Gotta crack down on Alliance Servers

  • I get that alliance servers may not be againist the rules but I feel it should be I mean let’s be honest alliances shouldn’t be in the game this isn’t “Sea of Friends”. From what I know I’ve been playing since 2018 and I notice no one likes losing loot but I mean it’s apart of the game it’s what the games about (PvP) if you can’t defend what you have then you need to work on getting better at fighting. Over the years I have lost a lot of fights and lost a lot of loot but what makes me disappointed the most is that these PvE players don’t wanna lose anything they don’t want the full game experience they get so scared to do anything that they get a foul bounty skull and instantly turn it in or run to lower their flag in the middle of a fight that they believe they won’t win. They come on to the forums and from what I see they say that PvP players need to go that they need to be banned for spawn killing even though someone can just leave or scuttle. I know I’m ranting here about just the PvE players but I’ve seen them wait for hours a day trying to get into alliance servers just to not have to worry about people fighting them and then rare the best part of it all is that if 5 boats are doing different things with them all in an alliance is that they make like 2 million gold a day and can max from lv 0 to 75 in 1 week I mean rare is this what you intended? I give my respects to people that don’t get involved with servers like that and play the game normally knowing that there is risks. If what rare would do is take away the bonus of alliances or take alliances out this would solve the boosting of levels and gold and as well as people shouldn’t be able to get into the same servers as each other it’s ruining SoT. People need to have to play with the risk of others it’s apart of the game

  • 53
    Posts
    32.8k
    Views
  • Totally agree, pvp is what makes this game fun.

  • @app1e8l6 if you played like me back in the day it was all PvP lol. PvE players nowadays act like it’s bad with PvP they shoulda seen what it was like back in the day you couldn’t play 10 mins without being attacked lol

  • @rewavez I’ve been here since launch, and while I may not be the best the best at pvp I’ll always love to fight. So what if you’re loot is stolen, it’s a pirate game that’s what is supposed to happen! You’ll learn from the fight and get better. That’s how I’ve always seen it.

  • @app1e8l6 I agree with just I just can’t believe so many players are trying to find loopholes out of PvP in SoT alliance servers being one of them

  • I'm not opposed to the idea of capping an Alliance at 3 Ships to keep a whole server from being in a single Alliance, as I do feel that would be in the spirit of the game by keeping some chance that other ships out there could have less predictable intentions.

    Of course "Alliance Servers" could still exist, or even essentially PvE servers if Alliances were removed entirely because the coordination that is used to setup Alliance Servers could still be done regardless with everyone agreeing to leave one another alone.

    But making sure that the whole server can't be in an Alliance will make things more shaky since it puts the temptation of getting more back into the mix. Like I said, you don't have to toss out the whole system to accomplish this but rather just give it some limitations.

    Will it resolve the problem, no, but there really isn't much of a solve for it since the method of doing it to begin with is a brute force type of thing and then mass coordination to keep ships with crew 24/7. But let's at least tempt them.

  • Not everyone on Sea Of Thieves is interested in forming an alliance so chances of running into a "alliance server only" is extremely low. I've never come across one and I don't know anyone who has... I'm not implying it doesnt happen, but it's almost unheard of. It also doesn't mean the Alliance system needs to be removed from the game just because a few people decide to rush the game for themselves by getting an unnecessary amount of gold/XP. It just means they'll max out quick and have nothing to do in the game but go for PVP.

  • Another fix to the alliance server grinding I have thought of is actually to not change a thing related to forming alliances or the gold you receive. (lets be honest, gold is easily gotten these days no matter what) Instead, get rep from items YOUR crew turns in ONLY. (Why would your reputation increase from the actions of another crew anyways?)

    They could also easily track and implement this as there are commendations you do not get credit for if other crews turn in the items or perform the actions (ashen winds skull being most recent)

  • "Whaaaah! There's easy prey I can't bully "

    "Whaaaah! Someone got to pirate legend easier than I did"

    Oh and my personal favourite:

    "Whaaaaah! People are enjoying the game differently than me!"

    They would nerf it like they did anchor drops of it were a problem. Find one and wreck it instead.

  • Rare is on the record as saying they aren't going to do anything about it, because it would be pretty lousy of them to say "play however you want!" and then say "no, not like that."

  • @rewavez
    I agree, this game is supposed to be a PvPvE game, when you completely remove the PvP part by filling up a server with 6 friendly ships, there's no point of Sea of Thieves. One fix that I think they should do is limit the alliances to 3 ships max, that way PvPers can still join the game and fight them, rather than the PvEers be completely safe without any sort of problems that would normally alive.

