Best way for a new/bad palyers to have a positive experience?

  • Hey guys,

    This is basically a rehash of the request for PVE servers. I get that it is not going to happen, but is there anyone with a lot of experience in this game that can help me with my current problem?

    My wife doesn't like video games. Sometimes she'll play games with me that are cute and fun. We have played a lot of Stardew Valley.

    I messed up. I didn't play Sea of Thieves before I bought it for us. I just really wanted to play pirates with her. Sailing together, catching fish, killing skeletons. I didn't realize how much good players really like killing bad players. I also assumed that there would be SOME form of pve. I now know how wrong I was.

    We have played about 10 hours together. Every time we have ended, she never wants to play again. Last night was the worst. We worked a little too long, got a little too greedy, and ended up not turning in loot soon enough. This resulted in us being chased by another player for about 5 minutes. We could not put up a chase, or a fight and were destroyed in the first 20 seconds of them being in range. We were a duo he was solo. I don't really see how this was fun for him, but whatever.

    I'm pretty sure that we're never going to play this game again, which sucks because I really like it.

    So I'm here asking if anyone with a lot of experience has found ways to to have fun for players that are new and bad. Sailing under a white flag doesn't seem to help. Are there any areas where we won't get a lot of loot so there are fewer players or something... anything? If by some miracle she ever wants to play again, what can I do differently so that we have positive experience? It seems like 95% of the core loop she loves and is fun - fishing, cooking, sailing, but the 5% that is critical for it to be a pirate game (pvp) means that we're probably never coming back. I hope that someone has faced something like this before and figured out a way to still have fun.

    Side question... is there a way to return a gift that was gifted/accepted through the Microsoft store?

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  • @mgstrein Unfortunately while there are many tips I can think of to help a "bad" player become better, theres not much I can think of to help you enjoy the game if you don't want to inhabit a dangerous world inhabited by pirates. All I can say is you have to have a mindset that the adventure is the reward, not necessarily success.

  • @mgstrein

    There might be a way for u!
    Im going to advice u on something I myself are against because the interaction of facing other pirates and steal loot is what I love about this game.

    Anyways the advice: Join a group, fleet, discord group which focusses on server take over. This way u get a 6 ship alliance all playing safe PvE and not attacking anyone.

    Better advice would be sink 100 more times in pvp because once u Learn and embrace it. Than this game has 1000 more to offer than the safe space grind.

    Good luck on your oncoming voyages

  • Embrace death.
    You and your wife should crew a duo sloop in Arena.
    Don't play to win matches, just finish each match. You make money and gain invaluable experience in combat piloting, naval artillery, and pirate killing. All without consequence.
    I'd like to imagine adrenalin from fighting igniting passions, hehe.

    PvP in Arena has a different flavor from PvP in Adventure, but just a little experience goes a long way.

    Worth a try, for the halibut.

  • @barnabas-seadog not a bad idea for practice. Just make sure to go to the menu and select mute other crews voice and text chat. Arena seems to collect verbally abusive jerks like a cesspit collects flies.

  • @mgstrein

    How to have a great pirate experience? There are a couple of ways to accomplish this.

    The first and foremost course of action is being aware of your surroundings. If you don't see people coming, you are not able to respond as you please. To remain in control of your own experience is it paramount that you have the time to respond whether that is by fleeing, talking or fighting.

    The second rule is to not carry more than you are willing to lose, as much as one might think that they are some unbeatable force or not at all, the fact remains that we are playing a multiplayer game. If you would always be winning, someone else is losing. Gaming comes with risks, especially in multiplayer games and loss is an acceptable outcome.

