Any way to play without griefers?

@galactic-geek I know that i will talk about another forbidden subject but safe zone could be a solution for new players. A zone protected by the AI could be fun for everybody: New pirates could learn in these zones how to sail/survive with a minimum risk and Old pirates could find a new way to play (Imagine a raid where you should steal a huge amount of gold and survive to escape from this zone!).

Sometimes when I encounter a new player, I learn him how to sail and i understand that this kind of game can be very stressful for them. Maiden voyage is a good (and beautiful) idea but a new player will only spend 20 minutes and probably never come back. It should be integrated to the main map as this safe zone.

@cotu42 But in my experience your loot is a very rare prize for sinking an attacker. This risk only applies to you not the game as a whole. Saying people risk what they want isn't true because many people don't want to risk anything doing voyages but the voyages themselves force risk. Forced risk for pve players is not equal to optional risk for pvp players and pvp players don't want to acknowledge that. Topics like this get ridiculed constantly by pvp players bringing up risk while topics by pvp players get upvoted for complaining that people don't have loot for them to steal.

The fact is this game needs both pvp and pve players to survive. Right now the game balance is heavily in favor of pvp players, with the ones on this forum and others demanding that the game never change in any way that conflicts with what they want. This stance will push players away and deter new players from trying this game.

@rogue-ninja-01 said in Any way to play without griefers?:

@cotu42 But in my experience your loot is a very rare prize for sinking an attacker. This risk only applies to you not the game as a whole. Saying people risk what they want isn't true because many people don't want to risk anything doing voyages but the voyages themselves force risk. Forced risk for pve players is not equal to optional risk for pvp players and pvp players don't want to acknowledge that. Topics like this get ridiculed constantly by pvp players bringing up risk while topics by pvp players get upvoted for complaining that people don't have loot for them to steal.

The fact is this game needs both pvp and pve players to survive. Right now the game balance is heavily in favor of pvp players, with the ones on this forum and others demanding that the game never change in any way that conflicts with what they want. This stance will push players away and deter new players from trying this game.

How do you change a game like this then? A game that is PvEvP driven to get anywhere PvE has to happen first. PvE players have everything in the game that counts for everything. PvP players have to succeed in their attacks to get anwhere. PvEvP players have it all and can lose it all. There is my stance...…there is no 2 sides but only one side that we should all be on. That is what this game is and players need to learn and respect the game for what it is.

@spacemonkey907 said in Any way to play without griefers?:

Just started playing. Like the game. Absolutely hate losing everything every single time I bring loot back to cash in. Is there any way to play solo without people interfering and destroying everything I spend 1-2 hours doing? If not I'm done with this game. What's the point? There needs to be an option to play with players or just enjoy the game solo or with just friends.

Nobody is "Griefing" You if you have loot and you get sunk and they steal it lol. This is a PvE PvP Game Both Mixed In. This is PART of the game. That's like playing Call of Duty without Guns. That's like playing Fortnite with no building. This is a Open World PIRATE Game. There is always a risk setting sail no matter what. Yes, you will get killed and have loot stolen. You learn from it and get better. Sail with friends in a bigger ship, learn how to build a defense. This is what makes this game exciting and fun is never knowing what is going to happen. There are people who are strictly PvP (Myself Including) that go around looking for boats to sink to just take what they spent in your case 1-2 hours doing. That is not griefing you, that is playing the game. If same people are always coming after you when you have NO LOOT, and then killing you and spawn camping you, then that is Griefing You. Don't give up because you lose loot. Pick your head up and get better at the game, and I hope to see you on the Sea's Soon!

@archaell said in Any way to play without griefers?:

@spacemonkey907 There is no way to do so. The game is boring so people find fun in suffering of others. It's also not supposed to be played solo. Ideally you want the 3-person ship Brigantine to have the best advantage in fights or escaping.

Boring?? Absolutely not. This game is what YOU make of it. I am never bored with this game. There is tons to things to do. WITHOUT PVP this game would be boring. And a Brig is def not the best advantage, yes it is a fast ship, but the ship sinks FAST.

@inboundbomb A possible way to rebalance the game would be to change the way pve interacts with pvp.

