Discussion Just going to post this here

It has to be an ESRB stipulation, something like that they were stretching the E10 and having shooting of people would make it T-rated. My assumption is that logically, someone couldn't just pick up and figure out how to use a grenade or a "voodoo staff" on a regular occasion where as guns are sometimes household items are fairly easy to operate or something. Otherwise, the no gun rule only gets annoying at Remington and Neban to be honest.
What he said is my same logic. Didn't say it all necessarily makes sense, but it is what it is.
You beat me to it. Especially since the story of POTCO/TLOPO can get pretty grim on its own. Jolly Roger consumes someone's life force within the first ten or so minutes of gameplay. His line "nothing beats a good fight before a meal" indicates that he intends to devour Jack Sparrow/Governor Swann's soul. El Patron went mad with power and drove his entire crew to starvation even as they desperately attempted to imprison him before he went crazier and save themselves. The Watcher massacred an entire town in her rage after Windshadow destroyed her shrine. The entire history of Raven's Cove is just one bleak, grim nightmare. But then we can blow each other's heads off with blunderbusses just because we look a little uglier?

Characters in the movies are shooting each other left and right. Someone is literally blown up by a grenade stuffed inside them in the first movie. There are corpses hanging from the rocks outside Port Royal. The Crew of the Silent Mary are horrifically deformed. The man who protects the Pirate Code shoots another pirate in the back for daring to speak against it. Yet shooting other pirates is against the code? WHAT?

I'd like to say that I understand completely why they're not making the change, but I only half understand it now after reading what I just wrote. It makes virtually no sense.
While the game is based off the movie, it's still its own entity. The POTC movies are rated PG-13, POTCO was rated E10.
 
I'm not convinced that dropping only legendaries on the PvP server would be a good idea, although I do think a higher chance of them dropping is fair.

Perhaps the drop chance for Famed's could be replaced by the chance for Rare's, and the drop chance for Legendaries could be replaced by the drop chance for Legendaries.

Proposed Rate Changes:
Crude ---> Common
Common ---> Rare
Rare ---> Famed
Famed
---> Legendary
(with Crude weapons being almost guaranteed with every drop)
 
I can’t think of anything that would make more people furious than making loot easier to find on pvp only servers lol
I think the reasoning behind it is to give an incentive to participating in the 24/7 war that the server would become. Players and guilds besides those solely focused on PvP and SvS would ignore the server out right. If the only reason to join it is to PvP or SvS, why would anyone from the looting community (the bulk of the games population rn) even bother joining, if they could just continue to grind on PvE servers.
 
Making them drop only on t a PVP server would only increase the exodus of players leaving the game. There are large portions of players who don't care for PVP and don't want to participate in it.
 
I think the reasoning behind it is to give an incentive to participating in the 24/7 war that the server would become. Players and guilds besides those solely focused on PvP and SvS would ignore the server out right. If the only reason to join it is to PvP or SvS, why would anyone from the looting community (the bulk of the games population rn) even bother joining, if they could just continue to grind on PvE servers.
If they wanted to proceed with that idea, it’d be wiser to incentivize people to participate with a reward system that doesn’t undermine or complicate the looting that players have already done on peaceful servers. Looters are competitive. They’ll go wherever it’s easiest to loot, sure, but there is no way that they’ll be excited about having to fend off enemy players in order to acquire loot most efficiently.

A compromise would be to add an infamy track and rewards which are unique to those servers or to add new items into their loot pools which are inaccessible on normal servers. Finding old legendaries shouldn’t be any different than it is now.
 
Making them drop only on t a PVP server would only increase the exodus of players leaving the game. There are large portions of players who don't care for PVP and don't want to participate in it.
I think the opposite would occur. The community isn't growing because of how grindy the game is. Games like Sea of Thieves which are based around PvP and SvS are succeeding while our game is losing people by the day. Allowing people to find weapons with greater ease as well as giving incentives for cooperation and Guild creation would do more for the games population than anything added since TLOPO began.

The vast majority of newcomers to the community aren't interested in grinding for literal months to years to find pictures on a screen. Lets face it, grinding is boring for a lot of people. If we want to grow we need to explore new avenues. You can't constantly work to appeal to a single group.
 
If they wanted to proceed with that idea, it’d be wiser to incentivize people to participate with a reward system that doesn’t undermine or complicate the looting that players have already done on peaceful servers. Looters are competitive. They’ll go wherever it’s easiest to loot, sure, but there is no way that they’ll be excited about having to fend off enemy players in order to acquire loot most efficiently.

