Cheaters taking over servers and buying / taking over boats!

  • CrazyHazyUK
    Master
    Insider
    Founder

    Despite playing this game quite a bit, I experienced this for the first time yesterday
    I was on a server with a buddy, we were stocking up for a skeleton ship mission
    Then a galleon came over and asked for our boat. I was like what do you mean you want our boat!? :)

    What this means is they ask one of your boat players to leave the game, and then ask you to invite one of their friends to your boat. Then your buddy leaves and leaves another open slot and effectively they then have 2 boats on that server. They then repeat for every boat they find, so after a few hours they own most of the boats on the server.

    This way they effectively can get all the boats on that server, they alliance up and then they do athena / quests and quickly rank up. Effectively cheating the system.

    Why is this an issue?
    a) Well its effectively a form of cheating
    b) By the time they got to us they effectively already had 4 boats with their players on, none of the boats they hijacked / owned already wanted to do skeleton ship missions, so for us continuing as a small solo sloop on that server, would have been pointless, so we wasted 30mins collecting gear! Yes we could have refused and just left but chances are they would attack us or if we left the new people coming into the same server would be presented with same scenario. I heard sometimes the people wanting to "buy your boat" may offer chests / skulls to make it worth your while.

    My suggestion is that rare do some checks / trend analysis of logged in player names/tags, to see when the same 4+ players/gamer tags are constantly on the same server / alliances and warn those players / threaten to demote etc. Or look at this in combination with players ranking up too quickly via this method to highlight them, warn, ban / demote. Whats peoples views on this? Appreciate some people find it hard enough to get some time on the game, let alone co-ordinate some big server take over! But when it does happen leaves a sour taste.

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  • PennilessImp749
    Marauder
    Founder

    Asking you to leave is hardly against the terms and conditions.
    I would hardly call it cheating.

    Seems like a legit way to gain more gold and experience.

  • Mc rossco
    Marauder
    Insider

    It's a perfectly legitimate thing to do. It's hard to convince people to give up their ships.

    Most of the time people offer others Athena missions on different servers or loot in return for the ship which is a fair deal imo. It's also good for streamers during sub nights since they can get more people in to play with them all at once.

    This is a sandbox game AKA playing however you like to play, buying other ships and becoming pirate king of an entire server is one of the freedoms that allows.

  • Nabberwar
    Lord
    Insider

    Not cheating, and breaks no rules, especially Pirate Code. This has been done already a lot in the past. There is nothing that forces a player to give up their boat. Hell, if they traded loot for it, why not?

    Seems silly to complain over something like this, as well as petty to demand punishment.

  • CallMeBackdrafT
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    @crazyhazyuk the funny thing is Joe neate addressed this earlier on as something they didnt expect to happen but found it really cool and funny.

    Buying over ships is a legit non heating way to either get more gold and rep (especially since alliances have become a thing) and also can really help with the multi crew commendations and/or requirements of certain weekly challanges or large campaigns.

    I dont know how you are being hurt by this, they asked to buy your ship and you complied there is no other way to steal a ship in game as you can allways get back to your ship.

    Anyway tldr; not cheating and not against any ToS and/or the pirate code

  • Spectrazy666
    Insider

    @crazyhazyuk u serious ? Please rare can u remove the only ( already complex ) way to play with more then 3 friend olz that what u ask ? Dude if this stuff happen 3 server in a row ok ill give it too you but in other case why just dont fight ur life and in the worse case get sunk lol

  • KnifeLife
    Commander
    Insider
    Founder

    Not sure where i stand on this, on one hand i can see your point that it could make the servers unbalanced and could result in a fleet of ships essentially harrasing others who do not wish to play by there rules.
    And it does make you wonder why Rare hasn't added this feature in anyway maybe they have there reasons.

    But on the other hand and ill be honest im more leaning to this side. Alot of people just want to play with there friends and fleets. I know me personally when THD event was active due to me being very late to the event (Last day) i would have had no chance what so ever of being able to do it, and it was because of someone who was able to get another ship on the server that i was able to.

    Also if this method was outlawed aswell i no people like @SirioNDB would have an extremely hard time hosting there fleet events. Especially if there was repercussions for doing that method.

    So for my opinion personally i think Rare should maybe find a way of implementing a similar system where you can have multiple ships grouped on a server but also trying to find a way of maintaing balance.

    Just my thoughts anyway. :)

  • CaptainLucky679
    Marauder
    Insider

    @crazyhazyuk I really don’t see this as cheating nor would I suggest rare do anything about it. People have been asking for the ability to join their friends on servers and rare hasn’t said much for the issue so this is all people can do. I’ve been trying to get a second boat for months now and haven’t been able to so if people are actually able to I say let them.

