Add a "Distress Signal" to SoT...

@jimzir Yeah, I don't know what it would take to implement. I am just thinking that SoT already has alliances in place, so it might be simply adding to that. But it's never as easy as we think and there are a lot of variables I'm sure that I am not thinking about. I'm just hoping to give Rare some ideas for creating more player interaction without swinging things in favor for PVP or PVE players and I think this is a good solution.

I just want a flare gun. Its a simple tool that could be used in a myriad of ways. Mark a bounty location, signal treasure, announce an ambush, signal other crews, the skies the limit. There is no downsides to this. Considering its a tool, no one is obligated to use it like the Speaking Trumpet. This also fits thematically with time period accuracy.

How it works is it shoots a lingering ball of flame in the sky that has maybe an Island to Island Radius. Want to spice it up, tie it with the well of souls to add different colored flames.

@mjantz

However, I also hate PVE players complaining about me harassing them and ruining the game. I am not trying to ruin your game. I don't troll players. I don't tell them they suck at the game after killing them. I don't spawn camp unless I have absolutely no other way of sinking your ship, etc. I just love the action even if I don't end up successfully stealing the loot.

Don't feel bad, this game was and is supposed to be a game where you can steal other player's loot and fight, cannon, and sink them. This game is advertised and for the past 2+ years has been a game where you can do just that. Just because people are upset that in a PVP game, which has PVP in it, which is advertised as having PVP, a game that has always had PVP since the beginning of it's existence, a game that THEY bought knowing full well it had PVP, has PVP, doesn't mean you have to try to prevent their feewings from beiwng huwt.

Yes, obviously if this game's majority playerbase was people who ONLY PvE and hate the PvP combat system, they yes you would have to add something to help them / PvE only servers, but this game's majority is people who enjoy PvPvE. Just because a couple people don't like the fact that PvP is apart of the game, doesn't mean that you should feel bad over playing the game how you should.

This got me thinking though. What if Rare added a distress signal that players could send up when being attacked by another ship (they could do it from the flag menu in the crows nest, or from the ferry of the damned if they have already been killed). Another ship on the server would see some sort of beacon in the sky above that ship and would be able to come help them save their loot from PVP players like myself.

Sure, I think most PvPers wouldn't mind this as it would encourage more fighting to happen, it would encourage more ships to come in and try to fight you, and then you could sink them and you could get whatever loot they have onboard.

Only one ship could help so that it doesn't become multiple ships getting fully compensated and there would have to be a way for the helping ship to interact with the distress beacon (maybe through raising a flag like we do when forming an alliance).

I'm sure Rare COULD add something like this, but I don't think they're going to. The only way you could prevent multiple people from joining in the area is if you made anyone who tried to cannon over / drive their ship over, blackscreen like when you get too far out in the red sea. Which coincidentally, if someone was right next to Snake Island and threw up the distress signal, if someone has a voyage at Snake Island, they wouldn't be able to do their voyage because they get black screened away from the distress signal.

And it would give players who are less skilled at PVP a chance to ward off the players who are better at PVP.

They already have PLENTY of tools to win, at the end of the day you don't have to be good at PvP in order to win a battle. At it's core, Sea of Thieves is a SvS game (ship vs ship) PvP is a apart of that, but you can shoot a cannonball further than you can shoot a person. And you don't have to be good at PvP to guard a ladder, you just need correct timing with the blunderbuss / blunderbomb.

It seems unfair to add more advantages to the defenders as they already hold the trump cards and can easily win.

• They have been in the server for hours, so they have 300+ cannonballs and plenty of good food, as well as tons of cursed cannonballs and planks. Normally with Pvpers, you find a server and then immediately go rush towards them, leaving you with just the starting supplies.
• If you are tuccing on their ship, they have unlimited respawns whereas you only have 1 life.
• They have mermaids to let them know that someone is here.
• If it ever becomes a ship vs ship battle, they have the advantage as you have to come to them, they can hold a defensive position and go for board attempts while you make your way into cannon range.

For me it seems like the ONLY advantage that PvPers have is the element of surprise. Which that is easily lost if the opposing team sees a mermaid. I have tucced on hundreds of FOTD's, and hundreds of regular forts, the amount of times that all 4 people haven't seen the mermaid that's right next to their boat is astounding. It makes me wonder, "How bad do you have to be before we just stop giving you advantages?" Like I showed above, they already have all of these advantages with the biggest one being the supplies advantage, so eventually they just have to get better. We can't just keep helping them along the way just because they aren't using the tools at their disposal.

