@mageofheart5367 said in The Pirate's Code and Community guidelines are trash because they're never enforced. I have a suggestion to correct that behavior.:
For the record, I am a new player. I bought this game because I wanted to play with my friends and do a few fun solo voyages to pass the time. In those two days, I have seen almost nothing but toxic players.
Hi,
Welcome to the game. But pirates are quite toxic by nature. Pirating is essentially an early form of terrorism. That might be controversial to say, but it is objectively true that they conducted "toxic" and "terrifying" campaigns to steal and attack weaker ships. They were/are opportunists.
Here are the codes of conduct.
The reason I am posting this is because I am upset with the way players are treating other players in Adventure Mode. From the past two days, every single ship that I came across proceeded to destroy my sloop and kill me. The times when I was playing with a friend and lost some treasure wasn't that bad, but one time was when our ship was docked in a harbor, and I was trying out different cosmetic articles in the chest in the hold. Suddenly, there was an explosion and I got killed before having any time to react.
That sounds like a great attack by them. Fair play to them. You should always have your wits about you in this game. Assume everyone is an enemy until they prove otherwise.
In regards to the the Pirate Code, well in a way you are actually right to point out it's flaws. The main "issue" is that it is quite subjective. It does state that we should "Respect New Pirates and Their Voyage Ahead. May the old legends help to forge new ones: treat new pirates with respect and share your knowledge."
But (and here is what really matters) it has a caveat that is very open in that we should do this but that this unenforced rule does not extend "(beyond that stirred up in the course of a pirate's everyday activities)" - this is very ambiguous. It also uses the term "Crew", thus technically the code only refers to your own crew...
Not only that, but it also states "The sacred bond between crewmates should never be broken, but even when waging war across the decks of rival raiders, all crews should ultimately hold one another in respect." - The issue with this statement is the word "should", thus it is not a mandatory rule, mainly because if it were, then the game would be undermined in it's premise as a heavy PvP game.
The next issue is the very word "Respect", which can mean many things and be interpreted in different ways...E.G "I respect those who attack me and deem me a worth opponent to do so."
Also, somewhat contradicting that code - we have the Code of Conduct which states "Be a good sport. Sea of Thieves is a pirate game, and stealth, stealing and battles are all part of the fun. All pirates on the seas accept that, but be a good sportsman in both victory and loss."
Then we have the Devs commenting saying "People attacking other player's ship, and people stealing items off players and making their getaway and stuff, it's obviously, that's absolutely acceptable as part of Sea of Thieves, it's a shared world, its always been a shared world, it's always been the intent that there is gonna be risks when you are out there on the seas. And so that kind of player behaviour is absolutely within the spirit of Sea of Thieves."
Either knowingly or not, these other codes and dev comments essentially render the flawed "Pirate Code" as useless and impossible to follow if we are to follow what Joe the Dev said and the code of conduct. It isn't being enforced, because it can't be. The game is so well advertised and geared toward being a heavy PvP game about pirates, that the initial code of "asking" for respect is null and void.
I think they should change the wording to "be civil to new players", simply because you cannot mandate something that is earnt in that of respect. If we just gave respect randomly to people we do not know...well that opens up a metaphysical can of worms that has many issues.
The most recent one was when I was heading to an island for a different voyage, and passed by a ship, that began firing on me for no reason. Thinking it was an NPC ship or something, I fired back. Then it turned out that players were leaving the ship to attack me. I told them that they were breaking the code by acting this way and all I hear after they kill me is "You salty? Are you a salty boy?"
Well no offence, but you do sound salty if you say that sort of thing in a cutthroat pirate game... We have all been "salty" too. I think this is more about your expectations of the game clashing with the cold hard reality of it all. I wouldn't personally choose to use that term against someone else, but they aren't actually breaking any mandated rules. You had an exchange where you challenged them on their conduct and you simply didn't like the reply.
I think the core part here is that pirates were renowned for being out of the law, so you can't expect some weak "you should be nice" code book to be followed by everyone. Respectfully, that is quite naïve.
This wouldn't have been as upsetting if one of those crew members didn't kill themselves and went to the Ferry just to harass me.
If this is how players introduce other players to the game, I can see why there are hardly any other ships online. I have half a mind to stop playing, but I can understand Rare not giving a care about it since they already have my money. But if they do care, I have a suggestion, since it appears that reporting a player doesn't exist in this game (and I've done my research on it, there is no form or anything anymore).