A compromise would be to add an infamy track and rewards which are unique to those servers or to add new items into their loot pools which are inaccessible on normal servers. Finding old legendaries shouldn’t be any different than it is now.
I can agree with that. I'd say the hardcore looters probably would take instant interest as you said. I think the main idea behind the new servers is to give new players a reason to stay. I doubt that the vast majority of people considering playing TLOPO long term are excited by the idea of grinding for hours and hours on end.
 
The PVP crowd has always represented a minority of the player base this was true in Potco as well. Creating a situation that forces the majority to participate in activities they dislike isn't a solution I believe that the bulk of players leaving involves unresolved bugs and crash issues than looting or grind. When players cannot complete quests due to crash issues They tend to get frustrated and many leave as a result. If the game is to grow those issues need to be resolved. Creating a scenario that only makes a minority of players happy at the expense of the entire player base isn't the solution.
 
The PVP crowd has always represented a minority of the player base this was true in Potco as well. Creating a situation that forces the majority to participate in activities they dislike isn't a solution I believe that the bulk of players leaving involves unresolved bugs and crash issues than looting or grind. When players cannot complete quests due to crash issues They tend to get frustrated and many leave as a result. If the game is to grow those issues need to be resolved. Creating a scenario that only makes a minority of players happy at the expense of the entire player base isn't the solution.
Depending on looters to make up the bulk of your community is a risky game. Item farmers are traditionally a minority group in any MMORPG. If we want the community to grow we need to appeal to the masses of other games. PvP based games are at their peak in popularity rn, we need to look beyond the traditional view of PvPers and work towards appealing to more people. As the TLOPO team fix more bugs thats all well and good, but there needs to be more to retain people besides looting after they finish the story quests.

I understand that traditionally speaking PvP in POTCO and TLOPO has been a small group, but if we revamp it in the form of a PvP only server with incentives for team work, you have yourself a recipe for continued interest in the game from people already in the community and outside of it.

If I tried asking a friend of mine who had never played POTCO to start playing TLOPO, and then told him that after he finished the many storyline all that was left to do was stand in a cave for literal IRL months and kill the same enemies over and over - he'd probably laugh at me and never touch the game. We need to appeal to other communities and play styles.
 
Speaking as a Potco player who has been involved with the game only a few days less than you, I noticed the Founder coin in your signature. I can say that I would never have become as involved with the game had it been set up as a PVP centric game. Honestly I probably would never have become an unlimited player or even stuck around at all had Potco been designed as PVP centric. I enjoyed the questing even the grindy parts the sailing, the friendships I'd made. It was and can be a fun game. I never got involved a lot in either PVP or SVS in the Potco days because the lag was so bad I was usually frozen up unable to move whenever I tried them. I may have enjoyed SVS had it worked for me. The looting thing was sort of a new twist for me toward the end of Potco, prior to that most of us leveled at bosses. I favor increasing rewards for other activities such as sailing. We have people who have leveled up as looters who never learned to sail, they will join a group looting the twins but can't even take out 4 phantoms on their own. I agree that other content can be helpful in regard to attracting and retaining a player base however I still don't want to see this game become PVP centric.
 
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I'm not sure why invasions aren't planned, such as an invasion every Saturday of the month or every other Saturday. Wouldn't that get some activity going?
 
The problem with PvP and SvS is that it does not mesh well with the PvE elements of the game. Ideally, PvP/SvS should be largely skill based. My best experiences with the gamemode is when I was playing against an opponent of similar level. You can get really creative when trying to best an appropriate foe in SvS, utilizing your special abilities to achieve victory.


A proper SvS battle can go as such:
1. Using every speed-increasing skill to cut off the enemy ship, who was sailing perpendicular to get past the rocky islands.
2. Use "Open Fire" to attack the defenseless bow of the ship
3. Take cover as the ship circles around and returns fire
4. Use "Come About" to maneuver your ship to be perpendicular to the enemy's stern, allowing for the broadsides to safely sink her.

Stuff like this can get pretty intense, and is derived from actual age of sail tactics. However, it took me getting to level 40 and upgrading my War Sloop to a Storm Chaser level to even get a few fights like this.

Most of my SvS fights go like this
1. Sail to where the enemy is
2. Get hit by one or two broadsides/gunners
3. Die

I feel this is the experience most people have with SvS, which is why its so unappealing to most people. The problem is that the PvE side of the game is largely built around defeating hundreds of NPC enemies in rapid succession. Ships like high level EITC ships which are meant to be somewhat of a challenge are sunk in seconds, and the most powerful Hunters and Warships in minutes. While this works well for mat runs and looting for higher level players, it results in players being able to do ludicrous amounts of damage.

