Sea of Thieves: less limitations in ship types and number of players per ship, please

@goedecke-michel said in Sea of Thieves: less limitations in ship types and number of players per ship, please:

When I contact my friends in the evenings, or these me, and we want to play a little bit together, World of Tanks is regularly preferred to Sea of Thieves. Not because the game is better or worse, but because it can be played more dynamically as a group. What do I mean by that?

Compared to other games, Sea of Thieves has a varying number of players hampered by the fixed ship types and crew seats - which makes interaction more difficult.

Comparison: World Of Tanks
A group can consist of max. 5 persons. During the game, friends can come and go, join or leave. One can join for half an hour and leave again. It does not really matter if you are 2, 4, or 5 persons. So you can spend a relaxed evening - or just play along for a short time.

Comparison: Sea Of Thieves
Well, the first difference is, in World of Tanks, everyone has his own tank, while in Sea of Thieves, as a crew you have to manage a vessel. That said, the selection of the ship prevents a dynamic number of players - as long as we assume that we want to achieve an appropriate number of players and do not want to consider an overtaxed, under-represented crew on a too large ship as comfortable.
You define a number of players and select the ship. The ship type defines the maximum crew size. However, the ship type also makes demands on the crew size; it is not recommended to significantly undercut the possible crew size. This would mean a considerable weakness in an always possible ship combat. Therefore, friends will only want to play together if they have a common idea of how long they want to play. Nobody wants to leave a galleon full of friends, you know what I mean. With open crews, you will often see a crew suddenly disband. Then you stand alone or in pairs around the area. Newly boarding crew members quickly recognize the helpless situation and usually get off again quickly.
Therefore, most time my friends vote for another game: "I might be too (busy|tired) to take hours on sea, let's do some quick WoT games and see how long we have fun".

Solution?

• The number of crew members should not exceed 6 persons, regardless of the type of vessel. 6 persons on a sloop? Well, if the crew expects advantages from it, why not?

The why not is fairly easy, 'cause it would be overpowered. The ship becomes literally unsinkable as the crew can bail quicker than all the holes in the ship can fill it up (even if every single spot is punctured). Especially since you can walk through other crew members.

The sizes of the ship are balanced around the amount of people, throwing more people on it would ruin the balance as the smaller ships will receive a huge spike in power and survival levels.

• Every game should start with a free sloop. If you want to have a brig or galleon, you can buy it (the crew members can pay partial amounts until the total price is reached and a ship is delivered). There is now a time limit for the delivery of the ship: in four days the ship will be available at outpost X. Better be there in time!

Wouldn't this require more time to be spend, 4 days = 24 mins * 4 aka 100 mins, one of your points is that people have limited time and you want them to wait 100 mins before they are able to play the ship type they want?

Also, this would mean that the prices of ships would be against the entire idea of an even field as it would be reserved for the rich or the price will be so insignificant that why have it (unless you want a money drain, but there are better options than placing restrictions on play style to do that).

In any case: pay for it means more time is required in the game, as one would need to grind the money to play the ship type they want.

• At any time a crew can make a captured ship their own and take it over, and thus change the ship type.

Now, being able to take over a ship might be interesting. Though how this would work and not be easy to exploit as I for one sneak on ships and steal them quite a bit already - it shouldn't be too easy for me to claim the ship, though I would love to do it.

• At any time, a crew can sell a larger ship, buy another one, or switch to a free sloop.

Being capable of switching ship sizes, I believe should be capable (even at the loss of supplies) at an outpost or something and would already address most of your original concern.

The rest just seems unbalanced, punishing and time consuming.

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@goedecke-michel said in Sea of Thieves: less limitations in ship types and number of players per ship, please:

@cotu42 I believe that, on the one hand, you should see the amendments as a draft. As a changeable idea. On the other hand, think it over, give it a chance, work it out, play with those ideas.

• Unbalanced / Unsinkable ships

The boat is unsinkable / unbalanced, you say. I doubt that. Unless one shoots from too great a distance, does not board, and hits only rarely. With such a course of battle I am unsinkable also solo on sloop against three galleons, right now...

However if they manage to pump you full of holes, you cannot sail efficiently while also keeping it up. Which with more people would be possible. I am not stating that it currently is unbalanced, I am stating if you increase the crew size it will be.

Why don't I believe it:

A boat with many sailors will of course suffer more victims when hits by fire. In particular, the larger ships naturally have the greater firepower due to the higher number of cannons. If, in addition, the crew can be so large that all cannons are actually occupied, while navigation and sail management can take place, the larger boats are strategically on their way with a much higher attack value when fully occupied. The fully occupied, small, supposedly unsinkable boat can therefore get into problems just as quickly as with the current standard occupation. If not even faster.

It doesn't matter how many people are on the cannons, they can shoot all their cannonballs all they want, as repairs would not be required to be made as one can out bucket the water flowing in with that amount of people, you don't have the issue of being hit all that much as you are below deck. On top of that it isn't like my crew would just sit there and take the beating.

It can also be said that an attacker himself could also be on the move with a large boarding crew. If the attacker is too busy for a long-range battle, I can go into close combat. When boarding, real big battles could develop on board.

Ever had a 6 man battle on a sloop... it isn't much of a 'big battle' sure a Galleon has the space for it, but a sloop doesn't.

So when you enter combat, you'll have to adjust your strategy to the number of crews. The battles would be more challenging and tactical.

Sorry, increasing a crew size from 2 to 6 has a way bigger impact on the power level of the ship than changing to from 4 to 6. There duos out there that fight on par with Galleons with 4 people etc. just putting more of them on the small ship with more freedom of them just going about to wreck havoc as one person can sail a sloop without help just is not a good idea.

1 Helm, 1 Cannon, 4 boarders and still having the ship function at max efficiency... what...

• Duration of shipbuilding

Yes, four days (playing time) may be too much. One day, maybe. As long as it would take to get to another outpost if the game were to run medium. That wouldn't be so tragic (reference to playing time), because in the meantime you'll also find room on the sloop. It would also be a small challenge to be there in time. So avoid sea battles, Kralen, Megalodon and storm would be fate. If you arrive too late, another group may have seized the ship waiting in the quay.

I don't find it a challenge to go to an outpost, I just want to play the ship type I want without the need to wait 15 mins, 30 mins... Why would I want that? Just let me start the game with the ship that I want.

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