Help and Suggestion for Solo Sloops

@pc-monkfish I mentioned that even with my lights off they still go after me, and when my ship is docked at an outpost it is still attacked. Even upon logging in, I am usually attacked. I am always on the lookout for other ships and always try to avoid them, but the issue is that they are relentless and pursue me throughout the entire map. I will dive to avoid other players when I can but they are usually too close for me to dive away from them. Even tonight when I logged in, I went to the Shipwright briefly to buy some customization items and a Skeletal Galleon started blasting my ship. I never got the chance to get onto my ship yet. I quit and switched servers and then I was placed directly in the middle of a storm, my ship was then being torn apart by the storm. This is what I mean. I can't seem to do much as I am just a target for pretty much anything as soon as I get onto the game. Even when quitting and changing servers, players are still the same towards me. I really do try my best to avoid other players but it seriously feels like everyone is out to make me suffer in this game. It's why I desperately want Safer Seas to allow me to do the stuff I enjoy without having to worry about being attacked constantly. I don't mind the AI ships and in fact I enjoy fighting them.

@pc-monkfish I appreciate you taking the time to comment on my post. I have purchased all three ships. So I have captained a Sloop, Brigantine, and a Galleon. I mostly just use my Sloop since I often play solo. My Brigantine gets used on occasion when playing with two other friends, but I have yet to use my Galleon. I've ignored that thing on my mast as it mentioned something about other players I believe and I don't want anything to do with PvP. But if it's a PvE voyage then I'll gladly do it. I have found plenty of Smuggler loot when sinking Skeletal ships and have gotten a lot of Gold from selling the Black Powder Barrels and the paintings with the golden frames. These are the times when luck is on my side and I'm left alone for the time being. But once again thank you so much for the input!

@waffle-fox said in Help and Suggestion for Solo Sloops:

I submitted a request and was redirected here. So I apologize if I'm doing something wrong. I have no idea how to use forums and have never used them before, so please be polite with me. I'll say pretty much the same thing I said in the request.

 I'm normally a very happy person and quite friendly with a lot of people.  I love Sea of Thieves and want to keep playing the game and enjoy it to the fullest.  I'm a fairly new player as I've been playing for about two weeks now.  However, the community in the game has gotten me feeling quite depressed as I just want to have fun.  I typically play by myself on a Sloop and I love working with the Merchant Alliance.  Players in the game though, seem to make it their goal to make me suffer by constantly harassing me and spawn killing me even when I don't have any loot whatsoever.  I also won't even be flying the Emissary flag.  Players will just kill me again and again for the heck of it and laugh about it even when I'm trying to be friendly.  I'm not talking about the Reapers as I know that faction is focused on PvP and taking Emissary flags.  I'm referring to players who do NOT fly the Reaper flag and just kill me nonstop, relentlessly pursuing me no matter where I go.  
 All I want to do is work with the Merchant Alliance and be happy being a UPS driver of the sea.  It makes me happy making deliveries and catching animals to deliver as well.  I know Safer Seas exist but I cannot progress or do anything I enjoy in Safer Seas.  I made a Guild for friendly players and ships part of a Guild as well as Captained ships, cannot be selected in Safer Seas.  Not only that, but I cannot be an Emissary and I cannot gain reputation past level 25 in Safer Seas either.  So my only choice is to play High Seas and constantly get harassed by other players.  My block list is already becoming massive and I just want to have some casual fun.  I also turn off the lights on my ship so that my ship is harder to notice at night, but players still go after me.  I can't even leave my ship docked without people blasting it to pieces.  I don't stand any chance against players that have more than one person in their crew and they know this.  
 So what I'm asking is if Safer Seas could pleeeaaase have more accessibility.  I absolutely love the game and all the stuff you can do in it.  The gameplay is amazing and a ton of fun, but the players ruin any fun I could possibly be having.  I can understand not being able to become an Emissary in Safer Seas as there aren't any players to stop you from reaching Grade 5, but here's a suggestion; maybe allow the player to be an Emissary in Safer Seas, but they don't gain as many points towards their grade so others can't use it to basically cheese their way to the top of the leaderboard.  I really want to get to rep 75 with the Merchant Alliance so I can have their sails on my ship to show my loyalty to them.  To those still here, thank you so much for reading.

Of all the people playing this game over the many years it’s been out, do you think that their mentality boils down to two choices: “constantly harassed with pain and suffering” or “play safer seas (even though it didn’t t always exist)”?

