Captain FishSt1ck's guide to finding friendly crews

  • friendly pirates

    So you want to strike up a conversation with some other crew but all the answers you've been receiving have been in the form of cannonballs?

    Fear not, as I truly believe that most of the pirates out at sea have a good heart, but they've been betrayed a few to many times to trust other ships heading towards them. If you want to strike up a conversation with someone, you need to build trust and that's not always easy. Lucky for you Captain FishSt1ck has got your back, follow my advice and I can assure you that you'll be sailing around with some other crew in no time!

    TL;DR Finding friendly pirates isn't easy, if you want to find friendly pirates you better read the entire text!

    Preparation

    Before we find some others there's already some simple things you should keep an eye on.

    • Select a friendly hull/sail color

    Avoid the darker colored sails/hull as they're harder to see in the dark. This would be a benefit when you want to avoid people or sneak up on people, but you want people to see you from miles away. I usually sail the white or the green sail when looking for friendly people.

    • Select a friendly flag

    Avoid the jolly roger / red flag as both are usually seen as a sign for aggression. All the other flags should be fine, when I try finding other people I usually fly the rainbow flag of peace :)

    • Keep the lights on

    As with the hull/sail, people that want to keep out of sight turn of their lights. So for visibility reasons, keep your lights on.

    • Raise your cannons to the sky

    If you sail around with your cannons raised to the sky, the others can see from a distance that you won't shoot. Keep in mind that this also means you can't easily defend yourself.

    • Consider bringing a gift

    Depending on what you want from the other pirates and how badly you want it, you might want to consider bringing a gift as a incentive to help you. Keep in mind though that having treasure on board could also be a incentive to just take it from you and it'll require some extra time. So far I've never needed a gift, but I've been offered one as payment after helping others.

    Just a friendly reminder, gunpowder barrels are BAD gifts!


    Looking for others

    Time to set sail and find us some ships!

    • Be active, don't expect others to find you

    During the first couple of days of an event you might be lucky to just find everyone around the location(s) for the event but as time passes chance of finding people will get slimmer. Instead of spending hours at one location, try sailing to different locations of the event or sail between outposts around the middle of the map.

    • Your spyglass is your friend

    Keep an eye on the horizon, preferably from your crowsnest. Scout the sea and the island shores to check for masts.

    • Avoid the skull fort

    Although the chances of finding others might be higher at the skull fort, it's also an event which usually has crews fighting over treasure. While it might not be impossible to talk to people there, it'll be extremely hard to convince them that you're not there to steal the treasure.

    • Be careful with ships that are stopped at an outpost

    Usually ships at the outposts are there for two reasons, they have just started or they're unloading treasure. You can spot if they've just started if the flag isn't there, the sails are up, the ship is perfectly parked and has no colors. Otherwise approach with extra care because nobody likes other ships around when they're unloading treasure.

    • Can't find any others? Check out the only "Safe zone" in the game!

    The ferry of the damned is a place where everyone from the server can end up at and nobody feels threatened by other pirates, as they're all dead already. You're still able to communicate though, which gives you the perfect opportunity to talk to people and see if they're up for meeting you at some island to sail together.


    Getting the other crews attention

    So you've spotted a ship, great! So we rush our galleon towards that little sloop right? No, wrong!

    • Approach with caution

    Don't head towards them in a straight line at full speed. Try to stop your ship a good distance away from them, stay out of cannon range and don't point your cannons towards them. If you're close don't drop anchor as you might have to flee if things go bad.

    • Blink your lights (when it's dark)

    If it's dark you can get some extra attention by blinking your lights. If they blink back there is a chance they're friendly, but they definitely saw you.

    • Smile and wave

    If you notice the other crews lens flares of the spyglass it might help to have your crew visibly dance or wave towards them.

    • Don't return fire

    Some people will instinctively shoot their cannons at approaching ships, just because at the start of the game everyone was hostile. However if you return fire, you lose any chance of diplomacy. Try to scout with your spyglass, check out what they're doing and try to figure out their intentions. If they suddenly turn around and head towards you, this might be a good time to flee.

    • Shoot a diplomat

    If you're not sure about the situation and you're still outside of cannon range, you might want to consider approaching people without your ship. Especially when you're on a galleon, you might scare off sloops when you approach them. By shooting someone in their general direction but not on their ship you can assess the situation by talking to them from the water and get out with your ship intact if needed.


