Ability to host private servers?

@xultanis-dragon the pvp community is very much toxic, alot of poeple are really toxic in this game by being racist, homophobic etc, ships getting targeted because they have the pride flag up, so again how arnt players toxic?

@glorianalafey Getting sunk and losing hours of work can be annoying and irritating, and I don't think that there is anyone who enjoys getting sunk. Unfortunately, the only thing you can do to stop that from happening when you're attacked is to fight back and win, or assuming its a different ship type, flee. Although a PvE server would theoretically solve the problem, it doesn't fit in the type of game that this is. Its a pirate game. It has Thieves in the name. You can not severely limit that part of the game and still call it a thieving pirate game. Here's an analogy: free speech; you can't call it free speech if it is censored and heavily regulated. If you don't like the PvP aspect of the game, find a different game to play.

The only thing close to what you are proposing that is most likely coming is custom servers with no progression, content creators already have their own custom servers like this. Even if that did come, I bet it'd be locked behind a pay wall like every other new thing they've added recently.

@banana132895 That is a problem in every game. Some games choose to make it against the rules, others don't. Sea of Thieves is an example of a game where this type of action is not permitted. It is bannable, and if you do manage to run into a player of this sort, you should start recording their toxic actions (not just attacking your ship, I mean the racism, homophobia, etc.) and report them using this very website.

@doormaat said in Ability to host private servers?:

@banana132895 That is a problem in every game. Some games choose to make it against the rules, others don't. Sea of Thieves is an example of a game where this type of action is not permitted. It is bannable, and if you do manage to run into a player of this sort, you should start recording their toxic actions (not just attacking your ship, I mean the racism, homophobia, etc.) and report them using this very website.

To reiterate this point - I and my crew have been on the receiving end of toxic slurs. We have recorded the abuse, making sure that the offending player's gametag and chat icon are visible, and reported to Rare. We've promptly gotten replies (within a day or so) that the players were suspended.

So, Rare takes these things seriously. It's fine to play as hard as you want, but if you start throwing racial / sexist / homophobic / etc slurs around, I'm not only going to take your loot when I sink and kill you, I'm going to make you lose your account and all of your progression. And Rare is going to back me up while doing so.

Oh, and like others have said: the greatest toxicity I've experienced in this game has come from PVEers. PVPers are usually silent, or we exchange GGs at the end of an encounter, no matter who wins. That's how the game is supposed to be played. It is, after all, only a game.

@glorianalafey said in Ability to host private servers?:

@xultanis-dragon There's no reason people playing on a PvE server SHOULDN'T get progression, understandably not on the main PvP server, but the fact that you're behaving like this, giving such a rude reply just goes to show how toxic this community is and exactly WHY I wanted a private server to begin with.

You can't even pretend to be civil.

With respect, if this is how you respond to a direct (and admittedly rather unvarnished) reply to your request for discussion, then I'm beginning to suspect that the toxicity in your interactions isn't getting started by the players who attack you.

Asking for PVE servers plus progression is asking to have the basic game fundamentally changed to suit your desire for an easier, completely noncompetitive format. The developers have been exceedingly clear that this - a PVE mode - is not something they are interested in implementing, as it's not the game that they have envisioned or delivered.

The cosmetics are there to represent a reward for overcoming the many challenges of the game. The PVE content is not, as a general rule, in any way challenging, especially when you have unlimited respawns. It's just time-consuming, both in its duration and in the amount of time it requires you that you spend traversing the map.

Why is it time-consuming? Because it's meant to foster player interaction. Whether those interactions prove to be competitive or cooperative is up to the individuals involved. But the larger point is that the PVE is there to generate the loot that drives player interactions. It's a PVPVE game and all of it - both the PVE and PVP - is the game working as intended.

By calling for progression without PVP, you're asking for the rewards without being willing to put in the work. You should not be surprised that you get a less than warm reception from those of us who have put in the effort to earn the rewards.

yesterday I was looking for someone for an hour who would voluntarily kill me for the pink flame. ONE HOUR!

And today I had a meeting with someone who fled.

I think this "PvP is toxic and too much" talk is exaggerated.

@mrmalfor said in Ability to host private servers?:

yesterday I was looking for someone for an hour who would voluntarily kill me for the pink flame. ONE HOUR!

And today I had a meeting with someone who fled.

I think this "PvP is toxic and too much" talk is exaggerated.

I feel like this is the case. You can go for a long time without even getting into cannon rage of other ships.

