Arena - removing the ability to use voice or text to communicate with other crews

@the3sheetsneate said in Arena - removing the ability to use voice or text to communicate with other crews:

Hi everyone,

Ahead of tomorrow’s launch of Season One, I wanted to share some behind-the-scenes thinking around one of the changes to Arena that is arriving at the same time, namely the removal of the ability to use text or voice chat with other crews within Arena.

The key goal here is to create a more welcoming multiplayer experience within Arena.

In a given month, just over half of toxicity reports that hit our Customer Service team come from the Arena, despite Arena accounting for around 3% of overall playtime in Sea of Thieves. A significant amount of these reports are of players abusing the ability to communicate directly with other crews.
To improve the Arena experience and make it a more welcoming one for all players, we made the decision to remove the ability to communicate with other crews, both within the Sea Dogs Tavern, and within the Arena mode itself. Players will still be able to use non-verbal comms, emotes etc so there are options for communication with other crews, but limited to options provided by the game itself, removing the ability for players to abuse the manual text & voice options. You will still be able to communicate via text or voice within your own crew.

We feel this is a necessary step for Arena to promote more positive play and create a more welcoming experience. It’s part of a wider conversation we’ve been having on the team around how we create tools and features that reduce exposure to toxicity and promote positive social play, which we will be sharing more on down the line when we have more to show & tell about in that space.

Players that choose to harass or abuse other players within Sea of Thieves have no place on the seas, and we encourage everyone to use the tools available on our website to report any instances of this.

I hope everyone understands the reasoning behind this change, and we are looking forward to Arena being a more welcoming space for anyone that chooses to play in it.

Thanks,

Joe “Three Sheets” Neate

not a very good idea guys just do ban waves with the reported people and it takes a way from the immersion

@jadescissors32 I've always endorsed camping because especially in sloop arena, you kind of need to in order to farm silver if going for wins. But I dont mind getting camped, helps you learn how to get out of it. and for the ones who think its toxic, just scuttle

Don’t necessarily think that this was the right approach ... let me explain.

First, I will say that arena lobbies can be extremely toxic and extremely annoying which can lead to a really sour experience and just cause people to leave the lobby straight away.

However, some of the best times I have ever had in the game have been meeting people in the arena ... in certain instances I’ve laughed myself to tears fooling around chatting in arena lobbies with groups of people that were really cool and really funny and everyone in the whole lobby was vibing. I know that was the original intention when rare designed that lobby, but somewhere down the line it became diluted by trolls and toxicity.

My proposed solution would be to disable other crew chats by default, and if people wish to hear other crews, there would be a general toggle in settings that would turn on the communication. Cutting off communication this way additionally limits an already limited part of the game.

I just recently started playing Arena, and I was worried about people being toxic after hearing a lot about it from other people.

But from the first moment I played, I've had so much fun because of voice chat. I've met hilarious people and made friends with people we were fighting.
Being able to talk to people while fighting them just makes the whole experience less serious and has you look forward to the next round when you get along with other teams.
I agree with the people saying voice chat should just be turned off on default, and if someone wants to, they can turn it on.

Arena hasn't been the same without voice chat and I really hope rare will take another look at a possible solution.

@the3sheetsneate
the good old days of banter and taunting other players are coming to a end
so its ok to slice someone up wih a cutlass or blow them to bits with a keg or drown them or get chewed up by a shark ....but if someone says something slightly nasty and some wet wipe gets offended all hell has to break loose ...( expletive ending in sake ) get a grip this is online gaming for gods sake its always been the same .. #itsgettinghotinhere #justmyopinion #takeoffenceifyoulikeidontcare
regards
a gamer not a offended moody entitled snowflake

and clearly by the opinion in this thread of the people that fund this game ....this is the wrong decision from what im reading ....i maybe wrong as im only the one of the people with money in his pocket to keep on funding this game

@ragnaht said in Arena - removing the ability to use voice or text to communicate with other crews:

how much are you trying to kill arena it's already dying due to the pathetic effort that has been made on hit registration and the fact that apparently sword and double gunning is balanced. i would actually like to know how much Rare cares about people who pvp and tdm a lot

Honestly, yeah. I feel like they want to kill Arena cause I remember reading an official post from them that they are no longer planning to add anything to Arena due to low popularity and this change seems to signify to me that they might be setting it up for more failure to have an excuse to remove it then rework the Sea Dog faction into something else for Adventure mode. Now, partially, I am for this to a degree but it depends on how they are gonna handle the reworked Sea Dog faction I guess.

