XP Gains Need Serious Tweaking...

  • E P D 1
    Founder

    As stated in the title, the XP gains need a serious fix and here’s why. Short answer? It’s a grind fest... Long answer, well, here we go.

    My friends and I have been playing since day one and myself since the second ring of the alpha tests. XP seemed ok in the beta and even the full game but oh my god were we ever wrong once we got up there. We all have been playing nearly all day every day and we’re all level 30+ in each trade company except Merchant for obvious reasons. Now here is where the issues start. It’s. Way. Too. Grindy... There is absolutely no reason whatsoever that it should be as hard as it is to rank up at only a bit passed 30 in the trade companies. I completely understand that they don’t want to just hand out pirate legend status to people and that is totally fine. But the fact is that we’re this high of a level and getting castaway chests still??? Not only that but the XP is absolutely atrocious for said chests. The bar barely moves at all. Same with all the other chests. It takes nearly a full day of grinding to rank up maybe one whole level and that’s literally only because we’re hitting every last skull fort we see when they pop up. I could understand if maybe you were level 40 or 45 and it was like that I guess but to be the ranks that we are and handing in castaway and sea fairer chests getting literal slivers of XP is ridiculous. Higher tier quests should yield higher tier rewards and more XP no ifs, ands or buts. Captains chests are about the only ones that actually give any decent XP and we hardly come across those. We’ve only ever gotten 4 grog chests and 1 chest of sorrow as well. We’ve all talked about this for a while now and it just doesn’t seem right at all. I haven’t even mentioned Merchant Alliance either because I can’t even imagine how bad that grind is gonna be... the missions in and of themselves are already so tedious and obnoxious which is only going to add to the stress of everything else.

    Rare, if you’re reading this, ya gotta fix it. The XP and rewards just aren’t where they should be and it makes no sense. You need to give your players an actual sense and feeling of progression otherwise it turns people off of the game. Why stick around when you aren’t getting anywhere or when what it is that you’re working towards seems so far out of reach and almost unattainable??? Pirate Legend is something special and I get that completely but there’s no excuse for this kind of a grind in a $60 retail title.

    I don’t want to sound like I’m just complaining because I understand a lot of people aren’t at our level and just come on the game to do pvp and mess about with their friends which is cool. But when you level up, you realize how messed up the XP really is. The amount of time you’re spending on voyages and skull forts and being rewarded with hardly anything is pretty disappointing and very much a turnoff.

    Anyway, I hope people read and agree with this and even add onto it. Somethings gotta be done about this problem so hopefully Rare sees this. All feedback is welcome.

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  • A13XA4D3R
    Marauder
    Insider

    I don't want everyone to achieve legendary status to easily, it won't mean anything anymore. The exp is fine...

  • E P D 1
    Founder

    @a13xa4d3r you say that now but wait till you hit higher ranks and you see just how bad the grind is.

  • DutchDeadSchot
    Master
    Insider
    Founder

    @e-p-d-1 I absolutely agree my friend! Rare needs to add more types of chests maybe! Admiral’s Chest? King’s Chest? Governor’s Chest? So as you progress Captain’s chest will be more common but also not the most valuable chest out there.

  • DutchDeadSchot
    Master
    Insider
    Founder

    @e-p-d-1 and yes absolutely ridiculous some voyages end with a single castaways chest. Mind boggling.

  • erikinthebakery
    Captain
    Founder

    Then... don't grind for it and just play the game? Go, adventure!!!

    It is not a race (unless it is - and hey, if you race another boat you'll earn an achievement. Make sure you all share some drinks in the tavern after the conclusion of the race for another achievement).

    Seriously, it is only a grind if the only reason you're playing is to get Pirate Legend. If you think that is the only reason to play the game, you are missing the point!

  • A13XA4D3R
    Marauder
    Insider

    @e-p-d-1 Your right, I want Rare to give me legendary status right now. I want everyone to be pirate legends, that would be fun.

  • CrZyDave91
    Marauder
    Founder

    I am not too concerned with the time it will take to get to legend status. What I am concerned about is doing the same thing over and over again to get there will just turn people off the game before they get there and they will not come back.