Have you considered the possibility that there are other options? Like learning from your experiences, recognizing this is an open world pvp game, and doing everything you can to survive? Avoiding other ships is your first step. Sailing up to pirates with a smile and hello isn’t the answer.

Players all over the world are doing exactly what you’re attempting to do successfully, and with ease. Maybe consider learning how they do it before you ask for the game to be changed to suit you?

@capt-greldik Did you read my post? I never said I was approaching them

@waffle-fox

I assumed. It’s irrelevant to my point, though.

@capt-greldik It is relevant. I specifically mention that they go after me. So telling me to avoid the ships when I specify I try to avoid them is not helpful. There's no need to be rude, especially after I ask that people posting please be polite to me. I'm new to forums and such and I just want to enjoy the game. What I'm asking is not anything absurd. I know Safer Seas was added later and that they made changes. I'm adding a suggestion of my own for players like myself that tend to play solo and just want to enjoy Safer Seas more.

@waffle-fox said in Help and Suggestion for Solo Sloops:

@capt-greldik It is relevant. I specifically mention that they go after me. So telling me to avoid the ships when I specify I try to avoid them is not helpful. There's no need to be rude, especially after I ask that people posting please be polite to me. I'm new to forums and such and I just want to enjoy the game. What I'm asking is not anything absurd. I know Safer Seas was added later and that they made changes. I'm adding a suggestion of my own for players like myself that tend to play solo and just want to enjoy Safer Seas more.

I did not intend to be rude, and I don’t think that I was.

The point I was trying to make is that countless people have been doing what you’re trying to do for years and are still doing it today. We’re all playing the same game. Do you think we’re all just suffering and getting “constantly harassed” or do you think we figured out how to play the game successfully?

What I’m asking you to do is figure out how other players are being successful before asking Rare to change the game for you.

I’ve played most of my hours solo. When I started out I realized I was vulnerable and tailored my play to my abilities, gradually exposing myself to higher level content. Doing merchant voyages is relatively safe, but yes players might attack you… that’s part of the game. Also, I don’t agree with the idea that reapers are the “PvP” faction. Every faction, and every player even those not representing a faction could be a PvP encounter. Reapers are high risk high reward; they’re more visible but they also have the potential to reap higher rewards. Playing without an emissary doesn’t mean you’re not going to PvP, in fact, sometimes those are who you should watch out for the most.

Let me ask you this, how many times have you been sunk by players in x amount of hours?

Welcome to Sea of Thieves. As you have discovered there are players in this game who really are salty pirates. Salty Pirates is a safe way to call them whatever you can imagine. Yarr.

My only real advice is hang tough. The more you play, the more you'll advance. In the beginning it will REALLY be frustrating. I hated High Seas (before it was called that) because I too (and many other casual players) just wanted a nice peaceful time after work to wind down. But to be fair, Sea of Thieves is not the perfect game for that. So, your best bet is to do your best, watch the horizon constantly, and to NOT get hung up on how fast (or slow) you are progressing. If you have to go slow - go slow.

As a Merchant Alliance fan, I'd suggest you run Commodities Routes from Outpost to Outpost. Those are "relatively" safe and pay pretty well.

As a non-PvPer (for lack of a better term), one option you have is to run from attacking ships. Honestly, this can time consuming but can also be a lot of fun and is surprisingly challenging. It was very satisfying to run from pirates utilizing the environment to my advantage (learn to love those fog banks). I "won" more often than not, but if you do get caught and sunk - chin up and learn from it.

If the other crew is spawn camping by bailing out water so your ship never sinks - the worse thing a pirate can do honestly IMO - you have the option to scuttle your ship so it spawns on a different server. Bite the bullet and use that option.

Now that I have played a long time and literally have all the cosmetics and commendations I care to get, ironically, I very very rarely get attacked.

You WILL make it to your goals. I have faith in you pirate. Just have the patience.

EDIT: Came back to add - the rowboat is your friend. You WILL use it to win the day sometimes.

