Suggestions: How to deal with the toxic trolls that are becoming prevalent in the community.

Yeah we should just ignore those people who come to the forums and create an account only to complain.

They are the worst in this community and should at least use the search function and read stuff before posting but nope, they just post the same thing over and over again. It's so annoying!

I agree with you matey those toxic trolls should just leave... (sorry I didn't read the post itself but just the header).

I've also been playing since early on when this game came out. I agree strongly with the idea of adding a passive mode for doing story driven quests like this one as I too have been a few hours into a tall tale mission just to be harassed by toxic crews non stop attacking and messing with me. I get the PvP makes this game what it is. At the same time it gets old trying to play the new contents missions, just to have a random troll crew attack you for no reason other than to anger/annoy you. In closing I don't mind the PvP but there needs to be some form of help when dealing with non stop PvP for someone trying to enjoy the story side of the game.

Another one-post-wonder. Ugh.

Firstly, it's a pirate sandbox game. The PvP is part of it and removing that risk entirely would make the game very boring. Joe Neate recently stated in an interview with GameSpot that the original working title for the game was "Sea of Blood" or something like that, so PvP was always a core part of the gameplay.

I'm mainly a PvE player - I only attack if someone gives me a reason to think they're going to attack me (like flying certain flags, following me or coming straight for me without announcing themselves). I still don't sink very often and I win about 2/3 of the fights I get into. But, if they removed that element, it would feel like an entirely different game.

SOT is all about the adventures and emergent interactions. Sometimes they're good and sometimes they're bad but, on balance, I'd say the good outweighs the bad. Yeah, it feels bad when you get attacked trying to do a Tall Tale, but you've gotta learn not to look at the destination and enjoy the journey. If you play enough, you realise that you usually get more good luck than bad and not to take it all to heart. When you close the game, move on, don't go on forums to whine because you won't find much sympathy (as you can see from the responses). The next session you might find you complete that Tall Tale and you find a bunch of extra loot too - you never know what might happen.

Secondly, if someone is genuinely being toxic, yelling expletives, slurs, etc., (not just engaging in PvP and being a pirate), then you can report them to Support or on Xbox Live. I do think eventually we will need some sort of in-game report system though when the gamertag changes come into effect.

@Nessiroj I don't think you understand how constructive criticism works.
I presented an ever growing issue that makes much less enjoyable for me and the people i play with.

Then I presented many possible solutions to the problem.

I very much enjoyed the game when it first came out however as people have less to progress toward they have turned to making the game much less enjoyable for others in turn ruining the game for myself. I am sure I am not the only one who would like to be able to enjoy the PvE aspect of the game and the story.

That being said I know SoT is a open world and PvP is bound to happen but when it gets to the point of someone chasing my sloop down for 1-2 hours essentially making my time played completely pointless/progression-less all because someone just wants the pleasure of sinking my boat knowing full well there is no loot on my boat. I start to wonder why play a game 2-3 nights a week for a few hours at a time only to make no progress at all. If this is something that is perceived by a large portion of the community and it seems like the devs, as okay and enjoyable.

In the end why play a game that gives you PvE but the community is so toxic it frowns on using the co-op mechanic (alliances) and doesn't actually allow you to make any progress. Then, when you make suggestions they just come to say you're an idiot on the forum and tell you why you are wrong instead of actually thinking about the suggestion.

@nessiroj It was my understanding the "Feedback + Suggestions" forum was for Feedback and Suggestions. If you don't like listening to the so called "whining" don't come to the "Feedback + Suggestions" forum just to basically call people idiots or say if you don't like it uninstall.

This is a place for constructive criticism specifically for the devs and if there are a large amount of people making these same "suggestions" it is what the people want. Many games do PvPvE very well with these very same features and I never said completely remove PvP from the game I only recommended things to make the game more enjoyable for more people and less enticing for people to grief others.

It is my assumption that devs want more people to enjoy a game so that more people encourage others to buy the game. However at this rate the PvP aspect and the griefing community is driving some players away and if they plan to sell things for real money later on a smaller player base means less money.

You've fallen foul of a false equivalency in your initial posts - trolls and pirates are not the same. People who attack you and steal your stuff are not trolls, they're... well, pirates.