@danquememe said in Ability to host private servers?:

Oh, and like others have said: the greatest toxicity I've experienced in this game has come from PVEers. PVPers are usually silent, or we exchange GGs at the end of an encounter, no matter who wins. That's how the game is supposed to be played. It is, after all, only a game.

Imagine that, almost as if players who were minding their own business, not looking to fight anyone, get annoyed when someone attacks them out of nowhere while they were doing their own thing.

And of course PvP players will be "Silent", because they are playing together with their kind of people. PvP and PvE players aren't exactly compatible with one another.

I can confidently speak for myself, that I'd probably have stuck to the game longer, if I had a better experience with other players. Where my verbal engagements weren't met with immediate attacks, and my existence being belittled and told to "Leave the game".

@ghostpaw said in Ability to host private servers?:

You might see why non-PvE only crews quit trying to chat with them and just suggest they find another game that is more geared for their particular play style.

BTW, if you quit playing the game, why are you lurking the forums?

That'd be good and all, but there aren't exactly many good alternative games that are like Sea of Thieves, are there?

Tried Atlas; Game is bad.
Already played AC Black Flag to death, and having my game saves being lost I'd need to play through the dumb story in order to get the "Open Sea" to really open itself.
There are some other games, but a lot of them are just "You are the ship" or they're business sims rather than actual naval exploration games of both land and sea.
So it is safe to say that people are rightfully annoyed and frustrated, when they want to play a game like this, but Sea of Thieves is the only good game out there.

As to answer your question of why I'm here? Good question, I don't know myself. A Cheesy Roleplay answer would be "I am a lost soul on the Ferry of the Damned looking for a way to pass on", but in reality it's that I am probably just experiencing what one would call "Being beaten down obsession". I played the game, wanted to really like it, had very bad experiences and I'm now lurking forums hoping to be able to actually enjoy the game for a day.

That and I spent 40 Euros on it, so I think I do get to have a voice about it, moreso than people who get the Game Pass, try the game for less than an hour, then ditch it and complain.

@callmebackdraft said in Ability to host private servers?:

I counter: “you refuse to understand that the mix of PvE and PvP was a core design choice for SoT”

Anyway like someone stated before, custom servers are coming, they will cost some money to get one (because a server isnt free in the real world, look up some prices for azure and i think you’ll be shocked) and all semblance of progression will be removed from those.

Pretty sure most people have come to accept this (Regardless if it's true or not, only because people keep hammering it). However you seem to refuse to understand that bad-faith players tend to ruin things, making it hard for people to really enjoy themselves and "Not care" if they get killed or not. Why do you think there's a demand for PvE servers in the first place?

If you'll have to pay for these servers, they better be affordable and on the cheap end. I don't plan on paying for them, if they're going to cost the same amount as a new game release. I'm prepared to pay 6 or 7 Euros though.

@callmebackdraft said in Ability to host private servers?:

What are “bad-faith” players in your eyes ?

Players that attack and sink other players

Or

Players that are abusive by using demeaning, racist etc language ?

Although prices are still unknown, i would guesstimate between 5 and 10 dollars/euros a month.

I'll give you examples of what I experienced:
Players who you engage with words, they attack you, not saying a word (I guess not exaclty "Bad-Faith", but definitely annoying and very counter to the rhetoric about "Use diplomacy to get out of trouble")
A ship belittling you for whatever you are doing, then attack you, then mock you and tell you to "Leave the game", then when you're chasing them around they spend more time yelling at you, then tell you that your only value is to "Bring them chests".
I'd consider those to be pretty bad-faith.

Yeah, they really should be on the cheap side, otherwise "Commoners" aren't going to drop a bunch of money per month, and they'll really have a niche attraction only to people who're already rich from playing videogames all day.

@ghostpaw said in Ability to host private servers?:

Pirate themed games? Sure there are. You named a couple. Survival games with PvP and PvE? Off the top of my head, DayZ and Rust come to mind. The developers have stated these games were part of the inspiration for SoT. They are not pirate themed, but the underlying risk/reward, paranoia, and so on are there. Or do you mean games like what you THOUGHT SoT was? If we knew more about what you expected then some of us might be able to steer you in the right direction.

No one is saying you don’t have a voice, but if you purchased a blender and you are advocating for the manufacturers to convert it into a coffee maker, then it seems like it was more a matter of the consumer not doing their homework before purchasing.