Here's an example, if you started playing Minecraft and refused to craft any armor, and just maxed out your diamond sword with the best enchantments. You can't complain, These mobs are so hard to kill, they do so much damage please nerf them. They're not hard to kill, you're just refusing to use the tools that the game gave you, armor. Same thing with SOT, these PvErs are mad that people are ruining their fun in the game and that they have no tools to survive But yet they do, they're just deciding not to use them and they're being ignorant so that they can complain more.

What are your thoughts?

My point isn't that your idea is bad, I actually like the idea but I don't know if Rare will add it because of the downside that someone who actually wants to do voyages, can't because they're in the radius of the flare. I responded to show you that you shouldn't feel bad that idiots are being idiots. Like you said:

I am not trying to ruin your game. I don't troll players. I don't tell them they suck at the game after killing them. I don't spawn camp unless I have absolutely no other way of sinking your ship, etc

So you aren't even being super toxic or anything like that, they're just mad for the sake of being mad. So don't take it to heart and realize that these people you kill are just upset that they have to fight people in a game that allows you to fight people. My whole paragraph of why we shouldn't give PvErs any more advantages wasn't in regards to this post as the flare is a pretty balanced weapon in all areas. It doesn't completely ruin the PvP aspect, and it gives the PvErs some sort of idea of protection. I was talking about other things that people want added, like retracting ladders, not allowing people to hide inside things like chests, making sharks spawn quicker so that tuccers are forced to bring their boat in to fight. Things like that don't need to be added because it's not necessary as they already have all of these tools that they can use.

@schwammlgott

We already got some kind of flare gun...kill Flamehearts fleet and shoot those fire-ghostballs up in the air 😜

One of the non-cannon variety. Hand-held that occupies a tool slot, limit one shot per visit to the ammo depot.

@mjantz I'm into this idea. It should be a flare / firework that's seen across half the server. I'm not sure you need the loot/alliance mechanic, as it seems complicated and hard to implement.

What about just a "flare" ball, like a CCB, that you could find in barrels?The most common usage would SOS, but you could also use them to lure ships into a trap or signal allied ships.

My crew would investigate an SOS flare and intervene on the behalf of an aggrieved ship.

I don't think it's a terrible idea, honestly. But I add that with the caveat of a a couple of things to keep in mind:

1. If I see a flare go up, I'm likely to just shrug my shoulders and go back to what I'm doing. I actually enjoy watching other ships get yeeted.
2. There's a good chance that I'll just swoop in to help with the kill and cause general mayhem. Sometimes it's fun to just watch the world burn.

Send a signal, revealing location.
And...HOPE another ship helps you. yeah....no..haha. Sorry doubtful people will go out of there way to help a random player.

@burnbacon said in Add a "Distress Signal" to SoT...:

Send a signal, revealing location.
And...HOPE another ship helps you. yeah....no..haha. Sorry doubtful people will go out of there way to help a random player.

I bet my crew would roll over and check it out. What we would do is another matter. If they were white sails, no loot, getting griefed, we would help them out. If they were a level 5 emissary with a ton of loot... that's another story...

@mjantz

That's not going to stop people from whining that they've been "griefed"

@mjantz

The idea might come from a good place, but it won't work that way. People will shoot those signals to find a fight, those that respond will take on the attacker and turn around to attack the ship that sent the signal. The signal will not just be used by those with Nobel intentions.

The people that complain about being attacked, sunk and 'griefed' while the attacker doesn't act in a toxic manner won't care. They cannot stand losing and are just salty. This is a game and yet some people don't accept defeat.

@nabberwar said in Add a "Distress Signal" to SoT...:

I just want a flare gun. Its a simple tool that could be used in a myriad of ways. Mark a bounty location, signal treasure, announce an ambush, signal other crews, the skies the limit. There is no downsides to this. Considering its a tool, no one is obligated to use it like the Speaking Trumpet. This also fits thematically with time period accuracy.

How it works is it shoots a lingering ball of flame in the sky that has maybe an Island to Island Radius. Want to spice it up, tie it with the well of souls to add different colored flames.