    If Rare wants to keep it this way, fine, it sucks but Rare is a big advocate for, "Play how you want." and they're welcoming to all playstyles. It sucks that it's in the game, but I don't think Rare is going to change it.

  • @kaijoi Absolutely. I'd be for the idea of capping the amount of Alliances allowed on each server... That's a more responsible resolution rather than the OP's comment of thinking alliance shouldn't be a thing full stop.

  • Just ignore them. Simple as that. They aren’t harming your game, just there own.

  • @rewavez sagte in Gotta crack down on Alliance Servers:

    I mean rare is this what you intended?

    Yes. They have a crew recruitment section with a rule sets that encourages to spam alliance server recruiters to bump their over 2 year old threads over and over again and also a rule that forbids you to criticise that in any matter within that section.

    And then their official statement is that PvE servers are against tHe SpIRiT oF ThE gAmE and people who request PvE servers naturally get condescending responses.
    Double standards anywhere? So only the normal player peasant has to suck it up while some few clever guys can interpret the spirit of the game however they want?

    However, nothing you need to worry or care at all about. You are free to exploit the system in the same way if you want. The gain of alliance players is not your loss.
    If they really want all these cosmetics right away with nothing to acheive anymore afterwards (sandbox game, duh), it's their own choice to have it this way.

  • If you don’t like alliance servers don’t join them, they have no bearing on your game

    If rare enabled PvE servers (which they won’t) then alliance servers would pretty much cease to exist, They’re the nearest thing to PvE that we’re gonna get and there is a clear demand for them.

    If anything PvPers should welcome alliance servers as it means they’re more likely to match with other PvPers as the PvEers will all be playing together in alliance servers

  • An alliance cap won't stop alliance servers in the slightest. So let's get that notion out of your head right now.

    Let's say you cap it at 3 - that just means you'll have 2 separate alliances of 3 ships each STILL working together. Best case scenario? They'd be making less over time than they currently can - but time, being what it is, essentially makes that meaningless.

  • @scottydoggie901

    Just to let you know, alliance servers are set up and its rare to stumble into one because they keep the server locked down with max players.

    They start the game at the same time and get like 3 ships or more on a server then force other players to either join or leave. They have discords set up for this and you join that way.

    I know on xbox its a lot easier to set up by far.

    It happens a lot from what I tell from all the players in those discords.

  • @xultanis-dragon although I agree alliance servers should be cracked down on, they do provide some interesting experiences if you manage to fight one. I personally do not like alliance servers but I like taking their loot:)

  • @xultanis-dragon Ohhhh. I did not know that, thank you for letting me know! :) But still, if people want to pretty much rush the game and ruin it for themselves I say let them get on with it. There'll always be people like us who earn gold the proper way so we appreciate our rewards more, also can enjoy the game for longer. the Alliance server participants may have a stupid amount of gold/doubloons and maxed out their XP but it's all useless once they've bought everything they like.

  • @rewavez So you're here to cry about wanting to fight players who don't want to fight?
    This is a strange way of being a bully.
    YOU are the only one that is allowed to play the way you want, not other players, got it.

    I just finished a silly pug session, crew was semi-functional I guess, fought an ashen lord, they ignored the reaper pair on a sloop that I was solo fighting on our galleon, our ship sank eventually, but I guess I burned up all their supplies because they sank when I sailed our galleon back. Then my crew just went brain dead and flatulated (why is that word censored?) around on the ship apparently blunder-bombing each other while I solo'd the rest of the ashen lord fight. Got lucky and no other ship showed up I guess, I just took the skull and took us straight to an outpost to sell it. Didn't really care about the rest of the loot since gold is simple to grind.

    Most players are just dumb, I don't know why you even care. I've only had 1 session that had experienced crewmates that actually knew how to play. The rest either are either completely new, which is kind of fun to teach them the mechanics, or mostly trolls and idiots, firebombing the ship, dropping anchor randomly, etc. That is the playerbase of this game as far as I can tell. Sea of Trolls would honestly be a more accurate title. And given threads like these, it seems to be what you want it to be.

  • I don't necessarily agree with their methods, but I can certainly respect and acknowledge the difficulties in what it takes to be able to create a new alliance server.

    Let people make, and learn from their own mistakes. All we can do is point out their folly.

