air and smash rowboats to bits if they were to land on one. Blue Whales might appear in all regions except the devil's roar. Encountering a blue whale would make the ocean a lot more interesting.

My second ocean related suggestion would be the stingray, which is my personal favorite. They live in shallow waters and appear often on beaches. They can hide under the sand and will attack if you step on them. They will use their tail to deal serious damage (like sharks) but only when provoked. This will prevent them from being too annoying as they will not chase you to every corner of the map, and you can also avoid confrontation very easily. My idea is that they will spawn in clusters on beaches, some hiding in the sand. This will make you tread the bottom of the ocean with care. However, they won't spawn in deeper waters. I think this would make a nice addition to the game.

My third suggestion is the Freeze Bomb. Like the Fire Bomb, you can throw it on enemy ships. It will temporarily freeze the anchor, wheel and cannons (whatever it hits), and make the floor slippery. The freezing will not prevent you from using the wheel, only make it turn way slower. Same with cannons and anchor. When a player walks on frozen deck they can expect movement similar to the grog effect.

I hope you find my suggestions helpful!

Whales won't happen because there would be incentive to hunt or hurt them, and Rare won't openly support such a world-wide illegal practice.

Neither will Stingrays, out of respect to Steve Irwin.

The freezebomb is simply too overpowered in almost every respect.

But killing, stealing, and getting drunk, 3 illegal practices are allowed? Pretty sure a freeze bomb can be balanced out. Don't be too quick to shut down his ideas, he presents some interesting ideas based on things that he felt the game was lacking in.

Stealing is often considered relatively minor when it comes to the weight of crimes as a whole and can be forgiven since the game essentially requires it. Killing is forgiven because it's temporary - every pirate comes back to life. The act of getting drunk itself isn't illegal in most places.

@zodrainn said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

@galactic-geek
That is simply ridiculous.

No it isn't, and I'll explain why.

You are allowed to hurt chickens, snakes, pigs,

Those are typically hunted for food or killed out of fear (in the case of snakes) the world over and are not typically endangered. It's not about whether we should or shouldn’t kill all animals - there can be exceptions on a case by case basis.

kill players

Temporary. Not permanent = okay.

but not hunt whales?

That's right - if Rare allowed this, it would be supporting a near world-wide illegal practice, and that could bring down a lot of unnecessary heat and dramatically hurt sales.

If anything, this game is already supporting animal abuse, murder and torture.

No; animals are dispatched quickly.

Therefore, your argument is invalid.

No; and I just invalidated yours.

Plus, my idea is that the whales would be unkillable creatures, simply because of their size.

...and yet we can kill the Kraken and megalodons, both of which are immense in size. It wouldn't make sense to not be able to hurt the whales. Furthermore, simply attacking 1, whether it hurts them or not could still be seen in a negative light by certain groups. Also, consider how much this would take up in regards to server resources. Finally, it's obvious that megs were essentially the compromise for whales (easily seen with the comparison between the great white whale from that 1 sailor, Ishmael, and his famous Tall Tale and that of the Shrouded Ghost, which we all know is a myth).

Also, they would rarely appear near the surface of the water as they are deep sea creatures.

Whales are mammals and therefore require air to breathe...

Sometimes they might appear close to the surface but still outside of cannon range.

I'm sure some more savvy pirates will find a work-around to this, if implemented. Besides, if they appear that far out, they'd probably not be worth adding.

As for your stingray argument, why should they not add an animal because one man got attacked by one in real life?

That wasn't meant to be taken completely seriously - I was just fishing for an excuse so the stingrays didn't feel excluded from the argument. 😅

Also, I'm pretty sure death by shark is a somewhat common occurence in real life, should they remove sharks too?

It's actually not that common - you're more likely to be struck by lightning twice - and as a native Floridian (famous for both sharks and lightning), I would know. Also, not all sharks are endangered, and it's not specifically stated what kind of sharks these are upon the Sea of Thieves.

Just because people have died to sharks, should they remove them?

Now you're trying to equate 2 separate arguments. Sharks and stingrays are not correlated.

I'm pretty sure people have died in pirate encounters in real life as well, maybe they should stop with the whole pirate theme? It just doesn't make any sense.

Now, you're just trying to turn a mole hill into a mountain...

The freezebomb is only overpowered if you make it that way.

The original description given was enough to make it OP.

That's how anything in any game works.

Too general of an assumption.

Don't you think anchorballs and grogballs are overpowered? The freezebomb would only slow the firing rate/steering rate down while anchor bombs completely shut you down.

Having degrees of effectiveness just muddies the water, IMO.

I don't think they should be effective in pve or pvp. Maybe only as a way to have fun with your mates on ship? (like the grog).

If that's going to be the case, then how about they just add snowballs as part of a new instanced region or voyage then?

@mintharp184509 You forgot the J-Fish.

@personalc0ffee said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

A freeze bomb that only slows the character, similar to a limp ball, while they take health damage could work but locking up parts of the ship would be too OP with current meta of blunderbomb and chain spam.

Curse balls would be almost irrelevant at that point.

I would argue that a freezebomb that slows movement and takes away health would be OP, as it would immediately invalidate both the limpball and the poisonball. Of course, you can't jump with the former and the latter also blinds you, so maybe it could work in that regard if the freezebomb does neither of those things, but it still seems redundant IMO due its cross-sectional nature.

@personalc0ffee said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

@galactic-geek said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

@personalc0ffee said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

A freeze bomb that only slows the character, similar to a limp ball, while they take health damage could work but locking up parts of the ship would be too OP with current meta of blunderbomb and chain spam.

Curse balls would be almost irrelevant at that point.