  • KnifeLife
    Commander
    Insider
    Founder

    @luckydaddy0731 I don't believe it is cheating what so ever. More of finding a loophole in the current system and taking advantage.

    It is a feature that has been highly asked for ever since i joined the forums, so Rare will be aware of it. It could be possible it's on there roadmap to add or they are trying to figure out the best way to implement it in game.

  • CaptainLucky679
    Marauder
    Insider

    @knifelife I wasn’t trying to reply to you sorry. Clicked the wrong reply when I was scrolling. But I agree with you. I’d love to add this feature to the game since I have 5 close friends that like to play.

  • Sgt Paloogoo
    Commander
    Insider

    If they pay well, they can have my boat!

  • CrazyHazyUK
    Master
    Insider
    Founder

    @callmebackdraft e.g. If you wanted to do a skeleton fort its you versus the fort and the entire server! if you want to do a skeleton ship same... Just not a great experience for new players either, "hi please can you leave so we can have your ship?". Appreciate the comments, and there needs to be a way to play with 4+ friends just not convinced the current approach is the best way of doing it.

  • Barnacle Blake
    Captain
    Insider
    Founder

    You should of sold it to them after they helped you with skellie ships. I see this everyday it creates some interesting moments. Being more pirate is all it sounds like to me. They try and sweet talk you into a deal you cant refuse. Deals can go sour even with friends on servers. Friendss turn on each other and get into fights still from what I have seen. Even if it is just for laughs.

  • SavageTwinky
    Master
    Insider

    While its not cheating I think the alliances have had an overall negative effect on the game... at least in my experience people are constantly now trying to get into mega farming servers.

  • LONEGOATKNIFER
    Legend
    Insider
    Founder

    @crazyhazyuk What difference does it make if there is a large alliance of randoms working together or an alliance of people that already knew each other?

  • CrazyHazyUK
    Master
    Insider
    Founder

    @lonegoatknifer A big difference as an alliance of all friends, will probably not let you join their alliance as they will want slots for their friends/ friends of friend. An alliance of randoms would let you join. So if you land on one of those megafarming servers, its you against one alliance when it comes to skull forts, skeleton ships, attacking ships etc with a slim chance of forming your own alliance as all the others are in he main one. I think finding a server full of randoms in one alliance is rare, maybe I have seen 3-4 boats but not all boats as people leave / join alot and these mega farming servers are well co-ordinated with times / sign up etc.

  • ViolentAndroid
    Marauder
    Insider

    Not really cheating or taking advantage. I think they found an innovative way to play on the same server. If they weren't invited to the crew...it wouldn't have happened. I've never even heard of this, so I doubt it's a rampant issue; or one that even requires a response from Rare.

    Joining a friends server is surely coming. The dev team has already looked into it, and as they say, is a complicated mechanic to include but they are all for it. I think we will get more info on these things after forsaken shores releases and the crews shift priorities.

    Wish I was on that crew! Did a solo athenas that took me over 2hrs. Just for a little blip lol

  • qU1EtoNe
    Lord
    Insider

    I've been a part of this more than once. If people do not want to give up their boats we move on. Those that do, do it freely. Having two ships full of friends is a blast. We don't PvP other crews. We do forts and skelly ships, and yes we run Athena's. But that's one on each ship running an alliance. I think this is a legit way to play. Great fun. And yeah it's an easier way to level up pirate legend. But, have you ever done an Athena's quest? 😧😧😧

  • KattTruewalker
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder
    Deckhand

    @crazyhazyuk

    As someone who's done this a fair few times, I can say it's generally a way to bring members of a fleet or friends onto the same server.

    Usually other players are quite amenable to the idea, particularly if we can offer an Athena chest or loot or assistance in return. If they're not interested then that's also fine and we sail on. Generally speaking we'd be looking for sloops as these are often solo manned but the most we've had is 2 galleons and a sloop, if memory serves me correctly.

    Pre alliances it just meant we could do skellie forts together and Bilge Rat adventures as well as help fleet members level up a bit.

    I don't think I'd want to see this added as a specific mechanic, I like the free form idea it is at the moment and it is something which happens infrequently, whereas if it were a feature added by Rare, it would be far more common and we might see some of the problems which players are concerned about, happening i.e taking over and dominating servers, or farming but as there's no advantage really to reaching Legend or Athena 10, I don't really see this as an issue either.