@capt-greldik The reply felt aggressive towards me, making assumptions about how I felt. That's how I saw it as rude. I'm not asking them to change the game for me. Safer Seas is already in the game, I'm not asking to put in an entirely new mode or anything crazy. There was really only two things I was suggesting and that was that possibly Emissaries can be selected in Safer Seas but with a heavy penalty to rewards or that you can level up past rep 25 with the various factions in the game. I have figured out many things in the game and I know how it functions. I've seen others with the same feeling I have, so I am suggesting this for those people as well as me. If I was the only person that felt this way, I would not suggest it. I call the Reapers the PvP faction because they seek out other players to sink but they highlight themselves on the map. That's why I do not have any issues with them. Their goal is to sink other players and take their Emissary Flag and have decided to make themselves known on the map. If you run into them and get sunk, it feels more like the player's fault. That's why I don't consider the other factions PvP ones as their goal is not to kill other players or sink their ships. Merchant Alliance moves goods, Gold Hoarders simply want gold, Order of Souls wants those skulls you find, and so on. None of them have anything to do with PvP. I've lost count of how many times I've been sunk, but there have been several times where players will pursue me throughout the map for about an hour. That's not an exaggeration. I wasn't just saying players are relentless for the heck of it. They chase me and will not stop even if I have nothing on my ship. It's why I really feel like their goal is to make me suffer.

@hiradc Yes I have tried the new smuggler stuff. I've gotten plenty of Smuggler loot by sinking Skeletal ships and selling them at the Smuggler hideouts on the various islands. They do give a lot of gold, especially when selling the Black Powder Barrels or the gold framed paintings. I'm not exactly sure what counts as toxic behavior in the game and what to report since I keep hearing that players that go after you and act like jerks is basically part of the game. I'm talking about attacking and verbally attacking. It feels like every single player I meet in the game is like this and it's really discouraging. And thank you for the tip!

@rikjaxx Yeah I love doing the cargo missions for the Merchant Alliance where you either transport goods or animals to their destination. I understand that being on the move most of the time is better than being stationary, but even when I do the cargo runs I will be pursued. Unless the Commodity Routes are something different I haven't tried yet. I haven't done all of the Merchant Alliance voyages as they will say they are too long or involve a lot of navigation and clue finding, which honestly I am horrible at. Players will pursue me though for about an hour. This has happened several times where they just want to kill me for whatever reason. I try to dive away but they are never far enough for me to do so. I am always on the lookout for other ships as I never want anyone to come near me but it feels like sometimes they spawn near me if that's something they can do. I'm not trying to make excuses, I'm really not. I'm actually curious if players can do something like that.

@waffle-fox

"it feels like sometimes they spawn near me "

Technically folks can spawn near you, but it isn't for the purpose of attacking you per se. With the relatively new mechanic of diving to raids and voyages, having folks pop up one island away from you is totally possible now. Once they spawn they can then attack you instead of doing their voyage. So yeah, server hopping is easier than ever now. One more reason to always be scanning the horizon.

@waffle-fox said in Help and Suggestion for Solo Sloops:

@capt-greldik The reply felt aggressive towards me, making assumptions about how I felt. That's how I saw it as rude. I'm not asking them to change the game for me. Safer Seas is already in the game, I'm not asking to put in an entirely new mode or anything crazy. There was really only two things I was suggesting and that was that possibly Emissaries can be selected in Safer Seas but with a heavy penalty to rewards or that you can level up past rep 25 with the various factions in the game. I have figured out many things in the game and I know how it functions. I've seen others with the same feeling I have, so I am suggesting this for those people as well as me. If I was the only person that felt this way, I would not suggest it. I call the Reapers the PvP faction because they seek out other players to sink but they highlight themselves on the map. That's why I do not have any issues with them. Their goal is to sink other players and take their Emissary Flag and have decided to make themselves known on the map. If you run into them and get sunk, it feels more like the player's fault. That's why I don't consider the other factions PvP ones as their goal is not to kill other players or sink their ships. Merchant Alliance moves goods, Gold Hoarders simply want gold, Order of Souls wants those skulls you find, and so on. None of them have anything to do with PvP. I've lost count of how many times I've been sunk, but there have been several times where players will pursue me throughout the map for about an hour. That's not an exaggeration. I wasn't just saying players are relentless for the heck of it. They chase me and will not stop even if I have nothing on my ship. It's why I really feel like their goal is to make me suffer.

You can call reapers the pvp faction if you want, but the fact is, as we speak countless reapers are online doing pve only, because reapers offers unique rewards while also providing a gold bonus on every item. Yes, reapers does make finding other players (with emissaries) easier, so indeed it is common for reapers to be looking for fights. The last season was reapers focused and of course everyone wanted to get in on that, I’d wager that at the beginning of last season, the majority of reapers weren’t seeking other players, but rather were just trying to get the commendations. This is a PvPvE game and everyone is a pirate, any faction (or lackthereof) consist of pirates and they will all attack you as they see fit. You can call one or the other “PvP” if you like, but it won’t change the fact that among them everyone’s doing both pve and PvP.