One idea I had was a new pvp based faction located in the Devil's Roar. This faction would give contracts to acquire specific items through theft. The items requested will be based on the value of the contract. You might be able to get them all from one ship or you might need to hunt multiple ships.

When you accept this voyage a chest with a value equal to the value of the items requested will be placed on your ship. This chest can not be moved by any players but will float to the surface if your ship sinks. If a crew sinks they can not recover the chest themselves, essentially it is cursed.

If you successfully acquire the items and return to the devils roar you get the gold and rep value of the items plus the value and rep from the chest that was placed on your ship. If you fail, the contract is terminated and your ship will respawn in the Devil's Roar and the ship you attacked gets to claim the cursed chest.

To balance this with the rest of the game loot will sell for half gold and zero rep unless you have a voyage for it. Exceptions would be loot from skelly ships, forts, megs,the kracken, and randomly spawned loot.

This would deter wars of attrition and reward crews that successfully fend off an attack.

I know this idea isn't perfect and I don't expect any one person the solve this issue by themselves.

The community needs to get away from the attitude that their playstyle is the only one that should be allowed. This is an issue on both sides of the argument.

This community really needs people that are willing to talk about and consider ideas that will draw in new players and those that have been pushed away.

This game has progression that only earns you cosmetics. The gold and doubloons you earn buy you the cosmetics. The loot that’s turned in gives you gold. Doubloons can be earned just by doing a specific thing that requires no loot or turning in a specific piece of loot.

Nothing in this game is grief.

Except for a crew member throwing loot over board. Dropping the anchor. Setting the ship on fire. Eating all the food and leaving.

Do players understand when a game that’s specifically designed to break the mold and be something different it’s a shocker that it doesn’t have PvE only? Not every game needs to be the same. No player or crew who sinks another ship is playing outside of the vision for the game by its creators.

The posts that say you’ll lose players are annoying. Not every game has every available player in the world on it at the same time. Different strokes for different folks. I don’t go onto a forum for a game that’s strictly side view arena fighting and say it needs to have where I can fast build walls and a fort.

Point is if you don’t like the core mechanics of the game move on to another game you enjoy.

@spacemonkey907 said in Any way to play without griefers?:

Just started playing. Like the game. Absolutely hate losing everything every single time I bring loot back to cash in. Is there any way to play solo without people interfering and destroying everything I spend 1-2 hours doing? If not I'm done with this game. What's the point? There needs to be an option to play with players or just enjoy the game solo or with just friends.

hi welcome I guess you're new please use the search thing under community and no you can't you'll just have to get better at pvp

@rogue-ninja-01

I have a very diverse play style, I PvE and PvP as a pirate should 😉. I have done Athena voyages, fleets and pretty much any other activity in the game solo. By nature I tend to PvE and seek for opportunities to spice things up. All the risks I take are based on my own choices, be it PvE or PvP and that is the truth for us all.

The game provides the tools to choose between battle or avoiding them or the most difficult of them all negotiation. I can PvE and avoid conflict and do so when I do not want to risk it or want a nice relaxing trip or if my crew is still gold hoarding/working towards something. I personally have been playing the game for a long time and don't mind risking more than the average player and as a result choose to engage in battle more frequently than to flee even when most would run and I am not the only one, not all PvP situations have an empty ship at the attacking end.

My battles are not short unless the other crew are horrible pirates and I can battle larger crews because of it or I have a crew that knows what they are doing so we can keep the ship safe and be aggressive. I have experienced the defeat and victory, I have lost hauls of 50k and up (never lost a legendary chest for now), but the only one to blame is myself and the choices I made or the lack of execution and being out played. My advise to anyone that wants to not lose is to focus on their survival and ship above the destruction of the other or the loot they do not have on board.

My point is the risk we take is based on our choices, we risk what we have and how we play is determining what you feel comfortable losing. Our pirating style is on us, the risks you take and the potential rewards is not based on others.

PvE crews should be aware of their surroundings and be able to choose how they want to respond in each case. The fact is simple that being a pirate means you have to be weary of the challenges that the sea brings and you learn to defeat, avoid or survive them. In the end you are still playing a game with others, so at some point you will lose as that is what happens in games.

PvP crews that set out can earn a grand total of 0 if they are unsuccessful or if those they attack do not carry any loot when they engage. Many people sell frequently and as a result have no loot on them. The risk of a PvP crew is that they are taking on pirates, that they have no idea whether they even have loot and whether they are capable of fending for themselves.