It's a neat idea. But I wouldn't agree with them being accurate for the game's setting.
Flare guns were invented over a hundred years after the Golden Age of Piracy ended. They're not really "period" at all. Not that this really matters. Rare hasn't hesitated to bring other non-period elements into the game, like self-propelled harpoons and modern-looking rifles.

@genuine-heather said in Add a "Distress Signal" to SoT...:

@nabberwar said in Add a "Distress Signal" to SoT...:

I just want a flare gun. Its a simple tool that could be used in a myriad of ways. Mark a bounty location, signal treasure, announce an ambush, signal other crews, the skies the limit. There is no downsides to this. Considering its a tool, no one is obligated to use it like the Speaking Trumpet. This also fits thematically with time period accuracy.

How it works is it shoots a lingering ball of flame in the sky that has maybe an Island to Island Radius. Want to spice it up, tie it with the well of souls to add different colored flames.

It's a neat idea. But I wouldn't agree with them being accurate for the game's setting.
Flare guns were invented over a hundred years after the Golden Age of Piracy ended. They're not really "period" at all. Not that this really matters. Rare hasn't hesitated to bring other non-period elements into the game, like self-propelled harpoons and modern-looking rifles.

Or the 1812 overture, which wasn't composed until 1880... or Happy Birthday, which was written in the 1890s

@realstyli said in Add a "Distress Signal" to SoT...:

@genuine-heather said in Add a "Distress Signal" to SoT...:

@nabberwar said in Add a "Distress Signal" to SoT...:

I just want a flare gun. Its a simple tool that could be used in a myriad of ways. Mark a bounty location, signal treasure, announce an ambush, signal other crews, the skies the limit. There is no downsides to this. Considering its a tool, no one is obligated to use it like the Speaking Trumpet. This also fits thematically with time period accuracy.

How it works is it shoots a lingering ball of flame in the sky that has maybe an Island to Island Radius. Want to spice it up, tie it with the well of souls to add different colored flames.

It's a neat idea. But I wouldn't agree with them being accurate for the game's setting.
Flare guns were invented over a hundred years after the Golden Age of Piracy ended. They're not really "period" at all. Not that this really matters. Rare hasn't hesitated to bring other non-period elements into the game, like self-propelled harpoons and modern-looking rifles.

Or the 1812 overture, which wasn't composed until 1880... or Happy Birthday, which was written in the 1890s

Indeed, or Ride of the Valkries. Wagner wasn't even born until 1813. :)

@genuine-heather

Flare guns were invented over a hundred years after the Golden Age of Piracy ended. They're not really "period" at all.

Patented around that time yes, but records indicate even earlier use. This can be found more in Asia around China and Korea. China in general has a long history and creation of gunpowder and especially fire works. This can be found around the 1300s predating the Golden Age of Piracy where they entered into Europe.

While it may not have been a flare-gun, but the technology certainly existed around the time.

Or chickens, which didn't exist until 1953

@burnbacon said in Add a "Distress Signal" to SoT...:

Send a signal, revealing location.
And...HOPE another ship helps you. yeah....no..haha. Sorry doubtful people will go out of there way to help a random player.

You'd be surprised. If it was a sloop getting served then I'd probably go over and help. If it's a balanced fight, like 2 brigs or 2 galleons fighting I'd probably just join in.

@vin-delanos said in Add a "Distress Signal" to SoT...:

Or chickens, which didn't exist until 1953

What about eggs?

@scottydoggie901 said in Add a "Distress Signal" to SoT...:

If you were by chance to form an alliance of 2 or 3 in one server, it could create an unfair advantage and people would abuse it to signal to eachother "There's a ship here with loot, come." If there was a way to counter that so it's used properly I'd love to send out SOS signals to my alliance. Especially if there's a way I can make the SOS Beeping noise faster to put them under pressure xD

Thats an interesting observation. Yes, I think there might have to be stipulations in place to not allow for abuse of the SOS. However, how many PVP players go around looking for alliances? When I see a ship coming near I shoot first and ask questions later. And even in the very rare times when I alliance, I am still very suspicious of the other ship in my alliance. I don't see it being abused often. It would take unique circumstances imo.

Plus, if I throw up the signal to let other ships know that there is a ship with loot, then I am getting only half the value of the loot when stolen. But this is definitely worth thinking through more cause I can see your point.

