Issues With the New Rules

These are not new rules. The Community Code of Conduct is basically just re-asserting the Xbox Live TOS and Community Standards that everyone was already meant to follow.

I've met players that report merely on nothing more than a tantrum for being bested. There's a ton of sore losers out there who take things way too personal

@wilbymagicbear this is a ridiculous take on the new code. It explicitly states fights, stealing loot, and ship battles are an accepted part of the game in order to protect pirates who are playing the game as intended. This was obviously added to give Rare a way to handle stream snipers, and to deal with players who single out a ship over and over again to drive them from the server. And their data will show them if you were engagimg in normal behavior and happend to run into them again or if you were hunting them down specifically.

And frankly, while I fully support pvp, I have no sympathy for players who spawn camp or attempt to drive other players off the server, so I am entirely in favor of this move.

I think everyone is overreacting a little. They will judge every "complaint" separately, considering the situation.

Im sure getting attacked 2-4 times by one crew is ok as long as they play nice while doing it. Like put on a friendly pirate act and play the role of a pirate (with all the sounds and pirate talk).
I think that RARE wants to target more those players that hunt and sink and kill players while acting like jerks, with rude comments and such. There is absolutely no need to tell any pirate that they suck in PvP or that they generally suck at the game. Everyone is good at playing this game, as it offers so many different experiences for different players.

So thats my opinion... RARE want to get rid of those that insult and/or play just to ruin the game for someone else. But then again it might be difficult for some to see the difference, and false reports might be a thing... but as they require proof and judge every case separately... it should not be a problem. If you have a video of a crew calling you names and just insulting you, then that is a clear case. If on the other hand you record a crew attacking you several times in a session and have video feed of it... BUT they are behaving nicely... doing the pirate talk and all the acting that go with it, then is just a role they choose to play... and its part of the "players make their own story" mechanic of the game.

@wilbymagicbear Dramatic much? I take it you didn't actually read it based on your wild assumptions - that or you do partake in practices that are questionable and now worried that you have to play as a good sport now.

Rules can be boiled down to this essence - don't be a jerk and you have nothing to worry about.

@wilbymagicbear the rules could be clarified, but once again, Rare has the game data. If you kill a crew until their barrels are empty, and then leave, they will be able to see that. Just like when I spawncamp a crew because I am trying to steer their ship into rocks to sink it, Rare will be able to see that. People are making a bigger deal out of this than it warrents, when in fact the part that explicitly states pvp and stealing is an accepted part of the game is a huge win that we should be celebrating.

Something I wasn't expecting was how competitive SoT has become. The game didn't seem to be anything more than a family friendly open world sandbox. I expected the art style to be a throw off for serious competitive gamers, but that didn't stop them from trying this game. I'm very surprised at the amount of adults that play SoT. When I first saw the promotional trailers for the game, I thought for sure it would cater to a younger audience

@wilbymagicbear Don't know what to tell you there bub, from some of your previous posts you've ridden that fine line quite a bit (sometimes crossing it with some suggestions/posts I've read). I for one think spawn camping is a cheap tactic, regardless of the excuse given but I am not Rare and would only report it in abusive situations. It is a fine line between defending your position on an enemy's ship and what I would consider actual spawn killing. Some sort of limited spawn protection would go a long way to alleviate this problem for both sides and cause the boarders to use actual skill to maintain their position instead of relying on cheap tactics to suppress players.

Making a list of rules would not work, people would find a way around the stated ones requiring Rare to constantly modify them to cover every situation that arose.

HA this is exactly why these "Rules" need clarifiying we have @WilbyMagicBear who doesn't view what he has done to be harasment, but on the flip side even @dlCHIEF58 has said they would possibely report them for the same behavour.

Now we end up having to leave it up to Rare to decide, would @WilbyMagicBear be able to rebut any reported breaches in the code?

I just feel if there are going to be enforcable "Rules"/Laws they need to be very clear and NOT open to interpretation

@uribedh said in Issues With the New Rules:

Something I wasn't expecting was how competitive SoT has become. The game didn't seem to be anything more than a family friendly open world sandbox. I expected the art style to be a throw off for serious competitive gamers, but that didn't stop them from trying this game. I'm very surprised at the amount of adults that play SoT. When I first saw the promotional trailers for the game, I thought for sure it would cater to a younger audience

Well i like the graphic style, as it has that lovely cartoonish look, kind of like in Moneky Island 3... and as one of the older audience (yes, the number in my name is my birth year) i can really appreciate the memories that it wakes in me. Also, as you said this is a perfect game for the whole family. (Just have to watch out for those bloodthirsty pirates.) Most "good" pirates leave children alone, once they realize they they are really young ones, some might even repair the ship and give a small present in the shape of a chest. :)

@badassfro To clarify what I meant, nothing he mentioned there should be considered bannable or report worthy offenses....but it also depends upon the other circumstances related to the situation. Just because I think something is a cheap tactic doesn't mean it is report worthy so don't misconstrue my words or meaning as I never said what you implied.