Before I hit PL I would sail alone with my lamps off, and hand my stuff in after every couple of islands. However, due to my own damage, I was unable to get to grips with the fact that me handing in my loot wasn't guaranteed, so I experienced a lot of saltiness when someone stole my stuff. Thankfully, this more or less instantly disappeared when I hit PL as there wasn't as much need for me to hand it in (unless it was a Chest of Legends).

My best advice:

• Don't travel alone. A two-person sloop has unparalleled dexterity and can be extremely difficult to sink once you get the hang of it.
• Kegs are your friend. I always keep three in my nest when I'm solo-slooping, and they can wipe out a threat in ten seconds flat if required.
• Hit your anchor if you're under heavy fire mid-ocean - they'll sail on past, you'll take on less water and you'll have time to repair.
• Hand stuff in as soon as you can. This will also increase your mileage.
• SKULL FORTS. They're crash-courses in PvP and edge-of-your-seat survival.
• Block. Hold block until they've swiped three times, because you can go from blocking to swinging immediately (even whilst holding down block). You'll hit them three times with no issue, at which point, a single point-blank flintlock shot will kill them.
• Buy your way to PL as quickly as possible, and make sure you've earned all the doubloons from the Bilge Rats commendations.

That's my way of thinking, anyway.

As much as it is frustrating, essentially reading the same posts from people who would like a risk free way to take a break from PvP and be able to concentrate on the PvE aspects of SOT. The volumes of posts on this topic does highlight just how many players want this kind of option.
I for one, think having PvE only servers or a safe mode would be a terrible idea. The reason I believe this, is the fear of being sunk by other players adds to the excitement and strategy of the game. Using the crows nest, making sure lanterns are out, keeping your eyes on the horizon, making sure your boat is as out of sight as possible, parking your vessel under skeleton cannons, out-manoeuvring aggressive crews, escaping into fog cover, taking advantage of the sloops tighter turning circle, stocking up on Powder Kegs and keeping a supply of cursed cannonballs to hand would all become redundant if you knew the Environment or other Players couldn't sink your boat.
Having said that, you cannot take away from the fact that there are sooooo many posts here saying exactly what you are saying which screams out that something should be done.
I believe (and have posted before) that there should be a way, likeminded players could seek support from each other without the need to approach potentially aggressive crews; a mercenary for hire function to ask other crews for protection, perhaps notice boards in the taverns so you could leave a message requesting help/alliance for the completion of a task which other crews wanting to complete the same task could reply to or maybe flair guns firing various colour flairs to send out an SOS.
So I believe a game mechanic could be introduced where crews can team up without the need to go seek out each other crew on the sea (to be honest, nearly every crew is scared stiff when they see an approaching mast, you're more than likely to chase a boat around the map before you get the chance to shout "WE'RE FRIENDLY" and the likelihood is they won't believe you anyway.)
Just anything but Safe Zones or PvE only servers.

@goedecke-michel Arrrrrr, them were the days, the wind whistling through my ribcage, my ever thankful crew of undead and my search for Big Whoop... Arrrrr, brings tears to me eye sockets it does

@goedecke-michel I really, really, really want a Three Headed Monkey figure head!!!!

I hope OP finds his voyages become so routine and uneventful that they get to be mundane. Like a job.
Grind hard merchant sailor. Enjoy your PvE server in peace.

Then he can become a Pirate Legend, and prance about like a peacock for grinding so much without opposing other pirates.
Then demand Pirate Legend content, and act like an elitist fool.
Become the Pirate King on a PvE server populated by one player.

Making the title even less important than it already is.

Dream on sailor.

@guybrush3pwood2 Thank you for offering something more to the conversation than just the get good/get over it mentality. You not only give a reasonable explanation how it could go wrong but you also bring forth an alternative solution.

For that sir I commend you on not being as rude as so many others in this forum.

@fast-bike94 I completely agree I do not wish to completely remove the pvp aspect from regular voyages/forts. If there were a passive mode I would suggest it be only an option for those doing tales. Same with if they implement PvE servers only as an option to those on tales.

