@lormiun I feel like you have an idea how to articulate sentences to make a point, but you're just not quite there yet.
Allow me to answer these strange concerns.
Answer me this:
If you escape via Portal the loot gets dropped ... Flags even get DUPED!
Do you think that Rare should also change that so it vanishes along with the ship just like with the Red-Sea?
WHY should the chasers get the loot THERE :P ?
"They were not fast enough" after all.
(Which is SUCH a BS argument, ESPECIALLY for the Red-Sea, to begin with due to the nature of how sailing with/against the wind in SoT works ...)
Alright so as of right now, keeping your emissary while utilizing the portal is a "bug" that's been intentionally left in the game by the developers. They are currently monitoring it to see how much this changes the game loop.
About a year after these portals for APL were made, people are barely finding good use in them as a majority of hunters are either not good at hunting, or find it better to rush to a boat on minimal supplies if it means they guarantee a boat they can target and sink. We still have an issue about running, but the only thing these vessel keep with them past the portal are supplies and their emissary flag status. Tridents of Dark Tides, Treasure of any kind, and Emissary flags are left behind on the portal, so as to prevent those escaping players in more playable territory aren't completely screwing them over by just goin on a short trip to the Sea of the Damned.
The Devil's Shroud remains to be the game's map borders and rushing off of there is still intentional game design, and a more guaranteed way to flip a finger at your chaser as many running players have the habit of doing.
Yet now I will once again tell you what you don't like to hear:
Red-Sea suiciding is
-incentivizing running instead of fighting (Are you REALLY that opposed to fighting an "uphill-battle" now and then?!)
-extremely lame (You literally kill yourself just so you don't have to fight)
-100% spiteful (You DESTROY loot just so someone else won't get it)
-Borderline petty (WHAT is your problem? If you sink anyway you might as well let them have the loot :P)
It's been said multiple times before, no one is owed a fight in this game. If the running player wishes to destroy their loot past the border so no one can have it, they might be wasting your time, but they're also wasting their time and effort (and usually, they're the ones heading to different outlets of social media to cry their own disdain about the game's PvP).
- I have another question for you:
WHY the hell do you even UTILISE THIS METHOD?!
If it is sucker-punch "Revenge" that motivates you, then let me tell you this to your face: You are 0% better than those that you criticize for chasing you, or failing to do so. (And I don't even mean that as an insult).
In a game where the environment and in-game players can have nothing but contempt for your existence and efforts, it's very easy for one to feel spiteful and overly defensive about their decisions. Who can really blame them? Having a sense of power in this world is an annoying ladder climb that not even the greatest of players are ready or capable of tackling. "Red Sea Running" for a lot of lesser skilled players is that sense of power, where they don't feel completely hopeless, where they can see this strategy, as a winning one for a PvP conflict.
But why don't you just Portal-hop?!
It literally saves you your Flag and Resources ...
Because your enemy still gets the loot you didn't sell, and as I just said, players are spiteful, usually because they took a risk they didn't think they were making and are about to pay the price for that risk, and instead of rewarding a dirty server hopper that's better than you any amount of treasure just to save a bunch of cannonballs, wood, and food you were never gonna use for a tougher than normal PvP situation, the Shroud is better as your enemy is about to be as bitter as you.
'Do not hate the Player, hate the Game.'
So Rare, there is a reason why this post is rather alive ... Please fix this :(
Honestly this discussion lasting a while is a little healthy, but because it slowly keeps going in circles about ideals, preferences, what is fair, what is an exploit, and why players are doing this at all, it's tiresome to say the least, it's been in the game since the game's launch back in 2018 and has been used since then. It's valid, for as long as Rare allows it to be valid.
Though, I don't know why we should restrict what players can/can't do just because they choose not to fight in this game. I know PvP-centric players have an issue with emergent threats like Megalodons and Skeleton ships suddenly appearing and targeting mid-fight/mid-chase, but PvE makes as much of it's own decisions as us players do, one has more capabilities than the other, sure, but at the end of the day, we just take what we can get, regardless of the reward, it's a sandbox, not a boxing ring. People can go wherever they like, so long as they know the consequences of those hasty actions.
Keep in mind, I don't really "red sea run" I take (and lose) a lot of my fights (solo anyways), and I think the shrouding loot is a valid tactic. It shouldn't be treated as invalid just because you don't like it, just as much as others that think we shouldn't be doing PvP because they don't like it (and I already know a name or two that perfectly match that sentiment).