Change in Player Behaviour

Personally when I started playing and had a long way to get gold and buy new stuff, it was all about "what's the fastest way to get rich?". Going randomly after ships that propably had no loot felt like a waste of time, I'd rather go do forts and avoid pvp. After getting pirate legend, gold lost all the meaning... I already had pretty much all the stuff I wanted, so after that it's been more and more about looking for pvp challenge. Also since there's absolutely no penalty or anything to lose when going in full killing spree, it's pretty no brainer to go for it when bored.

Perhaps if there'd always be some value for gold.. something to buy or use it for then there'd be better balance about these two worlds. Just my 2 cents.

Most of my encounters during this month have been aggressive. While farming Thieve's Haven runs I only ran into one crew that wanted to alliance. All the others were shoot on site. Which is completely fine by me. If you want to fight, lets dance. It's actually a lot of fun. One thing I wish was more common though was going from enemies to friends.

A good example of this was I had logged on to try and speedrun a Thieve's Haven run and when I got there I noticed a Galleon was parked inside. I knew I wasn't going to win the fight so I decided to just say hi and server hop. 3 of them stared swimming over, 2 of them friendly and one of them trying to kill me. A fight ensues, I kill 3 of them but die to a shark while in the water. Once we're all on the ferry a talk to one of them telling them that I was just gonna chill and say hi. He was cool with it, and when I got back I abandoned my ship and swam over to the island. I ended up chilling with them for a bit, talking and playing music and messing around with our pets. Afterwards I simply server hopped. I wish that was more common, as I really think the social aspect of this game is one of it's strongest points.

Introducing the new reapers fraction is only gonna make it even more hostile

Here is hoping the new patch changes it up a bit, I have high high hopes, but back to the main topic. I will echo some things others are saying a bit, my experience is the opposite of yours. What I see is less hostility and more people just wanting to be left alone. If feels like people just want to farm and that's it. If you do approach them, its usually the same line, "We're Friendly!" or "Let's Alliance!" This is dull for me, and I am not really much of a fan, hence why my interest in this game wanes hard.

I can even echo the experience from @Xultanis-Dragon about the FOTD. If I can activate the Fort up to 5 times in a row, with little to no contact, that to me is a problem. People will chime in on the forum talking about how they are attacked non-stop and its a 24/7 pvp-fest. Where are these servers and how can I find them? It is to the point where I too also don't believe in those complaints.

@baq99

Because you've not seen it personally you don't believe it? So you're suggesting all those above reporting increased hostility and decreased social interactions are lying?

I never get why people instantly jump to the lying part, or get instantly defensive. Plenty of people over-exaggerate in this game. Proof of this is every PvE demand post that starts out the same like clockwork. "I just lost 2/3/4 hours of loot, I'm getting attacked non-stop." One can't have have 2/3/4 hours of safety while simultaneously getting attacked non-stop.

If I weren't the one always engaging fights, I would never get attacked. I can't remember the last time someone rolled up to me and attacked first. Here is the thing, you asked for experiences I gave you mine. I don't see what you describe, so I can't relate. Maybe every post is telling the truth, maybe I'm the most unlucky Pirate on the Sea. The problem is I can't relate, because that is constantly what I don't see.

All I see is boats who would be rather left alone to their own devices or within Alliances so that they can do just that, being left alone, while cheesing loot gains. My FOTD experience is similiar, for being this PvP hotspots, it is sorely lacking.

I think any game when it first comes out has a honeymoon phase. People are focused more on leveling up or on figuring out how the game works or exploring content. So I can see how someone may notice some shift in players attitudes after a game has been around awhile.

All in all I do not really have much problems on the Sea's and I have to say many pirates I meet and am kind to are kind back. Sometimes if I see a sloop on an island I will just have my crew mate shoot me over and I will offer them a coconut and help them with whatever they are doing. I have my friend shoot me over because I do not want to intimidate by having a brig pull up.

Past couple nights we have had two different super sloopers chase us but thats just part of the game. One was being aggressive and other was cool. All different types of personalities, just is the world of online gaming.

I don't know, I have noticed a lighter more fun loving attitude on the seas lately. Just the other day I was in a sloop with a single captain chest on board chasing a galleon. I got them to stop and let me on board and give it to them. We all raised a grog did a little dance, it was great! Sea of Thieves is a win some lose some kind of game and while there are some that are hostile at times, I think the over all attitude has always been in the spirit of having fun.

I've seen this too. While I'm not sure its a problem, I have some possible suggestions (some gathered elsewhere in the forums)

1. Make Tall Tale items unable to be stolen. (in your inventory wheel).

2. Give Pirates ratings based on their kills, steals, and the number of times they've fired on Alliance members? Each ship has a permanent, color coded flag that you can gauge through a spyglass. The darker and more sinister the flag, the more Cutthroat the pirates in their crew. I'm sure some players will rail against this, but it would give you some idea who to trust.

3. Use another color-coded flag to denote the amount of loot you have on board. From white to glowing gold. this flag is something you could put up or take down, but those not carrying loot could announce it at a distance to prevent some unnecessary attacks.

Note that none of these ideas force a player to play in any certain way, nor do they prevent a pirate from attacking anyone they want at any time. The only one that follows you from server to server is your Cutthroat rating, but I think some players would enjoy the notoriety. And certain cosmetics could be tied to your Cutthroat rating.

Crying for alliance is pathetic and not fun, if someone does this we guaranteed sink them.
PVP is a basic aspect of the game, if we start adding safe zones everyone will run and hide in them, more than they already run away from PVP.

@fatherpapadaddy said in Change in Player Behaviour:

Crying for alliance is pathetic and not fun, if someone does this we guaranteed sink them.