  • SquaZ05
    Captain
    Founder

    @mc-rossco said in Cheaters taking over servers and buying / taking over boats!:

    It's a perfectly legitimate thing to do. It's hard to convince people to give up their ships.

    Most of the time people offer others Athena missions on different servers or loot in return for the ship which is a fair deal imo. It's also good for streamers during sub nights since they can get more people in to play with them all at once.

    This is a sandbox game AKA playing however you like to play, buying other ships and becoming pirate king of an entire server is one of the freedoms that allows.

    Sandbox... LOL
    this is a plastic bucket that you buy at ToysRUS for 9,99 that comes with a shovel and maybe a plastic sea star, filled with sand and rocks...

    in all seriousness, a sandbox genre of game doesn't mean that everything goes, This is clearly not intended gameplay.

    a sandbox game means there is a world and the devs give us tools to use this world at our own leasure. If this was an intended gameplay mechanic, the devs would have given us tools to achieve this. such as "fleet invite"

    right now those players are circumventing existing mechanics to bypass said rules of intended gameplay. So while they are not exploiting any bugs in the game or hacking the game code, they are, for all intent and purposes, bypassing some systems due to the lack of oversight by the Rare Devs.

  • Mc rossco
    Marauder
    Insider

    @squaz05 said in Cheaters taking over servers and buying / taking over boats!:

    a sandbox game means there is a world and the devs give us tools to use this world at our own leasure. If this was an intended gameplay mechanic, the devs would have given us tools to achieve this. such as "fleet invite"

    The tools: Quests loot and an invite button. We use these at our leisure to buy ships and thanks to alliances create fleets.

    Sounds like your definition of a sandbox to me.

  • EIND3ATH
    Castaway

    @luckydaddy0731 offer Athena as payment they always happily agree if they dont server reset rinse repeat been. at max alliance capacity several times and made many long term relationships and friends

  • EIND3ATH
    Castaway

    @crazyhazyuk so reroll a new server have a coke a smile and move on with your day ,the needs of the many outweigh you super center. of the universe man with power to make insane demands that negatively affects everyone but himself ...seems super unbiasesd.

  • EIND3ATH
    Castaway

    @katttruewal4 gal 3 grig myself

  • Ghostpaw
    Legend

    Chances are the players in the mega-fleet are not very interested in sinking you. They are probably out completing voyages, working on forts, and sinking fleets to grind gold and rep for the rest of the fleet. Offer to join the fleet. Maybe you will end up gaining quite a bit more as a result. If not, just grab a new server.

  • SavageTwinky
    Master
    Insider

    @mc-rossco said in Cheaters taking over servers and buying / taking over boats!:

    @squaz05 said in Cheaters taking over servers and buying / taking over boats!:

    a sandbox game means there is a world and the devs give us tools to use this world at our own leasure. If this was an intended gameplay mechanic, the devs would have given us tools to achieve this. such as "fleet invite"

    The tools: Quests loot and an invite button. We use these at our leisure to buy ships and thanks to alliances create fleets.

    Sounds like your definition of a sandbox to me.

    well no that's not his definition, they are using other tools in a way the developers didn't quite expect and they've kind of stated they thought it was clever. They didn't give us tools to do this so we are using a tool + another players cooperation to circumvent a game limitation.

  • Mc rossco
    Marauder
    Insider

    @savagetwinky said in Cheaters taking over servers and buying / taking over boats!:

    circumvent a game limitation.

    It is his definition, they put in the tools and players use them at their own leisure to do with as they please intended or not it doesn't matter.

  • SavageTwinky
    Master
    Insider

    @mc-rossco said in Cheaters taking over servers and buying / taking over boats!:

    @savagetwinky said in Cheaters taking over servers and buying / taking over boats!:

    circumvent a game limitation.

    It is his definition, they put in the tools and players use them at their own leisure to do with as they please intended or not it doesn't matter.

    Its not. The devs did not give us a tool to join together. Its not part of the sand box. Its a limitation intended by the devs but xbox live invite tool circumvents the sandbox.

  • SquaZ05
    Captain
    Founder

    @mc-rossco said in Cheaters taking over servers and buying / taking over boats!:

    @savagetwinky said in Cheaters taking over servers and buying / taking over boats!:

    circumvent a game limitation.