Armor might as well not exist is SvS; upgraded broadsides and gunners can take any ship down in seconds. This is partially why War Sloops are so popular is SvS, and why Galleons, which should be their strategic answer, are not. Instead of letting the player choose damage and durability versus speed and maneuverability, the name of the game is entirely speed and maneuverability, because seven upgraded broadsides and four deck guns designed for PvE activities are more than enough to break through any armor in seconds.

To summarize, the PvE environment of TLOPO has left us with a dynamic where only the highest leveled and upgraded pirates can enjoy the PvP/SvS side of the game, leaving everyone else frustrated with it. This is a shame, because these gamemodes can be a load of fun, but the RPG elements make it a test of numbers over skill. A PvP server could be an interesting and refreshing experience, but I believe that it would only work if the PvE and PvP mechanics were reconstructed in a way that both sides compliment each other.
 
I think the opposite would occur. The community isn't growing because of how grindy the game is. Games like Sea of Thieves which are based around PvP and SvS are succeeding while our game is losing people by the day. Allowing people to find weapons with greater ease as well as giving incentives for cooperation and Guild creation would do more for the games population than anything added since TLOPO began.

The vast majority of newcomers to the community aren't interested in grinding for literal months to years to find pictures on a screen. Lets face it, grinding is boring for a lot of people. If we want to grow we need to explore new avenues. You can't constantly work to appeal to a single group.
This literally just creates another method of grind with the added bonus of serving only to make people frustrated. I'm sorry but this game just doesn't have a good pvp/combat system lol. I 100% think there should be a pvp ocean with a couple new islands with an entirely new progression system, new rewards and ways to level up. But just duplicating what we have and making it open pvp with increased odds is simply a terrible idea imo lol.

The majority of the game avoids pvp, the majority of the game also dislikes grinding for legendaries. Lets maybe like, not combine them and instead come up with some new stuff that anyone and everyone can enjoy. I doubt "guildless level 46 Ichabod Thundercannon" who simply wants to complete his quests will care for a feature like this at all. Especially when he gets one shot from a musket from god knows where.

Yeah ik it was just a quick idea and a "relatively simple solution" in order to get the different sects to interact, but it's pretty clear that this issue will in no way be fixed by anything simple. Apart from that, pretty much all of the other solutions mentioned in the video would help the game. If the next feature tlopo implements involves land looting/grinding in any way, I am literally going to commit Shamus The Brute Forums Account on all of my pirates. (rip shamus)
 
The PVP crowd has always represented a minority of the player base this was true in Potco as well. Creating a situation that forces the majority to participate in activities they dislike isn't a solution I believe that the bulk of players leaving involves unresolved bugs and crash issues than looting or grind. When players cannot complete quests due to crash issues They tend to get frustrated and many leave as a result. If the game is to grow those issues need to be resolved. Creating a scenario that only makes a minority of players happy at the expense of the entire player base isn't the solution.
I agree whole-heartedly! I have often taken breaks of weeks, even a month or two, due to frustration - the exact scenario you just described with bugs and crashes.

After spending 6 years in POTCO and soon-to-be 5 years in TLOPO, this is what I know: I love the game, the socializing, the questing (yes! I love questing!), the looting, guild events, SVS.... THESE are the things that keep me in game and why I currently have 6 mastered pirates, 2 more over 40, and another handful coming up in ranks.

However, I do not PVP. I've tried and tried to like it. Even when ranking up and improving skills, it's just not for me. Therefore, I believe if I were to spend months looting for legendaries in regular game without results (which is the case more often than not), resentment would inevitably build up knowing that other players were allowed to be more "lucky" and leaving game would most likely be the end result.
 
Depending on looters to make up the bulk of your community is a risky game. Item farmers are traditionally a minority group in any MMORPG. If we want the community to grow we need to appeal to the masses of other games. PvP based games are at their peak in popularity rn, we need to look beyond the traditional view of PvPers and work towards appealing to more people. As the TLOPO team fix more bugs thats all well and good, but there needs to be more to retain people besides looting after they finish the story quests.

I understand that traditionally speaking PvP in POTCO and TLOPO has been a small group, but if we revamp it in the form of a PvP only server with incentives for team work, you have yourself a recipe for continued interest in the game from people already in the community and outside of it.

If I tried asking a friend of mine who had never played POTCO to start playing TLOPO, and then told him that after he finished the many storyline all that was left to do was stand in a cave for literal IRL months and kill the same enemies over and over - he'd probably laugh at me and never touch the game. We need to appeal to other communities and play styles.
About time someone says the obvious 🙏
 
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