Outposts need some form of protection for new spawns and sellers

Why nerf others? just adapt
this isn't a balance issue it's just a preference difference which puts it on you to create a scenario that you're more compatible with imo.

sell often
never ever stack
keep valuables separate and ready to easily sell
use outposts and parking that makes it efficient
keep a harpoon rowboat and use it if it makes sense for the situation

The issues with selling largely come from people stacking and not being efficient with the process. Puts them at risk for longer amounts of time and doesn't minimize the loss.

Imo the best approach for success isn't "others should play how I want" it's "how can I adapt to minimize the effectiveness of how others play against me".

Prevention strategy is a powerful counter against uncontrollable combat when implemented in a way that makes sense for the goals a pirate has.

Outposts are not supposed to be safe nor neutral zones. The game is about pirates, and robbing someone who is selling is not toxic, its part of the game.

Selling should have its risks so I do not think outposts should have safe zones.

I do however do support the idea of adding a safe zone, but not anywhere you can sell loot. Maybe the seadogs tavern? So anyone can approach and have a chat/beer with other pirates, with a few dozen canonners which destroy any ship of aggressive players. Kind of like the safe zones in RUST. Maybe add some small dice minigames, ways to make bets and other stuff.

Honestly, hush. These posts are just funny at this point. Why in the world should pirates be stopped from pirating in a pirate game where pirating is one of the building blocks?
Pirate pirates = [UNKNOWN]
Random posts complaining about pirates being pirates = Too many
The word pirate doesn't seem like a word anymore...
Pirate word count = 10

@king-lemon9544 In addition to some of the tips others have provided in this thread (I hope you noticed them), I’d like to add one more. If this is your overall mindset, do not join any of the emissaries. They are not just there for gold and reputation boosting. The reason they were added to the game was to enhance PvP opportunities for crews who want to opt into the emissary system. It was added in response to people asking for bounties and notoriety.

If you stick an emissary flag on your ship then are asking for higher risk in return for higher rewards. Any crew of thieves is going to see that flag get increasingly more valuable as you jump from island to island. Level 5 reapers can even track you on their map. As you head to the outpost they know you have loot (you were bouncing from island to island doing something) and your flag alone is valuable. Also, your crew opted into the system to begin with.

I don’t know that you are joining an emissary, but I see this is a lot. Players join them thinking it is just a gold and reputation boost. They don’t realize they are putting a lucrative target on their back that gets more valuable to other crews as they rank up. If they see you at an outpost they have to strike fast before you lower the flag.

And just keep an eye on the horizon. You are surrounded by thieves dressed as pirates.

Thought about suggesting a PVE server option, but figured that wasn't what the community wanted, so I was coming up with a compromise that still had everyone together.
What I've gathered from most of these posts is:

1. A pirate code isn't actually something we want, cuz we want to do the very thing that's being suggested be mitigated.
2. The solution to griefing players is git gud (cuz that's what you want from a community forum, clearly)
3. "pirates being pirates" is just a bs excuse for living out a bully fantasy.
4. Some of y'all didn't catch the part where I'm ONLY talking about outposts. I could not care less if PVP happens anywhere else. And hey, if a ship steals your loot and they go to sell it, if possible, just sink them and prevent it! It's not like I said "you can't fight in a neutral zone," just that you'd get a negative modifier, which could be a wash by selling the loot in question, depending on how it's implemented. Good for revenge, at least.
5. The most helpful suggestion/explanation was from @Ghostpaw. It seems the best mitigation would be to not run an emissary at all. Slows the progression quite a bit, but would deter Reapers. Unfortunately, it's usually not a reaper that we encounter at a port. Just players that want a quick payday, so running with or without an emmy wouldn't change much, there.
   And unfortunately, they're usually the better players and no amount of "defending with advantage" can save us at that point, even if we saw them coming.
   I primarily play PVE and would love to just do that all day long, but this game doesn't have that exclusive option and it sucks, because no other game is built like this one and trying to find a similar PVE experience is essentially non-existent.

But yeah, thanks for reminding me that if I don't join the bully side of the game, I'm just a loser that needs to git gud. Really frickin helpful, y'all. Don't know what I was expecting.

New spawners don't need protection because they have nothing to lose, while sellers need to be cautious about where when and how they sell.

@gallerine5582 said in Outposts need some form of protection for new spawns and sellers:

Besides, I dunno what servers you're playing on, but I've almost never been attacked while at an outpost

I'll attack someone on an outpost just to get them out of there so I can sell more safely if I have a small haul. Though with a bigger haul I'll bury a portion nearby before fighting them, or avoid them entirely.

@king-lemon9544 While I don't think it is toxic to attack a docked ship. It is a low-blow for sure.

The thing is, you need to adapt. Leave a mate as a look out. When a ship gets TOO close, set sail, get some motion, don't be a sitting duck. If possible, fight on your terms, not theirs.