    Striking up a conversation

    First rule of talking to others, know that not everyone can hear ingame chat. People on Xbox that are in party chat won't hear ingame chat, which is really annoying.

    • Keep your gun in your pocket

    You're there to talk to people so don't go around carrying your gun or sword as that naturally comes off as hostile. Instead equip the speaking trumpet or play a tune on your instrument.

    • Use the speaking trumpet!!!!

    This addition to the game is the most useful one to approach others. Not only does it increase the proximity chat distance it also offers you helpful chatwheel options. Always spam the "WE'RE FRIENDLY" option a few time as that's something everyone can see. After that use the trumpet and talk ingame to see if they can respond with microphones as well.

    • Never board another crews ship without invitation or announcement

    No matter how friendly you think you are, if you invade another persons privacy and surprise them on their ship you might get shot. So try to announce yourself before getting on the ship or better yet, ask if it's ok to board their ship.

    • Be polite, be diplomatic

    So if you actually manage to get people talking, remember to be polite. Not everyone that talks to you is also willing to help. Use all your charm and be honest about what you want, if you had treasure with you be sure to offer that in return for their help. If they seem hesitant, ask if there's anything you could help them with, maybe propose running a fort together and letting them keep the loot, help them with some voyages or event related things or even try to get them some achievements.

    However if all your charm and convincing still results in a no, be polite and leave them to their business. Don't be rude, just thank them for their time, head back to your ship and look for another ship.


    Success

    You've done it! I knew you had it in you. I'm truly proud of you! So what's next?

    • Try to bring your own ship

    Depending on what you're going to do, if it might result in your death at a certain point, you might want to bring your own ship. If you want to do a certain encounter together for which it's easier if you're on the same ship then still bring your ship too and park it close by. Nothing ruins some friendly pirating fun as having to sail back from the other side of the world because you didn't bring your ship.

    • Consider going in party chat

    The speaking trumpet works fine, but at certain times it's just not very useful. When you're interacting with the ship, out of range or dead you can't talk to the other of your new friendly fleet. So before you set sail you might want to consider if you can get party chat going as it could make for some much smoother sailing. When you're on Xbox though you should realise that doing party chat will remove the ability to talk to or hear other pirates ingame.

    • Don't betray the ones that helped you

    After you're done with whatever you wanted help with and celebrating with your newfound friends, nothing ruins a good day of sailing more than having a crew suddenly turn against you. Be respectful till the end and if you want to engage into combat ask if they're ok with it first. They just went out of there way to help you and gave you their trust, don't make them reconsider doing that for the next pirate they meet. Nothing ruins a friendly get together more than someone that suddenly starts drinking to get his "Tactical C*****r" achievement. Once the trust is broken, you won't easily get it back.


    There you have it, my personal guide to finding friendly crews. I hope that my guide will help some of you pirates experience the joys of working together with another crew. The sea isn't as salty as you might think :)

    Signed,
    Captain FishSt1ck

    Disclaimer
    While this guide may improve your chances to approach others, there's always some rotten apples that are only in it for the sinking or murder. Just be careful, use common sense and approach everyone with caution.

    If you have any questions, remarks or additions to the guide please feel free to leave them in a post below.

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  • @fishst1ck
    This is great.

  • I love you too @eredhar

  • Good looking guide here. I like bringing some gifts along when I'm asking for help too, even stashing some on a nearby large island before going for that approach to ask for help. I'd also say offering to help clear a fort and not take any loot earns some loyalty and goodwill.

  • @fishst1ck that be quite a comprehensive list! Well done I say!

  • @fishst1ck said in Captain FishSt1ck's guide to finding friendly crews:

    No matter how friendly you think you are, if you invade another persons privacy and surprise them on their ship you might get shot. So try to announce yourself before getting on the ship or better yet, ask if it's ok to board their ship.

    So much this, I've met so many people who just got angry because i was shooting them off my own ladder altough they were friendly because there's just no way I was taking the risk of letting them on without permission.

  • @fishst1ck An amazing guide thank you for helping the community out with this one! Should come in very handy.

  • @fishst1ck This is absolutely excellent - I'll remember your tip about the gunpowder barrels..... ;)

  • @fishst1ck I only ever fire "friendship cannon balls". Yet no ever seems to understand me...