Side note though, the hit registration really needs to be fixed. That should be a top priority because I have rage quit this game at least twice in one week BECAUSE of hit reg issues and nothing else. I don't mind being bested, however I do not like being scammed by the servers... If I hit an enemy player 6 times without them eating once, they should die; not me.

@exposeuk said in Arena - removing the ability to use voice or text to communicate with other crews:

..but if someone says something slightly nasty

It honestly depends on the attitude and words being used for me. Most things don't bother me, some will just annoy me... but I hate people using slurs (n- word and fa- word is used the most it seems like).

Well, achieving all arena goals and playing it quite for a while I can tell you where the foxicity roots from

At first arena commers are interested in promotions by ranks, wins, selling chests for achievements and it makes the arena what it has to be. A competitive mode

When you get all achievements you have no more goals lets say and thus people divide in few major toxic groups ruining the game for others:

1. TDM lovers. These buncha guys go to arena to train double gunning mostly and they will do anything to impose it to other teams, mostly by infiltrating the ships in the begining and spawn killing throughout the whole match. Question is, why isnt it possible to make their own TDM mode?
2. Rest of the people that have no motivation to win after all achievements. These will impose different arena rules based on their ideas. Protecting the chest on island, random infiltration, etc, seen a lot of different imposed arena modes

Just get people motivated again to play for normal wins, arena lovers are very loyal to this mode and would love it

As for chat disability, why cant we say something positive to good arena skills like GG and the rest like that? Its really a pleasure to see good fighters and positive feedback, seen many matches with good people and competition vibe

Ive been told lots of times to have cancer etc from other teams mostly in adventure, while in arena the people are less like that, you dont lose something you gained within a bunch of hours

There are some people that bully the others, we always try to show these people its not the way to play this mode

I hope this feedback is good, cause me and my mate really enjoy this mode

Can I suggest something for Arena.. Increase the crew size on the Sloop to 3 plays, and the Galleon to either 5 or 6 players.

Arena needs to entice players, give it something more than what Adventure mode does. One of the smallest changes can also be the biggest changes and enough to make it exciting again.

@ausradar They've already said they are done with Arena. It's all the main mode now.

@bokk420 I also suggested it quite a few times
But mostly they dont have to make holes to infiltrate you and spawn kill

This guys seek TDM and nobody cares, theres still no such mode as such, is there a problem to give em separate island?

also kills achievements make the people spawn kill hunting . lots of these things, when you no longer need wins

@scaryfawn235336 said in Arena - removing the ability to use voice or text to communicate with other crews:

At first arena commers are interested in promotions by ranks, wins, selling chests for achievements and it makes the arena what it has to be. A competitive mode

When you get all achievements you have no more goals lets say and thus people divide in few major toxic groups ruining the game for others:

1. TDM lovers. These buncha guys go to arena to train double gunning mostly and they will do anything to impose it to other teams, mostly by infiltrating the ships in the begining and spawn killing throughout the whole match. Question is, why isnt it possible to make their own TDM mode?
2. Rest of the people that have no motivation to win after all achievements. These will impose different arena rules based on their ideas. Protecting the chest on island, random infiltration, etc, seen a lot of different imposed arena modes

Just get people motivated again to play for normal wins, arena lovers are very loyal to this mode and would love it

I'm not sure if you understand that Sea of Thieves is a sandbox game. So you can play any way you want. If you want to seek out ships and be the pvp person. You can do that. If you want to voyage and do missions, you can do that. If you want to do tall tales, you can do that. If you just want to do nothing but collect all the free standing loot in the water and on islands, by all means you can do that. You can play anyway you want, thats what makes this game so fun for so many different kinds of people. It allows you to play however you want.

The same goes for Arena. Arena wins are based on points. There are many ways to get points. While there is a chest, there is no rule that says you HAVE to get the chest. You can very well win by canon points. You can win by killing points. You can win by seeking out boats who have points and sinking them to keep their points lower than yours. There are many ways to win and there is not SET way to play Arena. So there is no NORMAL wins. Even before the revamped arena, it was still the same. There were many strategies to winning. Just because people don't play the way you think they should doesn't make it wrong.

