Captains Courageous

  • Another thread suggested that now that we have closed crews, could we make the brig on the sloop work, with the first aboard able to brig the other, if they join and grief.

    It got me thinking. Why not allow a crew to elect a captain? This is definitely historically accurate. Pirate crews were often organized along democratic lines.

    Electing a Captain

    Under this scheme, a majority vote would be needed to elect - or depose - a captain. So if you create a closed (solo) sloop, you could vote yourself the captain before opening the crew to allow a stranger on board. They would have to accept your autocratic rule, or leave. The captaincy could not be changed unless the captain voted himself out of it: Which he might do if he wants to leave the game, but allow his crewmate to take over.

    On a galleon, a majority of those on board (one alone, two of a crew of two, or three of a larger crew) could elect the captain. But also a majority could stage an effective mutiny and vote their captain of the job.

    Powers of the Captain

    Firstly, a captain could brig any member of the crew, without a vote being needed. This could make it quicker and easier to handle griefers that come on board; and allow the sloop's brig to become useful. On a galleon, he could even brig two or three crew members; albeit at the risk of losing the confidence of his crew, and his job. :-)

    Perhaps captains could also have a overpowering vote on quests, eliminating the need for everyone to vote each time, and then vote to cancel it if not liked, etc.

    I honestly can't think of any other game mechanics that might be changed by having an official captain (brigging was the main one), but there would be, of course, a moral authority in a well disciplined crew. He would be the one that shouts "Nor-Nor-East, helmsman" and "Adjust those sails, you scurvy idlers!"

    Finally, I suggest having captains is optional. Crews may continue to sail as a self-governing autonomous collective, if they prefer to.

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  • I just thought of another possible power... Marooning!

    The captain could force a crew member from the brig onto a nearby island (which, sadly, may need to be a sort of respawn/teleport thing) and, at the same time, disable their mermaid.

    I confess I am not sure what happens then. Do they still share in any treasure the crew sells at an outpost? Could they be rescued by another crew? Could they light a signal fire to attract attention? Could they JOIN another crew that was a man down? Even join another, already full, crew?

  • @surveyorpete ship captaincy got out on the back burner due to people asking for more content. I hope it gets in still

  • @surveyorpete I don't like the idea of players with special abilities in SoT.
    As it is written: every pirate is equal. (Pirate Code, article 4)
    Your crew can still decide to give the command to someone, there is no need to give a player a special rank.
    Just imagine you enter a crew where a troll is the captain.

    Especially the idea to maroon crewmates sounds like it can be abused way too easy.

  • I definitely support this at least for voyage voting. I've spent too much time on galleons waiting for people to come vote.

    The rest might be a bit abusable... but if your crew is abusing it, you probably need a new crew anyway. As long as the captain can be voted down it should be fine.

  • It wouldn't be terrible to bring in a Captain feature. The idea of voting for a Captain is good, as is the voting to Mutiny as you've suggested here. As for what being the Captain could entail:

    • Tie Breaking Vote (No additional voting privilege needed)
    • Christen Ship (Easiest way to implement this is one person doing the naming)
    • Captain's Quarters Skin (If we ever get these could be cool to lock to Captain)

    That is all I would grant to a potential Captain position, basically letting it address things already in game that can be a mild issue or to allow for desired features that are easier to implement this way. As it stands, these are the only things I can personally think of. I know many people want to be able to name the ships (though that could be a pain if anyone in the Crew can change it at any time), and many have suggested having multiple layout options for the Captain's Quarters (may as well call the Sloop voting area the same).

    This could be a cool way for individual Captain's to leave their personal mark on the look of the ship (since we can all participate in the skinning of the Hull, Sails, and Flags - and hopefully most features of the ship if we get them). It wouldn't really mean anything, but can be a fun little special perk for the title along with the ability to name the ship while you remain the captain. Other than that, it solves the rare instance we have split votes on Voyages directly, and that is all that it does.

    I can follow the argument for adding the option to put people into the Brig being shifted to the Captain, as you say it gives it potential use on the Sloop where it has none right now and can allow for marginally faster response times to potential griefing, however I can also follow arguments against the idea of putting that kind of a feature into the hands of a single member of the ship.

  • @surveyorpete One suggestion, little but may be helpful... Watch devs videos. 😁

    Captaincy feature is a thing, and it's coming in the future. They talked about that.
    What it will means, nobody knows. But I think they said it would be a post legendary status rewards feature (not sure).
    Where the last word about costumization to the ship is taking by the captain. The voyages too. And more things

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