I would argue that a freezebomb that slows movement and takes away health would be OP, as it would immediately invalidate both the limpball and the poisonball. Of course, you can't jump with the former and the latter also blinds you, so maybe it could work in that regard if the freezebomb does neither of those things, but it still seems redundant IMO due its cross-sectional nature.

Do those two stack together currently?

By stack, do you mean if you got hit with both that you would be: slowed and unable to jump + losing health and blind? If so, I'm not actually sure if it does that or if the latter will cancel the former.

@personalc0ffee said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

@galactic-geek said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

@personalc0ffee said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

@galactic-geek said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

@personalc0ffee said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

A freeze bomb that only slows the character, similar to a limp ball, while they take health damage could work but locking up parts of the ship would be too OP with current meta of blunderbomb and chain spam.

Curse balls would be almost irrelevant at that point.

I would argue that a freezebomb that slows movement and takes away health would be OP, as it would immediately invalidate both the limpball and the poisonball. Of course, you can't jump with the former and the latter also blinds you, so maybe it could work in that regard if the freezebomb does neither of those things, but it still seems redundant IMO due its cross-sectional nature.

Do those two stack together currently?

By stack, do you mean if you got hit with both that you would be: slowed and unable to jump + losing health and blind? If so, I'm not actually sure if it does that or if the latter will cancel the former.

Yes, that's what I mean; broken leg and poisoned at the same time.

I know that multiple balls of the same type stack, but I'm not sure if curses override one another.

Multiple balls of the same type actually don't stack as far as I know. They used to, but not anymore. You have to space them out in a timely manner to lock someone down.

@personalc0ffee said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

@galactic-geek said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

@personalc0ffee said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

@galactic-geek said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

@personalc0ffee said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

@galactic-geek said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

@personalc0ffee said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

A freeze bomb that only slows the character, similar to a limp ball, while they take health damage could work but locking up parts of the ship would be too OP with current meta of blunderbomb and chain spam.

Curse balls would be almost irrelevant at that point.

I would argue that a freezebomb that slows movement and takes away health would be OP, as it would immediately invalidate both the limpball and the poisonball. Of course, you can't jump with the former and the latter also blinds you, so maybe it could work in that regard if the freezebomb does neither of those things, but it still seems redundant IMO due its cross-sectional nature.

Do those two stack together currently?

By stack, do you mean if you got hit with both that you would be: slowed and unable to jump + losing health and blind? If so, I'm not actually sure if it does that or if the latter will cancel the former.

Yes, that's what I mean; broken leg and poisoned at the same time.

I know that multiple balls of the same type stack, but I'm not sure if curses override one another.

Multiple balls of the same type actually don't stack as far as I know. They used to, but not anymore. You have to space them out in a timely manner to lock someone down.

They certainly do with skeleton boats but maybe not players.

Haven't really tested this myself, if I'm being honest.

@mferr11 said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

@galactic-geek said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

Also, not all sharks are endangered, and it's not specifically stated what kind of sharks these are upon the Sea of Thieves.

They are based off Great Whites, which are endangered.

I assure that they are not. They're much too small for that to be the case.

@mferr11 said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

@galactic-geek Check the artbook if you have it. I don't have it on me right now, but it says that they're based off Great Whites.

That still doesn't mean that they are great white sharks. 😉

@zodrainn said in Stingrays, Freeze Bombs and Whales.:

@galactic-geek Your arguments are no less than stupid.

No need to take it personally or be mean about it.

I never even said I wanted whales to be huntable, I said I wanted them to be friendly.

That doesn't mean that pirates won't try.

And does it even matter if a species is endagered when you're killing them in a video game?

Yes, because it can affect sales negatively.

It's not like I'm going to kill an animal in sea of theives and then go do it in real life.

No, but it glorifies the practice, and that's why it's not okay.

The whole point of video games is to do things you DON'T do in real life.

Actually no - the point of video games is to relax, have fun, and/or to challenge yourself.

As for killing other animals, you seem to think murder is ok as long as no one suffers?

There's a difference between murder and putting something out of its misery and hunting for food and sustenance. These animals have suffered for a long time being trapped on these islands. We're merely doing themselves a service, and feeding our hungry crews in the process. Do you ever give thanks when you cook your food? I know I do.

Yeah man, that makes a lot of sense. Let's make murder by gunshot legal, shouldn't we? One shot to the head and no one suffers!

Again, not murder - in any case, in some places around the world, it's considered a humane practice to drive a metal rod into a cow's brain using compressed air. So, take it as you will.

Krakens and megalodons are aggressive creatures that actually intend to cause you harm. Whales are just supposed to be creatures that roam the deeper parts of the ocean in peace.

This argument holds no grog because of the animals that you can already kill that don't intend you any harm. If you can show me a video of a chicken or a pig killing a pirate, now that would be something to see!

My purpose isn't to perfect a game mechanic, it's to come up with solid suggestions.

That is not your job; nobody pays you to do it. It is no more your job than it is mine to poke holes in faulty arguments...

If someone finds a work-around it, so will rare.

Why have a merry-go-round to begin with? Sounds tedious to me.

And yes, they would still be worth adding. They would still bring a new element to the game.

Anything new will do that. The question is will it be worth it? And that answer is subjective and solely up to Rare.

They are related though. The two sea creatures you'd need to worry about near beaches?

Sharks and sirens? Absolutely! Be careful out near them docks, folks!

And my ideas for the freezebomb were simply that. If they added a freezebomb or anything similar to it, I'd be happy if they added only the slippery floor part.

That alone is super powerful - it's essentially a free jigball or wearyball, but throwable, and automatically better than a firebomb at area denial. Again, as I said before, OP.

I'm not really that active in the community, but I thought they weren't going to add the cold region? If they did, then yeah that could work.

So far, it would seem that they aren't.