There are plenty of ships online. I think there are over a million players or something ridiculous. Remember, that when you bought the game and booted it up - you automatically consented to it's core experience.
On steam it sells the game as "the essential pirate experience, from sailing and fighting to exploring and looting – everything you need to live the pirate life and become a legend in your own right. With no set roles, you have complete freedom to approach the world, and other players, however you choose.
Whether you’re voyaging as a group or sailing solo, you’re bound to encounter other crews in this shared world adventure – but will they be friends or foes, and how will you respond?"
This description will of course be read by those buying the game, rather than some poorly written Pirate Code. And there is a way of reporting players, but what happened to you doesn't sound like a reportable offence at all.
The suggestion: On player death, if a player kills another player, that player's crew should be able to "Vote Bounty" the offending crew on the condition that they aren't flying the Reaper's Bones Emissary Flag (which entails showing the other players that their intent is to blow up every ship they get close to). Camping the crews that voted for a bounty drives the counter up automatically.
I'm not sure this is a solid idea. This could be exploited and you could have a bunch of "toxic" players deliberately voting a bounty on n00bs like me lol. But also, because the whole point in the game is to be pirates and attack others, get loot, complete tall tales etc. It sounds like you want the game to be renamed "Sea of Peace". :D
On enough vote counts, the offending crew's ship flag would get force-changed to the Reaper's Mark, allowing them to be visible from anywhere on the map, and the players that manage to capsize their ship would receive a reputation boost for the Trading Company (or a new reputation for "Pirate Guardians" or something, to give those players new rep rewards for upholding the Pirate's Code). This would deter players from picking on everyone or mindlessly destroying the newer/lesser-skilled players over and over, and make other players aware of the toxic ones, and give them a choice to be able to avoid that crew or engage with it for a bounty reward.
The Sea of Thieves is meant to have ships sink other ships, I get that. But there are grown players, adult players, doing this to children and new pirates, to the point where toxic-repetitive sinking is the example of what to expect in this game. I don't believe that this should be the norm of Sea of Thieves. Where's the coming together and the singing of shanties and picking up some grog and slamming it down on a table? Where's the community?
It doesn't exist, because the code is NOT being enforced.
There is a big community within the game. Just because the game rating is "12" that doesn't mean adults shouldn't play it. In fact I would say the content is in regards to a very serious and topical subject in that of pirating, which at it's core - was really not a very "nice" career to be in.
You are right, about how that particular code isn't being enforced, because it can't be. We, you, anyone - cannot be mandated to not sink or attack other ships just because they are "new". And what does "new" even mean? What is the qualifying period for this?
How long is someone "new" for? What if someone had been playing for 6 months, but still called themselves "new" and would use that as a way of trying to ward off attackers? What if you had been playing for 3 years, but one of your crew members only just got the game...should the pirates attacking you know that? Should they leave the new guy alone lol?
You see that code is more of a guide. And guides can be followed - or not. There appears to be no contractual obligation to do so and the code doesn't even mandate anyway and is undermined in this regard by the games advertising descriptors, the code of conduct (not the pirate code) and what Joe the Dev said. If that code was regulated, then no one would play it, because how would anyone go about attacking others if they all just claimed to be new?
If you receive personal insults, slurs etc. then that is different and RARE should deal with that accordingly. But that is another issue, people complain about incidents, but provide no evidence of the event. I have seen the posts accuse players of being horrible, toxic, of using racial slurs etc. - and the big one; cheating. But no evidence. That is not to say the event didn't happen, but the onus is on the person who is claiming it to provide evidence other than anecdotal. Otherwise, it is understandable that RARE can do nothing about it. I could just come on here and accuse you of something, but would you deserve to be banned? Of course not, without evidence.
Every battle I ever had, I never got insulted. Every ship I have ever attacked, the crew never got salty. There was grog drinking on the ferry and the playing of sea shanties with the enemy players too. Stick around, consider nerfing your attitude to the reality of the game - and I think you might just enjoy it a bit more and meet other players who are actually quite welcoming and helpful. Keep playing and you will meet more likeminded crews.
Remember, you are advocating for a system that punishes those who go around sinking ships- just get out there and sink some yourself. :)
Cheers