PvE has a guaranteed amount of treasure collection when one defeats the chosen challenge.

PvP risk of empty hands even when successfully defeating the opponents or lose or never catch the target. There is a high risk of failure, as nothing is more challenging than a pirate. The rewards can be very high to none at all even when victorious.

If those that PvE think it is so easy and risk free to PvP, I suggest you try it out and see how much you can collect. I bet you that PvE tends to pay out more.

@rogue-ninja-01 Interesting concept to be sure on the new faction. It would be the combat crew's dream but it's not for everyone. Our ideas need to be for all and not just one but like you said that is hard to do since many can't swallow the truth about this game. The Dev's try as do we all with suggestions on how we can make things better but still it's not for everyone.

@archaell dude the games not boring, you are. i have so much fun exploring and finding cool stuff all over the place. just last night i found one of those skelleton thrones in an underwater cave and it was awesome. i love just finding all the easter eggs and stuff. its also pretty fun to hunt megs.

@mr-dragon-raaar the attacking player doesnt risk nothing, they just spend their time aquiring gold in a different way than you. that doesnt mean you have to accept it as your way of playing. i personally pvp and pve usually at the same time.

@cotu42 said in Any way to play without griefers?:

@spacemonkey907

The point is to have fun. Be a good sport in both, winning or losing, situations. Share the grand success tales you have accomplishments and learn from the times you are destroyed.

As someone who usually solo Sloops... Eh? I love people who are a good sport in PvP in general, makes PvP a lot more fun. However, there's not much you can truly do since when you play solo, you can't be everywhere (I'm not magical), which is why I hate PvPers who forces me in a lose or lose situation since even if I killed them, my ship will sink due to me not being at it when they attacked it. Can't really learn from a situation where you will lose no matter what other than play with another player, which can be hard to do because I want to max out Hunter's Call first, and oh boy... Trying to play with another pirate can cause conflicts in that idea alone since they want to grab and sell everything!... Ya know, going against my own plan.

But, discounting the times when someone has sneaked up on me? Soloing is fun and easy, so I don't get too mad about it when I lose, since a lot of times it will be completely on me failing my strategy.

@jusey1z being sneaked up on means you didn't pay enough attention and got to focused on your own voyage or got delayed because you died.

Sorry, but it does happen and yet it was not unavoidable. I to get sometimes jumped, but in most cases I can drop everything I am doing literally and b line to my ship. I tend to reach my ship before they can. Awareness, it is the most important skill to learn, especially when solo.

Also, we are all human and will sometimes lose.

@cotu42 said in Any way to play without griefers?:

being sneaked up on means you didn't pay enough attention

Or I flat-out couldn't because there are good big islands where you will be nowhere close to your ship for several minutes, which is impossible to pay any attention to ALL ocean views, especially if you're inside of a cave. Not every island is small, you do know that... Right?

@cotu42 said in Any way to play without griefers?:

Sorry, but it does happen and yet it was not unavoidable.

This is a lie. It is unavoidable at times because again, larger islands or islands like Sunken Glove can put you in positions where it is nearly impossible to use awareness to see or hear incoming ships... Actually, if you're in the Sunken Glove, you can't see or hear anything unless it is an explosion.

Now, technically, you could say to not explore islands at all but avoiding content in the game to avoid PvP makes the problem worse, doesn't fix it.

@cotu42 said in Any way to play without griefers?:

I can drop everything I am doing literally and b line to my ship. I tend to reach my ship before they can.

Same, as long as I have direct LOS of the ocean. Hearing is a different story since the ship has to be really close to actually hear it, so the sight part of awareness is more important in this case.

@jusey1z it is impossible and yet I manage to do it? Did I inherit super powers or just practice, died, sunk and learned? Because naturally I know the big islands, which you visit frequently during Athena's. I fear no island and no cave, I do pop my head out and take the time to have a scan. It increases my time to kill the skeletons or finding my riddle spot but it keeps me safe.

All I hear are excuses why it is not something that you have any influence on, while the tools are there, the ability to adjust is on you. I still sink and I still sometimes end up in a bad spot, but I know that it is ultimately something that I could have done something about and it is long time since anyone managed to catch me off guard enough that I couldn't make it back in time to drop those sails and take it to the seas. Maybe reconsider where you park, how frequently you scan, etc.