I said "Good alternatives", not "Alternatives". I named one that was terrible, and another I've played to death and have no desire to listen to Kenway talking about Steamy kisses for another 500 ship engagements.
I've grown off of survival games. Too much management on meters, but they are at least interesting games if done right. Sea of Thieves is what I could see myself enjoying in a survival game, but... Yeah, you know my issue.
The paranoia is the EXACT reason I can't enjoy Sea of Thieves. Anytime I play anything that invokes "Paranoia" I start getting dizzy. Probably because I exaggerate the worry part, but if I keep getting told "Trust no one", what else am I supposed to think?
All I wanted was a game in which you sail the open world that isn't a bad game, looks good and runs well, where I don't have to worry about players ruining my day. If there is such a game, do let me know if it exists, and I'll check it out.

Your example with the blender doesn't sound as good, as it implies that I want PvP removed entirely. It would be more accurate to say that it's me buying a blender, then suggesting that it would be nice to add a coffeemaker addon to the blender.

@callmebackdraft Damn, those servers cost more then I thought.

To ask for progression on a server with no risk defeats the point of the game and how it is meant to work. There are only 5 or 6 boats on a large map so unless you're looking for other boats, you can often sail for ages without encountering anyone and as stated above, if you're worried about your loot, just sell it more often; there are 7 outposts and various ways to sell such as dropping someone with a rowboat carrying your loot whilst you carry on sailing for instance to draw your adversaries away. It's all part of the engagement in the game. The best thing is usually to stop and fight instead of running though as it's firstly good fun but also more likely to shake their confidence compared to seeing you run. If you're not great at PvP, spend some time in Arena practicing against other players and boats; you have no loot to lose and you can hone your skills in instant combat instead of every now and again in chance encounters. It shouldn't be underestimated as a great way to train for Adventure mode.

Everyone will have some toxic engagements as some people are like that and I've had some myself but it's just a game and these people are strangers that you'll never ever meet again in life. Most people are decent and if you are cool with them and either sink them or sink to them, if you're polite and say things like "GG" and "nice shot", then most people are cool with you too. I've actually crewed up with lots of people this way having had good interactions after fighting on the seas.

At the end of the day, it's not real stuff you're losing so at the most, you lose a bit of time. You can always take on other boats and get their loot (PvP is encouraged and a part of the game) or if you're having a bad time on a server, just load into a new one with a fresh boat and you can forget all about those people.

Happy sailing everyone!

@ghostpaw Dude, I don't give a Hootenany about "Progression". I just want to play the game, go fishing, hunt megalodons, disassemble skeletons and do it without having players take a monkeypie down my throat.

I certainly wouldn't be against progression, but my reputations are sitting at 30'ish, which at least open up more adventure possibilities than level 1 voyages that yield basically nothing.

@ghostpaw Assuming they will be at a good price and not cost a pretty penny, I will go play on them. If it's 20-30 Euros then I will just stay away.

At least we can agree on something: Creative use of language.

@xultanis-dragon

@danquememe I play with glorianalafey often and the toxicity has never once been started by them

I also don't get why you have to pay for a server that you will get no progression in, it seems dumb

@banana132895 I don't get why you want a private server in a multiplayer game.

@kalgert said in Ability to host private servers?:

The paranoia is the EXACT reason I can't enjoy Sea of Thieves. Anytime I play anything that invokes "Paranoia" I start getting dizzy. Probably because I exaggerate the worry part, but if I keep getting told "Trust no one", what else am I supposed to think?

Then, with respect, this is emphatically not the game for you. There is never any guarantee of a "chill" (i.e. paranoia-free) session. I've seen servers go from super relaxed to super sweaty in a minute or less. It's a feature and it's by design. If it's not for you, fine, but that's the game that was advertised and that's the game that's delivered.

All I wanted was a game in which you sail the open world that isn't a bad game, looks good and runs well, where I don't have to worry about players ruining my day. If there is such a game, do let me know if it exists, and I'll check it out.

Sailaway. Windward. Sid Meier's Pirates. The upcoming "Sail Forth". There are plenty of PVE-only games out there with sailing / island themes and no PVP. If you spend a little time searching on Steam, you'll easily find them. I wish you good luck in your quest.

@ghostpaw said in Ability to host private servers?:

(...) BTW, fun use of the word “hootenanny.” That word deserves more attention than it has received the last several decades.

I try to catch Jools Holland on New Years every year.