  • @rewavez i allways hear: Don't tell other people how to play the game or how to have fun. if they have fun, they can do so.
    If i have fun to taunt you, make you chase me 1hr to then sail into the shroud or scuttle with nothing, then this is my fun!
    Others have fun spawnkilling others for no other reason to spawncamp until the loser scuttles.
    And another has fun to hop servers until he finds an active FotD or whatever.

    So who is right or wrong is not on you, not on me to decide.
    People tell me this all day here and this is a neverending debate with only one outcome, agree to disagree because one likes green and another likes blue.
    One has fun playing this way and another has fun playing another way.

    these different playstyles never fit together and that is where als the toxicity comes from.
    Rare and MS dont care for this or that, they care for money from all.
    End of Story.

    @rewavez sagte in Gotta crack down on Alliance Servers:

    @app1e8l6 if you played like me back in the day it was all PvP lol. PvE players nowadays act like it’s bad with PvP they shoulda seen what it was like back in the day you couldn’t play 10 mins without being attacked lol

    blabla - it hasn't changeds that much regarding PVP, i sailed hours undisturbed in 2018,19,20 and i sailed and had a lot of action almost instant.

    @rewavez sagte in Gotta crack down on Alliance Servers:

    @app1e8l6 I agree with just I just can’t believe so many players are trying to find loopholes out of PvP in SoT alliance servers being one of them

    it's very simple: A lot of competetive PVP focussed players are the same amount overzealos and exxagerating about a videogame like some PvE players are.
    They hate each other, they dont understand each other and they dont want them
    you call them literally cowards, they call you a cyberbully.

    all things in life a mutually dependent.

    If you branch out into all aspects in a balanced way you have no problems.

  • @kommodoreyenser sagte in Gotta crack down on Alliance Servers:

    Another fix to the alliance server grinding I have thought of is actually to not change a thing related to forming alliances or the gold you receive. (lets be honest, gold is easily gotten these days no matter what) Instead, get rep from items YOUR crew turns in ONLY. (Why would your reputation increase from the actions of another crew anyways?)

    They could also easily track and implement this as there are commendations you do not get credit for if other crews turn in the items or perform the actions (ashen winds skull being most recent)

    what do levels or gold mean in this game.
    to me let them have 100 Million gold and Level 1000 in all factions - i dont care.

  • @galactic-geek sagte in Gotta crack down on Alliance Servers:

    An alliance cap won't stop alliance servers in the slightest. So let's get that notion out of your head right now.

    Let's say you cap it at 3 - that just means you'll have 2 separate alliances of 3 ships each STILL working together. Best case scenario? They'd be making less over time than they currently can - but time, being what it is, essentially makes that meaningless.

    they can remove alliances and people would still do it, imho they do it mainly for PvE only, not for gold or progression, thats just a sideeffect.

  • @scottydoggie901 @Xultanis-Dragon

    question: would you consider people speedrunning also betraying themself for playing the game "wrong"?

    i dont play on Alliance Servers, did 2 or 3 times back in 2018, but was boring to me, so i didn't join anymore. I like the PvPvE mix like it is.

    But i ask, because so many have their opinions about this and that, rate about it and maybe say its bad, its not intended and what not.
    I for example get told all day: If they have fun to tryhard and exploit or if they have fun to spawnkill for no reasin, but the sake of it, then it's their fun dont tell aynone how to play the game.

    So now - and i'd agree to some degree - we say they betray themself to get to PL and "earn" their titles and cosmetics in the - let's say "intended" way.

    And a Speedrunner? Or people exploiting, trying hard and game the system "legally" where it can be are all fine and to be admired?

    I ask to understand it better.

    i more and more come to the conclusion: everybody has his or her opinion and that's right and others are wrong.
    People often think i dont evaluate their PoV or aproach to play the game or game the system, but this is wrong, because i do.

    I start to say, any discussions or wants are completely irrelevant.
    the code is just a guideline nobody need to care for really.
    The one say dont play this way, the other say dont play that way....
    It's all completely irrelevant what people want or suggest or like or dislike.
    isnt it?

  • Some people want to enjoy the game without the PVP aspect of it.
    I get that. I certainly see enough evidence of that too on this forum and other media outlets.
    If alliance servers means they can play the way they want to play.
    Who am I to disagree?

  • @needsmokes Some disagree because they fear it takes pirates away from the mainstream servers, and therefore reduces chance encounters that can make the Sea more enjoyable for them. It's really a kind of Catch-22.

