People need to quickly learn that piloting a ship is vastly different to run and gun, being the ships pilot is not just about piloting, you're base control, tactical support and the respawn hub during Fort fights, it's amazing how many Galleons I see getting sank by leaving themselves completely vulnerable sitting ducks, if you're a Captain it's your job to repair, pilot away from cannon tower range, out maneuver enemy ships trying to intercept, watch ladders, watch enemy ships cannons and call out where they are heading and who's being fired from cannons and where. You're essentially a raid leader, healer and tank, without these essentials you're sank and it's game over as your team have no where to respawn and shoot themselves where they need to be, people need to learn this before thinking they can just jump on the wheel, thinking there job consists of only navigating the seas.
/End Rant
Misconception of being a Captain
@donklol I agree to the point on people leaving their ships defenseless and unguarded, but who are you to say who's "captain" and who's job it is to do what? It's a team effort, and its everyones job to communicate and understand where they are allocating themselves in the moment. It's not a "This is my session, do what I say." leadership complex. Its a crew that has to work together and if they cannot, they will often fail.
@ghost-0f-dawn well I mean typically the guy driving the ship will know what sides everyone needs to be on for cannons, whether or not you got hit, the movements of the enemy ships, since everyone else is busy repairing, fighting and moving sails. It is a team effort and it's up to the "captain" or whoever is driving the ship to keep track of the things the others can't and provide them with that information.
@mrseniorwaffles Piloting the helm doesn't really give you leadership though. You have the best sight of your broadsides generally and can use that to communicate. It's still important the rest of the crew know what you're going to do so they can prepare. You most certainly shouldn't be at the helm 100% of the time, that's a miss-allocation of of a quarter of your manpower.
@ghost-0f-dawn I completely agree, I'm not saying that the captain is the leader of the session, I'm saying the captain needs to understand what the job entails if it's allocated
@ghost-0f-dawn I'm not saying you're the leader, I'm saying its like being a raid leader, in reality you depend on your crew to fulfill their jobs, without them you're nothing, but the captain is central command, it's your job to make sure that your crew can effectively do their jobs without you there is no them and without them there is no you, you're destined to fail :)
Before anyone else says it, I'm not saying captains are gods, I'm simply saying if you're allocated captain, you should know what that job entails, just like any game with roles, those playing these roles need to know the importance of that role and how it contributes to team play
@ghost-0f-dawn never once did I use the word leadership, I used captain in quotes lol. Im just saying I see where this guy is coming from with this post. The guy driving the ship is has an important job with more to it than just driving the ship, and since he knows what side he is going to be passing the ship on, and when he is going to make a turn he has a duty to organize the crew and make sure you make the most of a pass or turn effectively in battle. And of course no one just drives the ship the whole time everyone jumps on a cannon or will help bucket water when needed and safe to do so without crashing the ship
All crew mates are equal on the ships I sail on. The best crews i have sailed with are the ones where everyone can fit any role, and at a moments notice. There are no captains, but I get what OP is talking about in regards to a helmsman.
A good helmsman needs to try and plan like playing chess, and give the ship opportunities to attack and maneuver defensively, and be able to leave the helm and navigate, fire cannons, repel boarders, trim sails and repair. They should also be calling out any tactical info that is relevant to the situation.
It is a bit frustrating when someone just sits on the helm and doesn't budge, as you are essentially down a crew member. It is equally as frustrating when the helmsman's directions are ignored or counteracted, as all that does is make crew work against each other and slow the whole ship down.
If I'm at the helm I'll be telling people to raise and lower sails, angle them, do the anchor bits etc.
A good implication of what is expected from a helmsman is to look at what commands are available in the chat wheel when holding the helm. If it's there your meant to be calling it out.
When sailing you should have a spotter at the crows nest and if your in a galleon you'll need a navigator dictating direction and then another guy to help with sails, anchor and feeding livestock if you have them and general housekeeping duties, like keeping cannons loaded and stocking up on suplies.
lol. I agree! But with one big caveat: When the ship goes down, the captain goes with her!
The captain is simply the person in charge of tactical orders. It has nothing to do with who is at the helm. That's not the only job of the captain, as he has to help with other duties, but you get the point. While just sailing at open sea it would be the navigator/lookout that you want to listen to.
BluWolve makes a good point though all crew mates are equal. While the captain might be the tactician giving orders he is also reacting to information given by other vital roles. You might be the captain, but if the navigator calls obstacle ahead and you belay the order or ignore it, its not going to end well.
If 3 people on a ship go to the effort of naming the 4th, "Captain", then yes, that person probably should, or even would have, a good grasp of what the most important duties for a Captain is, but it's not always Helmsman.
But there's no guidelines, or rulebook about which exact tasks fall to the Captain, that's all up to the crews to decide.