That being said...
TDM players. I have never witnessed TDM people going after other boats without cause. The TDM people usually set it up in the lobby where everyone can see that they're planning to TDM. They then meet at the Fort on the map and stay there the whole game, playing to conquer the island and get more points compared to their opponents. They're not trying to win the lobby. The only time they attack ships are when people come over to the TDM area and start trying to sink their ships. Then you get the wrath of everyone that is playing the TDM because they want to get back to what they're doing. This is how TDM's work. Now you have the option to leave the lobby when you see what they're setting up, or you can stay and play the game, fight the other boats, if there aren't any the chest is free range, or you can join in on the TDM and shoot off to the island with your pistol and sniper and maybe learn some gun skills.

Now there is no rule that says you HAVE to leave TDMers alone, but just know when you shoot one they're all coming for you. That's your choice. But if we can have an unspoken rule in Adventure to leave tall talers alone. We can have an unspoken rule in Arena to leave TDMers alone.

Now for your second part. You're stating that people are imposing their rules on you. There are no RULES in Arena when it comes to play style. Yes some people camp the island. Its a PVP mode. Sink their boat to remove their respawn, then go on the island and get the chest. Yes some people will jump on your boat and spawn camp you, either fight them till they're all dead, or scuttle and get your composure back. Arena is all about action and reaction and playing to your crews strengths. Some people are not good at naval battle, but they can weapon combat like no other so they will try to take over a boat. If you allow them to get on your boat because you're not watching your ladders than you have to fight them off. If you're not good at fighting, scuttle and watch your ladders when you play.

This is why there are sooo many reports of people being "Toxic". However, they're not being toxic. Its not toxic to play the way they're playing, its just different from yours. It doesn't make it wrong. You don't have to turn in the chest to win and you don't have to win with only canons. Honestly you could probably avoid combat all together and still win if you're a good enough sailor.

At the end of the day you can't say its because they have all their achievement that they're being toxic. That isn't the case. I know many many in the Arena, some I've played with and some I haven't. We're all Triumphant and still like to win, occasionally we will do goofy stuff because we have played enough to be able to win without trying very hard especially when the lobby is full of crews who obviously aren't that well trained. Are people toxic? Yes. Are ALL people toxic? No. Can you block people? Yes. Can you scuttle to get out of a sticky battle? Yes. A lot of the issues come down to personal responsibility. Remove yourself from the situation you don't like being in. That would have solved this whole mess from the beginning, however there are too many people willing to report Toxicity just because people don't play a sandbox game the way they feel others should play.

@bokk420 said in Arena - removing the ability to use voice or text to communicate with other crews:

the simplest solution to the spawn camp issue is make it so you cant repair enemy boats in arena. i think spawn camping is part of arena, its going to happen....but the toxicity comes into play when they repair and bucket your boat so they can spawn camp you the whole game.

The simplest solution to a spawn camp in ANY mode, Arena or Adventure is to scuttle your ship and reset. You don't need to worry about people bucketing and repairing your boat. You either fight them until they are all gone or you scuttle and reset. I'm not sure why people continue to need NEW procedures added into a game that already has solutions. Same for voice chat. The banning of voice chat because people can't handle the toxicity is silly considering there is already a feature to block voice chat in the game.

@savvy-sweets bro, who says Im bad at pvp? Please do not adress me directly
Thats point one.
This way I care about newcomers that have no slightest idea about arena background that it has become over few latest months without updates
Some time before the latest arena update it was more like it

As for now when we enter arena there are mostly 3-4 ships, 1 of them are infiltrators, who s gonna come back to play this mess if they did not see what arena can be if played normally?

Tdm guys, yep, about half of them know the rules, find the island and stay there. But if they cant find lobby for a reasonable time they start to infiltrate whatever they find and spawnkill. We chased away many of such guys from rookies

And then, what is so bad about adding some wins motivation after all achievements are done?

@savvy-sweets

This is why there are sooo many reports of people being "Toxic". However, they're not being toxic. Its not toxic to play the way they're playing, its just different from yours. It doesn't make it wrong. You don't have to turn in the chest to win and you don't have to win with only canons. Honestly you could probably avoid combat all together and still win if you're a good enough sailor.>

Actually have won a game with one chest and having shot a cannon only once, chainshot to disable the mast of a chasing enemy, though they rammed into an island so it wasn't even neccessary. That was fun.