    It is his definition, they put in the tools and players use them at their own leisure to do with as they please intended or not it doesn't matter.

    it would be my definition if you stop the quote right there and omit the rest of the paragraph...

    let me complete the omission.
    quoted from my own post

    "If this was an intended gameplay mechanic, the devs would have given us tools to achieve this. such as "fleet invite""

    I mean I could use a screwdriver to hammer in a screw, however, if the designers of the thing did not intend for me to use it that way. Else they would have provided me with a hammer and nails.

  • Mc rossco
    Marauder
    Insider

    @squaz05 said in Cheaters taking over servers and buying / taking over boats!:

    "If this was an intended gameplay mechanic, the devs would have given us tools to achieve this. such as "fleet invite""

    If they gave us fleet invite that would ruin their stance on PVE / private servers.

    The way it is now if someone doesn't want to give their ship up they then have to choice to stay and attack the people within that alliance or leave without giving up their ship or just continuing on with their missions if the people leave them alone.

    They may not have intended the tools they provided to be used in this way, but the way they are being used is in line with rares vision which is why it won't be / doesn't need to be changed.

  • SquaZ05
    Captain
    Founder

    @mc-rossco said in Cheaters taking over servers and buying / taking over boats!:

    @squaz05 said in Cheaters taking over servers and buying / taking over boats!:

    "If this was an intended gameplay mechanic, the devs would have given us tools to achieve this. such as "fleet invite""

    If they gave us fleet invite that would ruin their stance on PVE / private servers.

    The way it is now if someone doesn't want to give their ship up they then have to choice to stay and attack the people within that alliance or leave without giving up their ship or just continuing on with their missions if the people leave them alone.

    They may not have intended the tools they provided to be used in this way, but the way they are being used is in line with rares vision which is why it won't be / doesn't need to be changed.

    you are contradicting yourself there

    "If they gave us fleet invite that would ruin their stance on PVE / private servers."
    "the way they are being used is in line with rares vision which is why it won't be / doesn't need to be changed."

    By using the tools in such a way, The players are creating the thing Rare want to avoid.

  • Jacknife Wilson
    Marauder
    Insider

    I'd say sandbox or developer intention be damned! Clearly they've made the game with certain expectations and there's no finer means to communicate fan desires than watching them work around limitations to get what they want from the product.

    The question isn't is this ok or should we be doing it...

    The question is what are the devs going to do about it?

    They could ignore the clear desires of a large number of the players and lock it down to prevent this from happening.... somehow.

    Or they could do the reasonable thing and stand on their limitations and continue to ignore it.

    Or they could simply understand that players don't mind meeting other players but, obviously want Rare to create a system that helps facilitate the interest of playing with friends first, regardless of garbage 2-4 man limitations. Personally I imagine server choice at game startup to include playing with friends or joining off a friends game but being stopped if the server is full. Sure, this will lead to servers built around fleets and families... but like crew options there can always be the option to rando it up and people who refuse to play with friends and eternally solo or don't use the game socially can and will end up with no major changes anyhow as most servers will continue to be rando servers anyhow. Of course my idea is a bit far-fetched and random but it's just off the top of my head, so I share it openly and noncommittally.

    And that's about it... the OP isn't wrong... but it's not abuse nor against some esoteric ToS or any of that. It's simply not how they imagined players would behave. Shows shortsightedness on Rare's behalf at most. So, like I said, the ball is in Rare's court on how they might choose to react if at all. But personally I feel that they should support this and implement easier means to choose servers friends are on regardless of whether the friend has a full crew. It most certainly will bring some changes to the average SoT experience, but I wouldn't suggest it breaks the game.

  • Mc rossco
    Marauder
    Insider

    @squaz05 said in Cheaters taking over servers and buying / taking over boats!:

    By using the tools in such a way, The players are creating the thing Rare want to avoid.

    You're misunderstanding, if someone takes over every ship on a server with their friends they still had the risk of PVP to do it. If someone in that alliance wanted to at any point they could turn around and attack people that makes it still a PVP server and if someone disconnects without handing their ship over then the server is still a public one and they then need to convince that person to hand over their ship, that means it's not a private server either.

    Which is why it's in line with what Rare want.

  • treefittymonsta
    Ship Mate
    Insider

    @eind3ath said in Cheaters taking over servers and buying / taking over boats!:

    @crazyhazyuk so reroll a new server have a coke a smile and move on with your day ,the needs of the many outweigh you super center. of the universe man with power to make insane demands that negatively affects everyone but himself ...seems super unbiasesd.

    I would prefer rare gave us an option to avoid the types of servers or the alliance system altogether. It's not fun playing for almost an hour only to find out that an large alliance dominates a server. Please give us an option to avoid this non-sense. Some people like... I don't

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