    Third learn about the ships and sailing mechanics. This is the next skill that one must learn to keep themselves safe and most likely the most important after awareness. General rule of thumb: The more sails a ship has the higher the max speed is with full sails bellowing. The less sails you have compared to your threat head against the wind to gain distance, also set your sails straight forward when doing so... counter intuitive I know, but at the moment that is just how it works. Also, I advise not just going straight at all times, mainly use it to gain some distance and for boarding attempts; using rock formations, islands and anything to make it more work to follow you. Chases are based on stubbornness when dealing with players, every human has a different degree they will bother chasing someone they cannot catch. Yet most have a high tolerance to just sit there and wait for the red sea to cut you off. Learn to do drop offs at outposts so you have an objective to sail towards and sell your loot. Keep moving as much as possible.

    Forth aspect is be prepared, that means gather supplies, raise your sails and anchor when parking, be alert and ready to leave at a moments notice (a simple tug to lower the sails). Treasure, voyage on the island is less important than what your ship holds and it floating.

    Fifth point is, get good at the PvE... the shorter it takes the quicker you are moving again and the less time people have to come for you.

    These are the skills with good decisions, practice and knowledge to have a PvE experience.

    Other than that: when spawn camping is happening and you have no interest in going back to fight; tap out by scuttling the ship.

    Bailing water is faster than repairing. So when in doubt grab that bucket.

    Don't trust people unless you spoken to them and even then be weary, there are some nasty backstabbers out there. Never trust flags or silence. Trust is earned not given, so avoid people boarding you even friendlies.

    Bonus: Try getting better at fighting, both ship on ship or pirate on pirate, skills like boarding and shooting cannons. Using explosives can be nice as well. This isn't necessarily but it does make life easier if you have a choice.

    Then I will give an option that has less to do with the game and more with the option the community provides: Alliance servers. There are groups in LFG and Discord that take over servers, meaning all ships are in your alliance. It takes some time and effort to setup, it is very lucrative and as safe as a sea can become. It isn't my cup of tea but it is an option but I won't know where to find them, but you can find them on the looking for group section of the forum most likely.

    Good luck and happy sailing.

  • You don't see how someone solo sinking a duo crew could be fun?! It's incredibly satisfying to take down a crew bigger than you, and even more exhilarating when you are solo.

    Seriously though, I get it that you really want your wife to enjoy the game, but it may not be her cup of tea if she hates PvP games. What about you? How are you enjoying the game? I read a thread on here a month or two ago that told a very similar story. The husband came to the conclusion that he was only not having fun because he was concerned about his wife's fun. They quit playing for a few months, but he said he never quit thinking about or watching content about the game. He realized that he should try again and is now having a blast!

    You are correct that PvE servers won't be happening, but @CotU42 gave you some great advice! Also trying to find alliance servers through discord may be exactly what your wife is wanting for her play sessions

  • @mgstrein said in Best way for a new/bad palyers to have a positive experience?:

    We were a duo he was solo. I don't really see how this was fun for him, but whatever.

    Well by the sounds of it he took down a crew twice his size and walked away with a lot of loot? Sounds fun to me!

  • @mgstrein based on the message of @propheteyes6235

    I would add that if you learn to just be the scout for 100% awareness and the captain of your ship with some battle experience and have her sail, you are actually capable by yourself to protect and even take out people in PvP while she never has to be in close quarter combat.

    Personally I have been a tutorial for people in the open crews and even when we would lose in battle (which was not even always) the player would have a decent chunk of money - while doing initiation voyages may I add and the idea that they had a chance to win, killed a skeleton ship, kraken if they pop up.

    If you walk away with some money, had a good fight that wasn't just being pummeled to death it is a lot of fun. She likes to sail, have her learn to avoid other ships while you jump off and disrupt them to the best of your abilities, be it just lowering the anchor or just putting them on fire, blasting them with blunder bombs or killing them. Be creative and use their harpoon... or blow them up. They catch you and board, your wife dies once and you scuttle so she doesn't have to fight or wait on the ferry while you try to win?

    The main reason I am against PvE servers is because why I can play solo is mainly based on the fact that the game is a mix of PvEvP. Yes playing PvE to the degree that I do requires skills, though not fighting ones. I am hauling away full Athena voyages in one go while taking out skeleton fleets and selling at the very end or picking a fight during the voyage.