@scaryfawn235336 said in Arena - removing the ability to use voice or text to communicate with other crews:

@savvy-sweets bro, who says Im bad at pvp? Please do not adress me directly
Thats point one.
This way I care about newcomers that have no slightest idea about arena background that it has become over few latest months without updates
Some time before the latest arena update it was more like it

As for now when we enter arena there are mostly 3-4 ships, 1 of them are infiltrators, who s gonna come back to play this mess if they did not see what arena can be if played normally?

Tdm guys, yep, about half of them know the rules, find the island and stay there. But if they cant find lobby for a reasonable time they start to infiltrate whatever they find and spawnkill. We chased away many of such guys from rookies

And then, what is so bad about adding some wins motivation after all achievements are done?

...... Well No where in my reply did I say you were bad at PVP "bro" so I guess if the shoe fits lace that bad boy up.

Also if you didn't want replies to your comments you shouldn't post in public forums? That's a pretty simple fix.

That is why voice chat and text chat between crews is so important. You see people can talk and explain what's going on before it happens or when a new person stumbles upon the TDMers they're spoken to by chat or text to explain what's going on, but when that is taken away, there is no way to tell them what is happening and then to them since they no longer have the option to communicate are boarded and sunk by the teams off to the side. You now see the problem with removing communication is you can't communicate.

Again spawn camping is solved by a quick scuttle. They can't bucket and repair your ship through a scuttle. They can hold it off for a little bit if they're really that dedicated, but it will sink and you will get a new boat and then what.. like magic there are no more unwanted people on your boat.

Honestly at the end of the day, Arena is a PVP game mode. It baffles me that people complain about PVP when they are literally playing a game mode that is ALL about PVP.

And as for your achievement suggestion, Rare has already stated no arena updates, but even if added... Once those are completed then what? Achievements are easy. Winning Arena is easy. Even with an open crew of all new players you can win. So really even if in your magic land of everyone plays the way YOU want them to in arena because they have achievements to earn. When the achievements are done then what? Win achievements are eventually pointless and its only completionist who care to finish them. Its a PVP mode. At the end of the day you have to PVP.

@lukadra said in Arena - removing the ability to use voice or text to communicate with other crews:

Actually have won a game with one chest and having shot a cannon only once, chainshot to disable the mast of a chasing enemy, though they rammed into an island so it wasn't even neccessary. That was fun.

LOL see I knew someone had to have done it. Bravo!

@jusey1z aye there are limits and if these taboo unacceptable words are the norm ...then I can understand ish

Typically I would be against something like this, but I understand it. I offer two things: 1, a suggestion for the team, and 2: information for anyone who doesn't like this change.

1: Team, I believe it is clear that many like this option, but it is also clear that the toxicity is prevalent as presented by your data and personal experience. My suggestion is to do the flip side of what some are suggesting, or to do what @G13-lover also thought of, and set it off by default. Perhaps even have a warning as to alert parents or family friendly players when turning it on as to why it was off in the first place. I believe this helps solves issues for all.

2: To the community, the reason is twofold (or more). As they presented, a tiny % of players are causing the majority of tickets. This causes not only a negative experience for many players, families, younger audiences, or people not wanting to deal with it, but also causes a higher workload for the team to sift through everything. Fixing this issue help reduce the workload, meaning more cost benefit, and more time to work on other tickets leading to an improved game.

@bokk420 I can only assume that you are an adventure main, not that it's a bad thing, but for an arena main, taking the ability to talk to people I play with almost every day(not on my team) is very upsetting. if you can't handle a bit of trash talk then you can go ahead and mute everyone. I'm not a "toxic troll" but I did get my legendary sd title already and like to tdm. Is that so hard to ask?

@the3sheetsneate I would like to comment on the 3 and 50 percent part. The thing is, unless you are aiming for pvp and server hopping in adventure, you would likely rarely see any other players. doesn't surprise me that half the reports are from arena since, idk the numbers but probably a close number of the pvp engagement happens in arena, so it would only make sense. please bring back text chat at least.

@dastallionducky you can you just mute them they should just leave it the way is is