  • i like to post a villainous skull off the nose. it glows bright, attracts attention and a good bribe, haven't found a lot of success with the bribe play, but i keep trying

  • @katttruewalker said in Captain FishSt1ck's guide to finding friendly crews:

    @fishst1ck This is absolutely excellent - I'll remember your tip about the gunpowder barrels..... ;)

    You wouldn't believe it, but some sloop crew actually tried to convince us that it was a gift for us :) So we warned them that if the barrel touches the water, we would shoot. The explosive situation ended in a bang....

  • Great advice! I will only add not to judge a book by it's cover. The wonderful crew we fought Meg with were flying a Jolly Roger and the youngster of the group fired on us. We sensed that it wasn't what it appeared and we were right.

    If we had run at the sight of their flag or the first cannon ball, we never would have had the great experience we ended up having. Our biggest issue is not having enough people to approach, but that's a whole different discussion.

  • @musicmee said in Captain FishSt1ck's guide to finding friendly crews:

    @fishst1ck An amazing guide thank you for helping the community out with this one! Should come in very handy.

    I wrote it mostly because yesterday two guys approached our galleon while we were parked at a fort. They went straight for us and didn't use the trumpet, so ofcourse we opened fire. They then returned fire and when they were in range I could hear them curse, insult us and then scream that they only wanted to do the thrones together. However because they returned fire, were rude and we were almost ready to load up the treasure from the fort... we sunk them.

  • @pumpkinkangaroo said in Captain FishSt1ck's guide to finding friendly crews:

    Great advice! I will only add not to judge a book by it's cover. The wonderful crew we fought Meg with were flying a Jolly Roger and the youngster of the group fired on us. We sensed that it wasn't what it appeared and we were right.

    If we had run at the sight of their flag or the first cannon ball, we never would have had the great experience we ended up having. Our biggest issue is not having enough people to approach, but that's a whole different discussion.

    You're right, but as they say you only get one first impression. Making sure the cover of the book is a more pleasant/less threatning one will work in your favor.

  • @fishst1ck Good stuff - cheers!

  • Great stuff @FishSt1ck! I'm proud to have you in the Union. Your guide is topnotch. I think that we should avoid Party Chat though. The game is much more enjoyable through Game Chat, in my opinion.

  • @siriondb said in Captain FishSt1ck's guide to finding friendly crews:

    Great stuff @FishSt1ck! I'm proud to have you in the Union. Your guide is topnotch. I think that we should avoid Party Chat though. The game is much more enjoyable through Game Chat, in my opinion.

    Thanks you @siriondb sir! It's an honor that one of the leaders of our our marvelous pirate union Fortune would come down here to give praise.

    You're right about party chat, game chat is much more enjoyable and I do hate it when you talk to people only to realise they can't hear a word you're saying because they're locked off from gamechat. When I'm playing on Xbox I prefer staying in game chat all the time, on PC it doesn't matter much as you can still do both (come on Rare talk to Microsoft about this one and make it work the same on both platforms).

    However as I said sometimes it's just easier to communicate with your new found pirate friends when you're further away or when you're solo on a ship and can't always use the speaking trumpet. It's just a matter of weighing the benefits and the limitations.

    I changed the wording on the text a bit though as it's not a must, but people might want to consider it.

  • Love the point about Skull Forts, especially after our experience on Saturday night.
    That sloop crew shouldn't really have entered into an active Fort's waters and expected a Galleon crew on the last wave to not be a little bit hostile, especially haven just had to sink another Sloop crew about 5 minutes previously!

    There was certainly no need for their name calling at you whilst on the Ferry though Fish, even if it was mostly true! ;P

  • @sshteeve
    Yea, I did feel bad about it... not the sinking them part, but that they had no clue how to handle the situation and created a bad situation for themselves without realizing it. One of the reasons to write this.

  • @fishst1ck Yeah but by now anyone sailing near the big skull cloud in the sky should really know what it is and how folk react around it.
    Especially ones who can hold their own for a fair while as those two chaps did!

    Did anyone ever find out if "The Real Nick Frost" was a legit account? If anyone is interested he's a Ferry AFK camper! XD

  • @fishst1ck Good tips, but they always go crazy when I try to show them my blunderbuss. :(

  • @sshteeve
    I actually had to look up who Nick Frost was :) so I had no idea what you guys were going on about.

  • @ant-heuser-kush
    I've never really needed gifts, it's just some added incentive. Usually the crew is either just willing to help or you can convince them by helping them with something.

