PIRATE CODE REPUTATION

@castle-1000rr None of what you mentioned is a violation of the Pirate Code. I don't think you quite understand what honor among thieves is about - it is more about professional courtesy. In fact, I recently wrote a Tavern Tale about this: Honor Among Thieves.

Being able to see someone's reputation score/meter would limit interaction. There is no "right flag" - they are all pirate flags.

Get to know those with whom you are entering into an alliance. Beyond that, trust other ships at risk of your own peril. Pirates be pirates.

I don’t want to put too fine a point on this, but I cringe every time I hear “but we’re pirates” as a defense for betrayal amongst pirates. Sure, pirates were scoundrels and scullywags. But betrayal amongst themselves was almost unheard of, for several reasons. For one, real pirate codes included strict rules against stealing from your crew mates. Anyone caught pilfering or concealing loot would be removed from the company and likely marooned (which generally meant a slow, unpleasant death).

Battles between rival pirate ships were almost unheard of. Pirates depended upon vastly outnumbering and outgunning their prey. Even a small pirate sloop might have a crew numbering around 70 men, with anywhere from 10 to 20 guns. Many pirate crews numbered between 150 to 200 men, with 20 to 40 or more guns. Blackbeard's flagship, The Queen Anne's Revenge, had as many as 300 men and 36 guns. By comparison, a large merchant vessel might have a crew of only 10 to 18 men, with an average of about 6 guns.

Pirates picked their battles carefully. Taking on a rival pirate ship would surely result in mass casualties. It wasn't worth the risk. Besides, they were all out there for the same reasons. It made no sense to fight amongst themselves. Pirate vessels meeting at sea might sometimes merge into a single company, much like the alliance system in Sea of Thieves.

It's a bit sad to have to say, but real-life pirates were in some ways more "honorable" than the players of Sea of Thieves. But of course, Sea of Thieves is not historically accurate, being set in a cursed, fictional world where everybody's a pirate and there are no merchants to prey upon. The game has its own reality, apart from any historical or even fictional references. Clearly, in the world of Sea of Thieves, being a "pirate" means something slightly different than it did in the Golden Age of Piracy.

Getting back to the original post, as much as I wish SoT pirates would act a bit more like real-life pirates--especially once they've entered into an alliance--I understand this isn't likely to happen. Part of the game's appeal and excitement is the constant threat of attack from other vessels. And since every ship sailing the Sea of Thieves is crewed by other players (the new skeleton ships notwithstanding), it would be rather boring if we all cooperated all the time.

There are all sorts of ways to play the game. You can play like a merchant, running voyages and avoiding combat. You can play like a mercenary, hunting down skeletons for gold and glory. You can play like a warship, relentlessly seeking and sinking pirate ships. Or you can play like an opportunistic pirate, living free upon the open seas.

However you choose to play, play well, have fun...and watch your back.

@muphraidercdxx said in PIRATE CODE REPUTATION:

Personally, I think ships should cost money. Its one fundamental aspect of "pirating" this game lacks.
Having a ship lost in any way could be "career" ending for a pirate.
A pirate couldnt just go buy a new ship off the shelf, and stealing a new ship wasnt like pocketing a pack of gum from the 7/11. They certainly never one time in history ever were able to just wait for it to respawn.
Ships took months to build in the best of circumstances with all needed resources available.
My idea is a cost system, where the sloop is free. The brig costs x amount, and the galleon cost x+ amount.
You start with a sloop, due some missions, quests, events, etc whatever you choose until you can afford the ship of your choice. Then once youve bought that ship its yours until it sinks or gets skuttled either in battle, storm whatever.
Once youve lost it, unless you can afford it, you now have to start back on a sloop.
Any custom ship decorations, sails, figureheads, etc are lost with the ship and must be repurchased.
In this way a pirate would have a "reputation". If you come across a galleon fully decked out, you would know that sailor/crew has some xp on the water and would change the just drive up and shoot each other to pieces for no apparent reason other then "thats what pirates do" idea that seems so prevalent now.
Im all for ship to ship, but Id like to see a little more reason added to it.

Thats just begging for a whole new level of a can of worms opening. I can picture the forums now, filled to the brim with people whining about losing their ship. Sinking a ship isn't griefing, but this opens an avenue for people to screw with their crews and other players. I'm not against a reputation system. However, asking people to buy Galleons/Brigs is asking too much.

This also seems like an advantage to players with more play time. Personally, I wouldn't need to quest for a long time because of the amount of gold I have stashed. Lower level players get less gold compared to a higher Rep'ed player, because of drop rates for higher level chests.