It takes minutes before any ship arrives, be quicker at the PvE, be more alert and do an extra scan. #BeMorePirate

we who love pvp aren't griefers i encourage new players to do pvp not everyone is screaming "you suck" infact i scream "well played" infact i'd encourage you to do pvp sure its clunky and hitreg sucks but once you realize you can hold your own you'll feel less scared its a power trip to win and sucks to lose but even so no matter if im on the winning or loosing side i don't insult the enemy crew i thank them for a good fight and tell them to keep going i also love offering random crews treasure for sword fights on the beaches its a blast

@cotu42 said in Any way to play without griefers?:

@jusey1z it is impossible and yet I manage to do it? Did I inherit super powers

Or you're just lying? Sure, you can always leave that area of a big island to get an ocean view and do checks, but anything can happen in seconds, let alone minutes. The only time I got sneaked up on was on Sunken Grove, and yes I did my checks and continue to do them while on the beach but when I started to descend down the middle part? By the time I got down there, I heard an explosion and nothing else. That short time it took me to make way down into the middle of an island was enough time for someone to get a gunpowder barrel to my ship somehow. I don't know how they did it as I didn't saw any ships on the horizon, but they still did it, and my ship was officially sunk by the time I actually reached it, putting me in a lose or lose situation simply because I was away from LOS of the ocean for barely a minute...

This is PvP we're talking about. Every second counts, and anything can happen in a very short amount of time. Sometimes, you just can't do anything and will get sneaked up on. That is going to happen, no matter how good your awareness is which I do have a good eyesight and good hearing, as well as game awareness. I don't really suffer from any lack of skills, except for knowledge of the game mechanics in SoT but I learn very quickly.

And this just happens dude. You can't control everything and you will be put in situations that you cannot win, no matter how good you are. In SoT, I shrug these situations off the best I can and just continue with a new ship. No need to waste time.

@jusey1z

Your first response is to call me a liar. Great way to stay respectful of my experience and knowledge.

Sorry to bring it to you, but I have no issues at all now to the point that it is becoming boring, I wasn't always able to do it, I learned from many mistakes, deaths and ninja attacks. I been playing from day 1 and have done dozens of Athena's solo. The only island I dislike with a passion is the monstrous Old Faithful. Yet that one is also doable if you just park at the north side in regards to PvP and not a big deal as not many people head that way.

Sunken grove is not an issue at all, park on the northern end if you have to be at the bottom/middle and make sure to check frequent when there, as it is smack in the middle of two outposts. If you place your ship properly the moment you have vision of the seas it is a single sword lunge away.

As I stated before, we all sometimes have misfortune and nobody is perfect, loss is a part of games. Yet the fact is how devastating the misfortune is depends on how slow you were to respond. If you were 30 secs earlier up at the top of the island to check you would have spotted them right there: a single lunge, a climb and those sails could go down and you would be heading to the open waters. No explosion, no sinking just you the seas and the opponent... maybe with a little damage, but nothing that is overwhelming, how you take it from there is on you.

Awareness, preparation and experience... your attitude is what is holding you back. You believe that you are powerless, while the truth is you have the power to determine your own tale out on the seas. Learn from those moments instead of making excuses.

You don't have to believe me, I have nothing to justify or prove. When the seas call to me, I am very capable of achieving my goals and will share my tales. I too will continue to work towards becoming a better pirate, as even I have aspects that can improve and by no means am a perfect pirate. #BeMorePirate

@SpaceMonkey907 It does take some time to get situated with it. PVP is super frustrating at times but a lot of what people said here can help. If you do voyages by yourself know where to park and always be on the lookout. If you notice a ship watch the ladders. It's really a toss up once someone gets on your ship but at least if you keep them off you can focus on sailing away.

@cotu42 said in Any way to play without griefers?:

@jusey1z

Your first response is to call me a liar. Great way to stay respectful of my experience and knowledge.