What do you do otherwise? Just curious?

@captain-arcanic Fish with them... JK sink them.

@fatherpapadaddy said in Change in Player Behaviour:

@captain-arcanic Fish with them... JK sink them.

thought so. XD

@fatherpapadaddy said in Change in Player Behaviour:

Crying for alliance is pathetic and not fun, if someone does this we guaranteed sink them.
PVP is a basic aspect of the game, if we start adding safe zones everyone will run and hide in them, more than they already run away from PVP.

So? Open world adventure people can do what they want.

Just want to add yeah no safe zones I agree.

@baq99 said in Change in Player Behaviour:

TL/DR: Attitudes in the game have shifted from social to hostile play style. Do you think so too?

I've played Sea of Thieves since the early Betas (and have the sails to prove it) and I've seen the game develop in that time. This post isn't meant as a complaint, although I imagine many aspects of it will come across in that way. It is meant more as a state of the nation or a commentary from a player who has been an insider and there since the beginning.

As always, I think Rare managed to provided an ideal playground. In my opinion it has a brilliant balance of PvE and PvP. The PvP elements don't encroach too much into the PvE and story telling and the NPC's don't force you to leave the multiplayer world. However, when I first started playing this game, the majority populous had a very different mindset. I would regularly meet people in the game world using microphones, communication was commonplace, even for those without microphones. Alliances were regular occurrences. We often sold loot alongside other player ships. We even picked up random stragglers who joined our crew on a few occasions. That's not to say all interactions with randoms were a friendly affair but there was a balance of both and it kept the game feeling fresh. The uncertainty of whether a player ship was friendly or hostile added a complex surface layer on how to interact with player ships we encountered.

Recently however, my crewmates and I have been discussing the game and taking close note of our interactions with other players. In the past month, we have only had 2 Alliances: one where we provided loot sales to a sloop doing a tall tale who, once we had sold everything, attacked us at the outpost (we obviously killed them abd left). Other than this, our encounters with most ships involve them attacking immediately, regardless of us having any loot. The best example of which was a galleon that chased us down to an outpost, destroyed our ship (after we scuttled it) and chased us into the inn, shooting at us whilst we played musical instruments at them. Hilarious yes! But I think it's also an example of a shift in player behaviour. The new mentality is shoot first and even if you don't shoot back, keep shooting. Players who previously would have approached for an alliance now keep away from all player ships after being attacked too many times to make it a worthwhile risk.

As I said in the beginning this is not a complaint, rather a commentary. After all is said and done, this is a pirate game about stealing loot from people, whether they are NPC's or players. No-one has to play together if they don't want to and nor am I saying they should. I have just noticed this shift in behaviour and wanted to know if anyone else had noticed the same?

Do you think there should be non PvP servers? Do you think there should be safe zones? Punishments for quitting an alliance without all ships agreeing to it? Penalties for attacking your own alliance? Increased rate of PvE spawn if you troll another ship? Or do you think the rules should stay the same?

I have to disagree with your observations. I see little to no difference in the "hostility" in the game over time, and what I have seen is that is is leaning towards the more passive than aggressive side for the most part. In the sessions I had over the past couple of weeks they were more cooperative crews than I have seen in the past - not all mind you but I found more alliances I could work with in that time than I had in months before, even working with a fellow to complete the Fort of the Damned. It does vary from server to server, that has not changed. But it is definitely not more aggressive than the days of the first Mercenary Voyages and Reaper Runs - the "bro-dudes" were out in full force back then, much tamer nowadays.

So based on that, no to your suggestions as they are not needed and fly in the face of the concept of the game. No safe zones, no needless rules on alliances.

@ghostpaw Hopefully with the new content it will spice up the game abit. I have noticed more ships lately on my servers. Usually on the sunnier parts of the map. With that said though not much excitement. Last night had a sloop chase us maybe ten minutes then gave up. That was only time a ship came after us in about four hour session.

@baq99
The reason for ships beeing more aggressive is mostly on the gameplay side. If another ship approaches and you do not automatically assume it's an enemy you are at a serious disadvantage. They can position themselves, ready the kegs, board you. All while you are still trying to decide if they have good intentions.
I had people boarding me yelling "I am friendly" while dropping my anchor.
There still are nice interactions. But offense is the best defense. After we cripple the enemy we can decide what to do. Is this ship a threat? What are they currently doing? Are there tresures to steal? These questions can rarely be answered without combat.

Usually new players and people doing tall tales will be left alone after the first encounter.

To all those claiming that most people just want to grind or to be left alone, I ask the following: when you load in, take a look at your ship map. I'm willing to bet there's at least one Reapers Bones ship, possibly more.

some servers are really friendly while others.... not so much for me it really just depends. ive met a bunch of friends just vibin with people. my friend met another one of my regular crewmantes by tuccing on their ship, i blew up another one of my firends with a megakeg at a fotd and we play together quite a bit. once we sunk a brig 3 times and allianced with them to get the loot, we friended eachother and now occasionally we play. honestly its all circumstantual.

For me, I havent seen any PvP maybe outside forts for quite some time. When the game started and maybe max Cursed Sails were out I was much more untrusting of the ships as most of the time they attacked me. Hell, even I felt like when the sessions didn't contain any PvP it was not whole and I my mission before logging off was to find somebody to attack. Nowadays, nobody is attacking just by random. I have a feeling that as we have a lot of content to delve into nobody wants to attack as they are doing something. Mostly when duke's store was actually time limited I felt like I have no time to PvP if I want to have all those Commendations complete for doubloons. But that was relaxed, so I hope this update brings this PvP tension back :)