However in the past he has made suggestions or implied possible strategies he'd like to do which clearly cross the line into trolling and abusive behavior, such as making a Discord alliance server with the sole intent of hunting down alliance players because of his distaste for the feature.

They make clear cut rules, abusers will just work around them and Rare would be spending more time revising those rules than improving the game. Better to judge each instance on an individual status, requiring proof and confirmation before any action is taken.

@uribedh said in Issues With the New Rules:

Something I wasn't expecting was how competitive SoT has become. The game didn't seem to be anything more than a family friendly open world sandbox. I expected the art style to be a throw off for serious competitive gamers, but that didn't stop them from trying this game. I'm very surprised at the amount of adults that play SoT. When I first saw the promotional trailers for the game, I thought for sure it would cater to a younger audience

There may be a number of factors at play here (pun intended).

• The adults that play games now are a generation that has grown up with gaming as a big pastime
• A lot of them have kids and SoT is a very family-friendly game that they can play together
• Animated "cartoonish" movies/shows in the last 20-30 years have had mass appeal among all age groups
• The success of Fortnite as a competitive game has shown that games can be both cartoonish but also serious
• The look of SoT is quite unique (even if it is similar enough to Fortnite to draw comparisons)
• The style of the game is very reminiscent of media that a lot of now-adults grew up with, such as The Goonies

Just some of the reasons, I'm sure there are many many more

@realstyli its the 6th best pirate game to hit the market, and the 1st among recent ones.

@william-flint said in Issues With the New Rules:

@realstyli its the 6th best pirate game to hit the market, and the 1st among recent ones.

I think the first pirate game I played was Overboard! on PS1... and Monkey Island not long after that. I still have to play AC: Black Flag, I've heard a lot of good things.

I would assume they'd leave people alone any considering how awful combat is in this game, which is why there will never be a ranked in system in this game. I wouldn't stress over it.

@starquest said in Issues With the New Rules:

Another point for anyone who jumps into open crews just to throw treasure overboard which is intended just to ruin the fun of the person or persons you joined. This is most likely filed under harassment and is a reportable offense as well.

This is what I would argue was their whole intension with the Harasment section, tthe issue is it is open to interpretation

@badassfro said in Issues With the New Rules:

@starquest said in Issues With the New Rules:

Another point for anyone who jumps into open crews just to throw treasure overboard which is intended just to ruin the fun of the person or persons you joined. This is most likely filed under harassment and is a reportable offense as well.

This is what I would argue was their whole intension with the Harasment section, tthe issue is it is open to interpretation

This is part of it. But also I think it's about the bad apples who will message other players with insults and threats over Xbox Live messaging... such as "were coming for u", "youll regret dat", etc...

My first thought fall on the "commentator" at Twich Rival,
not that they where any good, an didn't really sounded like they played the game that much.
but one of them said, more or less, that they only log in to ruin someone's day.

I have myself got reported by a galleon, just because we had fought ones, they lost, an when I saw them coming back again, I sunk them again, an was called toxic player, cancer of the game, an so on.

I'll love how you can play the game as you like, an for some, treasure an loot is not importen, as much as the fun.

Im a roleplayer, an like to commandeer others ship an crew, make alliance an help other players out, but I dont forgive you making holes in my ship, an sinking you after that, will be first an only priority .
some just have fun in sinking other players, an get the salty reaction.
I dont think one playstyle should be outlawed, because the all make the journey.
an even when Im trying doing "good", I appreciate all the "bad" pirates an there doing.

@starquest
If it goes beyond the confines of the game to try to upset someone with unsolicited messages, then that would be classed as harassment regardless if there is swearing/foul language or any real threat involved.

While some might shrug it off, there is still the chance the person on the receiving end might report that.

I sink ships because it's fun. If I get banned for that, I guess I'm done with SoT.

@starquest Agreed, the moment it got insulting then not banter.

@RealStyli If you tried to attack me but I defended myself and followed up with a message of "Nice Try" would that be considered harasment?

But again, we can't even agree on whether the above counts as Banter or harasment, I do think it could have been made clearer.

@badassfro said in Issues With the New Rules:

@starquest Agreed, the moment it got insulting then not banter.

@RealStyli If you tried to attack me but I defended myself and followed up with a message of "Nice Try" would that be considered harasment?

But again, we can't even agree on whether the above counts as Banter or harasment, I do think it could have been made clearer.

Xbox Live made it a lot clearer in their "Community Standards" update earlier in the year:

"A little bit of trash talk is okay, but keep it clean"

In this case, as I was the one who tried to attack you, I instigated the interaction so therefore a recourse is fine as long as it's within their guidelines.

So "Nice try" would be fine, as long as you don't keep following it up trying to annoy "me" (in this example). If you get no reply, then don't keep messaging. "Nice try" is fine, "Nice try but you s**k" is not. If you kept it civil but I then replied with expletives, then it would be your right to actually report me.

@realstyli completely agree, I wasn't nessecaryily saying you would think it was harasment, just wanted to make it clear I only thought it crosses the "line" when you add the "you sck" or any variation of that