I see quite a few posts on the Forums talking about toxicity out on the seas, and I thought I would share a recent experience on how I curb/combat the effects of bullying and bullies:
I was playing yesterday, collecting treasure, and trying to gameplan which route I wanted to take next when someone sailed up on me. We exchanged cannon fire, and I noticed his shots had done quite a bit of damage to my starboard side. I set my sloop in a high arc so I could repair the damage and continue to defend myself. That's when he said:
"Don't be scared!"
I didn't think anything of it at the time; it was a harmless taunt I've heard plenty of times. We continued our fight a few more minutes, but we were both interrupted by a Skeleton Sloop. Long story short, we ended up separating after his sloop rammed into Crook's Hollow while I was triaging my own hull from the attacks. By the time I fixed my damage, I lost him. I didn't have an interest in fighting at the time, so I didn't pursue him and just resumed treasure hunting.
Fast forward half an hour or so, and I'm completing a Sea Fort when I see his sails on the horizon coming directly at me. I go into defense. I'm able to hit his hull with a few cannon shots, but have to pull away because he hit my mast with a chain shot (I was trying to protect my mast). Again, he starts asking me:
"Why are you running? They have Safer Seas for a reason!" He follows that up with some choice words that rhyme with 'snitch' and 'numbgas.'
I was ready to continue fighting him after I repaired my mast and circled around, but I decided to call an audible. For the next 30 to 40 minutes, I had him chasing me across the Ancient Isles. Every once in a while, I would hear him say something to the effect of:
"You're in the wrong game mode, you coward!" While also using those same choice words that rhyme with 'snitch' and 'numbgas.'
Eventually, he gave up. However, he took the time to leave me an Xbox message:
"They made servers for u called safer seas...try that if scared."
Never mind the fact that I was wearing the Ghost Curse the entire time I was fighting him, I just had to smile. (He had managed to board my boat briefly, so he knew I had it equipped) I sold all the treasure I had aboard before replying to him:
"Don't confuse fear with strategy. After you called me the B-word, I thought it would be fun to waste your time! I knew it was only a matter of time before you lost your patience, and I was right! Next time, maybe be a better person...that was NOT a good look for you. Happy Sailing!! :)"
I haven't heard back from him, and I doubt I will. I wish toxicity/bullying didn't exist, especially in Sea of Thieves, but I hope new players aren't discouraged by these kind of encounters; they happen to everyone. It's just of matter of how you handle the situation.