    Some different things to do are required so we can keep enjoying the game to legend status

  • E P D 1
    Founder

    @erikinthebakery I don’t believe the only point of the game is to achieve Pirate Legend status by any means. However, it is absolutely the pinnacle of the game and something that everyone should be striving for. You get new clothes, new ships, new quests, new everything really and all that stuff is only attainable through that status as a pirate legend. I’ve had plenty of fun just messing around with my friends too but we want to achieve Pirate Legend but it’s getting way too Grindy. I don’t know where everyone else is at in terms of ranks but when you get to the higher levels you’ll see what I mean. And I’m terms of just playing the game and getting the XP over time, that would take even longer.

  • E P D 1
    Founder

    @a13xa4d3r If you read, that’s not at all what I’m saying lol but think what you will friend.

  • Freecellqt

    @e-p-d-1 i personally feel the xp is fine. Legend is meant to be something special, it does get grindy but just get yourself a ton of players interested in sailing and playing to level up and its not as bad. I think there are around 19 people on my friends list that constantly pop in and out of my galleon throughout the days. Currently 35/36/28

  • A13XA4D3R
    Marauder
    Insider

    @e-p-d-1 Your saying you want it to be easier, more people will be able to get it. I disagree.

  • A13XA4D3R
    Marauder
    Insider

    @personalc0ffee said in XP Gains Need Serious Tweaking...:

    @e-p-d-1 The amount of time you’re spending on voyages and skull forts and being rewarded with hardly anything is pretty disappointing and very much a turnoff.

    Here's my issue with this that players can't seem to understand.

    You aren't playing the game for voyages. You're playing the game to have a journey.

    The community and the players talking about and playing the game need to stop thinking of the game in terms of get quest, go do quest, get reward.

    That is not at all what this game is about nor how it is meant to be perceived and the reason you are doing this is because AAA gaming has conditioned you to do so for over 10 years.

    It's time to switch your mindsets.

    You play the game to have fun!

    It shouldn't feel like grinding to you because you should be having fun.

    This so much, sooo much this.

  • McDoll
    Castaway
    Insider
    Founder

    @personalc0ffee said in XP Gains Need Serious Tweaking...:

    @e-p-d-1 The amount of time you’re spending on voyages and skull forts and being rewarded with hardly anything is pretty disappointing and very much a turnoff.

    Here's my issue with this that players can't seem to understand.

    You aren't playing the game for voyages. You're playing the game to have a journey.

    The community and the players talking about and playing the game need to stop thinking of the game in terms of get quest, go do quest, get reward.

    That is not at all what this game is about nor how it is meant to be perceived and the reason you are doing this is because AAA gaming has conditioned you to do so for over 10 years.

    It's time to switch your mindsets.

    You play the game to have fun!

    It shouldn't feel like grinding to you because you should be having fun.

    I'd agree with you if it weren't for the fact that there is hardly any content.
    And what is there supposedly is locked behind this legendary status.

    I think the reason people wanna do the grind is to unlock more than just four outfits!

    Personally though, I think there's nothing actually waiting at the end of the grind and the game really is as hollow as it seems!

  • E P D 1
    Founder

    @mcdoll Honestly couldn’t have said it better myself.

  • E P D 1
    Founder

    @personalc0ffee The only problem with that statement is that there truly isn’t “tons of content” in this game. And as the other gent stated, what is supposedly is locked behind this Legendary status. It’s all well and good to have stories and fun with friends (and believe me, I have my own insane stories already) but that isn’t content.

  • Fritzbube
    Captain
    Insider
    Founder

    "Rank 22" 4 steps riddle castaway chests and "rank 23 Merchant" 3 White Chicken Contracts?
    i make more gold by selling gunpowder barrels on my way to get those voyages completed

    comon...

    is Fort-Server-hop-Farming the only way to successfully earn gold/rep in the game?

  • Crinch1657
    Marauder
    Insider

    Have to agree with OP; I don't want Legendary Status to be easily obtainable, but at Rank 30+ with the Gold Hoarders I feel shorted every time I get a 1 map voyage that rewards me 1 Castaway Chest. At rank 20+ the chests should at least pay for the voyage's cost... In the Closed Beta, the map wheel would fill up with Clues and Maps at rank 25, now you're lucky if you get 3-4. I don't want to get a Captain's Chest every time I dig up a chest, but I wouldn't mind getting a little more bang for my buck on each Voyage.

    TL;DR: Perhaps give us a few more steps on each voyage to prevent players from losing money and time on voyages.

  • McDoll
    Castaway
    Insider
    Founder

    @personalc0ffee said in XP Gains Need Serious Tweaking...:

    @e-p-d-1 Yes there is. YOU are the content. You are supposed to use the tools provided to go out and make stories.