As it stands the tales already take 1.5-2 hours if you know exactly what you’re doing and much longer if you don’t want to use a guide and figure it out on your own. Once you get more than an hour into that journey only to lose it to someone wanting to sink you after you repeatedly say take the treasure I’m doing a tale and then proceeds to spawn camp you to oblivion it starts to show the need for something whether it be limited passive mode or optional servers specifically for the tales.

@lethality1 I think the thing that is the most funny to me is the keyboard warriors who say anyone who disagrees with them is an idiot and you can see it in almost every thread. No matter how many solutions you offer or suggestions to combat the problem the answer is the same. You don’t know what you’re talking about just get better.

I’m offering a solution that could potentially level the playing field and reduce the dramatic learning curve the game has acquired over its lifetime. Making the game more appealing to those that are not the best at the game or just want a casual experience and enjoy the story the sea has to offer. None of what I have suggested is unheard of in other games.

I will propose a few more ideas however.

1. Overall level range for servers so that legends don’t have the chance to pick on those with much less experience and making ship combat much more even in lobbies.

2. Provide more incentive to form alliances. Doing this would make interactions between players more unpredictable instead of what we have where if you see a ship it is almost certainly hostile and if you are a passive or inexperienced play you must constantly steer clear of everyone.
   When alliances came out this brought players together for awhile making some comedations that are almost impossible to do today possible and making the environment less hostile.

3. This leads me to my third point which is introduce new content to work together towards so that legends with nothing to lose have something further to gain by working with those ships they’d otherwise be sinking for no reason other than their enjoyment of harassing others. This can be new tales in alliances or comedations where working together is required.

4. To prevent spawn camping smaller ships introduce a window of invulnerability when you leave the ferry. So many times a larger ship has come aboard my ship and spawn camped until I sunk even when I had absolutely nothing but supplies.

5. This is to fix the same problem as the previous point but you could modify the ferry of the damned allowing you to restock your inventory supplies from your stock on your ship in the over world. When you run out of food being spawn camped and can’t get to your supplies you are at a huge disadvantage without food when they can just use the time between your respawn to restock off of your supplies.

The combination of some of these changes could ultimately make the game more appealing to new players as well. Everyone hates on other companies that don’t actually listen to player feedback and so far Rare has done a pretty good job in taking suggestions from what I’ve seen but, I fear some of the insider “elites” do not wish to keep growing the game and only wish to enjoy the fruits of easily lopsided combat. That being said they turn to the forum to shut down any suggestions/creativity that threatens their ways of easily sinking passive, casual, and new players alike.

@choolatechiken thank you. I think the numbers speak for themselves. The number of posts suggest something needs to be done and I can't blame the promoters of safe PvE idea for not returning and backing up their posts, because they are not welcomed with welcome, open arms of constructive criticism.
The more people that play the game then the more development and advancements will be made.
PvP fanatics or even people that like the way it is, can't just turn their backs on people that want a safer environment. Perhaps there is a way forward that can be beneficial all of us...
Also... could regular people within the forum stop belittling people? Yeah, there's a search function but if you were someone who had a point regarding PVE and you read the comments following a similar thread would you want to post there after seeing the abuse the original poster got?
Yes... this is "Sea of Thieves" and not "Sea of Friend's" but more importantly, it's a game that benefits us all the more players it has and by alienating any group you're walking yourself off the plank.

@choolatechiken said in Suggestions: How to deal with the toxic trolls that are becoming prevalent in the community.:

@lethality1 I think the thing that is the most funny to me is the keyboard warriors who say anyone who disagrees with them is an idiot and you can see it in almost every thread.

I know right?! Some also say that anyone who disagrees with them is toxic and a plight on this game, we do see them everywhere!

No matter how many solutions you offer or suggestions to combat the problem the answer is the same.

Exactly! You offer solutions on how to prevent the situations they whine about, but the answer is the same, it's the game that needs fixing, not them that needs improving!

Oh wait

@bloodybil It’s a shame you use your writing abilities to promote and reinforce the unhealthy environment in the game and particularly this forum.

Props to being creative in doing so though instead of outright saying it’s a pirate game get over it.

It's a game forum.
State your case and count the upvotes.

In the end, it's Rares dream game to maintain.
We already know they listen to whatever makes SoT a better experience for everybody.

Don't get salty, we all sail on a sea of salty tears.