Always have a row boat on hand. There have been so many times I've led "them" on a chase only to drop a row boat with all loot. I've watched "them" chase my empty ship as I row to the nearest outpost and sell, sell, sell.

It takes time of course and sometimes you just are running out of time.

It DOES suck, but adapting and outsmarting others is a big part of this game.

@king-lemon9544 said in Outposts need some form of protection for new spawns and sellers:

Thought about suggesting a PVE server option, but figured that wasn't what the community wanted, so I was coming up with a compromise that still had everyone together.
What I've gathered from most of these posts is:

1. A pirate code isn't actually something we want, cuz we want to do the very thing that's being suggested be mitigated.
2. The solution to griefing players is git gud (cuz that's what you want from a community forum, clearly)
3. "pirates being pirates" is just a bs excuse for living out a bully fantasy.
4. Some of y'all didn't catch the part where I'm ONLY talking about outposts. I could not care less if PVP happens anywhere else. And hey, if a ship steals your loot and they go to sell it, if possible, just sink them and prevent it! It's not like I said "you can't fight in a neutral zone," just that you'd get a negative modifier, which could be a wash by selling the loot in question, depending on how it's implemented. Good for revenge, at least.
5. The most helpful suggestion/explanation was from @Ghostpaw. It seems the best mitigation would be to not run an emissary at all. Slows the progression quite a bit, but would deter Reapers. Unfortunately, it's usually not a reaper that we encounter at a port. Just players that want a quick payday, so running with or without an emmy wouldn't change much, there.
   And unfortunately, they're usually the better players and no amount of "defending with advantage" can save us at that point, even if we saw them coming.
   I primarily play PVE and would love to just do that all day long, but this game doesn't have that exclusive option and it sucks, because no other game is built like this one and trying to find a similar PVE experience is essentially non-existent.

But yeah, thanks for reminding me that if I don't join the bully side of the game, I'm just a loser that needs to git gud. Really frickin helpful, y'all. Don't know what I was expecting.

Shared open world PvEvP sandbox game…
I have no clue what you expected

@king-lemon9544 Based on your last reply it is clear you do not actually like Sea of Thieves. You like the aesthetics of it, and the tasks, but not the actual game itself. The game’s foundation is about looking for opportunities, outsmarting the other crews on the sea, survival, and overcoming obstacles. You are surrounded by thieves dressed as pirates. Those thieves will look for opportunities to steal your loot and you want to keep it long enough to claim the rewards. Why?

The reason you care is because you put effort into acquiring the loot. The harder you worked for it, the more you are emotionally invested in the rewards the loot will bring you. Other crews want your loot because it means they did not have to do whatever you did to get it. Make no mistake though. They are working. A good crew will stalk their prey. Striking too early can mean the potential victim has little to nothing to steal, or can easily escape. The thieves will keep an eye on what the victim ship is doing and will pounce when they think there is good amount of loot steal and it is in the weakest position to do anything about it. This is not toxic. Be careful of emotional reasoning (e.g., “I feel bad so what happened must be wrong.”).

If you just want to play PvE then you can, but your job is to not be an easy victim. Don’t get so hyper focused on the voyage that you ignore other player ships in your area. Keep a wary eye on the horizon. Also, don’t park with your sails and anchor down. Keep the nose of your ship pointed to open water. Your chance of escape improves a lot if all you have to do is drop sails and go. A ship pointed at an island with the anchor and sails down is a lost cause. It takes a lot of time to raise sails, raise the anchor, then turn the boat to open water. There are so many guides out there for players who want to solo play. If you are truly being attacked so often at outposts then you are consistently making some mistakes you are currently unaware of. This is not me saying “git gud” but instead saying “get wise.”

Think about it. It would have been far easier for them to code granting you the gold as soon as you find or dig up loot. Instead, you are forced to bring it back to a handful of locations before you are rewarded. Why do you think they did that? The primary reason outposts even exist is to increase the chances of interactions (friendly or hostile) between crews. Keep in mind, this game was partly inspired by much less forgiving survival games like Rust and DayZ. The game has a number of funnels, or crew magnets that bring crews into close proximity of one another. Skulls in the sky, firestorms visible from across the map, a massive ship cloud signaling where the fleet is active. These are all there to bring crews into the same area as one another to just see what happens. Making outposts safe zones or penalizing crews who attack others at outposts actually undermines one of the primary reasons outposts even exist. Let alone the nightmare it would be trying to create code to determine who is considered the attacker.

My point in all this is that, although you might like some of the aspects of SoT, you are not a fan of the game itself. The parts you are railing against are core aspects of the game we love. And if Rare made adjustments to the game like you suggest for what you want, it would lose important parts of itself. You can be as dismissive as you like (“excuse for living out a bully fantasy.,” ‘git gud,’ etc.) but you are suggesting changes that indicate you don’t understand the underlying purpose of aspects within the game.