People here are giving you advice, you’ve also ignored my saying that merchant voyages have been and continue to be successfully completed all day every day. I am very confident that you have all the ability to be successful at merchant voyages just as others are, we’re all playing the same game. Don’t you want to learn how others are doing it instead of giving up and asking for the safe mode to accommodate your desires?

Maybe safer seas will change (yes change is what you’re asking for) to suit you someday, who knows, in the meantime I recommend learning how to improve your survivability.

Be vigilant, be watching the map and look out from the crows nest for other players. I personally like to shoot myself into space (as I call it) from the cannon for a better view of my surroundings. Keep an eye on reapers, once they reach reaper five you need to be very weary of their location or perhaps even leave the server. If you’re getting attacked at an outpost then someone probably followed you there and you didn’t notice. If you’re getting attacked at an outpost upon login then you must have sat there for a long time because you won’t spawn at an outpost where someone is already present (usually).

Again, people are doing merchant voyages successfully facing the same dangers as you. I could go do merchant voyages right now and I’d bet on having a mostly quiet (and boring) session. You are not experiencing anything anyone else isn’t.

You’re playing a new game with players competing with you for things, you can’t expect to be a master of it in a couple weeks. Learn, listen to advice, practice. It’s just a game.

@capt-greldik Please stop acting like I'm not trying to learn the game and am just complaining for the sake of complaining. I have gotten much better at the game since I first started. I often do the voyages where I transport goods as I enjoy them very much. They may be boring to you but I find them to be a lot of fun. When I first started, I would get sunk by Skeletal Sloops as they never missed a single shot on my ship and I would never get a chance to fire back at them. Not only that but there was no way to simply practice firing the cannons unless I was in a battle with another ship. After a bit of hunting down Skeletal Sloops and practicing my aim, I have become far better and nail nearly every shot. Half the time they don't even get to fire off a single shot before I sink them. I've gotten so much better at it that I can do the Skeletal Ship event on my own, taking down any of the Skeletal ships the game throws at me. I was also very bad at fighting just regular enemies on land as I had to get familiar with the combat. The combat is quite easy now and I have no issues with it. Saying that I'm ignoring your advice means you didn't read my post and just read bits and pieces of it before commenting. I specify in the original post how much I enjoy working with the Merchant Alliance and being a UPS driver of the sea, how I enjoy delivering goods.
I am constantly on the lookout for other ships, I also often check my map for Reaper ships. I am doing everything I can to avoid other players. Please stop assuming things as it comes off as rude. I never said I was expecting to master the game. When I say I'm getting attacked at an outpost, I was not followed because I never got on my ship to begin with. I simply logged in and start getting attacked. While it's true I don't go directly to my ship at times, I will stay at the outpost for a short time to gather some supplies or do some quick shopping. But it's not like I can do any of this stuff at the main menu. The thing I'm asking for is an environment where I don't have to be surrounded by toxic players constantly. And before you assume anything, no I'm not saying that simply being attacked by another player is toxic. I'm saying being spawn killed and being chased for extended periods of time while they verbally harass me truly ruins any fun I could possibly be having in the game. I'm not refusing to get better at the game. I have definitely gotten better and I don't expect to be a god at it or anything. I just want to have fun without all the toxicity. That's why I'm suggesting Safer Seas have some slight changes to help those who are in the same boat as me, wanting to have fun without dealing with all the cruel people in the game.

@rikjaxx ooooh is that what's happening? Thanks for clearing that up. Is there a way to dive to another server without selecting a voyage?

@potatosord That's an interesting reason to join the Reapers. What type of stuff do you do?

@waffle-fox

Toxicity is against the rules, report them if you’re experiencing it.

You can say all you want, but what I’m hearing is that you don’t want to PvPvE multiplayer in the PvPvE multiplayer game. You’re also presenting your case as if you can’t improve, but the reality is that players all over the world are doing what you’re doing successfully without having such a terrible experience (as you describe it). Why is it that they can do it but you can’t? Don’t you want to be successful as they are? Is giving up really your only option?

If you just want to play in safer seas, go for it, but this idea that you just can’t succeed in sea of thieves is self-imposed. We were all new once and navigated our way to success as we see success in our own view. You could too, that’s up to you.

By all means keep asking the devs to change safer seas so that it accommodates you sufficiently,. My guess is that if you get the changes you want now, you’ll want more down the road, so good luck on that.