    Like people complain about losing 10k... I pick fights with more and I have lost hauls of over 100k because I am willing to lose it and get contested, so sink me while I am in a grind and fight mood and you might hit the jackpot. If I am PvEing and don't want to risk it they can try to catch me, cause guess what once people start to chase I start to sell even if I am not done yet gives me something to do. It is so nice if you just sell it and they pop around the corner because they cannoned after you and fight or just clap while they kill you... your choice.

    Drive by jump off one piece at a time at an outpost, while sailing around the world and I will gladly provide them with some turns they need to be able to do or I gain distance. Those are the times they could catch up, before I head back into the wind. It takes some time, you aren't gathering new loot so you aren't being very effective. Yet in my books that is a win!

  • If you have mic's add me. I'll be happy to take you two out on a Brigantine and teach you to be evasive.

  • @octopus-lime & @ProphetEyes6235 I think I did a poor job of articulating just how easy prey we were. There was no chase, there was no fight, there was no challenge.

    Maybe that doesn't matter though. Reading through the forums today I realized that I don´t really fit into this community. For instance, I have two nephews and a niece. They are all under five. I can destroy them at any game we play. Every time it is 3 vs 1, but I never feel like I won anything by beating them. And yet, I know there are guys out there that think it is hilarious and a ton of fun to destroy their nephews at games. I don´t even think that is a flaw. Plenty of nephews love getting destroyed by their bigger, stronger uncles. But I´m not that kind of uncle and I´m not that kind of nephew.

    I feel like I have read a lot of messages on SoT boards today from guys like that. I think I've even read enough posts from the game creators at Rare to realize they all feel that way too.

    I just don't think that this is the pirate game for me. I don't know of any other though :(

  • Hey guys

    I just wanted to drop in and let you know I really appreciate all the advice. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to bow out of this game. I don't think that it really lines up with what I think is fun, and I think that the people who play it know what they like and this for sure fits.

    That said, if I do fire it up again I will absolutely be taking your advice into consideration. I had not thought about a LFG to takeover a server. This is a great idea. I also really liked the idea of just going into the arena to get practice at both combat and detachment from losing your ship.

    Also I really want to thank @CotU42 for so much info in such a tight breakdown - every tip in there is actionable! If I play again, that text is going on one of my other monitors.

  • @propheteyes6235 I wanted to especially thank you for asking if I'm liking the game. I really like it. I also really liked Black Flag. The thing I love about this game is the co-operative experience of sailing. Soloing is fun in its own way, but really like sailing where everyone has to work together for maximum effect. Kind of like Artemis but with Pirates!

    But the thing is that I have very little time. So if I'm going to spend some time on a game I want to really like it. For single player that is still going to end up being things like Factorio/Satisfactory, Kerbal Space Program, maybe Elite Dangerous. Since I bought SoT, I will probably still fire it up every once in a while. So don't you worry. There will still be easy money out there for all you good pirates :)

  • Hey if it's an open world game that doesn't force you into pvp than maybe this will peak your interest. I've already pre ordered it.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKnUBs-Ko44 It's called New World

  • It's really a shame Rare refuses to acknowledge this other audience that is thirsty for a game like theirs. It's in almost every review on the Microsoft store, even the positive ones and threads are created about it on a daily basis. Such a missed opportunity religiously defended by a cult of equally blind players.

    It's not really comparable to SoT but Deep Rock Galactic is a really fun Play Anywhere and cross-platform PVE co-op game if you're looking for something fun to play without the worry of real people ruining your fun.

  • @mgstrein I think that the forums represent a minor part of the in game playing community. The game does have it's share of try-hards, but the average server is pretty tame. Don't let some aggressive posts on the servers detract you from trying again.

