So I've been playing this game for about a week and a half now and with the help of a friend I was able to hit rank 50 in all 3 of the different trade companies (order of souls being the most difficult) and I was able to make enough money in the process to buy my own sloop and all of the customization that I want. Now that I hit pirate legend and got all of the stuff I want I decided that I want to 100% all of the tall tales. This task is honestly feeling like it's 1000× more difficult than hitting pirate legend...
I decided to start with the pirate's life tall tales as I had already completed the first one and completing all of the commendations is pretty easy. So I loaded into a server solo and went to the castaway and started the 1st tall tale. While waiting for the castaway to finish speaking and open the portal an enemy sloop pulled up to the outpost I was at and so I typed in game chat "ahoy! I'm peaceful. I'm doing the tall tales for the commendations" and they replied with "no" and then they both boarded my ship with kegs and blew them killing me and instantly sinking my ship... After this I spawned incredibly far away from the portal I needed to go through and every time I attempted to sail back to it and do the tall tale I was attacked and sunk by other players. After 3 attempts I completely gave up and left the game to try and find a better server to do this in.
In the next server I was able to complete the 1st tall tale and get all of the commendations. I returned and went to the outpost I spawned at to do the 2nd tall tale and unfortunately I spawned in the wilds and needed to travel all the way to the bottom left of the map to do the tall tale. On my way to the tall tale a grade 5 reaper ship spawned into the session (using the teleporter exploit to session hop without losing their emissary flag) and they spotted my ship and proceeded to chase me down to the tall tale and sink my ship and kill me. Apparently they must really enjoy griefing because they then sat at the tall tale location and killed and sunk me 2 more times when I tried to return and complete it so I gave up and left and decided to try and continue this the next day...
The next day went better with me fully completing both the 2nd and 3rd tall tale without any interruptions. Only after you complete the 3rd you go through the teleporter again and I ended up in a new session. I spawned back in at the ancient spire outpost and started the 4th tall tale which I had to travel to the very top of the map to complete. On my way there I was once again spotted by another crew (a brig that wasn't in any emissary) and they proceeded to chase me down, board my ship, kill me, and sink my ship. I then respawned and tried to go up there again only to get attacked by a kraken which pulled me off of my ship and then spat me out like a piece of used gum so far away from my ship that I was still close enough to not get a mermaid but was also unable to swim back in time before my ship sank... I then respawned and started heading up their again only to run into the same brig from earlier and have them board and take over my sloop and spawn kill me with blunderbusses everytime I came back until I gave up scuttled my ship and left to find a new session. I then completely the 4th tall tale and that was the end of my second day attempting this.
The 3rd day I decided to do the 2 tall tales that give you unique swords, starting with the seabound soul. So I went over to shipwreck bay and started up the tall tale. While listening to Pendragon someone attacked my ship and sank it without me even realizing it and so I ended up having to take a mermaid back to my ship which was about as far away from shipwreck bay as possible... On my way back I ran into a sloop and once again typed in chat being friendly and was once again met with nothing but toxicity and was attacked by this 2 man crew killed and sunk... Long story short after 5 attempts trying to do this tall tale only to be attacked killed and sank by toxic players in the session who didn't care that I was peaceful and only trying to do a tall tale I ended up leaving to find a new server. In the new server I was able to complete the seabound soul and the shroud breaker without interruption and I called it a night.
The 4th day I decided to go ahead and do the cursed rogue so I could get briggsy's sword. When I spawned in I wasn't at the correct outpost and while I was quickly grabbing some supplies 2 brigs in an alliance pulled up to the outpost. I said I was peaceful and was doing tall tales and they didn't care and attacked and killed me and sank my ship without hesitation... I then respawned and was able to go start the tall tale only to be found by the same 2 brigs again who proceeded to non-stop hunt me down and kill me and sink my ship until the point that I gave up and left the server. I was able to do the tall tale in the next server I joined tho.
But all of this has made me realize that this game seriously needs some kind of solo mode or private servers where players can go and play and do the tall tales and stuff without being griefed by toxic PvP players. I still have all of these other tall tales left to do and after how many days it's taken me to just complete the very few I have completed (not to mention that I still have to complete all of the base game tall tales 5 times in total to 100% them) I honestly don't even want to play this game anymore. The amount of toxicity and hate that I've experienced from players while just simply trying to chill and do tall tales is just unbelievable...
Hopefully Rare sees this and realizes that this is a serious issue. While I do really love this game and find the PvE experience to be some of the best I've ever played, the toxicity from other players is just mind boggling to me... I really enjoy playing both the PvE and PvP when I'm not alone, but I do think that this game needs some kind of Solo mode or private servers where players who don't want to engage in the PvP or don't have anyone to play with can still play this game without having the horrible experience I've had the past few days just trying to chill and do tall tales...