I have no further advice for you, it’s clear that you’ve made your decision to leave the game as Rare intended it and live your pirate life out in the tutorial mode, and hey, who knows, maybe you’ll get what you want some day. In the meantime, it is your choice and your choice alone to either play the tutorial or try (more) to improve your survivability in the actual game. Nobody is going to accept that you just “can’t do it because reasons”. We’re all playing the same game.

@potatosord said in Help and Suggestion for Solo Sloops:

@capt-greldik IDK about you, but to me Reapers is the roleplay faction. It's the only faction I joined with the specific intent to use its cosmetics for roleplay purposes.

It’s definitely the closest to roleplaying a pirate that I get in the game. I dabble with all of the factions, but reapers is certainly a frequent emissary for a good portion of the people I play with. When we play reaper it’s basically a free for all, we’ll do high level PvE if we feel like it, we’ll almost always contest ongoing PvE that others are doing, and we like to “inspect” ships near us. Half the time we dont attack after our inspections because they might be new, cool, have nothing, or whatever else. Sometimes we might just take their chain shots. Those sessions definitely feel like I’m playing an actual pirate.

@capt-greldik I'm not sure if you're a troll trying to make my first time posting in forums a miserable experience or if you genuinely do not understand what I am saying. If it's the latter then I will try to make it very clear what I'm saying.

1. I have absolutely no issue with the Reaper faction or them attacking players. I understand they get points for obtaining Emissary Flags and my post does not talk about them whatsoever.
2. I am a solo player. I'm positive many other players are quite successful as you put it when they have a whole crew supporting them. It's very easy to be successful when everyone gangs up on a single player. If you truly believe a solo player like myself can handle many players at once attacking me, then explain how instead of just saying I'm not trying to get better. Tell me how I'm supposed to win when I'm being boarded, blasted by cannons, and spawn killed again and again. I'm one person managing an entire ship while they can multitask.
3. I've said multiple times that the post is about players that play solo and have the same issues as me, wanting to enjoy Safer Seas and have a fun time with the amazing game they have created. You act like I'm being selfish and immediately giving up when that's not the case whatsoever. I'm not a greedy person that constantly asks for stuff, why do you think this is my first time ever using a forum in my life?
4. I have taken many measures to avoid other players. I am constantly on the lookout for other ships. If I see one, I steer away from it. If a server has Grade 5 Reapers in it, I dive to a location to avoid them so I don't risk losing my Emissary status. Players will actually spawn near me and attack me. Another person in this post has explained that players are capable of diving to locations to try and find players and that was news to me. I cannot see this coming and take measures to avoid it.
5. I expressed that I have gotten much better at the game since I started and have been improving and adapting. For you to keep saying that I can't improve and that I'm giving up truly makes me feel that you are a troll. I have tried to report players being toxic towards me but no action is taken against them.

With all that explained, I hope this clears things up. You constantly assume things about me that are not true and make me seem like a quitter that makes no effort to learn anything about the game when that couldn't be further from the truth. So please stop doing this and try to understand I'm doing everything I can to get better while trying to avoid toxic players. I really do not want to discuss this further.

@waffle-fox

Good luck out there

@burnbacon I'm not lying, players have spawned near me and attacked me. I wouldn't lie about stuff, there is no point when I'm trying to suggest slight changes. There has been a time where a player ship (not a Skeletal one) shot up from under the water and rammed into my ship then started chasing me. I know it was a player because they were talking to me. So yes they can spawn near your ship.

The Emissary stuff is not just a Gold booster. I don't have any need for Gold at the moment as I have captained all three types of ships. I do the Emissary stuff for the Merchant Alliance to boost my points and earn rewards. I can't earn those rewards unless I'm an Emissary.

You can tell if action has been taken on the Sea of Thieves website. You can check the progress of reports and they will tell you if action has been taken. If not then they will tell you that no action has been taken. That's how I know.

I said I'm positive that player are successful when there are multiple of them. I never said I was being positive.

@zaknafien2003 Yeah I have two friends I can play with sometimes, but not very often. So I'm usually in a solo Sloop. Gold isn't really something I need anymore as I'm mostly just trying to get the rewards for being an Emissary and to level up the Merchant Alliance to 75. I really want to have the sails to show my loyalty to that faction. Using the rowboat to sell stuff sounds interesting but also funny just imagining a tiny boat with a ton of treasure on it. How does that work, do you really row all the way to an outpost to sell stuff or do you take the rowboat somewhere else and have your friend meet you with the ship later on? Thanks for advice, I appreciate it!