Because I also have experience and knowledge as well? You made assumptions that I don't do checks, that I have low awareness, or other things to that degree and then try to lecture me, which I find to be a tad annoying. I don't mind learning something if I don't know it, but major skills for PvP? I do know that kind of stuff due to past experiences in PvP games as a whole. I can even hold my own against actual pro players who gets paid to be good at a game, and even was on a team for a little bit at one point in time, and yeah. I had to train my awareness, my aim, my problem solving skills, strategy thinking, and many many other skills to get to the point of where I am in gaming as a whole...

So, when I'm in Sea of Thieves, the only major skill I should be lacking is knowledge of the game's mechanics, which I've been learning pretty quickly and some of my previous knowledge were adapted. For example, I'm great with blaster weaponry which allow me to adapt to cannons in Sea of Thieves fairly well, which combined with cursed cannonballs and my strategy skills... I have a lot of fun with the cannon, I'll be honest. When I play with my boyfriend, we can easily go on a sinking spree as long as I focus on the combat part while he focus more on keeping the ship floating, and I love it. I use to hate PvP combat at first in this game due to how repetitive it can get, but then I started experimenting with cursed cannonballs and gaining knowledge of how they work individually and I greatly enjoy using them. I stockpile them ONLY for player ships and it's fun! I would love if we get more variation of them honestly.

@cotu42 said in Any way to play without griefers?:

we all sometimes have misfortune and nobody is perfect,

And I agree. I generally agree with most of what you've been saying which is why I'm not quoting your whole post here.

I just don't agree that impossible situations don't exist. They do if you're playing solo. Duo, I would agree completely since you have another hand on deck. Solo though? Not much you can do in plenty of situations, especially since skill itself has a cap, If you fight equally skilled opponents and they outnumber you? You most likely will lose unless they made an error in their plan. Luckily, I haven't met any ships where the full crew is really good, maybe a few individual decent players but never a full crew of good players... But I am also bias due to the type of players I've played against before in other games, which has made me very stubborn to being impressed.

@jusey1z
The fact that you dismiss my experience and knowledge, because I am informing you about my style of pirating and your misconception of 'unavoidable' situations, it is lecturing and lying all in one just because you have a different style that opens you up to these situations?

I never stated that you do not have any skill or that you do no checks at all, yet you state that sneak attacks are unavoidable as a solo player? The notion that sneak attacks are unpreventable is just false, as you can always see them coming if you just build enough awareness and are prepared to leave at a moment notice.

Whether you see them with minutes to spare or seconds, as long as you can get to your ship before they do and drop those sails... you can choose how you want to respond. These things I talk about are not major skills for PvP btw. they are actually more PvE skills or pirating skills based on how you look at it, as it just makes sure that you are in position to choose your response. Fight or flee or hovers around looking for opportunities or strike a truce, while being a little nuisance like me. Just the ability to be in a position that the choice of combat is on you and not with them.

You might be a pro-fighter, but I am a pro-survivor and mainly a RPG player and usually a supportive role in groups. Just as you spent years honing gaming skills so have I, my skills may not be as attuned for combat, even though I am not horrible. My skills allow me to ensure my style of playing and it is highly successful if you have the patience for it.

If we fight one versus one, pirate on pirate it very well might be that you beat me most of the times we battle, as I have encountered enough pirates that do. Yet the ability to sink my ship is a far more challenging part of facing me than disposing of my fleshy body. My ship is sacred, it is what tethers me to the world and is something I am very well versed in keeping afloat. In the end Sea of Thieves combat is not about who can kill better, it is all about who is still floating at the end at least that is how I see it. Also, I have no shame in just taking off and showing my opponents the beautiful rock formations and islands while cruising past them.

The situations where a 'sneak' attack by the others end up in you being helpless and impossible to recover from, while they have full control of your vessel or it just sinking was preventable. That is just simply the truth and if you lost control of your ship before the battle even started, you made a mistake previously be it due to being to immersed in your activity because you just wanted to get this done, it was a challenge or because you were ill prepared / took to much risk.

Even once you engage in battle usually losing control of your ship is because a risk was taken that didn't pan out, a mistake was made and is being punished or the opponent made an amazing move that you were not able to counter the play. Once you choose to engage in battle, things can turn on you fast and a single mistake is all that might be needed. Being off your ship or die at a bad time and the fight might just be over right there and then. Playing solo isn't easy when dealing with other pirates and even those unrecoverable situations which are real, by no means were they unpreventable. Play perfect and your ship will be safe, make a mistake and you might risk it all and lose. The joys of solo play, there is no back-up.

