So... I've played this thing in alpha, closed beta, and the scale test. I also have quite the large gaming background.
In WoW I am a pure PVE player, I avoid PVP as much as I can.
In WoT I can't not play PVP, but I enjoyed that game for what it was, since I am a big fan of anything with big cannons: Tanks, old and new warships, airplanes, artillery, etc.
Sea of Thieves is the game I've been dreaming about ever since I first got an internet connection. I love the idea of being a pirate, of having the freedom to sail wherever I like and the possibility to make a living out of it. And Sea of thieves is the very first game that managed to implement sailing mechanics, fighting mechanics and everything related to being a pirate in a game with the perfect balance between realistic and accessible.
This game gains the most points for the treasure finding mechanics. There's no minimap, no arrow in the UI pointing to the chest, nothing to help you aside from the big map n the ship, the treasure map or the set of clues, your compass and your WIT to find your prize.
On to today's hot subject: PVP. It's there and it's good. I'm not a fighter type, I don't like getting myself in those situations. I'm bad at aiming and I'm bat at tactics. I am, however, good at figuring out how to best hide myself, how to be sneaky, how to distract people and how to disappear between waves, and the fact that this "mandatory PVP", as it's been called, is there, forces me to use my best skills to the best of my ability. There's a constant pressure there, the constant fear that your past hours of effort can be for naught if you fk up. And that is what makes turning in the booty successfully so much more satisfying.
Whether you're the kind of guy who goes for other ships and their loot, or the kind that digs around on barren islands and only fights skeletons, PVP is an unreplaceable part of any pirate world. It has to be there! A pirate world without PVP, one where all you do is go to places and fetch things to get paid, is little more than Euro Truck simulator on water.
HOWeffingEVER*: A line has to be drawn at camping. I will proceed with defining camping:
Camping: Whether on a random island or on an outpost, finding an enemy and killing him as many times as you can, even when you would have nothing to gain from it. Happens most often on outposts. Most often the camping is done by a larger crew to a smaller crew. Camping is NOT killing people to ensure safe passage for your own booty to the turn-in point. Camping is just killing someone over and over to satisfy a sadistic pleasure of aggravating, annoying, "triggering", enraging, or making other people Alt-F4. Camping is not cheating, it's just toxic behavior. Camping is not trolling. Trolling is making practical jokes like leaving snakes in a guy's bilge to give him a bit of a scare, or even just getting on his boat while it's been left unattended, raising the anchor, lowering the sails and letting it go adrift or ashore. This type of little jokes may even make the trolling's victim laugh a bit (it's happened to me several times and I thought it was funny).
Getting back to camping: I have seen people try to defend the current state of PVP in SoT with the simple argument: "It's a PVP game, deal with it or go play something safe you little p***y" (Profanity was part of the quote) and yes, they are right, it is a PVP game and PVP is a risk that, as I have explained higher, is a necessary part of any pirate game. But camping is not something one would see in a pirate game.
And here's where I get to the one idea I would like everyone to see and understand:
CAMPING IS A WASTE OF EVERYONE'S TIME. Once you have secured your own cargo's turn in, and maybe the enemy player's cargo as well, be on your way to get MORE cargo. You will not gain anything from killing someone over and over in the same place, on the contrary, you will be wasting time. Time you could be investing in getting a new voyage , new cargo and more reputation. If you choose to kill again and again with no benefit over progressing in the game, you are playing the wrong game.
Leave the pvp as it is because it's good and well implemented, it doesn't need tweaks or fixes. Find a way to fix people's attitudes and prevent toxic behavior of any sort.
I would like to get the opinions of @Deckhands @Insider -s @founder -s on this opinion as well.