    Again, this is where I said we need to swap this mindset of it's about destination only.

    This is game is about the journey and what you make of it. I have over 250 hours and I am not bored with this game.

    Get out there and make your story.

    Content will come but if you're expecting a black flag, PoTCO, or pirate mmo, you're going to be sorely disappointed. SoT will never be those games.

  • McDoll
    Castaway
    Insider
    Founder

    @madscallion
    Yeah so far forts are the most lucrative, with gold animals being the next best sure thing.
    unfortunately at higher levels, vote cancelling a lot of merchant quests can be pretty pricey, so it's only good for rep farming

  • SavageTwinky
    Master
    Insider

    @mcdoll said in XP Gains Need Serious Tweaking...:

    @personalc0ffee said in XP Gains Need Serious Tweaking...:

    @e-p-d-1 Yes there is. YOU are the content. You are supposed to use the tools provided to go out and make stories.

    Again, this is where I said we need to swap this mindset of it's about destination only.

    This is game is about the journey and what you make of it. I have over 250 hours and I am not bored with this game.

    Get out there and make your story.

    Content will come but if you're expecting a black flag, PoTCO, or pirate mmo, you're going to be sorely disappointed. SoT will never be those games.

    There is content in this game, some people want to chew through structured content, others want unstructured play time in a video game.

  • Anna Reinette
    Ship Mate

    @e-p-d-1 @dutchdeadschot
    The grind is terrible. I just hit 30 today and the trip from 25 to 30 was miserable enough, I don't even want to anticipate what it's like in the 30s yet. I'm still 25 in order of skulls and most of that is from forts, not actually doing them but I did do one and I know it sucks having four blunderbuss skellies appear in front of you...

    In terms of having extra chests I feel that's a great idea. As you rank up your captain's chest becomes the new seafarer's and you get better and better as you go on and earn more money over time. These would also give extra EXP. Better chest = more EXP. Cursed chest? Even more.

  • Anna Reinette
    Ship Mate

    @personalc0ffee said in XP Gains Need Serious Tweaking...:

    Yes there is. YOU are the content. You are supposed to use the tools provided to go out and make stories.

    We didn't spend $60 just to buy our imaginations. I myself am having tons of fun, but it's starting to wear on me a little bit and I know it's only going to get worse unless they do something.

  • Fylkir Ragnulf

    @personalc0ffee The stories and friends you have made can be entirely attributed to the people you have met in the game, not the game itself. The game is entirely devoid of meaningful content, the only real content you speak of is the "stories and friends" you have made. Stop defending Rare, their design choice and development plan is extremely questionable for a $60 game and that's not speaking of the lack of content that apparently took over 4 years to make. I wanted this game to be great, I have since I saw their presentation at E3 2015, but alas, it is not. The game definitely has potential, but it is not something to defend. If you want the game to be as good as it can be, you cannot allow paid early access titles masquerading as AAA games to get away with their shady practices. The game's XP grind may not feel as long or boring if there was actual content in the game besides fetch quests and mediocre PvP gameplay. Unfortunately, in our current situation all we can do is speak our honest opinion on the game and hope Rare listens.

    TL;DR

    • There is no actual meaningful content, therefore, the XP grind feels much longer due to monotonous gameplay.
    • Don't defend Rare, if you want the game to be great, you have to call them out on their s**t.
    • The game definitely has potential, but as far as I can tell, the potential has been squandered thus far.
    • We just have to see whether or not Rare actually pull through and make this a title worthy of the Rare name.
  • Slothian260

    @e-p-d-1 I'm not even sure that 'Pirate Legend' really fits what your doing to gain XP either, after this level of Grind (me and my friends are also incredibly bored of the repetitive hell hole this games 'missions' become) I feel like a more appropriate title would be 'LEGENDARY DELIVERY BOY' and that traders should accept the carcass of a pig I've sailed for 4 days to give them or I should be allowed to blow them up, because merchant alliance missions are so god awful I haven't progressed past level 12. only reason I still play is because I was one of the morons that forked out money for this game. I get the PVP is fun every so often, but after a while you get bored of that too, especially considering the state of sword fighting..

  • CaptainFlintkin

    @a13xa4d3r if been a pirate legend means you are a no lifer grinding all day the same thing until you cant remember your own name no thanks you can be pirate legend I will skip.