  • @captainnscurvy said in Captain FishSt1ck's guide to finding friendly crews:

    @fishst1ck Good tips, but they always go crazy when I try to show them my blunderbuss. :(

    I've added an extra part :)

    Keep your gun in your pocket
    You're there to talk to people so don't go around carrying your gun or sword as that naturally comes off as hostile. Instead equip the speaking trumpet or play a tune on your instrument.

  • This is such a wonderful guide for those looking for people to help with the events. Thanks so much for this! I want to leave some feedback regarding in-game chat, though.

    As I'm the only one in my regular galleon crew who plays on PC, I'm most of the time the "chat ambassador" and the rest of my crew switches to game chat when needed.
    I've noticed quite frequently that party chat is a lot more stable than game chat... I can hear the same person so much clearer in party chat while they cut out frequently in game chat.

    That being said, I think it'd be a pretty awesome addition for Xbox players to also hear game chat, maybe over speakers or something? I do recognize the problems with this, but would be helpful for those crews that don't have a PC player onboard.

  • @xcaptredbeard said in Captain FishSt1ck's guide to finding friendly crews:

    This is such a wonderful guide for those looking for people to help with the events. Thanks so much for this! I want to leave some feedback regarding in-game chat, though.

    As I'm the only one in my regular galleon crew who plays on PC, I'm most of the time the "chat ambassador" and the rest of my crew switches to game chat when needed.
    I've noticed quite frequently that party chat is a lot more stable than game chat... I can hear the same person so much clearer in party chat while they cut out frequently in game chat.

    That being said, I think it'd be a pretty awesome addition for Xbox players to also hear game chat, maybe over speakers or something? I do recognize the problems with this, but would be helpful for those crews that don't have a PC player onboard.

    Hehehe very recognisable, I've been the chat ambassador before as well, with the random friendly Xbox crew saying I'm crazy because they didn't know I was on PC at the time and they didn't know the difference.

  • beat me to this topic...nice work man, cheers!

    also also also also....speaking trumpet best waifu 10/10 would randomly yell at people again.

  • Another option is to set up an ambassador on the ferry (I'm sure most of us know how to get there) and wait for someone else to come aboard, strike up conversation and if need be offer to help with whatever it is that sent them to the ferry.

  • @onyx-wartooth said in Captain FishSt1ck's guide to finding friendly crews:

    also also also also....speaking trumpet best waifu 10/10 would randomly yell at people again.

    This 100%. I love the speaking trumpet, and now I can have my admiral skin on it too :3

  • @chaos217 said in Captain FishSt1ck's guide to finding friendly crews:

    Another option is to set up an ambassador on the ferry (I'm sure most of us know how to get there) and wait for someone else to come aboard, strike up conversation and if need be offer to help with whatever it is that sent them to the ferry.

    I can see how that could work, but on the other hand you're very dependant on someone dying and being able to hear you, so it's almost the same as actually waiting at one of the event locations. The ferry is server wide though, I'm in doubt if I should add it as a suggestion :)

  • @fishst1ck
    Just letting you know that's how @WhenKoalasattak managed to create a 4 sloop fleet within minutes of logging in the other day. What started as an attempt to buy a sloop (as you've said with politeness) turned into a great time with new friends.

  • @fishst1ck Or just do what i did... Use the speaking trumpet and ask nicely, worked fine for me, lol. xD

  • Great guide, I've tried some of these before to varied success, but will continue to make friends while on the sea

  • @chaos217 said in Captain FishSt1ck's guide to finding friendly crews:

    @fishst1ck
    Just letting you know that's how @WhenKoalasattak managed to create a 4 sloop fleet within minutes of logging in the other day. What started as an attempt to buy a sloop (as you've said with politeness) turned into a great time with new friends.

    Well if @WhenKoalasattak has success with it, it just has to be added. Nobody likes that guy, so if he used it with success just imagine how easy it'll be for actual friendly people :) I've added it as a suggestion, thanks for the tip!

  • @greugel920scarf said in Captain FishSt1ck's guide to finding friendly crews:

    So much this, I've met so many people who just got angry because i was shooting them off my own ladder altough they were friendly because there's just no way I was taking the risk of letting them on without permission.

    Good tip: Tell them to grab the bottom of the ladder to stay out of the water from sharks and they can parley. If they climb higher they get shot off.

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