  • I recently bought another pirate-themed game that is more focused on PvP and more a survival game, Atlas its name, for the single reason that it now has a single player mode with the option to host a server for people with the access code where you can change the parameters of the game, and I am quite enjoying it.

    Because of its clunky controls Atlas lets Sea of Thieves feel so polished, but it is also interesting to explore. Still, I will never bother to play that game on official servers, it is based on Ark and it lets you waste tons of time with ridiculous amounts of material you have to gather, well, and my galleon with six masts and 20 cannons on each side and three in the front and back is ridiculous in itself.

    And now we are coming to the point:

    Ark Survival Evolved also allows players enjoy the game in a single player mod, they give their players the option to choose how to experience the game, and they are not hurting themselves like Sea of Thieves is doing it for a certain amount of players that like to feed off of new players to push their egos a little higher.

    The interaction with other players is meanwhile as interesting as finding a ghost or skeleton ship, you should not waste time to talk, just sink them and take the loot, wow, more to do in GTA 5 with other players. And we can see that with the numbers on Steam, this game here is competing with No Man's Sky rather than titles like Ark Survival Evolved.

    So, it would be nice to let those players be that take upon themselves the hassle to maintain Alliance servers, in order to not shrink even more the player base of this game.

    And for those that want to tell me "git gut" or want to immitate their parrot Falcore with "it is about pirates" out of their streamer bubble: do not worry, I do everything I know to let you have your special moment on the seas, luckily the loading screen is on my side while I will be having fun on your ship.

  • @bugaboo-bill said in Gotta crack down on Alliance Servers:

    @galactic-geek sagte in Gotta crack down on Alliance Servers:

    An alliance cap won't stop alliance servers in the slightest. So let's get that notion out of your head right now.

    Let's say you cap it at 3 - that just means you'll have 2 separate alliances of 3 ships each STILL working together. Best case scenario? They'd be making less over time than they currently can - but time, being what it is, essentially makes that meaningless.

    they can remove alliances and people would still do it, imho they do it mainly for PvE only, not for gold or progression, thats just a sideeffect.

    If this were true than those “PvE servers NOW” and “server alliance pre-setup plz” people should all be purchasing custom servers and not caring a bit that there is no progression. Except this is not the case at all otherwise they would also not complain about someone stealing their treasure and sinking them in the first place.

  • Also to all the defenders of the alliance server play style by saying “you can’t restrict how people want to play and Rare doesn’t want that,” they most certainly will and have.

    Example 1 is the reducing of rep earned from treasure both stolen and farmed by Reaper’s faction. They didn’t like how people were playing the faction and therefore reduced loot rewards to discourage this style of play. The exact same thing can be done to reduce alliances farming rep/levels.

  • @kommodoreyenser

    People hit level 75 in the first day playing as reapers. That's why it was nerfed. Some did on alliance servers, many did it off of them.

    I barely played during that update and hit level 45 without trying.

    We should all focus on the real problem of this game, server hopping.. That's what making servers feel empty, ships jumping in and out constantly meaning it takes ages for another ship to take its place, and when it finally does. Its probably yet another hopper looking for something shiny going on. And they leave and so it goes on and on and on.. Servers will feel dead. At least on an alliance server I imagine you have 6 active ships all sailing about being constructive with their time.

  • @needsmokes said in Gotta crack down on Alliance Servers:

    @kommodoreyenser

    People hit level 75 in the first day playing as reapers. That's why it was nerfed. Some did on alliance servers, many did it off of them.

    I barely played during that update and hit level 45 without trying.

    We should all focus on the real problem of this game, server hopping.. That's what making servers feel empty, ships jumping in and out constantly meaning it takes ages for another ship to take its place, and when it finally does. Its probably yet another hopper looking for something shiny going on. And they leave and so it goes on and on and on.. Servers will feel dead. At least on an alliance server I imagine you have 6 active ships all sailing about being constructive with their time.

    If you are worried about people server hopping for specific events, the only fix for that is to remove cosmetic locks that require completing a specific event 25-50 times.

    If you are worried about server hopping because Reapers are looking for emissary ships, the only fix for that is Reapers getting merged to a server with active emissary ships when their server no longer has any after “X” minutes.

    The only other server hopping reason I can think of is FotD and that will continue because they fixed the ease at getting mass ritual skulls.

    Also, regarding the Reapers reaching 75 after 14 straight hours of gameplay, to quote someone who is pro-server alliance in this thread “who cares if they max out the game in a day or two?”