  • LeVernicus
    Master
    Insider

    @captainflintkin said in XP Gains Need Serious Tweaking...:

    @a13xa4d3r if been a pirate legend means you are a no lifer grinding all day the same thing until you cant remember your own name no thanks you can be pirate legend I will skip.

    And so begins the separation of wheat from chaff. Legends, from nobodies -- true NEETs and No-Lifers ahoy! Finally I'll have status as being someone notable.

    On another note - has anyone here grinded BDO? This game is some real rookie numbers compared to a game with actual grind.

  • TouchDown1504
    Castaway
    Insider
    Founder

    @e-p-d-1 I read through the whole thread, thank God there are only like 30 posts at this point LOL. So, we have some folks they say "change the way you think, it's a story game", and others saying"there is no content" and the truth is, both camps are 100% right. It is about how you want to play the game. Some people want the achievements, the titles, the costumes and so on. Others want the experience of playing with new friends. Trying to tell someone they are "looking at it wrong" is ridiculous. It is all opinion. I agree with the OP, it is way too grindy. Especially for a game that appears to be geared toward casual gaming.

    The way experience points (reputation) is awarded makes no sense to me. When voyage complete pops up (on GH and OoS, not on MA) you get awarded with....NOTHING. But you just solved riddles, found the treasure under the "X", defeated waves of skellies and a skeleton boss, and you get no progression for that? OK, you do, once you reach port. IF you reach port. Which means if you lose your loot on the way, all of the progression (time invested) goes with it. You still solved the riddle right? You still defeated the skeleton boss? So, why does all of the "reputation" go away? My issue with progression in this game is the time invested does not equate the progression received...especially if you bust your a*s for an hour or so, and lose it all...I know, git gud, whatever.

    I also have a question, I hope you folks can answer. I am 25/24/21. The skeletons are kicking my a*s right now, especially when they all spawn with pistols that seem to be laser guided with target locks. If at 25 in OoS I decide to not buy a promotion, will my reputation still go up? Or will it lock until I promote?

  • Coconut Monkey6
    Master
    Insider
    Founder

    I have to agree that I think the XP needs some tweaking. I am currently 32/29/29 and as the missions progress, they are bigger with tougher skeletons but the loot and XP rewards so not scale as the enemies do. Now, I am not saying cut it down to where you can get legend in a matter of days but it does need some tweaking because the higher you get, the amount of xp return is ridiculous. I know Rare wants people to be playing their game for awhile but you can't do that by making the grind that horribly grindy. In Destiny (1 & 2), you can hit lax lvl/light in a couple of weeks of after work playtime and still put hours upon hours in because the game is just fun but you have also reached that level of accomplishment of hitting that cap. There is no level of accomplishment here in SoT. The 5 lvl milestones don't quite cut it when it takes almost a week to hit 1 with 1 merchant.

    Please don't get me wrong here though. I do love this game a whole lot. I just find it discouraging when you cash in 25+ chests from 2 lvl 30 voyages and barely gain 1 level after hours of play.

  • GrizzleBox
    Marauder
    Insider

    All I ask for is voyage completion rep....

    Sink me, take my treasure, slap me around a bit.. But at the very least give me some voyage completion rep.

    k thx bye!

  • TouchDown1504
    Castaway
    Insider
    Founder

    @grizzlebox said in XP Gains Need Serious Tweaking...:

    All I ask for is voyage completion rep....

    Sink me, take my treasure, slap me around a bit.. But at the very least give me some voyage completion rep.

    k thx bye!

    Big discussion about that going down right here.

  • Maxde12
    Marauder
    Insider

    @e-p-d-1
    To compense the XP gain for higher quest, the idea to ajust the loot to the quests level should be nice. Like, get less chances to get poor loot and more chance to get better loot. Logically, the quests get expensives to buy even if its little fees, but still, its a proof that players are worthy to do a bit harder quests and then get better loot for them. Example: A lvl 1 gold hoarder get begginer quests and a lvl 30 get advanced quests, without touching the xp gain, less chances to get then castaway chests and under.
    Same thing with Order of souls, should be the same mechanics, as for the merchand alliance.

  • NyaDC85
    Marauder

    It is a grind but it doesn't need to be altered. Getting to 50 is supposed to be hard, it's supposed to take a lot of time and investment.

    The issue stems from the lack of variety in things to do between the grinding. If there were more content and activities you wouldn't care about the rate of progression as you do now.

    Progression and XP do not need to change, there just needs to be more interesting things to do so the game itself isn't just about grinding.

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