I am one of those pirates that is the PvP treasure trove people hunt for, the pinata of loot. You know that ship that keeps way to much treasure on board and I usually just place it smack next to the ladder or harpoon purely based on where I took it on board and is very visible. I have done dozens of Athena's alone and never actually lost one. Not that I have never lost treasure or had people hunting me, I have lost hauls of 30k+ and even 50k+, as I have done Forts, Fleets, sea creature hunting and voyage chaining.

No pirate appears out of thin air. You might still end up in battle, you might still lose... yet you will not start out helpless with enough awareness and feel for the game. You might be the best killer on the seas... I am an expert when it comes to sailing my sloop and keeping it safe; a survivor.

Btw. I agree with your notion of cursed cannonballs being great and I also use them purely versus players. They can turn the tide in battles if used well.

@cotu42 said in Any way to play without griefers?:

The fact that you dismiss my experience and knowledge

I didn't. At least, I didn't mean to. I just didn't like the tone at the beginning of our conversation. It felt a bit condescending, if I'm using the right word there.

@cotu42 said in Any way to play without griefers?:

because you have a different style that opens you up to these situations?

Well, ye'h. Soloing does opens me up to these situations and there is nothing I can do when soloing if I'm away from my ship. Though, I rarely sink because I rarely spend time on large islands (I prefer going to smaller islands due to being much quicker, plus I focus more heavily on looting floating barrels and shipwrecks, so again. I'm always near my ship most-of the time).

Actually, I'm really good at maintaining my ship and keep her healthy. When I did the second Tall Tale, I was heading back to turn in the skull and finish it. A fully manned Briggy tried to sink me (luckily they never bother to invade my ship) but they kept barraging me, broke my mast once and many other things. However, due to my skills from RPGs (I love a good singleplayer RPG, be it Morrowind, Outer Worlds, Fallout, Witcher, etc) I was able to manage and prioritized a different things in order to repair my ship and keep sailing, while also getting that Briggy lost in the dust... Without once using the cannon. It was honestly pretty fun to me. I had one goal in mind and I completed it by essentially outhealing the damage they were shooting (and also dodging cannonballs). It's just, most loot is useless to me so I don't max out my survival skill usage when I don't need it and sometimes things just happens no matter what.

Though, at this rate. We would be a great duo. Should do it sometime, aye?

@cotu42 said in Any way to play without griefers?:

and usually a supportive role in groups

Actually, this is funny, but I was a Medic main in TF2. I became a support main in Paladins for a while before trying out some tanks in that game and doing a mixture of both. However I always was a fan of blaster characters (be it damage base or support base). Demoman was my go to DPS in TF2 and now it is Dredge in Paladins for very similar reasons. Oh and when I do group activities in ESO (MMORPG), I do tank/support as well...

I'm not necessarily a master of everything, I'll be honest. I wouldn't put myself at a pro level, but I've done enough things to be really great at many roles while only decent at others. For example, I'm not the best with automatic weaponry, like miniguns. I'm also not great with snipers either. If I'm on a damage role, I'm best with weapons that has a steady tempo, especially blaster weapons, though some hitscans do count, like a burst mode rifle (BR from Halo for example).

@metasploit4 ok, granted at outposts if the game a crew joins for some reason they can join on top of you. This should not be a thing... the game should pick one that doesn't have any ships at. There are enough outposts for all the ships anyway...

So, during selling be extra vigilant because that should be fixed.

Also, rarely sinking is the goal. Sounds like you are doing great. You have to be able to handle a loss in a multiplayer game, you missed them it happens. Even pros sometimes lose.

@spacemonkey907 Yeah, it's called not playing Sea of THIEVES.

@jusey1z said in Any way to play without griefers?:

Though, at this rate. We would be a great duo. Should do it sometime, aye?

I am game, it is always better to sail together.

@spacemonkey907 the only effective way to gain a friendly interaction is by communicating, the Horn is your best tool to help you out.

Also get a crew, they are the only people you can fully trust and is great to play as a team. Many will be willing to teach you the ropes. Happy sailing.

@mrgooddemon Real pirates don't necro threads

@Quartermasters