@tundra-793 Yeah this is a pretty good point as well. I sail with the same crew and how our ship works might not be exactly the same as others run theirs.
@donklol the "captain" (you surely meant the pilot of the ship instead, both aren't necessarily the same roles) has to do all of those things... So what do the others, just curious ?
@cwarrick66 said in Misconception of being a Captain:
are you guys literally having a big stupid argument about what being a captain means? the dude makes solid points. y'all look like seagulls fighting over stale bread with all this semantics bull****
Isn't the whole point of forums to discuss ideas? The OPs point, good or not, beckons discussion specifically because his semantics are the biggest detriment to his point.
@meurtrisseur said in Misconception of being a Captain:
@donklol the "captain" (you surely meant the pilot of the ship instead, both aren't necessarily the same roles) has to do all of those things... So what do the others, just curious ?
Well whilst I am their eyes and ears and keeping their respawn site active and safe, I have three crew mates boarding their ship and in this order, drop anchor kill guy on cannon, run to the bottom of their boat and kill anyone who comes to repair whilst they are sitting ducks and I'm hammering with cannons. The three crew mates have enough of a job dealing with the other crew to have to worry about who has slipped by and cannoned to our ship, it's all team work and both are important
@donklol said in Misconception of being a Captain:
@meurtrisseur said in Misconception of being a Captain:
@donklol the "captain" (you surely meant the pilot of the ship instead, both aren't necessarily the same roles) has to do all of those things... So what do the others, just curious ?
Well whilst I am their eyes and ears and keeping their respawn site active and safe, I have three crew mates boarding their ship and in this order, drop anchor kill guy on cannon, run to the bottom of their boat and kill anyone who comes to repair whilst they are sitting ducks and I'm hammering with cannons. The three crew mates have enough of a job dealing with the other crew to have to worry about who has slipped by and cannoned to our ship, it's all team work and both are important
Using your own analogy; As Captain, you are the Raid Leader, Tank, Healer and a DPS while your remaining crew are only DPS.
That seems really, really excessive for 1 person to do.Captain are there, they play a huge role, and anyone who dares say that captains aren't needed or a crew can handle themself without a leader belongs to a crew of misfits that will sink as soon as they see a crew with a decent leader and good teamwork on their ship!
Captain is there to be fair, to know what needs happening when and by who, protects the ship when needed and always keeps a watchful eye.
If you join a game and you don't want a captain, make sure your the captain or get out of there...
Don't ruin other peoples teamwork cause you want to do whatever the hell you please!
There is 1 person in charge for a reason, and if you don't see why... You really need a good leader in your live!I'm just so sick of people abusing the "pirate code" to just do whatever they please..
Everyone is equal, I don't care what you say cause I want to drop this sail right here even though the anchor is up and we are facing land, suck a frog ya'all, the rules say I have just as much input as ya'all!Those people need to leave this awesome game based on explicit teamwork...
@cupohemlock said in Misconception of being a Captain:
Every crew member needs a primary and secondary job. If you lay that out in advance, everything will go nicely.
^ This, since I get high ping on non OCE server instances when I sail the seas with folks from the SoT discord that I crew up with I take up the job of captain and micro manage as best as I can filling in where I need since sailing, some repair/bailing and watching for other ships when stopped is what I do best and mix in some cannon fire as needed when I can.
Setting roles and having constant comms with the crew is key to not being sunk even if you are up against 2 other galleons and a sloop at the same time.
@tundra-793 said in Misconception of being a Captain:
@donklol said in Misconception of being a Captain:
@meurtrisseur said in Misconception of being a Captain:
@donklol the "captain" (you surely meant the pilot of the ship instead, both aren't necessarily the same roles) has to do all of those things... So what do the others, just curious ?
Well whilst I am their eyes and ears and keeping their respawn site active and safe, I have three crew mates boarding their ship and in this order, drop anchor kill guy on cannon, run to the bottom of their boat and kill anyone who comes to repair whilst they are sitting ducks and I'm hammering with cannons. The three crew mates have enough of a job dealing with the other crew to have to worry about who has slipped by and cannoned to our ship, it's all team work and both are important
Using your own analogy; As Captain, you are the Raid Leader, Tank, Healer and a DPS while your remaining crew are only DPS.
That seems really, really excessive for 1 person to do.It is, the captain in this position can't heal the ship unless there are no other ships attacking, in combat another person needs to repair while the captain steers the ship so other crewmembers can use the cannons (and the captain can jump in too when possible) to keep an angle on enemies and make sure they don't have the perfect angle on you.
Also while the captain worries about steering and angles, (s)he can't watch the ladders that proficiently, that's another persons job at that time.I agree that doing everything on the ship is impossible for 1 person, no matter how good (s)he is at it. (Unless it's a sloop ofcourse)