    I got sank by a duo crew within the first 15 minutes of playing in my first session. I was disheartened because I was thinking that the game would just be another PvP KOSfest. But I got on the community discord and asked people if this is how the game is and was given some great advice, as you were today by @CotU42. I tried again and wasn't bothered the rest of the night. It's now become my favorite game of all time. Yes I'm in the camp that PvP is the best part of the game, but it's because of the immersion level of going out and pirating just about every piece of loot I cash.

    The game has the classic hook of being easy to learn but difficult to master. Those are my favorite types of games, and I know a lot of gamers feel the same way. Once you get your first steal, you'll get even more addicted. No multiplayer game has ever gotten my heart pumping and my adrenaline going like Sea of Thieves does when going for a big steal.

    If you ever want to group up for Adventure or Arena, just let me know. I'd be happy to show you the ropes and teach you what I know. There is also tons of great content on YouTube and Twitch to learn from. Hope to see you on the Sea of Thieves! Don't give up!

  • You need a different mind set for this game.

    The gold is fools gold. It looks great but its worth nothing really. You sunk and lost 50 pieces of loot to buy what? A new beard?
    After some playtime you have bought everything there is and you are millionaire and by that time im not even picking up loot anymore.. so dont worry about fools gold its just for fun and you can loose it and gift it away you dont really need it.

    Experience and commendations are fake. It just gives you some ideas to choose to play or do stuff and unlock some skinns but its not important. After some time you will just level up and unlock stuff from goofing around.

    Its a huge sandbox with toys and bullies where we can do whatever we like.

    Or dont do what we dont like.

    Every server or session its just chance.. sometimes its all bullies, sometimes all friendly, sometimes mixed. You can just switch server start a new session if everyone is fighting.

    If you sink or die you loose time spend on a voyage and collecting stuff and this hurts a little?
    Then dont spend time on collecting stuff at start.

    Just set sail and start a voyage.
    On your way stop at small islands and pick up a rowboat and supplies crate thats enough really.

    Now you have a empty boat with little supplies and almost no time investment. You can just scuttle and it wont hurt you have nothing to loose and whatever you find can float on the rowboat if you sink.

    Next thing you do the first part of the voyage and dont need to care about your empty boat if it sinks you get a new one for free.

    You collected some loot now turn it in at outpost even if its just 5 pieces its enough. Dont need to watch out for anything you can sink anytime you can only loose a empty boat.

    If you succeed in selling you earned some coin and continue the voyage.

    If pirates attack your prety much empty boat you can go into your canon and shoot away into the sea. From a safe distance you can scuttle your empty boat. Take a mermaid to new boat. This encounter takes 30 sec. You lost a empty boat, almost no invested time, a rowboat and supplies crate and at most 5 pieces of fools gold but never seen the pirates. No problem and continue voyage in new boat.

    So just ignore pvp and dont play that part if you dont like it.

    Other use of a empty boat is when you are on a island for a while you can scuttle it so pirates dont come checking your boat. Gather all stuff you need in a rowboat or hide it and then get a new boat to quikly pick up the stash.

    The best thing about having nothing to loose is you can now enjoy pvp and be a pirate yourself its actually turning out to be a lot of fun if you cant loose anything. You cant die you just respawn and you cant loose your empty boat you just get a new empty boat for free.

    If you hoard supplies and loot its a great experience of excitement because you can loose all time and effort put into collecting it.

    If you play empty boat and nothing to loose you can goofe around and ignore pirates and monsters.

  • @mgstrein
    Hey, I want to thank you for posting this so respectfully and honestly.
    I've been playing since before the game launched, and I embrace and enjoy all aspects (I went in knowing what it was about), but I do understand your situation. And, honestly, I wish there were currently ways for people with your, and your partner's, wishes to play and fully enjoy this wonderful game. It is tricky, because the core game loop is designed around a certain amount of potential player-encounter-risk - but, we all know that players tend to treat that as constant kill-on-sight within video games. I'm not knocking that either. It's just a game, of course, and it is what it is. The combat is truly fun - we have giant ships, and cannons, and firearms, and cutlasses... but I get it. That player vs player element, with or without a giant skill gap, can be no fun to some, for various reasons.