  • @kommodoreyenser said in Gotta crack down on Alliance Servers:

    @bugaboo-bill said in Gotta crack down on Alliance Servers:

    @galactic-geek sagte in Gotta crack down on Alliance Servers:

    An alliance cap won't stop alliance servers in the slightest. So let's get that notion out of your head right now.

    Let's say you cap it at 3 - that just means you'll have 2 separate alliances of 3 ships each STILL working together. Best case scenario? They'd be making less over time than they currently can - but time, being what it is, essentially makes that meaningless.

    they can remove alliances and people would still do it, imho they do it mainly for PvE only, not for gold or progression, thats just a sideeffect.

    If this were true than those “PvE servers NOW” and “server alliance pre-setup plz” people should all be purchasing custom servers and not caring a bit that there is no progression. Except this is not the case at all otherwise they would also not complain about someone stealing their treasure and sinking them in the first place.

    Wait, what?
    Not only you try to tell what people really want and think, insinuating they are all just lying, you also think that they should be fine when something comes and sinks them making them lose everything they gathered? Is that what you managed to imagine when thinking of a PvE player?

    So, you imagine that people just want to do some pirate stuff, just sailing around and be happy? That is actually funny, it shows me that your opinion is based on very questionable presuppositions. I mean, you really split up beating challenges and progressing in achievements from just doing randomly stuff in a game. Or wait, could it be (my turn now in supposing what you really think to show why it is a bad move) that you want this to be the case as some form of punishment because you were not able to get your hands on people that do not want to play with you? Is that all? It bores you that some do not want to play with you?

  • Alliance servers are a minority. But having a cap at 3 would make a nice dynamic in the regular non discord/lfg servers. Possibly more people alliancing leading to bigger steals.

  • @scurvywoof

    Everytime I hit "set sail" or get server merged I PRAY that I end up on an alliance server so that I can fight all those ships but in all the time since alliances came to the game, I have only stumbled upon 2 alliance servers, scratch that 3. If I could repeatedly find alliance servers I wouldn't mind if they did it lololol, kinda selfish of me thinking that way but its true.

    @ScottyDoggie901

    It pulls players from rotation. There are players complaining that they can't ever find players to alliances with, well maybe thats because they are waiting hours for a spot on an alliance server, or maybe its because all the players who want to make an alliance are on alliance servers.

    I don't believe that entirely but I do believe that this is causing some kind of ripple effect across the game. We would know entirely if Rare gave us the stats but that is a double edged sword. Players knowing too much cause problems because they think they know how to run the development for the game when they don't. However, knowing too little causes problems because almost all the evidence that we use is anecdotal.

    My stance on alliance servers has never changed.

    1. If a player starts a game and decides he is going to find ships to alliance with and make an alliance server, then power to him let him at it. If he succeeds then it only proves his ability to get things done.

    2. If its a discord group, or a group of players starting the game at the same time circumventing the match making algorithm to land in the same server to make insta alliance servers, then thats where I draw complaint.

    Number 1 the player is using his own abilities and taking his own time to create something from the ground up.

    Number 2 people are exploiting the game and completely circumventing everything. Its almost borderline cheating.

    Do you understand my stance now??

    @Bugaboo-Bill

    My stance on alliance servers is stated above and it hasn't changed.

    Speed runners? Speed runners aren't the same context as players in server alliances. Speed runners are ignoring loot and trying to get things done as quick as possible because of the time constraints with the event or their lives. They still get attacked from time to time.

    I speed run, even solo I'll speed run sometimes. However the game is forcing me to speed run which means that the issue is not me speed running, its the game for creating something that to complete I have to speed run because of time constraints in my own life.

    Remember back in vanilla game launch days? When we had to deliver like 1000 castaway chests?? Things like those??

    Something like that isn't time constraint. With the way the game was at that time you would complete it eventually just by playing the game and turning in.

    Hunting players, doing quests, finding chests on islands, doing forts - no matter WHAT you did, you could run into loot to turn in and get rep and gold. You could choose to play however you wanted and eventually complete whatever it is you wanted to complete.

    The game now has removed that. Now its not "play" however you want its "make a grocery list and do this or you wont get a chance to do it again"

    The game as of now is forcing players to play a certain way.

    I used to be able to do everything in the game without EVER having to drop a quest. How many events came out where players were forced to do ACTUAL quests??

    I'm writing a really long indepth review about this and I'll release it in sometime but the game has really changed in its direction and I really miss the vanilla game A LOT.

    I went in a lot of different directions, I hope I got my point across though.

53
Posts
32.8k
Views
1 out of 53