@sumea-seven said in Add a "Distress Signal" to SoT...:

You have to do FOTD once, to realize what it feels like to be stolen that from you, by unbalanced force no less. It is fun for you guys. It is just annoyance and stress for the other side, and sorry that knowing it will happen still won't change the facts that I do not want it to happen, I need to really think what kind of people steal that progression from others (absolute holes, that's who) and people who have no qualms on ganging up on others ganking them chasing them for hour and calling it "Fun PVP"

You sound much more toxic than anyone else in this chat and many of them are PVP players. Plus, when you start FOTD you are placing a big skull in the sky that says, "expensive loot is this way". What do you expect? If you don't want the PVP encounter, maybe don't do things that ENCOURAGE people to come after you...

@vin-delanos said in Add a "Distress Signal" to SoT...:

There's a good chance that I'll just swoop in to help with the kill and cause general mayhem. Sometimes it's fun to just watch the world burn.

Lol

@burnbacon said in Add a "Distress Signal" to SoT...:

Send a signal, revealing location.
And...HOPE another ship helps you. yeah....no..haha. Sorry doubtful people will go out of there way to help a random player.

If you incentivize them they will. As a PVP player, I would even help the distressed ship by PVPing against the other ship attacking them because I know that when they sell I will get full commission from their loot. I still got to PVP and still got the cost of the loot and didn't even have to steal anything from everyone.

@prescafatty said in Add a "Distress Signal" to SoT...:

@burnbacon said in Add a "Distress Signal" to SoT...:

Send a signal, revealing location.
And...HOPE another ship helps you. yeah....no..haha. Sorry doubtful people will go out of there way to help a random player.

I bet my crew would roll over and check it out. What we would do is another matter. If they were white sails, no loot, getting griefed, we would help them out. If they were a level 5 emissary with a ton of loot... that's another story...

But even if they were a level 5 emissary with a ton of loot and you were able to help them out, you get full commission when they sell. So no need to sink them and steal their loot?

As I think about this more, I think there might also have to be a way to MARK the attacking ship so that the game knows when the distressed player has been helped. That way the game knows when that ship has been sunk that the ship that helped has accomplished their job of helping out

@raimyah said in Add a "Distress Signal" to SoT...:

Hot Take: Most PvP only games are free to play and I feel like I got a bad deal if I paid up front to be denied access to the PvE content I wanted by some fraternity dude bro obsessed with powder kegging everything that has a sail on it.

That is the furthest thing from the truth. There are many more PvP only games that are paid than those which are FTP. Rainbow Six Siege is the first and highest profile one that comes to mind. Heck, fighting games alone disprove your statement as that genre by itself likely outnumbers the FTP PvP games on the market.

@sumea-seven said in Add a "Distress Signal" to SoT...:

TL;DR: In this community the distress signal sounds like absolute worst solution. It will just make people gang up on the poor guy even worse, more likely. Just quit the server if you loose and start in new one, that is the solution now as they removed ability to merge onto another server or go offline for while as fixes for this.

Nothing fixes it, the community needs to fix itself and be less of absolute human waste to give that status to all of you "fair" PVP:ers.

You have to do FOTD once, to realize what it feels like to be stolen that from you, by unbalanced force no less. It is fun for you guys. It is just annoyance and stress for the other side, and sorry that knowing it will happen still won't change the facts that I do not want it to happen, I need to really think what kind of people steal that progression from others (absolute holes, that's who) and people who have no qualms on ganging up on others ganking them chasing them for hour and calling it "Fun PVP"

This game appeals most to bullies. It has PvEers in it you can rob and murder. They don’t want to rob fellow PvPers. They want victims. That is fun for them. Then they blame those victims for playing the game. But they don’t want them to change or quit, either.

So yeah... it’s a game for bullies, and that is even reflected in their conduct in the game and on the forums.

The whole bullying dynamic seems to be the core philosophy of Sea of Thieves. That isn’t going to change. But I am glad to see threads from people trying to think of ways to improve it. I think Rare has been too hands-off and rather lazy, to be frank.

@realstyli said in Add a "Distress Signal" to SoT...:

@vin-delanos said in Add a "Distress Signal" to SoT...:

Or chickens, which didn't exist until 1953

What about eggs?

Eggs came in 1953, too, but no one's sure about the exact date.