@barnabas-seadog I am just concerned the behavior of players with nothing better to do than pick on the little guy will kill any new player base and run many off in one fail swoop. Imo people shouldn't open the game on the basis of lets go grief because we have no incentive to do otherwise.

It makes longer PvE content unplayable for less skilled players. I'm not just talking about myself but others as well. I am by no means the best fighter (I'd say about average) but there is no balance when being spawn trapped, no real chance of escape when boarded by twice as many unless they are just hands-down bad, other than scuttling and starting your tale over depending on what step you are on.

In the end you'll run players off if the PvP prevents the promised Story and PvE content from even being playable for lesser skilled players. The solution is cannot be "get better". If a new player joins the game for the first time only to be hunted down every time they make progress and lose it all 9/10 people will quit playing. Running people off of a game with this sort of behavior is how games die. You kill off anyone interested in playing the game for PvE and ultimately waste the devs time when they release more PvE content because they only thing the remainder of the player base is interested in is ship combat

@choolatechiken said in Suggestions: How to deal with the toxic trolls that are becoming prevalent in the community.:

@bloodybil It’s a shame you use your writing abilities to promote and reinforce the unhealthy environment in the game and particularly this forum.

Did I now? I simply pointed out the double standard on divergence of opinion. You do exactly what you accuse others of doing, by disregarding what people say if it doesn't go with your narrative.

In the end you'll run players off if the PvP prevents the promised Story and PvE content from even being playable for lesser skilled players. The solution is cannot be "get better".

Really? How do you progress in anything in life? Are you gifted in such ways that you succeed at everything you try in life? You can always get better. You should always strive at getting better. It won't happen magically.

If a new player joins the game for the first time only to be hunted down every time they make progress and lose it all 9/10 people will quit playing.

Like in every multiplayer game, you always die at first. Especially in a game with no real tutorial like SOT. It's a baptism by fire, you are thrown out the nest and you must figure things out. Maybe with friends or players to show you the rope, maybe by yourself. Point is, you fall, rise again, fall, dust yourself off, and over time you fall less and less and you learn from your experiences. 9/10 is an interesting theory, but I have more faith in players than that. People are more persisting than that.

Running people off of a game with this sort of behavior is how games die.
You kill off anyone interested in playing the game for PvE and ultimately waste the devs time when they release more PvE content because they only thing the remainder of the player base is interested in is ship combat

Strangely, the game has had 2 million players since its big update. That doesn't sound like a dying game, does it? Surely a lot of people have found ways to enjoy the game and progress in the aspects they enjoy whether it be PVE or PVP. I am sure a lot of those people are busy playing the game rather than complaining on the forums (Thankfully I am a multitasker!).

Jun 13, 2019  /  Action

Sea of Thieves has had 2 million players since its big update

"We are only just beginning," says executive producer Joe Neate.

People love to talk on behalf of the community (I am also guilty of this I suppose), but truth is, nobody knows the stats on how many enjoy the current PVP/PVE balance and who doesn't. Saying that X or Y is killing the game is your opinion, nothing more. You are welcome to voice your opinion, so are everybody else. Disagreeing is neither toxicity or rudeness. Rare probably does have those stats, and are taking the game in the direction they feel people want it to go. They also have a vision of their game and are sticking to it, which is refreshing from normal studios pandering and straying away from what they promised.

@magentorg said in Suggestions: How to deal with the toxic trolls that are becoming prevalent in the community.:

@choolatechiken I am like you, I want to enjoy the game in PvE mode as I do in Elite Dangerous, it is something that is not difficult to do, I think. Make an option for those who just want to enjoy the history of the game and not have to repeat missions every 10 minutes because a group of children appears to sink your boat because they feel like it.

And the Elite Dangerous devs are regretting it and trying to get people to come back and play in public servers, as well as diminishing rewards in PVE mode. Rare did their homework and studied many full-loot PVP games to come to the result we have in SoT, which is a very fair balance of risk and loss.

You have the options to be careful about your surroundings and to be prepared to anything while doing PVE. You possess the tools to avoid having to repeat missions every 10 mins because you didn't plan properly.

I still do not know why some are so affected that they add an option like that.

By searching previous posts you would find a trove of arguments by many people, but I doubt you are really interested in reading them anyways.