    Anyway, a lot of people tend to suggest getting more experience with PvP and growing to enjoy it - and that is fair and good advice for many. However, I also know that some people will never enjoy PvP, certainly not the way others do (and that's okay too, of course!). It can be worth a try, but, yeah, that's not going to work for everyone.

    You can also play the game very cautiously - by keeping yourself on heightened awareness to avoid encounters - but that may sap the fun out of it for you anyway. That mode is somewhat like being a mouse in a lion's den. It can be fun, but it doesn't help you when things go wrong now and then, and you end up in a fight. It can work though, if you enjoy it and have the right mindset - and you may grow better at defending yourself and enjoy it - but, that runs along the same line as trying to enjoy PvP - it's not for everyone.

    One thing I will say is, it's a controversial subject around these parts, but the developers have said private servers are something they are interested in doing. Even saying it's more about WHEN it will happen, rather than IF it will happen. However, there's also much discussion amongst the community about such private play sessions and private servers should not be able to reward any gold/advancement/progression. That's not a debate worth entering into here (most feel it's not even a debate, but we'll see what the developers eventually decide to do - and I wouldn't hold my breath for it, either way!). I just wanted to give you that bit of info, for whatever it is worth.

    Even though my crew and I sail around and welcome combat - we also prefer to investigate what other crews are about and what they'd enjoy. If they're new, inexperienced, doing tall tales, trying to avoid fights and not interfering with anything we want... we like to leave them be and wish them well. We do not find satisfaction from easy, unwilling prey. Sometimes we even help them (some of my crew is very bloodthirsty, but even the worst of them like to be nice sometimes). And there ARE even friendlier crews out there, some who never attack... but there are, indeed, far more shoot-first pirates on these seas.

    The one bit of advice I could recommend for you and your partner (to continue playing) is to join up with some experienced and skilled players and sail on a galleon together. Get a taste of the fun that way. Not everyone has to be the brute force strength. It really is a lot of fun. My partner is not a fan of PvP, but she enjoys when playing with us, and is even known to smoke some scoundrels when they try attacking us. :D
    Of course, it's not necessarily easy to find these people to play with, but there honestly are a lot of friendly, kind, helpful, and fun players in this community that may be interested. Twitter has a pretty nice sea of thieves community (in case you are on there). Could be worth a shot.
    Depending on your play time, and such, I may be able to help. Even if it is just a bit of a send-off (at least until a possible future where you may find greater enjoyment with the game, one way or the other).

    Honestly, I do understand how this game has such a great appeal for players far beyond wanting to engage in PvP. It's beautiful, amazing, thrilling, and fantastic. The waves, the views, the sailing, the physics, the fun! I wish more people could enjoy it in the ways that they wish, and without the dread some feel when faced with PvP (many people can't relate to that, but I do understand that it exists and is just not fun for some).
    It's not necessarily an easy thing to tackle. There can't be safe zones or anything within a server, but I honestly couldn't care less if people played this game for hours on a private server, gaining anything and everything we can on live servers. It wouldn't bother me at all. The only difficult part about that is whether or not it would negatively impact the live servers. I'm not convinced it would, but I understand predictions that it might - and I'll leave that to far more invested minds of the game designers and publishers. :D

    Anyway, I've rambled, but I wanted to give a reply as soon as I saw your post. I really respect what you're saying and wish you could continue to enjoy the elements of the game that you enjoy. It's really a magical game - and the development team are really special too. I don't think their vision for this game was quite as bloodthirsty as the playerbase has, un-shockingly, turned it into... but it was pretty obvious it would go that way, hehe.
    And, yeah, these forums are not exactly the magical, mystical, friendly place many of us would prefer it to be. :D A lot of the people replying really are attempting to offer help the best as they see it though, and that's all we can ask for, hehe.

    Cheers and I hope you find fair winds!

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